Maidens of the Kaleidoscope

~Hakurei Shrine~ => Patchouli's Scarlet Library => Kosuzu's Grand Bookstore => Topic started by: FinnKaenbyou on August 18, 2010, 12:43:59 AM

Title: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on August 18, 2010, 12:43:59 AM
This story is proof that I am physically unable to write a totally non-serious story. It proves that I can't even cover a light subject like mahou-shoujo without turning it serious business. Ruro what have you done to me ;_;
I do intend to have a happy ending, at least, so cut me some slack with that one.

This piece is unlikely to receive regular updating, considering I am still juggling several stories at once. I am mostly satisfied simply that I managed to get some ideas on paper with this, so...yeah.

People who don't read PLotSS (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6814.0.html) will have no idea where this is coming from. :V

---

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Stop that.

There were mornings when she wished that she could just will the alarm clock to turn off and bury her head in the pillow. She tried it out of desperation, sending a psychic message through the air towards the machine. 'Turn off. Turn off. Turn off.'

It didn't work.

"Awww..."

It was too late now - Koishi was awake, whether she liked it or not. She stayed in bed for a few minutes out of spite, but eventually she rose up in response to the cacophony of the alarm clock. She'd slept badly, of course - the same dreams as always were haunting her, pulling her back into the world of the waking with a desperate scream and a face soaked with sweat.

She went through her daily motions with as much - or little - enthusiasm as usual. Leaving her pyjamas in the heaping pile of dirty washing she left beside her bed, to be washed at the end of the week. Lazily putting on one of her identikit yellow shirts, and picking out a green skirt to match. She hadn't cared about the school uniform for...how long had it been now? She didn't want to think about it.

"Nyaa..."

A cat made its way around Koishi's obstacle course of dropped books and discarded food wrappers. It rubbed up next to her leg, purring with something resembling a whine. Koishi sighed as it looked up at Koishi with a concerned stare, its tail wagging absent-mindedly behind it.

"Rin, I'm sorry. I don't have time for this right now. I'm late enough as it is..."

Koishi disregarded her pet's concern as she quickly set out a bowl of food for her. Above her head, a cage had been carefully hung, and its feathered resident was just as concerned as Rin was. Unlike Rin, though, the raven had learned that these metal bars would stop her from making contact, so she just didn't try any more.

"Utsuho, don't do anything crazy while I'm gone, 'kay?"

Koishi did her best to sound enthusiastic as she gave her bird a bowl of seed to feed on, but she couldn't stop her words sounding horribly forced. That's because they were - enthusiasm was an alien substance to her now, something that just didn't belong.

It was hard to think this place had been in order once. Every room was filled with various fallen tidbits that Koishi just hadn't cared about enough to put back into place. It required some serious dexterity on her part just to make it to the front door with her bag and shoes.

"Ah, there's the-"

Reaching for her keys on the ground, Koishi froze in place for a moment. Something was looking back at her, something that shouldn't have been there. It wasn't alive - it had never been alive, in fact. It was nothing more than a picture frame, a photo that had been taken years ago when Koishi was still a kid.

She despised it.

"...Rin, I told you to leave that thing alone. Do I need to make you skip dinner again?"

A mumbled 'nyaa' sound made its way out of Koishi's room. It was strange - some days she almost felt like she could understand them, like they were speaking her own language. Maybe she just needed to get out more if she was forming that sort of relationship with animals.

She placed a hand on the picture frame, and silently turned it face down. She hadn't had the nerve to throw it away yet. Maybe she never would. It was all she had left now, wasn't it?

"...Well, that's me out. See you guys when I get back from school."

She waved goodbye to her pets as she closed the front door behind her with a dramatic thump. Took too long to close it quietly, she figured, as she left the almost uninhabitable abode behind. She would grab something quick on the way to school, something cheap and almost inedible. It would keep her conscious, that was all that mattered.

Dammit, Rin had done it again. Every time it felt like she was finally forgetting about it, it would be that picture to bring it back. That picture of herself, smiling with a bright an innocent grin, while over her shoulder another girl looked on proudly. The memories of how things had been a few months ago, back when there had been two girls in that household. She hung her head down as she slowly trudged to school so no-one could see the tears starting to form in her eyes.

Why? Why can't I just act like I never had a sister...?

The worst part was not knowing what had happened to her. She had simply stayed late at school one night, and apparently disappeared from existence. No traces of her could be found, no witnesses came forward, and none of the teachers were charged. It was almost as if she had simply never happened to begin with.

So why couldn't she make herself believe that? Why did her heart keep trying to tell her that Satori Komeiji had really existed? Why did she keep forcing herself to remember something so painful?

Onee-chan...get out of my head, or come back to me. Don't leave me like this...

-----

Her eyes never looked up as she made her slow, deliberate walk towards the school grounds. Gensouto was a large city with only one high school, and it was on the other side of the city from Koishi. She'd move closer, but the inheritance from her parents was barely enough to cover the rent as it was. And she couldn't touch Satori's portion either, because until she was found one way or the other she would simply be classed as 'missing' rather than...the other classification. She refused to even think that word in terms of Satori.

The path took her past a simple confectionery store called the Scarlet Bakery. She walked in, bought herself a sandwich to keep her essential functions going, and walked out all without looking the attendant in the eye. She heard murmurs of concern from the other side of the counter, but that was nothing new. They would always mutter worries, but never would they actually care enough to ask her if there was anything wrong.

People like that were useless. She couldn't depend on them for anything. They wouldn't look after her like Satori did.

Koishi munched absent-mindedly at her sandwich as she continued to trudge along to the schoolyard. She walked past the coast now, around the city's beach - technically there was a shorter path, but it wasn't like punctuality mattered to her anymore. She let her shoes leave careful, precise imprints in the sand beneath her, making a mark on the world around her as if to prove she still existed. There was a pier here, though it was never used anymore - boats never passed by here any more, so their absence someone had come up with the idea of building a shrine on it. It was a ridiculous idea, and as a result it failed miserably, so all that remained was a rickety-looking donation box and a few mossed-over statues.

Her head finally pulled itself upward when she suddenly heard a clicking sound coming from nearby.

"Huh?"

It didn't sound artificial, and the clicks were soon followed by whines and whistles. They were coming from further down the beach, and Koishi decided to approach it and find out what was making the sound. It was curiosity, she told herself, nothing more and nothing less.

"Hey, is that a...?"

Something grey was lying in a distant corner of the beach, just off the shore. As it came into view, Koishi looked down on the fluid and graceful form of a dolphin, trapped in an environment where it was anything but. It flapped its back fin around uselessly in an attempt to push itself back into the water, but all it managed to do was send itself further into shore. Its clicks and whistles grew more desperate, more strained.

"Oh, that poor thing..."

Koishi didn't realise how quickly she was moving until she had arrived in front of the dolphin, seeing it look up at her with friendly black eyes. Her arms reached down and wrapped themselves around it, before she heaved and lifted the creature in one motion.

"Gah...! Y-You're heavy..."

The dolphin gave off an angry sounding click at that one. Koishi's eyes widened slightly - did it...understand what she was saying?

"Nah, what am I thinking? It's a dolphin, of course it's got no idea what I'm saying. It's like saying that Rin and Utsuho know what I'm saying to them back home."

It took a lot of heavy lifting, and a lot of wet sand in her shoes, but Koishi finally managed to drop the dolphin into deep enough water for it to swim again. The creature let off a series of overjoyed clicks as it swam around in front of Koishi, before coming back in to float just in front of her. Its eyes looked up at her in a wordless thanks.

"Don't go doing that again, okay? I only have so many pairs of shoes for you to ruin-"

The school bell rang in the background, and almost immediately Koishi's face turned back to its default, frowning state. Had she been smiling? She hadn't noticed.

"Oh. Sorry. Guess I need to go."

She turned on the spot, and started heaving her soaked shoes up off the beach again. She didn't really care if she was late, but she at least had to make some sort of effort to make it to school. Otherwise they would call her up as some sort of delinquent, and that wasn't worth all the trouble it would cause.

Koishi didn't notice the dolphin's eyes following her as she trekked onward to Gensou High, and she certainly couldn't tell what it was thinking of as it watched her.

She would soon enough.

-----

Class time was a blur for Koishi nowadays. Her eyes would simply look dully at the blackboard as the teacher muttered on about subjects she didn't care about. She took in just enough to keep her grades from slipping too far down, but for all intents and purposes her brain was in the off position.

The only time she ever really paid any attention to her surroundings was in between class and during lunch break. It was a matter of survival, trying her best to keep her head down and avoid anyone who would give her trouble.

Unfortunately for Koishi, that was a rather large chunk of the school's population. Her attempt to avoid making eye-contact backfired miserably as someone in front of her stopped in their tracks, allowing her to walk right into them.

"Aah!"

Koishi toppled down onto the floor, with the books she had been carrying falling at her feet. She started to pick them up, still gambling on the off-chance it had been an accident and she could get away before anyone took advantage of the opening, but it was far too late.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you okay down there?"

The student she'd walked into turned around, looking down at the fallen student. Koishi should have guessed who it was from the tattoo on her left arm - a picture of a 9-ball from a pool game.

Of all the people, why did it have to be Cirno?

She was one of the school's problem kids, and the head of a small-time gang of thugs known as the Fairies. Her brunette hair had a series of blue streaks - wait, were they extensions? They couldn't be natural, but no-one else seemed to pay them any mind. She looked down at Koishi with a twisted grin, reminding her that this was no time to ponder about hair.

"Aw, grandma fell over again, didn't she? Isn't it about time someone went and put you in a care home or something?"

Cirno let out a little laugh as she stamped her foot onto the closest of the books. This was their favourite jibe at her - grandma, as a result of her silver hair. Her hand reached down to tug at it.

"This isn't a wig, is it? Never seen an old lady with as much hair as this. Let's just check, shall we?"

With that, she yanked at Koishi's hair violently, prompting a little squeak from her victim.

"S-Stop it! That hurts!"

Koishi's eyes looked out onto the crowd passing by, hoping that someone, anyone would look on and intervene. But Cirno wasn't the sort of person any student would mess with willingly - word was that she'd brought the Fairies to power by beating down everything that stood between them and the top spot, so anyone who valued their life stayed as far away as possible.

So the students of Gensou High simply turned a blind eye to the goings on, and allowed Cirno to continue her little 'test'. Koishi's eyes were watering from the pain, and her arms were trying in vain to pull Cirno away.

After what felt like an age, the Head Fairy decided she'd had her fun and let go. Koishi rubbed at the sore spot on her scalp, hoping that the floor would open up and swallow her.

"Well, looks like you passed that test, grandma. I'm gonna be checking up on you now and again, though - I don't want you tripping up in the middle of the hallway again when I'm not around, y'know?"

A cruel cackle slipped out of her mouth as she darted back into the crowd, leaving Koishi to pick up her books again. She sat on the floor for a few seconds, numb, as her head sunk into her knees.

She'd always been a target for being picked on thanks to her hair colour, but it had never been this bad when Satori was around. Unlike her, Satori was brave enough to stare these bullies down, and she would always come to Koishi's rescue.

But now that she was gone, Koishi was a sitting duck. She was too weak to defend herself, and too much of a coward to confide in anyone. That'd just get them mad, after all, and things would only go downhill from there...

The bell rang in the distance, pulling Koishi back into reality. She realised that her face was soaking wet and wiped at it with her sleeve. She clumsily picked up the fallen books, straightened her skirt as she stood up, and tried her best to merge into the crowd again.

She felt smaller than the people around her, afraid that someone would step on her and crush her under their heel at any given moment. She didn't belong here. She was a level below these people. She was too weak to fit into this crowd.

Please...someone, somewhere...help me...

Deep inside Koishi's heart, something began to glow with a faint orange light.

-----

Math. Koishi hated math. She hated most classes nowadays, but math outright had to be one of the worst for her.

"And as you can see, the when you integrate the derivative you get the original function...wait, that's what's meant to happen, anyway. Sorry, I think I've made a mistake somewhere..."

The teacher was doing her best, admittedly, but it was blatantly obvious that Professor Kawashiro wasn't trained to teach mathematics. She was a physics teacher by definition, and physicists left most of their number crunching to calculators, so when it came time for arithmetic she was hardly very trustworthy.

Koishi buried her head in her textbook. How was she expected to pass this class when even the teacher had no idea what she was talking about?

"...Hey, you hear that story that's going around?"

Koishi twitched slightly as a whisper reached her. It wasn't aimed at her - it was part of an exchange between the two girls in front of her. Koishi couldn't remember their names - one of them was a higher-up member of the Fairies, and the other was a timid-looking librarian. Koishi could see green and red streaks in their hair respectively - apparently the hair-colouring thing was all the rage nowadays or something. Even the teacher seemed to have those blue streaks, though hers were slightly darker than Cirno's.

"Um...you mean the one about the shrine on the pier? But aren't they telling all kinds of stories like that nowadays?"

"Hey, we only need one of them to be right, don't we? They say if you drop a 1000 yen bill into the donation box and make a wish, it's guaranteed to come true! We've gotta try it, really! You can get the day off library duty, right?"

"M-Maybe...but I don't exactly have 1000 yen to spare at the moment. I don't get much of an allowance, and I had to return a lot of overdue books yesterday, so..."

The big Fairy frowned at her friend's poverty, putting her head back onto the desk to catch some sleep between classes. She used her textbook for cover, though with the way Professor Kawashiro was darting around the chalkboard she had no reason to worry about being noticed.

"Ah...reduce the power, carry the three...I didn't forget the C constant, did I? Aah, it all looks right to me, but the numbers aren't adding uuuuuuup!"

The class let out a collective giggle at the teacher's misgivings. She was popular enough, and in physics classes it was more than clear she knew what she was talking about, but here she was very much out of her depth.

Koishi more or less paid no attention to the teacher, her mind caught on the discussion she'd overheard. Maybe it was nonsense, true, but in her situation it was a risk that was infinitely worth taking. If it failed, she might be 1000 Yen poorer, but if she succeeded...everything could be better again. She wouldn't have to go through this masquerade she called life anymore, and she could live for real.

The bell rang, signalling the end of class and the end of the day. Professor Kawashiro slumped onto her desk, defeated.

"Uh, well...read your textbooks so you understand what I was trying to teach you here! I'll see you next week when we move onto the quotient rule! (...Ugh, how do I do that again...?)"

She mumbled something as Koishi walked out the door. It didn't matter. Her feet were still damp from her earlier escapade, but she started to make her way back to the beach regardless. Maybe she'd have to go hungry for a little while if she was wrong, but she could live with that.

The light inside her shone a little brighter.

-----

Fortunately, the trip out of school was relatively uneventful. The occasional shove, a cry of 'grandma' from down the corridor, and one outstretched foot she managed to step around. She'd been through a lot worse, so she managed to emerge from Gensou High with her spirit still intact. Her path quickly broke away from the one taken by her fellow students, leading her back out to the coast she'd walked past this morning. The shrine was still standing, assuming 'standing' was even the right word for it any more.

She tread the planks of the pier with care, hearing them creak audibly under her feet. She was afraid for a moment they would collapse under her weight, but she managed to make the journey across unharmed. She took a glance into the donation box, and found that it was empty save for a few cheap coins hanging around the edges.

Who would even build a shrine around here, anyway? Gensouto had two shrines already, the Hakurei and the Moriya, so there was hardly any room for a third. No wonder it had been abandoned.

But still...it can grant wishes?

Now that she'd come all the way out here it sounded even more like nonsense to her. A broken down shrine, making people's dreams come true for the low price of 1000 Yen? That was class-A crazy, no doubt about it. She was an idiot for even considering that it might be true, and now was when she should have just turned around and headed straight home.

But she couldn't bring herself to do it. Her feet were glued in place, and she stared intently down at the donation box. Even if it was ridiculous, absurd, a trillion-to-one chance, disregarding it when it could be true would be absolutely horrific. Her hand reached into her bag, where she'd stored a purse along with her school equipment. It came back out, holding a weathered 1000 yen note, fingers trembling slightly.

Please work...whatever god this shrine is meant to appease, please let this work...!

She held the note above the box, her whole hand shaking now. She was terrified, but at the same time placing her whole heart into this. She already knew exactly what she would wish for - she could recite it with perfect clarity. In fact, she would, just so that this gracious deity didn't misinterpret her.

She dropped the note into the donation box as the words flooded out of her.

"Please, I'm begging you...I want someone who can look after me! Someone who I can depend on, who'll defend me for the rest of my life! Someone strong, someone brave, someone who'll always care about me! Please!"

The girl made a heartfelt wish known to the world.

The orange light within her exploded into life.

-----

A single eyebrow was raised.

"So, it's begun."

The woman put a finger to her head, whispering something in a language no land-dweller would understand.

The Siren has sung. Retrieve the Teardrop, and bring it to me.

No need to do the dirty work herself, she thought. After all, the girl was not even aware of her own strength. All it would take was a few helping hands off the pier, and she would be one step closer to her goal.

"Heh, an abandoned shrine that grants wishes? If only I could make them all this creative."

-----

A voice jumped into its mind.

The girl had made her wish already? It was not meant to have happened so quickly. But that was irrelevant. It seemed that she was waiting at the pier.

...Which will put her right in harm's way. Dammit!

No time to be lost. It was a long swim to the pier, but there would be a life at stake. This would put another teardrop in the hands of the enemy if she was too late.

It swam like a creature possessed, desperate to stop a tragedy from occuring.

-----

...Nothing?

Koishi continued to stare down into the box, waiting for some sort of spirit to emerge and grant her wish. Like something out of a bad children's movie, a genie trapped in the box would give her a wish for his freedom or something absurd like that.

But no puff of smoke popped out from inside the box. No kind spirit appeared to reward her generosity. The box was exactly the same as it had always been, except it had now swallowed 1000 extra yen.

Koishi slumped down onto her knees.

"What's wrong with me? Why did I...Why did I think something stupid like that was going to work?"

She was crying again. She'd been an idiot, and absolute moron. Maybe they'd deliberately dropped a rumour like that in front of her just to see if she'd fall for it. Well, she'd given them what they wanted, just like she always did.

She was such a dumbass. Satori would have told her to think straight if she were here.

...But she isn't, is she?

Koishi continued to weep, too far out for anyone to notice her. She heard something fall to the floor with a strange jingling sound.

"...Eh?"

She opened her eyes, wiping tears away in order to see properly again. Something was lying on the wooden plank in front of her, and her hand instinctively reached down to pick it up. It glinted in the light of the setting sun, shining a beautiful shade of orange.

"Is this...some sort of jewel?"

It was shaped like a teardrop, without a flaw or a crack within it. It was only as large as her pinky, but it was made of a clear substance that Koishi had never seen before. It was firm to the touch, but it was warm in a way that metal shouldn't have been.

This is...weird. Maybe I should take it into school tomorrow and ask Professor Yagokoro-

A splash.

"Huh?"

Did something fall into the water behind her? Koishi looked out to sea again, checking if the shrine had finally collapsed and fallen into the coast.

Her heart stopped as she looked more closely.

Nothing had fallen in. Something was coming out.

"K-Kyaaah!"

What was it, what was it, what was it? Her brain told her that a creature like that couldn't exist, it was absurd, just look at it, it had the figure of a man but the scales and head of a fish, what sort of animal looked like that, that's right, none of them, and now it was climbing up onto the pier in front of the shrine and looking at her with those ridiculous eyes...

Koishi's brain did everything in its power to deny the creature in front of her. It was unnatural, it was impossible, it was outright wrong. If denial were a force in and of itself, it would have been enough to kill the creature a dozen times over. But it stayed standing regardless, and trudged along towards Koishi with its huge webbed feet.

"S-Stay away from me! What do you want?!"

Koishi got to her feet and stepped backwards, trying to edge herself off of the pier. The boards continued to creak again, and now the fear of them collapsing beneath her was felt doubly so. She couldn't run - a sudden movement could just make it strike out at her. It had to be slow and precise...

Bump.

"Eeh?"

Her back pressed against something. Something cold and slimy.

And scaly.

A-Another one?!

Before she could turn around to confirm her fears, the creature grabbed her by the shoulders and held her in place. Her legs kicked around in the air, but she was too far away to hope for any contact.

"Aaaah! Let go of me, please! Don't hurt me! Please, don't hurt me!"

She sounded pathetic, and she knew it, but how else was she meant to react? The other creature yanked at her bag, tearing the straps and pulling it off of her body. It looked inside, clearly searching for something, but after a quick examination it dropped the bag on the pier unfulfilled.

What are they looking for...?

Her thoughts turned to the gem she'd found, now clasped tightly in one hand. Was she supposed to just hand it over to these...creatures? They refused to offer her a response.

The fishmen looked at each other, silently arranging a plan. They nodded to one another, before the first creature grabbed Koishi's feet. Its companion locked its hands around Koishi's wrists.

"H-Hey, what are you...?!"

They dashed down the pier, with speed that no human could possibly hope to match. For a moment it looked like they were going to crash into the shrine, but they leapt over it with impossible agility, rising at least twenty feet in the air. Koishi was their unwilling passenger, struggling in vain to break their grips as they started to lose height.

The trio descended into the depths of the sea, unnoticed by the people of Gensouto.

-----

"Mmh! Mmgbl!"

Let go, let go! Please, don't do this!

The fishmen ignored Koishi's desperate flailing, holding her with iron grips as they descended deeper and deeper into the water. Her chest was already aching, and despite her best efforts air seeped out of her nose and upwards into the distance. The surface was only barely visible now - even if they let go, it'd be almost impossible for her to reach the surface.

Why? What did I do to deserve this...?

It wasn't fair. All of it, losing Satori, being so powerless, so gullible, so foolish, and now this - none of it was fair. What had she done to deserve this sort of punishment? Had she broken some divine law? Was this some god's way of striking her down?

"Onee-glan! Onee-glaan!"

Panicking, Koishi cried out for her saviour, praying that someone would rescue her from these...things. She couldn't look after herself, she needed a hero to defend her in her time of need.

No-one was following from the surface.

"...G-gglbl..."

Of course. Who'd waste their time trying to save a loser like me...?

She was starting to feel faint now. The world around her started to dim, and her eyes began to close as her air seeped out of her. She went limp in the arms of her captors, on the brink of unconsciousness.

"Click, click!"

Hmm...?

That noise sounded familiar, and Koishi just about pulled her head back far enough to see where it was coming from. It was hard to make out, just a grey dot in the distance, growing larger and larger by the second-

Wham!

If she'd had any air left in her, that impact would have knocked it right out of her. The fishmen were knocked aside as the grey projectile charged, carrying the ailing Koishi on its back.

...Huh? You're the dolphin from earlier...

Her brain was too oxygen-deprived to think straight right now. She was hearing things now, voices in her head that didn't have people to go with them.

...ring...

Koishi's eyes lazily looked down, still ready to pass out at any moment. There was a small ring on top of the creature's fin, shining faintly in the darkness.

...wear the ring...

She didn't know where the voice was coming from, and frankly she was too tired to care. Wherever this voice was coming from, she decided that she would obey it as her last act. Her right hand still held the gem from earlier, but she balanced it in the palm of her hand as she picked up the ring and - with some difficulty - lodge it on the ring finger of her left hand.

There. Now I can-

Her body reached its limit, and forced her to take a breath in. This had to be it, this had to be the end of her.

So why did she feel better?

-----

She cursed in the empty classroom.

"The damned Order made it there first?! Son of a submariner!"

-----

Jeez, I didn't cut that half-close. You okay?

This was beyond surreal now - this was definitely water she was breathing now, but there was no choking or drowning. She was breathing it like she'd breathe regular air. And even now, she was still apparently hallucinating this voice in her head.

Wait. Is that voice...

It took her a few seconds to work up the nerve to speak underwater, but the words came out with perfect ease.

"Um...hello? Is that you?"

She looked downward, seeing her mount look up at her with a smile.

You sure look fine enough from here. What a relief - the boss would have me served for dinner if I let you die like that.

The dolphin stopped in its tracks, turning back the way it had come. The fishmen from before were coming back, and they looked pretty mad.

OK, kid, here's the deal. I'm going to ask you to do some something that'll make absolutely no sense to you. I need you to trust me on this one, got it?

The dolphin's glance at her looked sterner now, as stern as a dolphin could possibly look. Koishi blinked once before replying.

"Let me get this straight. I'm riding a dolphin while I'm breathing water and being chased by two fish-man...things, and you think there's anything here that makes sense?!"

Huh. Good point.

The fishmen came closer still. They weren't armed, but their fingers unveiled claws that looked set to turn Koishi and her ride into a nice little pile of bits.

"...Alright. What do I have to do?"

Koishi was still running on adrenaline from her near-death experience. By now any semblance of rational thought had flown out the window in her head - she was ready to do just about anything now.

Good. See that gem in your hand? Squeeze it really hard, and then just let out any words that come to mind.

Well, the dolphin was definitely right - her suggestion made absolutely no sense to Koishi. Still, if it was a choice between following a ridiculous order and getting sliced up, there wasn't really a choice at all. The gem was still in her right hand, and she squeezed down on it with all her strength.

W-What is this?!

The jewel started to shine with a pale orange light as she pressed at it, and before she even realised it there were words seeping out of her mouth. The light of the gem started to pour across her own body, surrounding her in an orange aura.

"Wherever evil forces be,
On the land or in the sea,
All who sin should cower and flee
From Dolphin Rider Koishi!"

The light enveloped her entirely, running across her entire body. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JzyZb-lOXA&feature=related) She felt her clothes falling away, but the light was gracious enough to stop her from being exposed. Something else began to run across her body, clinging carefully to her like a second skin. Looking down, she saw a white fabric forming around her, covering her torso like a swimsuit while leaving her bare legs exposed. A pair of gloves appeared on her hands, a perfect fit. Her hair began to flow freely behind her, floating naturally in the water without so much as a hair moving out of place. Her outfit began to grow more accessorised - a ribbon appeared around her neck, and her gloves gained a pair of dolphin emblems. The orange gem reappeared on her chest, fused with her clothing and shining with a brilliant glow.

In her hand, she felt a sudden weight, and something cold entered her grip. Looking down, she realised that she was now holding onto a golden trident, its tips glistening with deadly sharpness. The orange tint around her began to fade, and she became one with the world again, holding her weapon towards the enemy with a dramatic pose.

"Halt, villains! I, Dolphin Rider Koishi, have emerged to put a stop to your evil deeds! In the name of the sea, prepare to be punished!"

Then her brain turned back on again.

"Wait, what the hell am I wearing?!"

No time for talk, kid! Two overgrown tuna, twelve o'clock!

The dolphin's voice in her head reminded Koishi of her priorities. The creatures didn't look any happier for having witnessed her transformation, and they continued to charge at her with their claws at the ready.

These guys should be no problem for you. Just give 'em a little beamy goodness and you'll be fine!

"Beamy...goodness?"

Just point the trident, and let the magic do the rest!

Koishi wished the dolphin would give some more precise instructions, but when there was so little time to work we she decided to be content with the cryptic crossword version. She pointed the trident towards the oncoming enemies, and willed her power into it.

The tips of the trident hummed, as tiny dots of light began to emerge from them. They shone a light orange, growing in intensity as Koishi focused her mind on it. The fishmen dashed forwards regardless, either unaware or unafraid of her attack.

"Now, disappear beneath the waves and never return!"

Words were flowing out of her mouth again, and subconsciously Koishi flinched as she realised the nonsense she was spewing. Then again, if it kept her alive, it was an embarrassment she could handle. The trident was now pronged with three orbs of pure orange light, and letting off a loud humming noise. The creatures were almost in range.

Now!

"IRUKA BEEEEAM!"

The three spheres merged into one, forming on the centre tip of the trident. For a moment, the ball turned white.

Then it exploded forward into a pillar of light, almost blinding its owner as the blast knocked Koishi back. The resulting magic encased a huge area in front of her, as wide as she was tall. The fishmen barely had time to realise what was going on, let alone avoid the attack. They were caught in Koishi's onslaught, collapsing into a dozen fish of various breeds and darting multiple directions.

The light faded, and Koishi turned the trident away. She looked on in amazement as her mind processed the outcome of her actions.

"...I...won?"

She struggled for breath, panting heavily. The dolphin looked up at her with concern.

Crap, you really went all out on that one, didn't you? I should've told you to start off a little smaller...

Koishi continued to pant, giving off a faint smile.

"I...I did it..."

Her body fell forward, resting on the dolphin's fin. She suddenly felt fatigue weigh her body down, and her eyes fell shut without a hint of resistance.

Dammit, don't pass out! ...Great, now I have to take this girl home...

The dolphin started heading for the surface, carrying its exhausted passenger in tow. She slept soundly on its back, dreaming for the first time of something other than Satori. She saw visions of herself, flying through the air without wings, soaring through the sky like a free bird.

It was a welcome change.

-----

"Ma'am, this is Agent Sango reporting."

"Did you manage to extract the target?"

"Confirmed, ma'am. Contact has been made. The Siren has become Aware."

"Combat abilities?"

"I haven't seen enough to be sure, but she has definite potential."

"Excellent. Get her informed ASAP. We don't have a minute to lose on the other Sirens."

"Yes, ma'am. Agent Sango out."

The call ended, and the woman placed her phone to one side. She groaned to herself, looking at the board behind her.

"I can get all of that running, but I can't get this to come together right..."

-----

Spot Rurobait, gain 5 points.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Horribly Wrong
Post by: Chaore on August 18, 2010, 12:51:55 AM
...what the hell did I just read.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Horribly Wrong
Post by: Moerin on August 18, 2010, 12:54:32 AM
Already told you what I thought about it on IRC, but I'll just reiterate here:  That was awesome and you should write more of this.  It's a really promising start, and I think it has the potential to be something great~

b^_^d
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Horribly Wrong
Post by: Esifex on August 18, 2010, 12:59:02 AM
Rurobait - Dolphin Rider Koishi's bare legs

I think you mean 'Passing Joke Gone TOTALLY AWESOME'.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Horribly Wrong
Post by: Sana on August 18, 2010, 01:05:23 AM
This is incredibly silly :V
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Horribly Wrong
Post by: Esifex on August 18, 2010, 01:34:21 AM
This needs to be incorporated into PLotSS somehow. Perhaps these adventures are mentioned and referred to by Koishi, I dunno, but it'd be awesome if they tied together.

Bonus points for making it a silly delivery.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Horribly Wrong
Post by: Thaws on August 18, 2010, 03:29:17 AM
I think you mean 'Passing Joke Gone TOTALLY AWESOME'.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Dead Princess Sakana on August 18, 2010, 06:22:45 AM
Ahahahaha, good work Rou, that was awesome to read  :D

Quote
People who don't read PLotSS will have no idea where this is coming from.
Nah, it's understandable without knowing that one, I have just proven that.  :V
But I guess I might read PLotSS anyway~

Quote
Two overgrown tuna, twelve o'clock!
:3

And lastly:
I think you mean 'Passing Joke Gone TOTALLY AWESOME'.
I agree and have taken appropriate measures  ;)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Esifex on August 18, 2010, 07:37:00 AM
And lastly:I agree and have taken appropriate measures  ;)

Some might argue that you're abusing your powers, Sakana.


I, however, think this is an appropriate use.

<Sakana> Power abuse where? :derp:
I wouldn't have done it if it was actually the title of the work, but as it's more like an annotation in the thread-title, I think it's okay. And it's the truth, so hey :3

Like I said - appropriate abuse of power.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Nine West on August 18, 2010, 09:52:58 PM
Fair enough, I'll treat this as a passing joke. Highly entertaining, nevertheless.

Considering I've actually got plans to continue the whole thing, it's not really a joke anymore. So if you had any plans for this, don't, uh, throw them away or anythingPlease don't stop drawing your art is beautiful ;_;.

<Nwbi> Oh, fine. I still have one more immediate thing for Sango before going somewhere else, which won't come until the next HURR PLotSS UPDATE.
<3
[/size]
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Gpop on August 18, 2010, 10:13:17 PM
...what the hell just happened?

...then again, silly things seems oddly fitting for a character like Koishi~ :V
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Moerin on August 18, 2010, 10:23:53 PM
Quote
Considering I've actually got plans to continue the whole thing, it's not really a joke anymore.
Not really my style to say something like this, but...

ilu Rou~♥

>.> <.<
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Kasu on August 18, 2010, 10:38:21 PM
Oh man.  You actually did it.

 :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on August 20, 2010, 12:22:59 AM
EXPOSITION WARNING
CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK

-----

"Nnngh..."

Koishi was cold. Her entire body was soaking wet, and her clothes were drenched. She held the covers tightly against herself, shivering.

There were strange thoughts running through her head. She had visited a shrine on the coast and made a wish there, but everything after that spiralled into absolute madness. Fishmen leaping out of the water, a dolphin appearing to save her life, a ring that let her breathe underwater, and worst of all that...whatever the hell that costume had been. Maybe she'd had a fever and she just hallucinated the entire thing in bed.

"Yeah, that makes sense..."

In any case, the best solution then would be to get some more rest. Koishi laid her head down on the pillow again and relaxed, waiting to drift off to sleep once again. Getting sick was pretty handy for her - it meant that she wouldn't have to go into school tomorrow, and she'd get to avoid Cirno and her gang for a whole day.

"...Hey. You awake yet?"

These hallucinations were more believable than she thought. That one sounded just like someone was sitting next to the bed, talking to her. But that was impossible - she never had visitors. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn't put a face to it.

"I heard you mumbling to yourself. Rise and shine, okay?"

The voice was getting more irritated. She'd heard it last night - yesterday? This morning? She didn't know what time it was right now. Whatever time it was, she wanted them to just be quiet and let her sleep.

The hallucinations were apparently a lot stronger than she expected, because the pillow that slammed into her face felt incredibly real.

"Ow!"

It didn't hurt much, but it was enough to get Koishi to wake up. She sat upright in bed, clutching at her nose with a groan.

"Morning, sleepyhead! I was wondering when you'd come back into the realm of the living."

The voice sounded a lot more cheerful now that Koishi had woken up in full. It annoyed her that she couldn't place it - it wasn't a classmate, but who else could it be? The only voice she'd heard recent was in that dream of hers, the one from the dol-

Oh, god.

She didn't want to open her eyes. She had a horrible feeling that if she did, she'd see something ridiculous again. It would just be a good idea to lie down and go back to sleep...

"Do I need to throw something else at you?"

Well, if it was a choice between slight physical pain and witnessing something that would shatter her view of reality forever, Koishi could only really go with the latter. She counted to three in her head, then opened her eyes wide in one movement.

Another girl was sitting in the chair at her side, looking down on her with dark blue eyes. Her shirt had an odd bubble pattern running along its sleeves, and her skirt was dripping onto the carpet. She looked like she was soaked as well, but it didn't seem to mind.

For a while, it didn't seem all that bad. It wasn't one of those weird fish-things from before - it was an ordinary-enough human being. Her hair was strange, true - a shade of silver, just like hers - and her outfit was a little eccentric, but she didn't have scales or anything else freaky like that. She could deal with odd hair and fashion sense.

Then the girl turned her head slightly, and Koishi saw the fin sticking out the back of her neck.

"Ah-"

Koishi's cry caught in her throat as she promptly fainted.

-----

She awoke more violently the next time around, as a bucket of water was dropped on her face.

"Don't collapse on me again, please. I need to talk to you about a ton of stuff, and it's sorta hard to do that when you're unconscious."

The words should have been irritated, but the dolphin girl stuck her tongue out as she spoke. Apparently having a legitimate reason to drop a bucket of water on someone's face was enough to entertain her. Koishi spluttered momentarily, but she was definitely awake this time.

"...Am I high on something? I swear it looks like there's something sticking out of your neck from here."

"Yeah, that's a bit of a nuisance. I'm not exactly undercover right now, so I didn't see any point in hiding it. After all, you know who I am, right?"

Koishi struggled for a response for a few seconds.

"Um...not really. Unless you want me to say 'a magical dolphin who saved my life'. And I really don't want to say that."

The dolphin leaned across the bed, her face wearing an absurd-looking smile.

"Aw, why not? You know I'm adorable. I can see it in your eyes - you just wanna give your friend Sango a big hug and tell her what a great person she is, right?"

"Not really."

Silence. Sango pouted.

"...Oh. Well, I'm sure we'll get to know each other a lot better. We've got a lot of work to do together, after all!"

Sango seemed excited about this whole thing now, trembling a little in happiness.

"Um...what work?"

Koishi tilted her head in confusion, still completely out of the loop. Sango's eyes widened, as she suddenly realised she'd forgotten something.

"Oh yeah, I was meant to give you a rundown on everything, wasn't I? Sorry, this is my first time working with a Siren, so I guess I'm making mistakes every now and again."

Another term that Koishi didn't recognise. This definitely wasn't a hallucination now - even if her brain was going haywire, it would still make more sense than this.

"A siren? What, were you that desperate to wake me up?"

"No, silly, I'm talking about you. See that gem you have over there? That's proof that you're a Siren."

Sango pointed to the desk next to Koishi's bed. Turning to it, Koishi saw that sitting on top of it was the orange jewel from earlier. The one that she'd...

"That gem is what we call a Tidal Teardrop. They're magical jewels with incredible power - what let you do that whole Dolphin Rider thing a few hours ago, basically."

Koishi picked the Teardrop up. It glistened slightly, letting off that beautiful tint it had earlier.

"The legend goes that at one point in time, 7 girls from this town are chosen to become Sirens, and they realise their power when they make a wish from the bottom of their hearts. Following me so far?"

She remembered the shrine. The wish she'd made to find someone who would look after her. Had Sango appeared to grant that wish...? Koishi nodded, putting together what had been said so far.

"Why 7 in particular?"

"Hell if I know. Magic just seems to like certain numbers for some reason. Don't ask me, I just work here."

Sango shrugged sarcastically. Apparently she wasn't as in the know as she claimed to be.

"Now, this is where things get a little weird, so bear with me, okay? I want you to start by looking down on yourself."

Koishi stared blankly at Sango for a moment, but eventually she complied and pulled the covers away.

"What the-?!"

Something was running across her body - a series of purple cords travelling along her legs and coming to an end at her chest. A dark blue sphere was attached to them, centred over where Koishi's heart was. An eyelid hung shut on it, and didn't look set to open any time soon.

How hadn't she noticed this? This thing was attached to her in four or five different places, but she couldn't feel its presence at all. It was almost like it had been part of her all her life-

"Wait. No, that's impossible..."

Sango smiled.

"I'm not introducing you to any new world, Koishi. I'm just helping you see what's already there."

-----

"What happens when you're a kid, Koishi? Your folks will tell you fairy tales and stories about princesses in castles who get saved by Prince Charming, right? Thing is, they don't expect you to honestly believe in that sort of stuff, because they don't believe in it either. No-one does. Magic doesn't exist, right?"

Koishi shook her head. She didn't believe as much - hell, after everything she'd seen in the last 24 hours, she couldn't - but she shook her head on instinct.

"Bzzt. Wrong answer!"

Sango held her hands up in an X to denote a wrong answer. Koishi pouted, afraid that Sango had actually taken her seriously with that.

"Well, what people don't realise is that a mindset like that is exactly what blinds you to magic in the first place. People who don't believe in magic can't see it, and they see the world in the boring mundane way everyone thinks they're supposed to see it. It's that denial that basically blinds them to the real world.

"And what's life like in the real world? Well, imagine everyone you ever knew had some sort of superpower or magical ability. Everyone in your class is some sort of magical girl, and they all look like it as well - crazy hair, weird eye colours, and in your case an extra eye on top of the two you've already got. But again, no-one realises it, so all of that magic just goes to waste. As long as people don't realise that they're magical, they'll never BE magical."

Koishi raised her hand, puzzled.

"Hair? You mean, people having blue hair for no reason and not being aware of it?"

Sango stopped her monologue, taken aback by Koishi's question.

"W-Well, yeah, pretty much. How'd you know that?"

"I, uh, sort of see it sometimes. People with weird strands of hair that no-one else seems to notice...is that normal?"

Sango bit her lip, which was enough to tell Koishi the answer was a definite 'no'.

"...Well, you must have somehow been semi-aware of the magical world. I dunno how, but it probably isn't unheard of. Anyway, you'll see these things full-force now.

"So the majority of mankind is unaware of their secret abilities. Hell, there are only two ways to really realise it nowadays - to honestly believe that magic exists even when everyone around you thinks you're crazy, and having someone else push you into the truth. That, uh, was sorta what I had to do to you, but it was that or you got drowned by those fishmen, so I hope you understand."

Koishi suddenly realised she'd never offered thanks to Sango for her help earlier, and immediately she felt guilty for having forgotten.

"Um. You saved me from those...whatever they were. Thank you, Sango."

"No problem. Anyway, the other thing people don't realise about the world is that there are people around them who've been aware of the truth the whole time."

"You don't mean wicca folk and stuff like that, do you?"

Sango sighed, pointing to her fin again.

"Here's a hint."

Koishi stared at the fin while her brain processed the question. Her jaw slowly opened.

"You don't mean...animals, do you?"

"Yup. Most people would just think I was a dolphin - kinda smart, but not as smart as one of you. How wrong can you get, huh?"

Sango smirked, taking a proud stance and looking dramatically into the distance. It was clearly meant to impress, but Koishi disregarded it entirely.

"So, we animals are in two minds when it comes to you humans. Most of us think things are fine the way they are, and that humans are best kept in the dark in terms of the whole magic deal. Humans are already volatile enough creatures as it is, so giving them all their power is basically begging for trouble.

"But there's a small minority who think otherwise. They think that all that magic is going to waste if we don't tell people about it, so they want to bring magic into the public eye. They only have a few rare moments to strike, but if any of them were to be successful it could lead to the whole world learning about magic and everything going to hell. They call themselves the Children of the Black Claw."

Koishi frowned. This was all getting horribly complicated...was she trying to say that there'd been some sort of secret war going on around her her entire life? That seemed ridiculous, and she was a lot happier being in the dark about it. No way to unhear any of this, though, so she had no choice but to let the whole story come out.

"This, here? It's one of those rare moments. Those Tidal Teardrops of yours? They give you a ton of magical power, yeah, but they can be used for more than just magical girl antics. And getting all 7 of them together...well, with that, the Claw could basically unleash any sort of magical disaster they liked. They'd own the world, in short.

"So that's why there's another sect designed to keep their forces at bay. We're not exactly a large group, but we're devoted and highly skilled. It's our job to keep the Teardrops out of the hands of the villains and keep the peace in the world."

She bowed gracefully, to the extent that it was almost parody.

"And so it's with great pleasure that I can offer my services to you as Sango Tororetsu: Initiate of the Order of the White Pearl, and your new personal bodyguard."

-----

"Think you can understand all of that?"

Koishi took a moment to think it all over, but eventually she nodded. So basically there were bad guys who wanted to use that teardrop to take over the world, and Sango was here to protect her? That made sense.

"So, um. How long do we have to wait before they stop looking for the Teardrops?"

Sango's face fell.

"Wait? We're not going to wait for them to get bored, Koishi. We've got to go at there and find the other Teardrops before they do! True, they won't get all seven, but even four or five in their hands is really dangerous!"

Now this part Koishi didn't like. Her voice grew a little more flustered as she began to question the dolphin.

"W-Well, can't you just wait for them to make their wish or whatever, and save them like you saved me?"

"I can't be responsible for all of the Sirens at once. If I go out of my way to save someone else, that would leave you in danger, Koishi. And like I said, there aren't many of us in the Order - I'm pretty much the only agent they could send to look out for you in person."

Koishi was starting to tremble a little now.

"But...that means we'd need to fight again."

Sango shrugged.

"Maybe. The Claw will probably gather forces from nearby - revealing the truth to some of the local girls, and getting them to work as soldiers for them with the promise of power. If they find a Teardrop that way, all the better for them, but if we sit around and wait it'll be us versus an army of other magical girls. And while that Teardrop gives you a lot of power, it's not gonna be enough to take on a dozen people at once."

Koishi fell silent. Her eyes started to water a little, and she sank back into her bedcovers. Her heart was pounding with fear just at the thought of going through another fight like that again - it had been adrenaline alone that guided her through her battle against the fishmen, and now she was being asked to fight people she knew? People she'd gone to school with her whole life? It was too much, far too much.

"I...I don't want to fight."

The dolphin sighed.

"Koishi. I know it's scary, but I'm counting on you to-"

"You don't get it! I can't help you, Sango!"

Koishi burst out at Sango, raising her voice to a shout for the first time in the discussion. Sango was physically taken aback, startled by Koishi's sudden rage.

"I'm not some magical girl who can fight evil. I'm not some superhero destined to save the world from the forces of darkness. ...I'm not even an ordinary high-school student, living out an ordinary life with ordinary friends and ordinary grades. I'm a coward, a weakling, a loser...you may as well take that stupid stone of yours and give it to someone else. It's wasted on the likes of me."

Koishi pulled the covers over her head, slumping down into bed again. Sango bit her lip - she hadn't just struck a nerve, she'd stabbed a knife through it and run all the way along.

"Koishi...don't say stuff like that. You saw what you did to those fish-freaks, didn't you? You beat the crap out of them!"

"What if I just got lucky? And besides, it's only going to get harder from here, right?"

Sango couldn't answer that one, and bit her lip as she tried to come up with a response. There wasn't much she could do, though - if Koishi wasn't going to accept that she'd managed to succeed, she could hardly convince her to change her mind after knowing her for all of an hour.

"Take that Teardrop, and give it to someone else, okay? Just act like I never had it."

Koishi pulled the pillow over her head, effectively ending the conversation on her part. Sango bit her lip, wishing she could do more here - she wasn't willing to give up on Koishi, especially after that show she'd put on. She wouldn't admit it herself, but Koishi had kicked some serious...wait, fish didn't really have rears, did they? Anyway, she was incredibly strong for a beginner. She had potential, and with Koishi's help they might just be able to win this war. But how could she get her out of this rut?

"...Maybe I should leave this to someone who knows you better."

Koishi barely heard her from beneath the pillow, and her words didn't make any sense anyway. She heard Sango walk towards the doorway.

"I'll be hanging around for a while, so feel free to think this over. Later."

She made her way out of the room, but she didn't stop talking. Koishi heard Sango say something else, but it clearly wasn't aimed at her.

"You two can see her now. Hopefully she won't be too surprised."

Two voices let out little yelps of joy at that one. Koishi was confused - who on earth would be wanting to visit her at a time like this? She still didn't have any visitors, and the only living things that stayed here besides her were Rin and Utsuho-

Wait.

She pulled her thoughts back to what Sango had told her earlier - animals were part of the magical world as well. So...did that mean...?

"K...Koishi-sama?"

A new voice entered the room, asking after her with concern. It was joined by a second, more aggressive one soon after.

"Nyaah! Outta the way, outta the way! I can't get in with you blocking the doorway like that!"

There was a sound of someone being pushed, and two shouts as the newcomers tumbled onto the floor in a heap. Koishi was torn between looking over the edge of the bed and confirming her fears and holding this pillow down for just long enough to suffocate herself. Survival instinct won in the end, however, and she satisfied her curiosity.

Two young girls were looking back up at her - one with a pair of raven's wings emerging from her back, and the other sporting a set of feline ears. There was no doubt about it - these were the pets she'd looked after since she was a child, except they'd apparently been a lot more intelligent than she'd previously imagined.

There was an awkward silence as the pets prepared to speak with their master for the first time.

"Uh...hi?"
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Nine West on August 20, 2010, 12:49:14 AM
"Aw, why not? You know I'm adorable. I can see it in your eyes - you just wanna give your friend Sango a big hug and tell her what a great person she is, right?"

I nearly died. Well done.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on August 21, 2010, 01:23:41 AM
Jesus Christ it's 2:20 in the morning why do I never finish these at a reasonable hour
Or in a state of full consciousness, for one =_=

-----

On one hand, there was still a way for things to get more embarrassing than this. At least they were wearing clothes, though Koishi had no idea where they'd come from. Rin was dressed in a long dark green dress, and Utsuho was clad in a white shirt with a light green skirt. Both of them had long, flowing hair; Rin's was red and tied in a pair of ponytails, while Utsuho's was black and tied with a single green ribbon. In regards to looks, they looked almost like normal people.

Except for the ears and the wings, anyway. But she'd have scored them 9 out of 10 on the looking-human-ometer.

"Nyaah! Koishi-sama, you're alright! When the fish woman showed up at our front door with you in her arms after school, we were so worried about you!"

Rin was the first to recover from her case of paralysis, pulling herself off the floor and wrapping her arms around her master. She then promptly leapt away, flapping her arms madly.

"Brr...! You're still soaking, Koishi-sama! You must be really cold wearing those! Should we make you a fire or something?!"

"I'm fine, Rin. Really."

Rin's flailing stopped, and she pouted. She held a finger up to Koishi in a matter that made it look like she was the master in this relationship.

"OK, this is something I've wanted to clear up for a while. Call me Orin, dammit! Rin Kaenbyou is way too long a name for a cat, nya!"

"Uh, but that was the name that onee-chan gave you. I didn't think I was allowed to-"

"I give you permission, okay?! That's a silly name for a cat, and I don't like it!"

Rin - wait, no, it was Orin now - flailed around a little as her rant came to an end. Utsuho came to her feet at last, and in every way she looked a little slower than Orin did. Every motion of hers seemed slow and meticulous, carefully planned out and thought over.

"Um. Koishi-sama? Please call me Okuu from now on."

This nickname made even less sense than Orin did. Koishi simply stared at her in confusion, eventually convincing Utsuho to offer an explanation.

"Well, um...Uzuho...Utsuo...my normal name is hard to say, so Orin said I should just use Okuu instead."

Compared to Orin, Okuu's speech was much more childish. She was probably a little less intelligent than her partner - bird-brained, for the lack of any better word.

"Yeah, Okuu was one I came up with. It's the same kanji you guys used for Utsuho, right? So there's no problem!"

Koishi nodded along. She was surprised that Orin was familiar with kanji as well, and she had a feeling that it was a skill that Okuu didn't share with her.

"So, uh. You're telling me you two have known about this whole magic thing the whole time?"

"Yes."

Okuu answered instantly, without a hint of embarrassment. This earned her a prompt bopping on the head from Orin.

"Unyu!"

"S-Sorry, Koishi-sama. I know it looks really bad that we kept you in the dark, but it's kind of an unspoken agreement, y'know? I guess dolphin lady filled you in on a lot, so..."

Were they like this whenever she wasn't around? Come to think of it, they must have been in this form to let Sango in while she was passed out. They'd probably make a good manzai (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCH9jxsvaVU&feature=related) pair, actually.

"It's okay. I understand that you weren't allowed to say anything."

It felt awkward doing this when they looked almost human now, but Koishi gave her pets the usual playful treatment, scratching just behind Orin's ears and running a hand down Okuu's hair.

"U-Unyuu..."

Okuu in particular seemed to enjoy the feeling, letting out a little sound of satisfaction. Orin was mature enough to keep her pleasure to herself, simply responding with a bright smile.

"But, Koishi-sama...you sounded angry when you were talking to the dolphin lady earlier. Is something wrong?"

The hand scratching Orin came to a halt. She could feel it tremble slightly as Koishi let out a long, heaving sigh.

"It...It's a long story..."

Koishi did what she could to explain the situation, putting it into simple words so that Okuu could keep up. After a few minutes she was satisfied that she'd got the point across, and expected her pets to understand where she was coming from.

No such luck.

"Unyu...if it's your stone, doesn't that mean you should be taking care of it?"

"Koishi-sama, do you realise what this means?! You get to be a hero like in one of those anime they show in the mornings after you've left for school!"

Koishi suddenly understood why she found the television on when she came home, but that was hardly the point right now. Maybe animals just didn't have the same sense of danger as humans did.

"Look, it's not that easy. It'd be hard, and brutal, and it'd be a waste of time for me to do it when there are better candidates out there."

She slumped back into bed again, her own words draining the life out of her.

"There are a thousand other girls my age who'd be a better hero than me. It's stupid for me to risk my life when there's no point, you know?"

That was a difficult point to respond to, and it was the first one to put a stopper on that mouth of Orin's. Okuu sat and gazed into space, not looking like she was paying any attention to the conversation at all, and Koishi took their silence as consent.

"...Can you guys go tell Sango to leave? She can have the Teardrop, no problem. I don't want it, anyway."

Koishi picked up the gem on the desk, flinging it across the room towards her pets. It landed in front of Okuu, who looked down at it curiously. She seemed fascinated by the light bouncing off of it, holding it at all sorts of angles and inspecting it rather than actually following Koishi's order.

"Koishi-sama?"

Koishi didn't respond. Right now she'd done all the explaining she needed to, and she just wanted to get some sleep. She wanted all of this magical crap to just leave her alone and go away.

"You didn't mean any of that, did you?"

They couldn't see her from here, but both of them could make out Koishi jerking under the covers at the sound of that. Okuu wasn't verbose, but she was good at getting to the heart of the matter.

"You're running away, Koishi-sama. You're scared."

It wasn't meant as an insult - Okuu was just speaking matter-of-factly. Her grasp of tact was non-existent, and she relentlessly hit Koishi right where it hurt.

"O-Okuu, maybe you should give Koishi-sama some time to herself..."

Orin did what she could to silence her friend, but the damage had already been done. The covers were shivering now, and they could hear Koishi sniffling from beneath them.

"It's just...I could die out there! What if I'm not good enough? They already nearly killed me, and they could do it again, and, and..."

Koishi's sniffles stopped. She still trembled beneath the covers, but all sorts of thoughts were filling her mind. If it was magic involved, there were even more ways for her to die - they could burn her, freeze her, stab her, impale her, crush her, and all sorts of other ideas that were equally distressing. That was it - she couldn't do this. They couldn't ask this of her.

"But Koishi-sama. What happens if you pass it on?"

It was a simple question with a simple answer, but Koishi hadn't stopped to think about it. If she turned it down, the only thing Sango could do would be pass the Teardrop onto someone else. Then they'd get left to make the same decision she had to make, with the added pressure that the previous candidate chickened out.

"Ah...Okuu has a point there. I know it's scary, but someone has to do it, Koishi-sama-"

"But why me? Why do I have to be the hero? I'm no fighter, you two. I won one fight on a lucky fluke, and now she wants me to go save the world? I can't do it! She's wasting her time on me!"

She knew full well she was being irresponsible now, but she didn't care. She was too weak to be a hero like Sango wanted her to be. There was no question about it - she was a loser, and she always would be.

Orin wore a pained expression as she watched her mistress squirm around in bed. Okuu still sat wearing the same confused expression, apparently unable to understand why Koishi didn't follow her logic.

"...Koishi-sama. You're going to get mad at me for saying this, but..."

Orin took a deep breath. She was deathly afraid of hurting Koishi's feelings here, but if this was the only way she could get to her she'd have to go for it.

"You need to move on, Koishi-sama. You can't go on forever thinking that you need someone to protect you. You're a young woman now, and there's no-one around to look after you anymore. ...I'm sorry, nyaa..."

Orin immediately felt like she'd said too much, and felt her stomach cave in a little. Koishi took a while to respond, the words barely creeping out of her mouth.

"...You don't understand, Orin. It took so long..."

Orin bit her lip hard. She was afraid that this would remind her of that incident, and all remembering it was going to do was make Koishi even more afraid.

"They told me I was gone for thirty seconds, but I remember it lasting forever..."

-----

It was summer, one of the last few days of cram school. My class ended up finishing early because the teacher was sick, though, so I got to sit around for an hour waiting for onee-chan to finish up. There was nowhere for me to sit inside the school, so I got stuck waiting outside the school for her to finish up.

I dunno how long it was. I just started walking laps around the school to pass the time, but I got bored eventually. I figured I could get away with heading a little further away from the school - I'd see onee-chan coming out anyway, and it was still pretty light.

There was something I wanted to check anyway, so I took a little stroll to a lake nearby. I pulled out the treasure map one of my classmates handed to me earlier, marking the lakebed with a giant X at one point. There was hidden treasure there, apparently, and I wanted to see if I could find it for myself. I only had to pay a good 500 Yen for it as well. Tewi was a good friend, I thought.

I took off my bag and shoes before treading carefully into the water. A little cold, but I could handle it. We'd just finished doing swimming lessons in school, so I figured a little lake couldn't be that much of a problem. I swam out into the water, remembering the instructions I'd been given from the teacher, arms straight, legs straight, everything perpedicular to the surface. No problem.

That was about far enough, I thought. I took a deep breath, and plunged down into the water below. The X should have been round about here, according to the map, so I swam along the bottom to inspect it in further detail. I couldn't see any of the markings that Tewi pointed out on the map, like the rock shaped like a cross of the dead man's skull. All I could see was seaweed, seaweed and more seaweed.

I was beginning to wonder if I'd been tricked by a simple prank when something yanked at my leg.

"Agglubl?!"

I turned on the spot, feeling my left leg stuck in place. There was seaweed tied all around it in some impossibly complicated set of knots. I tried to jerk my leg out from the seaweed's grip, but it was firmly caught in its grip.

That's when the fear started to set in.

I reached down and started tugging at the tangled weeds with boths hands, doing what I could to untie myself. But with every move, they seemed to get tighter, and if anything all my efforts managed was to get me even more trapped.

"M-Mmbl! Mmmggglbl!"

My chest hurt. I hadn't been under long, but I was panicking. Can you blame me? I was a kid who barely knew what death was, and now here I was trapped in a forgotten lake with no-one around to help me.

My efforts to free myself grew more desperate. I clawed at the seaweed, trying to somehow cut it with my nails as I kicked in every direction I could think of. Nothing, and all I managed to do was tire myself out with it. My lungs were on fire.

Help me! Someone! Anyone!

The lake was empty. I was dying, and no-one even knew it.

"G-glagglb!"

My hands clutched my throat suddenly, as my lungs decided they weren't going to take any more of this. The little air I had forced itself out in a few violent, panicked gurgles. My head was feeling light, and the world was getting dark around me. Maybe this was it...if I just passed out here, then maybe this wasn't such a bad way to die.

Then my body decided to breathe in against my will.

It hurt in ways I never even thought possible. It felt like someone had set off a bomb inside my chest. I started flailing madly, not even thinking anymore, totally overwhelmed by that pain.

Ithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurts

Every breath my body made me take just brought in more water and more pain. I was vaguely aware that this was all my fault - I'd been the idiot who jumped into a lake unsupervised and got herself trapped. All of this was because I was an idiot.

Ah...it's getting dark...

I started to feel numb as my brain shut down. It was a welcome escape, as I stopped trying to make an escape and just let my body go limp. For a moment, I thought there was something in the distance...someone, coming closer. But it was probably just my mind playing tricks as it suffocated.

The instant I closed my eyes, the world around me ceased to exist.

---

The next thing I remember was three hours later, waking up in a hospital bed. It was hard to breathe - there was a doctor next to me, spouting out long words like resuscitation and cardiac arrest. I wasn't really paying attention to him.

I was busy being hugged by Onee-chan, who'd been waiting at my side ever since I'd been checked in.

"Koishi...oh, Koishi!"

I only found out later that her class had finished just after I went off on my little expedition. She couldn't find me, saw my things lying next to the lakeside, and put two and two together. By the time she found me, though, I'd already passed out, and she had to lift my limp body to the surface after cutting me out of the seaweed with a set square.

"I...I thought I lost you...Koishi, I was so worried..."

Onee-chan could barely speak then, she was struggling that hard to fight with the tears. I noticed something a little weird then - I always remembered her having light brown hair, but all of a sudden it was a light shade of pink. I recall asking her about it later, and her not having a clue what I was talking about - but everyone could see that my hair was pure silver now.

While my sister was holding me tightly and crying into my chest, I realised that if she hadn't shown up and saved me, I would have drowned for sure in that lake. I'd be dead. I'd be nothing.

Without Onee-chan, I would be nothing.

Without Onee-chan, I wouldn't exist.

Without Onee-chan, I was worthless...

-----

Koishi came back into the present, well aware that her face was streaming with tears.

"Don't you get it? If I didn't have Onee-chan, I'd be dead. If I go off and do my own thing now I'll probably get myself into another situation like that, and this time she won't be around to save me."

The air in the room felt heavier than rock. Orin couldn't bring herself to raise her head up, and even Okuu was well aware that the atmosphere in the room was sullen.

"Onee-chan went to a lot of effort to save me. I'm not about to throw that life away trying to be a hero. I...I can't do it."

Orin's head was spinning. There were a thousand things she wanted to say at once - she wanted to apologise from bringing those memories back up, she wanted to make a joke to lighten the mood, she wanted to walk out and tell Sango to get lost, she wanted to just break down into tears right in front of Koishi.

But one emotion was welling up above all of those. It was the emotion a mother felt when they heard their child say they were going to do something incredibly irresponsible, the feeling someone got when kind words went out the window.

Orin disregarded her former fears about upsetting her master. These were harsh words, but they had to be said.

"Look, I know I'm not the person who you want saying this, but Satori-sama isn't here so I'm gonna have to do it for her."

Okuu watched as her friend got to her feet, anger starting to flare up in her eyes.

"You think this is what she wanted you to be like? Lying in bed moaning about how terrible you are? Honestly, sometimes I'm glad that Satori-sama isn't around, because if she saw the state you've managed to get yourself into it'd just about break her heart!"

Orin pulled the covers off the bed, revealing the cowering Koishi underneath. She looked up at her own pet with frightened eyes.

"Yes, maybe this is gonna be dangerous. Yes, maybe if you screw up you're going to die. But tell me something - just what kind of life are you living right now? You let people walk over you all day and spend all night lying in bed and doing nothing. This is your chance to go out there and do something! This is your opening to go out there and live your freaking life! And if you don't make something of it, I'll...I'll scratch at your bed at night when you're trying to sleep! I'll follow you into school and refuse to leave you alone! I'll stare at you when you go to the bathroom! I'll...nyaaaaah!"

Her anger boiled over, and Orin slumped onto the floor. She couldn't find words to express her emotions any more, and she finally settled for resting her head on Koishi's lap. She'd said some horrible things, things she couldn't take back, things she regretted, and she felt lousy for having shot her mouth.

"Unyuu..."

Okuu groaned nearby. This was all going to quickly for her to follow now, and she just had to sit back and watch things unfold. The cat continued to squirm around, waiting for some sort of response from her master.

She finally received another stroke behind her ears, and the stress in her body melted away.

"Okuu."

"Ah?"

Koishi's face seemed calmer now, more accepting. Maybe Orin's rant had managed to get through that thick skull of hers. She still looked nervous, but she took a deep breath and managed to get the words out.

"...Call in Sango. I want to agree to this now before I chicken out again."

-----

Honestly, the dolphin wasn't very hopeful for Koishi's chances - with denial that strong, it would likely take a miracle to get her to cooperate. She expected to have the Teardrop thrown violently at her the instant she entered the room as she got yelled at to get out of the house.

Instead, she walked in to see Koishi sitting upright in bed, looking a lot braver that she did before. It was a look that didn't come to her naturally, but she was clearly doing her best to act strong.

It needed some work, but it was a good start.

"Sango, can I make one request?"

She liked the sound of that. It was the sound of success and cooperation. Sango grinned.

"Shoot. Your wish is my command."

"I don't want to kill anyone. If we have to fight someone, knock them out, run away, whatever, just don't kill them. I...don't think I can do that."

Sango's heart lifted a little. She expected her to join out of payback if nothing else; to see such a peaceful angle coming from her was a pleasant surprise.

"Alright, then. I'm not gonna be a slave driver, so you can take tonight to rest. You just came through a long day, so I figure you deserve it."

Sango made to leave the room. She'd borrow the couch for now - she didn't really need sleep in the same way humans did, so she'd survive.

"One question, though - what made you change your mind?"

Koishi looked to Orin with a small smile.

"...I guess an old friend told me something I needed to hear."

-----

Well, that's Koishi just about out of the worst stages of her emo. Thank god. -_-
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Moerin on August 21, 2010, 01:30:22 AM
Jesus Christ it's 2:20 in the morning why do I never finish these at a reasonable hour
Or in a state of full consciousness, for one =_=

Because you put lots of effort into your work, and it shows.  Really, you're doing great with it so far~  I'm really looking forward to the next part.  Keep at it, okay?  This really is awesome so far~
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Thaws on August 21, 2010, 02:43:34 AM
This seemed silly at first, but I really like this alternate Gensokyo-like universe you've set up.
I find myself like this more than PLotSS :V, can't wait to see more of this.
and how many times are you going to drown Koishi
In my defense, she's only actually drowned once. >.>
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Alfred F. Jones on August 21, 2010, 06:54:32 AM
I'm definitely familiar with emo Koishi :ohdear:

I'm very glad to see her gain some courage, though. This is already such an interesting read.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Dead Princess Sakana on August 21, 2010, 10:06:18 AM
So I just caught up on the new updates, and:
It proves that I can't even cover a light subject like mahou-shoujo without turning it serious business.
I now totally agree. Poor Koishi ;_;

Looking forward to what happens now that she finally pulled herself together, though~
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: ES-Anthy on August 21, 2010, 10:50:07 AM
To be honest this is one of the best stories I've ever read, you're doing great Roukan o/

Just try to stay away from the emo I think we kinda got it all out there :x
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Matsuri on August 21, 2010, 07:16:18 PM
So this is what I've been hearing about on #meido all this time.

I like where this is going. Keep it up! :3

Quote
Son of a submariner!

ilu rou (http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll65/momijitsukuyomi/40.gif)

Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on August 25, 2010, 12:34:32 AM
OK, let's step away from the emo for a while~

-----


When she woke up the next morning, she wondered if everything that had happened had been some sort of surreal hallucination - her own, twisted way of telling herself she had to move on and make a change. As she opened her eyes and found herself welcoming in another ordinary morning, Koishi wondered if she'd just had some sort of great epiphany.

Orin - if she wanted to be called that, she'd call her that - stroked up alongside her leg, looking a lot more relaxed now than she usually did. She noticed the slight spring that had emerged in Koishi's step, and it seemed to relax her.

"Alright, you two, eat up. A little extra today won't hurt, right?"

To be honest, it wasn't as harmless as she wanted to admit. There was always enough trouble when it came to paying off rent and all, and things were just barely hanging together with what she had. After the incident, she'd always looked a little off-kilter, and her family had been more than keen to act like she'd passed on. When Satori wanted to move into her own residence and take Koishi with her, there were no complaints.

Her mother had died in childbirth, and her father had only passed away recently. Most of the inheritance went to Satori, the 'capable' daughter as their parents put it, and indeed she was sensible enough with her spendings to keep them afloat. Honestly, Koishi hadn't been that heartbroken by her father's death - she had never been particularly attached to him, instead finding solace in her sister whenever it was needed.

Now that Satori was gone, though, the budget she had to work with was much shorter. It was an effort to pay the rent and keep the pets at the same time, but she knew that it would have broken Satori's heart to see them kicked out, so she looked after them regardless. She'd figure out a way around it. A part-time job, maybe. She could do with some time out of the house.

Yup. Whatever sort of dream she'd had last night, it was definitely having an effect on her. She decided to go and splash her face with cold water, just to get herself wide awake. She opened the bathroom door, slightly surprised that the light had been left on.

This was quickly overwritten by the very major surprise that a dolphin was floating in her bathtub.

"Wha-!?"

Koishi jolted back for a moment, her brain immediately telling her that there was no reason for something like that to be residing in her home. Instinct gave way quickly, though, to the memories of what she had assumed simply to be merely fantasy.

She looked at her hand for confirmation. The ring was in place, just as she remembered.

...Sango-san?

The dolphin didn't seem to notice her. In fact, it didn't seem to be responding at all. Its face was submerged in the water, but she could see its blowhole occasionally letting out little bursts of air. It was breathing, that was for sure.

Is she...asleep?

Only one way to find out, Koishi decided. She tiptoed over to the bathtub, towards the slumbering sea mammal. She reached out with a single finger, dipping it into the cold water.

Then, she poked the creature in the side.

The change happened to fast for Koishi's eyes to properly make out. By the time she had finished blinking, there was no longer a dolphin in the bath - now, instead, a  young girl was pulling her head out of the water, mumbling to herself.

"Initiate Sango Tororetsu, reporting for duty! Service with a smile, or your money back!"

The ellipses were practically hanging above Koishi's head. If there was anything to make you feel comfortable dealing with a mission to save the world, it was knowing that your bodyguard was competent and reliable.

Sango did not appear to be either of these. Not when she woke up later than the person she was ordered to protect, and especially not when she had to be woken up by them.

"...Uh. Oh, yeah, I'm already on duty, aren't I?"

She slapped herself in the face to wake herself up properly, before nonchalantly stepping out of the bathtub. Her hair was soaking wet, leaving tiny droplets on Koishi's carpet. They seemed cleaner for it, though, so she paid it no mind.

Or maybe she was distracted by the fact that Sango didn't seem to be wearing anything.

"...Please put some clothes on."

"Huh? Oh yeah, you guys get all touchy-feely over being naked, don't you-"

"NOW."

-----

She eventually goaded Sango into getting changed, mainly on the principle that if she wanted to blend in being caught streaking was not a good idea. That, and the dolphin fin was a good giveaway that something was wrong.

Sango insisted on wearing the same clothes she'd worn the day before, a fact that concerned Koishi until she inspected the clothes in question. They were immaculate, as if they'd never been worn before, but they'd simply been left on the radiator overnight.

Magic. It does all sorts of weird stuff, apparently.


Koishi convinced Sango to wear a jacket over her normal shirt, for the sole purpose of covering up the fin on her back. The dolphin groaned, but finally accepted the burden as part of her duty.

"So, what did I walk in on? You were a dolphin, and then..."

"Yeah, animals can switch between forms at will. We can either look like the animal that most people would recognise, or we take on a more humanoid form for the sake of cross-species conversation and blending in. We call that a youkai form, and obviously we don't show that one to humans."

"Youkai? As in the monsters from folklore?"

"Hey, we make mistakes now and then, right? Every legend has a speck of truth in it and all that crap."

Koishi looked back into her room, towards her pets. It made a lot of sense for them to stay like that at feeding time - probably made the food a bit more filling.

"So, I need to head to school. Sorry, I can't take you with me on this one."

She tried not to let the nerves slip into her voice too much as she spoke. Honestly, going back to school still scared her a little - Cirno would be looking out for her, like she always did, and Sango could hardly walk into school unannounced.

"Ah, before you do that..."

Sango ran off into Koishi's room, pulling out the orange jewel from yesterday and also taking something else out of her pocket.

"Keep the Teardrop safe. Also, you're probably gonna need these."

She handed Koishi a pair of ordinary looking glasses. Koishi seemed confused by the gesture, examining them carefully and seeing nothing particularly strange about them.

"Trust me, you'll understand when you head out there."

That really wasn't much more productive, actually, but Koishi didn't have time to worry about it. She was probably running late as it was, and if she wanted to try and make a change she was going to have to pick up on her punctuality. A quick peek into Scarlet Bakery for some breakfast, then a good jog across Gensouto to make it in on time. The usual, just with a little more zest than she typically approached it with.

"Alright, see you guys later!"

"Nyaa!"

"Unyu!"

"Look both ways before you cross the street!"

Koishi stared blankly at Sango from the doorway in response to that one, eventually closing the door with an awkward expression. Sango looked up, confused.

"What? That's what they told me when I accepted this job..."

At Sango's feet, a cat looked up and sighed to itself.

"Anyway, I'd better get ready, too. Can't be late on day one, can I?"

-----

The world seemed a little brighter as she stepped out into it today. Maybe it was because she was looking at it with a little more enthusiasm, or maybe yesterday's experiences had made her see something in the word she didn't see beforehand. Either way, Koishi felt happier being part of the world now than she did 24 hours ago, and she made her way over to the Scarlet Bakery with a hint of cheeriness.

It was a small shop, a local one. The owners were the descendants of foreigners who'd moved into the area a few generations ago, and thanks to good old xenophobia the shop had never quite gained the reputation it deserved. Koishi would attest that its pastries and sandwiches were delicious, and the prices they were sold for would make the high street weep if they ever reached the public eye. That didn't look set to happen any time, though, so she decided that it was going to be one of her little secrets for now. She strolled into the shop with a smile, for the first time in months.

"Morning!"

"Ah, Koishi-chan! You're looking awfully chirpy today."

Koishi reached down for her purse, looking for the change before even making her purchase. It was the same sandwich she always got, but she decided that today she'd spoil herself and get a drink to go with it as well.

"Thank you...it's Meiling-san, right?"

"Ah, yes, Hong Meiling. You remembered! That's more than some people in this place can do. Isn't that right, Sakuya?"

The attendant yelled something into the kitchens behind her. There was no response for a moment, until eventually a voice rose up from inside with a tone of absolute calm.

"Just do your job, China."

Meiling flinched visibly at the sight of that one. They seemed to have this sort of relationship, though Koishi had never met this Sakuya in person. She always hung back in the kitchens, and never seemed to step out to do her job. When she finished cooking, her dishes would appear in a stall to the side, but Koishi never managed to catch her putting them there no matter how hard she tried.

"Anyway. You'll be having the usual, I assume?"

"Yeah, and I think I'm gonna have a carton of orange juice to go with that as well."

She didn't know why the colour orange was on her mind. Maybe that Teardrop had done more to her than she thought. She continued to scour through the purse, not looking up until she had the money to offer. She heard Meiling rummaging through the sandwiches that were freshly made, pulling out Koishi's normal order and placing it in front of her along with a carton of juice.

"There ya go. 150 Yen, if you please."

Koishi nodded, counting the coins one last time as she finally raised her head.

"Here. Thank y-"

Koishi's words caught in her throat. The coins dropped out of her hand onto the counter as her body froze. Meiling tilted her head, confused.

"Hm? What's wrong, Koishi-chan?"

The woman looking back at her wasn't the Meiling who had run the counter before. That Meiling dressed sensibly, and wore a simple work apron along with a shirt and pants. She certainly didn't have bright red hair like that, nor did she wear a green dress that looks like it had just been delivered first-class from China. The new beret on her head had a star symbol on it, saying something in Chinese. She didn't know, she didn't read it, and she had no clue why all of a sudden Meiling was trying to beat her over the head with her nationality.

"Helloooo? Koishi-chan, are you alright?"

Koishi snapped out of it, pulling herself away. Maybe this was just a prank. Maybe it was Chinese New Year, and she'd forgotten about it. That made more sense.

"N-Nothing. Sorry. Thanks."

"OK, if you're sure you're fine. Come again!"

Koishi took her meal and literally ran out the door. Meiling was left watching her go, staring awkwardly at the swinging door left in her wake.

"...Is there something on my face?"

-----

The journey to school did nothing to relieve Koishi of her panic. Everything around her looked different, looked strange, looked wrong. People looked at her awkwardly, dressed in their fancy clothes and flaunting their silly hair and not seeming aware of it at all. She was sure a few of the people she passed had wings, little fluttering ones like a fairy's, but none of them ever bothered to fly. The world around her had changed dramatically, but it seemed totally unaware that anything was wrong.

What's happening?! Why can no-one else see what's going on here?!

She wanted to ask someone what was happening, but she could already see how that would end. Yeah, sure, you think everyone around you has blue hair, that's lovely, now get in the van so we can put you in a psych ward. She suffered in relative silence, though her desperate run to school did attract a few confused glances. They'd just write her off as a schoolgirl late for class, luckily.

Wait a minute...what was it she said?

Sango had mentioned this before, hadn't she? During that big monologue she gave on the 'truth' and all that nonsense.

"And what's life like in the real world? Well, imagine everyone you ever knew had some sort of superpower or magical ability. Everyone in your class is some sort of magical girl, and they all look like it as well - crazy hair, weird eye colours, and in your case an extra eye on top of the two you've already got. But again, no-one realises it, so all of that magic just goes to waste."

Koishi suddenly came to a realisation, stopping dead in her tracks. Nothing about the world around her was unusual - she just hadn't been looking for it. This was what the world around her really looked like. She looked down - the purple cords along her chest were still there as well.

Koishi's hands ruffled into her pockets for the glasses she'd been given. They still looked generic enough, but Sango had said she'd need them. Given what she'd just witnessed, she was willing to believe her on that count. She carefully put the glasses on, wondering slightly what she looked like in them (http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/499420/bespectacled-glasses-green_eyes-hat-heart-ichiju-k).

The world around retreated into the realms of sanity. The blue and pink hues of hair in the crowd disappeared, returning to the familiar dull shades of brown and black. No more ornate dresses, just school uniforms; no wings, just backpacks.

Koishi breathed a sigh of relief. The world was normal again - or at least, the normal that she was familiar with. She finished the walk to school, no longer worrying about what sort of magical creatures stood between her and her next class. Now she could focus on the real problem - getting in without Cirno catching her.

The back door seemed her safest bet, because Cirno would usually hang around the front to pick on kids who were running late. Even if she was earlier than usual, she didn't imagine Cirno would move between both outposts, and went around the back entrance. It was a shady place, with smokers and delinquents sitting around doing nothing in particular, but a quick step and a bowed head got her through without any incidents.

Her plan was an overwhelming success, and Koishi victoriously collapsed on her desk. Even if all she could say was that she hadn't been picked on before first period, it was a little achievement that she hadn't managed yesterday. Now, for a change, she had time to get ready before class began.

First up today was math. Normally that'd be enough to depress Koishi for the rest of the day, but this time around she was willing to try and put a positive spin on it - she was getting the worst subject out of the way now, so she wouldn't have to worry about it later. And there was always Professor Kawashiro to poke fun at when she added two and two to somehow create five on a regular basis.

The register was taken. Names were checked. The registration teacher seemed thoroughly surprised when Koishi declared herself present, but he shrugged once and continued the list. When he got to the end, everyone made to sit down again, but he cleared his throat to signify he had another announcement to make.

"Now, everyone, I know it's an unusual time for it, but we have a new transfer student joining the class today."

The class erupted into a wave of oohs and aahs. Koishi raised an eyebrow - a transfer student, in the middle of March? Seemed a little late for someone to change schools.

The teacher opened the door, allowing the new student to step in.

Koishi slammed her head into her desk the moment she saw the jacket the girl was wearing.

"Everyone, this is Sango Tororetsu. I'd appreciate it if you made her feel welcome here."

Sango offered a wave to the class, watching carefully so that the hood of her jacket didn't come down. She would have given Koishi a wink, but Koishi was too busy making dents in her desk to make eye contact.

How did she...what the...how...?


It would probably be easier not to think about it for now. So she didn't.

"Now, Sango-san, you'll need a seat. You can sit...there, in the back, next to Koishi-san."

Sango nodded, bowing to the teacher in a particularly stilted manner. She must have had to practice this sort of etiquette beforehand, given that it wasn't particularly common outside of human society. For a moment, the teacher's eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of something grey under the hood, but he dismissed it as the light playing tricks with him.

Sango took her seat next to Koishi, and immediately slid her desk over to her friend's side. She gave her a symbol she'd learned from passing divers, and gave her the OK sign.

"Sorry about that. Had to get a contact to set some stuff up. Can't leave you alone surrounded by potential Siren candidates, after all."

The words jumped into Koishi's head, but she noticed that Sango's mouth wasn't moving along with them. She vaguely remembered the first time she'd heard Sango speak, back when she was a dolphin.

...You're telepathic?

"Other way around, dummy. You're the telepath. Well, with us youkai anyway, not other humans. What, you think that eye on your chest was just for show?"


Koishi blinked, doing her best not to let her surprise shift onto her face. She'd always had a strange affinity with animals, hadn't she? It was strange knowing that all those strange unexplainable things she'd always known about the world probably had an explanation behind them after all. Granted, the explanation was probably stranger still, but that wasn't the point.

"Still, good to see you stayed sane. Guess you know what the glasses are for now?"

Koishi nodded. Needless to say, she was going to keep hold of these whenever circumstances allowed - that trip had just been too unusual for her.

"Heh, Gensouto's a strange place when you see it for real. I honestly think you guys named your city wrong sometimes."

Sango grinned. There was a look of experience on her face, meaning that whatever she was about to say had probably taken a lot of time to come up with. She pulled out a piece of paper and started scribbling on it, eventually producing 元想都, or Gensouto.

"You write it like this, right? The city where ideas are born, or something fancy like that. Well, honestly, you got it pretty damn wrong there. This whole place is a facade, an illusion, a little whirlpool of magic no-one notices. You shoulda just called it this, really..."

She took the piece of paper and rubbed out the first two kanji, replacing them to make the name read as 幻想都. It still read as Gensouto, but the meaning had changes entirely - now it simply meant the city of illusion.

Koishi offered her friend a quiet round of applause at that one.

How long did it take you to come up with that one?

"Pretty much all of last night. Still worth it."


The bell rang for first period as Sango finished up her word play. Professor Kawashiro entered as the registration teacher left, carrying a pile of papers onto her desk. Koishi bit her lip - she'd forgotten that the professor was fond of random pop quizzes.

"Alright, people, you know the drill. Take one, hand them down, don't start until I tell you to. You get half an hour, and anyone who scores over 95 gets a cookie."

Koishi saw Sango's eyes light up at the sound of that, as she eagerly grabbed at her piece of paper. Koishi frowned - even if she hadn't been good at math, at least she'd attended the class. Sango, though, had probably never even heard of calculus, let alone studied it.

The handing out of tests came to an end. Professor Kawashiro pulled out a stopwatch, a look of overpassionate excitement entering her eyes.

"Ready...go!"

Two dozen students opened their test papers at once. Koishi saw Sango open hers with utter confidence, and frowned.

Sango-san, you don't expect to score a 95, do you? Have you even studied math before?

Sango looked over to Koishi, offended.

"Hey! I'll have you know that dolphins are highly intelligent! I can pass your silly human tests no problem!"

The dolphin looked back at her test, examining the paper. Her face looked serious as she read the questions over.

Seven seconds passed. Koishi knew as much, because she sat and counted to see how long it would take.

"Hey, what's the answer to question 1?"

Koishi raised her hand.

"Kawashiro-sensei, I don't feel well. Can I go home, please?"
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Matsuri on August 25, 2010, 12:55:23 AM
Man, I wish cool stuff would happen when I take my glasses off. Instead, I become unable to see anything that isn't a foot away from my face. I also tend to run into things. :<

I will not be held responsible if this fic inspires you to do silly things without your glasses on. You have been warned.

[matsuri]Been there, done that. Caffeine makes it a little more fun. :3[/matsuri]

[ruro]Well, my glasses give me +5 Manliness 8)[/ruro]

[matsuri]Yeah well mine give me uh... the ability to read and not die while driving :V[/matsuri]
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Alfred F. Jones on August 25, 2010, 01:59:37 AM
Her mother had died in childbirth, and her father had only passed away recently. Most of the inheritance went to Satori, the 'capable' daughter as their parents put it, and indeed she was sensible enough with her spendings to keep them afloat. Honestly, Koishi hadn't been that heartbroken by her father's death - she had never been particularly attached to him, instead finding solace in her sister whenever it was needed.
Should I find this vaguely familiar, or is it just a coincidence?

If I said it was unintentional
(and a handy way to write the parents out of the story)
, would you believe me? :V[/color]

And there was always Professor Kawashiro to poke fun at when she added two and two to somehow create five on a regular basis.
This is why physicists are hilarious.

Anyway, this was a nice update, and I can't wait to see what else is in store. The wordplay with Gensouto was also nice. :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Sana on August 26, 2010, 03:36:50 PM
Don't worry Matsy, some would say the ability to drive without dying to be absolutely essential!

Also, sounds like Koishi got some PERSONA GLASSES :O
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Kinzo the Astro Curious on August 26, 2010, 03:57:14 PM
I thought the divers OK was a nice touch. That and the occasional links are great.

This fic is infinitely better than I could have imagined. I thought i'd be walking in on something like that horrificly badly written on purpose fic thing there was ages ago, skim it over, maybe get some lulz, maybe not and give up.

instead I got a suprisingly seriously written fic about a topic that I wasnt expecting to be done seriously, and its come out awesome.

Keep this up. I give it 5 dolphins.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on August 27, 2010, 10:21:15 PM
As bad as this sounds, with the amount of work I put into the setting I actually prefer writing this to writing PLotSS. >_>

-----

She gave Sango enough of the answers to at least fail honourably, but not enough to make their sheets look blatantly similar. Koishi realised that Sango probably tried to guess the last few questions, using whatever sort of insane dolphin logic she had. She took a moment to wonder what sort of absurd nonsensical answers Sango would provide.

She never got to see them, but the sudden raised eyebrow from Professor Kawashiro as she marked the papers spoke volumes.

Koishi scraped a pass, as usual, but today was something unusual in that she was disappointed in that result. Before, a 60 was a sign that she'd escaped the dreaded failing grade, but now she started to reminisce over the days when she had scored 80s or 90s on tests like these. She knew she could do it, she just had to put the time in like she used to.

Sango was less fortunate as she got her paper back.

"Hey, what do all these crosses next to my answers mean?"

She spoke out loud now, since no-one could hear her other than Koishi over the hubbub of gossip that had erupted. There was almost more red ink on her paper than there was black, with various comments along the lines of 'I have no idea what you were trying to do here'. The number 42 was jotted in the corner in a rush, as if the professor was tired with this paper and decided to just give the result as quickly as she could before moving onto a less hopeless student.

"Wait...you scored a 60, right? And I have 42...so does that mean that if we work together, we each get half a cookie?"

The hope in Sango's eyes as she asked the question nearly broke Koishi's heart. She reached out and gave her dolphin companion a pat on the head, trying to break it to her in the lightest way possible.

"Hit the books."

She failed.

"Aww..."

-----

Sango didn't do much better in other classes either. She earned the wrath of the religious studies teacher when she asked if a Buddhist was some sort of dessert, and when the geography teacher asked her to name the largest mountain she'd heard of she offered the answer 'the hill on the way to school'. Lunch went badly when she asked for fresh mackerel, and her grasp of chemistry verged on the non-existent. There were several people who wondered if she'd ever attended school in her life, or if she was some sort of ruffian raised by wolves and finally returning to normal society.

The sad part was that they weren't so far off.

As a consolation, her knowledge of hydraulics and fluid dynamics managed to salvage her some respect. Her reputation around the class jumped from 'clueless moron' to 'idiot savant'. A personal victory, perhaps, but Koishi didn't bother mentioning that both of those subjects were too advanced to actually appear on the curriculum.

Which brought them to the last period of the day. Koishi matter of factly pointed out that they were due for swimming lessons, and Sango's heart almost melted in her chest.

"Swimming?! Alright, that's awesome! Maybe I'm not so good at all that other stuff, but in the water there's no way anyone's gonna beat me! C'mon, Koishi-san, let's go!"

She made a dash for the pool, wondering if she would get one of those weird blue swimsuits (http://a.imageshack.us/img691/5403/commission10131uwgsango.jpg) that all the middle-schoolers wore when they took trips to the beach. Either way, it was going to be totally awesome-

"Ah."

Koishi had grabbed her by the hood, stopping Sango in her tracks. She used a few fingers to rub along the fin down Sango's back.

Yeah, wearing a school swimsuit is going to be a giveaway. I've already called in sick for both of us, so let's just go home.

Sango looked off towards the pool in the distance, then back to Koishi, then back to the pool. Her heart sank like a rock, and once again Koishi could make out the disappointment in her eyes.

"But, but I...I'd look so cool, and...stupid, stupid fin."

Sango pouted childishly as she pulled her hood back up, clearly mad that she hadn't had a chance to show off how well she could perform in her element. She walked alongside Koishi as they made for the exit, letting her friend go through the usual effort of checking for passing teachers.

But I don't get it, Sango-san. Why did you need to follow me anyway? Surely a school is the last place I'm going to get attacked.

"It's not that simple. Like I said, the Black Claw's gonna recruit anyone they see around here who they think has merit, and show them their power the same way I showed you yours. Everyone here's a potential enemy, and when magic is involved crowds don't matter."

Koishi's head tilted. Sango sighed - maybe she wasn't very good at this whole school thing, but when it came to magic Koishi was more or less on the same level.

"Look, when two magicians fight, there are a buncha rules you have to follow. First, you've gotta make physical contact with your opponent and challenge them. They can't refuse, and then the two of you get to sort out your problems through some good old combat. Most people can't see this sort of thing happening - it sort of jumps into a separate plane where all the mundane folk aren't around to cause you trouble. All that most people will see is two people disappearing."

Koishi realised the conclusion Sango was trying to lead up to.

You mean...crowds are the best place for them to attack?

Only now did she realise that Sango had been holding her hand almost all day, all the time they'd been moving between classes. The dolphin nodded.

"Bingo. No-one's gonna miss one or two people in a crowded room, right? So you've gotta be careful at all times."

That was a little unnerving, she had to admit. Koishi bit her lip as she caught glances at some of the kids hanging around in the corridors - none of them looked particularly keen on the sight of her, and she could tell that if someone were to offer them fortunes for taking her out they probably wouldn't think twice.

"But hey, it works both ways. If they can recruit people, so can we. We just want to keep our numbers as small as possible, so we keep our recruitment down to the Sirens when we can."

And how do you find the Sirens, anyway? Do you need to wait until after they've made this big wish of theirs?

Sango turned around at that one. The cocky grin again, which inevitably meant she had something she wanted to show off. She coughed a little, suddenly wrapping her arm around Koishi's shoulder.

"Man, I can't wait to go home, phwee~"

The phwee sound at the end sounded like some sort of verbal tic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakura_Kinomoto), but as she said it Koishi noticed her ears wriggling ever so slightly. She closed her eyes for a moment, standing in place.

Then, with a single motion, she reached down to Koishi's far pocket.

"Hey, what are you-"

Sango grabbed at something inside, grinning like an idiot.

"Putting the Teardrop in your pocket? You're begging to get robbed, Koishi-san."

Sure enough, her hand had clasped itself around Koishi's Teardrop. She'd never mentioned where she'd hidden it, but without so much as asking Sango had found it.

...How'd you do that?

"Just a little trick I picked up with the White Pearl. It's like sonar, but with you Sirens and your Teardrops. Needs a little work, though - I'm not very good at picking up Sirens who haven't awakened yet, but I can tell there's no-one else around here who has a Teardrop."


Koishi's eyes widened. Sonar? As in that thing with sound bouncing around? So that was what the phwee sound was for.

"Wait. Does that mean..."

Sango looked back, puzzled.

"Mean what, phwee?"

Her ears wriggled again. They must have been listening out for any magical feedback or whatever it was they were picking up.

"That you're going to be saying that all the time...?"

Sango shrugged.

"Better safe than sorry, phwee." "And besides, it's only for school, right?"

Koishi grit her teeth.

"But...it's kinda annoying."

"Hey, I think it's sort of cute, phwee. You'll learn to like it!"

Sango wrapped her arm tighter around Koishi's shoulder, leading her out towards the exit.

Or better yet, Koishi thought to herself, I'll learn to ignore it.

-----

Another long walk home, though it had been a while since she'd taken this trip with a companion. There was a nice view of Gensouto from up here as the sun started to set in the distance, and Koishi and Sango got to enjoy the trip alone thanks to leaving earlier than they were supposed to.

It had been a lot to take in for Koishi. The last 24 hours seemed to have consisted of nothing but madness, to the point where Sango had needed to sit down and explain things to her for ages on end so that she could keep up. She only hoped that she'd just about wrapped her head around this whole magical business by now, and she could focus on actually doing this scouting out tomorrow.

But besides that, something else about her seemed different. She hadn't noticed it until now, but all these antics with Sango had brought on something that she didn't recognise.

"Sango-san, can I ask you something?"

Sango looked back, puzzled.

"What, is there something I forgot to tell you?"

She'd dropped the phwee now that they were outside. What a relief.

"Uh...this is going to sound weird, but am I smiling?"

Sango looked blankly at Koishi in response to the question, puzzled.

"Well, yeah. You look like you're pretty happy. Why do you ask?"

So that's what the feeling was. Her chest felt a little warmer than it had before, like her heart was slowly coming back to life. It was a strange feeling, but she liked it.

"It's nothing. Just...never mi-"

"But I don't wanna do this any more!"

Koishi was forced out of her little nostalgia moment as a voice filled the air. They were passing the coast by now, walking alongside the beach on the way back home.

Which meant the shrine was nearby.

"Look, you know how hard I had to beg my dad for this money? We're doing it, and we're gonna wish for a million wishes, just like we planned!"

It was the duo from earlier, the big Fairy and her librarian friend. Now Koishi could see them standing on the other end of the pier, the Fairy holding a 1000 Yen bill over the shrine's donation box.

Both Sango and Koishi looked on in worry. They were out of earshot, and the only reason they overheard the conversation was because the pair had resorted to shouting.

"Sango-san. Are either of them..."

"Lemme check, phwee."

Sango pressed two fingers into her temple, focusing harder than usual this time as she read the sonar. After a few seconds, she shook her head.

"Nope. They're just two ordinary girls. Well, as ordinary as you get in Gensouto, anyway."

Koishi sighed with relief.

"Ah, that's good. So that means they're in no da-"

"No. The two of them are in deep, deep trouble."

-----

*insert commercial break here because I keep seeing this as an anime in my head whyyyyyy*
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Dead Princess Sakana on August 27, 2010, 11:00:41 PM
Oh, things are about to get interesting. Looking forward to the next update~ (which is already in the works, as I just heard :3 )

Liking the way Sango uses sonar.

Also:
Quote
I keep seeing this as an anime in my head whyyyyyy
That's how I write all my stuff :V
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on August 28, 2010, 12:20:43 AM
Dolphin Rider Koishi is sponsored by White Rose and sleep deprivation.

And now, back to our feature presentation.

-----

"Huh?! But San-"

Sango reached out and put a hand over Koishi's mouth as the pair crouched behind a nearby set of bushes.

"Be quiet. We can't have them hear us, remember?"

Koishi's immediate panic faded, and Sango pulled her hand away. Now, though, there was a sick feeling in her stomach as she watched the pair argue some more.

"...But why are they in trouble? They don't have Teardrops, do they? They're just a pair of kids following up on a stupid highschool rumour."

"Where do you think all these rumours come from, Koishi-san? Do you think that rumours that would just so happen to reveal a Siren just get made up by a bunch of bored highschoolers?"

Koishi's blood froze in her veins.

"Y-You mean..."

Sango nodded.

"Yeah. The Black Claw set that rumour up to lure people in. And I get the feeling they won't be too pleased if a pair of kids start spreading around that it didn't work..."

The argument at the shrine reached its peak. By now the Fairy had grabbed her friend by the shoulder to keep her in place as the note fluttered over the donation box.

"Look, you've got nothing to lose from this! It's my money, so let's just do this already!"

"But it's scary! What if it's one of those spirits that takes your wish and turns it into something horrible? (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/JackassGenie) What if we wish for a million wishes, but then we have to sit and say all of them in a row without breathing or something crazy like that?"

"Oh, come on, Koa. Now you're just being paranoid! Personally, if Cirno taught me anything, it's that who dares wins. So even if it is some sorta genie like that, I'll figure out a way to beat him!"

This was not going to end well. By now the Fairy was holding the note over the box with only two fingers, and she was ready to let go any second now. Koishi took off her glasses at last, so that if anything were to attack the pair she'd be able to see it.

It disturbed her slightly how calm she was with seeing the two transform in front of her eyes; the first girl was now a literal fairy, with bright green hair and a pair of fluttering wings behind her back, while her companion looked like a lesser demon with dark red hair and two black wings poking out of the sides of her head. But now wasn't the time for little matters like that. She'd seen her fair share of strange colour choices today, and then some.

"Wait for it..."

Sango reached down to her waist, and Koishi noticed that there were a pair of vials that she hadn't seen before. One of them was filled with what looked like simple water, and the other was filled with salt. She looked ready to pull one out at any moment as she waited for the situation to come to a head.

She didn't have to wait long.

"Alright, whatever spirit lives in this thing. Gimme a million wishes, or else!"

The note began to fall through the air.

"NOW!"

Sango yelled as she bolted out from behind cover. Koishi followed closely behind, charging down the pier in quick succession.

The two girls at the pier had just enough time to turn around in confusion. Koishi could make out the fairy's lips shaping a word that Koishi wasn't supposed to say in front of children.

By then, Sango had swept at them with one of the vials, sending salt flying through the air. They gasped on reflex, unintentionally inhaling it and letting off coughs.

"Ack, ack! What the hell do you think you're-"

The fairy started out on an angry retort, but the last word of her sentence never emerged. Her eyes suddenly turned blank, and she fell backwards without resistance onto the pier. Her friend didn't even let out a cry of shock before she collapsed.

Sango placed the vial of salt back on the belt around her waist. Koishi looked down at the two fallen bodies, immediately thinking the worst.

"Relax, they're not dead. It's sleeping salt."

Sure enough, the two girls let off a light snoring a few seconds later. Fortunately, by now Koishi's concept of reality was so far gone that this didn't surprise her too much.

"They'll wake up in an hour or so with no idea what just happened. More importantly..."

Sango walked over to the edge of the pier. A trio of shadows were rising up from beneath the water. Koishi could tell what they were from that alone: they were the fishmen, the ones that had tried to kill her the day before.

"Alright, Koishi-san. Looks like it's go-time."

Koishi nodded at Sango's call. She use one hand to link with Sango's, and pulled out the Teardrop with the other. She squeezed it in her hand, and it let off its beautiful orange light. The pair stepped into the water in unison, making a quiet splash before disappearing into the water below. It took Koishi a moment to stir up the courage to speak underwater, but the words from before began to rise up out of her heart once again.

"Wherever evil forces be,
On the land or in the sea,
All who sin should cower and flee
From Dolphin Rider Koishi!"
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD-rE5ARM1A)

Once again, Koishi was engulfed by the Teardrop's light, feeling herself transform under its power. Her clothes fell away, and were replaced with the same absurd design she had found herself wearing the day before.

"Halt, villains! I, Dolphin Rider Koishi, have emerged to put a stop to your evil deeds!"

She wondered how much of this was viable, and how much was simply the forces of magic having a twisted sense of humour. The swimsuit made sense, yes, and the trident was pretty cool, but was it all really necessary?

"In the name of the sea, prepare to be punished!"

...Well, maybe it was kind of cute, but-

Look out!

Unfortunately, now was a bad time to sit and analyse her magical girl outfit. Sango had taken on her dolphin form again and pushed her out of the way of an attack, the claws of the closest fishman slicing at the water where she'd been floating moments before. She was winded for a moment, but Koishi caught her breath and took her place on top of Sango soon afterward.

You okay?

"Y-Yeah...sorry, I got distracted there."

They'd made some distance between themselves and the fishmen. Technically, there was nothing they could do to stop them from rising to the surface and going for the two sleeping girls on the pier, but they had no reason to. Not when there was a genuine Teardrop right in front of them - oh, how the master would praise them if they could retrieve that Teardrop!

Alright, Koishi-san. These guys are small fry, honestly, so feel free to try out some new stuff now so you don't need to figure it out later. And don't go full power and knock yourself out again, you're really heavy to carry home.

Koishi frowned at that one, bopping Sango lightly on the head. The dolphin let off a little 'phwee', granting Koishi a hint of catharsis.

"Alright, let's see here...what do I have to work with?"

She examined her clothing for anything else besides the trident that could act as a weapon, but all she could see were the gloves on her hands and the ribbon around her neck. She looked at the latter, poking at it with a finger.

"What's this thing for...?"

As she touched it, the ribbon came undone around her neck, beginning to glow with a bright white light. It wrapped itself around the trident in her hand, and it started to grow lighter in her grip as it became engulfed in the same white aura. The light faded a few seconds later, revealing that the trident had metamorphosed entirely.

"A whip?!"

Koishi-san, just whip it at something! Don't worry about hitting anything with it! And hurry up!

The fishmen were coming closer now, moving in from three different directions and once. Koishi ran on adrenaline, lifting up the silver whip in her hand and lashing forward with it. Again the words flew out of her mouth without her thinking them.

"Iruka Charge!"

Sango blinked white for a moment, before the world around Koishi blew past her in an instant. Her dolphin mount was blown forward by a magical force, sending both of them flying through the water at breakneck speed. Sango shone with a bright red aura, ready to ram through anything that was unfortunate enough to get in her way.

The fishman Koishi has lashed out at had no chance to react. Sango slammed headlong into it, dispersing it into a few dozen fish before blowing past its two companions. By the time they'd turned around again, Koishi and Sango were well away from their enemies.

Not bad, and better yet you're still consciou-phwee!

They had time. She could afford to pound her mount on the head when it deserved it.

"OK, next...what do these gloves do?"

She examined them more intently, looking at the dolphin emblem imprinted on their backs. She pushed in the emblem on her left hand, and there was an audible click as it came to life. Her palm began to glow with a pale light, a ball of energy beginning to form in her hand.

"Is there any part of this costume that isn't some sort of weapon?!"

Not really, but are you complaining?

Koishi raised her hand, pointing it at the remaining fishmen. The ball of energy continued to grow until it reached the size of her palm. It seemed she could charge it at will, or fire several weaker shots in the same length of time. Something to keep in mind, but right now it looked like it was as strong as it was going to get.

"Iruka Shot!"

The bullet flew from her palm straight forward towards the enemy, advancing without any care about petty things like gravity. This time one of the fishmen was aware enough to dodge the attack, not caring in the slightest as his partner took the attack to the face and was promptly engulfed by an explosion, dissipating into a school of sardines and fleeing.

Koishi decided not to think about how she could make things explode underwater, at least until this last enemy was defeated. She ran a hand along the whip, and it returned to its original trident form as the ribbon retied itself around her neck.

"Let's finish this! Sango-san, charge!"

Sango nodded, dashing towards the last enemy. Koishi readied her trident, prepared to slash through her enemy as she passed by. The fishman darted towards them, claws ready to fillet Koishi at a moments notice.

"IRUKA SLASH!"

The two foes passed, striking at once.

For an instant, neither moved. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SingleStrokeBattle)

Then the fishman let out a choked cry as three slashes ran across its chest, before he collapsed and fled in a dozen fishy forms.

It was over.

See? I knew that you had potential. Trust your pal Sango once in a while, alright?

Koishi leaned on her trident as she took deep breaths to calm down. So much of that had been instinct, but she'd won convincingly against the enemies that had horrified her yesterday. True, she had Sango's help, but this was a big jump from the girl who almost died 24 hours ago.

"...Thank you."

Koishi tickled Sango beneath her chin as they made for the surface again.

No problem, it's my job. So, what're you gonna do now?

Koishi gripped her trident tightly, grinning.

"Well, I think I might accidentally (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlatantLies) tear that donation box into a few dozen pieces. So much for that silly rumour, huh?"

-----

"Curses!"

She saw the battle remotely through the eyes of her minions, up until the final blow left the Siren victorious. She slammed a hand into her desk, cursing in a language no-one on the surface would have recognised.

Not only had she lost, but likely the Dophin Rider would damage the shrine to the point where her vantage point would be useless. It was by far the best position she had to strike, and she had lost it within a single day.

"...Perhaps I need to begin acting sooner than I had thought."

She paced around the room, mumbling to herself. She would need to scout, search for girls here who showed potential, and recruit them into her ranks. She would promise them all the riches of the mortal world in return for the head of Koishi Komeiji.

Not that she had any intention of fulfilling the bargain, but that was a problem to resolve another time.

"...Komeiji, hm...who would have imagined?"

-----

OMAKE:
"Phwee~!"

"Sango-san, cut it out..."

"But it's so fun! Koishi-san, try it out already!"

"Look, aren't we busy? I thought we had to go start finding the other Sirens!"

"I know, but that's why I'm doing it! Phwee, phwee~"

"Please tell me we find someone soon..."

Next Episode: Finding Friends! Sango-chan's Phwee Phwee Adventures!

"Let's go save the world together, phwee~!"

/me editor responsible for this nonsense has been sacked.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Kasu on August 28, 2010, 12:41:29 AM
"Phwee" is now canon for Sango.  :3

The hilarity levels of this fic keep rising.  Keep it up.

Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Sana on August 28, 2010, 01:24:08 AM
All these dolphin shenanigans are reminding me of May :V

IRUKA-SAN IRUKA-SAN
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: ray10k on August 28, 2010, 12:01:35 PM
almost can't wait until the next chapter, I am dead curious if "Daiyousei's librarian friend" is Koakuma or Patchouli.
kinda hope it is Koakuma though, Patchouli's cards still severely annoy me.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Esifex on August 28, 2010, 01:04:39 PM
The two girls on the pier were Daiyousei and Koakuma.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Alfred F. Jones on August 28, 2010, 06:08:52 PM
... if Sango is Sakura, then Koishi is Tomoyo, isn't sh--

OH GOD

Does this mean Sango gets a ton of different costumes to wear? Because if so, I approve heartily.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on August 31, 2010, 12:41:59 AM
You want another update? Fine. It's not like I like you guys or anything, phwee...

-----

Sango insisted on pulling Koishi away for a celebration after they dried themselves off. Koishi had spent an age coming up with reasons to refuse - they'd only just started so there was no point in getting excited now, she had no idea where to go, and even going so far as saying that it was unfair on Orin and Okuu. The truth of the matter was that she was on the verge of being broke, and her idea of fine dining was 'non-instant noodles'.

Of course, all of her complaints were powerless considering that Sango had grabbed her by the arm and forcefully led her into town. This was when she regretted not taking a sports club after school - that extra strength would have come in handy around here.

Sango led Koishi through the streets of Gensouto, abruptly taking turns left and right. She turned back on her route and walked the same road over and over, apparently unaware that she was retracing her steps. Koishi quickly became aware that Sango was paying absolutely no attention to which direction she was taking, and her eyes were focused solely on the buildings around her. She knew where she was going, she just didn't know how to get there.

"Here? No. Here? No..."

Sango's endurance was impressive - she'd spent five minutes running full pelt, and only now were the first signs of fatigue starting to show. Koishi, on the other hand, was getting breathless just following behind her. The crowds sliced open as the dolphin barged through, ignoring the other pedestrians with her attention firmly set on the goal.

Just before Koishi's body reached its limit, Sango finally came to an abrupt stop. She looked eagerly up at the building beside her, eager anticipation glimmering in her eyes. Koishi needed a moment to catch her breath and adjust her hat before she managed to look up at where she'd been hauled. The sign read in plain, bright letters, 'LORELEI'S - Best Fish Plates In Gensouto!'

Well, this was predictable...

For the sake of her blood pressure, Koishi decided not to look at the menu as Sango pushed her into the restaurant, almost forcing her into a chair. She had all the composure of a highly-caffeinated six year old, and bounced around in her chair as she called over the local waiter. He walked over to the pair nervously - maybe it was his first day on the job?

"Um...can I take your or-"

"Two servings of fresh haddock, please! The biggest helpings you've got!"

The waiter was taken aback by Sango's enthusiasm - not to Koishi's surprise - and wriggled a little in place as he jotted down notes.

"C-Certainly, ma'am! That'll be 1600 Yen!"

1600?! Where does she expect me to pull that sort of money from?!

Koishi carefully moved the cutlery out of the way so she didn't cause herself any damage when she slammed her head into the table. The rent was due soon, and she was already penny-pinching to keep herself afloat. This meal was going to be the end of her!

"1600? Uh, question. Do you give change?"

Sango seemed entirely unaware of Koishi's distress, reaching into a pouch on the side of her jacket. She pulled out a hefty looking purse, and from within removed a single 5,000 Yen note.

Koishi stared with awe at that note as if it were made of solid gold. The waiter seemed just as disturbed by its appearance.

"Y...Yes, I can accept that. I'll be back with your change when your meal is ready."

There was a notable redness on the waiter's face as he accepted the payment, running off to the kitchen to pass the order along. Sango stood out, shouting over the general hubbub to make sure she was heard. They'd told her beforehand to tip the waiters, so she may as well get it out the way now.

"You can keep the 400, sir!"

The waiter stopped in his tracks at that. His face went bright scarlet, as he looked around to the table Koishi and Sango were sitting at. Was it his first tip? He looked distraught.

He proceeded to snap entirely, running at the table and slamming his hands into it. The impact was enough to knock Koishi around, shuffling her glasses out of place. She could make out a head of green hair now, and...were those antennae?

"I'm a girl, dammit! Why does everyone think I'm a guy?!"

The room fell silent after that. The waiter - no, waitress - realised just what she had done, stood up quietly, and darted back to the kitchen without a sound.

The awkward atmosphere slowly faded away, much to the relief of everyone present. It took a few moments for things to grow loud enough that Koishi and Sango felt they could talk without being overheard. Only now did Koishi realise her eyes had been almost attached to Sango's purse, mentally counting the notes stored inside. There was thousands of yen in there, enough to pay the rent for the next ten years.

"...How did you...?"

Sango seemed confused by Koishi's reaction, taking a moment to realise what she was staring at.

"Oh, this? The Pearl gave me living expenses so that I didn't end up on the street. I wasn't going to make you pay, duh."

Koishi felt some portion of her sanity shatter irrevocably. The only thing stopping her from walking out right now was the fact that she was getting a free dinner out of this. She could use a change from noodles.

"OK, so now let's talk strategy. Tomorrow, we're gonna start hunting out Sirens in earnest, phwee."

A beat.

"No-one here. Should've guessed that would be too easy."

Koishi pouted. She'd seen enough of those magical girl shows to know that all the obvious, easy places to look would turn up absolutely nothing in these sorts of searches. Every rule of basic logic said otherwise, but magic and logic were antonyms.

"What sort of strategy are we talking about? Is there some sort of order when it comes to these Sirens?"

"Not really. It's a simple matter of the magic choosing seven girls at birth to become holders of the Teardrops. You can't really tell unless you search by brute force, but that's what we're looking to do."

Sango leaned over the table a little, placing her elbows on it for balance. Apparently she had never been filled in on human etiquette.

"So, you have any hobbies? Interests? Any clubs you could join? Me, I'm pretty flexible, but if you're up for joining the swimming club I'll be glad to-"

"We already said no swimming."

"Dammit. I hoped you'd forgotten."

Koishi took a moment to think the question over, not realising the serious trouble she was on the verge of running into. Had she done anything in these last few months? A single fun pastime, a sport she had an interest in beyond passing PE?

No. She didn't.

"Sorry, I'm afraid I'm drawing blank here."

Sango seemed surprised for a moment, then frowned.

"Koishi-san, that's no good. If we're going to have to find the Sirens, you're going to have to meet some people. And remember, if you actually find one, you need to try and get them to make their heartfelt wish so we can release the Teardrop! Just go to clubs your friends visit to start!"

"Ah, but...I don't really have any friends either."

Silence. The rest of the room dined peacefully, ignorant of the look on Sango's face.

"...You're kidding."

"No. Not really."

Koishi was growing more and more interested in her feet, bowing her head down in shame. After Satori had disappeared, she'd just plain stopped caring in a lot of ways, and she let go of every social commitment she had. The people she'd seen as friends drifted away from her, but she'd been too numb to care about it.

Now, though, Koishi had to wonder. Maybe it was time to take a step back into the fray. To try and rebuild the burnt bridges, and make herself some friends again.

But it would be difficult. She'd be starting from the bottom up, knowing pretty much no-one. It would be like she'd never even attended school, and she'd be inexperienced from the get-go. It was a monumental task, and she didn't have a clue where to start. In fact, she was already starting to have second thoughts about it.

Luckily, the feeling of Sango's hand jumping onto her shoulder pulled her out of that moment of self-doubt.

"Alright, Koishi-san. I've made my decision."

When did you get the right to decide this, anyway?

"If you're so indecisive about it, we'll just join the first club we hear about tomorrow. It's not like you've got anything to worry about with me around, right?"

"The first club? As in it could be anything? We could end up somewhere like the sewing club, or the haiku appreciation club?"

"...What's a haiku? Sounds like a nice topping to me."

Sango's hand was pressed down on her shoulder too violently now. It was clear that she wasn't going to be swayed from this line of thought no matter what sort of disturbing clubs Koishi threatened her with.

She was honestly a little jealous of Sango's zest, but she could hardly bring herself to disagree with someone who was so passionate. Besides, when it simply got cut down to the first step of joining a club, the challenge didn't look quite as daunting.

"...Okay. I'll do my best."

"That's my little hero right there!"

Sango reached over and gave Koishi a little pat on the back. The Siren blushed visibly at Sango's touch - they'd known each other for a day, so wasn't she getting a little close?

"Uh, Sango-san. As a warning, most people don't like it when you touch them in strange places."

"Eh? But you've got clothes on, haven't you? It's not like I'm touching your skin or anythi-"

"Just trust me on this one."

-----

"And y'know what we found? Nothing! The damn thing had fallen to pieces!"

"Is that so? Well, you must have felt very silly, then."

"Hey, it was Koa's idea! I just went along with it because I felt sorry for her!"

The big Fairy from yesterday was spreading the story to anyone who would hear it, currently passing it on to a young girl who had strange habits with holding her arms out. Inevitably she'd pass it on to someone else, who'd pass it on in turn, and in the end the entire school would know that the rumour about the shrine on the pier was an utter sham.

Sango and Koishi offered each other a nod in congratulations as they walked past, making their way out into next period. Last night had mostly been spent doing some basic studying just to bring herself back up to speed with everyone else, while Sango had been learning the wonders of human television. Apparently game shows were much more entertaining to watch when every contestant had bright pink hair.

"When we get home, though, you need to hit the books as well. The English teacher nearly had an aneurysm when you answered her."

"Hey, how was I supposed to know that she wasn't being literal when she asked me about spear-shaking?"

"It's Shakespeare, Sango-san. He's a playwright."

"Well, it's his fault for having such a stupid name, phwee."

They'd had no luck in terms of finding a club to join - even examining the school notice board had turned up no results. It was March, so most clubs had long since given up on recruitment and taken their signs down to let the teachers advertise school shows and the like. Sango's occasional sonar search hadn't turned up any notable results either - she could vaguely feel the presence of several Teardrops in the area, but she couldn't pinpoint one in particular.

"Hm? Sango-san, what's that?"

Koishi caught sight of a single battered sign still stuck to a distant wall. It was sagging downward from the top, to the point where Koishi needed to lift it up with one hand to read it and even then had to squint for the faded ink.

"Apply now for the Perfect Diet club, where health nuts gather to find the secret to culinary enlightenment...?"

It was exaggerated and boisterous, but that was about the only way to possibly gain interest in a school like this. There were dozens of clubs running all at once, so if a club didn't sell itself extravagantly there was no hope of receiving any sort of membership.

"See Club President, Mokou Fujiwara, for more information...ah?!"

Koishi let out a little gasp as she looked over the name.

"Eh? Koishi-san, what's wrong?"

"I...I know her."

The name rang a bell in the distant corners of Koishi's mind. They'd sat together in...was it Geography? History? Something dull...yeah, it had been History. She was a bright, energetic girl, always going on about how she didn't need any of this stuff to run her yakitori stand. Koishi would turn to her and respond now and again when the teacher was covering something she already knew.

It has to be a good start, right?

"Well, that's what I call a lucky find! C'mon, let's go find this Mokou girl and get ourselves into that club! I'm pretty sure they won't have nearly enough fish in their diets..."

Koisihi wasn't sure whether to mention that the average human diet occasionally included foods that were not formerly alive, but eventually decided against it. History was coming up pretty soon, and they hadn't changed the seatings, so she'd get hold of her then and try to get herself in. Maybe apologise for her sudden lack of interest in Mokou, promise to make a fresh start, display interest in the club and suggest inviting Sango as well-

"Ah!"

By the time Koishi noticed there was a foot in the way, it was too late. She fell to the floor face first, her glasses flinging themselves along the polished ground.

"Aw, what a shame. Looks like grandma isn't that steady on her feet after all. And we were all so hopeful for you, too..."

Oh no. Oh, god, no. Not now.

Koishi almost didn't want to look back at the perpetrator, but she knew full well that if she didn't she'd have her head pulled up anyway. Reluctantly, she turned around and sat up on the floor.

Looking down from above, admist a rainbow of colours, was a girl in a long blue dress with six sharp, crystal-like shards of ice hanging behind her back. The strands of blue in her hair Koishi had seen before now ran across it completely, the brunette colour giving way for the absurd new colour. Her bright blue eyes glared at Koishi, her lips warped into some mutated combination of a snarl and a grin. She looked like she wanted to both be sick and burst into laughter at the same time.

"And now your eyes are going, too...such a shame. It'd be really sad if someone ended up stepping on those in this crowded corridor, wouldn't it?"

Cirno reached down and grabbed Koishi by the shoulder, holding her back while she walked ahead. Now Cirno was standing between her and her glasses, and there was no way she was getting past unless the Fairy wanted her to.

Which she wouldn't, until she'd renovated her glasses with her foot.

There's nothing I can do, is there...? There never is...

Koishi was resigned to her fate as Cirno continued to walk forward, stamping triumphantly towards the fallen glasses. She was eager to smash them in the same way a warrior claimed a scalp - a little symbol of her strength, her superiority.

"Oopsie, looks like I'm gonna-"

Cirno wasn't expecting a hand to grab her from behind. No-one messed with her - no-one who knew who they were messing with, no-one who was even remotely sane.

So it was no surprise for Cirno to turn around and see an unfamiliar face looking back at her, with the same silver hair that Koishi had.

"Sorry to interrupt, but what the hell do you think you're doing to my friend?"
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Sana on August 31, 2010, 01:22:51 AM
Sango can be pretty srs bsns :O

Also SOCIAL LINKS SOCIAL LINKS SOCIAL LINKS
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Esifex on August 31, 2010, 04:32:21 AM
Also SOCIAL LINKS SOCIAL LINKS SOCIAL LINKS

Mokou is CLEARLY The Hermit arcana.

CLEARLY.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on September 05, 2010, 10:26:48 PM
Cirno took a moment to simply stare in shock at the newcomer. For months now she'd been one of the school's unspoken leaders, keeping the other students in check with a well timed jab if need be. Most of the school had grown docile and simply kept their heads down as the Fairies had their fun. Someone actually having the nerve to touch her - let alone threaten her - was unprecedented.

"You didn't see anything. Get outta here."

Maybe she was just a newcomer who didn't know what she was getting into. She'd heard stories of an eccentric new transfer student from her underlings in the class, so everything added up.

"I see you picking on a girl who did nothing to wrong you, phwee."

There, that was the main thing that Dai had pointed out - she gave off this weird phwee sound sometimes when she talked, like she was whistling and breathing in at the same time. Her ears wriggled, almost comically, and Cirno had to hold in the urge to just laugh right now.

Best to deal with it quickly and quietly. A full-blown fight was going to attract unwanted attention.

"You really have no idea what you're getting into, do you? Walk away now, or you'll be waking up next period in the nurse's office."

Koishi stared up at the pair in awe, frozen in place. Cirno batted Sango's hand away violently as a cue for her to run off now.

Sango didn't comply. She just stood still, looking as if she was pondering something for a moment before opening her eyes and shaking her head.

"No thanks. I'd be a pretty lousy friend if I let you do what you liked to her, wouldn't I?"

Friends? With Komeiji? Wow, this girl has crappy taste.

Cirno sighed. If she was quick about it, she could probably give this girl a lesson on how the social hierarchy worked around here. She stepped back from Koishi, disregarding the glasses on the floor, and looked over at the newcomer. Sango continued to stare at her without a hint of fear.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Maybe we should all talk this over so there isn't some kinda misunderstandi-"

The Fairy deliberately took a quick step forward mid-sentence, faster than her opponent could react, and delivered a right hook to the cheek. The impact was enough to knock Sango back a step, clutching at her face in shock.

"There! We clear now? Now, get the hell outta here before I have to do something else to that pretty little face of yours!"

By now, the murmuring and muttering of the surrounding students had stopped. Suddenly, all eyes were drawn to the fight unfolding in the middle of the corridor. Hell, it wasn't just a fight - some dumb newbie had managed to piss off Cirno, of all people. It attracted viewers in the same way people swarmed to witness a public execution.

Sango needed a moment to recover from the first blow, falling completely for Cirno's opening gambit. She could taste blood in her mouth, but she spat it at some forgotten corner of the corridor.

"That wasn't very fair. Breaking into a fight halfway through a conversation...you have no dignity at all, do you?"

Cirno laughed.

"Ahahaha! Kid, fair fights are for idiots! Anyone with half a brain sets the field in their favour before the fight's even begun!"

Sango stepped forward again, the pain from the first hit starting to numb as adrenaline kicked in. She took a more refined stance, slowly lowering her arms with her hands outstretched into firmly-held palms. There was a confident glare in her eye.

"Do it again. I dare you."

Cirno paused for a moment, examining Sango's posture. It looked like one of those fancy-schmancy martial arts that showed up in crappy B-movies and seinen manga. Clearly, this girl fancied herself to be some sort of esteemed fighter.

She was going to enjoy this one.

Cirno curled her hands up into fists, raising one as she took another step forward.

"Don't mind if I do!"

Sango's eyes were focused on the raised hand the instant it appeared. Without a hint of effort, she chopped at it from the wrist, redirecting it to miss her entirely. It was a textbook parry, performed perfectly and flawlessly.

"Ah-"

Unfortunately, the textbook assumed that there would only be one punch at a time.

Sango heard an impact. Then, she suddenly found herself unable to breathe.

"P-Phwweeee..."

She had been so focused on the hand going for her face that she hadn't seen Cirno's other hand aiming lower, slamming into her stomach. Sango let out a little gasp as the blow winded her, knocking her back another step.

"Heh! So much for your pretty stances! Not so proud now, are ya?!"

Cirno seized the advantage, going to the winded Sango with both fists. Sango was unable to counter - it took all she had just to deflect the oncoming attacks, let alone offer any sort of response. She could barely breathe, and each strike came a little closer to connecting than the one before it. She had to start blocking punches with her arms, and felt the force reverberating through them as Cirno struck. She grit her teeth as the pain started to kick in, and there was no sign of her opponent letting up.

There was no other way to interpret the outcome. Sango was losing.

---

There was murmured cheering in the crowd as they watched the Fairy leader show yet another greenhorn who really ran this school. The only person separate from the ranks of spectators was Koishi, still sitting in place on the floor.

She's in trouble.

She watched the fight unfold like it was on the other side of a glass wall, totally out of her control. Sango was taking a beating; and it looked like Cirno had no intention of stopping until she'd firmly proven her superiority. She could see the pain in Sango's eyes as her body ached - eventually she would just tire out and give Cirno the chance to do some real damage.

It hurt to watch. It felt like she was being punched alongside Sango, taking every blow and every punch. But she was powerless to help, and watching was all she could do.

Wasn't it?

...Isn't it?

This was her fault. It was all her fault. If Sango hadn't jumped in to save her, then none of this would have had to happen. Now she was taking the beating meant for Koishi, and what was Koishi offering her as thanks? She was sitting back and watching as Cirno pummelled her mercilessly.

By now, Sango was on her last legs, panting and wincing with every blow. Cirno, on the other hand, seemed to be growing stronger with every attack, almost growing visibly above her opponent. There was no question as to who was the superior fighter.

It only took a moment of weakness, and with a final well-placed attack Sango's legs buckled. She fell to the floor silently, too tired to even let out a cry. She was in no state to fight back, so for all intents and purposes Cirno had won. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CurbStompBattle)

But it was clear that wasn't going to be enough for the Fairy. She walked up to Sango's fallen body, and delivered a swift kick to the stomach. The dolphin winced.

"No-one messes with the Fairies. Got that through that thick skull of yours?!"

She kicked at Sango over and over again, letting off a nigh-maniacal laugh as she did so. There was an intense pleasure in superiority, and she was revelling in it.

That was it. That was too far.

Koishi could make out a thumping sound, and it took her a moment to realise it was coming from her own chest. Her heart was pounding, and it felt like something inside her was coming to life. There was an emotion welling up inside her, something that she thought she had discarded a long time ago. An emotion she thought was worthless, considering that she was took weak to achieve anything with it. An emotion that finally brought her back to her feet and made her consider doing something that she'd never even imagined beforehand.

Anger.

No-one saw her stand up - everyone's attention was focused on the m?l?e taking place a few steps away. She knew she was no fighter, and using the Teardrop was a definite no-go with this audience, but right now that didn't matter.

"...get away..."

The voice started as barely a whisper, and unsurprisingly Cirno was too busy to hear it. Koishi took a deep breath, feeling her whole body tremble in fear. She was scared. She was terrified. If she did this, Cirno would have a reason to pound her senseless. It'd hurt. It'd be agonising.

But she didn't care. She had caused this mess, so it was her job to end it. Sango didn't deserve to be taking this beating. It was wrong, and she had to do something about it. Her logical mind was shutting down at the sight of this - Sango was suffering, and it was her fault. She had to do something. Anything. Whatever the cost.

She moved with a ferocity that surprised even her.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

Koishi grabbed Cirno around the neck and pulled her backwards, managing to pull the Fairy a few steps away through the element of surprise alone. There was a collective gasp from the crowd, while Sango was too busy trying to catch her breath to convey her shock.

Koishi's effort quickly earned her an elbow to the face.

"Kyah!"

She fell back onto the floor, feeling as if a hammer had just struck her in the forehead. Cirno turned around to face her, and Koishi immediately felt a chill down her spine - the sneer she'd received before had morphed into a look of outright disgust.

"You little bitch...!"

Cirno raised a hand, fist clenched. There was no sign of mercy in her eyes - if she had to break a few bones, she would. Koishi could only hold up her arms to try and protect her face.

A whistle blew through the corridor before the first blow could be struck.

"Alright, people! Break it up, break it up! Move on, everyone, nothing to see here!"

Almost instantly the crowd dispersed, running off to whatever class they were supposed to be attending. Cirno looked up in the direction of the voice, and sneered.

"Shit...you lucked out, Komeiji! Don't think I'll forget this!"

She ran off, quickly disappearing into the sea of students. Only Sango and Koishi remained, both lying on the floor and wincing from their respective injuries.

"...Dammit, I never make it on time. You two, are you okay?"

Professor Kawashiro came up to the pair, still holding a whistle in one hand. Given that the school council was notoriously bad at maintaining order, it came down to the teachers to break up fights and arguments. Most of them didn't see it as a job worth pursuing, and she was the only one to take the duty seriously. Ironically, it was another reason she preferred teaching physics - no-one ever got into a fight near the math department.

Koishi felt like her brain was melting as she rubbed at her forehead. At least it wouldn't bruise, but it would sure sting. The professor offered her a hand up, which she gratefully accepted.

"I...I think so. Thank you, Kawashiro-sensei."

Koishi came to her feet, and was surprised to find that Sango was already next to her, holding out the glasses that had fallen aside earlier.

"You dropped these, phwee."

Koishi took a moment to look at her as she accepted the glasses. There was no sign of injury, or pain, or anything - she looked as if the entire beatdown from earlier had never happened. She asked herself the question, not wanting to have the teacher overhear whatever sort of explanation Sango had for this.

H-How did you?

Sango smirked.

"I'm a youkai. We're pretty good at putting ourselves back together, assuming we get the chance."

Professor Kawashiro gave Sango a quick look-over, running a hand down the back of her jacket and checking if there were any bruises underneath. Given that there were no yelps of pain, she concluded that Sango was more or less unharmed. Koishi, meanwhile, had taken a nasty blow to the head, and she didn't have magical healing powers to rely on.

"I'm guessing it was Cirno and her gang that did this? Not that we can prove it. We'll catch them on something eventually, I swear...ah, Komeiji-san, I think you'd better head to the nurse's office with an injury like that. She'll get you some ice or something. Tororetsu-san, you'd better go too, just in case anyone jumps you on the way."

Sango nodded, wrapping an arm around Koishi's shoulder with a sudden devotion.

"You've got it, Professor. I'm not gonna get jumped again, that's for sure. Now come on, Koishi-san, let's get you seen to..."

She pulled Koishi along down the corridor for a few seconds as her friend kept grasping at her head, still wincing a little, before the professor called out to her.

"Tororetsu-san? The nurse's office is the other way."

"I knew that."

-----

"Haah...that's better."

Koishi felt a wave of relief wash over her as she held the ice pack against her forehead. She was seated in the nurse's office, having needed to give Sango directions the instant they left the corridor. After a few wrong turns and mishaps, they managed to hand Koishi in to have her injuries seen to.

The school nurse was a strange character. Efficient at her job, yes, but she didn't seem truly meant to be a nurse. It was a fact that Koishi was reminded of shortly afterwards.

"You seem to be troubled, Komeiji-san. Can I assume that you're feeling guilty about not being able to do more in that little scuffle?"

Koishi jittered a little in her chair. Right on the mark, yet again.

"Y-Yes...how do you do that, Nagae-sensei?"

"Woman's intuition. And please, call me Iku."

The nurse's office was littered with various memorabilia from the 1970s - miniature disco balls, CDs of Western singers that Koishi had never heard of, and an old, forgotten radio that still occasionally played a tape from the olden days in the background. Despite this apparent nostalgia, Nurse Nagae seemed to be particularly normal - civil, and willing to do what she could to offer support to the injured. She was so talented with reading the attitudes of others, though, that most of the school agreed she would be better employed as a negotiator, or even a therapist.

"I took a look at your school record to check if there were any past illnesses to worry about. It was some rather heavy reading - you've been going through a very rough couple of months, haven't you?"

Koishi slowly nodded. She'd kept afloat enough to keep the school from forcing disciplinary action on her, but as a result her grades had drastically fallen.

A small smile formed on the nurse's face as she placed a hand on Koishi's shoulder.

"Komeiji-san. I just want you to know that if anything is troubling you, you can come to me and speak in private. I'd offer you a chance to talk now, but..."

She glared out the window, towards the silhouette of Sango standing outside the door. She was keeping vigil, watching the nurse's office almost like a guard.

"She's, um...new here. She needs me around to stop her from getting lost."

The nurse glared at the figure on the other side of the door for a moment, sighing.

"Well, you can do it another time. Just the two of us, and I swear I won't tell a soul anything you have to say. Think about it."

Koishi nodded, slowly taking the ice pack away from her forehead. Honestly, she probably wouldn't follow up on the offer - not now that most of her problems would simply be taken as a sign of insanity. She could imagine the conversation now - "Well, there was a strange incident a few days ago where a pair of fishmen tried to kill me, and I was saved by a magical talking dolphin who turned me into some sort of superhero and - hey, who are these men in the white coats?"

"Thank you, Nag- I mean, Iku-sensei. I'll give it some thought."

The nurse offered her another small smile as Koishi left the office. She watched the student leave alongside her friend, not taking a step apart from each other.

She sighed. They made her job so difficult sometimes.

-----

The period was just about ending, so Koishi and Sango decided to take the trip to History early rather than stick their heads into Geography for all of 5 minutes. Besides, after today's incident it was probably a bad idea to hang around the corridors any longer than they absolutely had to - another run-in with Cirno was inevitably bad news.

The first half of the trip across the school's empty corridors was in relative silence. It was clear both of them had something they wanted to say, but neither of them could quite spit it out. An awkward atmosphere formed between the two of them, growing heavier and heavier by the second until at last neither of them could stand it.

"Sorry I had to get you to save me."

"Sorry I didn't help out sooner."

They both spoke at once, cutting each other off. They looked away for a moment, but Sango was the first to recover.

"I could have taken her, honest! Just didn't think she'd play so dirty...and Koishi-san, I'm supposed to look after you. That's why I'm here."

"I know, but...you looked like you were in so much pain down there."

She'd seen Sango wince as Cirno had beaten her down. Guardian or no, it made no sense for Koishi to just stand idly by and watch Sango suffer.

"And besides that..."

Koishi rested her head on Sango's shoulder, prompting a sudden blush from the dolphin.

"You're not just a guardian, Sango-san. You're my friend."

Sango squirmed a little as she realised how this position could be interpreted. Her hand over there...Koishi's head down there...if someone were to walk by, then they might think-

"P-Phwee! Um, Koishi-san, I'm touched by the sentiment, yes, it's nice to hear you trust me so much, but we might be moving a little too quickly with this, don't you think?! I mean, there's a point where this goes further than business is meant to go, and...phwee, phwee, phweeee...!"

Sango suddenly pulled away, stepping away from Koishi a little. Koishi tilted her head slightly, not sure what exactly Sango was so concerned about (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChasteHero). Her telepathy only let her hear thoughts the target willingly wanted to project, so for now it would remain a mystery.

The remainder of the trip was once again made in silence, though silence of a very different flavour than before.

-----

Koishi had been quick to teach Sango the two main rules of history class. The teacher had never uttered them, but every student knew them and took them very much to heart.

The first rule: You must hand in all your homework on time. Failure to do so earned you some 'private' time with Professor Kamishirasawa after class; no-one had been brave enough to say exactly what went on during that detention, but students walked out on a regular basis with bruised foreheads and concussions.

The second rule was just the first one again, repeated for emphasis.

Sango dodged a bullet this time around, given that she hadn't been around for the last few classes due to 'moving from the other side of the country to Gensouto'. Explaining why she had missed every other history class on the curriculum was a challenge they would have to deal with later.

"Hm?"

Koishi stared blankly at the seat to her left. If she remembered correctly, this was where Mokou would be sitting. Sango had taken the chair desk on her right, and was leaning over to examine the spot as well.

"Maybe I'm seeing things, but is your health nut friend invisible?"

No...she's not there.

Professor Kamishirasawa was in the middle of calling attendance. Every few names she would stop and readjust her hat - an ornate, pagoda-like structure that had to be breaking some protocol of school safety.

"OK, then. Fujiwara?"

A moment of silence. Her eyes fell on the unoccupied chair.

"Thought not."

The teacher looked unsurprised as she got back to marking down the absences. Koishi was startled at first, and soon shifted to concern. She looked forward, to a pair of sisters whispering to each other. One of them was drawing leaves on the blank pages of her book, and her sister occasionally snuck a grape from beneath her table to eat as a snack. What were their names again...? Ah, it had been too long since the start of the year, she'd forgotten. Aki...something.

"Uh, excuse me. Do either of you know what happened to Fujiwara-san?"

She pointed to the empty seat for emphasis. The two sisters stared at each other, then back to Koishi, both wearing faces of utter awe.

"You...you mean you don't know about her?"

That did nothing to comfort Koishi, and she nervously shook her head. The closer sister pulled her head closer, whispering.

"Check out the back exit at the end of class. You'll understand."

It was an answer, but not the sort that Koishi had been wanting to hear. Still, nothing she could do now other than wait out the class and take a look when school was over.

For now, she had her work cut out for her passing Sango some answers when Professor Kamishirasawa turned her attention to her. Even if she was a youkai, she had a feeling that a little 'private' time with the teacher would scar her for life. Mentally, if not physically.

-----

Her heart had stopped for a moment when Sango had been called out to name the three sacred treasures of legend, and her mind had drawn an absolute blank. Fortunately the dolphin seemed to already know the answer to that one, and Koishi sighed in the knowledge that maybe Sango wasn't quite as uneducated as she looked.

The bell rang, signalling the end of class and the end of the school day. Professor Kamishirasawa pulled a few unlucky students aside for alone time. Koishi saw the look of horror on their faces, and murmured a silent prayer.

It was a careful trip to the back exit of the school, mainly consisting of scouring their surroundings to see if Cirno was coming back for another round. The Black Claw may have been dangerous, but in terms of a history of violence Cirno and her gang were far more of a threat now.

Koishi had been uncertain if this was such a good idea now - this was where all the other delinquents hung out. None of them had a history of violence like the Fairies did, but likewise none of them were fantastic people. There was a horrible feeling in the bottom of her stomach, but Mokou had been a friend once. It was only fair that she try and make up for lost time, even if things were as awkward as this.

Sango was the first to poke her head out the back doorway, scouting for any sign of Cirno before letting Koishi past. There was no sign of her, or indeed any of her cohorts, but one or two stragglers were lurking beneath the pillars in the nearby garden. One of them immediately caught Koishi's eye - a young, tall-looking girl with black hair running down to her waist, wearing a pair of cumbersome looking suspenders along with a simple white shirt. There was a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, almost as an afterthought - she seemed to be chewing on it more than she was smoking it.

"Is that her, phwee?"

Koishi continued to stare, uncertain. She wanted to say yes, this was indeed Mokou Fujiwara, supposed owner of the Perfect Diet club, but everything about her was so different from what she remembered. The cheery smile and bright eyes had vanished, replaced by a permanent leer and a growling face. Even her stance as she leaned against the pillar screamed aggression - she looked ready to kick off the wall and deliver a roundhouse to the face of anyone who came close.

"Umm...yeah. I think that's-"

Koishi was interrupted as a hand grabbed desperately at her shoulder. Looking to her side, she saw Sango's ears coming to the end of their wiggling. She stared at Mokou with an emotion somewhere between respect and concern.

"We've found one."

-----

OMAKE

"I say, that fight against the thug was rather ungentlemanly, phwee."

"S-Sango-san? What happened to you?"

"Oh, I thought it would be quaint to read up on some etiquette. Manners cost nothing, after all, phwee."

"Um, I hate to break it to you, Sango, but no-one talks like that around here."

"Nonsense! Let us have a civil, calm discussion with this young lady over here. Excuse me! Lady Fujiwa-"

"What the hell do you two want?!"

"Ah! Run away!"

"I say, she does seem rather uncivil."

Next Episode: The Second Siren! The Furious Flames of Mokou-tan!

"Perhaps we should discuss the matter over some tea instead, phwee..."
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Chaore on September 06, 2010, 12:01:36 AM
Mokou is taking you punks down RAAAA? :V

Also, Sango Vs. Cirno was... well, the link fits it well, for all the buildup.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Sana on September 06, 2010, 12:15:15 AM
I totally support Dudley!Sango :V
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Kinzo the Astro Curious on September 09, 2010, 10:00:18 AM
This must continue. Can't think of much else to say on the matter. Just continue.  :V
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on September 09, 2010, 04:42:51 PM
This must continue. Can't think of much else to say on the matter. Just continue.  :V
Well, if you put it that way~

-----

Koishi blinked.

"Wait, you mean..."

"Yeah. Apparently you have good taste in friends, because I can sense the Teardrop inside her. She's a Siren, alright."

Mokou was staring at the floor, looking antisocial as her hands hung in her pockets, almost forgotten. She'd yet to notice Koishi and Sango stalking her out.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Koishi-san? Go talk to her."

"Me?! But look at her! She probably knows a dozen ways to kill me with that cigarette alone!"

"Hey, you're her friend. She's got no idea who the hell I am, so your odds are better than mine."

That, at least, Koishi couldn't argue with. She let out a little groan as she stood up straight, trying to figure out how best to introduce herself. Did she throw out a simple greeting? Did she pretend to have forgotten her?

Maybe a joke would be the best way across, now that she thought about it. Something witty, something to make her laugh. Win the audience over, or something. She racked her brain for something to offer to the conversation.

"You know, uh...I'm not the health expert here, but I always thought smoking was bad for you."

Smooth. Reeeeeeeal smooth.

Mokou looked up at that, and proceeded to give Koishi a nigh-fatal glare. There almost seemed to be something burning beneath her eyes - a tiny flame, flickering brightly now and again. The cigarette slipped out of her mouth, unused, and she promptly crushed it beneath her heel.

"I figure if I buy myself a packet, it's a packet that someone else isn't gonna use to poison themselves. Besides, people have expectations 'round here, believe it or not - if you aren't smoking, everyone thinks you're some kinda kid."

She kicked away from the pillar lightly, strolling up to Koishi with the same menacing aura. She examined her, seeing that her face was a tint above deathly pale now, and she was squirming just at her presence.

"You really are feeling crap, from the looks of things. Don't tell me you got involved in some sort of drug crap, Komeiji-san?"

This was turning out very, very badly. The last thing she wanted was for Mokou to think she was a junkie - that'd lose her everything resembling respect from the health nut. She started flailing, half through desperation and half through fear.

"N-No way! You told me enough horror stories about those things to keep me clean for a dozen lifetimes-"

Her panicking cut off.

"Wait. ...You actually remember me?"

Mokou put a hand on Koishi's shoulder. The difference in physical health was blatantly obvious between them - Mokou was a head taller, and her muscles were refined and strong compared to Koishi's.

"You were treating your body like shit, Komeiji-san. Of course I was gonna worry about you."

A tiny smile worked its way onto her face.

"But you look better now. Maybe not in great shape, but you're trying again. That's good."

She wrapped her arms around Koishi in a firm embrace, leaving Koishi surprised for a moment. She was touched to find that Mokou still remembered her after so long apart, and allowed herself to enjoy the embrace.

Meanwhile, watching from the distance, Sango felt her face turning red.

!? That girl...

The way they were holding each other - hadn't that been how Koishi had been holding her?! That same affection, that same care...

"...Phweeeeee...!"

A sound forced its way out of her mouth as her arms clenched into fists. In front of her, Koishi and Mokou continued their friendly embrace.

She was having none of it.

"HEY, YOU! DON'T GET ANY BRIGHT IDEAS ABOUT STEALING KOISHI-SAN, PHWEE!"

The hug, predictably, collapsed almost immediately when Mokou realised that she was being watched. She leapt away from Koishi, instantly looking in Sango's direction as the dolphin gave her an envious stare. The small grin had vanished again, and the serious, straight face had returned.

"Komeiji-san, who the hell is this?"

Were there words for how quickly this plan was coming apart? If there were, Koishi clearly didn't know them. She tried to salvage the situation by explaining matters before Sango could shoot her mouth off.

"Uh, sorry, you two haven't been introduced, have you? This is Sango-san, she's my-"

Too late.

"I'm Sango! Sango Tororetsu, phwee! And it's my job to look after Koishi-san, got it?! Don't think you can get close to her without my say so, phwee!"

She was going red in the face, and in spite of her opponent's threat (or even the fact that she'd been pummelled all of an hour ago) she looked ready to snap at any moment. Mokou looked blankly at Sango for a moment, and proceeded to place a hand on her head and ruffle her hair. Sango flinched, and immediately tried to pull herself away from Mokou's grip, but the health nut was every bit as strong as she looked.

"Heh. You've got a pretty cute girlfriend, Komeiji-san. I guess she's what made you change yourself?"

"Well, you could say tha-WAIT, SHE'S DEFINITELY NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!* (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SheIsNotMyGirlfriend)"

-----

It took a little convincing, but eventually Koishi weaved a story that Sango was a guardian who had been sent to look after her when she had no-one to live with. There was much relief from Koishi when Mokou bought it, but Sango still gave her the occasional jealous glare.

So how do we do this? Do we just tell her the whole story?

Sango shook her head at that one.

"You realise just how crazy the truth is gonna look to her, right? You can't explain it and honestly think she'll believe it until she experiences it for herself."

So...we need to have her discover her Teardrop first? Get her to make some sort of heartfelt wish and explain it from there?


This time, Sango nodded.

"Yeah. Just try and win her favour for now, and then we can-"

"Hey, what are you two doing staring at each other?"

Koishi and Sango both flinched as Mokou brought them out of their unspoken conversation. Only now did Koishi realise just how awkward this must have looked to other people.

"Ah, sorry. I was just spacing out."

"Bad at focusing, huh? I can tell you where to get hold of some herbal tea for that - pretty cheap, too."

Mokou had a soothing way of talking when it came to health issues, so it was a shame that almost everything else she said sounded like she was holding her to gunpoint. She had two levels of emotion - caring teacher and irritated stranger, and it was very hard to bring around the former.

She asked Koishi how the last few months had been, having a very vague knowledge of Satori's disappearance. Koishi had no real response to give - every day had been just about the same as the one before it, nothing exemplary or interesting. She had simply been existing - she was only alive in the most literal sense. Mokou had frowned at that, but she was glad to see that things had apparently improved.

Now was Koishi's chance to try and start on some progress. She turned the question back on Mokou.

"So, what about you? I was wanting to try getting back into some clubs, so I figured the Perfect Diet club would be a good place to sta-"

"Disbanded."

A beat.

"...Huh?"

"I disbanded the club. I'm the President. I can do that."

Mokou's words were blunt and simple. The frown on her face grew slightly, as she glared at at nothing in particular. Maybe she could use some of that herbal tea she'd been trying to convince Koishi about.

"...OK. So, what've you been u-"

"Nothing."

"...Have you been hanging out wi-"

"No-one."

In her head, Koishi saw herself squeezing a stone in the hope that blood would seep out. She sighed, and decided that it was probably best to just start slow. Besides, it was good to talk to a old friend again. It reminded her of better times.

"Never mind, then. We can just go out for something to eat, okay? No worries, Sango-san will pay for everything."

"Yeah, we can just...phwee? I'm paying?!"

"You're the one with the bulging wallet, remember? You can't expect us students to pay up."

Koishi gave Sango a playful poke in the rib. The dolphin let out a little moan, as she mentally said farewell to the tins of mackerel she could have bought for herself with that money. Mokou allowed herself a little chuckle as the trio walked around the school to the main entrance.

"Well, who am I to turn down a free meal? I just hope this place you're gonna take me to has a healthy eating option."

"Do gratuitous helpings of omega-3 count as healthy eating? 'Cause if so, you're gonna have a great..."

Sango's sentence trailed off unfinished as they reached the school's entrance. By now, almost all the other students had finished their business here and headed home.

Everyone, that is, except Cirno and her gang, currently standing between them and the exit.

"Hey, Komeiji! Told you I was gonna get you back for that little stunt you pulled, didn't I? And I'm a good woman - I keep to my word."

Koishi bit her lip. Unconsciously, she squeezed Sango's hand until it hurt.

The various thugs and delinquents she'd pulled together looked like they were walking fashion statements. Their poses were slumped, their faces grim - and most importantly, they didn't look like they could hold themselves in a fight. With enough of a distraction, Koishi could probably run past them and dash away.

But they weren't the problem. The problem was their leader, who she knew full well could take out both her and Sango without much hassle. The head Fairy glanced at their new friend, who seemed to have no idea what was going on.

"Hey, you brought out the self-proclaimed health guru! What happened to you, anyway? You were always bragging about how great your diets were and how you'd revolutionise medicine or something. You finally realise you were talking shit?"

Mokou rubbed incessantly at her temples as Cirno spoke, trying to find a switch on the side of her head to turn her ears off. There were murmurs of agreement among her minions, offering nothing more inventive than 'Yeah!' or 'What she said!'

"...Kid, I hardly recognise you any more."

Cirno flinched, along with Sango and Koishi turning to Mokou in surprise.

"F-Fujiwara-san?! You know her?"

Mokou paused before answering, her face looking pained.

"Just leave this to me."

Mokou took a step away from Koishi and Sango, approaching Cirno with her hands back in her pockets. She let out a heaving sigh, like a mother trying to conceal disappointment with her problem child.

"Cut the crap, kid. Let us through."

Cirno grinned, chuckling to herself at a joke no-one else seemed to understand. The Fairies got the hint, and started to laugh alongside her.

"Sorry, can't do that. Times have changed, see. Nowadays, it's me giving the orders around here, got it?"

Cirno walked towards the advancing Mokou, until the two were standing well away from the crowds. At the same time, Koishi was conflicted over finding a way to help and frustrated that she probably had nothing to offer in that regard.

"Sango-san...she's going to get hurt, isn't she?"

Of all the things she expected to see as she turned to her side, Koishi wasn't expecting Sango to be smiling?

"Eh? What's so funny?"

Sango pulled a hand over, and did Koishi a favour by removing her glasses for her. Seeing what was going on explain her confidence far better than words ever would.

"Huh? That's..."

Cirno had the same form she fought in before, standing menacingly with her frozen wings floating behind her back. They fluttered occasionally, sending a light chill across the school grounds. The ruffians behind her were literal fairies as well, but each of them looked almost identical to the fairies at their sides. There was no differentiation, no unique patterns, nothing. They weren't worth paying attention to.

Koishi was looking elsewhere, anyway. Mokou wasn't even aware of it, but there were tiny flames trailing at her feet, sending her clothes billowing around as the smoke rose from them. Her suspenders were laced with what looked like ornate sealing charms, and her hair had sifted to a light tint of violet.

But most importantly, a pair of beautiful golden wings had sprung up on her back, an occasional flame running along their length. They looked like they were meant to spread as far as her arms were long, but they were clipped messily two-thirds of the way along. It was clear that they would be no good for flight, and she was a far cry from full power, but the sight of it was still enough to amaze Koishi.

"Fire beats ice, Koishi-san* (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ElementalRockPaperScissors). We've got nothing to worry about."

Mokou maintained her idle stance, refusing to take a pose even as Cirno raised her fists. If anything, she looked bored by the prospect of fighting her. Cirno maintained the same, smug smile that had lead her through every fight up until now, not budging an inch.

"Oh, please. You're not gonna just sit there and take it, are you? Defend yourself, already?"

"Don't need to.* (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheLawOfDiminishingDefensiveEffort)"

Cirno's grin disappeared. She was being mocked, and in front of her gang, no less. Anything resembling mercy ceased to be an option, and she decided that her new objective was to pummel Mokou to the point where she had more blood on her clothes than in her body.

"Kh. I'll show you what happens when you screw with the Fairies...!"

Cirno charged forward, still maintaining the stance she'd used fighting Sango. There was no way Mokou was going to land a hit on her face, and even hitting her torso was going to be a challenge.

Of course, Mokou was aware of this. That was the point of the stance, and it worked wonders when standing still. Charging with it, though, meant it was all too easy for your opponent to simply step to the side, catch the front leg with their foot, and send your charge in a new and painful direction.

"Uwah!"

Cirno tripped over Mokou's outstretched foot, quickly rolling to the side as she hit the floor. Mokou made no attempt to capitalise on the opening, giving her every chance to recover and simply waiting for her to attack.

"T-That's no fair! You never taught me that one!"

"That's because I trained you to take care of yourself, kid. Whatever happened to the girl who wanted to learn to protect herself from the seniors who were picking on her?"

That hit a nerve with Cirno, and her face grew red with anger. There were murmurings of confusion in the crowd.

"I-I don't have a clue what you're talking about! I'm the strongest fighter here, and I'm gonna prove it!"

Cirno came forward again, more carefully this time as she took swings at Mokou's face. The firebird weaved past the first fist, and pulled one hand out of her pocket to catch the second in mid-air. She pressed down on it, not with enough force to do damage but with enough to hold it in place. Cirno paused, looking at the trapped hand in shock.

"Done yet?"

Mokou remained startlingly calm, with her other hand still in her pocket as if nothing was happening. Cirno's eyes began to water.

"Y-You...!"

She used her front foot as leverage, kicking forward with the back foot aimed right at Mokou's chest. An attack that strong would easily break a few bones if it connected, and with her grip on Cirno's hand Mokou had stopped herself from stepping away.

So instead, she used her other hand to knock away the oncoming attack at the ankle, sending Cirno's leg off over her left shoulder. Koishi saw it stop inches from her fiery wing, and for a split second the two seemed to be frozen in the moment, like time had waited to take a picture of the scene for remembrance.

The rest passed in slow-motion. Mokou's foot swept around again, catching the leg Cirno still had on the floor. The Fairy's centre of balance came apart entirely, and her hands waved around helplessly as she fell towards the floor. Mokou's hand let go of her, and instead swooped down to grab her by the neck and help to hasten her fall.

Cirno hit the ground with a painful thump, a hand around her throat and a second fist ready to beat her senseless if she so much as tried anything. It had only lasted a minute, but already the fight was over.

"I trusted you, kid. You let me down."

Mokou whispered a few words to her, unheard by the surrounding crowds. She pulled her hands away, standing up and returning to the bored, idle stance she had taken before. Cirno offered no resistance, staring blankly into the sky as Mokou walked back towards Koishi and Sango.

The expressions on their faces could only be described as looks of amazement.

"F-Fujiwara-san, that was incredible!"

Mokou offered a shrug as she let a smile rise on her face again.

"Eh, what can I say? A little fight now and again helps keep me in shape. I know a thing or two. You want some pointers, Komeiji-san?"

"Um, sure, but..."

Koishi looked behind Mokou, towards the still fallen body of Cirno. Physically she was fine, but mentally it looked like she was on the verge of crying. The Fairies who had been gathered around the entrance started to disperse - their leader had shamed herself in a fight. There was no point in respecting her if she wasn't really the strongest.

"Is she going to be okay?"

Mokou turned around and winced slightly at the sight of Cirno still sprawled along the ground. She gave off another painful sigh.

"Just leave her for now. She's got a lot to think over. She'll be fine."

She started making her way to the entrance, stepping over Cirno as she left. Sango and Koishi followed afterwards, nervously stepping around the fallen fairy and breathing easier once they made it out of the gates.

"So, I think I earned myself this free meal, don't you?"

"Well, you did save the two of us from another fight with Cirno. Didn't she, Sango-san."

"P-Phwee...my mackerel dinners..."

-----

She lost.

Cirno didn't want to look back down, for fear there wasn't a ground beneath her. It felt like she was still falling, her entire life collapsing down to the lowest of lows. There were tears slipping down her face now, and it felt like she was about to explode.

I trusted you, kid. You let me down.

She had never been popular in school. She did poorly in tests, even when she tried, so inevitably her classmates would gang up and call her an idiot. When they grew tired of just laughing at her, they went a step further and started playing pranks - swapping out her exam papers, tripping her up in the corridor, even 'requesting' her lunch money.

Mokou had found her sobbing outside the back entrance, and taught her about fighting on the streets. About how to look after herself, to give the bullies who picked on her a taste of her own medicine. It was information she used to full effect, handing out payback to anyone who tried to take advantage of her. No-one called her an idiot after that.

When the bullies who had picked on her were dealt with, Cirno found herself with a dilemma. The emotion she'd felt as she finally proved that she wasn't the loser everyone thought she was - she loved it, adored it, craved it. She started by coming up with nonsensical ways to be offended by the people around her, looking for an excuse to pummel them senseless. It grew more and more absurd by the day, until eventually it was clear she was simply fighting for the sake of fighting. Mokou had taught her well, though - with the skills she had picked up, along with her own training and effort, Cirno ended up effectively ruling the school. She made her own gang, the Fairies, and whatever she ordered was law.

Not anymore. In a single fight, she had been ritually humiliated and disgraced. Her so-called friends had lost interest in her, and her reputation had been torn apart. Now she was alone, more than she'd even been, staring upwards as the sun set in the distance.

There were two sides fighting inside her right now. One half wanted to track down Mokou and kill her where she stood for ruining her. It cried for vengeance, for payback, for blood. The other half whispered words of forgiveness, saying that Mokou had simply intended to correct her path and seeked her best interests. This was her time to start afresh and make something of herself - now she had simply become that which she hated the most* (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HeWhoFightsMonsters).

The two halves fought with one another in equal measure. At this rate, it could take days for one side to win out, and even then it could easily be either.

So the figure standing over her offered words of guidance.

"You seek to destroy her?"

Cirno nodded, then shook her head, then nodded again. She was still uncertain, and there was a lingering doubt that she didn't have the nerve to put into words. The figure filled the blank for her.

"I see. So you seek power?"

This time, Cirno nodded. If she was strong enough, she could beat Mokou and show everyone who was the boss all over again. But Mokou was too powerful, and even Cirno would admit she was out of her league after a showing like that.

The figure smirked. It was a crooked smile, one that brought a chill down Cirno's spine.

"Very well. This will only hurt for a moment."

The figure picked Cirno up from the floor, lifting her back onto her feet. Her voice was familiar, but she had covered her face so that only her lips were visible.

That was all she needed to kiss Cirno.

"Mmh?!"

Something seeped inside of Cirno's mouth along with the woman's tongue, slithering down her throat like a snake. She felt it squirm back upwards again, reaching her brain and setting it alight. A million images burst into her vision in a second - absurd, magical images that couldn't possibly exist, she knew that, but they all looked so real.

Within her mind, the barrier that had kept Cirno in denial came apart. Whatever had slipped into her head had passed on all its knowledge as well. In an instant, she knew. She understood. She accepted.

And as the figure handed her a single golden key, she rejoiced.

Mokou Fujiwara...just you wait. By the time you realise what I've done to you, you'll be getting thawed out by some archaeologist millions of years from now. And you know why?

'Cause I'm the strongest.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Myschi on September 09, 2010, 05:01:02 PM
Not really my style to say something like this, but...

ilu Rou~♥

>.> <.<

This. You have single-handedly convinced me to frequent this part of the board more often.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Iced Fairy on September 09, 2010, 05:03:40 PM
 :ohdear:
Cirno no!

So the forces of Evil reveal themselves.  And by reveal I mean hint vaguely at their existence.  I sense Mokou's awakening soon....
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Kinzo the Astro Curious on September 10, 2010, 01:00:56 AM
'Cause I'm the strongest.

Needed to be a hyperlink a generic badass cirno DANBOORU WARNING pic... like this one. (http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/447128/blue_eyes-blue_hair-cirno-ribbon-short_hair-touhou)

Awesome stuff.
Kinda nice to get a reply and update within the same day  :V
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Alfred F. Jones on September 10, 2010, 01:18:22 AM
Oh man, I have so many ideas now as to what's going on in the background.

Koishi has no idea what she's in for. :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Myschi on September 12, 2010, 09:07:32 AM
Also SOCIAL LINKS SOCIAL LINKS SOCIAL LINKS

Glad I'm not the only one to have thought of it that way...

Only read to... well... this post, so far, but keep up the good work! (You have no idea how hard it was for me to not to pop a phwee~ into that sentence...)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Drake on September 12, 2010, 06:49:06 PM
SAILOR MARS
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Myschi on September 12, 2010, 08:32:20 PM
Poor Cirno... I was really hopin' she'd, ya know, not be all evil and bitter and evil and evil.

Keep up the good work, though!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on September 14, 2010, 11:55:50 AM
Koishi had been smart enough to plan ahead and find out the fastest path to Lorelei's beforehand. The last thing she would need to help discuss matters with Mokou was a dislocated arm thanks to Sango hauling her all the way across town again. She talked about trivial matters, and Mokou responded cheerfully enough, but every time she tried to delve into something personal the health nut would either dodge the question or answer jokingly.

Is it too soon?

She was in two minds about it. If she pressed too hard, she might end up upsetting Mokou and scaring her away, and then they'd be totally out of luck; but if she didn't try hard enough, she obviously wouldn't be able to watch Mokou 24/7, and the Black Claw would take care of her before Koishi had a chance to intervene.

For now, she'd keep quiet. Maybe she'd try again after dinner or something. For now, she would just let Sango go on about all the various delicacies Mokou's 'perfect diet' was making her miss out on.

"I mean, have you ever even seen a puffer fish? Yeah, if you don't prepare it absolutely perfectly it kills you, but it only follows that the biggest risk gets you the best reward, right?"

"Uh...you realise they've figured out a way around that, right? Nowadays farmers just raise puffer fish without the whole deadly poison shtick."

"Really?! ...Well, I bet it doesn't taste as good."

Sango was understandably behind on human food-preparation, and Mokou was quick to point out her mistakes. Fortunately for Koishi, Mokou didn't wonder how her new conversation partner could be so knowledgable about the creatures of the ocean and yet so unaware of modern cuisine.

"Heh, you sound like you've had a bite out of every fish in the seven seas, Tororetsu-san. Hell, I bet you've even tried dolphin."

"Phwee?"

Sango didn't understand the question, tilting her head as she looked back at Mokou. The health nut blinked, a puzzled look rising to her face as well as she reiterated.

"Y'know, dolphins. Fish that aren't really fish? Everyone's going on about how the hunting's inhumane and all that crap? Personally, I've never touched the stuff, but...hey, are you alright? You're looking a little pale."

Koishi quickly noticed that Sango's knees were shaking. Her head was bowed down, and Koishi could sense she was on the verge of having steam pour out of her ears. She snapped her head back upwards, glaring at Mokou with a look of righteous indignation.

"I-I'd never eat a cute and innocent dolphin! The people who do that are...meanies! Mean meanie-faced meanies! Phweeeee!"

Mokou was taken aback by Sango's sudden outburst, not quite sure how someone how loved fish dishes so much could be so against eating dolphin. She wisely decided not to press the point any further, and simply watched as Sango proceeded to fall onto Koishi's shoulder.

"Koishi-saaaan...I don't wanna be eaten..."

Koishi offered her a pat on the head as they made their way into the city proper. This whole mission had clearly been something of a culture shock on her part, and it took a few minutes worth of calming words to bring her back to a sensible state.

The path Koishi had planned out ran through the main street of Gensouto. There were several branches off into smaller streets, but in general all the biggest stores could be found on this one straight path from one side of the city to the other. It would be a while yet before they had to turn off for Lorelei's, so for now the three were immersed in the usual city crowds.

Sango took advantage of her earlier state and held hands with Koishi. From Mokou's point of view, she was still slightly upset and needed company; from Koishi's, it was to stop any wannabe Claw member from abducting her. It was maybe a little clingy, but Koishi appreciated the sentiment.

Mokou's eyes started to dart around the street, looking at the various turnoffs and avenues. She bit her lip.

"Uh, hey, we're getting off the main street soon, right?"

She sounded concerned, almost worried. Koishi had already figured out the route, so she shook  her head in response.

"The fastest route goes pretty much all the way along. If we went through the avenues, it'd take a lot longer."

"Then let's go through the avenues."

"Huh? Why?"

"Exercise. Scenic route. Whatever. Just get off the street right now."

It had subtly turned from a request to an order. Mokou didn't go so far as to pull Koishi away, but from the look in her eyes she was definitely considering it. All the anger did, however, was confuse its target.

"Fujiwara-san, you aren't making any sense."

"Look, it's complicated. At this rate, we're gonna walk past-"

The word caught in her throat as she looked to her side. Koishi, still waiting for an explanation, looked in the same direction. Sango joined in wordlessly, leaving all the sensitive matters to her partner.

"...What's wrong? It's just a pharmacy."

It was new, Koishi thought, no more than a couple of months, but from the glossy walls and the shelves stacked with expensive medicines it was clear the store was in no financial difficulties. The sign above it declared it to be 'Eientei - for eternal health and beauty!' without a hint of irony.

Mokou's eyes weren't turned to the sign, though. They were looking head on at one of the signs in the window, advertising one of the pharmacy's hit products. From here Koishi couldn't make out the wording beneath it, but as Mokou stormed up to the window she followed afterward, quietly pulling along Sango.

"The Hourai Elixir - our best-selling product, already nominated for a variety of awards! Try it today, and you won't be disappointed!"

Following that was a variety of supposedly helpful chemicals with names that Koishi couldn't spell, let alone pronounce. She looked over to Mokou for an explanation, but the health nut had already taken a step inside the store.

"Ah, Fujiwara-san?!"

She hadn't gone far - she was currently having a discussion with the attendant at the counter. Koishi was too far to make out words being exchanged between the two, but Mokou's face was livid while the attendant wore a forced smile as she tried to talk the customer into calming down. The last thing she wanted to do was walk in on a private discussion, so she again chose to hang back.

The first sign that she needed to step in was when Mokou let out her frustration by slamming a hand into a nearby pile of boxes. The on-sale items collapsed to the floor in a colossal spill, but it had done nothing to calm down Mokou - if anything, she looked angrier. Koishi couldn't sit around after something like that, and practically ran up to the counter while Sango hung at the entrance to, as she'd put it in her thoughts, 'guard the escape point'.

"Dammit, I'm just asking her to pay her dues! Why can't I even get a chance to talk to her?!"

By now, every customer in the shop was watching the ongoing argument. The attendant, a serious-looking girl in a jacket and tie, took a moment to adjust her skirt and regain her cool. It was a skill Mokou clearly looked like she needed to learn, and her hand clenched up into a fist again ready to slam into the employee's face.

Koishi grabbed her around the waist before she did anything she would regret, pulling her back towards the doorway.

"Ah, sorry about this! She's, um, had a lot to drink! Not that she's underage or anything...anyway, thanks for your service! I love the lighting here! I'll tell all my friends about this place. Bye!"

The attendant clearly didn't believe a word she was saying, but gave her a nod of thanks as if to say 'Thank God, you got the crazy woman away from me'. Mokou let off a few weak flails, but from the look of surprise on her face she seemed to have suddenly realised what she had been doing and went limp in Koishi's hands.

"Hehe, extraction successful! Excellent work, Koishi-san."

Koishi wasn't sure how serious Sango was being with those words. Frankly, that concerned her. She let go of Mokou, who proceeded to take long, wide steps down the street as she deliberately looked in the opposite direction of the pharmacy the whole way along. It was like just seeing the store would be enough to make her blood boil, and an explanation like that would certainly explain a lot.* (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BerserkButton)

What it left, though, was the important question. Why was a simple pharmacy enough to drive Mokou Fujiwara, the girl who'd stared down an attacker without landing a blow, to violence?

Fujiwara-san...what happened to you?

She let the health nut stomp along by herself for a while before catching up to her, thinking she'd appreciate the time to cool down.

"Um...are you alright?"

Mokou startled as Koishi put a hand on her shoulder, then proceeded to brush it off.

"I'm fine. Let's...let's just go."

She took wider steps again, doing all she could to get away from the pharmacy. This discussion would have to wait until dinner, it seemed.

"Koishi-san. I don't need to tell you that we can't ignore this, do I?"

Sango's face looked grave as she watched Mokou stride along without them once again. Koishi didn't need to put her response into words.

Whatever happened to Fujiwara-san...I need to help her. Not just for her sake...but for the sake of the world.

So yeah, no pressure.


-----

"So, two servings of mackerel, and...sorry, did you say yakitori?"

"Yeah, is that a problem?"

It was the same waiter as last time when the trio finally made it to Lorelei's, though this time Koishi noticed her shirt was the tiniest shade of pink. She blushed a little at the sight of Koishi and Sango, but pulled herself together enough to do her job.

"Ah, it's nothing. Just that the owner never liked working with chicken...I think she was brought up on a farm or something."

Quickly realising that she'd said too much, the waitress coughed lightly before noting down the order. Sango sighed as she dug into her wallet, pulling out another hefty note to pay for the meal.

"Seriously, Koishi-san...two dinners in two days? You're gonna be the death of me."

"Well, it isn't every day you bump into an old friend and have her save you from a pummelling. I think the hero deserves a feast in her name, don't you, Fujiwara-san?"

Mokou didn't offer a response, her attention now devoted to the glass of water she'd been handed by the waiter. She spun her straw around in the water, her face severe and focused on something else. The elbows she had on the table won her various glares from other customers.

"Um. Fujiwara-san?"

Koishi's call was enough to snap Mokou out of her meditative state and remind her that she wasn't here by herself.

"Oh, sorry. Just, uh...find it really fun to make little whirlpools in the glass. Yeah."

It was a pathetic explanation, which meant that whatever she was trying to conceal was worth embarrassing herself over. Koishi tread carefully with her next words, knowing full well that they were critical.

"Fujiwara-san...it's no good bottling it up. I'm no expert on physical health, but I do know that keeping your problems to yourself makes your brain overheat and turn into goop."

She did her best to sound friendly, throwing a joke in at the end to win her over. Mokou looked back to her glass, this time with a definite look of conflict on her face.

"Eh. I could probably still go on without that thing. It sure as hell hasn't done me any good over the last few months, that's for sure."

The silence that followed was painful. Mokou poked at the bottom of her glass, trying to stab through it with the straw for no reason other than to distract herself from the current topic of conversation.

"Hey, it's not like we haven't all done stupid crap, right? I mean, Koishi-san will testify that I'm pretty bad at this whole academic thing-"

"It's not school, dammit! You think I'm so shallow as to worry about missing a few months of education?! I could've been made for life, if I hadn't-"

Mokou put her hands on the table with a loud thump, silencing Sango's attempt to enter the conversation. What had started as an attempt to avoid frightening Mokou away had become an attempt to stop Mokou from punching someone in the face.

It took a second for Mokou to come back to her senses, looking down on herself like she'd just regained awareness.

"...Shit. I'm doing it again, aren't I?"

She grabbed the glass, and downed its contents in a single gulp in an attempt to cool herself down. Her brain was clearly still working overtime, though, and she held her head in her hands as she did what she could to relax. They were pressing at something she didn't want to talk about, but they were doing it so incessantly that she was either going to talk or she was going to end up doing something she'd regret.

She looked up at Koishi's face, and saw genuine concern in her eyes. This was the girl she'd saved from Cirno earlier - what sort of hypocrite would she be if she lost control and took a shot at her now?

Mokou panted a little, as if letting the hot air rise out of her. Finally, she sat straight and tried to keep the same straight face she always did.

"Look. If you want to know this crap so much, I'll tell you. But I'm pretty sure by the time I'm done with this story you'll be wishing you hadn't wasted money buying me that yakitori."

A hand slid over the table, placing itself over Mokou's. Now Koishi's expression contained a little more determination.

"Please, Fujiwara-san. You were worried sick about me when I was doing badly, so now it's my turn to worry about you, okay?"

Mokou allowed herself a little smirk.

"Heh. You're sorta cute when you're serious, Komeiji-san."

Koishi did her best not to react to that, but a slight pink tint rose to her cheeks regardless. This earned her another glare from Sango, but fortunately Mokou was too busy to notice the dolphin's envy.

"...OK. This might take a while to explain, but bear with me."

Mokou took a deep breath, mustering up the courage to confess something that could potentially break her. Koishi pressed down a little on her hand, silently cheering her on. At last, words began to seep out from her lips.

"...That Hourai Elixir thing? The ground-breaking product the pharmacy was going on about? That was me. I made that."

-----

You never made it to the Perfect Diet club, did you? We were hardly the most popular of the clubs, of course. We weren't a sport, or a real hobby, or anything like that. Most people saw us as a bunch of elitist freaks who just wanted to talk about how much healthier we were than everyone else.

That wasn't the point. It was never the point. It had always been our intention to share our secrets one day, to produce one of these miracle cures that pharmacies are always trying to pass off. The difference was that this one would be the real deal - it'd stop wrinkles, keep you looking young, add an extra 5-10 years to your lifespan, blah blah blah.

'Course, that was sort of a pipe dream. We had ideas, maybe, but we never had the finances to pull something like that up. Pharmaceutical companies are crazy-big business these days, and some tiny school-club is gonna have no chance in hell of getting a foot through the door without some help.

And lo and behold, that's exactly what walked through our door a few months ago.

I still remember her face to the letter. The piercing brown eyes, the gorgeous black hair that ran down past her waist, the skin untouched by blemishes or spots or anything like that. She was basically the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen, though she'd testify that it was all thanks to whatever anti-aging cream was selling well at the time.

Her name was Kaguya Houraisan, and she told me her dad ran a local pharmacy. It was a small place, but they just about got by. I shared some of our tricks with her, and she'd look out for the ingredients I mentioned when it came to new products. We made a pretty good team.

Then one day, she says she wants to go all the way. She tells me that she trusts me, more than she's ever trusted anyone in the business, and that her dad's got a chem lab at the back of the pharmacy. That miracle cure the club had always wanted to make? This was our big chance.

Of course, Kaguya swore me to secrecy, because she didn't even let her old man know what she was doing. It was all going to be a big surprise, she told me, and the two of us would bask in the riches. This would be the big finish for everything I'd worked on, al those years of testing and experimenting.

The name was Kaguya's idea. Apparently, her old man was pretty insistent about her living up to her namesake - the moon princess, the one who all the men fell in love with on sight - so even when she was a kid she had to focus on looking pretty any time she could. He expected a lot outta her, and thanked me for my help with it every two minutes. It was touching, if kinda sad.

So, after a few weeks, and god knows how much testing, we pulled it off. We concocted our Hourai Elixir, and it was everything I ever wanted it to be. It worked great, it was cheap to produce, and there were no side-effects. It was basically set to revolutionise the industry, earn us millions. And what happens?

The bitch goes and steals the idea, that's what.

I caught her talking to her old man about it when she insisted she was using the bathroom. I only caught a few hints of the conversation, phrases like 'my best work' and 'all for you, daddy' and all that shit. My name never showed up anywhere - she took my masterpiece and claimed she'd come up with the whole damn thing. I stormed out into the room then, asking her what the hell was going on.

She started screaming that I was some sort of thief and told me to get out of the store before she called the cops.

...Well, what could I have done after that? Kaguya had played it smart - she filed patents in her name alone, so I couldn't have filed a lawsuit even if I had the money. The Hourai Elixir was, of course, a massive success, winning awards and turning Eientei into the biggest pharmaceutical company in the country. I got nothing - the bitch wouldn't even let me talk to her about it. I tried God knows how many times to get a hold of her, but nothing. Not even an apology.

I shut the club down pretty soon afterward. People had caught wind of the Hourai Elixir, and how it basically knocked our ideas out of the water. I couldn't tell them I'd helped to make it, that'd just sound petty. That was probably why she had me swear to keep it secret the whole time.

After that, I sorta...stopped caring. Skipped class, lost track of people, didn't notice the kid taking her power a little too far. Everything I'd worked for, everything I'd tried to achieve, I'd done. And it was all going off to some bitch who played me for a fool. Honestly, if I could get my hands on Kaguya right now, I'd beat that pretty face of hers so damn hard that even her own dad wouldn't be able to recognise her.

And that's pretty much my story. The story of a fool who spent her life fulfilling a princess's impossible request, and ended up with nothing even after she achieved her goal.

Bet I don't look like some genius to you anymore, do I? All that crap about perfect diets, and it doesn't stop me being an idiot.

-----

Mokou's grip on her glass had tightened the further she made it into her story, until Koishi started to worry she was going to snap it in her grip. Her eyes had clamped themselves shut, but a few trickles still escaped from beneath them despite her best efforts.

"And here you guys are, wasting money on a girl who's got nothing left to offer to the world. You guys are almost as dumb as I am, you know that...?"

Koishi felt her heart coming to rest somewhere on the bottom of her stomach. It had certainly not been a pretty story, and it explained why Mokou had changed so much from what she was before. There'd been a serious tone at the end of the story - it was clear that she desperately wanted a chance to get her payback on Kaguya for what she'd done. It was almost an obsession now, one she'd likely dwell on for the rest of her life at this rate.

"Humans are capable of some pretty mean things, aren't they..."

Sango didn't put her thought into words, but Koishi heard it loud and clear. She thought it over for a moment, still holding her hand over Mokou's.

...No. You're wrong.

She sighed.

"Fujiwara-san...no. Mokou-san, I know I shouldn't judge you, but I think you're making a mistake."

Sango and Mokou both flinched a little at that one. Koishi pressed down on the hand a little harder, this time as if to hold her in place.

"You mentioned that this girl was under a lot of pressure from her father, didn't you? Have you considered that it wasn't for her sake she lied to you, but for his? She wanted to make him happy, and using you like that was the only way. It wasn't pride that fuelled her. It was love. Misguided, confused, desperate love, but love nonetheless."

Mokou's hand squirmed a little beneath hers. She didn't want to hear this. She was happier living in her little world of vengeance where she'd been wronged by a heartless bitch looking out for herself. This was adding shades of grey she didn't want to deal with. All that awkwardness did was make Koishi press on harder.

"And think of it this way. That wasn't the first time you stormed into the store wanting to beat her up, was it? Of course she isn't going to want to see you if you're acting like that. But at the same time, she knows who you are, and she could call the police on you at any time. She doesn't, which means that she's feeling a lot guiltier about it than you think she is."

By now Mokou was visibly squirming in her seat. It was easier to be angry, and it was easier still if she painted Kaguya as a villain. Now Koishi was forcing her to make hard choices, and she didn't want that. Meanwhile, Sango's face shifter further and further towards amazement.

"Mokou-san. Maybe I'm in no position to say this. I can't even imagine the magnitude of the money you lost out on thanks to this girl's doings. But if you want to make any progress with this, you need to be the bigger woman in this conversation and forgive her for what she did. You won't achieve anything with vengeance. I know I'm asking a lot of you, but...forgive her."

A heaving silence followed, and for all of them it hurt just to breathe. Mokou's squirming had stopped again, and her eyes were closed as she quietly processed what she'd been told. It was a lot to take in, a little too much, maybe, and she started pulling at the tablecloth to try and vent her frustration.

"I...I need to go. Right now."

She pulled her hand away with a quick snap, standing up and making to leave the table. Her eyes were starting to water, worse than they'd been before.

"Ah, wait! Fujiwara-san!"

Mokou turned back, and reacted just quickly enough to catch something being thrown at her. Looking down, she saw that she'd been given a plain ring - no engravings, no jewels, nothing. She looked up at the girl who'd thrown it at her.

"I know it isn't much, but if things get really complicated and it feels like you're going under, put that on, okay?"

Mokou stared at Sango in confusion for about half a second. Then the urge to run took over again, and after a hurried nod she made for the exit again, skipping out on her meal.

Sango and Koishi sat in silence for a moment, just looking at the door after she'd long since departed.

"...What sort of ring is that, anyway?"

She started with a side question to try and relieve the tense atmosphere that had emerged. Sango allowed herself to smile a little with that.

"We just call it a Ring of Breath. Magic involves going into lots of places where you don't get your airy goodness, so it's a simple charm to take care of the problem. Magical duels usually take place in a water-like atmosphere, mainly because some people decided that it was more graceful or something, so rings like that are pretty much a given."

"Oh. So you gave it to Mokou-san in case-"

"Yeah. Can't be too safe, can we?"

The discussion came to a halt again. Eventually, Sango let out a small sigh.

"Koishi-san...that was amazing."

Koishi shrugged.

"All I did was give an opinion, that's all."

"But most people would've just written that off as an act of malice. Hell, even Fujiwara-san thought that she was getting screwed over, but you were willing to look at it in a different light. That takes a lot of nerve."

Koishi frowned at that one.

"I'm not a hero, Sango-san. I could spout philosophy all I wanted, but it wouldn't help stop a fist coming at my face."

"Good thing you've got me, then, huh?"

A playful nudge on the shoulder was Koishi's cue to lighten up and let things go. She took a deep breath, allowing her stance to slack a little.

"Yeah, you really helped out a lot when it came to Cirno-san, didn't you?"

"Phwee! I'm telling you, she wasn't playing fair! I'm not used to fighting in this form, dammit!"

Koishi smiled to herself as Sango made excuses. The waitress from before emerged, holding three dishes.

"Here you go. Two mackerel and...didn't you order yakitori?"

"Ah, yeah. Our guest had to leave suddenly. I think she's got a lot to think about."

"Yeah, it's a real shame. Still, more for me, phwee~!"

-----

She didn't know how the boss had tracked her to Lorelei's, and frankly she didn't care. There was still a good walk between her and the store, but she enjoyed every step of it knowing what was waiting at the end.

Her hand was in her pocket, tightly grasped around the key she'd been handed earlier. A new ring had been placed around her finger, apparently as some sort of precaution.

She didn't bother waiting to think about any of that. Right now there was only one thought on her mind, driving her forward with every step.

Time to find out who the real idiot is, Mokou Fujiwara. I'm coming for you.

-----

ok i'm an hour late now byeeeeeeeee
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Myschi on September 14, 2010, 02:50:51 PM
Huzzah an update~

Love how you did the Mokou/Kaguya feud. Really well-thought-out and whatnot!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Drake on September 14, 2010, 05:47:15 PM
Seriously. Great Mokou plot. Write more now :V
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Myschi on September 14, 2010, 06:00:51 PM
Seriously. Great Mokou plot. Write more now :V

This man knows his shit and should be listened to!

I'm curious, though, it's a 'passing joke turned totally awesome.' Where'd this all originate from? Pure Lotus?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Iced Fairy on September 14, 2010, 06:15:37 PM
I'm curious, though, it's a 'passing joke turned totally awesome.' Where'd this all originate from? Pure Lotus?
Apparently.

And yes that was an interesting take on the rivalry.  But that may be taking a back seat to more immediate "ice fairy" based concerns....
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Esifex on September 14, 2010, 06:24:09 PM
I like the differences in the friendship between Koishi and Sango between the two stories, though.

In DRK, Koishi is all like 'wtf take a chill pill, Sango'

In PLiSS, it's... the other way around :B
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on September 16, 2010, 01:31:35 AM
Working consistently to wrap up this arc. Hoped to finish it tonight, but as usual I suck at keeping things consise. :V

-----

Mokou wasn't quite sure what she was thinking as she stepped out of the restaurant. Her feet moved on their own, not caring where they went as long as it was away. She couldn't stand being in that place for a moment longer, not if it meant having to talk more about that.

It wasn't because Koishi had been wrong in her judgement. It had been more right than Mokou had been willing to admit.

She had been angry. Who could blame her for that? She'd seen her life's work come to fruition, only to have it taken from her by the girl she had trusted to make her dreams come true. In the space of a few weeks, she'd gained everything she'd ever wanted and lost it all at once. Going through a roller-coaster of emotions like that, who wouldn't snap a little inside? Turn the girl who'd ruined her into a straw-man she could pin all of her anger on?

And anger wasn't just relieving. It was simple. When Kaguya ruined her, there was no difficulty whatsoever in turning to the supposed culprit and declaring her to be the scum of the earth. Koishi was asking her to do something much, much harder - she was being asked to forgive Kaguya for what she'd done.

In the end, the facts were simple. Kaguya had lied to her, and screwed her out of her life's work. She'd cost her millions, and taken away everything she'd ever worked for. Now she was being asked to kiss and make up with her? Bullshit.

She'd been worried about Kaguya, about how every other word out of her mouth was about her father and how he had such high expectations. But she hadn't been ready for the girl to outright betray her like she did - if anything, that concern just meant that being betrayed by her hurt that much more. There was no opinion about it - she had been cheated.

Just stop thinking about this, you moron. If it hurts, then why bother?

A voice in the back of her head whispered promises of relief. It was perfectly possible for her to just disagree with everything Koishi had said to her, she knew that. She could just ignore the so-called 'advice' she'd been offered, and stayed in her own comfortable little world where she was the valiant hero who'd been stabbed in the back by a villain who deserved no mercy or pity.

It was tempting. Very tempting. Mokou spent a long time pondering its offer, almost ready to disregard the monologue she'd been given.

An image flashed in front of her eyes the moment before she gave in.

"Mokou-tan."

She grabbed at her head as if she'd been wounded. She didn't want to see this, not now, not ever. It was just going to hurt her if she thought about this too much, so why couldn't she look away?

"Mokou-tan...we did it."

It had started now, and she knew there was no way of stopping it. The film played itself out inside Mokou's head, still playing out in full view no matter how hard she closed her eyes. There was only one image, being played on endless repeat.

Kaguya was looking at the final mixture and holding it up to the sky, her eyes glistening with tears.

-----

"Mokou-tan. This is...it's wonderful. We'll make millions with it, revolutionise the market, win every award that they've ever invented...in fact, they might have to invent a few new ones just for this."

She continued to stare enawed at the elixir, treating it like the most beautiful thing she'd seen in her life. Mokou had smiled at the pure, raw happiness running across her face.

"And I'm betting your old man will be glad to hear you helped out with this, won't he?"

Kaguya's face had shifted then, looking conflicted. She bit her lip suddenly, nervous.

"Um...yes. Of course."


---

She'd thought nothing of it at the time, and indeed by the time the deed was done that memory was all but gone from her mind. Looking back now, though, Mokou could practically taste the guilt that was wracking Kaguya's face as she prepared to betray her.

Mokou was vaguely aware she'd walked into some back alley, away from the main path. She was alone here, so no-one around noticed as she started to violently ram her head into the wall.

Get the hell out of my head, Kaguya!

It hurt. It hurt like hell. She didn't care, she just wanted this thought to go away. The more she looked at that face, the less Kaguya looked like a heartless monster, and the more she looked like a stupid girl who made a stupid choice to win over her daddy.

She didn't want Kaguya to have an explanation. Explanations meant she'd need to accept that she had a reason for screwing her over beyond being a heartless bitch, and then she'd have to let the grudge go. But forgiveness was hard, so much harder than just staying angry.

But anger was becoming less and less of an option.

Shit...it's too late now, isn't it?

She stopped trying to beat the thought out of her head, and slid to her knees with her hands still against the wall. A few quiet tears fell onto her lap as she grit her teeth so hard she thought they would shatter.

...What would I have done?

It was a question she didn't want to ask herself, but she asked it anyway. She tried to picture the situation from Kaguya's point of view - daughter of a successful pharmacist, father obsessed with beauty and success, expected great things out of her, but she didn't have the spark of genius she desperately needed. Suddenly someone shows up with the idea she's been looking for, needing help to take it beyond the conceptual stage.

Would she have been able to resist the temptation? Could she honestly have given credit to someone else if it was her own father who was looming down on her, expecting her to move mountains in his name?

It hurt to admit, but she couldn't honestly answer 'yes' to that question. Maybe what Kaguya had done was wrong, but to an extent she understood it.

She laughed to herself, in that forgotten back alley separated from the rest of the world. All that time she'd spent making her body strong, and her heart was still so bitter as to hold a grudge and never stand in someone else's shoes.

"...Yeah. I guess I've been an idiot this whole time, haven't I?"

She gave up on even kneeling, and fell backwards into a puddle. A grey sky hung over her - dry, but threatening to burst into rain at any time. She felt powerless for the first time in months - this was too much for her right now, she thought. She couldn't bring herself to forgive Kaguya with a heart this weak.

So she decided she would have to learn. It would be painful, and it would be difficult, but it was the only sensible choice. She'd learn nothing by letting her hatred simmer for the rest of her life.

There was no brilliant declaration, no cry to the heavens. Just a simple, murmured promise to no-one in particular.

"I'm gonna get over myself. Someday, I'm gonna look her in the eye and tell her that I'm fine with what she did. I swear on it."

Every word carried a tone of determination that only the most heartfelt wish could power. She felt something welling up in her chest, like her emotions were manifesting in front of her.

It took her a moment to realise that wasn't just a clever simile.

"...The hell?"

Something had suddenly...appeared in her shirt's chest pocket. She couldn't find any other word for it - there'd been nothing, and now there was something. She never even used the pocket in question, but she could definitely feel a little weight pressing down on her. Pulling herself back to her feet, she reached inside and pulled out an object just smaller than her finger.

Some kinda jewel? Never seen one this colour, though...


It was shaped like a tear, and a brilliant crimson colour ran through it. There were no cracks or faults, the gem's bottom curving in a perfect arc. In terms of jewellery, it was an absolute masterpiece.

She would probably have examined it for a few minutes longer if a voice hadn't called out for her.

"You're a hard girl to find, y'know that? It's a good thing I caught you walking down here, or I'd have never caught you."

Another figure stepped in from the opening of the alley. It was a figure Mokou hadn't expected to see again for some time - not until after a whole lot of soul searching, anyway. She sighed, as she placed the gem back into the chest pocket.

"Kid, please tell me you aren't here for a rematch. I don't wanna have to do something I'll regret, but you're working away at my options."

Cirno didn't offer a response, simply strolling towards Mokou with a straight smile on her face. Her hands were in her pockets, as if to mock Mokou's stance, and her eyes were looking right into hers with total confidence. Impossible confidence, the sort that no human would be able to walk into a fair fight with.

"Oh, you can do whatever the hell you like. This time, I've got an ace or two up my sleeve."

Immediately, Mokou's mind drew the only logical conclusion it could.

A knife?!

She'd been cornered in a back alley, of all places. She grit her teeth again, focusing on Cirno's hands and getting ready to disarm her the instant her hand left her pocket. She'd grab the arm, deflect the stab, and smack the wrist to knock the knife out of her hand. Simple, but effective.

One of Cirno's hands ruffled around in her pocket. Mokou reacted on instinct alone, snatching at the arm before she could do any damage. Cirno was barely able to pull her hand out before Mokou stopped it dead.

It was empty.

What the?!

Cirno smirked, pulling her head next to Mokou's. A few words slipped into her ear, words that may as well have been in another language for how much sense they made to her.

"The Claw descends on Mokou Fujiwara."

An instant passed.

Then, to the rest of the world, the alley was empty.

-----

"Bleh. How can you people eat this stuff?"

Sango had quickly decided that yakitori wasn't for her, leaving the dish almost untouched at the empty seat. She washed away the taste quickly with a gratuitous helping of mackerel, helped down with a single gulp of water. A few customers glared at her for her table manners (or lack thereof), while Koishi kept her head down and worked through her meal slowly.

"You're going to give yourself a stomach ache eating like that."

Sango looked up, confused.

"What're you talking about? I eat this stuff in one bite all the time out at sea. Can't be that different, surely?"

Koishi didn't even bother to sigh at that one. She decided to just let her eat the meal however she wanted. She'd learn the lesson either way, though this way would be a little more painful.

She glanced around the restaurant, looking for anyone her age who'd be another potential Siren. No-one seemed to be a viable candidate though, and the only person she recognised was Professor Kawashiro in a rather tight-looking blue dress, holding what looked to be a glass of wine in her hand. She was muttering to no-one in particular about fractions and how they were a crime against humanity, swirling her glass but never actually taking a sip. She turned over to Koishi for a moment, offering her an infantile wave.

Koishi promptly looked away in embarrassment.

I'm not her student, I'm not her student...


Sango, of course, had been unaware of this exchange. She was too busy digging into her meal to care about interactions with tipsy teachers. The knife and fork were still sitting on the table, untouched, as she swallowed a piece of fish that seemed larger than her mouth.

"Mm...that's some good stuff. And I know good fish when I see it, trust m-"

Sango's boast never finished, as a sudden jolt of energy struck her body. She stood straight upright, eyes widened in shock, as her hands slammed into the table. Koishi's first thought was that the food had gone down the wrong way, but the hand grabbing her by the collar put paid to that thought.

"We need to go. Right now."

Sango's voice was deadly serious, a tone that Koishi had never really heard from her before. That was enough to convince her that whatever the problem was, it was worth leaving a meal half eaten.

"What's happening, Sango-san?"

"Can't you hear it?"

Koishi allowed Sango to haul her out of Lorelei's as she pondered the question.

"Hear what?"

"Touch the Teardrop. Then you'll get it."

There was still no sign of the normal cheerful tone in Sango's voice, which disturbed Koishi to no end. She reached into her pocket and pressed a single finger against the jewel held within.

Immediately a new sound burst into life, and she flinched for a moment thanks to its intensity. It was a voice, singing a single note with perfect pitch and tone. It was a beautiful voice, and one that was more than a little familiar to Koishi.

"That's-"

Sango smiled a little as she saw the recognition on Koishi's face.

"Yup. The Siren is singing. Looks like she made her wish without us."

The path Sango pulled her down ran away from the beaten path, and into a series of alleys. Mokou must have walked down here to think things over, Koishi thought to herself. She held onto the Teardrop, listening to Mokou's voice all the way.

It came to an abrupt stop when they were nearby.

"Ah?!"

Sango's eyes widened again. This time, Koishi could definitely make out a hint of fear.

"Dammit, the Claw got to her first?! How is that even possible!?"

They reached their destination, a distant back alley that no-one in the city would have had a reason to visit. Even a cursory glance was enough to reveal that there was no-one here, though, and Sango grit her teeth.

"OK, OK, calm down. It's gotta be here somewhere..."

Sango fell to her knees, looking around the shadows for something. Koishi simply stood behind her, tilting her head in confusion.

"Sango-san, what are you looking for?"

"They've spirited her away into a freaking magic duel. She's gonna have no chance there on her own, so we've gotta follow her."

"Follow her? But how? Do I need to challenge you to a fight or something?!"

Koishi was panicking, and she knew it. Mokou was in danger, possibly deadly danger, and she was powerless to help yet again. Sango continued to lurk in the shadows, running her hands along the ground.

"No, we need to find their Duel Marker."

"...What, now?"

"You can't just challenge another magician to a fight without leaving something behind. It's a little orb thingy called a Duel Marker, and we can use it to jump in on the fight."

"That doesn't sound like a very fair way to duel."

"Neither is challenging a girl who has no idea how to use her powers...wait, here it is!"

Sango scrambled to her feet again, holding up a light blue sphere the size of her hand. It pulsed slightly in her grip as she ran over to Koishi, her uniform covered in dirt.

"OK, Koishi-san. Hold onto this, and get ready to work your magic at any moment."

Koishi obeyed the order, placing one hand on the orb and the other in her pocket, closing it around the Teardrop. Sango placed a hand over Koishi's, and muttered what must have been some sort of entry password.

"The Pearl emerges to aid Mokou Fujiwara."

Koishi only had a moment to notice the flash of light.

The alley was deserted once again, save for a light blue sphere rolling along the ground.

-----

The world Mokou emerged in was similar to the one she'd just left. It was the same alley in the back streets of Gensouto, abandoned and empty.

The main differences were the new shade of blue the world had taken, and the fact that she was now roughly fifty feet above the ground.

"Aglb-"

She made to shout, but an awkward gurgling noise rising up was enough to convince her that was a bad move. She floated in place, so there was no immediate threat of falling, but all that did was freak her out even more.

Did I fall asleep in the alley or something?

This had to be a dream. It was the only logical option - the world around her was too absurd, too crazy. That, or the world had apparently flooded in the last thirty seconds, which was equally nonsensical.

Then again, dreams weren't supposed to feel this real. Mokou could feel the water (was it even water?) brushing against her skin, just cold enough to keep her attentive to the feeling. A few bubbles slipped out from her nose, rising upwards into the distance above. Only now did Mokou realise that there was no sun here - but at the same time, she could see perfectly. Another little bit of madness to throw on top of everything else.

"Hey, what's the matter? Need a moment to catch your breath?"

A voice bellowed out behind her, and only now did Mokou remember that someone had been clinging onto her before the world changed. Turning back, she caught sight of Cirno floating above the city as well, though she didn't seem to have the same breathing problem that Mokou did.

Except...was it Cirno? No, it couldn't have been. Cirno didn't have bright blue hair that colour. And she certainly didn't have...holy crap, were those wings?

OK, I've lost it. Apparently after I decided that it was alright to forgive Kaguya for being a jerk the rest of my brain just fell apart.

Her chest was starting to hurt a little. A few more bubbles flew out from between her lips as she let out a muffled moan. Cirno seemed to be enjoying her suffering, fluttering around gleefully in the water.

"Not so tough now, are you? Don't worry, this is all pretty new to me as well, but I've gotta say it's been a breath of fresh air for me."

If she weren't busy focusing on all the other weird things happening, Mokou would have probably punched Cirno in the face just for her horrible taste in puns. She started checking her pockets for anything that could help out before she started having serious trouble keeping her breath in.

Her hand clutched around a simple metal ring.

...if things get really complicated and it feels like you're going under, put that on, okay?

Sango's words from earlier suddenly rung in her head, and Mokou was slightly disturbed by how much they seemed to fit this situation. Hell, maybe that wasn't what she'd said at all, and she was just remembering it as such to fit the dream.

Whatever. If those were the sort of rules this dream worked on, she'd just have to follow them. She yanked the ring out of her pocket, and quickly jammed it on her middle finger. The pain in her chest faded away soon afterward, and she found herself breathing without much of a hassle.

Mokou's response to all this was about as verbose as could have been expected given the situation.

"Holy fuck."* (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PrecisionFStrike)

Cirno's face fell promptly when it became clear that Mokou had stopped dying. She scratched her head for a second, puzzled.

"Where the hell did you get that thing...? Eh, whatever. Doesn't really matter."

She reached into her own pocket, pulling out a golden key and flaunting it in front of Mokou. She got a puzzled glare in return as a result of Mokou having no idea what she was trying to suggest.

Great, now my dream is throwing crappy symbolism at me.

Cirno smiled as she lifted the key upwards, holding it above her chest. There was something slightly wrong in her eyes, Mokou thought - something different, something that didn't belong. Weren't they usually a lighter shade of blue than that?

"A good friend of mine lent me one of these. Now you're gonna get to see how strong I really am!"

She stabbed it into her chest, but if it had hurt there was no sign of it on her face. She continued to wear an expression of absolute confidence as she pushed the key all the way into her chest, right over where her own heart was.

She turned the handle, and immediately the key began to shine with a golden light. It travelled along Cirno's body until Mokou could see nothing more than a brilliant mass of gold. A single drop of black appeared in its centre, though, and quickly spread across her until there was no sign of the original brightness. Cirno was encased in a jet-black shell, like some sort of demonic crysalis.

The black mass began to crack, slowly at first, until suddenly it burst open to reveal its prisoner. The tiny wings that had run across her back before were twice as long now, and the ice that formed them looked stronger and firmer. Her clothes had changed as well - the main dark-blue fabric ran along her body like a swimsuit, but turned into a dress around the bottom with a jagged white rim. Along her arms ran a pair of sleeves made of pure ice, forming a pair of threating-looking shoulder pads at their ends. She held her hands outwards, unhindered by the weight of her sleeves, and above them a pair of icy needles formed with frightening speed.

"Feast your eyes on Cirno, the strongest of the Ice Fairies!"

She flung both her projectiles at Mokou, one after the other. Both had been aimed precisely at her head, and unused to combat in a watery environment she was barely able to pull her head away from the oncoming attacks. One of the needles barely grazed her cheek, drawing blood and forcing her to stifle a cry of pain.

That was when her brain finally came to a conclusion. It was a conclusion that all of her higher brain functions wanted to deny, but the lower, primal functions had forced them to admit with that wave of pain.

This isn't a dream. This is the real deal.

And she's trying to kill me!


-----

As per request, have a cliffhanger ending theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoSj5-LxoB8)
and a promise that this story will not have as depressing an ending as Fushigi Yuugi.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Iced Fairy on September 16, 2010, 01:47:06 AM
Heh, It wasn't a request.  But it does amuse me.

Is it odd that I'm wondering more about the fate of Cirno here?  Or am I too trusting you'll follow standard mahou shoujo tropes?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Alfred F. Jones on September 16, 2010, 06:31:16 AM
I contest that Fushigi Yuugi had a depressing ending.
Unless your name was Nuriko.
Or if you're talking about Genbu Kaiden. Damnit, why did you link that song? I've had it stuck in my head on-off for the past five years. I hate you.

In any case, nice update. I can't wait for more. :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on September 17, 2010, 01:20:00 AM
Cirno smirked, seeing fear begin to rise on Mokou's face.

"Good to see you at least managed to dodge the first one, at least. It'd be a real shame if you went down too easy."

She clicked her fingers, and the water in front of her began to solidify. A frozen blade slowly took shape, and she clutched its hilt with the stance of a master.

"Now, how about we get a little more serious?!"

She swung the weapon in Mokou's direction, firing an icy arc towards her at breakneck speed. Again Mokou's escape was by the slimmest of margins, and she heard her sleeve tear as the projectile swung past her arm.

How the hell am I supposed to fight back?!

Her opponent apparently had shiny magical powers, and Mokou had absolutely nothing to respond with. Even getting close didn't seem to be an option anymore, looking at that weapon Cirno was carrying - even if it was made of ice, that blade looked ridiculously sharp.

"Aw, what's wrong? Where's your fighting spirit? I thought you said I'd let you down?!"

Cirno's voice rose to an almost maniacal pitch as she swung the sword relentlessly, forcing Mokou to make one close-call after another. She could feel it more with every word - something was wrong with her. This wasn't the Cirno she'd taught to look after herself. This wasn't even the Cirno who she'd put down in the schoolyard earlier.

"Ah-!"

Mokou had been distracted, and didn't put quite enough effort into dodging that last one. The icy line had cut against her side, and she could make out a pool of blood forming on her shirt. She grabbed at it, wincing and resisting the urge to throw out every profanity she knew.

"Hmph. You're a real disappointment, you know that?"

Cirno's face lost its interest in an instant, ready to discard Mokou like a toy. She wielded her blade again, but this time she stabbed it in Mokou's direction. The blade stretched outward at Cirno's command, lunging forwards long after it should have stopped.

It was slow enough that she could dodge the attack easily for a change, but at the last moment the blade swooped downwards and smacked against her leg. It didn't hurt - in fact, there was a feeling of numbness around the point of impact, like it had been frozen.

It was a feeling that quickly began to spread.

"Can you hear that, Fujiwara-san? Ice coming together always makes such a pretty sound."

Mokou would have begged to differ. Looking down at the icy tendrils starting to run across her leg, she started beating at them furiously with her fists. All the effort earned her was tired knuckles, though, and as the ice continued to envelop her feet its weight was enough to pull her deeper into the water.

"I'm gonna be merciful to you, Fujiwara-san. Maybe you'll get another chance...in a million years or so."

Cirno let out a cackle as she watched Mokou sink, with the ice almost completely enveloping her legs and moving faster by the second. As it became clear that nothing she could do was going to stop it from covering her entirely, Mokou's panic gave way to tired resignation.

Dammit...you're telling me I've already lost without so much as a fight?

What sort of rigged fight was this? Her opponent was some magical girl, and she didn't get so much as a butterknife to help her out. She reached into her pocket again as the ice passed her waist, pulling out the scarlet gem she'd come across earlier.

Never did find out what this thing was, did I...

She examined it for a moment, unable to take her eyes off it as the ice formed around her neck. She was given no choice after it formed around her face, and her hand locked into place as at last the attack enveloped her completely.

The icy cage descended to earth with a loud thump, leaving Mokou helplessly trapped inside. She had long since given up on freeing herself, ready to succumb to her fate as a human popsicle for the next couple of millenia.

She never heard the voice calling for her from far above.

-----

"Mokou-san!"

Koishi had only emerged in time to witness the last moments of the fight, seeing Mokou sink frozen into the depths of this pseudo-Gensouto. Her cry immediately informed Cirno of her presence, and the fairy was clearly astounded by her presence.

"K-Komeiji?! No-one told me you were in on this!"

Cirno's new getup was pretty intimidating, especially those ominous-looking shoulder pads. There was no time to hesitate. Looking to her side, Koishi saw that Sango had already taken on her dolphin form, ready for combat.

Say the word!

Koishi reached into her pocket, pulling out her Teardrop and lifting it upwards into the sky. Cirno simply watched on, still dumbfounded simply by the fact that Koishi had even arrived here, let alone what she was doing.

"Wherever evil forces be,
On the land or in the sea,
All who sin should cower and flee
From Dolphin Rider Koishi!" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JzyZb-lOXA&feature=related)

This was becoming disturbingly regular, but Koishi didn't have time to think about things like that. The transformation played out in full, each step puzzling Cirno more and more. As it came to an end, Koishi took her place on Sango's back, pointing her trident straight at the enemy.

"Halt, villain! I, Dolphin Rider Koishi, have emerged to put a stop to your evil deeds!"

For once, she was okay with it being so thoroughly melodramatic. Now that there was a life at stake, she was ready to put her all into this.

"In the name of the sea, prepare to be punished!"

Cirno finally snapped out of her bewilderment, quickly growing a snarl on the face of hers.

"You little...what're you trying to do, coming in with some fancy speech and a fishy steed?! You trying to act like you're cooler than me?!"

Dolphins aren't fish, moron!

Sango couldn't pass on her complaints directly, but Koishi heard them loud and clear. Rather than granting Cirno a fight, though, she ordered Sango to dive down into the alley where Mokou's body had fallen. Making sure she survived was the first priority, villain or no.

An icy blade lashed out inches in front of them, stopping them dead in their tracks.

"Hey, don't you DARE try to ignore me! I'm the one worth your attention, not that stupid has-been!"

Cirno's voice was different than Koishi remembered it - there was an arrogant tone that hadn't been there before, even during her worst times. Now she sounded like a self-righteous maniac, and that was frightening.

"Dammit, you make me sick with all your razmatazz! Get the hell out of my sight!"

Cirno clicked her fingers, and the water behind her filled up with dozens of icy needles. Each one was pointed in Koishi's direction, all unimaginably sharp. There was no doubt about it - she was fighting with intent to kill.

She clicked her fingers again, and a rain of needles descended upon Koishi.

Sango! Can you see an opening?!

The dolphin quickly examined the oncoming barrage of needles, searching for a hole large enough for them to slip through. For all her apparent strength, Cirno was still a beginner - there was no way she could have made a fool-proof attack already.

There!

Sango suddenly darted to the left, to a single point where almost every needle passed by them unfazed. Koishi only had a single projectile to worry about, aimed at her neck, and that one was easily dealt with after a quick swing with her trident.

Cirno practically screamed with fury.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit! You aren't supposed to dodge!"

She started firing arcs of ice with her blade at high speed, but unlike her opponent beforehand Sango was suited to fighting in this environment. The pair drifted around the oncoming swipes, moving swiftly but never in any real danger.

"Sango-san, what happened?! Is Cirno-san really trying to kill us?!"

...That's not her, Koishi-san. See her eyes?

Koishi hadn't been looking properly, but now that Sango pointed it out she could see that Cirno's eyes were several shades darker than they'd been before. Her face seemed to have lost its normal fluidity, jumping between elation and fury at the drop of a hat, and unable to take on any emotion in between.

She's been Mindcoiled.


Koishi looked down for a moment.

"Mindcoiled?"

The Claw don't take risks with their recruitments. When they take a human into their ranks, they slip a little creature called a Mindcoil into their brain. It locks itself around whatever emotions will keep the target under their control, and stops anything else from ever crossing their mind.

Koishi looked back into Cirno's eyes as she continued to swing and miss with her icy arcs. They were manic, on the brink of insane. Any logical human would at least have shown a hint of hesitation or mercy, and all of her ego aside Cirno had never had the nerve to kill. Now, though, that human side of her was out the window - her desire to be the strongest had overridden everything else, and if that meant killing off the opposition then so be it.

She was convinced now. The Black Claw were complete monsters. Robbing people of their free will and making them do their bidding - that was just plain unforgivable.

"We don't have time for this, though! Mokou-san...Mokou-san is-!"

Maybe she'd managed to avoid drowning* (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohDvQGGZzfI), but Mokou was still going to freeze to death if they didn't do something fast. Cirno wasn't going to give them an opening at any rate, though, and off the top of her head none of her attacks seemed to fit the bill.

"OK, no more games! Looks like I'm gonna need to make two popsicles today!"

Cirno gave up on her swiping attacks, preparing to use the lunging attack that had brought Mokou to an icy end. They couldn't even afford to get touched by that thing, or they'd be getting dug out along with Mokou in the year 8097.

Wait a second...

An idea jumped into Koishi's head as Cirno began to stab in her direction. This time, she couldn't give the plan away to her enemy, though, so she passed on the message through thought to Sango.

Waiting until the very last moment, the pair dodged to the side and narrowly avoided the oncoming ice blade. Cirno let out a slight grunt, quickly shifting the blade around to chase them through the water. Sango raced on, keeping a few inches ahead of its tip at all times as the sword chased her relentlessly.

There was no use in them running, Cirno thought to herself. She could make this sword as long as she wanted, so she'd have to catch them eventually. Even if they swung to her side...then behind her...then back around in front of her again...then to her side...

"...Wait."

Cirno was too slow in putting the pieces of the puzzle together, and by the time she had figured out Koishi's plan it had already been put into motion. The blade began to wrap itself around its owner, and its momentum was enough to tie her down quite nicely.

"H-Hey! No fair! You can't use my own weapons against me!"

She struggled against her own icy chains, immune to their freezing touch but not to their grip. Koishi coiled back around again, sticking her tongue out to the trapped Cirno.

"Take a moment to cool off!"* (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BONDONELINER)

...Koishi-san, that was terrible.

No time for criticism!

Horrible puns aside, there were other matters to be dealing with. Now that Cirno was out of the picture (at least momentarily) it was time to engage in a rescue. Sango dove down into the alley, towards the icy statue of Mokou. She wasn't moving, and indeed Koishi wasn't sure if she even could move.

Fortunately, the Teardrop was already in her hand, so all she had to do was tell her to use it. But could she even hear her through the ice now?

Either way, she was going to do her damnedest.

-----

Shit, it's cold...

Of course it was cold. It was ice. What had she expected? It was worse in that the ice hung against her body so tightly she didn't even have room to shiver. By now her face was going blue, and her body was starting to go painfully numb.

Her ears could make out a thumping sound. Someone banging against the ice? Was it the future already?

"...an! ...u-san!"

No, this wasn't the future. Unless people in the future sounded like...Koishi?

"...Mokou-san! Mokou-san!"

She couldn't see it, but she pictured Koishi beating at the ice with her fists and having no more success than Mokou did. It was enough to bring Mokou back into awareness when she'd been ready to pass out, but she still felt completely powerless in this icy prison.

"The Teardrop! Use the Teardrop!"

Teardrop? Was she meant to cry herself out or something? That was going to be pretty hard when her eyes were closed.

...Or...does she mean?

Her hand pressed down on the Teardrop slightly. It stung, but in a good way - it felt like she was touching a fire, but with all of the warmth and none of the pain.

It was just the feeling she needed, and before she knew it she was clutching at it with all her strength.

Screw logic. If this works, it works!

The crimson Teardrop began to shine. Its light slipped through the first cracks in Mokou's icy prison, and Koishi pulled backwards as she covered her eyes.

Then, in an instant, the ice shattered completely, a ball of fire bursting from within. From here, Koishi could only make out Mokou's darkened silhouette from within, but just like her own first time it looked like it was running on automatic.

"Alright, time to crack some skulls! Fujiyama Phoenix, Rise!" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD-rE5ARM1A)

On the last note, a pair of brilliant golden wings sprouted from Mokou's back, this time reaching their full length. The flames along them burned brightly, even as the fire around Mokou came to a rest. Even her clothes had been burned away by the heat, but the flames continued to burn around her chest, finally fading to reveal a red tank-top with a golden phoenix engraved on it. Beneath that, the last smouldering flames disappeared from her pants, charred black and burnt away to the extent they may as well have been shorts. An armband appeared on her shoulder, sporting what looked to be half of a feather, and a pair of gritty combat boots had neatly slipped onto her feet. Behind her, her long silver hair was kept under control by a single ribbon.

"Inferno Gauntlet, Set!"

She raised one hand upward, and around it a red fingerless glove started to form, with a set of dull grey jewels inlaid on them. As she clicked her fingers, the gems burst into life, humming slightly as they turned a brilliant shade of white. As she lifted her other hand and clicked likewise, Koishi noticed there was no weapon coming into existence like her trident - Mokou was her own weapon.

And of course, all of this was fire was being lit underwater. Sometimes Koishi wished magic could at least make the tiniest bit of sense.* (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WaterIsAir)

"Heh. So a little birdie told me that there was some action going on around here."

Mokou cracked her knuckles, letting her neck twist around with a few audible clicks. Her stance slackened a little as she raised her fists in the traditional stance of the brawler.

"And when it comes to beating down some bad guys, I'm your first point of call! Fujiyama Phoenix, present and accounted for!"

She sounded determined and confident, as if none of this was a surprise to her. Of course, that feeling quickly wore off as the transformation sequence came to an end, and Mokou regained awareness. She stayed in her stance, but her eyes darted around with a sudden confusion before landing on Koishi.

"...Huh? Komeiji-san, what the hell is with that getup?"

She took a moment to absorb the swimsuit-like outfit, the fancy gloves, the hefty-looking trident, and of course the fact that Koishi was riding a dolphin of all things. She jumped between confusion and amazement at high speed, not sure whether to be shocked or puzzled.

Suddenly, she was very worried about looking down at herself. If she was wearing something ridiculous like that, she'd never live it down. With a good deal of effort, she managed to talk herself into seeing what sort of outfit she'd been landed with.

"...Yeah, can I go back into that ice block now?"

Koishi would have taken a moment to grin at that one, but a sound from far off distracted her. It was the sound of ice shattering, loud enough to be audible even from over here.

Cirno had broken out.

"You've gotta be kidding me! You're telling me every stupid has-been gets a cool sequence like that?! You guys are all just copycats, you hear me?!"

The ice sword reformed in her grip, its million fragments coming back together in a matter of seconds. She wasn't set to fall for the same trick again, but this time she wouldn't need to worry about that.

"But guess what?! A cat cornered in an alley can't do a thing! Try to dodge THIS!"

Another wall of needles emerged behind her, ready to fly into the alley and impale its inhabitants. This time there wasn't enough room for Sango's agility to be of any use, and as the wall started to collapse on them Koishi lifted up her trident in a vain attempt to clear the way.

"Get down!"

Mokou was running on pure instinct as she charged towards Koishi, letting her wings fold in front of her to shield the trio. The needles slammed into it with the usual deadly force, but the instant they came into contact with the flaming barrier they collapsed harmlessly into steam. The ground at their sides was riddled with blows that they couldn't possibly have survived, but beneath Mokou's wings none of the attack's intended targets had suffered as much as a scratch.

Understandably, Cirno was furious.

"Dammit! You people are cheating! I could take you one-on-one any time, but now you're just being cowards by teaming up. Stop being so weak!"

Koishi was tempted to offer a response along the lines of how it wasn't much braver to fight an opponent who couldn't fight back, but as Mokou unfolded her wings she found that she was this was no longer her fight.

"...Kid, you think I'm gonna let her get in the way of this? I'm gonna get payback for you trying to make me into the next abominable snowman, and if she knows what's best for her she'll stay the hell outta my way."

Mokou looked down at Koishi with a cocky glare. These didn't come to her often, so seeing just how confident Mokou was in her chances won her trust even more.

"Don't worry. I've got this one."

Letting Koishi go, Mokou leapt upwards as her wings started to flap, quickly bringing her up to Cirno's height. The ice fairy had the expression of a child who had just lost at a playground game, pouting as she readied her weapon once again. There was a hint of desperation in her voice as she stuttered out a response.

"Y-You got lucky! I'm not gonna go easy on you this time, you hear?!"

She ran a finger across the blade, and it began to hum as it glowed a light shade of blue. Readying it, she swung at Mokou with all her might, drawing an arc that was faster and deadlier than any of its predecessors. It was homing in on her, so any attempt at escape was pointless.

From where Mokou was standing, it may as well have been moving in slow motion.

"Inferno Gauntlet, Counter Mode."

The jewels on her gloves faded slightly, shifting to a light blue hue. Her stance tightened a little as she watched the arc fly towards her, waiting for just the right moment to respond. This was a science, and the slightest mishap would lead to all sorts of painful consequences.

Now!

She struck out at the projectile, stopping it within inches of her face. Sparks flew from the glove where it touched the arc, and Mokou's arm tensed slightly as it kept the attack in check. The armband began to glow as the attack pressed into her glove, the feather attached to it growing to full size.

"Inferno Gauntlet..."

The jewels started to heat up again, turning bright red. Mokou looked up at the stunned Cirno, offering her a simple smile.

"Return To Sender."

The jewels fired, releasing jets of flame that quickly doused Cirno's projectile. As the icy arc melted, a new attack rose from its ashes - a fire-crafted phoenix, bursting through the water and retreading its old path. It screeched as it descended upon Cirno, looking set to eat her alive.

"Kyah!"

A last-minute block with her blade was all that stopped Cirno from taking the attack head-on, but it only hit with enough force to push her back a few inches. There was a dent in her sword where the firebird had melted it, and this time it wasn't coming back together. Her eyes stared obsessed at the flaw, her cockiness starting to give way to sheer panic.

"No, no, no! This isn't supposed to happen! I'm the strongest, dammit! THE STRONGEST!"

She grabbed the blade in both hands this time, focusing her attention on the hilt. It was clear now that was staking everything on this next attack, and her face was caught somewhere between horror and rage. She jumped from joy to horror at a moment's notice, never stopping at any emotion in between.

"Now I'm REALLY gonna kill you! PERFECT FREEZE!"

The blade shattered in her hands, collapsing into hundreds of crystalline shards that flew in every direction. Mokou was only immediately threatened by one or two, but they moved fast enough that she had to work to dodge them, punching them out before they could do any damage. The rest of them slowly drifted to a halt, hanging in the water as if they'd always been there.

There was a demented smile on Cirno's face as she held her hands upward, commanding the shards to move at her will. Mokou's eyes widened in realisation as they began to turn, each and every one of them pointed towards her.

"So long, Mokou Fujiwara! It's pincushion time!"

She swung her hands forward in a fluid, dramatic motion, and the shards collapsed inwards onto Mokou.

“Shi-”

The girl didn't even have time to scream.

"MOKOU-SAN!"

Koishi could do nothing but watch as the attack rained down on her ally, stabbing her dozens of times with unforgiving force. The closest Mokou could offer to a reaction was a choked cough, spitting out a few drops of blood before her body gave in entirely. She fell backwards, and she floated limp in the water with wounds running across her whole length. There was probably more blood seeping out of her body now than was still inside it.

Cirno's expression could only be described as sheer joy.

"She...she's dead! She's dead! I won! I actually won!"

She swam over to Mokou's body, still seeing no response from her. She kicked hard at the body, feeling it offer no resistance to her.

"What's the matter, Fujiwara-saaan? I thought you were so confident that you were the real fighter here! That stupid face of yours...I hated it! You look better when you're dead, you know that?!"

She started laughing - no, cackling. This wasn't a laugh any sane person could perform. There was a manic glint in her eyes as she continued to slam her foot into the corpse, laughing like it was the only thing she knew how to do.

"Well, this was all to be expected, wasn't it? After all, I'm the strongest. Losers like you who try to make me look like a weakling DESERVE to die! Let this be a lesson to all you wannabes - NO ONE SCREWS WITH CIRNO AND LIVES!"

She lost herself in a victory monologue, still absent-mindedly kicking at the body. Beneath them, Koishi struggled to fight back tears, clinging onto Sango for comfort.

She...she can't be...

That feeling of dread hung for longer than Koishi could imagine. Sango glanced up at her, unable to come up with a single word of comfort. All she could do was watch as Cirno continued to desecrate Mokou's remains.

"...Ah? What's that...?"

On Mokou's arm, the armband from earlier - it was glowing. The feather attached to it was shining gold, and the light was starting to run down her arm. It passed over the first of her many wounds, still bleeding from the shard of ice stabbed into it, but as it moved onward Mokou's skin appeared completely untouched. It was as if she had never been hurt at all, and the light continued to do its repair job as it moved further down.

A glimmer of hope rose in Koishi's eyes.

She's...she's...!

The light even went so far as to repair the cuts in Mokou's outfit, and by the time it had finished travelling her body she looked as good as new. The armband faded, its feather slowly crumbling into dust now that it had expended its energy. Cirno remained blissfully unaware of this, continuing to kick at Mokou like a ragdoll.

A hand quickly caught her by the heel.

"Kicking your opponent while she's down? That's pretty bad manners, kid."

Cirno's face jumped again, from happiness to utter shock. Mokou was looking up at her with the same quiet smile as always - presumably, her outgoing confidence was for when she could afford to take a hit or two.

"N-No...no! I killed you, I killed you! You weren't supposed to get back up! I won! You're...you're cheating!"

Cirno tried to pull back, but Mokou had her in her grip. Without her sword there was no way she could use any of her stronger techniques, and she'd lost that casting Perfect Freeze.

"Well, you've got a point there. You killed me, alright."

She pulled Cirno down to her level with one hand, priming the other to take a swing at Cirno's face.

"Too bad I got better."* (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IGotBetter)

It was a jaw-breaking right hook, hitting with enough force to knock Cirno out instantly. The fairy, unarmed and undone, fell backwards in the same way Mokou had, her wings fluttering slightly out of reflex.

For all intents and purposes, the fight was over.

"MOKOU-SAN!"

Koishi immediately swam up to the victor, leaping off her dolphin steed and hugging her in relief. The tears were still hanging in her eyes, but fortunately the water made it too hard for anyone to make out.

"You idiot...you had me really scared there! And Sango-san was scared too, weren't you?"

Sango? Where's she?

Mokou had never seen Sango around here. It had been herself, Cirno, Koishi, and that dolphin she'd been riding around on, the one that was floating at her side-

"Yeah, did you have to cut it so close? Next time, try to win a fight without getting killed, phwee..."

That wasn't a dolphin. It had definitely been a dolphin five seconds ago, but now it was Sango floating alongside her, letting out a sigh of relief. Mokou flinched at the sight - if it had been a dolphin before, and it was Sango now, did that mean Sango was...oh, wait, there was a fin on her neck. That put a lot of her questions to rest.

"So THAT'S why you freaked out."

Sango pouted a little at that one. She'd just about forgotten that conversation, and she didn't want to be reminded of it.

"Anyway. This is gonna be one hell of a question, but now I think I have a right to ask it."

Mokou held her arms out, her face showing utter confusion.

"Where am I? What is this place? And why am I suddenly some sort of mahou shoujo wannabe?"

Koishi let out a little laugh. It was funnier than she'd expected to see this realisation coming from someone else for a change.

"There'll be plenty of time to explain later, Mokou-san. For now..."

Her eyes turned to Cirno, still floating unconscious in the water.

"Sango-san, what do we do about her? You said they had some sort of mind control thing on her, right?"

Sango suddenly grew very tense, her body standing to attention at the sight of that. She looked away slightly before responding.

"Yes, a mindcoil. Basically, it takes your fears and weaknesses, and twists them to basically make you do whatever the Claw want you to do. It's a scary weapon - it can turn nervous little scaredy-cats into utter maniacs, no problem."

"Right. So, now that she's unconscious...how do we get rid of it?"

Sango paused, biting her lip. She dipped her head downwards, struggling to get her next words out.

"...We can't."

Koishi blinked. She must have misheard or something.

"We can't...?"

"We've tried every spell we can think of to deal with it, but as yet we haven't come up with a way of removing the mindcoil. And even if we've knocked her out now, she's going to come back and try again, and again, and again. The mindcoil won't give her any other choice - no matter how much it hurts her to lose, how slim her chances are, she'll just keep fighting us as long as she can. She'll suffer for it as much as we will."

Koishi slowly started to shake her head in denial. Sango was joking somehow, with a terrible, terrible joke. Mokou looked just as uncertain as Koishi did, watching Sango's movements with a careful eye.

"...I'm sorry, Koishi-san. There's only one way to put an end to this fight."

She looked up towards Koishi, her eyes severe as her hands trembled. The words that came out of her mouth disgusted her as much as they disgusted anyone else.

"And that's to kill her now, while we have the chance."

-----

And yes, leaving the update on ANOTHER cliffhanger. I'm very bad at keep things short. -_- Now, should I update this ASAP or let people use their imaginations? :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Sana on September 17, 2010, 01:51:39 AM
Akihi-Kou is a great thing and you should be proud of yourself. :V
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: MysTeariousYukari on September 17, 2010, 02:28:47 AM
I am absolutly Loving this! Honestly, wether you update ASAP, or wait till later isn't important to me. I can wait a few hours, days, or even weeks for another awesome update. I say, do whatever you think will have the best effect. I'm gonna read this to the bitter-sweet end, complain a bit at how it's over, and be damn glad I decided to read it, and nothing, and I mean nothing is gonna stop me from reading this to it's end, and then I will read through it all over again later and love it just as much,
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Myschi on September 17, 2010, 02:48:18 AM
I am absolutly Loving this! Honestly, wether you update ASAP, or wait till later isn't important to me. I can wait a few hours, days, or even weeks for another awesome update. I say, do whatever you think will have the best effect. I'm gonna read this to the bitter-sweet end, complain a bit at how it's over, and be damn glad I decided to read it, and nothing, and I mean nothing is gonna stop me from reading this to it's end, and then I will read through it all over again later and love it just as much,

I can't really add anything to this.

Also, I have never enjoyed fanfiction this much.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Esifex on September 17, 2010, 03:15:45 AM
Knuckleduster Mokou is best Mokou

Rou, I love you, so hard
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Myschi on September 17, 2010, 03:18:25 AM
Rou, I love you, so hard
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: MysTeariousYukari on September 17, 2010, 06:55:48 PM
Knuckleduster Mokou is best Mokou

Rou, I love you, so hard

Also, Mokou forgiving Kaguya is just ^-^

Same :V
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on September 21, 2010, 05:40:51 PM
Koishi didn't want to believe what she was hearing. She hadn't agreed to this. She'd never have agreed to this.

"But...but we promised, didn't we? You said that we wouldn't kill anyone!"

Sango's face darkened. The guilt on her face spoke volumes even before the first words came out of her mouth.

"...I was hoping they wouldn't resort to the mindcoil this early on. I needed to convince you to work with us, Koishi-san...even if I had to, well, say things I didn't mean."

It was as if Sango had leapt over to her and stabbed her in the chest. She didn't realise how much trust she'd put in Sango until now, and all it did was make this hurt even more. Koishi wasn't sure whether to be heartbroken or furious, and fell somewhere in between.

"You...you lied?"

"I didn't want to, I swear, but what would have happened if I'd told you the truth? Would you still have been willing to fight if I'd said there'd be casualties? I didn't just do it for our sake, Koishi-san, I did it for yours! You would have died if I hadn't convinced you - they'd send out those fishmen of theirs to tie up the loose end, and I wouldn't be around to help you!"

Sango was both frustrated and upset, her whole body hanging rigid as she spoke. Mokou tilted her head slightly at the mention of fishmen, but beyond that had to settle for spectating on the argument without a word to contribute.

"I...but...she didn't do anything to deserve this, did she? Maybe she was a mean person, but she doesn't deserve to die, does she?"

Koishi looked over to Cirno's still-unconscious body, floating around in front of them. For a moment, she tried to picture herself doing the deed, mentally giving her a stab to the back of the neck for a quick and painless death.

The thought still made her feel physically ill.

"Believe me, Koishi-san, I don't want to do this either. If there was some way, any way for us to avoid this scenario, I'd take it. But the fact is...the Cirno you know is already gone. They're just using her as a weapon now. I'm...I'm really sorry, but..."

Sango reached into one of her pockets, pulling out a small knife with a coral pattern running down its hilt. The glint bounced off her own Ring of Breath for a moment, making it seem that tiny bit more threatening.

"It's for her sake. I can't just sit by and put her through what the Claw have planned for her."

Mokou let out a heaving sigh, occasionally turning her eyes to Cirno with a look of guilt. If she'd just paid more attention, she could have stopped this from happening in the first place.

"...There's nothing? Absolutely nothing at all we can do for her?"

Sango shook her head heavily. Even from here, Koishi could see Mokou's lip tremble. Eventually the phoenix managed to force a few words of response out, almost choking as she spoke.

"...Do it. Just...do it now. Make it quick, before I change my mind."

Sango nodded towards Mokou, glad that she was willing to accept the circumstances. She placed one hand on Koishi's shoulder, sighing.

"...It's my first time, too. I just hope it's not always going to be this scary..."

Koishi was trembling as Sango started to make her way over to Cirno's body, knife still in her hand. The dolphin took deep breaths, her fingers shaking slightly as she tried to work up the nerve.

They said that Cirno was gone. That her mind was no longer her own, that she couldn't think for herself anymore. That she was just a slave to the Black Claw, and that death was a mercy for her.

And yet there was a lingering doubt in Koishi's mind. A feeling of disagreement. A niggling idea that there was still something deep down that they just hadn't found a way to reach.

"...Hm?"

She became suddenly aware of a burning feeling in her chest. She looked down, suddenly remembering the tendrils and coils along her body, culminating in the closed eye over her heart. The eye was flickering, desperately trying to open, but not quite strong enough to finish the deed.

Not quite knowing what she was doing, Koishi reached downward and pulled it open with one hand.

The shot burst straight from the third eye towards Cirno, a light violet beam that Sango and Mokou were lucky enough not to be in range of. Both of them ducked away on instinct, thinking it was an attack from some unseen accomplice until they turned back and saw its true source.

As the beam enveloped Cirno, Koishi felt her body begin to grow heavy. It started to become a struggle to keep her eyes open, like there was no-one present in her head to do the deed.

"The hell are you doing?! ...Tororetsu-san, you're the one who knows all this crap. What's going on?"

The fatigue only grew stronger over time, until Koishi couldn't keep her eyes open any more. She was only vaguely aware of the beam fading as the world disappeared around her.

"I...I don't know! I've never seen anything like thi-hey, Koishi-san!? Are you okay? Speak to me! Koishi-san!"

She felt someone shake her by the shoulders as the beam finally died off.

Then nothing.

-----

The world she woke up in was different from the one she left.

Most of the time, when people imagined taking a voyage into the mind of another, they saw themselves leaving the cold, harsh, logical world of reality and entering a fantastical realm where you would float around while surrounded by thoughts, hopes, and dreams.

For Koishi, it was the other way around.

The first feeling that came to her mind as she regained consciousness was that she was cold. Very cold. Understandable, given that she was lying in a field of snow, and the blizzard above her showed no sign of letting up.

"H...Hello? Sango-san? Mokou-san?"

There was a stutter in her voice as the cold hit her. She lifted herself to her feet, her legs still trembling slightly, and started to look around herself. The world was white, with snow as far as the eye could see, and not a soul in sight.

"Haa...where is everyone? And...where am I?"

She vaguely remembered opening her third eye, pointing it towards Cirno. The next thing she remembered, she was here, alone and already freezing cold. She walked onwards in the hope that she'd come across some sort of shelter before she froze to death.

Other way around, dummy. You're the telepath.

Sango's words rung in her ears. She was psychic, to a degree, or so she'd been told. This world, like Cirno, was focused on ice. And the last thing she remembered was a feeling of her mind...shifting, for lack of a better word, moving out of her body and somewhere else.

So...am I in Cirno's head now?

Much to her relief, Koishi caught sight of a mansion in the distance before she lost any fingers to the cold. The entire structure was made of carefully-formed ice that looked strong enough to survive any hit Koishi could dish out, and the doors hung open as if to welcome her. Unsurprisingly, she accepted the offer, closing the door behind her to keep the chill outside.

She didn't know how a mansion made of ice could keep her from freezing to death, but all that mattered was that it was warmer in here than it was out there. The main hallway was ornately decorated, showing none of the obvious signs of disuse or disrepair.

"Hello...?"

Her voice echoed through the corridors of the mansion, but after a few seconds pause there was no response. Koishi's first steps into the mansion were careful, but contrary to her concerns there was no monster ready to swallow her the moment she stepped in.

This, it seems, was the conscious part of Cirno's mind - the part that made up her character and personality. There were many doors, many paths, but as Koishi looked around she found that most of the doors were blocked off, held in place by a series of black tendrils running along them.

The mindcoil...?

In the end, there was only one path for Koishi to follow through the mansion, its doors hanging open again as if in preparation for her arrival. To say that she was disturbed by the thought was an understatement, but the alternative was waiting around for the rest of time, so she strode forward regardless.

The corridors of the building had mirrors running along all of their walls, so with every glance to her side Koishi felt like someone was walking beside her. Unconsciously, she started walking the tiniest bit faster, afraid that something was ready to jump out from inside the mirror and eat her alive.

As she moved further down the predetermined path, she started to make out a sound, the first one to break the silence beyond her own footsteps. It was a voice, distant at first, but growing louder the further she travelled. Slowly, the vague and distant sound became clear as it echoed through the corridors of the mansion.

Somewhere in the distance, Cirno was crying.

"Ah...!"

Koishi started to run now. It wasn't loud, blatant crying, more the vague sniffles you'd get as you tried to keep your voice down. The sound only grew louder as she moved forward, until finally she came to a pair of majestically decorated double doors, even more overblown than the rest of the mansion.

Slowly, and carefully, Koishi pulled the door open and stepped inside. She'd found herself in some sort of throne room, her feet treading on an ornate red carpet. It ran the length of the room, coming to an end at a chair that may as well have been made of solid gold, it looked that costly. The figure sitting on it was clad in a regal blue robe, the same colour as the icy walls that made up her little fort. A weighty golden crown was balanced awkwardly on her head, as she looked downward as if in deep contemplation.

It wasn't her who was crying, though. The sound was coming from the room directly behind the throne, the one whose double-doors had been blocked off by the strongest of the black lines Koishi had seen up until now. Her instincts brought her halfway across the room before a voice boomed out.

"Stop right there."

The robed Cirno stood up, with her robe still swaying behind her. Her face carried a confident, regal suave that the real Cirno had never shown in all of her days.

"I've got no idea how you made your way here, but you'd better start making your way back out. You're not welcome here."

She spoke loudly, so as to not be drowned out by the sobbing behind her. That was Koishi's main concern right now - she could see that the mindcoil's efforts were focused here, so if she could destroy that barrier the rest of it would likely come apart itself.

"Cirno-san...I'm trying to help you. Right now I need to get that door open, and-"

"Help? Me? Ha! Good one, good one. Almost makes me wish I didn't have to throw you out."

She laughed heartily, oozing pride and confidence. Behind her, the sound of her own crying still rung out loud and clear. She was in two places at once, split apart in her own psyche.

Koishi put two and two together. This wasn't Cirno she was talking to - this was the ambitious, power-hungry side of her, the one that had been engineered to take over. The rest of Cirno's emotions had been locked away by the mindcoil.

And if she didn't get rid of that, Sango would end up killing Cirno for sure.

"Look, listen to me. If we don't get that door open again, you are going to...die. I'm doing this for your sake."

A hint of malice rose to Cirno's face.

"Komeiji, I don't need your help. And I sure as hell don't need to let out that wuss over there. Now, get out of here before I have to SHOW you just how well I can handle myself."

This was going badly. Koishi knew that arguing with her right now was unlikely to work, but if the alternative was fighting then she had to at least give it a try. She wouldn't be able to handle Cirno on her own in any form, that was for sure.

"But don't you get it? You must have seen the fight from here. You lost to Mokou-san, rememb-"

"Bullshit!"

Bringing up her failure had been Koishi's one chance, but at the same time it was the one thing she point-blank refused to accept. Cirno lifted an arm up from beneath her robe, revealing a glistening silver blade held beneath.

"Alright, that does it. You can kid me all you like, but when you start claiming I'm a loser, that's when you go too far!"

The robe fell to the floor, showing that Cirno was wearing a long blue dress beneath it, a zig-zag white trim running along the bottom. She weighed the sword in her hand for a moment, then charged down the room towards Koishi with all her might.* (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoGMJHbV4Wk&feature=related)

The crying in the background stopped.

It took all of Koishi's reflexes just to dodge the blow. She leapt to the side as the sword crashed down into the ground where she'd stood only moments beforehand, rolling clumsily to the wall. By the time she'd made it to her feet, Cirno was already coming at her again, the blade's edge shimmering for a moment in the light.

"Kyah!"

The sword stabbed into the wall inches from her head, creating cracks in the ice. Cirno growled to herself, struggling slightly to pull the weapon out again and giving Koishi enough time to break away.

Looking quickly around the room, she found nothing that she could think of using as a weapon. The only notable pieces of furniture were candlesticks at the corners of the room, but they were far too heavy for her to even think of wielding. She grimaced, one of her hands curling up into a fist, before looking down on it she had a moment of epiphany.

She didn't have Sango. Or her trident. But she wasn't quite unarmed.

"Dammit. You don't get it, do you?! I'm not the sort of loser who needs to depend on other people to get by! I'm perfectly fine all by myself!"

Koishi wasn't sure if this Cirno could even hear the crying coming from the room behind her, but by the time she was ready to land another swing Koishi was ready for her. She pressed down on the dolphin emblem on her left glove, not taking the time to charge the attack - mainly because she didn't have it.

"Iruka Shot!"

Within instants the bullet had formed in her hand and started its journey toward its target. It struck Cirno's blade, knocking off her balance just enough for Koishi to trip her up in the same fashion Mokou had. Cirno proceeded to eat a faceful of carpet as she fell to the floor, sword held tightly so that it didn't fall to her side.

"Gh...lucky hit! Try doing it again, I dare you!"

She propped herself up with her blade, turning straight to Koishi. Another shot was in the middle of being charged, stronger than the one before it. Cirno paid it no mind, standing up and getting ready to block the moment it fired.

She stopped the bullet with the sword, but she couldn't stop the recoil sending its hilt slamming into her face. The impact was enough to knock her backwards a few more steps as she grit her teeth, clearly in pain.

"I...I'm fine! No harm done! Now it's my turn to rough you up!"

Cirno started charging again with reckless abandon. It was clear now she had no intention of letting up until one of the combatants stopped moving. She was set to kill Koishi now, or die trying.

But even now, Koishi couldn't shoot to kill. It was a fragment of Cirno's personality she'd be killing off - the proud, confident side that told her to keep going when things got tough. Even if she saved her after that, she wouldn't really be the same Cirno she'd been before.

Still...what else can I do...?

She'd achieved nothing, it seemed. All she'd managed to do was make sure it was her hands that were stained with Cirno's blood. Her will faltered at the last moment, and the shot she'd been charging vanished in her hands.

"Take THIS!"

Cirno swung down maniacally, and this time Koishi was too slow to dodge completely. The blade drew a line from her neck down to her armpit, tearing through the fabric of her outfit and drawing blood. Koishi cried out in pain as she pulled away, grabbing at the cut with her arm and running away at full speed.

"Kyahahaha! How does it feel now, huh?! Remember the days when I was the one getting picked on? The one everyone called stupid, pulled pranks on, beat up for lunch money? Well, who's laughing now!?"

Cirno didn't even bother to attack this time around, twirling her blade around as she returned to her demented laughter. Koishi could only stumble further away, still clutching at the wound on her chest, as she continued.

"Yeah, maybe I had to do some bad things. Yeah, maybe I had to hurt some people and break some rules, but who cares about that crap!? People like me because I'm strong, not because I'm smart! I have friends now, right?! I can't lose, or those people will stop giving a damn about me!"

To start with Koishi thought she was seeing things, but Cirno's eyes were beginning to water up. She let off little sniffles, her voice rising to a yell.

"Don't you get it, Komeiji!? I'm the strongest because I NEED to be the strongest! If I let up and lose now, then people will stop liking me! So don't even bother crying about how it's unfair, got it!?"

She was charging again, with tears hanging in her eyes and screaming all the way. She was set to run Koishi through without remorse.

Running on instinct alone, Koishi put together a plan. She had just enough time to dash backwards, behind the throne and with her back to the doors. She felt the mindcoil's black tendrils on her arms, shivering as it touched her skin. As Cirno dashed at her again her mind screamed at her to dodge, but she worked up the nerve to stay where she was. If this plan was to work, she had to move away at the last possible moment.

"Now, hurry up and DIIIIIIIIE!"

The sword came swinging downward, set to cleave Koishi in two.

Now!

Her body was primed, dodging to the side with something resembling fluency this time. The sword continued its sweep, even though the intended target had moved away.

There was an audible sound of snapping as it cut clean through the black tendrils at the gap between the doors.

A heaving groan echoed through the hall, and the entire room began to shake. The coils around the wall flailed lightly before shattering violently, firing fragments across the room. Koishi had to duck in order to avoid one hitting her in the face; soon after, she saw the fragment disintegrate into thin air.

Cirno - or at least, this side of Cirno - took a moment to realise what she'd just been tricked into doing. She stared at the doorway in horror, as its heaving metal doors began to open.

"N...No! You can't...!"

She dropped her sword and pushed back, holding the door shut with all her strength. Her face contorted with the effort, but she fought on regardless through sheer desperation.

"I...I can't...I can't let her out! No-one likes her! If I get seen with her again, no-one will ever like me!"

The tears were plain on her face again as she pressed herself against the doors, struggling to keep them shut. Koishi pulled herself to her feet, still grimacing over the wound that Cirno had managed to give her earlier. There was a tragic side to her story now - the mindcoil had all but faded, but the beliefs it had feasted on had always been there. The mindcoil just allowed them to roam free without letting any of her other feelings get in the way.* (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoreThanMindControl)

"Dammit! Dammit, dammit, dammit dammit dammit DAMMIIIIIIT!"

She was slowly losing ground, the door pulling open ever so slightly. Even knowing that this girl had tried to kill her minutes ago, Koishi couldn't help but feel sad witnessing this. At last, Cirno's strength left her, and she fell backwards as the door opened in her face.

A figure wordlessly stepped out from within. It was a second Cirno, the polar opposite of the first - dressed in tattered rags, with tearful eyes and a heartbroken expression. She looked down at the self-proclaimed ruler of the mansion, but there was no malice in her eyes - only disappointment.

The two stared at one another in total silence, but the tension was evident. The mindcoil had done its damage. At this rate, she had no idea what would Cirno would be like when she woke up - at its worst, the two sides might split into outright separate personalities.

"Look...you two."

Koishi was nervous as she spoke out, immediately feeling two pairs of eyes fall on her. She gulped slightly before pressing onward.

"I...I understand you two had your reasons to split apart. But you're both parts of one greater whole, so you need to accept each other and move on."

Understandably, neither side was exactly fond of that idea. The humble half simply shot her a glare, while her proud side wasted no time in rebutting her argument.

"Yeah, like there's a point in that! When we worked together, we pulled off jack shit! And when she took charge earlier on and tried all that studying and crap, we got the crap beaten out of us! At least when I called the shots, people respected me for something!"

The death glare quickly made its way from Koishi to the proud Cirno after that one.

"But think about what the two of you could do together. Cirno-san...well, uh, rich Cirno-san, I can tell you've got a lot of will and determination. If you and, uh, not-so-rich Cirno-san worked together, you could easily do enough studying to pick yourself up."

"...But who'd like me?"

Now both of them were wearing the same expression - the look of loss, embarrassment, shame.

 "I'm only working so hard to keep up with everyone else. And even then, there are people that breeze past me without even lifting a book. Who would give a damn about some idiot who can barely scrape an 70 when she studies...?"

Both of them turned their heads downwards, looking generally depressed. The poorer Cirno sat down on the floor, looking her counterpart in the eye. Each side was unconsciously blaming the other for the failings of the whole, and they stared with contempt at each other in another awkward silence.

Koishi reached down, and placed one hand on each of their shoulders.

"I'd like you. It takes a lot of willpower to work that hard, Cirno-san. I'd respect you for putting so much effort into doing the right thing."

Both Cirnos were stunned for a moment, looking at each other in confusion. They turned to Koishi with identical expressions of awe.

""Y-You mean...you would...be my friend?""

Both of them spoke in unison, their voices matching with perfect pitch. Koishi nodded in response.

"Of course. Who wouldn't like a girl as determined and good willing as that?"

The two Cirnos looked at Koishi in wonder and amazement, then turned to one another. A childish, pure smile rose on each of their faces, until the pair reached out and embraced like two sisters, reunited after years apart. Koishi's heart grew a little warmer at the sight, momentarily forgetting all the circumstances that had brought her here.

"...haah..."

The two Cirnos moved closer together, until they reached the point where they merged into one another. Koishi felt her legs buckling, her strength leaving her as she collapsed back to the ground.

Her work here was done.

-----

"...san! Koishi-san!"

Sango's arms shaking her violently quickly pulled Koishi back awake. The dolphin's eyes were flooded with concern, but as Koishi began to finally respond to her movement, it started to give way for relief.

"...Y-You're alright!? You're alright! PHWEEEEEEE~!"

Sango grabbed Koishi with all her strength, pushing her by the chest. Over her shoulder, Mokou sighed with relief at the sight.

"Y-Yeah...sorry about that, Sango-san."

They were back in the alley from before, she noticed, and the costumes were thankfully absent. Maybe they'd been set to take her to the hospital - how long had she been out for?

"H...How's Cirno-san?"

Sango stood to attention at that, her grip on Koishi growing a little more tense.

"Um, uh...I haven't done it yet. I didn't realise how hard it was, and then there was you passing out, and..."

She frowned. It was clear she was taking Koishi's passing out as an excuse not to go through with the killing. Koishi smiled, on two counts; one, she had decided that Sango was a good person, even if she'd had to wrong her in the past.

Two - from what she was aware, Sango didn't have anything to worry about any more.

"Sango-san...check Cirno-san's eyes."

Sango tilted her head at that one.

"Phwee?"

"Just trust me on this one."

Although she clearly had no idea why she was being asked to do it, Sango nodded. Holding Koishi closely with one arm to be safe, she walked past Mokou towards the fallen Cirno, still passed out. She reached down, carefully lifting up one eyelid.

The eye beneath it had returned to its normal light-blue tint.

"...Oh...ohhh..."

Sango let go of Koishi, examining the other eye quickly to check if it wasn't a trick of the light. Sure enough, the other eye was back to its lighter colour as well - a sign that the mindcoil had disappeared.

"...Heh. Not bad, Komeiji-san."

Mokou caught the gist of Sango's surprise without hearing a word, offering a thumbs-up from her spot against the wall. Koishi stood up, nodding in return.

"Thank you. I...can't say I know what I did in there, but it looks like it was enough."

A relieved smile drifted onto Mokou's face. She had wanted to save Cirno to, but like Sango she'd been all but resigned to the mercy kill. Seeing that they wouldn't have to resort to it was the best news anyone could have given her at that moment.

Sango finished her inspection of the body, still looking down in wonder. She reached into a pocket, pulling out a small cellphone with (unsurprisingly) a dolphin strap attached to it. She hit a number on speeddial and put the phone to her ear.

"...Ma'am, this is Agent Sango reporting. I need to bring the Sirens to you, right now."

Koishi and Mokou turned to Sango in surprise, even though the conversation wasn't directly aimed at either. Sango's expression was still incredulous as she spoke, as if unsure of what she was saying.

"...Yes, I know protocol says to keep it secret, but this is serious. ...She just performed a successful mindcoil extraction. ...Yes, I've checked. ...Yes, I did it twice."

The voice on the other side of the phone murmured something. Sango nodded in response.

"Yes, ma'am. Understood. Agent Sango out."

Sango hung up, placing the phone back in her pocket. She sighed, looking head-on at the two Sirens she was working to protect.

"Well, looks like you two are gonna be meeting the boss a little sooner than we'd planned..."

-----

おまけ

"Wait, we're meeting Sango-san's boss?!"

"She just said that, Komeiji-san."

"But what sort of woman would Sango-san work for?"

"Uh, well...that's a good question, actually."

"Maybe...it's a whale lady?!"

"Damn, I hope it's not a jellyfish..."

"Or what if it's a shark? Or an octopus?! Or even-"

"Stop badmouthing my boss, phwee! I'll get demoted if you two keep it up!"

Next Episode: Shadowy Figures! Fighting The Secret War?!

"Tororetsu-san. What were your friends saying there?"

"PHWEE?! F-Friends?! I have no idea who these people are, ma'am! Really!"

-----

As a warning, updates for this and just about everything I'm writing will probably be much slower now that university is starting up. Glad I managed to wrap this arc up before the actual work started. :V
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Iced Fairy on September 21, 2010, 07:45:47 PM
As I said before, perfect mahou shoujo style there.  I'm looking forward to the revelations ahead as well.  There's a lot of awesome potential here, and you've been using it well.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Kinzo the Astro Curious on September 22, 2010, 10:30:53 AM
FANTASTIC.

I loved the Cirno's subconcious part. Whole thing was really entertaining and it was fun to draw a mental picture of the scenes.

Can't wait for more of it!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on October 06, 2010, 11:10:33 PM
Apologies for shortness, but beyond anything else I want to prove this is alive. Plus I am up at 8 tomorrow and it is after midnight so :ohdear:

-----

Technically, Sango was meant to have blindfolded the Sirens before leading them towards the meeting place. Protocol insisted that since neither of them had been officially accepted into the Order, they were to be assumed as potential spies and treated accordingly. The White Pearl was a small enough society already - it wasn?t willing to take risks being doublecrossed by its own members on top of everything else.

Besides the obvious difficulty she?d have in guiding two blindfolded teenagers through the busy city streets, there was the still passed-out Cirno they had to carry around. Besides, so far the girls had shown themselves to be good-hearted, so Sango was willing to trust them with a secret or two.

Luckily, no-one seemed to pay much attention to Koishi and Mokou as they carried Cirno along, helping her down the street like friends seeing to a drunken classmate. Sango lead the way, retracing the path the trio had taken before. Mokou in particular focused all her attention on keeping Cirno from collapsing - the last thing she wanted to do right now was get distracted by thinking about Eientei as she walked past. She would deal with it later, in her own time. Not now.

?Uh, Sango-san??

Koishi piped up with a question as she examined the buildings around her.

?Phwee??

?Doesn?t this street lead back to school??

Sango seemed confused by the question, shrugging.

?Koishi-san, the Sirens are all gonna be girls around your age. Where do you think is the best place to set up shop??

Koishi nodded slowly as she took understood what Sango was trying to suggest. Apart from the occasional home-schooled student, every teenager in Gensouto would visit that one high school, at predictable times, on predictable days. It was the perfect place to be on the lookout for the Sirens, not to mention listening out for the rumours that the Black Claw were so fond of spreading.

Sure enough, the busy crowds started to dissipate as they continued down the path. Gensouto High loomed over them, eerily deserted as the sun began to set. Any of the students who had stayed behind for clubs were long gone now, and the gate had been locked shut some time ago. Entry was strictly prohibited at these hours, but the ominous chain gate usually did enough to convince wannabe thieves that it wasn?t worth the effort.

Sango reached into her bag again, rummaging around. Koishi watched her hand intently, waiting to see what sort of magical gizmo she pulled out next. An enchanted key that could open any lock? A bottle of acid that would melt away the metal bar? She hated to admit it, but she was starting to really get into this whole magic business, and there was a feeling of genuine curiosity as she watched the dolphin pull out her latest gadget.

She was disappointed to see Sango pull out an ordinary key. No glitter, no sparkle, nothing. Sango caught a sight of her downbeat face, and gave her an awkward look.

?I?m not gonna steal anything, I promise.?

?No, I just thought it?d be...flashier.?

Sango saw that Koishi was looking at the key in her hand, then sighed.

?Koishi-san, let me get this straight. You humans have invented a system that lets you cut spare keys to any door. No fuss, no pizazz, no evidence. You?re telling me that you?d rather I had to go through a lockpicking charm every time I wanted to get in here after hours? Jeez, and you say that I?m crazy.?

She couldn?t argue with that one, but Koishi still felt like it was a little too mundane compared to everything else she?d been exposed to in the last few days. Had it only been that long? Already it felt like she?d been doing this for months, but maybe that was because the rest of her memories around that timeline were the same dreary school days repeating ad infinitum. Mokou, meanwhile, still seemed slightly shell-shocked by today?s ordeal - understandable, in all fairness - and was relieved to see Sango resorting to methods that were relatively sane in order to open the gate.

Clearly the school board had been banking most of their money on that gate, because there was nothing in terms of security as they continued to carry Cirno along the grounds. The classrooms were supposed to be locked up by teachers at the end of the day, but it was a job that no-one really saw a point in actually doing. When was the last time anyone had broken into this place, exactly?

And even in spite of all that, there were more measures that should have served to keep intruders out. Every now and then, at the end of a corridor, a camera would glare down on Koishi. No doubt there would be evidence on the security tapes of the breakin and there would be all sorts of trouble in the morning, she thought. It was only later that she found out that the Pearl had thought ahead, and that the cameras between the entrance and the meeting place had their tapes ?conveniently misplaced? by a member of staff.

As a final result of all of this preparation, Sango led Koishi and Mokou through the school unseen by the guard on duty. The path spiraled, twisted and turned, like she was trying to lose a pursuer, but eventually came to a stop in front of a familiar classroom.

Namely, Koishi?s math class.

?...No.?

She shook her head, mentally refusing to process it. She could have dealt with it being a janitor, a class rep, some clerical worker, maybe even a teacher she?d never worked with. But not her. Please, please, PLEASE not her.

Sango didn?t even need a key this time around, simply opening the door with a twist of the knob. It creaked audibly, in a way that added a dramatic flair to the discovery of what was waiting inside. It was clear that dramatic flair was exactly what their contact was aiming for, because she?d positioned her chair to be in the midst of the light from the setting sun, deliberately turned backwards so she could twirl around when the time called for it.

?Evening, girls. You certainly took your time getting here.?

Koishi?s prayers went unanswered. Their contact saw her opening, and kicked on the floor with one high-heeled foot to spin her chair towards them.

?I assume you aren?t here for tutoring...??

Sitting comfortably, still in the dress she?d been wearing earlier, was Professor Kawashiro.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Alfred F. Jones on October 06, 2010, 11:31:59 PM
>Sultry voice: "Oh, yes, I'm here for tutoring, Kawashiro-sensei."
>Purr, then approach her while pulling off your shirt.
>Push her back onto her chair and then

Sorry, I forgot where I was for half a second.

Koishi's starting to get used to the magic, eh? This should be fun. :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Drake on October 07, 2010, 12:07:55 AM
caaaaalled it
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Myschi on October 07, 2010, 01:16:43 AM
So, so glad that Nitori's not a bad guy. Because for some odd reason, I expected her to be.

Unless she's a double agent! But she could be a double-double agent. A triple agent! Ow, now my brain hurts and I'm paranoid. :ohdear:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Sect on October 14, 2010, 04:27:37 AM
You know, it's this story that made me register for this forum.

Anyways, this is fantastic. I have to say, though, that while everyone was making Kanji Tatsumi jokes when Mokou was introduced, I was thinking more Shinjiro Aragaki.
Thankfully without the whole dying issue. Or at least not permanently.

So, I guess the thing to do now is randomly guess who the other Sirens are.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on October 15, 2010, 09:00:00 PM
Sango stepped forward without a hint of awkwardness, bowing towards the professor on the chair.

?Well, they?re all here, and last I checked they were just about intact.?

She walked over to the teacher, standing to her side like a bodyguard. It was to her that Sango?s allegiances were truly aligned, after all - she was protecting Koishi under orders. On that note, Koishi had recovered just enough to offer some sort of verbal response to her discovery.

?K-K-Kawashiro-sensei? You mean you-?

Professor Kawashiro held a hand up in objection, silencing Koishi mid-sentence.

?Please, Koishi-san, call me Nitori. We?re all going to be needing to help each other out in the next few weeks, so we should put aside the student-teacher business for now.?

?That?s not the point! You were in on this?!?

Koishi raised her voice, enough to earn her a cautious glare from the two girls across the room. There was little to fear, though - no-one was hanging around the school at this hour, so the words harmlessly echoed through empty corridors.

?You?ve been here for years, haven?t you?! I was hearing the rumours about how you turned two and two into five by the end of my first week here!?

Nitori cringed slightly at that one. She forgot to carry one digit on one calculus question, and now she couldn?t go five minutes without someone bringing it up in her presence.

?We?ve had a lot of time to prepare for this, Koishi-san. We needed to secure the school as a vantage point, and if we left it until the last minute we couldn?t guarantee there?d be a space for us to put an agent. I figured deep cover was the best option, so I decided I could afford to spend a few years teaching teenagers how to put the Ohm in Ohmygawd.?

The smile that rose onto her face suggested there was more to it than that. Given the magical prowess of the White Pearl, their leader seemed to be surprisingly scientific.

?Uh, guys? Hate to break up your discussion, but the kid here is pretty damn heavy.?

Mokou, still left out of the magical loop, was focusing her attention on the teenage girl currently weighing down one of her arms.  Cirno still seemed to be soundly unconscious, almost asleep standing as she was held upright. The rest of the room turned to look at her after Mokou?s complaint, suddenly reminding Nitori of why she?d had to bring them here in the first place.

?...Ah. Yes. Sango, this is her??

Sango nodded, looking uncertain. She didn?t seem to believe herself, either. With a quick shuffle of her eyes, Nitori directed the Sirens to lay her over a pair of desks. She stepped calmly and simply towards the body, any sign of the drunkenness she?d displayed at Lorelei?s now firmly gone. She had been there, watching while they ate dinner together, and she hadn?t been quite as intoxicated as she?d let on. Koishi had put her presence down to sheer coincidence, something not worth thinking about.

Coincidence, as a word, seemed to be losing meaning by the day.

Wait...didn?t she...?

Her mind looked backwards, to the time she?d spent at school today. After the fight with Cirno, the professor had appeared and checked if they were okay. In particular, she?d gone up to Sango and ran a hand down her jacket to check for bruises. There was no way she would have been able to do that without feeling the fin underneath. In retrospect, it was blindingly obvious, but Koishi was too busy licking her own wounds to think about it at the time.

?Now, then. Let?s see what injuries you?ve given this poor girl...?

Even as she joked, Nitori examined Cirno?s unconscious body with a steady and experienced hand. Physically, she?d taken a bit of a beating, but nothing worse than some nasty bruises. She?d be up again in half an hour or so.

?Most importantly...?

She turned to Sango, and the dolphin quickly started rummaging around her boss?s desk. She pulled out a contraption similar to a penlight, the sort that doctors used to check for consciousness. Given the pale green glow emanating from Nitori turned it on Cirno?s eye, though, it was designed for something a little more mystical. Nitori?s eyes grew wider with every second, not because she saw anything unusual in Cirno?s eye, but because she saw absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.

?...It?s gone. Not even a trace.?

A hint of awe rose to her face, as she realised what this discovery was worth. She?d been skeptical when Sango told her the news over the phone - mindcoil extraction was something that the Pearl had been looking to accomplish for years, maybe even decades - but in the face of cold, hard evidence, she had no room to argue with Sango?s claim.

Placing the penlight to the side, she looked to Koishi and offered her a small round of applause.

?Thank you, Koishi-san. You saved this young girl?s life, and for that I?m almost as thankful as she is.?

Nitori looked genuinely relieved, and her shoulders relaxed slightly. She?d just been given one less thing to worry about. This was a feeling that Koishi hadn?t quite expected - a look of utter thanks and respect. She blushed in response, twiddling her thumbs as she took a new interest in her feet. When was the last time anyone had said something like that to her? She couldn?t even remember.

?Uh, well, um...you?re welcome, I guess? I can?t really say I knew what I was doing but...I guess it worked??

Nitori turned to Koishi, examining her form more closely. She took a glance at the closed third eye upon her chest, intrigued.

?I was wondering, actually. How did you manage to close it? From what I?ve read on your ancestry, you aren?t supposed to be able to turn off your ability like that.?

Now it was Koishi?s turn to look confused. She looked down on herself for good measure, confirming that the eye was as dormant as it had always been.

?I?m...not sure where you?ve been reading. As far as I know, it?s always been like this.?

Nitori?s eyes widened in surprise for a moment, before she descended into thought. She leaned downwards, placing her head right next to the third eye and giving it a quick examination.

?Well...that isn?t supposed to happen. Not at all.?

She frowned, poking at one of the tendrils that emerged from the eye. Immediately Koishi yelped, as a feeling akin to a cold weight pressed against her chest. She slapped away Nitori?s hand violently, and the teacher?s frown deepened.

?Ah, sorry. I was checking to see if it responded to touch. I forgot it was that sensitive...?

Koishi needed a moment to catch her breath. She could touch the veins fine enough, but apparently they didn?t react well to the hands of others. The feeling passed, and she looked to Nitori with another question.

?How do you know all this, exactly? And what do you mean, ancestry??

?Oh, after Sango saw you on the beach that morning and told me she sensed you were a Siren, I did some reading into your bloodline. Magic isn?t completely original to everyone, after all - more often than not, it?s inherited in the blood, so when I went to look up families possessing third eyes like yours the Komeiji family was easily the most prominent in Gensouto.?

Nitori stepped backwards, looking at the blackboard behind her. Another equation had been drawn up earlier, and as usual with Nitori it was totally incorrect.

?As for how...it might be better for you to see that in person.?

She took a piece of chalk from the side, and began to draw a picture on the corner of the board. It was a simple picture, drawn with a series of strong, practiced strokes. The symbol was hardly easy to recognise - a circle inside a square, touching its outer edges - but it was a symbol that the machine behind the blackboard took in with perfect clarity. It was the White Pearl?s covert symbol - a pearl within an oyster, a sign of safe haven.

The room rumbled slightly as the blackboard shuffled across the wall, moving a few feet to the side. Where it had been positioned, an ominous-looking doorway was built into the wall, through which Koishi could make out a poorly lit room. She blinked incredulously, realising what would logically be on the other side.

No way...Room 495?!

The room next door had long since been abandoned due to some sort of health and safety scare, to the point where they?d built a wall over the door inside to stop meddling kids from peeking inside. They?d never given a straight explanation, though - she?d heard jokes about how it was all a coverup and there was some sort of deep dark secret behind that door, but she never expected them to be right.

Sango hung behind to watch in case Cirno came to her senses, while Nitori led the Sirens into her den. Immediately their eyes fell on the largest object in the room - a computer, almost as large as the blackboard in the room behind it, with a pair of extra screens attached to the sides. Mokou gasped slightly.

?...Damn. Didn?t know I had that sort of fan.?

The screen was still displaying the last information Nitori had been looking up - the history of a Mokou Fujiwara, one of the most recent descendants of the family of the Phoenix. The computer only offered trifling details about her - her age, her school record, but no photographs or pictures - but on one of the side-screens she could see a family tree spanning backwards at least five generations. On the other, an encyclopaedic entry on the magical traits of the family had been half-read, stopped midway. Nitori must have been reading this before she went to trail the trio at Lorelei?s. On the bottom, in much larger text than the rest, the words ?RANK: A? stood out far in front of the rest of the entry.

?We have operatives working at the hospitals around here, before you ask how I got hold of this. Know thy enemy, as they say, and every girl here could be both our best friend and our worst nightmare.?

There was a tone of smugness in Nitori?s voice as she spoke about her masterpiece. There was no chair for her to sit on - she?d taken it outside in order to perform her little introduction. She settled for standing as she reached down to the keyboard in front of the screen, typing faster than Koishi?s eyes could follow.

?And as for you...?

After a few seconds, the screens flashed, and Koishi saw her own name on the screen. It was an even stranger experience seeing her own name, her own history recorded by a woman who she barely knew. Her family tree, listing great-grandparents she?d never heard of, let alone met. And on the last screen, a full explanation of the powers that she didn?t know she had a week ago.

Or so she thought, before she started reading.

?Take a look yourself, Koishi-san. Doesn?t add up, does it??

The whole entry was far too long for her to read now, but mercifully there was a summary at the top that cut the whole thing down into one tidy paragraph.

?The family of the Eye is potentially one of the most powerful in Gensouto, if correctly trained. If unaware of their abilities, members of this family are likely to be very sensitive to the opinions of others, and highly skilled at guessing their emotions and thoughts. Upon discovering and accepting their abilities, this premonition evolves into outright knowledge, as they gain the ability to read the minds of nearby creatures at will. However, the power comes at a price - once it is activated, it cannot be turned off, and there is history of family members being driven insane by the unending onslaught of thoughts the world forces into their minds. The family name is very simply derived from the manifestation of their power - a third never-closing eye, balanced around the chest, held up by a series of bright red tendrils.?

It seemed half right. It was definitely close, that was for sure, but it didn?t fit Koishi. For one, all she could do was pass on thoughts telepathically, and only with youkai. She'd never been able to actually see what people were thinking, though she'd experimented with it occasionally in class to no success.

And besides that...

Koishi looked down again at herself. The tendrils connecting her to the third eye were purple, not red. And the eye they were holding up was firmly closed, refusing to open unless Koishi reached down and pulled away the eyelid. Given what had happened the last time she did that, she decided against repeating the process.

?You?re definitely part of the family, Koishi-san, but at the same time there?s never been one quite like you before. You may not have the same powers as, say, your mother did, but in exchange you seem to have something different entirely.?

Nitori grew tired of standing, moving the keyboard to the side and sitting on the desk it had been placed on. She looked at Koishi with the interest of a child at a zoo exhibit, only looking at the interesting parts and ignoring everything else. In this case, it was the eye that caught her attention, and Nitori continued speaking without giving her eye-contact (at least, not in the usual sense).

?I?ve only got one theory as to how this could have come about. There?s only one way for your family to close your third eyes, and that?s in death. I heard from Sango that you had a bit of an accident when you were young, and they had to bring you back after your heart stopped.?

The eye gave no response despite Nitori?s relentless glare. It hung in place as always, cold and lifeless. Koishi realised what Nitori was trying to suggest, and her heart skipped a beat.

?Looks like you came a lot closer to dying than you thought, Koishi-san. And it left a bigger mark than you could possibly imagine.?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: nolrai2 on October 15, 2010, 10:07:19 PM
Wowness.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Sect on October 16, 2010, 04:57:49 AM
Sango and Mokou are oddly quiet in this scene. Well, maybe not Mokou, since she's pretty tactiturn, but Sango's quieter than usual.

So, will Mokou get some sexy glasses as well, or does she not need them?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Zemyla on October 16, 2010, 11:34:43 PM
I thought this was just a joke when I first saw it.  Then, I thought it was just a real-world AU.  But now, I can see that it's awesome.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on December 08, 2010, 11:36:51 PM
?S-So, what are you trying to say? I?m half-dead??

?No, no, nothing that dramatic. Consider it that your third eye is comatose - not quite awake, but still working to some degree. You can still read the minds of youkai, right??

Koishi nodded. Sango had been ?borrowing? answers from her in class so it wouldn?t be totally obvious, but...wait.

?Yeah, but it goes the other way too. I can get Sango-san to hear what I?m thinking as well.?

Nitori nodded, working frantically at the keyboard. She began to add a note at the bottom of Koishi?s file, keeping track of all these new abilities that were popping up.

?Hm...interesting. You?ve found a way to not just tap into the minds of others, but form a psychic connection. Impressive.?

The cursor shifted down to the large text at the bottom, currently listing Koishi as a Rank B adversary. The B was promptly removed, and replaced instead with XS+++. Presumably, this was Nitori?s personal grading system, because it seemed too convoluted for anyone else to understand.

?Hm...is your power shifting inward, perhaps? Redirected so it can allow your thoughts out as well as letting other thoughts in? Yes, this is definitely worth looking into further-?

?Hey, teach. Sorry to interrupt, but I?ve got a few questions for you.?

Mokou had started to lean back on the wall, examining the other gadgets and gizmos lined around the room. There were various cupboards and drawers, filled with artifacts both scientific and supernatural. Most likely they?d have more glasses and rings so that the remaining Sirens could avoid mundane threats like insanity and drowning respectively. Besides the storage space, there were two large cylindrical tanks, filled to the brim with a green liquid unlike anything she?d ever seen before. Each had a computer in front of it, requesting input with regards to ?Subject Anatomy? - an experimental tank, maybe? Healing? Analysis? She couldn?t tell, and it was just one more question to add to the mountain she?d managed to assemble in the last few hours.

?Hm? Oh, yes, they haven?t had the chance to fill you in, have they? Apologies. When it comes to new discoveries, I can get...ahead of myself.?

Nitori?s attention was drawn away from the computer, leaving her note on Koishi unwritten. She seemed to suddenly remember that Mokou even existed, momentarily putting the entire situation to one side so she could further her own scientific curiosity. Already Mokou didn?t like the idea of trusting this woman as a superior - she was already enough of a ditz in math class, from what she remembered.

?Well I?m sorry that I don?t have some sort of new power you?ve never seen before, but in the space of about 20 minutes I went from being an ordinary high-schooler into some sort of high-tech-on-fire-brawler with a fancy glove, freaking WINGS, and a penchant for not dying. Also, since when was your hair blue? And the kid?s? And all those people out on the streets??

Perhaps it was a sign of how far Koishi had managed to immerse herself in this new magical world that the mention of Nitori?s blue hair did nothing surprise her. She?d seen signs of it before, so she was unsurprised to see that when her glasses came off the dark brown hair turned a much more dramatic shade. Mokou, though, was seeing it for the first time, and admittedly her response to it was much more calm and dignified than Koishi?s ?running through the streets in a panic?.

?Well, then. I suppose you?ve earned an explanation of what?s going on. You too, Koishi-san.?

?Um, Kawashiro-sensei, I already know-?

?I already said, I prefer Nitori. And if Sango has told you what I ordered her to tell you, you still have plenty to learn.?

Nitori regretfully left the note on Koishi?s file unfinished for the moment, though she?d undoubtedly finish it later with an eager hand. For now, it was time to get these two up to speed, and for that she led them backwards towards the far end of the room. Mokou and Koishi followed behind, still unable to make out any of the contents of these mysterious drawers and cupboards. Each of them had been locked securely, and given the jingle of keys coming from in front of them Nitori was presumably the only one who could access them.

There was a desk here, with a much more mundane looking computer than the one she?d been working on earlier, and a projector screen had been set up behind it. Nitori took her place behind it, on another of those spinning chairs (maybe the one she?d been given to work on had rubbed off on her?) and without needing any guidance the pair of Sirens stood in front.

Nitori started to activate the computer. Presumably it was running on purely mundane technology, given that she had to wait a few minutes for it to start up.

?So, while we?re waiting, Koishi-san. Mind telling me exactly what you know about this whole mess? So we can get your phoenix friend up to speed.?

Koishi blinked. She was being asked to condense everything she?d been exposed to in the last few days and simplify it into a few easy paragraphs? That was sort of a big ask, but regardless she tried to come up with a synopsis.

She needed to take a deep breath first.

?OK, so. First off, everything you know about the world is wrong. Magic exists, everyone can use it, and hair colours spread across the whole rainbow now. Animals can walk and talk like humans do - you?ve seen Sango-san, right? She?s an example. They call themselves youkai, and they basically know all this stuff we don?t. There are some bad guys who are trying to bring magic back in the limelight, and there are good guys trying to stop them from getting their hands on these jewels of ours. They?re called the Tidal Teardrops, there are 7 of them all around Gensouto inside other girls called Sirens, and they let us do all that magical crap after we make a really really important wish. We?re trying to get our hands on them before the Black Claw - that?s the bad guys, for the record - kill them off and use those Teardrops to do all sorts of crap.?

Koishi gasped again, tiring herself out. Mokou?s expression didn?t falter all the way through - she?d had her stage of being shocked and confused, and now she just simply took everything in her stride. It was impressive, if slightly disturbing.

?Excellent description, Koishi-san! Not very detailed, missing a lot of important facts, but that?s all you were meant to know anyway.?

Nitori?s compliment was double-edged, to say the least. Koishi frowned slightly, while Mokou took the initiative to ask a question that had never come to her companion.

?Teach, one thing I don?t get. So, these Black Claw guys want to let the world know about magic again? What makes you so sure that?s a bad thing??

?Besides the fact they?re willing to kill off innocents to bring it back? That they hypnotise unsuspecting humans and force them to do their bidding??

?And what about you? You?re asking seven clueless teenage girls to come do your fighting for you. If you?re so powerful and useful, why do you expect us to defend ourselves??

Koishi could see the anger working its way onto Mokou?s face. Evidently, she wasn?t as at ease with the situation as she?d let on, and she was letting rip on the professor for it full-force. Nitori?s face darkened, but she offered no response.

?Don?t think I?m scared about fighting these guys. Hell, if they?re using kids like Cirno as playthings, I?ll be more than eager to start cracking some skulls. But who says everyone else is gonna be that eager? What if they die? Why are we fighting your war for you??

?Because we don?t have a choice.?

Nitori was irritated as she responded, but her anger wasn?t pointed at Mokou. She seemed to be looking out into the distance as she started to speak, having been given a perfectly good opening to vent.

?You know what most youkai think of you human beings? They think you?re a race of sniveling, cheating cowards. They?ve seen you kill yourselves in pointless wars, tear apart all the wildlife around you, pollute the skies and seas with your waste, and now you?re on the verge of bringing the whole world down with you. Frankly, there?s a large group of youkai that think the world would be better off if mankind happened to suddenly disappear.?

Mokou?s anger floundered. Nitori?s words hit hard, and there was no way she could counter them. Mankind had done all of that and more. Koishi could feel her own heart wavering, as if she?d just been stabbed in the chest.

?If magic comes out into the open, there?s a good chance you humans will do the job yourselves. You were all so excited and threatened by nuclear weaponry, but magic will let you destroy on a scale even greater than you?ve ever achieved before. You?ll be able to wipe entire continents off the face of the earth - and given your history of peace, there?s a very good chance you will. It would just be a waiting game, and then the Claw would just pick up where you left off and take what they claim is rightfully theirs.?

Nitori?s typing at the keyboard grew more aggressive. Koishi could hear the violent staccato of key taps almost louder than her own words as she spoke.

?But some of us...some of us can?t do that. We aren?t willing to let billions die, no matter what you?re going to do. We?ve got faith in you as a race. Sure, you screwed up, but you?ll put things back together before it?s too late. So we?re not going to just sit back and let them kill you off. Maybe there aren?t a lot of us, and maybe we?re aren?t strong enough to fight for you. But we can give you what you need to fend for yourselves, and as long as we can do that the White Pearl has a use in the world.?

Nitori finished entering whatever command she needed to enter and practically smashed the return key as the computer burst to life. The act was cathartic, and her shoulders slumped a little as she came to the end of her rant.

?Is that a good enough answer for you, Mokou-san??

Mokou was, in all honesty, unnerved by the professor?s sudden aggravation. She wondered just what sort of madness those dark blue eyes had been witness to, what sort of fanatic death-cries she?d been forced to hear from her people. It was a thought she didn?t dwell on for long, and she offered a small nod in response. Koishi simply stood in place, feeling a little numb at the sound of it and working to fight off the voices in her head that told her to succumb to meaningless guilt. Maybe she?d have given in to them a week ago, but not today.

?Anyway. Now that both of you are up to speed...?

Another series of hastily entered commands, and now the projector burst into life. For now, it displayed a simple black slide.

?It?s time to let you both know exactly what we?ve had to drag you into.?

The black slide was replaced with a white one, with text written across it. Nitori had been kind enough to offer the Japanese translation - the original had been scribed in a language no human would ever understand.

Koishi and Mokou both flinched as they read.

?The History Of Humans And Magic: The War Of Cataclysm?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Chaore on December 09, 2010, 12:58:45 AM
People being stupid and racist is why Mokou and Koishi have to fight. Makes sense!

Man, and Youkai think they're different than us. :V
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Sect on December 09, 2010, 01:11:59 AM
Fuck the youkai, weeeee got the booombs, o-kay?!

... Well, okay, I guess they also have Okuu, but she's not nuclear yet.

Anyways, I guess Mokou and Koishi better settle in for Death by Powerpoint.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on December 09, 2010, 02:02:31 AM
Ah, the days of staying up writing until 2 in the morning. How I missed you.

-----

There would be no text for a while - all that Koishi and Mokou needed to see were pictures. The first was one of the planet Earth, but not the one that they were familiar with - it was older, and the continents had yet to shift into their current positions. Thousands of years? Hundreds of thousands? Neither of them were familiar enough with geography to tell.

?You humans weren?t always clueless when it came to magic. Back in the beginning, you didn?t just know about it, you embraced it. Magic made up your societies, your daily lives, everything.?

The slide changed again, displaying a labyrinthine metropolis. Man-made, no doubt, from the sight of humans walking around, but the entire architecture was impossible. For one, there were tunnels and walkways blatantly floating in midair, and as the camera suddenly zoomed out it became clear that the entire city was built on a floating hunk of rock. Mokou let off a low whistle at that one.

?We revealed ourselves to you, thinking that our kind could share with yours. The races of the youkai were talented, but mankind was unique in the diversity of its powers. A pyromancer could be the next door neighbour of a telekinetic, and both of them could live across from a sage of history. You were unusual, and powerful.

?But you were also devious and ambitious. It started with one or two human magicians testing their strength against the local youkai, but those skirmishes grew in size and magnitude. Within a few months of our first appearance, it had evolved into outright war. We had never seen a conflict this devastating, even in wars among the youkai races, and thus began what later became known as the War of Cataclysm.?

Another slide. This one showed the same city again, but now it lay devastated. It had fallen into the ocean and any sign of the technology that had dwelt there had been thoroughly destroyed. There were tiny figures lying in the streets, and for the sake of keeping her stomach?s contents where they were Koishi refused to give them more than a vague glare. She saw Mokou taking a closer look, and the taller girl gulped audibly.

?We were strong and experienced, but you were diverse and numerous. The battles wore on for months, and it became clear the youkai would be driven to extinction in a fair fight. So our finest mages and summoners came together, working to create a creature that would singlehandedly wipe out the human opposition. It was black magic, against every creed that all of our races followed, but it was considered necessary to ensure our survival. It would be the strongest, most intelligent creature in existence, and it would exist only to destroy.?

Nitori sounded downhearted now rather than angry. This was a piece of history she was not proud of.

?...Maybe it?s hard for you to tell, but I?m a lot older than I look. I was young then; freshly graduated and a prodigy among my people, the kappa. I was chosen to be part of this special team, and saw it as simply as a chance to earn myself some fame. I would become the hero who worked to save all of the races from the threat of mankind. I?d earn countless medals, be praised everywhere I went, and-?

She caught herself rambling, and stopped herself with a sudden cough. Neither girl could be angry - the look of guilt in her eyes was absolutely genuine. She?d clearly learned to regret her ambition, and they soon learned why.

?...Sorry. Anyway, we worked for months in the scientific and magical circles to create what would be the ultimate combatant. We gave the creature no name; we knew it simply as Project 046.
When we released it on mankind, they quickly nicknamed it the Ravager.?

This slide was perhaps even more frightening than the last. What looked back at them was a creature unlike any they?d ever seen or heard of. It stood on two legs, perhaps as an act of irony for its target. It stood a good eight or nine feet tall, and every inch of its body was covered in a jet black carapace designed to withstand all attack. Its arms looked brutally efficient, able to kill with a swipe, and its face - its face was frankly terrifying. Four eyes looked out, each glowing faintly red, and a set of three dozen jagged teeth was arranged beneath them in a sadistic grin.

?The Ravager did its job, better than even our most optimistic expectations. It sliced through the human forces with ease, killing anything and everything that dared to cross it. Within days, the war had been won, and the creature was ordered to return to base.?

This was where Nitori fumbled. Koishi and Mokou knew what she was going to say before she even said it.

?...It refused, and killed the messengers we sent to reclaim it. It turned back, but now it was fighting our own forces. We had made it too intelligent, and after it achieved sentience it wanted to rule over everything itself. The researchers hadn?t considered a killcode, and we weren?t strong enough to stop it. Worse still...?

Another slide. The Ravager stood proud and ready, but this time it wasn?t alone. A dozen youkai of various races - lions, eagles, sharks and the like - stood behind it in battle poses. They were not as threatening as their leader, perhaps, but they all shared the same cruel glint in their eyes.

?It was intelligent enough to find followers. It valued the strong, and agreed to spare their lives in return for their servitude. That was the birth of the Children of the Black Claw, and with allies on its side the Ravager grew stronger still.

Finally, we came to our last resort. We were fortunate enough that our leader, a high-ranking youkai by the name of Yukari Yakumo, had survived this far. She was a special case - no-one knew exactly what sort of youkai she was, but we knew that her power was unrivalled among any of the races. She personally visited the remnants of the human forces and agreed a truce so that both sides could eliminate the true threat - the Ravager and its minions.?

There were no slides for this one. Presumably, there had been no chance to record the battle - after all, when you were at war with your entire world at stake, there really wasn?t room for journalism.

?We would not have won the front-on battle that occured. We subdued the Claw, but the Ravager itself was too powerful for us. No-one could hope to harm it, let alone defeat it. Every remaining man, woman and child fought with the youkai that day, but it was a battle we seemed destined to lose.

That is, until Yukari revealed the ace up her sleeve.?

What was presumably the last slide came up. A transcript had been typed out, again presumably a translation from the original. The receiver was a name neither Siren recognised - probably the leader of one of the youkai races.

?Each of the racial heads was given one of these letters and given orders not to open them until the battle had ended. The contents more or less speak for themselves.?

They certainly did. As Koishi and Mokou read along with the scrolling text, they could almost hear a voice in their head reciting the words - a light, soft voice, trembling but managing to stay confident.

?Dear ---,

It is with great sadness that I abdicate my position as leader of the youkai. It is not out of cowardice I do this; in fact, it is anything but.

If you have survived to read this message, then you will already know that I am dead.

This creature - our own creation, built out of a desperate struggle - has turned against us. It is only right that we must pay the price to seal it. I have been doing my own research into sealing rituals for some time - after all, we have no way of destroying the monster, so we must instead contain it. At last I found a spell that would allow us to be free of its menace, but the price is painfully high.

Firstly, our human allies. You will have noticed that after I completed my incantation, each of them collapsed to the floor unconscious. Do not be alarmed; they are not yet dead, but something has been taken from them. The knowledge of magic, the secrets the world of youkai holds - they have now been lost to mankind.

Take your armies and leave this place. Leave no trace of your existence. It is better that our peoples live apart rather than quarrel and fall into conflict once again. Live among them, but keep yourselves hidden. Let no sign of our existence emerge, but wish them no harm - violence has solved nothing in this war, and there is no reason to believe that will change.

Secondly, the spell required a life to be sacrificed. This was a point I thought over for a long time - perhaps the researchers responsible would have been willing to offer themselves for atonement, or a warrior looking to ensure his name was remembered for all time. In the end, though, I decided that neither option would suffice. I ordered the research to be performed; the fault lied with me, and thus it is only fair that I should pay the price to repair the damage that I have caused.

One final warning: For all that has been spent to bring this victory about, it is not final. Long into the future, in the place where ideas come to life, there will be seven Sirens. Each of them shall carry within them a solemn wish, and when this wish is uttered they will regain the powers that mankind has lost tenfold. They shall all be worthy combatants, but their items of power, the Tidal Teardrops, have uses beyond simple magic.

If the Ravager?s former minions were to collect these Teardrops, they would find ways to manipulate their immense power to their own needs. If all seven were to fall to them, perhaps they could even go so far as to reveal the world of magic to humanity once again, and that will simply repeat the cycle of bloodshed that has brought us here in the first place.

I implore you. Watch for the Sirens. Ensure that they are kept safe. And most of all, make sure that the Teardrops do not fall into the wrong hands. I ask you this, as a former ruler of your people; for I would rather you had a kingdom still standing to rule.

Yours,
Yukari Yakumo
?

As the last few words scrolled onto the screen, the slide flickered and eventually died. Nitori?s voice once again grew irritated as she picked up where the slideshow left off.

?Technically, no-one won the War of Cataclysm, but both sides walked away heavily wounded. We had all suffered heavy losses, and mankind was forced to rebuild civilisation from scratch without their magic to guide them. We maintained Yukari?s orders and kept ourselves hidden: firstly out of grace and respect for our comrades, then out of spite as they turned their powers to polluting the land to survive, and finally out of fear as they began to produce weaponry that could even make a youkai bleed.

It has been thousands of years since that battle ended, and many have forgotten their vow. The Black Claw does not refer to itself by that name in public, but it has gained great influence in every race of the youkai. Those who were willing to stand vigil for the seven Sirens Yukari spoke of diminshed, until finally there was little beyond a few ragtag folks who had taken part in the war and young ambitious initiates looking to do the right thing.

We are those final few. Those last youkai who remain loyal to Yukari Yakumo, and will follow her orders to protect both mankind and the world. We are the Order of the White Pearl, and as long as we draw breath we will aid you in any way we can.?

Nitori motioned out to the compartments filled to the brim with devices and gadgets, still unseen.

?I?m not really a fighter, to be honest. All I?m good at is building things. But damn if I?m not pretty good at that. You want it, I can make it. Hell, if you can dream about it, chances are I can put something together. All I ask of you is one thing.?

She looked out at Koishi and Mokou, a tiny glint in her eyes. This clearly meant more to Nitori than to anyone - it was her own failing, and it was one she would do all she had to in order to repair.

?Fight with us. Stop the Claw from regaining their lost power. And above all, make sure this meaningless war doesn?t claim even more lives.?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Sect on December 09, 2010, 02:13:45 AM
Oh, so you're in Morocco?

Interesting, there. I totally expected Yukari to still be alive, or at least somehow involved with the Black Claw.

Anyways, so I guess that means that, barring any post-mortem fooling around, Ran's the Siren from PCB? Also, I think I remember hearing something about the Black Claw already having a... pincer?... on a Teardrop or a Siren...
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Chaore on December 09, 2010, 02:45:35 AM
I see the buildings of Koishi going awesome.

I trust you will not let me down, Roukan. LESS YOUR HEAD BE DINNER.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Esifex on December 09, 2010, 09:13:17 AM
Mighty fuck, man.
You think you're no good at writing?

I am ashamed of myself for daring to submit my own literature alongside yours. There's a reason you're one of the Librarians, and it's not just because you know how to read.

You have a very obvious appreciation for the written word. Even if you haven't noticed it, it's there.
You're weaving stories - DRK, Delphi Sancti, TEiPW, PLotSS, all of 'em - with such expertise and skill. I would earnestly love to look you in the face when I say this - these are damn fine works, on par with any fantasy fiction author I've ever had the pleasure of reading.

To borrow an anecdote from Brent Weeks - I'd be the guy reading your work, and promising to let you know if you should 'give up and get a real job'. Well, don't. Fucking don't stop writing, man, cuz you've got a gift, a talent for it. You can say you spend so long slaving over your stories, torturing yourself over whether or not this scene flows right or if this dialogue sounds forced or if this character is too flat, or whatever - but I'll tell you something... I do the same. And I'm honestly blown away - completely blown away - by the sheer literary quality of your work. The time and effort that you're pouring into your stories shows, and in a big way.

I hope you feel so proud of yourself for being able to do this that your head swells up and you risk floating away - you've earned it. You've earned it many times over.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Happerry on December 09, 2010, 10:14:00 AM
Mighty fuck, man.
You think you're no good at writing?

I am ashamed of myself for daring to submit my own literature alongside yours. There's a reason you're one of the Librarians, and it's not just because you know how to read.

You have a very obvious appreciation for the written word. Even if you haven't noticed it, it's there.
You're weaving stories - DRK, Delphi Sancti, TEiPW, PLotSS, all of 'em - with such expertise and skill. I would earnestly love to look you in the face when I say this - these are damn fine works, on par with any fantasy fiction author I've ever had the pleasure of reading.

To borrow an anecdote from Brent Weeks - I'd be the guy reading your work, and promising to let you know if you should 'give up and get a real job'. Well, don't. Fucking don't stop writing, man, cuz you've got a gift, a talent for it. You can say you spend so long slaving over your stories, torturing yourself over whether or not this scene flows right or if this dialogue sounds forced or if this character is too flat, or whatever - but I'll tell you something... I do the same. And I'm honestly blown away - completely blown away - by the sheer literary quality of your work. The time and effort that you're pouring into your stories shows, and in a big way.

I hope you feel so proud of yourself for being able to do this that your head swells up and you risk floating away - you've earned it. You've earned it many times over.
I fully agree with everything written here. Except for the ashamed of my self line, on grounds I haven't actually written anything.... which is probably more shameful, come to think of it.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on December 09, 2010, 09:35:07 PM
Sango wasn?t in the room to hear this briefing - no need, since she?d learned all of this back when she became an Initiate. This was why she?d been assigned to simple guard duty, watching over a subject who wasn?t even conscious.

Not exactly the most taxing work, but if it had to be done she?d do it.

?Phwee...Fujiwara-san sure packs a punch.?

Cirno seemed nowhere nearer waking up. Sango had tested the theory by poking her occasionally in the side, but there had been no response. Occasionally she?d started to wonder if the girl was even breathing, leading to a panicked examination and a relieved sigh.

This cycle repeated every five minutes or so.

There was only so long she could spend concerned about the well-being of their guest without getting bored, though. She wished she could be joining in with the briefing, if only because she figured her side performance would help to liven the mood. She did a really great Ravager impression, but no-one had given her a chance to show it off.

Her attention turned to the chair behind Nitori?s desk. She?d never sat in one before - she was used to the solid backs of the school chairs, practically stabbing into your spine to keep you sitting straight. This, though - it was flexible, and she felt more comfortable just looking at it.

Initially, she gave the piece of furniture a light prod, seemingly afraid that it would collapse at her touch. When this calamity proceeded to not happen, she found the nerve to pat it with a hand. The blue fabric gave way slightly, like a pillow had been built into the actual chair.

Sango?s eyes glimmered. She lowered herself down into the chair with the utmost care, hearing it squeak as she came to rest. It felt almost like she was melting into it, but in the best way she could imagine.

?Why don?t we students get awesome chairs like this??

She pushed off the floor with one foot, sending the chair twirling with an unexpected burst of speed. She?d turned a mundane piece of furniture into a fairground attraction, and she was loving it. She?d buy a chair like this and insist Koishi let her sit on it at home. She?d write her own name on it if she had to, but she couldn?t get enough of this comfort.

Unfortunately, though Sango had invented the sport of swivel-chair pirouettes, she hadn?t quite got the hang of balance. She wasn?t aware that the chair was tipping until it was already too late for her to stop.

?Phwee?!?

It fell backward, rattling against the floor with a rough sounding clang. Sango smacked her head on the back of the chair - enough to make her wince, but no lasting damage. Her first reaction was to pick up the chair and return it to its original spot so that there was no sign of her little playaround.

Her second reaction was to panic at the sight of Cirno shuffling around.

Crap, the sound must?ve woken her up!

She dashed over to the Fairy as she began to rise up into consciousness. She had to stop it, right now - if the girl woke up and saw the base in Room 495, she?d be in all sorts of trouble.

Now, how was it that human lullaby went again...?

-----

?So, you two. Are you willing to help us??

Nitori?s question carried a slight hint of inevitability. From what she?d heard of these two, she didn?t expect either of them to actually refuse, but she left the option on the table. If either them wanted to step away, it would be best to do it now before things got too complicated. They?d have to settle for one less Siren, and one more Teardrop that Nitori would have to hold onto herself.

Mokou, at least, made her decision obvious. She put her hands down firmly on Nitori?s desk, a grin rising to her face.

?Taking out a bunch of self-righteous youkai who want us all to blow ourselves up? Yeah, you can count me in for this one.?

Nitori smirked. She?d figured the phoenix would react like that. She was good at concealing it, but there was a violent temper locked down in that girl, and she?d be all too keen to channel it for a good cause.

?And what about you, Koishi-san? If you want to turn back, it?s still not too late.?

Koishi didn?t share her companion?s hot-blooded eagerness, but the look on her face was one of quiet determination.

?...So, this power of mine. It saved Cirno-san??

She didn?t seem to believe what she was saying, and looked to Nitori for confirmation. The professor?s face was solemn as she spoke.

?...Yes, it did. If you hadn?t shown us that new power from your third eye, we would have had no choice but to kill her. She?s alive now thanks to you.?

She?d saved a life. Her, all on her own. They couldn?t have done it without her. The words floated around in her head for a while, struggling to be accepted. She felt important, useful, in a way she hadn?t before.

Even though she was smiling, she could feel her eyes watering as she offered her response - not out of sadness, but out of pride.

?If that?s the case, then I?ll do it. There are going to be people depending on me, relying on me...I can?t let them down.?

It was still strange for her to think about. People relying on her, of all people! It flew in the face of everything she?d believed in a week ago, but it felt so good to hear it and believe it.

?Excellent, you two! I?m glad to have you both as our allies. Now, that leaves us with one problem - what to do with our Fairy friend. We don?t know what effect Koishi-san?s powers have had on her mind - whether she can still see magic, or if she can even remember the events of this evening. We need to test her, and the best way to do that is for you both to speak with her and see what she still knows.?

Outside, there was the sound of a chair clattering against the floor. All three of them looked in its direction, but of the three Nitori sounded the least unfazed.

?Given Sango?s antics, I?ll suggest you get to it post haste. Wipe the blackboard on the way out, please.?

They didn?t want to know how Nitori was so sure of what was going on, and frankly they didn?t care. Koishi and Mokou dashed out of the hidden chamber back into Nitori?s official classroom, quickly seeing Sango circling Cirno?s murmuring body in a panic.

?Rock-a-bye fairy on the tree top, when the wind blows the tree branch will rock...?

She was trying to sing the girl back to sleep, but given that Cirno?s mumblings were getting louder she wasn?t doing a very good job of it. It didn?t help that her knowledge of human lullabies was pretty horrendous.

?When the branch breaks, the fairy will fall, and...wait, fairies can fly, can?t they? This song makes no sense, phwee!?

?Outta the way, babysitter!?

Mokou took point before things could get any worse, grabbing Sango by the shoulder and guiding her towards the hidden room. She took the chalkboard eraser and wiped at the Pearl?s mark; no longer seeing the sign of entry, the wall closed back in on itself and left Sango and Nitori on the other side. They weren?t trapped by any means; Nitori could open the passage from her side, but she obviously wouldn?t do so until the coast was clear.

?Mmh...uuugh...?

Cirno groaned as she finally returned to the world of the living. Her first conscious motion was to clutch her left cheek, muttering profanities her mother would have been ashamed of. Koishi and Mokou were standing over her as she awoke, looking down with genuine concern.

?Kid, you alright??

Cirno needed a moment to get to terms with where she was. Her eyes glanced around the room, confirming that she was in the math classroom. This was unusual, given that math was one of the classes she skipped on an everyday basis.

?Uh...I think so...but what happened??

Koishi and Mokou turned to one another. Had she forgotten? And if so, how much? For now they?d have to test it, and Koishi quickly came up with a story to pass on.

?You tripped on the way home, remember? We tried to take you to the nurse?s office, but she?d left for the day, so we stayed here to make sure you woke up.?

Was it an iffy statement? Undoubtedly. But Cirno was drawing a blank, and right now the pain was clouding her judgement anyway. She pulled herself upright, still rubbing at her cheek.

?Y-Yeah, sure. I remember. Heh, I must?ve looked pretty dumb back then, huh??

Koishi caught it, even if Mokou didn?t - that tiny hint of sadness in her eyes, the flickering of a tear in the light. It wasn?t the sort of weakness she imagined Cirno letting anyone see. She?d changed, slightly but visibly.

A breath caught in her throat. She?d done more in Cirno?s head than remove the mindcoil - she?d seen Cirno?s two halves, her pride and her determination, and she?d brought them together. This was no longer the self-absorbed leader of the Fairies, even if in terms of appearance she remained exactly the same.

She looked over to Koishi, her lip quivering slightly. Words were trying to come out, but she was struggling to say what was on her mind. Mokou looked on from the side, raising an eyebrow, unsure exactly what was unfolding in front of her.

?I...I?m...?

Cirno rose to her feet, looking Koishi straight onward in the eye. It was easy for even Mokou to see now - the Fairy?s eyes were streaming with tears, as the words finally started to take form.

She bowed down towards Koishi, as far as her back would let her.

?I?m really, really sorry...!?

-----

?So, she?s forgotten about the magic as well...that?s a shame.?

Nitori was still firmly placed in her chair, watching the conversation unfold from the relative anonymity of the back room. Sango stood besides her, watching the computer with as much attention as her superior.

?Phwee? But isn?t that a good thing? It means we don?t need to worry about her passing on any info.?

?True, but it also means she can?t tell us who gave her the mindcoil. We?ve never had a chance to properly interrogate a victim of the Claw?s brainwashing, and it seems like we never will.?

Nitori muttered to herself as she continued to observe the girls? discussion. Cirno appeared much more docile than had been purported - perhaps there had been more to Koishi?s intrusion than simply giving her back her free will? She would look into it.

?You sound disappointed, ma?am.?

?Do I? Sorry. I guess that with all the other miracles Koishi-san?s worked for us today, I shouldn?t have been expecting this one on top of everything else. I should be happy enough that she?s saved us from getting our hands dirty.?

A painful silence hung in the room; both because they needed to avoid being overheard next door, and neither of them had anything cheerful to say. After what felt like an age, Nitori broke the deadlock.

?You shouldn?t have been playing around on the chair.?

Sango?s head drooped.

?Sorry...it just looked so comfortable, and...?

?Sometimes I worry about your professionalism, Sango. Do you know how much trouble we could have had to clean up if she?d seen this passageway? Perhaps you are still too inexperienced for this post...?

The stern tone in Nitori?s voice was enough to bring her subordinate to attention.

?Y-Yes, ma?am! It won?t happen again, I promise!?

Her words were genuine...perhaps too much so. Nitori looked up, and saw that Sango?s eyes were filled with genuine fear at the thought of being taken out of the battlefield. There were others she could take in - one or two other dolphin youkai who could take her place.

But none would have reacted to the fear of demotion with the same concern Sango had.

?...Still haven?t forgiven yourself, have you??

Sango flinched, and slumped back downwards again. She shook her head.

?You couldn?t have done anything. The Claw took us all by surprise with that attack.?

?I know, I know. But still...I need to make up for it. For her sake, and for everyone else?s.?

Sango needed a moment to pull herself together. Eventually, with a deep breath, she rose back upwards and stood straight.

?But...can I make one request, then??

Nitori raised an eyebrow. She wasn?t sure what to expect from this; Sango had never requested anything beyond her rank before.

She certainly hadn?t been expecting a smile, that was for sure.

?Can you tell me where you buy these swivel chair thingies? I?m gonna get one at home so I don?t have to borrow yours.?

Nitori had to stop herself from laughing at that one. Maybe she wasn?t the brightest tool in the shed sometimes, but she couldn?t deny Sango could put a smile to her face when she tried.

Yup, Nitori thought to herself. These kids might just do alright as a team.

-----

Koishi and Mokou tended to Cirno as she sobbed herself dry, apologising profusely for everything she?d done. It had taken a lot of careful wording to stop Cirno from descending to far down into depression, and the occasional compliment along the lines of ?it?s brave of you to admit this? kept her from clamming up halfway. She had to let out everything she wanted to say before she could fully move past it, and the two Sirens listened patiently to every word.

After what felt like an age, Cirno?s apologies and confessions drew to a close. She sniffed weakly, rubbing at her nose and wiping the last few tears from her face. She?d had her rant, she?d made her apologies, and it was time to get out of this state before it devolved into sheer self-pity.

?...I?m gonna have to hit the books pretty hard, aren?t I? I?ve got a lot to catch up on.?

?Hey, same here. I?ve not really been the best pupil myself.?

Mokou placed a hand on Cirno?s shoulder for support, pulling the Fairy close. Cirno was about a head shorter, and it was all too tempting for Mokou to ruffle her hair, but treating her like a kid probably wasn?t the best idea right now.

?Koishi-san! You?re a brainiac, right? Feel like helping us two morons get back up to speed??

Koishi hadn?t been told the plan would involve running personal study classes, but regardless she nodded. For one, she could use something to do with her time, and they always said the best way to learn was through teaching. Maybe she?d be able to get back to her old standards as well with this.

?Sure thing, but I think we should make that four. I think Sango-san could use some help as well. Do you mind, Mokou-san??

?You bet. That fine with you, kid??

Cirno seemed to have gotten lost in the conversation. Her eyes drifted from Mokou, to Koishi, then back to Mokou again. She was looking for some trace of sarcasm, some hint that they were simply kidding with her and this was just another shot at her intelligence. All that she saw was a pair of cheerful, smiling girls, offering her help without asking anything in return.

They almost seemed like...like...

?S-Sure! If all of us work together we?re gonna ace those exams, no problem!?

...friends.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Sect on December 09, 2010, 11:02:36 PM
Quote
Occasionally she?d started to wonder if the girl was even breathing, leading to a panicked examination and a relieved sigh.
Was totally imagining Sango flipping the fricking-fricky-frick out (http://dizzy.pestermom.com/?p=csa01marisa0244) here.

Anyways, on the one hand, the last scene is a cheesy shoujo befriending scene. On the other hand, the story is cheesy (in a good way), so it's all cool. Plus, Cirno's crying scene is a manly, snot covered affair, not one of those girly single tear things, which is always good in my book. Kind of early for Mokou to call Koishi a "brainiac", though: the only reason's she's ahead of Mokou and Sango would be because she at least attended class over the last year, and (if? when?) Ran shows up...
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Drake on December 10, 2010, 06:54:14 AM
Mundane!

It's a fun word. :V
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on December 12, 2010, 12:24:54 AM
Part 1 of Filler Arc gooooo

-----

Things petered out rather comfortably after that. Cirno had been true to her word; though she ended up facing a lot of flak from all the teachers and pupils she?d inconvenienced during her stint as gang leader, she took on the task of winning back their favour with a brave face and a proud smile. It was the same expression she wore during her weekly study session with Koishi and friends - at least, when she wasn?t rubbing her head in confusion and asking for clarification.

From the way Nitori had been so fervent to win her over, Koishi had expected every day to be a riveting adventure, with brutal combat and epic battles taking place on every street corner. She was happily disappointed, then, to learn that Claw activity seemed to be focused mainly on finding the Sirens now. They knew that the Pearl?s two new allies were too powerful for them to take on with their current forces, and as potent as the mindcoil was it couldn?t place someone under the claw?s control without a grudge to control them through. They needed a reason to attack, and in all honesty the Sirens were either too well-liked or too unknown for the Claw to have any worthwhile targets for recruitment.

This meant that the search for other holders of the Teardrops took precedence for both parties. Sango would routinely go out for walks alongside Koishi after school, letting off a phwee or two when no-one else was looking to scout the area for potential Sirens. So far, they hadn?t found anything, but there had been no sign of the Claw getting hold of anyone either, so it was more or less a stalemate.

Sometimes these trips would have the pair out until the dead of night, but today they?d chosen to finish early. Koishi had a test impending for the next day, and given that they?d had no luck up until now she figured she could afford to spend an evening revising. Sango would be doing some revision too, whether she liked it or not - Koishi wanted to be able to focus on her own results for once without needing to give everything she knew over to ensure the dolphin didn?t get taken down a year.

They returned home much earlier than normal, and Koishi didn?t bother to knock as she entered the house.

?I?m ho-?

No voice responded to her, but the sound of hurried movement out the hallway spoke volumes. Koishi barely had time to acknowledge there was a figure standing there before it had vanished, but it was wearing familiar shades of yellow and green.

Her clothes? Definitely.

?Koishi-san, stay back!?

Sango leapt in front of Koishi, holding her arms out as if to block the corridor. The move stunned Koishi as much as it confused her.

?Sango-san...what are you doing??

Sango looked back at Koishi with the most serious expression she could muster.

?Protecting you, phwee! Someone?s here to attack you, and it?s my job to keep you safe!?

Koishi needed a second to fully take in Sango?s line of reasoning, before finally pushing her out the way.

?H-Hey, didn?t you hear what I just said?!?

Sango didn?t go to the full extent of holding her back, but she motioned for Koishi to stop in every way she could imagine. The girl walked on regardless, heading straight in the direction the mysterious figure had ran. The trip led her into her own room, and immediately Koishi could see that her wardrobe was hanging open, ruffled with pieces of clothing hanging out. It had been recently invaded, that was obvious, but the thief was nowhere to be seen - at least, not immediately.

Koishi, though, had a good idea of where to look. She only knew one person who took refuge here, and she always chose the same spot. Sango stood in the doorway, mystified, as Koishi walked over to her bed and pulled up one of the bedsheets that had fallen over the side.

A long black tail was beneath it, wriggling around anxiously as its owner hid under the bed. Just as Koishi had expected. She reached down, running her hand down it quickly but carefully.

?Nyaah!?

Orin practically flew out from under the bed, pinning herself to the opposite wall. She wasn?t wearing the ordinary dark green dress, instead having chosen to wear Koishi?s traditional garb. Given the obvious differences between the two, it didn?t quite fit her - in particular, the shirt was beginning to strain slightly, thanks to Orin?s human form being considerably more endowed than her master?s.

The awkward silence in the room may well have lasted an eternity. Koishi wasn?t keeping count. The cat looked up, her face bright red, and Koishi?s eyes looked down at her in mild confusion. She didn?t say anything, but the thoughts rushing through her mind said more than enough.

OhcrapohcrapohcrapKoishi-samawasn?tmeanttoseethisnowIlookreallyweirddon?tIhowamIsupposedtoexplainthisnyaanyaanyaaaaaaaaaah!

It took a long time for Koishi to muster up enough sensibility to react. The sight of Orin dressing in her own clothing had been enough to stun her into silence, but eventually she managed to offer a useful response.

She giggled.

?Orin, if you wanted me to get you a change of clothes, you could have just asked.?

That was enough to take Orin?s composure apart. The panicked thoughts in her head started pouring out into words, inconsistent and desperate.

?N-No, Koishi-sama, that?s not it! I just always thought you looked cute in these clothes, so I wanted to try them on while you were away and - wait, no, that sounds even worse, doesn?t it?! Nyaaah, I?m not really this strange, I swear!?

She was almost on the verge of tears, sniffling and covering her chest. Sango had yet to recover from the initial shock, still standing in place with her jaw hanging wide open. Koishi looked into her head, but all she could hear was the word ?phwee? being repeated over and over.

She?d have to move things along herself, then. Looking away from Orin for a moment, Koishi reached into the wardrobe and pulled out a large black hat with a wide brim. A yellow ribbon ran around it, the same colour as the shirt it accompanied. Walking over to the frozen feline, Koishi placed the hat as neatly as she could on Orin?s head. It stuck up a little higher than it should have, mainly thanks to Orin?s ears.

?There. Now the outfit is complete.?

Orin seemed confused for a moment, reaching out and touching the brim of the hat to confirm it existed. She pulled herself to her feet, looking over at a nearby mirror, and realising she didn?t look half bad in it. The shirt was definitely too small, though - if she wore it for much longer, the thing would probably end up tearing.

?S-Sorry about this, Koishi-sama...I won?t do it again, I promise...?

Koishi took the whole thing in her stride, smiling.

?It?s okay! And I?ll get you some more stuff to wear in the next few days too. Sango-san, you?re fine with paying, right??

Sango didn?t answer. The poor girl?s brain still hadn?t managed to come to grips with this whole idea, and now she was muttering her phwees to herself out loud. She probably needed to go lie down for a while.

?O-Okay...thanks. But there?s one other thing you should know. Okuu is-?

?Unyuuu!?

Sango?s inanimate body was shoved aside as Utsuho burst into the room. Koishi and Orin both turn their attention to her, and once again the sight left them both speechless. She?d tried to do the same thing, but apparently the concept of putting on a shirt had been slightly beyond her, and she was currently wearing it upside down. Her wings were poking out of the arm holes, her arms jutting out alongside them, and the entire piece of fabric looked set to come apart at any moment. On the bright side, though, at least the skirt seemed to fit.

?Orin...am I doing this right??

Koishi?s face shifted from confusion to amazement to hilarity. She couldn?t hold it in any more. She laughed, loud and hard, harder than she could ever remember laughing in months. It was a ridiculous incident, but it was the sort of thing that she?d never have had before she was wrapped up in this whole Dolphin Rider nonsense. She?d never interacted with Orin and Okuu like this - indeed, she?d barely acknowledged their existence, feeding them and giving them as little attention as possible beyond that.

She regretted that, but all she could do now was make up for lost time. So she laughed as loud as she wanted to, putting aside her thoughts of civility and manners. She laughed until her throat hurt, before finally promising she?d offer Okuu the same as well, and she?d even go so far as to cut in little slits for her wings to pop out of. The raven was touched by the act, cheerfully hugging her mistress, and the cat joined in soon afterward. They hadn?t been this close to each other in who knows how long.

Of course, while all of this was happening, Sango was still standing straight, staring out blankly with a look of total bafflement on her face. Koishi could probably have waved a hand in front of her face and got no response, and it took her a good minute or two to regain her composure and return to the world of the living.

Phwee...this isn?t what I signed up for...
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on December 15, 2010, 12:04:35 AM
?Alright, class, start heading on home. And clean out your test tubes - you?d rather not know what nearly befell this classroom the last time someone left their work unfinished.?

Professor Yagokoro - Eirin to her fellow teachers, and even a few of her favourite pupils - offered her students leave at last, bringing the after-school revision class to an end. She was offering revision in chemistry for the upcoming exams out of the goodness of her heart, and thanks to her reputation as a teacher the class was always near-full. No-one actually knew about the incident she was referring to, and most of the older students simply thought of it as her way of scaring people into fixing things up. Either way, no-one was brave enough to risk not following her orders - the ever-present picture of an earth-shattering explosion on her chalkboard was enough to leave them washing out everything at the sink five minutes after the class had ended.

They were good students, for the most part. There had been a couple of faces she hadn?t been expecting here, though - notably, the pair currently residing at the back of the class, currently struggling to wipe a murky red mixture from the bottom of one of their test tubes. The taller girl, the one with the long black hair, was wiping something off the other girl?s arm. She was Mokou Fujiwara - a student who?d been very much one of her brightest pupils until a few months ago. It was good to see her back on course with her studies - she looked out for her favourite students, and Mokou was definitely one of them.

?There. That didn?t hurt, did it??

The shorter girl gave a proud grin in return as she shook her head.

?Not at all! I?m tougher than I look, Fuji-san!?

Mokou smiled, lifting a piece of cotton off Cirno?s arm. A 9-ball shape, presumably what had once been on the girl?s skin, was now resting on the cotton which was hastily thrown into the trash can. This little surgical procedure put the pair behind the class by a few minutes, leaving only Professor Yagokoro to approach, examining the operation from a safe distance.

?I don?t recall giving you any chemicals that would work for tattoo removal.?

?Personal mixture, brought it from home. ?Course some big company?s already got just about all the patents I?d need to sell it, so I?ve gotta settle for using it myself when I can.?

Eirin?s eyes widened. The area on Cirno?s arm where the cotton had been pressed was slightly red, but there would be no lasting damage. Her eyes looked down to Mokou?s. They had always fascinated her - brown, but such a brilliant shade that sometimes if the light hit them at just the right angle they would flicker scarlet. She?d assumed they were extensions the first time they?d met, but when Mokou told her it was natural it had only made her even more curious.

The student and her teacher stared at one another for a moment. Eirin had been in education long enough to tell that there was a question she wanted to ask, but it stayed unspoken. From the stern look she was getting Eirin figured it had to be a personal matter, and she was proven correct when a few seconds later.

?Kid, mind heading on ahead? I?ll catch up with you in a little bit.?

Cirno tilted her head, not quite understanding why Mokou needed to stay behind, but she was willing to comply. Cirno had been another student Eirin wasn?t expecting here - it was rare enough to see her in class, so an arrival from the (ex?) head Fairy had been almost enough to dislocate her jaw from hitting the floor. She seemed much more calm and willing to learn, though, which from Eirin?s point of view could only be an improvement.

Mokou was quick to close the door behind Cirno the moment she?d left. Eirin leisurely strolled towards her desk while her student pulled up a stool from the side to sit across from her.

?So, what is it you?d like to know, Fujiwara-san? Missed homework? Extra credi-?

?What can you tell me about Kaguya Houraisan??

Eirin was taken aback by the force with which Mokou asked the question. It wasn?t an unfamiliar name to her - quite the contrary, in fact.

?Oh, yes, Houraisan. I do recall her, in fact. She studied at this school a few years ago. An excellent student, in just about every definition of the word. At your level of genius, even.?

This news did nothing to faze Mokou. If anything, she?d been expecting it, but that first question was just the first test before the follow up.

?So if she was a student here, does that mean her folks came to parents? evenings and stuff like that??

Eirin nodded. She had no idea where Mokou was going with this, but from the completely serious look on her face she figured it had to be important. To an extent this was breaching her confidentiality as a teacher, but she knew the girl well enough to be sure this information wouldn?t be misused.

?...Yes, they did. It was her father, and him alone - I never heard what happened to her mother, but I assume she died young. He would attend regularly, sometimes even making extra meetings to double-check on Kaguya?s progress.?

Now they seemed to be getting to the crux of the matter. Mokou began to lean forward on the chair, her head looming above the desk.

?Stop me if this is inappropriate, but was Mr. Houraisan...memorable in any way??

It was inappropriate. It was definitely inappropriate. She was being asked to give away information on not just a former student, but said student?s immediate family. Eirin was in no position to pass on this information, and if anyone found out about it she was likely to be stripped of her position or even her license to teach. If it had been any other student, she?d have forced them out of the room with threats of cleaning up duty for the next dozen lab sessions.

Mokou was different, though. She was both one of Eirin?s personal favourites, and she had just emerged back in the classroom after a long hiatus. She?d seen the girl walking around in an absurd shirt and suspenders combination, and it was a relief to see her wearing the sensible school uniform again.

The questions about a former genius pupil, and Mokou?s sudden disappearance...Eirin couldn?t help feeling they were related, and that it was taking more courage than it seemed for Mokou to come back here and ask this of her. Given that, it only seemed fair to offer her what she needed - even without knowing a word of the story, she could tell this was of the utmost importance to the girl.

?...What I am about to tell you does not leave these walls. Am I understood??

Mokou gave a salute.

?My lips are sealed, ma?am.?

The smile on her face was only slightly forced, Eirin gave her credit for that. She sighed before her tale began, already reminiscing over times she?d rather have forgotten.

?Mr. Houraisan was...very memorable indeed. Before anything else, there was the way he dressed. I am told he ran only a small pharmacy at the time, but he arrived at every meeting in the most impeccable suit, ironed solely so he would look his best when he appeared. The stench of perfume reached me from across the table as we talked, and given the sniffing sounds that interrupted us I?d assumed it reached the members of staff besides me as well.

As a person? He was...agreeable, cheerful, looking to throw in a joke and make a good impression any chance he could get. At least, that was how each of these meetings would start, but it never ended that way. He would listen intently, nodding with every compliment I offered his daughter - and I gave Kaguya every compliment she deserved, splendid as she was - but whenever I said she had done only ?very well? his brow would furrow rather suddenly. He would ask why I had chosen not to say ?excellently? or even ?perfectly?, and I would explain to him that she had made one or two trifling errors in the last examination. They were simple slipups even fully qualified chemists would occasionally fall prey to, but hearing of even a single mistake on his daughter?s part would be enough to kill his mood.?

Eirin seemed to grow more dreary the more she spoke. She was imagining that face again, looking straight into her eyes with that pure intensity; that sheer white anger when he learned that Kaguya wasn?t the perfect little daughter he wanted her to be. Mokou found more meaning in that expression on her face than anything her words could possibly have produced.

?After that, he would listen reluctantly to the rest of the talk. He clearly was paying no attention. His mind was...elsewhere. I would not like to consider where, not with that rage filling up his eyes. It is not something I have a right to consider as a teacher, and...I?ve said too much, sorry.?

She was regretting everything she?d said now. She had been concerned back then, afraid that Kaguya?s father had punished his daughter harshly, but it wasn?t her position to interfere and she?d seen no sign of injury on the girl during class. She?d been happy to file the thought away and forget it, but now the old worries were rising back to the surface. She?d wanted to bring it up to someone official, even for the sake of being safe, but without solid physical evidence that something was going on it was out of her hands.

?No problem, ma?am. I think I get the idea. Sorry for making you think about it.?

Mokou seemed happy as she got to her feet. Eirin shook visibly, the image of the man glaring at her fading away. It was a pleasant change.

?It?s fine, Fujiwara-san. Just pay me back by not dropping out of my class again, if that?s possible.?

?Consider it done. Thanks again for all of that.?

The student offered her a quick, fervent wave at the doorway before she slammed it behind her.

Mokou let a deep breath out, feeling her shoulders slump a little. She?d heard everything she needed to hear to confirm her suspicions - the ?touching? need Kaguya had to impress her father was nothing of the sort. She needed to talk to the girl herself now, hear the whole story. Maybe they?d fallen out now, but they?d been friends once, and Mokou still felt she had the right to know.

Now, if only she could find the courage to try visiting Eientei again...

-----

OMAKE

"What's that? You say there's going to be a Siren in THERE tonight?!"

"Trust me on this one, phwee. We need to find a way in!"

"But...we're not old enough to get in there. We'd need to sneak in someho-"

"DIIIIIIIID someone just suggest sneaking in?!"

"Kyah, Kawashiro-sensei?!"

"No worries, girls. I've got a plan to get us in there tonight, no problem! But you aren't gonna like it."

Next Episode: High Rollers! Is Breaking The Bank Really Heroic?!

-----

Yeah expect a filler arc after every Siren arc. :dwi:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Drake on December 15, 2010, 02:51:01 AM
つづく!
大金を賭ける人!銀行がつぶれることは本当に英雄的なのか?!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Paper Conan on December 17, 2010, 03:23:30 AM
I started reading this, and I can only tell you one thing...
It is the BEST fanfiction of anykind I have ever read.  :o

Perfect EVERYTHING to become an anime. I love you. Keep at it~ :getdown:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Marokuu on December 17, 2010, 07:54:11 AM
I started reading this, and I can only tell you one thing...
It is the BEST fanfiction of anykind I have ever read.  :o

Perfect EVERYTHING to become an anime. I love you. Keep at it~ :getdown:
I'd add something but it feels like everything has already been said. Goooooo Rou~ :getdown:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Esifex on December 17, 2010, 07:03:47 PM
I started reading this, and I can only tell you one thing...
It is the BEST fanfiction of anykind I have ever read.  :o

Perfect EVERYTHING to become an anime. I love you. Keep at it~ :getdown:

:getdown: :getdown:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on December 20, 2010, 09:15:20 PM
Beep. Beep. Beep.

The alarm went off earlier than it needed to - there was still a good hour and a half before school started. She only needed an hour at most to cross the city, and that was if she stopped to grab breakfast along the way.

Regardless, Koishi reached over and gave the machine a good smack to shut it up. It was cathartic, if nothing else, and the sheer force with which she hit it was usually enough to pull her out of her sleepiness. She crawled out from underneath the covers, her nightgown dragging along behind her as she went to the bathroom to wash her face.

Now that she thought about it, she didn?t have the same dreams anymore. It used to be that she would wake up in the middle of the night, either reaching out for a sister that wasn?t there or choking on water that didn?t really exist. She had been too scared to sleep properly, keeping herself awake for days on end until at last her body would force her to rest.

She still had the occasional nightmare, but it was the exception rather than the rule now. Getting back to sleep was easier too - Orin was a light sleeper, and if she heard Koishi startle back awake the cat would be on her lap within seconds, offering herself to calm down her mistress. Petting and stroking her worked wonders, and Koishi would be back to sleep within half an hour, the nightmare that had haunted her too vague to stay frightening. Her work done, Orin slumbered peacefully on her mistress?s bed in case she rose back up again, but that was rarely the case nowadays.

As such, it no longer needed the same gargantuan effort for Koishi to wake up in the mornings - in fact, as she started on her morning routine, she looked almost excited about the day ahead of her. She stepped into the bathroom to splash her face and get rid of the last traces of sleep.

As she saw Sango lying asleep in the bathtub, she was slightly disturbed by how at ease she was with her being there. The pair had come to a compromise in terms of Sango?s nightwear - namely, Koishi had needed to convince her it was a good idea to wear anything. There were plenty of things she was willing to get used to along with this whole Siren business, but waking up a naked youkai every morning was not one of them.

After some long, hard deliberations, Koishi had finally managed to teach the dolphin the concept of human indecency, and Sango was slumbering in human form when her friend entered. She found her normal clothes too warm to sleep in, so instead she?d opted for a long, pale-blue shirt with a carefully-placed slit to let her fin through, and a grey bikini bottom to cover her lower half (again, at Koishi?s insistence). Jewelery, even the water-breathing kind, was also enough to stop her from sleeping, and to avoid drowning overnight she had to float face-down in the bath with a snorkel (why this wasn?t as offputting as a ring would have been, Koishi would probably never understand). It was only slightly less unusual to look in on than a dolphin in the bathtub, but the immediate confirmation that she was wearing clothes helped to calm Koishi?s nerves.

?Morning, Sango-san.?

?Mmph.?

Sango was a surprisingly light sleeper - it would only take a few words aimed at her to wake her up. Koishi remembered reading somewhere about dolphins only resting one half of their brain at a time, so that would explain it. Sango gave off a muffled complaint from beneath the water before pulling herself up and out of the bathtub. As the carpets were once again soaked through, the Siren couldn?t help but sigh. Really, with all the restrictions, Koishi had been trying to subtly tell Sango that there was another bed for her to use and that cleaning up the soaked carpets Sango left behind her all morning was starting to get on her nerves. She?d expected Sango to pick up on the suggestion, but once again she?d overestimated the dolphin?s ability to think outside the box. Maybe tonight she?d just say flat out that Sango could sleep in Satori?s old bed.

Besides the heaving puddles left in Sango?s wake, the morning routine went more or less like that of any ordinary household. Get changed, have breakfast, feed the pets, get ready for school, and get started on that long walk across the city. Nowadays, though, they took a more scenic route, because they saw enough of the city?s main streets in the evening.

It was only after school they engaged in their more supernatural investigations, examining Gensouto?s main streets and walkways in the hope of encountering a Siren. They?d been doing it almost ritualistically for the last two weeks, but besides Mokou they?d made no discoveries in the slightest. No Sirens, no signs the Claw had managed to find one either, and not so much as a trace of a Teardrop?s presence.

Koishi was unnerved by this fact. She?d considered bringing it up a few times previously, but she didn?t want to give off the impression she had no faith in Sango?s ability to find the Teardrops. Now, though, she?d decided this had been long enough, and finally put her concerns into words.

?Sango-san, I have a question. Is it meant to take us this long to find the Sirens??

Koishi had been surprisingly quiet on their latest walk, and so Sango had been seeing this sort of question coming. She sighed before starting on her reply, seeing that no-one was around.

?Honestly? We didn?t think so when we were preparing for this. The boss figured that at least six of you would?ve been found by now - either by us or the enemy, but we?re nowhere near that. We?ve been going through every area of the city that other girls your age is likely to visit, and we?ve found nothing.?

That wasn?t exactly the illuminating answer Koishi had been hoping for, but Sango didn?t seem to be quite finished yet. She was more or less reciting what she?d been told by Professor Kawashiro, and so far she seemed to agree with it.

?The boss also said there were two big points that could be responsible for this lack of progress. The first is that there really aren?t any Sirens to be found - they were born here around the same time you were, yeah, but that doesn?t mean they?re still living in Gensouto. For all we know, the other five Sirens are scattered across five other continents. Which is a good call for us, because it means the Claw are never gonna get all the Teardrops together.?

That seemed like good news, but looking at Sango?s face suggested otherwise. She looked pained, almost frustrated.

?Of course, the boss has already ruled that option out, even if it makes a whole lot of sense.?

Koishi raised an eyebrow there. It wasn?t anger, per se, but she didn?t seem to comprehend the idea she was trying to pass along.

?Why, exactly??

?Because apparently this has all been planned out.?

A statement like that was enough to stun Koishi into silence for a few seconds.

?Wait, you mean who becomes the Sirens? Who would have planned that??

?Who else? The woman who set the whole thing up, Yukari Yakumo. Apparently not only did she work this whole thing into her magic-sealing ritual, she managed to see thousands of years into the future and choose just the right kids for the job.?

Skepticism was more than obvious in her tone, and Koishi didn?t have to guess why. She wasn?t exactly familiar with magic, but she could guess that prediction to that extent was verging on impossible.

?And you?re telling me Nitori-sensei believes that theory ahead of the simpler, more logical one? That doesn?t sound right coming from a physics teacher.?

?It?s different with Yukari. I mean, I wasn?t born until after the war, so I never knew the woman, but apparently there?s a whole bunch of weird rumours about her. Things like how she was really a super-intelligent alien who landed on the planet riding an asteroid, or how she was actually responsible for the birth of not just all youkai, but all life on the goddamn planet. If you listen to enough of the stories, it seems as if the woman?s a freaking god.?

Koishi was vaguely aware of her mouth going dry. It was hanging open as Sango spoke, unsurprisingly, as the story became more and more dramatic. Sango herself seemed undecided about how to feel - her face appeared clearly frustrated, but her voice sounded more unsure and willing to consider the possibility.

?I mean, I trust the boss. She?s the smartest woman I know, so if she?s got a good enough reason to think this is all part of some big plan I?ll believe her. It?s just...not the sort of thing you can take in without firsthand experience, is it.?

?Sort of like what magic is to people who?ve never seen it before??

Sango stood upright suddenly as Koishi made the comparison. It had clearly never come to her quite like that before, and she nodded in agreement.

?Yeah, I guess it?s kinda like that. I mean, if you just told someone that you were some kinda crazy magical girl with superpowers, they wouldn?t believe you unless you proved it, right??

Her face brightened. Koishi had picked just the right curiosity to lift her out of what could otherwise have been a rather awkward topic. As they continued down the route to school, the two girls couldn?t help but smirk at one another, giggling at a joke no-one around them could have possibly understood.

For the most part, the discussion that followed was routine by her current standards. Explaining whatever parts of human culture Sango happened to be confused about today, explaining why they were being taught math techniques that would be no use in real life, and so on. It soon dawned on Koishi, though, that one part of her old routine had been lost in the transfer. The Scarlet Bakery, where she?d always stopped by to get something to munch down fervently on the way to school - she hadn?t visited it in a fortnight now that she was making her own food rather than living on take-away. It seemed a shame to just disregard them, especially since the attendant had been concerned for her while she was at her worst. She glanced at her watch - still plenty of time to spare. They could afford a little detour, and with a few changes in direction she lead Sango backwards towards the store.

She was not expecting to see a hastily written up sign on the front saying ?CLOSED INDEFINITELY?.

?What the...??

Sango didn?t seem to understand the relevance of this fact, looking back from a distance and wondering why Koishi was suddenly so interested in this strange red building. The lights were still on inside, and a quick inspection of the door confirmed that it was unlocked, and Koishi knocked hastily before letting herself in. Immediately the bare shelves and counter caught her eye, so the note on front was deadly serious.

?Hello? Meiling-san, are you here??

Someone was hunched down on the other side of the counter, presumably taking something off the floor. She thought at first it had to be Meiling - after all, who else would be behind the counter? - but the sound the stranger gave off was one Koishi would never attribute to Meiling. It was a cough - just loud enough to be concerning, but not quite loud enough to suggest she was actually choking. A voice rose up soon afterward, quiet but angry.

?Damned Meiling. You?d think she would dust down here once in a while...?

The voice?s owner rose to her feet, the occasional splutter the only sound she made. The first feature Koishi?s attention fell upon was her skin - white as a sheet, a colour that definitely foretold of poor health. Long hair - purple, but deliberately dyed as such rather than magically so - carried down to her shoulders, multiple loose ends killing off the impression of the colour. Her jade eyes stopped on Koishi with surprise for a moment, but it quickly gave way to annoyance as she brushed the dust off her reading glasses.

?I assume you were in too much of a hurry for your breakfast to read the sign outside. We?re closed, so if you?d like to leave and let me get back to my duty??

Her word choice was archaic, overly formal, like she?d deliberately taught herself the oldest and most respectable dialect there was. Japanese didn?t appear to be her first language, but Koishi couldn?t put a finger on her nationality. European, definitely, but nothing beyond that.

?Uh, sorry, that?s not it. I just used to be a regular customer around here, and I wanted to know what the problem was-?

That was not the best choice of words, and the sickly girl grew as angry as her health would allow her.

?Used to be? I can certainly believe that, given that you haven?t noticed in the last few days! Our resident cook has gone missing, and without anyone to prepare our food we can hardly expect to sell it! Until we either find the woman or get hold of a replacement, the bakery will be indefinitely closed, so I?d rather you left me be to think of with all the money we?ll be losing in her absence!?

The anger didn?t seem directed at Koishi as much as it was pointed towards the missing cook. The girl?s rant ended in another series of hacked coughs, and Koishi almost reached over the counter to hold her in place.

?Your cook? You mean...Sakuya-san, right??

She remembered the name vaguely from Meiling?s discussions with the girl. On hearing it, the sick girl seemed to grow more interested, finally buying Koishi?s story.

?Ah, you know her??

?Uh, not really...but if you give me a description I can look out for her, if you want.?

Behind the bookish reading glasses, it was clear the girl at the counter saw a golden opportunity here. She took a handkerchief from the side, and pulling out an elegant-looking pen began to jot down details.

?Sakuya Izayoi, nineteen years of age. Dark blue eyes, pale blonde hair running in two braids down her face. Not her natural colour, could well have changed it by now, so be cautious. Jumps between being serious and being ditzy with such absurd haste that I?ve long since given up determining which is the dominant side. Should you by some miracle find her stalking the streets, inform her that Patchouli is willing to accept her back and overlook this for a measly fifteen percent paycut.?

The handkerchief was filled to the brim with various facts and details about the girl, most of which Koishi would have no use in knowing (her three sizes? Was she meant to look out for a suspicious looking chest?). As soon as she?d written down everything she could think of, she practically forced the tissue into Koishi?s hand, her eyes looking straight for the door.

?Go. There will be a voucher in it for you if you find her.?

Koishi would have done it whether or not there?d been a reward, but it was a nice bonus on top of everything else. Besides that, she wanted to get out of this building as soon as she could - not for her sake as much as for the sake of the bookworm who?d have an aneurysm if she shouted at Koishi any longer.

?Sorry about that, Sango-san! Think we might have to pick up the pace if we want to make class on time...?

Sango was staring up at the building in confusion when Koishi returned. The detour had taken them a little longer than Koishi had planned with this turn of events, so now the trip to school was going to be a little more rushed. Sango, though, didn?t respond, even as Koishi pointed downward. All she heard from Sango was a quiet, almost muttered phwee.

?We can come back and admire the architecture later, but we really need to go right now, Sango-san!?

Koishi found herself needing to haul her dolphin friend down the street, unable to pull her attention away from the building, and whispering too quietly for her to hear.

?...No, it isn?t. It?s too faint...?

-----

What's this you say about bedtime!Sango pandering to my interests? Nonsense! I'll have none of it. >_> <_<
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - AKA A Passing Joke Gone Totally Awesome
Post by: Esifex on December 20, 2010, 09:24:42 PM
What's this you say about bedtime!Sango pandering to my interests? Nonsense! I'll have none of it. >_> <_<

:3 Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that~

Oh and Bakery-Patchouli is kinda funny to read, too~
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on December 20, 2010, 09:37:00 PM
Quote
Apparently not only did she work this whole thing into her magic-sealing ritual, she managed to see thousands of years into the future and choose just the right kids for the job.”
Damn it, Yukari. I bet she was looking for teenagers with attitude, too.

So, Flandre's the next one, then? Huzzah.

Quote
What's this you say about bedtime!Sango pandering to my interests? Nonsense! I'll have none of it. >_> <_<
Yes, yes, we know about you and your snorkel fetish, stop shoving it in our faces all the time. Jeez, you weird Moroccan.  :P

Morocco, Scotland, close enough. :V
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Paper Conan on December 23, 2010, 05:23:27 AM
FLANDRE FLANDRE FLANDRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :GETDOWN:

Unless it's Sakuya (>.>), but that would be too obvious, silly~
and, btw,
The handkerchief was filled to the brim with various facts and details about the girl, most of which Koishi would have no use in knowing (her three sizes? Was she meant to look out for a suspicious looking chest?).
LOOOOOOL :V
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on January 03, 2011, 10:11:32 PM
School had become something of a complicated affair. She?d tried her hand at a few of the school?s clubs - partially to search for Sirens, and partially because she just wanted something new to do with her time. She?d never been quite athletic enough to find acceptance in one of the athletic clubs, but groups like shogi and journalism had been more keen to take her in. In the end, though, the act of Siren-hunting took up so much of her time that she couldn?t hope to attend any of these groups regularly, and that was before she brought in studying.

One lunchtime a week was devoted to the study group consisting of herself, Sango, Mokou and Cirno. Mokou was the group?s go-to girl in questions of biology and chemistry, reciting facts and numbers instantly without needing any references. Unfortunately those were her only real strong points, and in every other area she looked to Koishi for guidance. [This still put her well ahead of Sango, who looked to Koishi for guidance in every subject.]

Unfortunately, earlier events had still left their mark. There were times when an awkward air rose between the three girls who knew about magic, seeing just how clueless their companion had become about her own ordeals. They?d checked occasionally to see if any memories had resurfaced in Cirno?s head, but the ex-Fairy?s recollection of the night Mokou became a Siren was completely blank. It felt as if they were keeping secrets from her out of spite, but in the end they agreed that it was best not to get her wrapped up in this mess again when they?d had to invoke a miracle to save her once before.

At least it wasn?t all awkwardness. When she made a breakthrough and got her head around a concept that had been struggling her, Cirno smiled so brightly that none of them could bring themselves to say anything that could kill her mood. She?d had a rough patch, and they weren?t going to hold her back on the way out of it.

Earlier events hadn?t just affected how Koishi saw Cirno, though. Nitori, the clumsy but well liked math-slash-physics professor, was secretly the head of some sort of magical underground sect - and Koishi had to act as if she had no idea about it. In particular, she had to catch herself from referring to the professor as Nitori in public, for fear that other students would take it as a sign of them getting...interested. An absurd theory, no doubt, but not beyond some of the adolescent males in the room.

After a day like that, Koishi was always more than happy to leave the school behind. With every moment demanding her full attention and focus, the patrols she took around town with Sango were the closest she got to relaxing outside of sleep. She was also keeping an eye out for that chef the woman from the bakery was looking for - Sakuya, wasn?t it? - but really she couldn?t do much beyond stare into the crowd and watch for a pair of giveaway blonde braids. The handkerchief gave her more information to work with, but she was hardly going to stop every girl she walked past and measure her height to see if it matched up.

?You okay, phwee??

Sango caught her staring at a random girl in the crowd, and it was only then Koishi realised she hadn?t found the time to tell her companion about the favour she was doing for the baker. She relayed the story in pieces, passing the handkerchief to Sango as evidence she wasn?t making it up as she went along.

?34, 27, 32? Koishi-san, what do these numbers mean??

?You?ll understand when you?re older, Toro-chan.?

Mokou snatched at Sango?s hand, pulling away the handkerchief to look at it herself. Sango glared at her momentarily, but got back to her duty as the group?s phwee-er.

?Man, blood type AB? How exactly did the crazy asthma chick figure THAT out??

?I don?t think I want to know.?

It was unusual for Mokou to accompany Koishi and Sango on their daily rounds, but today?s trip was something out of the ordinary. Since travelling along the usual paths hadn?t turned up any results, they were instead starting to patrol around some of the less densely populated areas. Today?s trip was set to take them into one of the more questionable areas of town, and Mokou had volunteered to come along as extra muscle. None of them were familiar with the district, but the rumours around school more or less spoke for themselves.

There were stories of middle-school students playing around there only to be robbed blind of their lunch money. Senior students heading there after dark for some adult entertainment (Sango had asked for clarification, but neither Siren could bring herself to explain it further). Stories of drunken brawls, and even the occasional murder when things got really rough. The awkward part was that the district had almost no distinctive qualities, save for one building that stood out above the rest - the Rabbit?s Foot, Gensouto?s only casino and easily the largest gambling houses in the country. Through a variety of loopholes in Japanese law, the Rabbit?s Foot had managed to get away with the sort of gambling that was otherwise illegal. Gone were the comparatively dull games of pachinko - the Foot let its customers play from dusk ?till dawn at blackjack, roulette, poker, craps, and every other Western gambling game that came to mind.

Of course, a place like this undoubtedly had a dark past behind it. The incidents mentioned in the school rumours conveniently started alongside the casino?s inception, leading to the obvious conclusion that the middle-schoolers were mugged by gamblers looking for more money to burn. There was talk of shadowy groups running with the Rabbit?s Foot as a front, a mafia-like syndicate that rigged its games and used the profits to run all sorts of unlawful goings-on. Nothing had ever been officially held against the casino?s owner - a Mr. Morichika, whose personal life was a mystery to everyone bar himself - but the police force had been trying to pin his name to something for weeks now.

Frankly, if this was the sort of area they were going to be looking over, Koishi was glad to have Mokou along. They were getting glares from passers-by the moment they entered the district - as the sun began to set in the distance, the gamblers were starting to migrate towards their hunting ground. It was only an equally venomous glare from Mokou that convinced some of the angrier looking ones to stay away - Koishi and Sango wouldn?t have made it more than two or three blocks without someone trying to relieve them of their possessions. The fact Sango?s jacket had a large bulge where her wallet was stored did nothing to help on that front.

For a while, Sango let up on her phweeing. They stood out in the street clearly thanks to being the only girls there, and man in their twenties and thirties were glaring at them without welcome. As the casino drew closer, she caught one or two girls in the street, dressed far too well for their age and looking barely old enough to gamble, doing nothing beyond telling stories about the amazing jackpots they?d won at the Rabbit?s Foot a few days ago. Koishi was impressed for a moment, but her mind drifted back to the dark rumours about the casino, and the idea these girls were being paid to falsely advertise it wasn?t too hard for her to believe. Either way, she definitely wasn?t going to try her luck there if she could avoid it.

The glamourous girls grew more plentiful as the trio approached the casino itself. It was the sort of building that seemed like it would be visible from space; Koishi couldn?t look at the gaudy lighting for more than a few seconds before her eyes began to water. The name was emblazoned above the entrance in blindingly bright red, with a four-leaf clover next to it for good luck. Maybe it was a cunning advertising ploy on the part of Mr. Morichika - make the outdoor lighting so painful that intrigued customers would literally run inside to escape from it. The same would apply for more or less everyone living within three blocks of the casino, which could only be good for business.

Sango marched on, unfazed by the tacky light display above her. Koishi and Mokou were a few steps behind, both of them shielding their eyes from the neon bombardment from on high. A red carpet ran for a good two dozen steps before stopping at the entrance, with a pair of double-doors that would have suited a palace separating them from the casino itself.

Unfortunately, there was also a rather large man in a jet-black suit who intended to do exactly the same. Sango was a few steps from the door when an arm suddenly flew out in front of her, sending her stumbling back a few steps.

?Sorry, kid. Tonight?s Mr. Morichika?s No-Limit Festival. Invited guests only.?

Sango immediately took offense to the ?kid? reference, pulling out what Koishi quickly identified as a passport. It had to be a fake, but Koishi definitely wouldn?t have realised it if she didn?t know Sango was far from an ordinary girl. The dolphin held her ID right in front of the bouncer?s eyes, as it declared her to have turned twenty-one just days prior. [Koishi wondered for a moment if Sango had several IDs claiming she was several different ages; and more importantly, what Sango?s actual age WAS.]

?Why do you call it a no-limit festival if there?s a limit on who can get in?! I?m legal, phwee!?

The bouncer was unimpressed, not so much as budging even with the passport about to smack him in the nose. He adjusted his glasses slightly, sighing.

?Very funny, kid. It?s called the No-Limit Festival because it?s the one night we lift the usual limits on how much folks can bet. You can stick a million yen on one hand of blackjack if you want, but because we?re a respectable gambling house we?re only gonna let people in if we know they aren?t gonna blow their life savings on one hand when they don?t even know how to play.?

Sango looked incredulous, pulling a childish face but not offering any sort of response as she pulled her arm back. After all, he was right - Sango knew the rules of blackjack about as well as she knew the history of the Sengoku era (in other words, she had absolutely no idea). Mokou, though, picked up the ante, a slightly disapproving look rising onto her face.

?You?re letting people put in as much money as they like? Is that even legal??

That earned more of a reaction than anything Sango had said. They couldn?t see his eyes move, but his brow furrowed in frustration.

?Girl, I?ll have you know that the Rabbit?s Foot is a perfectly legalised gambling house, and we?ve been given permission to run this event, like every other event we run, by the national government itself. If you?re going to walk up here and start spouting slander about us with no evidence or basis, I?ll carry you back to your goddamn mother kicking and screaming. You got me??

Mokou returned the glare she was given without a hint of doubt. She seemed perfectly confident that she could handle this man, and given past experience Koishi had no reason to think otherwise. For a second, she actually thought Mokou intended to go through with it, but at the last minute the health nut let off a reluctant sigh.

?Alright, alright, I got it. Sorry for wasting your time. Have fun standing there for the next six hours.?

With that, Mokou made sure to start on a quick retreat before things grew even more difficult between the pair. Sango stormed off in a huff, still offended, while Koishi bowed and offered muttered apologies about the behaviour of her friends. They collectively disappeared around the next corner, where a building was kind enough to shield them from the casino?s onslaught of light.

?...Well, looks like we aren?t getting in. Bit of a dumb place to look for a high school girl, anyway. Wanna just call it quits for tonight??

Koishi nodded. She could use a chance to relax after taking in that much gaudy architecture at once. Sango wasn?t quite as eager.

?Lemme check with the boss first. She kinda insisted we give this place a proper look.?

Sango pulled out her cellphone, hitting the speeddial option and waiting for the professor at the other end to pick up. Koishi noticed her language suddenly growing much more formal and polite as the call began.

?Agent Sango reporting. ...Yes, patrol in progress. Attempts to enter the casino have ended in failure. Requesting abort.?

Koishi giggled slightly. It just seemed so out of character for Sango to talk so seriously that seeing it couldn?t help but bring a smile to her face. There was a slight hesitation as Sango waited for a response.

Then she got one, and her face fell.

?...Ma?am, are you sure we need to go that far??

The giggling stopped. Apparently this was a more serious discussion than Koishi had initially given it credit for. The look of utter confusion on Sango?s face as the call was just panicked enough to have Koishi frightened.

?We?ve got no evidence linking a Siren to the building, ma?am! Not to mention the place is guarded pretty carefully, and there?s all the rumours about underground activity-?

Sango stopped mid-sentence. Slowly, but definitely, her face began to turn bright red.

?O-Operation Toad-In-The-Hole? You?re kidding, right??

The operation?s name alone was enough to puzzle Koishi, and the exasperated look on the dolphin?s face only served to unnerve her further. Mokou, for now, managed to keep her visible emotions down to a single raised eyebrow.

?...No, ma?am, of course I wasn?t doubting your authority! It?s just that...it?s so extreme when we don?t have any evidence, and the Sirens won?t have any clue how to-wait, no, don?t hang up, we should consider this more before we-Hello? Hello!??

Sango shook the phone in her hands, praying she?d just dropped the call for a moment and Nitori hadn?t hung up. After a few seconds of silence, it became clear that it was the latter, and Sango?s shoulders slumped in embarrassment.

?...Uh. We?d better go get something to eat, because we?ll be out working tonight.?

That wasn?t a surprise to either girl, given how the conversation had gone, but both of them had an obvious question about it. Koishi got it out of her mouth before Mokou could.

?Sango-san...what?s Operation Toad-In-The-Hole??

The dolphin didn?t answer at first, which in all honesty was more frightening than any answer she could possibly have given. All she did was blush and fidget, muttering incomprehensibly to herself.

Mokou and Koishi looked at one another briefly.

They gulped in unison.

-----

Technically, she should probably have felt good about this.

From the way Sango had responded to Nitori?s demands, Koishi had figured they would be breaking in by force, or doing something else equally likely to result in pain and loss of life. In regards to lethality, this plan was actually a good deal better than what she?d been expecting.

At the same time, it impressed her seeing just how well the professor had planned for this. Her official occupation was that of a teacher, but she ran several companies behind the scenes that existed solely for covert operations. None of these companies operated on a regular basis - they were fronts so that the Pearl could get through whatever red tape happened to be in their way. When she needed them to, though, Nitori had the equipment and the know-how to run everything from a birthday party to a golden anniversary.

Unfortunately, the only company that worked for this situation was a catering company, offering a variety of snacks and refreshments for the tired gambler. The problem with this was that Nitori needed something unique and out of the ordinary to sell the company to the casino and make sure they got in. Something that went along with the theme of the Rabbit?s Foot, in particular.

This was the reason Koishi was wearing a bunnysuit right now, and she prayed to whatever god happened to be listening that this was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime occurance. It was tighter than anything she?d ever worn, was a shade of white that made it feel like she?d turned into an abominable snow-woman, and just to add insult to injury came with a pair of rabbit ears on top.

She would have been less heartbroken about wearing this if she wasn?t surrounded by men, some of whom had been drinking rather constantly for the last hour or so.

?Hey, lady! Gimme a gin and tonic over here!?

A customer called out to the bartender, a grown woman wearing a suit matching Koishi?s but in a deep shade of blue. She winked at the customer, pulling an arm out in Koishi?s direction.

?Sure thing, buddy. Hey, Flopsy, come give this man his drink!?

Nitori pulled out a glass from behind the bar, twirling it around with impossible grace. She lifted a bottle out from below, removed its top, and hurled the whole thing upward into the air. In an effortless display of style, the bottle stopped pointing straight down, its contents landing neatly in the glass. Even as the bottle of gin began to fall, Nitori took out a second bottle of tonic water and poured it in alongside the waterfall of alcohol. Only when the gin bottle came dangerously close to colliding with the glass did the former teacher grab it with her spare hand, pulling both bottles away and leaving behind only a dry bar and a perfectly prepared gin and tonic. She found plenty of time to add a lemon for garnish amidst the applause.

Koishi had a moment to glare at Nitori as she came to the bar to collect the drink. The kappa seemed totally shameless, and if anything she seemed to be having fun showing off in front of this kind of audience. Koishi, on the other hand, was working miracles by keeping a straight face, and her cohort offered her a friendly nudge to keep her spirits up.

?Relax, Flopsy. It?s for the greater good and all that, y?know??

If the greater good involved embarrassing herself in public repeatedly, then sticking to the sidelines was becoming more and more appealing by the second. Eventually Koishi sighed, taking the glass and being careful not to spill its contents.

?Yes, profe-I mean, Cotton-Tail.?

Nitori was pleased to hear Koishi stick to the codenames she?d handed out earlier, offering her a friendly pet on the ears. Koishi stepped back as far as she could in a single step before beginning on the painful march to the man?s table. No-one spoke a word to her, but she could feel a few glares headed in her direction, and a wolf-whistle or two in the background.

To be fair, though, she was having it easy compared to Mokou - or Mopsy, as she was currently known. She filled out the outfit much better than Koishi did, and as a result she?d earned more male attention than either of her counterparts. The fact that Nitori had picked out a sultry scarlet outfit for her only served to make her even more attractive. Koishi hadn?t seen much of her during her time on the job, but the few times their paths crossed she heard the phoenix whispering words that would have probably made even their customers blush.

As for Sango, she couldn?t exactly take part in the bunnysuit shenanigans, simply because a back-fin on a bunny-girl would raise all sort of questions. Koishi looked over to a nearby pool, where snacks and appetisers were being handed out by what Nitori had titled the Mer-Maid. Sango had been set out in what was effectively a swimsuit with an apron in front of it, swimming from one side of the pool to the other to retrieve food for paying customers. The fin, she could now insist, was part of the outfit, and nothing worth commenting on. For a moment, she looked Koishi in the eye, passing on wordlessly that she was just as embarrassed by this whole facade as Koishi was.

One thing was for sure. If this ?covert operation? didn?t turn up a Siren - in fact, even if by some off chance it did - the professor would be looking over her plans and getting rid of anything that even resembled Operation Toad-In-The-Hole. By force, if necessary.

-----

Kawashiro Nitori. Physics professor. Magical cult leader. Bartender...?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on January 04, 2011, 07:42:40 AM
Bunny suit Koishi... doesn't really do anything for me. Then again, bunny suits don't do much for me in general, anyways, so yeah. I'm pretty sure that Nitori working high school students and a transmogrified dolphin late at night on a school day is sort of against policy, too.

I'm not really seeing why Nitori's insisting on trying to case the casino, though, unless she just wanted to see Koishi and Mokou in bunny suits.

I can totally buy Nitori being a bartender, though I would expect some... interesting... drink combinations.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on January 04, 2011, 09:18:36 AM
I can totally buy Nitori being a bartender, though I would expect some... interesting... drink combinations.

Extending AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRrrrrrrrrrm!
Screw sliding it down the bar, I'll just hand it to you!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on January 18, 2011, 12:08:59 AM
The rules for the evening were simple. At the beginning of the night, every contestant would put in as much money as they wanted to bet, and they would play against each other until one lucky winner went home with everyone?s winnings. The games were solely player-on-player - the casino itself was simply sitting back and watching. That confused Koishi - how could they make a profit if none of the money was going their way?

Koishi wasn?t the sort of girl who could run a casino, now she thought about it. Maybe there was some logic to the system she didn?t understand - attracting customers through attention and fame or something. Either way, it still looked weird to the uninitiated gambler like her.

Better that she thought about that than dwelling on the outfit she?d been stuck wearing. She was better off than Mokou and Sango in that department - one of them was blushing furiously the moment anyone looked in her direction, and the other was on the verge of a genocidal rampage. Even when the crowds started to die down and the amateur gamblers were thrown out, Mokou looked like she?d snap if anyone so much as touched her.

As for Professor Kawashiro, she didn?t seem to be sharing in their embarrassment. She was clearly enjoying herself, loving her job even if it was just an act. Koishi saw her pouting like a child as the flow of customers stopped. Apparently, when there were fortunes to be made, no-one had time for her bottle-twirling, cocktail-flinging antics.

Midnight came and passed, and Koishi had to stifle a yawn or three. She found enough of an opening to sneak behind the bar, where Nitori was cleaning up in hopes of another thirsty customer. She wasn?t trying to skip work, but there?d been a question on her mind ever since Operation Toad-In-The-Hole had started.

?Um, Cotton-Tail. There?s something I was wanting to clear up with you.?

Nitori turned away from the glass she was cleaning out, still absent-mindedly rubbing at it with a cloth even as she turned to Koishi. Her face lit up.

?Sure, what?s up? Want me to teach you how to do some of these tricks? Kinda hard, yeah, took me a few years to get down, but I figure there?s no harm in trying to take on an apprenti-?

?I?ll pass, thanks.?

The smile on Nitori?s face vanished rather hastily at that. Koishi didn?t allow her to ponder it for too long, pressing onto the actual question.

?...Why do you think there?d be a Siren here??

?You and Mokou have your specialties, but neither of you are especially...practical when it comes to real-world matters. You?re talented, Koishi-san, but you?re not particularly good at anything, and Mokou-san only knows how to punch things. To balance the team out there should be someone with a little more cunning, wit, street-smarts, whatever you want to call it. Where better to look for a girl like that than a high-stakes casino??

Koishi took mild offense to being told she had no specialties, whether or not it was true. Besides that, her logic seemed awfully like wishful thinking - assuming a team of well-rounded teenagers would get the Teardrops was a big thing to ask, to say the least. A point that Sango had mentioned earlier in the day came to her, one that had seemed unbecoming of the highly scientific professor. It explained why she thought this way, but it seemed so unprofessorlike it hurt.

Koishi took a deep breath, trying to sound as impersonal as possible as she asked the question. It was harder than she?d expected.

?...Is this part of your whole ?Yukari planned it all? theory??

Nitori flinched initially, her grin shifting into a look of surprise. A second later she regained her composure, pulling a forced grin.

?I see Sango?s been talking to you.?

Koishi nodded. No reason to hide it, after all. Nitori sighed to herself, rubbing a little harder at the glass.

?She?s always been a skeptic. All the young ones are. You?d have to be - even by youkai standards, Yukari was just plain unbelievable. If I hadn?t seen her myself, I?d probably be just as doubtful as she is.?

There was a hint of nostalgia in Nitori?s voice, a hanging remembrance of times long since past. It was not a pleasant memory, and her grip on the glass grew tighter to the point where Koishi was afraid it would shatter in her hand. She made to change the subject, but from the distant look in her eye Nitori wasn?t really talking to her any more.

?We were the first to meet her. The kappa, I mean. One day she just walked into one of our caverns and declared herself a friend of our people. It would have taken her hours of walking through underwater caverns beneath thousands of feet of water pressure to get there, so she wasn?t human, but at the same time she was like no youkai the world had ever seen. Some theorised she was some sort of deep sea youkai, or that she was an alien from a meteor that crashed into the seabed, or that she was an embodiment of the planet itself. She never told, and no-one ever figured it out.?

The look in Nitori?s eyes was youthful. It was the childish look of awe that ran across a girl?s face as she witnessed something amazing that she couldn?t explain. A tinge of sorrow accompanied it, though; she was well aware what she?d seen then she?d never see again for the rest of her days.

?I only caught glimpses of her myself during breaks from my studies. We were an advanced race, but we had limits - we couldn?t, say, split the oceans or light the seabeds. Yukari was different - if someone asked her to do something, no matter how hard, she could do it with a click of her fingers. I doubt she was truly faultless, but she was so many magnitudes of power above us it seemed like her power was infinite. If she was vulnerable, if she was mortal, if she had anything that remotely resembled a weakness, she did a damn good job of not showing it to anyone.?

The glass was shivering in her hand now. The first tiny sounds of cracking were beginning to fill the air, barely loud enough for Koishi to make out right next to her. Nitori bit her lip, and anything resembling a cheerful memory from before faded away.

?...At least, not until THAT day. When the Ravager went feral and began killing our own people, we asked her to intervene. She tried, with every spell and charm she could muster, but we had simply gone too far. Its barriers and defenses were practically impenetrable.?

This was going downhill fast. Koishi could see something wash over Nitori, and it was nothing good. Her knuckles turned white as they clenched the glass, beginning to visibly break it apart. She spoke faster, and louder, almost to the point where she was louder than the gamblers they were trying to spy on.

?So she died, of course. Think of it! Yukari Yakumo, ruler of all youkai, the woman who brought the races together under one banner, the strongest creature this planet?s ever seen. Dead! And it was my fault, wasn?t it? If I?d managed to do my job and keep that, that...thing under control, she?d still be with us now! All this fighting, all this war, all this White Pearl and Black Claw nonsense, it?s all-?

Koishi wasn?t the strongest of girls, but she still slapped Nitori hard enough for the sound to silence the room momentarily. Only long enough for them to confirm it wasn?t a gunshot, but it was significant nonetheless. The moment the chatter of eager gamblers started up again, Koishi spoke with a venom she hadn?t expected from herself.

?Look, maybe you screwed up big time some thousands of years ago. But does that matter now? Right now, in this moment, in this second, is there absolutely anything you can do to stop that? No.?

Nitori looked stunned. The glass she?d been cleaning was now a pile of glass shards on the floor. The last time she?d checked, it was her in charge of Koishi, not the other way around! What gave her the right to interfere when she was-

?K-Koishi-san? Are you...??

Koishi had tilted her head down mid-sentence, but Nitori still caught the sight of something glistening in her eyes. Her voice trembled as she kept speaking.

?If you sit and worry and fret and feel bad all the time, it doesn?t make you a better person. It stops you from going out there and doing what you SHOULD be doing to fix things! Do you have any idea how bad it looks to other people if they see you do that?!?

The first tear dropped from Koishi?s face onto the floor. Nitori was stunned again, but this time for another reason entirely. Her knowledge of Koishi?s life jumped in front of her - good kid, overly attached to her sister, fell apart when Satori disappeared. The image of Koishi, lying around and moping about her state, hung in her head for a moment.

Nitori understood then. It wasn?t just for her sake that Koishi had gone to such extremes. Seeing her like that had reminded Koishi of a part of her she was trying to move on from, a part she was trying to get rid of.

The anger that had driven her before was all but gone now, and Koishi?s form slumped.

?Please...just focus on what you can do right now. It?s better, trust me. Just...let go, for now...?

Nitori needed a moment to stare at Koishi as she struggled to keep herself from losing what little composure she had left.

Finally, she sighed, placing a hand on Koishi?s shoulder.

?...Alright. I?ll do it if you go calm down for five minutes. Sound fair??

Koishi nodded, rubbing her eyes once and walking as calmly as she could towards the bathroom. Nitori watched her go, still with her head down from beginning to end. It was a shame to see - she?d thought that Koishi was above these moods, frankly. It looked as if she?d come to terms with being alone, but maybe it would still take a little more time.

And besides...she had a damn good point.

Nitori rubbed the spot on her cheek where Koishi had slapped her. Moments of weakness like that were rare, but she suffered them from time to time. Even with all the work she was doing to fix it, her old mistake still hung as a stain on her soul. Millions of lives lost thanks to her incompetence - sometimes she felt she had every right to be miserable about it.

Regardless, Koishi was right. Moping solved nothing. And if it wasn?t helpful and it wasn?t fun, why do it?

Nitori actually recovered from her little breakdown much faster than Koishi did. Perhaps it was just down to experience, the fact she?d been through this state many times over the years, each collapse a little shorter than the one before it. At this rate, maybe she?d even stop beating herself up about it sometime before the turn of the century.

?Hey, Cotton-Tail! Fix me up a scotch! Single malt with ice!?

A voice called out from the crowd. The first order for a drink in a while. It was enough to get Nitori?s attention, pulling her away from the issue entirely.

A grin rose onto her face again.

?Coming right up, honey!?

-----

Not able to stay up until 3am continuing this segment...damn, I feel old. :<
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Drake on January 18, 2011, 12:50:52 AM
This writing is delicious I must eat it om nom nom nom nom
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Marokuu on January 18, 2011, 11:20:31 AM
I squeed when I saw there was a new post and now I will join Drake in eating it :3

*omnomnomnom*
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on January 19, 2011, 01:45:42 AM
Koishi came back a few minutes later, her face washed and her composure restored. There were almost no customers now, but she had to stay on guard just to make sure no-one tried to get a drink from Mokou. Now that the phoenix was both tired and humiliated, she was just about on the verge of randomly attacking someone, so Koishi took on every customer she could.

Sango, contrary to popular belief, had been doing something useful other than supplying snacks. She had been phweeing every now and again as customers approached her for food. In all that time, she?d seen nothing resembling a Siren - not even anything resembling a girl of the right age. She also asked several times to be reassigned to a job that was less embarrassing - a suggestion Nitori refused every time it was asked.

The hours passed slowly, but surely. The hall was too vast for them to examine properly without blowing their cover, but games of every sort were available here. The emphasis was on Western gambling, so poker, blackjack and the like were the big attractions here, with dealers helpfully informing beginners how to play the games. It was all very welcoming and friendly, leaving Koishi to wonder how this place could be linked to criminal activity at all.

She nearly slipped into sleep again, and had to slap herself in the face to keep herself alert. At least when there were customers she?d had something to focus on, but seeing all these men playing games she had no clue how to spectate on did nothing to keep her awake. It was only the sound of a loud bell ringing in the background that stopped her from taking a quick nap. A loud, authoritative voice boomed through the hall.

?Attention, remaining competitors! Now that you have been reduced to the final ten lucky contestants, please go to the centre table to take part in this evening?s final game!?

Ten? They were down that far already? Now that Koishi had rubbed her eyes a little, she could see the hall was almost empty now. There were only a few survivors left, and they?d all crowded around the centre table with fiendish looks in their eyes. Especially that one on the right - eyes, almost glinting red, with a cockiness and confidence no-one around the table could match-

Wait...

It couldn?t be. The odds were astronomical, weren?t they? She hadn?t seen her in years, not since that time in cram school. It had to be a coincidence, but still...she had to check. Before she was even aware of what she was doing, she?d started walking away from the bar towards the table. The closer she got, the surer she became that her eyes weren?t deceiving her.

That girl, the one sitting eagerly with the large pile of chips at her side. Her attention totally focused on the cards flying across the table, her hand absently playing with her top chip. Her dress - long, pink, just ornate enough to look elegant without looking overblown. Her short black hair, poorly kept down as if the stress was too much for it.

There was no doubting it now. This girl was Tewi Inaba, the kid who?d offered Koishi the treasure map that led her into the accident years ago.

In other words, a habitual liar.

It was very tempting to call out to her right now, but it wasn?t the time. For one, what was she going to say? ?Hi, Tewi, wanted to hear from you about why you nearly got me killed and all?? It?d get her thrown out at the very best, and she didn?t want to think about how else the bouncers would respond if she caused a fuss at the most critical moment of the night.

In the end, even being there was enough to catch their attention.

?Hey, aren?t you one of the bar girls? What?re you doing over here??

The man was at least two feet taller than her, and three times as heavy. He could probably sit on her and leave an imprint on the carpet if he wanted to. Stuttering slightly, she tried to pull out a save.

?U-Um, I was just thinking it?d be good to stand near the table so people don?t have to leave the table to order drinks...??

The questioning tone in her voice didn?t win her any favour with the bouncer, but he couldn?t argue with her reasoning. He sighed.

?Fine. But not a word to anyone while you?re at the table, y?hear? Mr. Morichika isn?t gonna have his evening ruined by some petty cheating.?

Koishi nodded, more than happy to get out of this mess without having her ribs broken.The bouncer stepped aside, standing statue-like as play began. Each player was offered two cards, examining them and betting on their worth before more cards were dealt. She stared at the table, mystified, until a hand pulled her back from behind.

?The hell do you think you?re doing, Komeiji-san!??

Mokou pulled her back almost hard enough to send her to the floor. Koishi looked behind her to see a look of desperation on the Siren?s face. She was definitely not in the mood to see Koishi take risks that could get her thrown out of the building, not after she?d had to spend hours parading herself in front of grown men.

?S-Sorry. Just recognised one of the players, and...more importantly...?

Koishi looked over to the pool, where Sango was taking a much-deserved break. Koishi?s words jumping into her head was enough to send her head snapping upwards.

Sango-san. You said there weren?t any girls visiting your stand, right?

There was a moment of pause as Sango thought the point over. Koishi could see her nodding in the distance.

Um, yeah. Pretty much. Why?

Koishi looked at the table again, this time focusing on the players rather than whatever game it was they were playing. Most of them were the typical riff-raff you could expect to be hanging out at these casinos, but there were two notable exceptions.

I count...two of them here.

The first was Tewi, looking suave and witty in her dress, but looking out onto the action with hard, steely eyes. Given that she was pulling in other people?s chips right now, she seemed to be winning. Still, her chip stack was nothing compared to the one from the girl across from her.

?Oh, these cards not very good. I be folding now.?

She had all the signs of stuck-up rich girl, wearing a denim-jacket and shorts in some sort of attempt at rebellion. Her Japanese was horribly broken and accented, and she had the blonde hair of a typical American. Koishi couldn?t make out her eyes behind a pair of sunglasses, whose purpose Koishi couldn?t quite place. It wasn?t hard to guess that she?d made it here out of sheer luck, but she was surrounded by seasoned gamblers now. Her luck couldn?t last much longer, surely.

Huh? Really?!

Sango started hauling herself out of the pool, drying herself off before she made her way to the table. She?d use the same excuse Koishi had - staying near the table so that she could offer snacks to players without forcing them to leave their seats.

By now Koishi had watched enough of the game to have a vague idea of the rules. They called it ?Texas Hold ?Em? after a state in America, and it was a simple matter of making the best hand out of your own cards and the cards laid out on the table. She couldn?t claim to know any more than that, but it was enough for her to watch the game and have at least a vague idea what was going on.

The last hand before Sango made it to the table was dramatic enough for even a beginner like Koishi to understand.

?All in.?

The man right in front of her pushed all of his chips into the centre of the table, a smug grin running onto his face. He started to run a hand through his mullet through sheer nerves - no-one could play for that much money without the pressure getting to them. From here, Koishi could make out his hand - two Aces. That HAD to be a good hand, even Koishi knew that. Other players didn?t even need to see those cards to know it was time to get out, throwing their cards into the muck.

The action finally turned to Tewi. She glanced at Mullet, examining his expression for a moment. Koishi saw her nod once, measuring out the same number of chips in her own stack. She sighed heavily.

?Eh, I?m feeling lucky. I?m gonna call that one.?

The last few players folded, leaving Tewi and Mullet in on their own. There was no point in betting anymore, so both sides simply put down their cards on the table for all to see. He laughed out loud as he placed his two aces on the table, knowing that nothing she could hold would possibly match that.

She pouted slightly, showing her own hand of a king and a jack. She would need to hit both of them to beat him here, and that was assuming that he didn?t hit an ace.

Which he promptly did, as the flop was dealt.

?Hell yeah!?

Mullet pumped his fist, seeing no need to keep quiet given that he?d almost undoubtedly just won millions of yen. Tewi?s pout grew deeper, but not to the level of disappointment Koishi expected to see from someone who?d just lost a fortune. It was almost as if she still knew she was in with a chance; true, there had been one Jack in the flop as well, which gave her a pair, but against Mullet?s three Aces that was nothing.

She reached to the carrot-shaped pendant around her neck, squeezing it a little.

?C?mon, Lady Luck. Gimme a little help right now...?

No-one was really listening to her. Unless a miracle unfolded in the next few seconds, Tewi was dead in the water. Koishi?s eyes were pinned to the table, just like everyone else?s. The fourth card was dealt.

A King.

Mullet?s celebrations came to a sudden halt. He looked down at the King currently lying on the table, blinking rapidly. Both of his hands were now clamped onto his hair, sweat dripping onto his brow.

?...No way.?

Tewi smiled. Lady Luck was on her side after all. The room was deathly silent - suddenly, Tewi had gone from having no chance whatsoever to having a serious chance of taking Mullet out of the competition. Even Koishi could feel her throat going deathly dry.

The last card almost seemed to fall in slow motion towards the table. Everyone was looking at it like it was made of solid gold - except for Tewi. She seemed uninterested in it, almost like she knew exactly what had just been dealt.

A few seconds later, everyone else knew as well.

?The final card is the King of Clubs. Miss Inaba has made a Full House and won the hand.?

Most of the players responded with shocked gasps and mild applause. All, at least, except one.

?What the fuck?! The hell is this bullshit!??

Mullet was furious, grabbing at his hair so fiercely Koishi thought he was going to rip it clean off his head. He stood up from his seat abruptly, immediately taking strides straight towards the seated Tewi. His fists clenched up, his knuckles turning white, and he looked set to punch a hole straight through Tewi?s head.

A much larger and more muscular bouncer stopped him before he could do anything of the sort.

?Alright, pal, we?ll have none of that shit in here! Get out before we have to send a stretcher for ya!?

Mullet?s face ran a series of emotions - anger, fear, guilt, hatred, bravado, panic - until finally, the survival instinct took precedence. For a moment his entire body shivered before finally he bolted for the door, trying not to let anyone see that he was crying in his last moments.

For a few seconds, silence hung over the table. Every eye was transfixed on the door Mullet had just departed from. The sound of Tewi adding her new winnings to her stack of chips pulled them back to the game at hand.

?Heh. Wuss.?

No-one could say they appreciated attitude, but the way she?d taken all of that pressure without looking scared at all was admirable. Koishi would?ve been impressed if her mental image of the girl wasn?t already locked down as ?pathological liar?.

Huh? What did I miss?

Sango showed up just as the game began to pick up again, like she?d timed her arrival to be just too late. Koishi took a moment to respond, biting her lip as she felt her heart race just at the sight of all the money at stake.

I...honestly have no idea. Tewi - that girl there in the dress fluked a win on a crazy hand.

Sango tilted her head.

Fluked, huh? Well, apparently we?re here to look for someone with real guile, not just dumb luck. This night might?ve just been for nothing...

The dolphin slumped downward at that. All those hours of embarrassment and disgrace, and there was nothing to show for it. She let out a tiny, pitiful sound as her dignity fell into the distance.

?P-Phwee...?

No-one heard it other than Koishi. For a few seconds, there was no sound in the room other than the shuffling of cards.

Then, in time with Sango suddenly standing to attention, a hurried sentence jumped into Koishi?s head.

K-Koishi-san! I...I got a response?!

Koishi?s heart jumped. Nitori?s crazy theory had turned up a result after all? It had seemed ridiculous at the time, but given what Tewi had just pulled off it was a lot easier now. Maybe Yukari had just chosen someone who luck had a habit of smiling on.

So, wait...is Tewi...?

Sango looked over for a moment, her face frozen. After a few slow, painful seconds, she shook her head.

Wait, you mean-!?

Both of them looked over to the other side of the table, towards the clueless-looking blonde girl with a stash of what was probably her father?s money.

She?s a Siren!?

-----

There was no way either of them could pay full attention to the game now. They?d hit the metaphorical jackpot - the Siren they?d gone through all that trouble to look for, and it was some blonde bimbo who looked like this was her first time in the country.

Sango-san, are you sure about this? Maybe the sleep dep is getting to you.

Sango took offense at that, pouting childishly in Koishi?s direction.

Hey! Say what you want about me in other areas, but I trained my sonar senses for years! No way I?d make a mistake not seeing a Siren right in front of me!

Koishi bit her lip. She trusted Sango, but believing that this girl was a Siren was almost too much. Where was the cunning and wit Nitori had been expecting from her? She looked like she?d lose in a debate with an inanimate object, by unanimous decision.

Still, Sango had never been wrong up until now, so she decided to run with it.

Go tell the others about this. Get them to watch as well.

Sango nodded, running back to the bar to bring Mopsy and Cotton-Tail to join the audience. They didn?t miss much of interest - Blondie folded yet again, still not happy with her cards. Slowly but surely, the chips she needed to put in every few hands started to add up, and her stack began to dwindle.

There was something wrong with this. Sango said she was a Siren, and yet nothing she did was remotely Siren-like. Koishi reached towards her eyes, making to take off her glasses, only to remember at the last moment Nitori had given her and Mokou contact lenses to serve the same purpose while in disguise. Her reasoning was that bunnygirls and glasses was something of a fetish overload, reasoning Koishi now suddenly wished didn?t exist.

It was a long wait as the four ?caterers? watched Blondie. Eventually they learned that her name was Luna Fullerton - or at least, so she said. She seemed to be perpetually clueless, and occasionally Nitori would look over at her hand, see her throwing away what would otherwise be an excellent hand to play, and sigh. Did she even know how to play this game? Koishi had caught onto the rules after a few hands, and it seemed like even she would do better playing than this girl.

?Oh, me sorry. Me thought I winning, but maybe not.?

When she did play hands, it seemed almost at random. She could play the best cards possible or the worst hand she could ever have been dealt with equal confusion, and only the sheer size of her starting stack stopped her from going totally bankrupt.

Meanwhile, Tewi was making short work of the other players. Sometimes she simply had a better hand from the start, other times she pulled out a lucky escape on the last card. Whatever it was, her stack was gradually rising.

Eventually, there were only three players left. Tewi, Blondie, and in last place a stick-like man in a pair of broad-rimmed glasses. By now, Tewi held roughly three quarters of the money up for grabs - hundreds of millions of yen, enough to live on for the rest of your life. Still she showed no sign of cracking under the pressure, sitting back in her chair as she threw away the latest crap hand to come to her.

That left Blondie and Glasses to contest over the last pot, with Glasses to act first. He glanced down at his cards, then at Blondie. He shuffled his glasses slightly to align then, then pushed what remained of his cash into the pot.

?I?ll go all in, please.?

It was a brave move, but not foolish. Koishi had been paying enough attention to notice that if anyone went all in, Blondie would remove herself from the game as quickly as possible with a frightened look on her face. This was a quick way to pick up the small amount she?d paid to enter the hand; not much, but enough to keep him afloat for a little longer.

Or at least, that?s what he had planned.

?Mr. Glasses Man. Can I ask question??

Blondie was staring at the chips. At least, Koishi thought she was - it was hard to tell behind those sunglasses of hers. Glasses gulped slightly, looking over to her.

?Why, anything for a charming lady such as yourself. What is it??

He was playing the charisma card, but it had failed miserably. The four girls spectating moaned uncontrollably as the words left his mouth without any sense of pizazz.

The moaning stopped the moment Blondie asked her question.

?Did you know you always shuffle those glasses of yours when you bluff??

There was a sudden, deathly silence. Tewi raised an eyebrow in confusion, while Glasses pulled back like he?d just been shot.

?W-What?! But how did you-?

He?d said too much. His hand slipped over his mouth, the colour slipping from his face. He?d given himself away in the worst way possible. Without a second thought, Blondie pushed her own stack in as well, calling the man?s claim. She allowed herself a more mature chuckle as she laid down her pair of queens on the table, her Japanese suddenly natural and fluent.

?Would you like to know a secret? You don?t really shuffle your glasses when you lie. I just wanted to see how you?d respond.?

Glasses didn?t offer a response, his cards falling to the floor. A four and an eight - practically useless. Sure enough, five dealt cards later, and Blondie?s queen-pair was triumphant. She reached over, pulling in Glasses? stack from in front of him without so much as a hint of remorse.

?Oh, and thank you for calling me charming. Though I assume in the hustler?s dictionary, that?s another word for ?gullible?.?

The man Blondie had just eliminated from the tournament didn?t even try to respond with words. He held his head in his hands, his eyes seeming dead as he stood up and trudged out toward the exit. Unlike Mullet, no-one needed to threaten him to leave - he shuffled along, still stuttering and moaning to himself in shock.

Koishi was only slightly more coherent, rubbing her eyes to make sure she?d actually seen what she thought she?d seen. Blondie?s stance was completely different now - she sat up straight, and the sunglasses were pulled away to reveal a pair of piercing blue eyes.

It had been a trick of the highest calibre, and Koishi had been completely taken in by it. Looking at her sides, she could see Sango and Mokou giving off the same dumbfounded looks, but Nitori simply watched on with a proud grin. This was the sort of trickster she?d been looking for, and she?d just proven herself in style.

Tewi offered the girl a small round of applause.

?Not bad. I shoulda figured you wouldn?t have made it this far without having a good idea what you were doing. I?m guessing Luna isn?t your real name either??

?Of course not. Only an amateur would see fit to use a real name along with a fictitious character. But, since I?ll be doing my best to relieve you of that fortune of yours tonight, it is only fair that I tell you who I am.?

What came out of her mouth next was enough to make Koishi?s skin crawl.

?My name is Sakuya Izayoi, and rest assured that stack of yours will be mine within the next two hands.?

-----

Sakuya: meido's in disguise. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLS2N9mHWaw)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Drake on January 19, 2011, 02:37:01 AM
holy goddamn
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on January 19, 2011, 02:39:06 AM
Oh, wow, so Flandre isn't a Siren? That's... surprising.

Though, I'm curious as to why Sakuya bailed on her bakery job to card shark...
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Fetch()tirade on January 19, 2011, 03:09:51 AM
I'm at a loss for words. This is all I can come up with. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUH3JQjcweM)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Marokuu on January 19, 2011, 11:06:46 AM
Everything that I could say has already been said, now hold on for a moment while I catch my breath
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Kasu on January 19, 2011, 11:23:15 PM
Sakuya is now even more awesome.

Did not see that coming at all.  Thought it was Marisa for a second.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on January 24, 2011, 06:42:31 PM
Nothing but false stoicism,
And half the year's already gone.
What's changed? Who did you love?

Now the dreams in my head are crumbling apart...

But I'll be fine somehow.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvJGKyiGPyQ)

-----

It was the most absurd coincidence Koishi could think of. The girl she?d been sent out to look for, and not only had she found her she was a dormant Siren.

She was finding it easier and easier to believe that Yukari was planning this all by the minute.

Mokou and Sango were only slightly less shocked by this new revelation, but their attention was still focused on the game itself. Sakuya had just made a dramatic declaration, one that threatened to turn the tide of battle in only two hands.

Tewi?s eyes widened as Sakuya?s threat carried across the table. There was no way Sakuya could bring her claim to fruition - she only had a quarter of the chips in play, so to win that quickly she?d need to go all-in on both hands, have Tewi call her both times, and then go on to win them both. Tewi was in no way forced to play either hand, and if she didn?t have a hand she was confident in nothing was stopping her from folding and waiting until something better came about.

And yet, there was a voice at the back of Tewi?s head telling her not to play this cautiously. Firstly, folding a hand after a claim like that was running away, and she wasn?t ready to give some total unknown the pleasure of seeing her run away from a fight. Secondly, the odds were against Sakuya to begin with - if Tewi won either of these hands, the game was over and Sakuya would go home broke.

Thirdly, and most importantly, it wasn?t possible for her to lose a showdown when the cards were on the table and everything was on the line. There was no need to think about it any more than that.

The next hand began.* (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFhduUypBWM&feature=related)

The cards were shuffled. The dealer seemed slightly disturbed by the sudden change of events, but besides the occasional awkward cough he did what he could to keep his nerves to himself. Only slight inaccuracies in his throwing of cards across the table gave him away.

Sakuya looked down at the cards she?d been offered for less than an instant. It was enough for her to decide the hand was worth risking everything on as she pushed her stack into the middle of the table. She?d made the threat of winning in two hands, and she was sticking to it. There was an almost sadistic glint in her eyes as she looked across to Tewi, leaning over and grinning wildly.

?Well? Are you going to play or not??

Tewi was admittedly stunned by Sakuya?s actions. To put millions of yen on the line after only a moment of contemplation - Sakuya was either the bravest gambler she?d ever seen, or a complete and utter lunatic. Perhaps a bit of both? You couldn?t survive in a world like this without losing a little bit of your sanity.

It was a hard choice, one she pondered over for almost a minute. She looked down at her cards for a moment, her eyes glancing over to the dealer. There was something about that look that felt strange to Koishi - it wasn?t as formal as it should have been, given the circumstances. It was friendly, almost familiar, but the dealer didn?t react to it.

She measured out the toll in her own stack, matching it to the letter. She still hadn?t decided on whether to play, and spent a moment trying to read some sort of emotion in Sakuya?s eyes. Even without the glasses to cover them, the mysterious blonde still had enough nerve to keep her cards to herself.

Tewi grit her teeth slightly. Maybe this wasn?t mahjong, but the invisible concept of flow still held meaning to her. If she let Sakuya take a foothold by being scared off here, that was her cue to stage a comeback. Her hand was good enough to be worth playing, especially if she had a little help from her friends.

?...Well, you get points for guts, I?ll say that much. But Lady Luck only has one girl she gives a damn about, and it?s me.?

With one large, triumphant motion, she pushed her payment into the table alongside Sakuya?s.

?Miss Inaba calls the bet.?

Tewi rose to her feet. This was the good part. The rush of adrenaline that came with fortunes being won and lost. She picked up her cards and flung them upright back onto the table. A king and a jack - alone, not a particularly impressive hand, but if she were to hit either of them it would be difficult to beat.

Sakuya, almost as a deliberate opposite of her opponent, sat back on her chair as if nothing had happened. She didn?t so much as reveal her cards, and this quickly earned her stares from both Tewi and the dealer.

?...Miss Izayoi, if you?d reveal your cards, please??

Sakuya looked up, almost puzzled, before shrugging nonchalantly.

?Oh, if you don?t mind, I?d like to keep my hand hidden until the last moment. Adds to the tension, I find. And besides, the cards are hardly going to change, so it doesn?t make any difference, does it??

It was a childish - and, in all fairness, illegal - request. The dealer had every right to insist that she reveal her cards, but that would seem pedantic at best. At worst...

Koishi-san, I think she?s onto something. The boss just noticed something...

The words popping up in Koishi?s head pulled her away from the game. Sango?s eyes had been focused intently on Sakuya up until now, but they were now focused on the dealer, lifting the deck up from the table and preparing the first three cards.

Huh? What do you mean?

Watch the dealer. Carefully.

The request puzzled Koishi for a moment, but she decided to comply. She watched the dealer?s hand as he first discarded the top card on the deck - a measure to prevent cheating, apparently. He made to draw the next card in one fast, fluid motion.

She only saw it because she was looking for it. It was a masterful move, the sort that took years of practice. Rather than removing the top card on the deck, the dealer momentarily snuck his hand into his sleeve, emerging a moment later with a card in his hand. He drew another two from the deck itself, placing all three of them on the floor.

The one he?d smuggled into the deck was a king. The second, a jack; the third, a seven.

?YES!?

Tewi made no effort to hide her satisfaction, shouting at volumes that would?ve been considered offensive from any other player. Two pairs on the flop? She was pretty much won already.

No-one watching was willing to join her in her celebration. Koishi had only caught on by watching that hand closely, but there was no denying what she?d seen.

The dealer was cheating. And he was throwing Tewi the cards she needed to win.

...Of course.

It had bugged Koishi earlier that the casino was running an event like this without taking any of the proceedings, but this explained everything. The casino had already decided who was going to win the No-Limit Festival, and it was one of their own. Nitori had passed the message on to Sango and given Mokou a helpful nudge to figure it out herself, with the end result being that even Koishi could see what was happening.

Koishi cringed. Sakuya had been fighting a losing battle from the start. The group running this game had no intention of letting her anywhere near that money - now collected in one large suitcase sitting at the side of the table.

The dealer seemed certain that he?d done his job properly now, and visibly relaxed as he played the last two cards. As if to rub in the blow, the last of them was another jack, giving Tewi a Full House. She hadn?t just won, she?d dominated.

?How?s that? Bet you don?t wanna show those cards of yours now, do you?!?

There was no response for a moment. Sakuya?s head was bowed downward, covering her face from view. Koishi didn?t want to imagine what she must have looked like. She was crying, almost definitely-

?-Heh.?

That wasn?t crying. It wasn?t sadness of any sort coming from Sakuya there. It was...laughter. Tiny, smug giggles slipped out of her mouth, growing larger until she was laughing full-force. Tewi didn?t take that response well.

?H-Hey, what do you think?s so funny?! Show your hand already!?

Sakuya was still laughing, almost uncontrollably now. She had to physically stop herself by putting a hand to her face, and even that took a moment.

?Ah, sorry. When something amuses me, I have a habit of getting carried away. And really...after a display like that, I can?t not laugh at you.?

With her other hand, she saw fit to tip her cards over onto the table.

Two kings.

?Wha-!??

Tewi managed a tiny gasp as she saw what Sakuya had been hiding. The rest of the group surrounding the table couldn?t produce even that. With two kings in her hand, Sakuya managed to produce a full house as well - but with three kings instead of three jacks, hers was better than Tewi?s.

And it was all on a massive risk. If Sakuya had been holding onto any other hand, she?d have had no way to win that hand. If she?d been made to show her cards, the dealer would have just dealt around it and played enough Jacks for Tewi to win. There was no cunning play in what Sakuya had pulled off there - it was sheer, miraculous luck.

Sakuya removed her hand from her face, looking at Tewi with a devilish glint. There was something else other than happiness in that smile - she was smiling almost knowingly, like she was aware of something she wasn?t supposed to be. It was enough for Koishi to guess that Sakuya had been in on the casino?s cheating for a while - and it was why she?d hidden her cards the whole time.

?So what was that you said about Lady Luck favouring you again??

-----

Sakuya had managed to go from being miles behind to being slightly ahead in the space of a hand. She pulled in her new stack, twice as large as the one she?d put in a few minutes prior. The dealer hastily began pulling the cards back in, preparing them for the next deal. Koishi caught him slipping the fifth king in as well - he may have been able to sneak it out without much hassle, but putting it back in wasn?t quite as simple. As he picked the it up she caught a glimpse of the fifth king residing on the bottom of the deck, where it would be of no consequence for the next hand.

Tewi needed a while to regain her composure. She?d slumped back onto her chair, eyes glazed over, limp as a doll. The hand had been hers; she could practically taste it, feel the chips coming her way, and start cutting her share with Morichika. Now here she was, losing to an amateur playing petty mind games.

She gave another glare towards the dealer. The message this time was clear.

Pull no punches. This next hand is mine, and nothing is going to stop me.

It was time to stop worrying about her hands looking unlikely. This amateur needed to be put down before things got out of hand. Morichika wouldn?t be pleased to hear she had lost him all this money. The consequences weren?t worth thinking over.

The dealer nodded, and his dealing style changed dramatically. Behind the dark glasses he was wearing no-one could see his eyes, but they were examining every card with immense care as he shuffled. The fifth king remained hidden in the palm of one of his hands, but with speeds too quick for anyone else in the room to interpret he ordered the remaining cards in just the right way. He knew the top dozen cards in the deck, and they were more than enough this time. Finishing his reordering, he placed the hidden card back on the bottom of the deck where it would be no trouble.

The old tactic of throwing in new cards when they were needed was out the window. This time they had to kill Sakuya stone dead in the water - lure her into the hand, then destroy her outright.

The cards were dealt again, two to each player. Tewi was the first player to act, looking down at her hand and pretending to examine it carefully. No-one around the table was falling for it this time around. Every-one had caught onto her cheating, but they were all equally powerless to stop it.

?Well, then. You said you?d win in two hands, right??

Tewi smirked, and pushed the rest of her chips into the table. She was looking to appeal to Sakuya?s ego, lure her into a hand she had no chance of winning.

There was no need. Sakuya would have played the hand whatever she?d been dealt. The momentum had shifted in her favour, and nothing was going to stop her now. She returned the gesture - giving her cards an almost uninterested glance before offering up her own stack in return. She wouldn?t lose outright if Tewi won the hand, but with so few chips left she?d be just about dead in the water.

?Indeed, and I pride myself as a lady of my word.?

Koishi had to resist the urge to scream. She knew it was a trap. There probably wasn?t anyone around the table who DIDN?T know that Tewi was up to something with this hand. And yet Sakuya had just walked into it without a care in the world. It wasn?t like she could wait it out, true - she?d have to call Tewi?s bets eventually - but doing it so effortlessly just made Koishi?s heart shiver.

?Miss Izayoi. Your hand, if you will.?

This time, the dealer wasn?t willing to let Sakuya keep her cards hidden. It had ruined their plans once before, and he wasn?t set to let it happen again. Sakuya looked down again at her hand, finally sighing as she turned it upright. Another pair - the king of clubs, and the king of diamonds. In any other instance, an excellent hand.

Tewi turned up the ace and queen of spades. Normally, a situation like this would involve Tewi begging and pleading for an ace to come up, or for enough spades to emerge for her to have a flush.

Then again, this hand was far from normal. And the flop that emerged from it was even less so.

King of Spades. King of Hearts. Jack of Spades.

Koishi raised an eyebrow.

Wait, that means four kings. Isn?t that really really good for Izayoi-san?

Mokou was equally hopeful for Sakuya after a deal like that. After all, four-of-a-kind was really hard to get, so it had to be a really good hand.

Sango and Nitori didn?t share in their cheerfullness. Nitori?s face registered muffled disappointment, while Sango?s was one of sheer despair. They were half right - four-of-a-kind was an excellent hand in poker, almost the strongest in the game. There was only one hand in the game that could ever beat it - the straight-flush, five consecutive cards of the same suit.

A hand Tewi was one card away from.

Sakuya raised an eyebrow, but it wasn?t from confusion. She looked over at Tewi with a hint of suspicion.

?I have to say, this hand seems rather...unlikely.?

Tewi tried her best to keep her excitement locked away, but it was a physical sensation now. She couldn?t keep herself still, waiting for the fourth card to be drawn; the card that would seal Sakuya?s fate and leave her with too few chips to even think of winning. Maybe she looked suspicious now, but what did it matter? Who?d believe the word of one gambler over the reputation and standing of the Rabbit?s Foot?

?Hey, y?know how Lady Luck works. Always saves the best for last.?

She snatched at her pendant so hard it practically snapped. Every nerve in her body was trembling now through sheer euphoria. She was going to savour seeing the smile slip from this girl?s face. She?d dream about it for weeks to come, remember it for the rest of her life, tell stories about it in her old age to anyone who cared to listen.

The fourth card was drawn, slamming onto the felt table with a tiny but dramatic slam. It was exactly what both players had expected. Initially Mokou and Koishi were confused by the sudden shift in atmosphere, but the dealer was kind enough to point out what had happened.

?The fourth card is the Ten of Spades. Miss Inaba has made a Royal Flush and has won the hand.?

The near instant shift from victory to defeat was enough to make Koishi feel ill. The colour flushed from her face, and her eyes started to mist up.

Y-You?re kidding me. There?s gotta be something she can do, right?

Sango looked over to her, solemn. There was a long sigh as the dolphin shook her head.

?Fraid not. The Royal Flush is the best hand in the whole game. It?s over.

Koishi could feel her hands starting to ball up. The casino was blatantly cheating now. No-one here honestly believed otherwise. But what was there they could do, accuse the casino of cheating? If they did that, they?d just get called out for trying to cheat and help Sakuya. This was no magical villain they were up against - this was sheer human greed, and no amount of dolphin riding would help with that.

?THANK YOU, LADY LUCK! I KNEW you?d show up when things mattered!?

Tewi pulled her chair away, shouting upwards to no-one in particular. It was only half-acted - she really was so excited she needed to scream to let it out, but luck had nothing to do with it. She glared over the table, looking at Sakuya?s expression, ready to savour the look of despair that had shifted onto her face.

She was disappointed to see nothing there. Sakuya continued staring blankly at the four cards on the table, seeming mildly frustrated at worst.

?Dealer. There?s still one card left.?

The dealer looked over, seeming surprised.

?U-Uh, Miss Izayoi. I assumed you would realise that there is no way you can win this ha-?

?Play it. There?s still room for a miracle.?

Every eye in the room turned to her in bewilderment. Was she the only one who didn?t realise she was dead in the water now? No-one said a word, but the condescending look on Tewi?s face said more than any word could have.

?...Oh, why not? Put the girl out of her misery.?

Tewi shrugged her shoulders. There was nothing that could go wrong here anyway, and she gave the dealer a nod of approval. He reached down, almost deliberately hesitating as he went for the last card. There was no sound in the room other than the ticking of a large clock in the distance.

Koishi?s mind was still spinning. Why was Sakuya so insistent on this? Everyone else had told her the hand was over, and she was inclined to believe them. Mokou and Sango were about as lost, but Nitori?s eyes were focused intently on the blonde now.

Sakuya?s eyes were focused on the dealer. She glared at the cards with a look that seemed set to kill, as if trying to manipulate them with her mind. She raised a hand upward, and clicked her fingers.* (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmURfcWEj8Q&feature=related)

The clock stopped.

So did everything else.

What the?!

Koishi?s mind was still aware, but the rest of her body had frozen in place. She couldn?t move, she couldn?t speak, she couldn?t blink, she couldn?t breathe. The world around her had taken on an almost sepia tint, like a photograph catching the moment for posterity. At the corner of her eye, Koishi saw that the rest of the ?culinary staff? was frozen in place as well, and across from her the dealer?s hand hovered eternally over the deck. Tewi hung still, her face caught in a look of pure cruelty.

Only Sakuya moved, calmly rising up from her chair and walking towards the dealer.

I-Izayoi-san is-?!

Koishi couldn?t even pass her thoughts on to Sango any more, leaving her with nothing to do but watch the gambler?s every movement. Sakuya stopped just in front of the dealer, reaching out to the deck. She only made one change; taking the bottom card and placing it on the top.

But why would she do that? The bottom card?s the-

Something clicked in the back of her head. Now Koishi?s mind was as frozen solid as the rest of her. She was shocked, amazed, and enawed all at once, but all of those emotions were caught in place until Sakuya had retaken her seat. Nonchalantly she sat back, clicking her fingers again.

The world shifted back into colour, and Koishi had to stop herself from gasping at what she?d just seen.

K-Koishi-san! Did you just...?!

Sango turned to Koishi, her face trying to display about half a dozen different emotions at once. Koishi nodded, not doing much better in the contemplation department. They?d both seen exactly what had happened, and from the looks on their faces Mokou and Nitori had as well. Only the professor had maintained a sensible look, turning to Sakuya with something that resembled pride.

There was no doubt about it. Sakuya, consciously or otherwise, had stopped time and shifted the deck in her favour. The only two who weren?t aware of this were Tewi and the dealer, but they?d find out soon enough.

The fifth card was drawn and played.

?The last card is the Six of Di-?

The dealer?s voice cut out. He knew ahead of time which card would appear. Nothing of use to Sakuya, and nothing worth mentioning. He?d made sure of that. Doubly sure. More sure than he could ever be.

But that wasn?t the Six of Diamonds down there. It wasn?t even a diamond. It was a card that shouldn?t have existed, shouldn?t have been played, and shouldn?t have had any place down there.

It was the King of Spades. The second one.

Tewi?s face morphed within a second. The look of joyful glee shifted only momentarily to one of absolute horror, finally replaced with one of total fury.

?I...you...what...how?!?

Sakuya allowed herself a small grin at the rage that had overtaken her competitor. She spoke matter-of-factly, as if there was nothing out of the ordinary here.

?I believe that gives me a five-of-a-kind, correct? And that makes me the winner.?

Technically, she was right. In games where a joker was included, five-of-a-kind was perfectly possible, and was the true strongest hand in the game. True, there was no joker in the deck this time around, but there were five kings, and so what was there to argue about?

She stood up, no longer paying any attention to the chips on the table. Her attention now fell on the suitcase filled to the brim with money, which she saw fit to walk up to and take from its podium.

?W-W-Wait! You cheated! You must have cheated! How the hell do you expect me to believe there were two of the same card in the deck?!?

Tewi was almost in tears now. Her body was shivering again, but not in the good way. The dealer had no comment to offer, but he had slumped over the table with a look of total despair on his face. Sakuya looked back at her opponent, placing her free hand on her chin and pondering.

?I don?t see why I should be implicated in that. After all, both of the Kings of Spades were drawn from the deck, correct? If you wish to accuse anyone of cheating, it would be our dealer friend appreciating the smell of felt over there.?

With that said, Sakuya started casually walking toward the door as if nothing had happened. Millions of yen were in the suitcase she was hauling out, money the casino had been planning to take for itself all night long. Tewi?s arm finally managed to rise upward, shouting as it pointed towards Sakuya with enough volume to make Koishi cringe.

?S-S-Somebody, stop her!?

Two guards were standing watch at the entrance, and as they heard Tewi?s call for support they made their way into the casino started approaching Sakuya threateningly. Both of them were at least a foot taller than her, and much stronger to boot. For the first time all night, a frown jumped onto Sakuya?s face - maybe she was intelligent, but physically she wasn?t much to speak of.

Which is why it was a relief to see a girl in a red bunnysuit give one of them a well-placed kick between the legs.

?I saw you staring at me earlier, you goddamned pervert!?

From the fury in Mokou?s face, she wasn?t lying when she said that. The man let out a tiny whimper as he grabbed as his crotch, then crumpled to the floor without so much as a word.

Sakuya?s face registered confusion for a few moments, until two hands grabbed her from behind and pulled her away from the still-standing bouncer.

?Don?t worry, we?ll get you out of here!?

That was confusing, for sure. The culinary staff were coming to her rescue? Perhaps they just wanted a share of the money after they?d made their escape. Either way, she wasn?t going to refuse them for now, and as the white bunny and the mer-maid carried her along to the exit she saw fit to keep up the pace.

That left one guard to quickly turn and chase the four girls currently running for the exit. He spun on his heels and charged, ready to knock the block off the first girl to come into reach.

Then he felt something prick the back of his neck, and suddenly every ounce of energy in his body disappeared. He fell to the floor like a rock, unconscious within seconds.

?Night-night, tough guy. Enjoy next morning?s hangover.?

Nitori smirked, still holding her arm out towards where the man had once been. She wasn?t that impressive magically, but handy devices like the dart-firing mechanism in her cuff made up for that. What the kappa lacked in strength, they made up for in sheer ingenuity.

Probably a bad idea to hang around, though. Hopping over the fallen men like a true bunny, Nitori slammed the door behind her as she made her way out of the casino. From then on it was a matter of catching up with the rest of the group as they charged onwards out of the district, into the main square. It was coming up to morning now, and in the early-day hubbub any other guards the casino sent out would lose track of them.

By the time they?d stopped running, Koishi was convinced her lungs had actually been set on fire. She grabbed at her knees, panting and wheezing, seeing that Sakuya across from her was no better.

?You really need to get some more exercise, Komeiji-san.?

Mokou seemed unfazed other than a layer of sweat. Nitori looked a little out of breath, and Sango just seemed more frustrated at having to use these lousy leg things. It took a minute or two for them to recover enough for any sort of conversation.

?...You...you four were a great help back there. I will admit that.?

Sakuya spoke gratefully, pulling herself up and bowing towards the group. Koishi was the first to respond, still gasping as she spoke.

?Don?t...mention it. We saw...what they were doing in there, and...?

Sakuya raised an eyebrow. She hadn?t expected an untrained hand to pick up on the casino?s cheating, that was for sure.

?...I assume you aren?t an ordinary catering company.?

?And proud of it! Now, shouldn?t you be heading home before those guards catch up with us??

Sakuya?s face expressed surprise for an instant as Nitori gave her a cheerful pat on the shoulder. She?d expected them to ask for a cut of the fortune she?d managed to take from the casino, but they were pressing her to make her escape without taking a single yen. Besides that, the one in blue made a good point - hanging around wasn?t going to help anyone.

?Hm, true. In that case, I offer you my heartfelt thanks, and bid you all a fond farewell.?

Turning on her heels, Sakuya walked out into the morning crowds. Within seconds, Koishi had lost sight of her. Mokou seemed to have had as much luck keeping track of her, though her brow was furrowed in disapproval.

?Shouldn?t we have talked to her? Y?know, about the whole time-stopping thing??

?We?ll have time for that later. We have a name to work with, so after I do some research on the Izayoi family we?ll just visit her and find out more then. Right now, I think you three need to have a good night?s rest. I?ll write you up as absent on the school register, so don?t worry about that.?

Now that she mentioned it, Koishi was having trouble keeping her eyes open. They?d stayed up all night for this - had Koishi ever done that before. She didn?t think so. Either way, she was going to take Nitori up on that offer, and wrapped her arm around Sango for support.

?Sounds like a plan. See you two later, then...?

Mokou offered a thumbs up, slightly more awake than Koishi was. Nitori seemed unfazed by her lack of sleep at all - these youkai and their endurance made Koishi jealous once in a while. Even Sango, currently making sure she didn?t collapse in the middle of the street, seemed better of than she was.

Why aren?t you tired at all, Sango-san?

Uh, well, my job wasn?t that exciting, so I sorta turned my brain off. Half of it, anyway.

Koishi chuckled to herself at the sound of that. Dolphins had all the fun.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Chaore on January 24, 2011, 07:02:06 PM
...Interesting, Sakuya is actually aware of her power. That's new.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Alfred F. Jones on January 24, 2011, 07:32:32 PM
Aw, hell, you made me late for my class reading this. But I couldn't stop reading, damnit!

You have a great way of keeping the reader hooked until the very end. The inherent tension of the poker hand helped. :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Marokuu on January 24, 2011, 07:34:16 PM
I...I...I... I'll just be over there catching my breath *sits down in a corner*
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Drake on January 24, 2011, 07:58:44 PM
(http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/8059/03346.png)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Kasu on January 24, 2011, 10:06:11 PM
That was marvelous.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on January 25, 2011, 02:33:24 AM
I love how Sango went to sleep during the poker game, that's brilliant

I'd meant she was half-asleep during the food serving, but :V

{Esi} Either way any time it was still funny though :V
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on January 26, 2011, 09:36:39 PM
I knew Sakuya had a trick up her sleeve. Good stuff. I liked PLotSS and... whatever the first one's called, I don't remember. I didn't know what to expect going into this, but what I got is some very good stuff. There's some pretty chiched stuff here (especially the whole Sealed Evil in a Can bit, although if it turns out that Rumia is that thing, then all is forgiven), but the writing is very good. And I'm enjoying seeing your 'real-world' versions of the characters. The whole Hourai Elixir thing was great, Mystia and Wriggle in the reasturaunt business was great, I'm basically liking it all. I'm also hoping Utsuho gets some action (she's my favorite Touhou character), preferably involving going nuclear on someone's ass (she should be a Siren that Sango missed somehow, probably because she's not human. And yes, I know the Sirens are supposed to be human, but, well, who says Nitori's right about that one? It's looking like Yukari had quite a few tricks up her sleeve; that could easily be one of them).

I'm still trying to decide what role a certain character will have. I know she'll be showing up eventually, probably mind-leech-thingyed, although if not that, then she's most likely a Black Claw higher-up, maybe even the one in charge.

Anyways, this is good, you're past stuff's gfood, and I'm looking forward to reading more.

Also, this is my first post as an MotK member, so hi.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on January 28, 2011, 01:16:43 AM
Tewi hated this room.

She?d only been brought here once before, on the day she?d been hired to join the association. It was a small room, too small, with walls built of jet-black ivory and obscure ?modern art? which she could have easily mistaken for a child?s scribblings. Maybe they were - she wouldn?t put it beyond Morichika to sell random doodles as supposed masterpieces. He had a way of appraising things, giving them more value than they really had, and selling them off to some poor sucker none the wiser.

Tewi did what she could to make herself comfortable. Unfortunately, the chair she?d been given was rickety and set to fall apart at any moment. A nicer chair sat across from her, taunting her, but it was for a man much higher in rank than Tewi would ever be. She fidgeted. Her back hurt. Maybe a different angle? No, that was even worse.

The clock ticked in the distance, slowing down to mock her. She had blown it, in the most disastrous way she could have. Millions of yen that they were looking to take in, and in two hands she?d lost it all. Izayoi had played her like a fiddle, toying with her pride and throttling her with her own ego. And that shot at the end - she knew full well that she?d lost to the fifth king planted to help her. Sakuya was manipulative, but she hadn?t broken a single rule.

The wait took longer than she could have imagined. By now Tewi was trying to interpret the meaning of the wall markings to pass the time, and was distracted when her employer finally made his way into the room.

?Tewi. Honey. Darling.?

Rinnosuke Morichika was a figure dubbed in mystery even to his own compatriots. His appearance was simple, but sharp - a tall, thin man in a light-blue suit, the make you couldn?t afford if you had to ask the price. His hair was dark brown, standing up just enough to look attentive but not to the extent of looking childish. He adjusted his designer glasses as he took his seat, his voice the epitome of calmness.

?What happened out there tonight? You were my big player, y?know? I had a lotta faith in you to win me my money, and you lose to some blonde chick we?ve never heard of before??

Perhaps it was more frightening that he was calm. Any normal person would be yelling profanities across the table right now at the thought of all the money they?d lost, but Rinnosuke was almost impossibly relaxed. Tewi was both impressed and disturbed, partially because this behaviour reminded her too much of the girl she?d lost her fortune to the night before.

Maybe they were two of a kind, Rinnosuke and Sakuya - that deviousness, that cunning, and a gentle sprinkling of insanity.

?I-It wasn?t me, I swear. I played along with the plan, to the letter. If that dealer hadn?t screwed up and played the fifth king, none of this crap would?ve happened.?

Tewi?s body was stricken with nerves, and her response was stuttered and forced. Surprisingly, Rinnosuke reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, an all-too-cheery smile on his face.

?I know, I know. It?s all his fault we lost that money. He?s a bad, bad man who made some really bad fuckups. Hey, wanna see something??

Rinnosuke reached into his sleeve, pulling out a small remote. He pointed it towards what initially seemed to be a blank wall, but with a small beep a slate caved into the side, revealing a flat-screen television behind it.

?My favourite show is on right now. Figured you?d learn something from watching it.?

Another beep, and the screen came to life. The picture was grainy, and for a moment Tewi couldn?t discern what it was actually showing, but the sounds coming from it were a hint.

There were two figures in the room. One was tied to a chair, his face bloodied. The other was circling him, slamming his fist into the other man?s jaw once every few seconds. The grunts and yells of pain coming from the speakers left nothing to the imagination.

?Ooh, that was one helluva punch, huh? He?s gonna be feeling that one in the morning.?

Now and again, the beating stopped, and instead the speakers were filled with the sound of a grown man sobbing. Desperate, almost unhearable pleas for mercy echoed into the room, but they went unheard. The breaks would only last a few seconds, and then the assault picked up speed again.

Tewi pulled her eyes away from the pummeling for a moment, looking at Rinnosuke to try and distract herself. He was grinning again, almost wildly, his eyes glistening as he watched a grown man suffer. He seemed to almost be panting, containing his pleasure and struggling to maintain his otherwise cool demeanour.

?Doesn?t that get your heart racing, Tewi? The sight of failures getting the punishment they deserve, seeing the world right itself because you will it to, the feeling of justice that hits you when you get payback on someone who?s wronged you? You said it yourself, right?! This guy?s responsible for all of our losses, and he?s getting the shit beaten out of him! Isn?t that wonderful to watch?!?

Tewi wasn?t sure how to reply. She couldn?t laugh at this. This was brutality, this was abuse, this was just like that time when-

!!!

Tewi took a sharp breath. Something was coming to her. Something she didn?t want coming out. Something that needed to stay back like the lie it was.

?Hm? Tewi, honey, you look a little distracted. This isn?t reminding you of something, is it??

He knew. He KNEW what this would remind her of. He was watching the look on her face as the sounds continued to echo through the room. She could see the sneering grin on his face, enjoying this just as he had enjoyed watching the pummeling. She was doing her best to forget, move on, act like it never happened, but he KNEW. Not just that, he was going to use that information as he saw fit, and she?d given him more than enough of a reason to toy with her head a little. She couldn?t let him do this, but it was too late now and it was coming out and she couldn?t stop it and stop stop stop stop STOP

...Papa wasn?t a bad man, just prone to grabbing the bottle a lot. She remembered the recitals and performances he missed because of ?work?, the days he?d come up barely coherent enough to speak, and most of all the days when she?d sleep hearing the sound of fists slamming against flesh. The next morning she?d talk to Mama alone, panic running across her face, wanting to know the story about all those noises she?d heard the night before.

?Oh, dear, that was nothing. Mama and Papa were just having a little argument, that?s all. ...Oh, that? I just tripped and fell down the stairs. I?ll be fine, really.?

Was it a lie? It had to be a lie. She wasn?t stupid.

But that would mean the truth was...no. It couldn?t be.

She didn?t want it to be.

So she taught herself to believe what she knew wasn?t true. It was hard, but with a few years of practice she finally pulled it off.

Fighting? What fighting? Her parents got on like any other family would. The occasional fight, but nothing worse than that.

So why were the arguments about her so often?

?It?s you spending so much time on that goddammed kid, that?s what! Why can?t a woman like you spare some time to make me my goddamn dinner?!?

It was always her name that came up. Mama was in trouble because Tewi hadn?t done her homework, Mama was in trouble because she loved Tewi too much, Mama was in trouble because Tewi wasn?t well enough to go to school today. It was Tewi this, Tewi that, Tewi everything.

One night, Tewi came home with her report card. It wasn?t great, but she?d managed to scrape a pass in subjects she?d been scared of failing. Mama had been accepting, supportive, even ready to reward her for doing well. Papa didn?t see it until he?d come back from ?work?, face red and voice slurred.

One look was enough to put him into another of his little rages.

?The fuck is this?! How do you expect to get into university with shitty grades like that!??

His eyes turned to her, smouldering with indignation. He?d have punched her in the face right there and then if he hadn?t been grabbed from behind.

?That?s enough, dear! Can?t you see Tewi is trying her best!? We should be congratulating her for how well she did!?

Immediately Mama came to her defense, seeking to reason with Papa and calm him down. All it did was cause him to redirect his anger, and he turned on her instead.

?Honey, please do-gggk...?

His hands clasped tightly around her throat, her words cut painfully short. He spoke with an anger even Tewi wasn?t familiar with, one that left her shivering even from hearing it.

?Don?t you go defending the little piece of shit! There?s no way my daughter would come home with grades that bad, got it!? So either she ain?t trying, or that?s not my kid! Which is it, huh?!?

Mama couldn?t offer a response to him. She tried to push his hands away, spluttering and choking all the while. Tewi just stood in place, the report card falling to the floor. She couldn?t look away. She wanted to, but she couldn?t. If her body would let her she?d have run as far as her legs could carry her, but she was frozen on the spot, watching and listening to Mama?s little gasps and coughs.

Eventually her struggles weakened, and she went limp in his livid hands. Even after she had passed out he clutched onto her, ready to snap her neck if she dared talk back to him. He needed a few moments for the realisation of what he?d done to hit him.

?...Honey? Honey? ...Oh, god. Oh, god.?

Tewi felt something come apart in the back of her head. She was separate from the rest of the world, isolated and left only to watch from beyond. The sounds of the world around her faded into the distance. All she could hear were the thoughts bouncing around inside her own head.

oh god she isn?t breathing she's going blue her eyes look so empty and he looks so scared now and is she going to be ok what if she isn't what if she's dead if she's dead it's because of my stupid report card which means i killed her which means she?s dead and it?s my fault

my fault

myfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfault-


?Gyaaaaah!?

She screamed - or at least she tried to, but the sound ended up trapped in her throat, coming out as a pathetic, strangled cry. She slumped back onto her chair, eyes gazing out emptily into the distance.

Rinnosuke saw fit at last to turn the television off.

?There, there, darling. It?s okay. Uncle Kourin is here for you.?

His hand rested on top of hers. He could still recall the day he met her at the juvenile centre, lying through her teeth without breaking a sweat. Something inside her had broken a little then, and lying had become so second-nature to her it seemed she genuinely believed her own lies. He took her in to his little ?family? on the spot - she had potential, and better yet she had a history she?d rather have forgotten. Tragic, perhaps, but it was a weapon he could use against her.

A leash, if you will, that he could yank at if he grew displeased with how she performed.

?Lucky for you, I?ve done my research on our friend Izayoi. If what I?ve been hearing is true, we should have our money back sooner than we thought.?

Tewi was barely listening. All she could manage was a sniffle and a light nod of the head. She?d recover in a minute. She?d forget that silly nightmare and remember what really happened.

Yes, that was right. Mama died of a terrible illness, and Papa had to leave her to do very important work. They loved each other, more than anyone ever could, and they both loved her as well...
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Drake on January 28, 2011, 02:10:08 AM
Again, I absolutely love your Rinnosuke.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Marokuu on January 28, 2011, 09:03:54 AM
Wow you made me feel really bad for Tewi and almost made me shed a tear.

Masterful writing that's all I can say.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Kasu on January 28, 2011, 05:31:50 PM
That was a pretty heavy chapter.  And it didn't help that the song I was listening to added to the atmosphere. :ohdear:

Great as always though. :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on January 28, 2011, 06:15:15 PM
This is not a complaint, but sometimes a character doesn't need a tragic backstory to be an utter jackass: sometimes a douchebag's a douchebag. That said, Tewi's backstory actually made me feel sorry for her (a remarkable feat, considering that she's one of the few characters that I actively dislike).
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: KrackoCloud on January 29, 2011, 01:39:26 AM
I just finished catching up, and I love this story. Especially the Mokou arc.

Here's wondering how much this version of Sakuya will stray from her usual, elegant portrayal.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on January 29, 2011, 09:03:44 PM
So apparently people were made too sad by the last update. Here's to rectifying that. :V

-----

It was a strange feeling, waking up to the sight of the setting sun.

Koishi had just about collapsed into bed the moment she?d changed out of that horrible bunnysuit getup. She had dreamt - or at least, she thought she had. She couldn?t recall any useful details about the dream, so maybe she hadn?t. It was hard to tell.

For some reason, there was a laugh stuck in her mind for a moment when she woke up. Youthful, but wisened; not so much laughing at her as laughing with her. It drifted away a few seconds later, along with her recollection of it, and passing it off as just a little dream she pulled herself out of bed and stretched. It was a good thing there was no class tomorrow - it was going to take a while for her to get her body clock back in order after a night like that. According to the dim light of her alarm clock, it had just turned five.

?Morning, Koishi-sama~.?

?Um, but Orin, isn?t it evening right now??

?Figure of speech, Okuu. Figure of speech.?

The two pets continued their unintentional comedy routine. The M-1 Grand Prix was theirs for sure, she could taste it. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dtb1cjA_t4&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL)

Next on her list was waking up Sango, who was passed out on a bed in the other room. The dolphin had managed to catch enough sleep to keep functioning through the night, and she?d boasted to Koishi that she?d be fine until this evening, but the sound of the youkai?s snoring had woken the Siren up once or twice. Koishi?s suggestion of moving out of the bathroom had produced immediate and satisfying results, so she no longer had to worry about a slumbering dolphin in the bath when she washed her face in the morning. Koishi paid for this through the inconvenience of walking an extra five steps or so to wake her up in the mornings - she briefly wondered the irony of having to wake up her supposed protector.

Stepping through the corridors, still absently rubbing at her own eyes, Koishi found Sango lying fully-clothed on the bed, jacket and all. Apparently sleep had crept up on her during her guard shift. Koishi made to prod her at the side and bring her slowly back to the land of the living, but an obnoxious buzzing noise beat her to the punch. Sango?s eyes fluttered open, unfocused.

?Uh...whuh? Boss??

Still half-asleep, Sango?s hands started to run across her body in an attempt to find which pocket she?d placed her phone in. A few seconds of rummaging turned up no useful result, but whoever was calling was adamant enough to keep going no matter how long Sango took. The beeping got louder and louder the longer Sango left it unanswered, but she was still too tired to give herself more than a casual inspection.

?Mmh, ?zaround here somewhere...?

Koishi sighed. Nitori was the only person with Sango?s number, and she wouldn?t call unless something really important had come up. For all they knew Sakuya was in danger right now and this was the call for backup, so Koishi couldn?t sit and wait for Sango to wake up enough for it. She reached down, grabbing at the chest pocket the noise was coming from, ready to snatch the phone out and answer it on Sango?s behalf.

This would have been an excellent plan if Sango hadn?t taken that exact moment to sit up.

?Ah-!??

She had grabbed something. Something soft and sensitive, something behind the jacket. Koishi?s face froze in embarrassment, the rest of her body likewise caught in place. Anything resembling logical thought vanished from her mind there and then.

?Ph...phwee...??

Sango seemed more stunned than anything. Her eyes were starting to open up properly now, the sensation of being touched waking her up properly. She looked up for a moment at Koishi, just awake enough to be puzzled by her bright-red face.

She understood why the moment she looked down and saw Koishi had managed to grab at one of her breasts.

?...Ph...ph...?

Koishi felt a hand smack against her face, knocking her a step to the side.

?PHWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!?

Sango sounded like she was on the verge of tears, her hands suddenly running over her chest. Tears began to form in her eyes, and she glared in Koishi?s direction with a look of hurt.

?K-K-K-Koishi-san! What the hell did you think you were doing!? Having your way with a pure, innocent maiden in her sleep!? I mean, I know you think I?m adorable, but that?s just...just...!?

Koishi raised a hand out, looking to get a word in edgeways, but Sango had already started on a barrage of accusations and panicked mutterings.

?No-one?s ever touched me there before! Ever, ever, ever! I was saving myself in case I ever met a guy I liked, but...I?ve been deflowered now! No man?s going to want to touch these damaged goods. Maybe if I was busty like that girl from last night, but no, apparently the youkai gods decided Sango Tororetsu was gonna be born flat! I hope you?re ready to compensate, Koishi-san! I?ll...I?ll sue you! For all that you have!!?

She couldn?t be listening to what she was saying, surely. Now she was just spouting gibberish, her brain overheating as her face went a painful-looking shade of crimson. The beeping from her jacket continued, rising to the point where Koishi swore she saw a vein popping out of her companion?s head.

?You?ll get put into prison, and you?ll never see the light of day again, and-GYAAH, WHAT IS THAT RINGING NOISE!??

Sango rummaged into her jacket with ease now, grabbing at the pocket she?d placed the phone in. She was vaguely aware that her hand was now in the same place Koishi?s had been.

The realisation of the facts dawned on her slowly and painfully.

?...Oh.?

Koishi could see the epiphany in Sango?s eyes, and nodded in agreement. There had been nothing to it; just a simple misunderstanding between two girls. It took a few seconds for Sango?s anger to fully dissipate. She pulled the phone out of her pocket and held it up to the light.

Then, with a look of shame on her face, Sango passed the phone on to Koishi.

?You answer it. I need to go take a quick bath.?

With that, the dolphin rose to her feet and made her way out of the door, starting on her undressing before she?d even made it to the bathroom. Murmurs of ?This wouldn?t have happened if I?d been sleeping in the bathtub!? echoed down the house?s hallways, leaving Koishi almost as nervous as Sango was. Maybe the youkai didn?t get the concept of clothing or things like that, but being touched in sensitive places was a universal embarrassment.

After what must have been a minute of ringing, Koishi finally saw fit to open the phone and put it to her ear.

?Yes, professor??

The voice on the other end sounded frustrated. Given that she?d been on hold for so long, it was understandable.

?Took you long enough. Was I interrupting anything??

Koishi flinched. The professor couldn?t have picked a worse time to make a quip like that, not in the slightest. A few seconds of nervous silence followed, and Nitori?s voice went from grouchy to just plain awkward.

?Oh, uh. Then, well...guess now I?ve got your attention, I?d better give you the lowdown.?

The Siren nodded. Anything to distract her from current events would be wonderful.

?So have you found out some more info on Izayoi??

The annoyed tone made its way back into Nitori?s voice.

?See, that?s the thing. I took a look through my database again, and there?s no history of Izayoi as a family name in Gensokyo.?

Koishi raised an eyebrow. By now she?d come to assume that Nitori was some endless supply of knowledge; seeing something that truly stumped her was a first.

?Maybe she?s a foreigner? Blonde hair and such, and she played the part of the foreign bimbo a little do well.?

?No can do, kid. The Sirens are all girls who were born in Gensouto, and they?ll all be in Gensouto when shit goes down. Or did last night not prove my theory to you??

Koishi nodded along at that, even if Nitori couldn?t see it from the other end of the call. Statistically the odds of finding a Siren at that casino were next to zero, and yet they?d found one just as the kappa had planned. With a result like that, Koishi was pretty much sold.

?OK, fine. That leaves us with Sakuya Izayoi being a pseudonym, right? Can you try and sort it by power and figure it out from there??

?You kidding? Do you realise how many people live in this city, Koishi-san? There are probably two or three families with some form of time manipulation. We can?t just go up to every single one and ask if there?s a daughter in the house with a penchant for gambling!?

She sounded desperate, concerned for Sakuya?s immediately safety. Perhaps rightly so - the mob probably wouldn?t be too happy with their losses, and they?d be out looking for her right now.

?On top of everything else, we don?t know if the Claw are onto her as well. Maybe they had an insider at the casino or something - I can?t be sure, but what matters is that you find some other way to track her down.?

That one left Koishi pausing for a moment. The answer seemed so obvious to her that she couldn?t understand why Nitori was putting the question to her. She became aware that in the midst of all of last night?s action, she?d never had the chance to bring up the errand she was performing for a local bakery. It hadn?t seemed important back then, and by the time she realised it had more relevance than she thought she was too preoccupied to do a thing.

?...I think I might have an idea how to take care of that, professor.?

Nitori let off a little gasp. She hadn?t been expecting an answer from her, at least not right away.

?You didn?t grab some hair from her, did you? ?Cause if so I could probably run a DNA test and-?

?Not quite. It?s a little more...traditional, but it works.?

Nitori seemed outright baffled now. Koishi grinned slightly as she passed the story on, feeling that she?d gained a slight victory over the woman who?d failed miserably to teach her mathematics.

?...I see. Well, I have to say, that?s quite a coincidence.?

Nitori didn?t sound as surprised as she should have been after she?d heard the tale from Koishi. The Siren just shrugged in response, again as if she was talking to someone right in front of her.

?I know. You?d almost think someone planned all this out in advance, wouldn?t you??

She heard a snicker from the other end of the line.

?Just about, Koishi-san. Just about.?

Faintly, Koishi could have sworn she heard a woman laughing to herself as she closed the line, enjoying the sight of a good plan coming together.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on January 29, 2011, 09:22:36 PM
Dammit, Koishi, you should've went to hell with the phone and thrown Sango down on the bed and ravished her or something. In a swimsuit, if that would've made Roukan feel better about writing it.

So, yeah, huge coincidence, but that's okay, because Shoujo's all about divinely ordained coincidences up the wazoo. No need for leg work for magical girls, nosiree (unless the leg work coincides with skimpy outfits).

This is not F/SN. Sango is not strengthened by the power of sex. :V

That said, perhaps an eroge version could be arranged
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Drake on January 29, 2011, 10:13:12 PM
I?ve been deflowered now!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on January 29, 2011, 10:28:11 PM
This is not F/SN. Sango is not strengthened by the power of sex. :V

That said, perhaps an eroge version could be arranged
Sure, why not?

Sango: Ph-phwee! My heart's just not ready!

Koishi: ...
1. Th-this was just a misunderstanding!
2. Just calm down, and let me guide you...
3. STICK IT IN.

Does 1 inevitably lead to a bad end? :[

Also stick WHAT in? Actually, I don't want to know. Don't answer that.


And really, dolphins aren't powered by sex? Tell that to all of the innocent men and women they sexually abused underwater over the years. :P
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on January 30, 2011, 12:59:16 AM
Quote
Does 1 inevitably lead to a bad end? :[
If you play your cards right, it leads to friendship. If you don't... (http://shirtoid.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/dolphin-revenge.jpg)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on January 30, 2011, 01:19:37 AM
Ah, good old comic relief. Question, though: if there's only two or three families with time manipulation, why can't they go through all of them? That's not really a huge number. Although it looks like they might not need to, so whatever.

Other question: If people usually can't see the magic stuff in the world around them, why does Sango need to conceal her fin? Wouldn't people just see her as a normal-looking girl?

For the former, by families we mean family names. That includes cousins, aunts, nieces, sisters, daughters, the works. Hundreds of people at the least. Questioning the entire family would be too high-profile for the Pearl.

For the latter, animal youkai taking human forms isn't per-se magical, it's more a natural ability that evolved over time. [This is only true for straight animal youkai; other races like the kappa either look human enough to get away with it or need to shapeshift.]

Taking this form along with humans used to be the norm, but after the War of Cataclysm they've decided to simply live among humanity in animal form. Two reasons:
1 - Keeping mankind from growing suspicious about the existence of youkai, since that could end up bringing them aware of magic all over again
2 - Free meals, a place to sleep, and a master who'll pet you whenever you ask for it? Hell yes. (Also, ever wonder how cats can just disappear from houses and never come back? They're just going home after having mooched off of you for a few years.)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on February 01, 2011, 11:30:19 PM
:wikipedia:

That's all fine and dandy, but mind you, the story will weave its own path. A lot of the authors here who have already hammered out a distinctive style are typically, at this point in their game, planning and plotting out how they want their story to end, even if they don't have the time to write it to the conclusion in one go yet.

Tossing ideas around as guesses and taking shots in the dark at who you think will do what or whatever is a-okay. But need I remind you that this is the internet - and though this is a Literary Subforum, and we specialize in the written word here - and tone of voice does NOT carry through text. Be wary of how you phrase things lest you come across as the pretentious twerp who barges into peoples' stories and tries to tell them how they should write it.

In short, welcome to the forums. Please read the guidelines before you trod on any more toes.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on February 02, 2011, 02:19:18 AM
Well, um, anything offensive was unintentional (I'm autistic, and as a result, I tend to completely miss implications like that). I'll try to be more careful with how I phrase things. Thank you for pointing that out.

Now, I do think it's good to throw in ideas and theories and that stuff; I know I want people to do that with my stories. This isn't the only story I've reviewed in that manner, actually; most notably, I've given similar reviews to Imperfect Metamorphosis, an ongoing Touhou story posted on fanfiction.net (and if you haven't read it, you should go do so right now, because it is excellent), and that story's author has more than once thanked me for giving that manner of review. I suppose, though, that other peopole may not like that style, so let's ask the person whose story I'm talking about. Roukan, when I give reviews, I like to include my own ideas about what's going on and things I'm hoping happen later on. Is that something you're good with, or would you like me to leave that part out?

Anyways, Psychefex, thanks for the tips, and don't think I'm blowing off what you said. That's just the kind of thing I'd like people to do for my stories, so, naturally, I do it for theirs. If that's a problem, though, I'll cut it out.

I'll give a suggestion on this part. Though I know you [and indeed some other writers] may appreciate readers adding suggestions and ideas, some writers will take offense. They've already planned their story out, and take someone else making suggestions as a sign of 'hey, I think I can write this story better than you'. In general it's safer not to make those suggestions in case you get misinterpreted as saying that - it's the internet, after all, and misinterpretations are pretty commonplace.
As it is, I've got a pretty good idea of where things are going. If I run low on ideas and need help I might ask, but otherwise I'm fine with what I've got.

In that case, I'll cut the suggestions.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on February 15, 2011, 10:18:44 PM
Before they could make their way to the bakery, Sango had one thing she needed to clear up.

?Sign this.?

She still sounded stern as she handed the document over to Koishi. It had been written on a long line of toilet paper while Sango was hiding in the bathroom, and stated in long and arduous detail how they needed to agree to never wake each other up again. From sheer frustration, Sango?s pen had pierced the paper several times, leading to rushed rewrites and repetition, to the point where it was barely legible.

Koishi needed a moment firstly to comprehend exactly what she?d been handed, and then another to realise Sango wasn?t kidding with this. She sighed to herself, taking Sango?s pen (she?d found it lying on the bathroom floor - something Koishi had forgotten to pick up?) and carefully writing her own name at the bottom of the roll.

?Uh...sorry about that.?

Koishi couldn?t think of any other way to bring down the awkward atmosphere, and so she tried her best to utter an apology. Sango let out a deep, heaving sigh as she took the paper back, and did the only thing you could really do with toilet paper - flush it.

?...I, uh, probably overreacted a little. It?s just that...well, you may have noticed I?m not so good at this whole social thing.?

She sat at the side of the bath, her arms crossed and her eyes distracted. She glared sharply at a particular floor tile, not looking up to Koishi as she spoke.

?My folks were both big names in the White Pearl - well, as big as a little group like ours can get. If it weren?t for the fact they?re pretty old and grey now, they?d probably be helping me here as well. They told me a bunch of stories about you humans - about all the amazing things you did even without magic. Stories of love, glory, triumph, beauty, all that stuff.

But, well. The rest of the pod didn?t exactly agree with my family?s views. They called us human sympathisers, and not as a compliment - your kind still has a nasty habit of hunting us dolphins down and...yeah. This is pretty much the first time I?ve had anyone I could even call a friend, so even with other dolphins I?m not used to having someone to talk to. It?s not any easier with humans, trust me.?

Surprisingly, Sango looked perfectly calm as she spoke - perhaps she?d had plenty of time to come to terms with this. Pulling her head up, she managed a smile as she looked brightly into Koishi?s eyes.

?But, well, I believe in those stories. I think you humans are flawed, and you make a few really dumb mistakes now and again. But somewhere, deep down beneath everything, you really do have the world?s best interests in mind.?

The dolphin stood up from her makeshift seat, standing eye-to-eye with Koishi now. She placed a hand on the Siren?s shoulder, looking into her eyes for some form of conviction.

?I trust you, Koishi-san. Don?t let me down, okay??

Koishi wasn?t sure how to reply. Placing her trust of humanity in Koishi?s hands? Wasn?t Sango overdoing this a little? What if Koishi messed up? What if there was another misunderstanding about phone calls and misplaced hands and-

Stop. You?re worrying again, aren?t you?

The word jumped into her head, cutting her thought process short. Sango?s glare was as intent as before.

You?ll be fine, Koishi-san. I?ve seen enough of you to know that.

That was enough to relieve Koishi of her concerns. She wasn?t quite able to trust herself, but if Sango could find something worth having faith in then she could as well. The Siren nodded, the solemn look leaving her face.

?Alright. I?ll do your folks proud.?

?You?d better, or my old man?s gonna jump outta the sea and kick your ass!?

-----

She?d taken this trip to the bakery dozens of times before, but this one felt different from every time before it. She?d never come here for any reason other than to chug down a quick excuse for a breakfast, so this was her first time seeing the bakery in the evening. The sun began to set in the distance, hitting the building at just the right angle to turn the walls a radiant shade of crimson.

Tacky wasn?t the word that Koishi was looking for. Distressing seemed closer to the mark.

?Y?know, I should just stop doubting myself. I KNEW I sensed something here earlier. Sakuya hangs around this place so often she?s left a mark on the place - magically, at least. I caught it yesterday, but I didn?t press it...?

Koishi was only paying enough attention to catch the rough subject of Sango's rant. Her attention was focused on the frankly puzzling choice of paint. Was it designed to turn that colour in the sunset? Was the Scarlet Bakery supposed to be some ingenious pun?

She shrugged the thought off. In the end, even if the decor was questionable, the food was second-to-none, and that was all a bakery really needed. More importantly, all of this was irrelevant compared to the hunt for Sakuya.

Koishi walked up to the doorway, once again checking that the store was open. They?d made it here within fifteen minutes of closing time, which was a relief. She poked her head through, trying her best to act casual. She knew Sakuya would recognise her as the bunnygirl from last night, so it was best to just play it slow-

?What in the name of all that?s right and logical do you think you?ve been doing?!?

The sound of an argument breaking out in the backroom killed off that idea in a hurry. It was the voice of the woman who?d taken the counter yesterday - Patchouli, had she called herself? It was difficult to believe that a girl in such poor health could shout with such volume, and sure enough she spluttered slightly as she caught her breath.

Koishi knew she wasn?t meant to eavesdrop on conversations like this, but there was more at stake than simple manners. There was only one person Patchouli could be so angry at, and Koishi needed to get hold of that person no matter what. She entered the store completely, the argument drowning out the sound of her entry as Sango followed behind.

?I?ve been raising money. And if you?re done with the counting, I think you?ll agree that this is a generous sum.?

Sakuya?s voice carried through, but only barely. Compared to the livid Patchouli, she sounded almost eerily calm. Koishi knew she was in the presence of not only an angry fellow employee, but she was also in the possession of millions of yen. None of it rightfully hers, and its owners would very much want it back. Staying so utterly calm in a situation left Koishi unsure if she should be impressed or just plain disturbed.

Wait. Raising money?

This was something she?d never considered. Sakuya had won herself a fortune, but what exactly did she plan to do with it? Koishi had assumed she?d blow it on the usual suspects - big houses, flashy cars, trips to resorts across the world, things like that. From the way she?d said she was ?raising? money, Sakuya seemed to already have a plan for how every single yen was going to be spent.

From the tone of her voice, Patchouli didn?t approve of this plan.

?Don?t you realise this is just another false lead?! You?ve visited every specialist in the nation by now! What will it take you to accept that there is no cure fo-?

?Don?t say that.?

Again, an utterly cold remark from Sakuya, silencing Patchouli mid-sentence. Even from a whole room away the words were enough to chill Koishi?s blood. There was a grim determination in Sakuya?s voice - one that wasn?t set to listen to rhyme or reason.

?I owe her my life, and it?s a debt I intend to repay. No matter what it takes. Do you understand??

There was no response. Koishi could make out a grunt of some sort on Patchouli?s part, but words had failed her. Even from here Koishi could tell that nothing the asthmatic had to say would sway Sakuya?s conviction. Silence hung in the air for a few seconds, with Koishi and Sango doing their best not to disturb it.

?Well, now that?s been cleared up I have a meeting to attend. Apologies for my disappearance, and I will be back on duty as normal tomorrow morning. Good night, Patchouli.?

Footsteps made their way back out of the building through the back door, a tinny ringing signalling Sakuya?s exit. Wordlessly, Koishi looked over to Sango.

Do we follow her?

Sango nodded. They were losing their trail fast, and it was too dangerous to leave Sakuya unguarded. Before anything else Morichika would be after her, and on top of that there was the ever-present risk of the Black Claw finding another Siren on the loose. That meant there could be two different parties both baying for Sakuya?s blood, so any time leaving her unguarded was a risk.

The pair broke for the door at once, set to loop around and follow Sakuya to wherever her destination was. They weren?t as subtle with their exit as they had been with their entry, and the loud ringing from the door was more than enough to alert Patchouli of their presence.

Or at least, their former presence. By the time the employee made her way back into the main room, there was only a slowly closing door to greet her.

-----

Koishi and Sango couldn?t afford to be aggressive here. Sakuya was smart, and if she caught the sight of them tailing her any chance of trust would be out the window. Just trailing behind her would be too obvious, so they had to find another way of keeping track.

Fortunately, one of them had just the right tool for that.

?She?s really getting into the darker part of town, isn?t she, phwee? ...Next left.?

Sango?s inbuilt Siren-sonar was working its wonders again. They couldn?t see her, but they were just close enough that the dolphin could still sense her presence. Following behind from a safe distance, the pair found themselves well off the beaten track, twisting and turning through some of Gensouto?s less cheerful streets.

The sun had just about set by now, and only the occasional light from a window stopped Koishi from walking head-on into a wall. There were no streetlights in these alleyways - another area forgotten by the building planners, it seemed. The smell of cigarette smoke made Koishi cough a little, but Sango was outright choking on the fumes. She?d never experienced the joys of second-hand smoking before, and it was an experience she?d rather remained forgotten.

The path Sakuya took was deliberately complicated and ornate. Sure enough, she was suspicious of being followed, and more than once the Siren had set a trap and turned the path around on itself to see if there was anyone behind her. Only the most skilled of rogues would have been able to follow her unseen - assuming they weren?t cheating dolphins who saw all of this coming well before they had any right to.

?I feel almost bad for her, phwee...think she?s giving up. She?s heading outta the alley now.?

Giving Sakuya the usual thirty-second head start, Koishi and her steed were all too glad to be out of the backstreets. They weren?t in the nicest part of town, but there was no need to worry about some random passer-by stabbing them for a laugh. Koishi wasn?t very familiar with these parts, so it was a relief she was following rather than leading.

After a good half hour of walking, Sakuya finally made it to her destination. Koishi and Sango finally caught up with her, keeping behind a nearby pillar and only poking out to look once or twice. Sakuya was standing at the entrance to a private medical clinic, one that from the look of the faded neon sign had seen better days. The doors took painfully long to open for her despite supposedly being automatic. Sakuya simply shrugged and stepped inside, visible behind the glass door for a few seconds before walking out of sight.

Sakuya?s two newest fans followed in behind her, sharing in the long, dull wait for the front door. It creaked as if the mechanism running it was three times older than it really was. Maybe while they were here Koishi would suggest that someone oil this thing up a little.

Immediately they were faced with a receptionist, looking utterly unprofessional. She was more preoccupied by the flowers on her desk than the large pile of papers that she was expected to file through. Worse, there was a little note written on the flowerpot blatantly stating ?WARNING - SUZURAN FLOWER, HIGHLY POISONOUS. DO NOT TOUCH.? That was perhaps enough to explain the gloves on the receptionist?s hands.

Suddenly, Koishi could understand why this clinic wasn?t Gensouto?s favourite.

After a good ten seconds of shuffling, the receptionist finally noticed there were even more patients to be seen to. She jerked to attention, fiddling with the red ribbon in her hair and trying to act as if none of the above had ever happened.

?Uh...good evening, and welcome to the Asakura National Health Clinic. Do you have an appointment, or is this your first time??

There was makeup all over her face, Koishi could see. She?d overdone it, to the point where she looked more like a doll than a person. Not the time or the place to mention it, unfortunately.

?Hello. I was here along with Izayoi-san? She just came by, I think.?

A look of understanding jumped to the receptionist?s face. Her lips formed a perfect o as she nodded, her hand still absent-mindedly playing with the flowers.

?Oh, you?re with the rich girl? Yeah, she?s seeing Dr. Asakura right now. Down the corridor, third room on the left, but it?s pri-?

Koishi and Sango were on their way down the corridor before the receptionist had even finished speaking. The woman was left to herself once again, looking at the flower-pot for a moment as if for solace.

?...Suu-san, why are all the customers so rude today??

-----

Koishi had never been fond of hospitals, and clinics were only one step down from that. The too-clean smell of antiseptic hung in the air, and the bright white walls almost burned themselves into her eyes. Sango sniffed at the air and seemed to find it to her liking, but had turned her head downwards to look at the immaculately clean floor instead. With the inside this well kept, it was a very good question as to why the outside hadn?t seen any repair for some time.

Each of the rooms for appointments was linked to this corridor by a door and a window, with curtains available in the event that a patient wanted strict privacy with their doctor. The third door on the left was locked tight, but the curtains hadn?t been set up, allowing Koishi and Sango to see inside with ease.

Sakuya sat in a rigid-looking chair, her eyes fixated on the doctor. A glimmer of hope hung in her eyes, but beyond that her face showed no sign of emotion. Across from her, a woman in a long white labcoat was counting through the money one last time, a look of amazement fresh on her face. Even doctors didn?t see this much money - at least, not all at once. At several points Koishi saw the doctor adjusting her glasses slightly, blinking, confirming that what she was looking at wasn?t some sort of hallucination.

Sound didn?t travel through the window, so Koishi and Sango were left to try and interpret lips as the pair held a discussion. Neither of them were fluent with it, and a lot of complicated scientific words were being thrown about. They were only able to pick up on several words that were repeated several times over - ?scarlet?, ?genetic code?, ?DNA?, and ?revolutionary research?. The last one in particular seemed important to Sakuya, causing her to nod violently every time it came up.

The doctor sighed. She seemed guilty, for reasons that Koishi couldn?t quite place. Was Sakuya terminally ill? Had she just been told that she was going to die unless some miraculous treatment came through?

As if to answer Koishi?s question the doctor turned to a nearby closet, pulling it open while looking at Sakuya head-on. As a man stepped out from the inside, pointing a gun straight at Sakuya?s head, Koishi felt her stomach fall through the floor. Two words slipped out of the doctor?s mouth, and Koishi knew what they were even without hearing them.

?I?m sorry.?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on February 15, 2011, 10:40:24 PM
And now it's Sango's solemn and sworn duty as an oceanic creature to shout out "It's a trap!". Oh, and silly dolphins with their silly anti groping contracts: doesn't she know that all Koishi needs to do is flush that thing down the toilet, and then the little dolphin would be in her hands?

Also, you like making Rikako a villain, don't you?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on February 15, 2011, 11:12:39 PM
You know, for some reason I think Sakuya can get out of this just fine on her own (time powers and all that).

Anyways, you've got me wondering a few things. One ongoing story question on my mind is just what the Claw wants the Teardrops for. If they only wanted to make people aware of magic, simply showing it in public would be enough, right? So clearly they have some other goal. The obvious one, of course, is unsealing the Ravager, but I don't think they'd be that dumb (since, you know, they'd inevitably end up failing to control it). So I'm not sure what their objectives really are.

Anyways, you've also got me thinking about who the remaining four Sirens are, so...

*Cue theme music*
[announcer voice]It's time to play 'Guess the Sirens'![/announcer voice]

Sorry.

Anyways, here are my own current guesses:

Nue: Given the whole 'Yukari planned all this' think, it's important to think about what skills people would bring to the group, and call me crazy, but I'd s ay that having a shapeshifter around (and one who can conceal what others look like, at that) would come in handy.
Youmu: Sword skills, plain and simple.
Kaguya: The team doesn't have a true 'spellcaster' type yet (Koishi's the closet, but she's clearly an all-rounder type). Also, there's the whole relationship with Mokou. The only problem I see here is that Sango didn't sense a Siren when the group passed by Eientei previously, but it's very possible that Kaguya simply wasn't there at the time. Still, though, this is the one I'm the most uncertain about.
Satori: I really shouldn't have to say anything about this one.

Yeah, so those are my current guesses. They are, of course, likely to change as the story progresses. Anyways...

[announcer voice]Will the next contestant please come for-*shot*
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on February 15, 2011, 11:20:52 PM
My thoughts on who could be the other Sirens were shot dead with the reveal of Sakuya: I was thinking Ex-Bosses.

So, my guess will be along the line of (D&D) elements:
Mokou's obviously the element of Fire, so I'm guessing Murasa as element of Water, Unzan Aya as the element of Air, Namazu Shikeiki as the element of ROCK eh, someone as Earth, and Koishi as the Fifth Element: Lilu. Then, the five elements combine to form the element of Magic, who is... uh... someone. Let's just say Marisa, I guess. And Sakuya's the element of Time.

Yeah, that's totally right. Uh huh.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Serena on February 16, 2011, 02:08:07 AM
...and now I'm caught up with all your stories and all I have to say is I think I love you well done, you really are outstandingly good at this.

That and Sango's a great character =]
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on February 16, 2011, 02:25:48 AM
Okay, another theory for the Sirens, only instead using the Elements of Harmony from "My Little Ponies: Friendship Is Magic"!

Yes, I seriously am going there.

Obviously, Sakuya represents loyalty. Really, there's no need to explain that one. Mokou represents either generosity or kindness, most likely kindness due to the big sisterly attitude she's taken with Cirno and Koishi. So, the ones that are left are honesty, laughter, generosity, and magic.

So, for honesty I think Shikieiki Yamaxanadu, or, rather, Shikieiki Yamada, is a good fit: her ability to see things in black and white won't allow her to disguise the truth. For generosity, it's also an obvious choice: Shou Toramaru; she is a disciple of Bishamonten, or Vaiśravaṇa, who, according to my Wikipedia search, is often depicted with a mongoose ejecting jewels from its mouth, a symbol of, guess what, generosity. For laughter, it was a difficult one, until I remembered that one of the more successful participants in the M-1 Grand Prix was the shrine maiden Reimu Hakurei. As for why I didn't consider her partner Marisa Kirisame for that role, it's because she's the only one left for the element of magic: Patchouli has been seen already, and discarded as a choice, Byakuren is obviously Shou's mother (natural or adopted is the question) and thus eliminated because magical girls aren't allowed to be old, and Alice, being a puppeteer, is automatically evil.

And Koishi's the element of, I dunno, talking to animals or something.

... Swimsuits. Koishi's the element of swimsuits.

EDIT: This was done in good fun, and no offense was meant.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on February 16, 2011, 04:12:22 AM
...There's something wrong with you. Really.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Marokuu on February 16, 2011, 11:00:21 AM
Dangit Sect I think you've gotten one too many Orins to the head.

In other news there's one thing that I just noticed that's bugging me; is Koishi human or not? Sango said "You humans" in this episode but I'm fairly sure Koishi was stated to have her third eye earlier.

I'm certain the whole magic being hidden thing was explained earlier but I forgot :fail:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on February 17, 2011, 07:11:47 AM
Humans are quasi-magical as well, but they just can't tap into it because their minds block it out. Once Koishi was made aware of it, she couldn't stop seeing it everywhere - especially since her near-death experience jarred her perception a little and she started seeing signs of the magic everywhere... namely, funky shades of hair color.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Marokuu on February 17, 2011, 11:53:06 AM
Humans are quasi-magical as well, but they just can't tap into it because their minds block it out. Once Koishi was made aware of it, she couldn't stop seeing it everywhere - especially since her near-death experience jarred her perception a little and she started seeing signs of the magic everywhere... namely, funky shades of hair color.
So does that mean Koishi is a quasi-satori? And cirno was a quasi-fairy for example?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Serena on February 17, 2011, 04:33:01 PM
I thought everyone was human with hidden magic powers...?
And yeah, what Esifex said about the signs of magic stuff.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on February 17, 2011, 04:46:50 PM
As I understood it, Koishi, Cirno, and Mokou are all human. However, their latent powers resemble that of the satori, ice fairy, and pheonix.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Marokuu on February 17, 2011, 07:41:03 PM
I was thinking something like that but it was nagging me... thanks for the clarifications :)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on February 25, 2011, 11:41:43 PM
I've been leaving poor Sakuya at gunpoint for days. Think she deserves some closure. :<

-----

This was bad. In fact, this was worse than bad. This was about as bad as things could possibly get. Sakuya was being held at gunpoint, and there wasn’t much either of them could do to stop it.

Sakuya, as usual, seemed the least shocked of anyone in the room. She glared down the gun barrel with an expression that read more like disappointment than fear. She gave the doctor an angry glare. She’d been betrayed, in the worst way possible.

Koishi felt her chest tightening up. She looked over to Sango, sending a desperate thought across to her.

Can’t she use her time-powers or whatever it was she did last night to get out of this?!

Sango didn’t respond for a moment, simply biting her lip. The slow shaking of her head did nothing to calm Koishi down.

If she could, I’m pretty sure she’d have done it by now. I dunno if she’s even aware she can do it.

Now Koishi was just plain confused. She looked over to Sakuya, then to Sango, then back to Sakuya.

But she did it last night, didn’t she? We saw her! We felt it!

Sango sighed forcefully. Koishi could see her hands balling up, almost set to punch through the window.

Koishi-san, sometimes people find ways to access their powers by accident. In a little good-luck charm, or some sort mental ritual or something like that. It’s likely Sakuya just thinks that whole ‘focus on the card thing’ makes her luckier, and she doesn’t even realise she’s changing the deck.

Koishi needed a few moments to digest what Sango was telling her. All it did was make the gaping hole in her stomach even deeper. She didn’t need Sango to finish the line of thought for her - if Sakuya didn’t know about her own powers, there was no way she could bail herself out of this situation.

Koishi’s hand reached down into her pocket, where the Teardrop had been lying dormant for weeks now. If they went in the normal way, the goon would have more than enough time to kill his target, so their only hope was a surprise attack from out here.

Wait, you can’t-

Sango didn’t even have time to get the thought across before Koishi had pulled the Teardrop from her pocket. The gem seemed to understand the need for haste, and only a single glove appeared on the hand she’d clenched it in. It would be enough.

She gave the dolphin insignia a tiny click.

“Iruka Shot.”

The declaration was small, understated. The sound of shattering glass that it promptly produced, less so.

Everyone in the room was too far away to be affected by the exploding window, but the noise caught all of their attentions. The doctor’s face morphed into shock, the goon’s head jerked around, and Sakuya wore an expression that could almost have been mistaken for surprise.

The small ball of energy caught its target in the head. Koishi had made sure to undercharge it - after all, killing was the one thing she’d never stoop to - and it’d leave the target with at the most a nasty bruise.

When he instead turned into a pile of mackerel, things grew slightly more awkward.

“Uh.”

Koishi managed a muttered display of shock at that. The surreal nature of the moment was trebled by that moment, and the effects were instant. Now Sakuya was definitely looking out of her depth, and in response to all of this madness the doctor had done the most sensible thing possible and passed out.

The immediate danger past, Koishi leapt through what had once been the window, taking care not to land on any of the largest glass shards on the way in. Sakuya blinked rapidly, trying to somehow get her bearings in this totally alien situation. The face of her saviour rang a distant bell in the back of her head, and a name absently fell off her tongue.

“...Flopsy?”

Koishi resisted the urge to shiver. That was not a name she wanted anyone calling her again within this lifetime. Still, she had to nod in response so that Sakuya didn’t think she’d been saved by a total stranger.

Sadly, the fact she knew Koishi did nothing to relieve Sakuya of her current stress. She’d caught a sight of the orb as it flew towards her aggressor, and it was nothing natural. Not only that, the man it had hit was...no longer a man. In fact by now a puddle had formed along the floor, and the fish sunk into it and promptly disappeared.

It took all of her mental fortitude to stay conscious, let alone offer any sort of coherent response. Koishi had to shake her a little.

“Call me Koishi. You okay?”

Sakuya absent-mindedly nodded. Her eyes fell on the briefcase again - still full to the brim with gang money. For a moment Koishi thought she was about to take it out with her, but instead she scribbled a note on it and left it on top. Then she quickly took Koishi by the arm, and started pulling her out of the room.

If it wasn’t for the fact they’d already attracted more than enough attention, Koishi would have spoken up about how she was meant to be the one saving Sakuya, not the other way around.

Sango followed on from behind, her face still frozen in a shocked glance. The trio darted out the clinic once again, passing a stunned-looking receptionist on the way out. They caught her muttering something about world domination to her flowers and wisely decided to ignore her entirely.

Even after they’d cleared the clinic they didn’t stop running - there could easily have been another goon in the clinic to clean up in case his partner failed. It wasn’t until they were well around the corner and certain no-one was following that they stopped to catch their breaths.

“It’s funny,” Sakuya said to herself, still slightly delirious about what she’d just witnessed. “Every time I run into you, I need to run for my life from someone.”

Koishi had to laugh at that. It was funny, and more importantly everyone was safe and she could relax. The tension that had built up inside her over that dilemma seeped out, and she could breathe again.

Sango, on the other hand, was less than pleased.

“K-Koishi-san, what did you do that for!? You’re not supposed to use magic in public! What if they caught you on camera?!”

The dolphin was beside herself with distress. What Koishi had just done violated every rule the White Pearl had. The doctor might have been exposed to magic now, and if anyone caught footage of it there would be uproar. That’d lead to all sorts of risks, because once these exposures started they could spread like wildfire, and half the nation could be aware of magic again within the week. If Nitori heard about this, she’d be giving Koishi hell for sure.

Yet Koishi didn’t cower. She didn’t even flinch from Sango’s rant, looking her straight in the eyes.

“I thought I told you, Sango-san. I’m not letting anyone die on my watch.”

Sango started on an answer for a moment, but it died in her throat. In the end, Koishi was right - if they hadn’t stepped in somehow, Sakuya would have a bullet lodged in her head right about now. Maybe Koishi wasn’t the most forward-thinking person Sango had met, but she couldn’t deny that she’d saved a life right there.

Sakuya blinked at the word magic, and still seemed just as confused as before.

“Well, I’d just like to say that I’m personally in favour of her actions, whether you account for my opinion or not. Now, would you care to explain what you just did to that man?”

Again with the explanations. Koishi sort of wished they could skip this part, but she was a little curious as well. Unless her glove just gave her the power to turn people into fish, they’d unintentionally made a big discovery.

“...That wasn’t a man,” Sango said, putting her temper to one side momentarily. “That...creature was with a group we call the Black Claw...and they apparently have ties with your gangster friends.”

-----

“What do you mean, she escaped?”

It took big things to shift the smile from Rinnosuke Morichika’s face. Learning that millions of yen had evaded him for the second time was a sufficiently large event for that response.

The woman sitting across from him did not appear as angry as her compatriot was. Her expression was one of simple frustration as she tapped incessantly against the table, not bothering to pay attention to the petty art Morichika had insisted on hanging up. She’d have been able to draw better, with her eyes closed, after a dozen shots and a dose of morphine.

“My apologies. The group who helped her escape last night apparently followed her, and eliminated the guard I sent to apprehend Miss Izayoi.”

‘Eliminated’ wasn’t the right word, per se. Her subject had fled the scene and reported to her immediately; Komeiji and her White Pearl cohort had stepped into her plans once again. If they hadn’t intervened, she’d have simply had the fishman retrieve the body and return it to her, and she’d be able to extract the Teardrop from Izayoi’s lifeless body.

But of course, thanks to a more-than-convenient appearance at last night’s casino game, that had all fallen apart.

It was Kawashiro running this operation. She was well aware of it. They’d bumped into each other more than once in the corridors, and she’d seen the resemblance instantly. Kawashiro wouldn’t recognise her - she’d had some of this new-fangled cosmetic surgery humans were so in love with, and taken specific measures to hide her power just like the kappa had.

But she couldn’t act. Not without putting everything thus far in jeopardy. She had to maintain her human contacts, keep an eye on where the Sirens would be emerging, or else she would be handing over the war to Kawashiro for nothing. She’d have her fun eventually - patience, patience was what she needed to show here.

It was also precisely what Rinnosuke was lacking, but the loss of fortunes has a habit of making people impulsive.

“So, what are you doing to make up for this? How do you plan to get me my money back?”

The woman shrugged, nonchalantly. This man was too simple-minded for his position sometimes. It had been easy to win his trust; she had both money to finance operations, and if necessary she had men to carry them out. Or at least, creatures who looked enough like men to fool him.

“I’ll pay back your debt personally. Cash, of course, just how you like it. But leave the hunt for Miss Izayoi to me.”

The amount lost would be a sizable chunk of her finances, but it was payable. The last thing she needed was to have Morichika turn on her now. At the sound of her offer, the man’s expression loosened slightly. This was the first time she’d let him down, and if she was willing to pay for her short comings he was willing to give her a second chance.

“...Alright. If there’s anything I can do to help you track that bitch down, let me know.”

There. That was just what she’d been looking for him to say. He had a personal grudge against Izayoi now, and they knew where she lived. If she asked he’d probably send dozens of soldiers into the streets to fill her with lead. Too aggressive, in her opinion. Too blatant. She didn’t need any of that unnecessary distraction, and in a more practical sense the police would undoubtedly get a solid charge against Morichika if they were too forceful with this.

She would only ask one thing of him, and it would likely make all the difference.

“Tell me, where can I find this Tewi girl of yours?”
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Drake on February 26, 2011, 12:06:08 AM
Okay having the goon burst into a pile of fish might have been the greatest thing I've read all week.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on February 26, 2011, 05:04:12 AM
Yeah, I thought Tewi'd probably end up getting mind-leeched.

I have to say, though, that I did not expect Sakuya's freezing time, getting up, walking over to the dealer, and putting the fifth king on the top of the deck to have happened without her realizing it. Especially since it really felt like she was planning that all along. She used that first hand to goad Tewi into payback mode, resulting in Tewi signaling the dealer to draw her in with a high-value hand before dropping the royal flush. That, of course, resulted in her getting four-of-a-kind kings. It seems odd to me that she'd go through all that and then just hope that the fifth king was dealt, even if she does think she's got something that helps her get lucky. So I'm not ready to rule out that she has at least some knowledge of what she can do.

And you're really got me trying to figure out who the Black Claw woman is. She's obviously someone from the school, but the question is: who? This, of course, is made difficult to figure out by the fact that there are a lot of candidates there that we simply haven't seen yet, so it's more than just a 'which one of these people is it?' sort of thing. However, that plastic surgery comment makes me wonder. I'm trying to identify which characteres have some type of appearance-altering ability; that's the sort of thing that's likely to translate into plastic surgery. On the other hand, this woman is fully aware of what she is, so if she had such an ability, she wouldn't need plastic surgery. Which leads me to look towards PC-98 characters who've appeared in the Windows games, a list which, as far as I know, consists only of Reimu, Marisa, Alice, and Yuuka. I don't know what PC-98 Yuuka looks like, but I do know that the appearence of the other three changed from the PC-98 games to the Windows games, which makes it likely that Yuuka's did, as well. And of those four, I think Yuuka's the most likely candidate. Don't think I've finalized my theory, thoughs. This is just my current thoughts; I haven't arrived at a final theory yet.

Anyways, good stuff as always, and I'm looking forward to reading more.

Sakuya is aware that if she focuses just right on the deck, she can make insane things happen. As far as she's aware, she's just really lucky.

That would mean she is aware that she's doing something, though, right? So she has at least some awareness, just very little. Enough to come up with her plan for winning, but not enough to realize what she's actually doing.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Cystral Dragon on February 27, 2011, 06:44:39 AM
Persona 4?
No really! When I watched Koishi enter the mind I thought of the shadows from Persona 4! Trying to see everybody with ordinary hair color is hard though. I think the oh so mysterious teacher is Keine. Why? I tell you: 1/2 Youkai. I think it would make an interesting view point too.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Kips McKipzerson on February 27, 2011, 06:47:14 AM
Why is it so hard for a logical hard thinking person to read this whole story.

oh wait that's why fuck i cant stop giggling at the beginning parts of the story to continue onto the rest.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on February 27, 2011, 07:38:53 AM
You're not the only one to notice similarities to Persona, Crystal Dragon. Although I think it feels more like Persona 3 than Persona 4, the evil-versions-of-people thing aside.

The Persona series in general is a big influence on the story. Remember the glasses that stop people from seeing crazy stuff? Yeah. :V

With protags: In terms of P3 and P4, both of them have different ways of really dealing with characters and their personal issues. In P3, characters usually start off with personas, already have their mental fuckups, and the plot gives them a reason to change (starting with
Akihiko's reaction to the death of Shinji
, still my favourite part of the whole damn game.). In P4, characters obtain their personas by accepting their flaws, and though optional social links you help them come to terms with their issues and improve.

I'm aiming for something of a combination of the two - the Teardrop activating with the power of a wish is the main way I'm doing that, and in between arcs there's gonna be a check-in on each of the girls to show how they're moving on.

Mindcoil victims are probably gonna play the Persona 4 'manifestation of all my fuckups' side a lot straighter. Thank you ATLUS for giving me such good ideas to steal borrow indefinitely OTL[/color]
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Cystral Dragon on February 27, 2011, 11:07:48 PM
Now for my idea for parallelism.
Koishi- She seems more like the Persona 3 Protag but none of them honestly fit.
Moukou- AKIHIKO definitely. She calls Cirno kid like how Akihiko calls Ken a kid.
Cirno- Ken as stated above for reasoning.
Sakuya- Sakuya is a bit harder. I don't know how she works yet but I'm thinking maybe Mitsuru? Because the way she is bent on repaying that debt is like how Mitsuru  wants to regain the family honor. Maybe Naoto would work too since both are calm people.
Sango- Teddy. I mean the bear form=Dolphin while human is like the Youkai form. They both also serve as mission control until Rise replaces Teddie of course
But still I really liked the Persona Series . I would try beating the game if my PS2 wasn't broken.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on March 04, 2011, 05:51:51 PM
Crystal: I'd have to disagree with... well, probably all of your assessments. Can't think of any good character parallels at this time, except for Mokou, who's pretty damned similar to Shinji, not Aki (she mostly gives up everything after Kaguya's betrayal, similar to Shinji actively ruining his own life after
he kills Ken's mom
, is soft hearted to whomever she likes and tries to be a psuedo role model, similarly to Shinji (Aki plays the aloof cool brother, but has no idea how to relate to other people outside of fighting), and is mostly focused on improving other people (again, Shinji, once you get to know him)). Cirno's more like Kanji than Ken: Ken is a smart kid who lets his sense of justice overrun his good judgement, and tries to act more mature than he is to keep people from worrying about him, while Kanji tries to hide his insecurities by overplaying his "badassness", pushes people away with abrasiveness due to said insecurities, and gets frustrated way too easily.

We really can't say anything about Sakuya at this point, and I don't really have the time to analyze Sango right now. Nitori is definitely Funky Student. I'll get back with those after class today.

Note to self: Nitori will now speak in disco phrases and riddles.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Cystral Dragon on March 04, 2011, 10:26:07 PM
Nitori is definitely Funky Student
Curse you! Now whenever I think of her I'm going to think of that.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on March 05, 2011, 01:51:58 AM
Yeah, I can't really think of a good Persona parallel for Sango: Teddie really doesn't work, partly because of his really goofy demeanor (Sango's goofiness is really more fish out of water :V ) and partly because he's one hell of a manipulator (which Sango is decidedly not, though she does have her moments of cleverness). As for Koishi... Fuuka.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on March 05, 2011, 10:29:47 PM
As for Koishi... Fuuka.
oh god that voice

THAT VOICE

UPDATING TO GET THIS IMAGE OUT OF MY HEAD

-----

This was always the hard part. Koishi now had to convince Sakuya that she lived in a magical world of talking animals and murderous fishmen. It was only at times like this she appreciated just how ridiculous everything for the last few weeks had been.

Sakuya listened in as she led the pair to the outskirts of town. She jumped between confusion and surprise as the story wore on, and at one point grabbed at Sango?s back to feel at this fin of hers. The dolphin squealed so loudly that Koishi couldn?t resist giggling to herself about it.

When she?d managed to get everything across - at least, without going into the parts they were supposed to keep secret until Nitori came around - Koishi wrapped up her synopsis. Sakuya didn?t respond right off the bat, putting her hand on her chin in a thoughtful gesture.

?Well. I?ll be honest with you, and say that if you had told me this story yesterday I?d have dismissed you as a liar. Or a maniac. Perhaps a little of both, actually, because no liar worth their salt would try to sell a tale THAT ridiculous.?

There was an almost lecturing tone to Sakuya?s voice. She was speaking from her own experience with lying, Koishi assumed.

?That said,? Sakuya continued with a sigh, ?I?ve seen your handiwork first hand, and I?m relatively sure it?s the only thing that stopped me from getting a bullet between the eyes. I?m tempted to buy into your story...almost.?

The last word came out tensely, as Sakuya took a step further away from the pair. She glared back at Koishi, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

?You had one parlour trick in the clinic, and your friend has a ?fin? that may well be plastic. All well and good, but what?s to stop me from thinking this is some cunning double-bluff Morichika set up for me? Do you have any other proof for me??

Koishi frowned in response to Sakuya?s words. At her side, Sango let out a long sigh.

Should?ve figured this one would be a little suspicious of us...

The dolphin slumped her shoulders. She?d figured that she would be proof enough for Sakuya, but nothing short of outright conclusive proof was going to work here.

Koishi pondered for a moment, lifting her glasses upwards slightly. She?d never had a chance to see Sakuya?s magical form before, and maybe it would be enough to give her an idea.

Instantly, the thought struck her, and she grinned a little.

?Hey, Izayoi-san. What colour?s your hair??

Sakuya seemed almost offended by that, her nose scrunching up like Koishi had just insulted her. She responded matter-of-factly, looking more and more convinced that Koishi really was insane.

?What sort of question is that? Blonde, obviously.?

Koishi caught sight of Sango?s eyes widening at that answer. Of course the idea wouldn?t have come to her - she?d never used the glasses, so she had no idea what Sakuya thought she looked like.

?How sure are you about that??

Sakuya went from confused to cross in the space of about a second. She grabbed at one of the plaids at the side of her face, yanking it forward.

?Alright, you?ve crossed the line here. Thankful as I am, this has all been too convenient, and your story was hard enough to believe without you spouting nonsense like this. If this shade isn?t blonde, I don?t know what i-?

For an instant during the last sentence, Koishi saw Sakuya?s eyes move from her to the plaid of her own hair she?d held up.

Then Sakuya?s words died in her throat, and suddenly her attention was transfixed on her own appearance.

?That...that?s not blonde. That?s...silver.?

Sure enough, Sakuya was seeing her hair the way it really was now. All this discussion had opened her mind enough that even if she was still suspicious, she was aware enough that some fragments of the other world were seeping through. Fragments such as her own hair colour - what she?d seen as blonde, youkai like Sango had always seen as a flawless silver.

For a few seconds, Sakuya was silent. She tugged at the hair to check if it was real, and winced accordingly. She undid the ribbon, ensuring it behaved like hair was supposed to. Once again, it complied, in defiance to every logical thought process that Sakuya could produce.

From the amount of time she spent examining it, Koishi was concerned even THIS wasn?t going to be enough to prove the point to Sakuya. She had nothing to worry about, though - Sakuya could have been as suspicious as she wanted about other people, but now that she?d seen this sort of change in herself her skepticism couldn?t maintain itself. Her words were reluctant, resigned.

?...Fine. I?m out of explanations. You win. I?ll buy into your magical girl story.?

With that, whatever doubt Sakuya had left fell to the wayside. She was quickly aware of something growing out from Koishi?s sides - tendrils, purple ones, coming together to form some sort of sealed orb around her chest. It looked like an eyelid, almost, but whatever it was it was nothing natural. Sakuya?s eyes fell onto it with both amazement and a hint of fear.

?I...think that eye thing of yours would have done a much better job at convincing me.?

Koishi needed a moment to realise what Sakuya was referring to. So few people around her could see this third eye of hers that sometimes she herself forgot it existed. Only the awkward feeling of rubbing it against her bedcovers at night served as a reminder.

?Well, there?s another story behind that one...?

Sakuya shrugged, looking back to the streets. They were on the outskirts of town now, but from the look on Sakuya?s face there was still a long way to go.

?We?ve got time. You may as well get started.?

-----

Now she didn?t have to worry about Sakuya thinking she was crazy, Koishi told her own story. She kept it short and impersonal, more for her own sake than for Sakuya?s. Talking about the past still wasn?t something she was comfortable with.

?Oh, on that note...we should probably tell you about your power as well.?

Sakuya?s face warped.

?You?re telling me I have one of these powers as well? Here I was thinking all I could do was change my hair colour at will.?

Sango laughed at that, perhaps a little too hard. Koishi gave her an awkward glare for it.

...What? I thought it was funny.

Paying the dolphin no mind, Koishi pressed onwards.

?...Anyway, you?ve got a thing you do, right? When you?re gambling, and you really need a card to come up.?

Sakuya was slightly stunned by Koishi?s deduction. She jerked her head back, her expression incredulous.

?I thought you said you couldn?t read minds. Yes, I do a visualisation of sorts when the tables get tense. Nothing major, just imagining myself placing the card I need on...top of the...deck.?

By the end of the sentence her words trailed off as she mentally filled in the blanks. She nodded for a moment, actually looking more relieved than surprised.

?So it wasn?t just luck after all. Good! I was afraid I?d hit a downturn sooner or later.?

Sakuya?s eyes lit up, and she once again wore a pensive look. She started muttering to herself, getting more and more interested in her own ideas with every word.

?Yes, that?s interesting! I should definitely be able to find a way to use it for roulette, and that?s where the real money will be. Yes, that?ll work wonderfully...?

Koishi?s eyes widened at that. Sakuya had just barely escaped death after cheating one casino out of a fortune, and now she was looking to do it again? That wasn?t bravery, that was just plain madness.

Geez...is something wrong in that girl?s head?

Sango didn?t put her thoughts into words, but the message she sent across to Koishi was blunt enough to make a point. An awkward silence rose between the three for a while, though Sakuya seemed too absorbed in her own thoughts to really notice it. Finally, out of sheer need to understand what was happening inside the girl?s skull, Koishi blurted out a question she?d wanted to know the answer to for a while.

?Uh...Izayoi-san. Where exactly are you taking us??

That was enough to distract Sakuya from her plans for the future. She looked backwards again, her words making it sound like what followed was the most obvious thing in the world.

?Home, of course. I have a shift to get to - last night was my day off, so I need to compensate.?

Koishi blinked a few times at that, her brain not quite parsing the sentence properly. She saw Sango gripping her temples as a headache caught on.

?...Wait. You work a shift...at home? At night??

Sakuya nodded, seemingly unaware of how strange she sounded.

?Of course. That?s what a maid does, isn?t it??

Koishi needed a moment to recover from the initial shock. She could make out a slight whimpering from Sango - the word ?maid? reminded her too much of her outfit back at the casino. By the time she?d recovered, their destination was coming up fast on the horizon.

?So what, are you a cleaner? Because maid isn?t really a word I hear a lot outside of costume cafes. It always gives me this idea of an old Western mansion and the frilly aprons and head dresses.?

There was a pause as Koishi and Sango both waited for clarification from Sakuya. Surely she wasn?t THAT sort of maid. They existed only in fiction, didn?t they? Cleaners, maybe; employees, without a doubt. Maids? Way too far.

Rather than allay their fears, Sakuya shrugged.

?Well, it?s all of that. I work for a Western family, and they figured that even in foreign lands they should bring a little slice of home. Is that a problem??

?N-No, not at all. It?s just...?

Sakuya stared at Koishi for a moment, not quite understanding what the issue was. Seeing that Koishi wasn?t going to finish that sentence, she turned around and continued leading them on. Sure enough, a large Western-style mansion began to appear in the distance.

...So. The Sirens so far are me, a health-nut brawler, and now the sneakiest maid I?ve ever seen.

Sango didn?t even pass any thoughts across to Koishi in response to that. She just looked across to her and nodded, very slowly.

...Yukari has a pretty awful sense of humour, if you ask me.

-----

Tewi couldn?t sleep.

Of course she couldn?t. How could she be expected to sleep after a night like that? Rinnosuke had let her off without any physical punishment, but the words he?d left her were painful enough.

?There, there, darling. It?s okay. Uncle Kourin is here for you.?

She owed him everything she had - this home, her riches, and more or less every moment she?d been outside of the orphanage. When everyone who cared about her was gone, he was there to stand in and act like a father.

But still, how genuine was it? How much did he actually care for her, and how much was she simply being used? Was she just a tool for him to exploit? A handy accessory, a pretty face?

Tewi lay on her bed, staring emptily at the ceiling. The thought hung in the forefront of her mind for a few minutes, and there was no answer she could decide on that didn?t feel slightly wrong to her. One option was honest, but the other wasn?t painful for her to consider.

As usual, she chose the latter and decided to rewrite the facts a little in her head. Even if she was just a playtoy, she thought, it wouldn?t matter if she told herself that Rinnosuke cared for her. It was one of those big self-help things going around, wasn?t it? The world is what you make it, or something like that.

Tewi liked that idea. It was comforting. So what if it wasn?t true?

That left her with only one problem. On the bedstand besides her, there was a tiny slip of paper with an address written on it. It was etched in Rinnosuke?s memorable handwriting - artistic to the point of barely being legible.

The address was Izayoi?s. The woman who?d played her for a fool last night. Rinnosuke hadn?t told her anything in particular when he handed her the card - just that it was ?something she might like to know?.

That was obviously a euphemism for ?feel free to get your payback if you feel like it?.

This time, there was no happy choice to distract herself with. Either she had to live with the shame of being beaten, or she had to dirty her hands. She?d never killed anyone before - all she?d done was cheat gamblers out of their money. Murder was...could she even do that? She?d been given a gun some time ago, but it was a rickety model, and she?d never fired it.

Yet on the other hand, she?d already let down Rinnosuke more than enough today. He would want something back from her, even if he hadn?t said as much. He hadn?t given her a blatant order to track down Izayoi and kill her, but he?d suggested it. From a person in his occupation, the implications were stronger than any outright demand.

If she could, she?d have disregarded the idea. Rinnosuke wouldn?t expect something like this from her! He loved her, right? She may as well forget it and wash all her worries away with a big bowl of strawberry ice cream.

The knowledge that she?d probably be beaten senseless if she disappointed him - like the dealer she?d been forced to watch - made denying the issue much harder.

Maybe Tewi would have lay there in bed forever, never making that decision, if there hadn?t been an unexpected knock on her apartment door at that precise moment.

?Mmh??

Suddenly forced to focus, Tewi became aware of just how tired she was. Her body heaved itself upright, stumbling out of the bedroom. She ignored her dressing gown slipping down one shoulder. It was probably a door-to-door salesman running an evening shift, someone she could slam the door on with impunity. She could do with the stress relief after what she?d been through.

Even opening the door was hard for her when she felt this tired, but Tewi struggled against it nonetheless. When at last she won the gargantuan battle against the handle, she found herself being looked down on by a much taller woman, one who she didn?t recognise. She dressed well, at least - a tightly-clad black suit, the sort a businesswoman would wear on the verge of making a big sale.

She?d never seen a salesman this well dressed, but that didn?t really change the fact she was no-one Tewi wanted to see right now.

?Good evening, Miss Inaba! I?m with-?

?Whatever you?re selling, I don?t want it.?

Tewi made to shut the door, but she wasn?t quite quick enough. The woman on the other side jammed her foot in, and pushed her way in with almost impossible force. There was some ridiculous muscle behind that suit, Tewi thought to herself with shock.

?Now, let?s not be so quick to judge. I think you?ll find we have a mutual friend in Mr. Morichika, correct??

Tewi let out a loud gulp. She should have figured Rinnosuke would send someone to check on her. Best not to give her any other reasons to get angry, she decided, so she stepped aside to let the woman in. Ignorant of Tewi?s rather obvious fears, the visitor offered her a grateful nod as she closed the door behind her.

?Many thanks. Now, I?m to understand you have an issue with a Miss Izayoi, correct? One you?d like resolved permanently, so to speak.?

Straight to the point, and all with that pretty smile on her face. It was a little disturbing, to be frank, how these gangster folks could talk so lightly about death. Tewi was a good liar, perhaps, but that was one case where she couldn?t quite hide her feelings on the matter. She twiddled her thumbs, stepping backwards as she found herself slowly retracing her steps into the bedroom.

?...I never said I wanted to do that. How would I even pull it off, anyway? I?m a fast-talker, not a gunslinger.?

The suited woman followed her, just close enough to feel uncomfortable. Tewi picked up her pace a little, but her uninvited guest matched her with ease. Before she knew it the pair were in the bedroom again, with Tewi?s back to her own bed.

?I expected you to say that. See, that?s where I come in. I?m here to give you a little...help in terms of dealing with Miss Izayoi.?

Even after Tewi had stopped, the gangster kept approaching. This was far too close now. Tewi fell backwards over her bed, trying to roll over to the other side, but all that did was leave her at a dead end. The woman in the suit walked around, still grinning. That grin was twisted, broken, wrong - Tewi knew from her own experience that was the smile of a woman who couldn?t be trusted.

?R-Really, I?ll be fine! Maybe. I need to think it over a little-?

The woman grabbed Tewi by the shoulders, leaning down so they were face to face. Their lips were only inches apart now, and the woman whispered just loud enough to terrify her.

?Who said I was giving you a choice??

Then their lips crossed, and Tewi felt something being forced down her throat. No, not down, up - past her nose, and into her brain, but that couldn?t be-

The suited woman grinned, seeing Tewi go limp in her arms. The coil had been planted, and within a matter of seconds the gambler was conscious again. Only a darker pair of eyes showed that anything was wrong with her.

As if to correct that, a murderous smile ran across her face.

?...If I tell myself I didn?t kill her, does it really matter if I did??

Tewi?s guest smirked, handing her a golden key.

?That?s the spirit, Miss Inaba.?

So easy to manipulate. Just like the rest of these filthy humans.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Kasu on March 05, 2011, 10:43:38 PM
Looks like a certain someone is gonna have to mind-dive again.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on March 05, 2011, 11:27:55 PM
Not that this is unexpected.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Drake on March 06, 2011, 01:04:27 AM
>Their lips were only inches apart now, and the woman whispered [...] Then their lips crossed...
this is hot

>and Tewi felt something being forced down her throat. No, not down, up - past her nose, and into her brain, but that couldn?t be-
oh god why
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Cystral Dragon on March 06, 2011, 01:12:57 AM
Yukari does have an awful sense of humor... but I approve!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on March 08, 2011, 09:45:31 PM
This was Koishi?s first time seeing a Western mansion. It would probably have had more of an effect on her if the lack of light wasn?t stopping her from seeing most of it. She could just make out the crimson paint on the walls - the same shade as the bakery, and just as unnerving as it had been back then. A large gate blocked further entry, the only way past a fence that circled the entire building.

A small cubicle stood at the side of the gate, where presumably a guard was supposed to stand watch and ward off potential intruders. ?Presumably? was the word that ran through Koishi?s head because the woman inside the cubicle wasn?t doing much in the way of guarding. Snoring, on the other hand, she was doing more than enough of.

Sakuya let off an angry rapping through the glass window of the cubicle, and the guard sat straight with almost impossible haste. Perhaps it was a defense mechanism she?d developed after being caught napping on the job for so long. Either way, as the guard sat upright, Koishi recognised another familiar face - albeit one with a large red mark on her forehead from where she?d pressed against the glass.

?Wha-Hello, Sakuya! Lovely weather today, isn?t it?!?

Meiling stuttered out words like a machine gun, her eyes darting in every direction other than towards Sakuya. They quickly found something worthwhile to rest upon, stopping at the pair of newcomers Sakuya had brought with her.

?Wait...Koishi-chan? What?s she doing here? Are you two friends now??

Sakuya frowned slightly at that. She went off into her own little world of introspection, trying to find the word that best fit her relationship to Koishi.

?We?re...acquaintances.?

?And you haul acquaintances out in the middle of the night to your place??

Meiling had woken up quickly, taking the first opening for a quip that Sakuya had given her. The maid rewarded her with a solemn-looking glare.

?Just open the door, China. You have no idea what kind of day I?ve had.?

She meant that from the bottom of her heart. Even with a pane of glass between them, Meiling could feel the intensity of Sakuya?s stare with ease. She started fiddling with the control panel in front of her, eventually pulling the gates open with a loud creak.

?Uh, there you go. Have a good shift, I guess??

Meiling?s voice faded with every word until she was barely audible. Sakuya paid her no mind, walking through the now open gateway and making her way towards the mansion proper. Koishi and Sango fell behind a little, still slightly taken aback by Sakuya?s general mood. The dolphin looked her, her expression sullen.

?...Don?t tell her I said this, but am I the only one who thinks Izayoi-san is sort of a jerk??

Koishi was very tempted to nod at that. They?d seen her play for dirty money at casinos, argue with every fellow employee she had, and in general they?d seen nothing out of her that was vaguely charitable.

?...Still. Does that sound like the sort of person Yukari would trust with a Teardrop? Someone who?d use the power to break the banks and die wealthy??

Sango shrugged. Even if the evidence in favour of it was weighing up, she still wasn?t very supportive of the ?grand plan? theory the professor kept preaching about.

?She?s got skill. What makes you so sure she?s not just a jerk with talent??

Sango pouted as she spoke. The thought of working with someone like Sakuya for any length of time wasn?t a pleasant one. Koishi, though, had chosen to withhold her judgements for now.

She couldn?t place it with words, but when she?d been around Sakuya there?d been a feeling of...unease. Panic. Desperation. Something else had been on Sakuya?s mind the whole time, and it wasn?t the money; at least, not directly. She remembered the conversation she?d overheard in the bakery - about a cure, and a debt Sakuya was planning to repay.

Maybe something inside the mansion would change Sango?s mind. At least, she hoped so - the look of disappointment on the dolphin?s face looked like it could curdle milk on sight.

-----

It took the pair a couple of minutes to cross the pathway to the mansion itself. Sakuya had gone on ahead, but she?d at least been thoughtful enough to leave the door unlocked. Even the handle was foreboding - a beast?s face was carved into the metal, and Koishi half expected it to bite her as she gripped it. Was the family who owned this place deliberately trying to scare guests off?

The hallway which Koishi stepped into was in no way more welcoming. From the inside, Koishi saw now that curtains had been set up across all the windows, ensuring that light had no chance of making it inside. Only the dim lighting from the chandelier above stopped her from walking into a wall - or more likely, the two statues that had been set out in the hallway. They were men, both of them, relatively old but with fearsome glances that seemed to follow Koishi as she walked around. The light seemed almost deliberately set up to make them look foreboding as a cruel joke on the part of the designers. Koishi needed a deep breath before she could step forward and look more carefully at them, and by then a hand had already grabbed her by the shoulder.

?Koishi-saaaaan...maybe we should wait for Izayoi-san to come back. Y?know, we might end up going somewhere we aren?t meant to and all. Let?s just wait outside for now...?

Evidently, Sango was having an even worse time of this than Koishi was.

C?mon, Sango-san. You can fight for your life against magical abominations, and you?re scared of a few pieces of rock?

The dolphin pouted, puffing her cheeks up as she furrowed her brow.

I?m not scared! I?m just...being cautious, that?s all!

The Siren let out a little sigh. Turning around, she took Sango by the hand and gripped it tightly.

?If you get scared, just squeeze it. Okay??

Sango?s face went a little red at that, as she remembered the accident from earlier in the day. Still, Koishi?s hand in hers wasn?t exactly probing at anything...and it was a little comfortable, actually. A deep breath and a little squeeze later, Sango was ready to stand her ground in the face of whatever these statues were.

There were inscriptions beneath the statues, written in English. To Sango it was utter gibberish, but Koishi was fluent enough in the language to read them.

?Bram...Stoker? Wasn?t he a writer or something??

The name rang a vague bell in Koishi?s head, but beyond the books they covered in English she wasn?t very familiar with foreign literature. It was somewhere in her brain, but it?d take her a while to fish it out.

The statue of Stoker stood proudly with a book in his hand, running the other through a well trimmed beard. The stonework was well kept - it couldn?t have been more than a few years since it was sculpted. The man across from him was from a much darker age of history - dressed nobly for his time, but without the modern sophistication of Stoker. Perhaps most disturbing was the large stake the man was holding besides him - maybe it was a trick of the light, but Koishi could have sworn there were a few droplets of blood at its tip.

?Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia? And I thought Bram was a strange name for a ma-?

?You would do well not to insult those names, girl.?

Two sensations struck Koishi at once. First, a sudden chill down her spine as a powerful voice rang through the hallway. Second, the feeling of Sango squeezing her hand so hard she was surprised it didn?t break.

?P-Phwweeeeeee! Who?s there?!?

Sango had already taken refuge behind Koishi, both of them looking straight in the direction the voice had come from. Its owner stood in the stairwell, one hand on the railing as she slowly made her way down the steps. Every footstep echoed, as she deliberately avoided the red carpet in the middle and stepped on solid stone.

As she came into view, Koishi found her initial fears were mostly unfounded. Though she spoke with confidence, the girl who?d spoken up was no threat physically. Her skin was almost pure white, like it had never seen the sun, and her hair was only a fraction darker. Her red eyes were bright and powerful, staring straight into Koishi?s without fear, but they seemed out of place in that frail body. Combined with the light pink dress she was wearing, Koishi almost mistook her for a doll at first glance.

?Perhaps you Eastern folks are not educated in our histories. Pitiable, but understandable. Maybe you know him better by another name??

The booming voice echoed across the room again. She spoke Japanese in the same manner Patchouli did - fluently, but more formal than most conversation would ever need. Koishi had steeled herself against the stranger?s charisma, but Sango was still clutching tightly to her hand, ready to bolt out the door at any moment. The girl grinned at her reaction, picking up speed down the stairs.

?His people knew him as Vlad Tepes - Vlad the Impaler. Understandable, given that he saw no better punishment than to run a stake through those who he saw as immoral. Thieves, adulterers, liars, and the sort.?

Silence. The girl looked Koishi head on, looking for a hint of recognition. Again, there was nothing - Western history was perhaps an even worse subject for Koishi than Western literature. Professor Kamishirasawa hadn?t done anything to help with that, given her insistence on bringing up Japanese folklore every time she found an opening for it.

?...No? Still nothing??

The girl in pink frowned. For an instant, Koishi saw her proud stature give way, and instead of a confident, charismatic figure she found herself looking at a selfish, frustrated child. The proud grin was back a moment later, though, and she spoke again as if the lapse had never happened.

?Well, I suppose I shall have to give you all of the answers. You must know of Bram Stoker?s most famous book, mustn?t you??

This time, Koishi?s eyes did show a flicker of understanding. It was there - the name, she knew it, she just needed time to think-

!!!

Of course. How could she have forgotten? The clues were staring her right in the face. Vlad the Impaler. The stakes. The blood. This girl with ashen skin and brilliant red eyes.

The name fell of Koishi?s mouth as another wave of fear washed over her.

?...Dracula.?

That was exactly what the girl had been waiting to hear. She cackled - laughing in a way that seemed to pass through the air into Koishi?s skin, leaving the hairs on the back of her neck tingling.

It can?t be...she isn?t a...?!

Sango was still horribly out of the loop here, clinging to Koishi?s hand for dear life.

Dracula? What?s that? Who?s that?! What?s going on!?

The lady of the mansion took the last few steps down the staircase, coming to a stop in front of her two guests. She was clearly enjoying this whole spectacle, an impish smile running across her face.

?I see you?ve put it all together, child. Allow me to congratulate you for deducing the blatantly obvious.?

She pinched the sides of her dress, then performed a flawless curtsy towards Koishi.

?Remilia Scarlet, the noblest vampire of Gensouto. Trust me, the pleasure is all yours.?

-----

Koishi needed a moment to notice the change.

A few seconds ago it had been Sango squeezing her hand in panic and preparing to flee. Koishi had been relatively calm, ready to take on the ill-looking girl.

The instant the word vampire came up, the balance flipped. Suddenly it was Koishi letting her emotions get the best of her - all the stories about how they took young maidens in at the dead of night and drained them of their blood, leaving them dead or - worse - undead! Maybe recently everyone was convinced they sparkled and such, but from the way this girl had been booming out Koishi had no trouble believing she was the real deal! And maybe - maybe Sakuya was one of her servants, and they?d been lured here as a trap!?

Meanwhile, Sango?s fears had vanished entirely, and she simply gave Remilia a blank stare.

?Oh.?

Koishi jerked her head back to Sango, unable to see what had suddenly made the dolphin so calm. She was ready to pull her out of this mansion right now, youkai strength be damned.

Sango-san, what are you waiting for!? We need to get out of he-

Vampires don?t exist, Koishi-san.

Awkward silence followed that thought. Koishi felt vaguely as if her heart had been thrown down a flight of stairs.

...R...Really?

Trust me. I know a hell of a lot about youkai, and vampires are just one of those urban myths you humans like so much.

Koishi?s emotions moved swiftly from fear straight to humiliation. She?d been taken in entirely by Remilia?s monologue, her confidence. Hell, the girl sounded so genuine that it was as if she genuinely believed she was a vampire. Even as she saw the sudden lack of fear in her guests, she didn?t drop the act for a moment.

?Ah, so you are brave enough not to flee in my presence. That is impressive! It has been years since someone showed me such courage. Isn?t that right, Sakuya??

Remilia?s head turned suddenly to a side corridor, with Koishi and Sango turning to look in the same direction. They?d been watched, at least for a short while, by a young woman in the traditional maid outfit of old. A dark blue dress with a frilled white apron, it held to her figure perfectly. But even in this anachronistic choice of outfit, Sakuya was unmistakable.

?Milady,? Sakuya started, with a tone of respect that neither girl had heard from her until now, ?may I suggest you return to your room momentarily? I must inform our guests of your...heritage.?

Rather than calling out Remilia on her behaviour - or even on the fact that a girl her age shouldn?t have been up this late - Sakuya offered her mistress a deep bow alongside her request. Again, Koishi saw the expression on Remilia?s face shift for a moment to a childish pout, followed by a sigh.

?Very well, Sakuya. I hope this will not make tonight?s meal tardy??

?You underestimate me, Milady. I could lecture this pair for an hour and still have your dinner ready in advance.?

Remilia grinned. The maid felt no shame in matching her confidence, and that was exactly what she wanted in a servant. She began to make her way up the stairs again, offering a devilish smirk to the guests as a parting gesture.

?If you two are staying tonight, may I suggest a coffin? Somewhat stuffy, perhaps, but you?ll never have to worry about morning light.?

With that, she made her way up the stairs. The act broken, she dashed up in an utterly childish manner, leaping two stairs at a time. Maybe she looked unwell, but Remilia was still physically capable.

For a moment Koishi and Sango stood in place, unsure of what to make of their encounter with Remilia Scarlet. A petite cough from Sakuya was their cue to step back into reality and make their way down the corridor with her. Immediately, they were surrounded by doors on all sides, each one identical to the ones surrounding it without so much as a label. In spite of this, Sakuya traversed the twists and turns of the mansion with absolute confidence, and her two ?acquaintances? followed close behind out of fear of getting lost. Again, Koishi noticed that every window was blocked by a curtain - not only that, but they were much thicker curtains than most households ever used.

?I had hoped there would be a chance to explain this all before you met her,? Sakuya muttered, not even bothering to hide her frustration. ?Milady is a very...special case.?

Sango scrunched up her nose at the sound of ?Milady?. It was one of those fancy words that was thrown around a century ago, so why was it being used here?

?Uh, what?s with the whole ?Milady? thing? It?s kinda old-fashioned.?

?Well, given that she?s more or less responsible for me being alive today, forgive me if I feel the need to display respect for her.?

Sango?s head slumped. Even before Sakuya had got the first word out of her mouth she?d realised her faux pas, and decided to hang behind Koishi for the rest of the trip.

Learning from her companion?s mistake, Koishi was much softer with her approach. Something was going on behind the scenes here. Something important. Something that could be the key to awakening Sakuya?s Teardrop.

?Sakuya-san, be straight with us. Why does Remilia-san think she?s a vampire??

Sakuya came to an abrupt stop. Koishi almost walked into her back, and Sango almost walked into Koishi?s. The maid turned on her heels to face one of the identikit doors, unlocking it with her master key and pulling it open.

?I don?t feel I can give you a thorough enough answer. That?s why I?m taking you to an expert.?

Koishi couldn?t see more than a few feet inside, but she made out the first few bookshelves with ease. It was no challenge to conclude that this was a library, and Sakuya was taking them to meet the librarian. Still, she hadn?t had an answer to her question.

?An expert on what??

The term that flew out of Sakuya?s mouth was long and scientific to the point it made Sango?s head spin. Yet it was spoken with such ease, such grace, such simplicity, that it was clearly a term Sakuya knew far too well. One that had shaped her life for years, and had the potential to shape it until the day she died.

?Xeroderma pigmentosum.?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Cystral Dragon on March 08, 2011, 10:48:25 PM
If there was one single thing I guessed correct it was the condition Remilia was suffering. All of a sudden Reality TV Shows payoff....
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on March 09, 2011, 02:41:08 AM
Yeah, that's the sort of thing I was expecting. I wasn't expecting the vampires-don't-exist thing, though; I was expecting the whatever-condition thing to be something she thought she had when she was really a vampire, not the other way around.

Anyways, good stuff, and I'm looking forward to more.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on April 02, 2011, 06:01:54 PM
>No update in like 3 weeks

;_;

-----

The dim lighting reared its ugly head the moment Sakuya closed the door. Bulbs hung from the ceiling, making what must have been a deliberate attempt to give off as little light as possible. Koishi?s shoulders started grew sore after the third or so collision with a nearby bookshelf. She hadn?t been aware that walking forward could actually be this hard. Sango had apparently taken the smarter option by hanging behind - thus learning from Koishi?s mistakes - but that might have just been her trying to stay away from Sakuya rather than a clever move on her part.

The books lined up on these shelves shared a common theme - they were medical tomes, in more languages than Koishi even knew existed. Some were up-to-date, laminated for preservation; others were suffering badly from the wear of time, set to collapse entirely if touched with anything resembling force. The titles that were in Japanese may as well have been in gibberish from all the weighty scientific terms they used. In short, this was not Koishi?s type of literature.

The further in they went, the more the books started to display more common themes. One phrase jumped out more often the further in they walked, still in every language Koishi had heard of and several she hadn?t. If she hadn?t heard Sakuya say it a few minutes earlier, it would?ve been gibberish to her.

But there it was, coming up over and over again. Xeroderma pigmentosum. She almost considered pulling one of the books off the shelf and giving it a look, but based on the titles they?d likely be far too complicated for her to understand without five years of med school.

The march felt like it had taken an age, but in truth they?d been walking for a few minutes at best. Time seemed to hold no meaning here - there was no sunlight, and what little light there was could only be described as inadequate. Looking backwards, she could see no sign of the entrance either, like she?d stepped into another realm entirely.

Eventually, the trio came across the one object in the room that was not a bookshelf. A small desk was neatly placed between two of these shelves, perhaps the only surface in the library not to be covered by a layer of dust. On the chair behind it, a frail-looking young woman was lying back, letting off a quiet snoring. The light purple nightgown she?d worn made it clear she hadn?t fallen asleep by accident. Koishi recognised the woman in a few seconds - Patchouli, the stern-looking one from the bakery. Instinctively, she slowed her pace down so that her footsteps didn?t wake up the sleeping librarian.

Possessing none of her subtlety, Sakuya simply started to shake at Patchouli?s shoulder.

?Mmm...no, of course it isn?t lupus...?

The librarian mumbled to herself for a few seconds. Rather than taking this as a sign to stop, Sakuya began to shake at her even harder. The puffed-up white hat laying on her head eventually slipped off - Koishi wasn?t paying too close attention, but from what she could see the girl?s eyes leapt open the instant the hat hit the floor.

?Wha...what?s-?

Patchouli?s eyes darted around the room for a moment. They stopped quickly on Sakuya, and the worried look on her face shifted back to the stern expression Koishi recognised.

?Ah, so you?re back after all. From the way you stomped out of the bakery, I hadn?t expected you to return without the almighty panacea in your hand.?

A vile glare passed from Patchouli to Sakuya, and straight back in equal measure. Just on reflex Koishi stepped backwards, accidentally smacking Sango in the chest with her head. For once Sango had an understanding of subtlety, and her cry of shock was muffled (for her standards, at least).

?So, what drives you to wake up a librarian unwilling in the middle of the night? From what I recall, the children are your responsibility for the next eight hours.?

Patchouli yawned. She wanted this conversation over quickly so she could return to whatever dream she?d been having beforehand. Sakuya didn?t share this concern, pointing straight at the pair she?d hauled in.

?I figured that you were the only one here qualified to explain what the situation with the mistress is.?

A glare, long and hard. Patchouli squinted towards the barely visible Koishi, beckoning her closer with one hand. Recognition dawned on her as the schoolgirl approached.

?Ah, you?re the one I asked to find Izayoi. Well, considering it was her bringing you in rather than you bringing her in, forgive me if I?m not willing to rummage around for the reward.?

Koishi shrugged. Frankly, she couldn?t care less about a discount at a bakery right now. There was a story here, and she needed to hear it; for Sakuya?s sake, and quite possibly everyone else?s as well.

?Wait. Why is Patchouli-san the only one who can explain this? She?s a librarian, isn?t she??

Koishi finally plucked up the courage to speak in the midst of this painful atmosphere. It felt as if at any point Sakuya and Patchouli could potentially jump their counterpart and beat them senseless, but it seemed that moment wasn?t due for at least a while.

?A librarian? Please. I think you should be giving me a little more credit.?

From the desk in front of her Patchouli reached forward, picking up her reading glasses. As she put them on, the level of professionalism and respect she gave off intensified considerably, making Koishi forget for a moment that she was in her nightgown and not a labcoat. Meanwhile, at her side, Sakuya passed Koishi the glare this time, silently sending her the message ?Great, now you?ve got her started on her monologue?.

?You are, after all, speaking to one of the world?s most talented geneticists. Specialising in rare genetic disorders and treatment of such, I graduated at the top of my class from the University of Cambridge. Combined with a natural gift for tongues, I gained my degree with the potential to work anywhere in the world if I so pleased-?

The soliloquy was (thankfully?) interrupted. A sudden hacking cough forced its way out of her throat, shaking her entire frame. For a moment Koishi could have sworn the woman was made of glass, prepared to fall apart at the slightest touch. After a few seconds of choking, Patchouli at last caught her breath.

?...At least, that is how my life would have gone were my physical health not something of an issue. I was rather quickly prohibited from being anywhere near patients for fear that I would either pass on whatever illness I happened to be carrying, or be killed by the very disease I was attempting to cure.?

Koishi caught, for the tiniest moment, a hint of sadness in Patchouli?s eyes. She was speaking eagerly of a life she never had the chance to live, and that fact had left its mark on her. The vulnerability was gone in an instant, though, and she was back to the haughty ?librarian? she?d been before.

?Perhaps I would have died penniless were it not for circumstance. A French philanthropist caught my name in an article, and knowing I could not seek employment elsewhere asked for my assistance. He was looking for a personal attendant, one who could aid his wife during her pregnancy. He had no intention of trusting the wellbeing of his children to state doctors - he wanted the best of the best, and thus he called for me. It was a fully-paid position, accommodation and all, so I saw no reason to refuse; even if he had perhaps misunderstood the English article and respected me for a duty that was not my specialty.

I was with them for nine months, and everything went as planned. The two children were delivered safely, to overjoyed parents who gave them all the love they could. As a family celebration, they organised a trip to Japan - to the tiny city of Gensouto, where the fresh air would be much more beneficial to them than the Parisian smog. To that extent, they were right.?

Patchouli?s face grew grim at that point, her earlier confidence decaying rapidly. Sakuya looked on, glare growing sterner with every word.

?But the children - something was wrong with them. The sun burned them far worse than it should have - half an hour out in the sun could leave them red all over. They gained freckles, far too many. And beyond all that, there were crusty, black blotches running across their skin. Their parents were terrified, looking for someone to tell them what was happening.?

The geneticist let out a long, heaving sigh. Koishi saw a little vapor trail slip out of her mouth in the cold air of the room, and imagined a little part of her soul slipping away with that sound.

?I told them their children were likely to be suffering from xeroderma pigmentosum. To protect the twins, the Scarlet family took a home here, and with my help they did everything to keep the children safe. To save them the trouble, I doubled as the daughters? teacher, ensuring they were fluent in Japanese as well as French. But the guilt was hard on the parents - perhaps if they?d never made that journey to Japan, they?d have been able to raise their daughters in their homeland rather than a foreign country neither of them truly knew-?

Sakuya had heard enough. At last, she interrupted Patchouli?s speech as it fell further onto needless tangents.

?We?re not here for the life story, Patchouli. I just want you to explain what XP actually is.?

For a moment, everyone?s eyes turned to Sakuya. Koishi seemed more stunned than anything. Sango pouted, glaring at Sakuya with barely hidden disgust. Patchouli looked as if she?d just been slapped across the face, her eyes glistening slightly with unshed tears.

The geneticist sniffled slightly.

?A...Ah. My apologies. When I speak of the past, I tend to...ramble.?

She gave Sakuya a short, but piercing stare. Patchouli cleared her throat, trying to regain any semblance of her earlier professionalism.

?Now. Before I say any more, understand that the sun is a powerful thing. It releases ultraviolet rays that could easily damage the DNA of skin cells, thus causing all sorts of deadly cancers. Thankfully, the human DNA system can typically repair itself from this sort of damage, and for the most part we are safe in the sunlight.

For sufferers of xeroderma pigmentosum, though, this repair system is not functional. As such, the sun?s rays will damage their skin with ease, leaving them prone to all these cancers I spoke of earlier. The easiest course of treatment is preventative, ensuring that the victim never makes contact with sunlight.?

The realisation hit Koishi with all the subtlety of a brick.

The sun hurts them...just like it would hurt a vampire.

All of a sudden, the young girl?s vampire act in the hallway took on an entire new meaning. This was what Sakuya had wanted to explain so they wouldn?t write her mistress off as a maniac or an eccentric. She had constructed a persona based on her limited openings in life - even to the extent of having Sakuya as her maid - and Koishi had felt the nerve to consider it strange. If Remilia had been in the room right then, Koishi would have wrapped her arms around the girl and done everything she could to comfort her.

?Then...what?s the cure? Is there any way to fix it??

Patchouli?s expression shifted for an instant into a sneer.

?Well, I suppose THAT would depend on who you ask. If you went to, say, a specialist, an expert, or indeed anyone properly TRAINED in the field, you?d be told that curing XP would involve literally altering the sufferer?s DNA and is more or less impossible. The disorder can only be worked around, not resolved.?

With that, she turned to Sakuya, the old glare of resentment returning.

?On the other hand, if you were to ask this woman over here, she?d insist that there?d definitely be a cure if she just put enough money into it. The doctors she was seeing about it looked so genuine after all, in their crummy clinics with gang thugs around every corner-?

?I?m trying to help them.?

Something new entered Sakuya?s voice at that moment. Something violent, something angry. The calm facade she?d put on up until now was starting to break apart.

Patchouli seemed unfazed. They had clearly had this argument before at least once, perhaps identical to the very word. She recited her next line with almost practiced familiarity.

?So your definition of help implies being away from the mansion during the time you?re meant to be looking after the children? You don?t seem to realise how much your actions are hurting them-?

?I said, I?m trying to help them. They?ll understand.?

Sakuya took a large step forward as she spoke, looming over Patchouli. Where words were failing her, she was letting her stature do the talking. Koishi gulped slightly, seeing the maid?s hands curl up into fists. Patchouli, in comparison, was perhaps too calm as she responded, adjusting her glasses.

?Understand when you...what? Defy every law of medical science and find a cure for an incurable disorder??

?But there IS a cure.?

Patchouli couldn?t help but roll her eyes as she looked up at Sakuya. The maid?s face was straight, but the rest of her body gave away her frustration.

?Oh? And who told you that? Did they, by any chance, insist they?d be able to create this cure if you showered them with wealth??

?S-She was a doctor! She had a degree! She insisted that...!?

The word died in Sakuya?s throat, her fists starting to shake uncontrollably. Patchouli seemed distracted, but Koishi was all too aware of the aggression Sakuya was letting off. If this got any worse, it was likely to end in tears. And blood. Mainly the latter.

Patchouli let out a barely audible sigh.

?Izayoi, understand this. I know it?s a difficult truth to face, but xeroderma pigmentosum is incurable. It?s as much a part of the sisters as their hair, their skin, their blood. You?re only hurting them more by keeping up this denial-?

The fist slammed down on the desk, inches from where Patchouli had placed her hand. The doctor flinched visibly. Tears had started to well up in Sakuya?s eyes, her entire body trembling with emotion.

?I?m NOT in denial! There?s a cure out there, and I?m going to find it!?

 Patchouli?s calm demeanour was starting to fall apart as she became aware that a punch was on the verge of being thrown.

?S-Sakuya...listen to me. There?s so much you could do around the mansion that?d make the girls happier. It?s been years now, and you really need to just put this to re-?

?DON?T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!?

The fist came off of the table, rising upwards again. It flew forward, with blinding speed, ready to slam straight into Patchouli?s face.

Only a pair of arms grabbing at it from behind stopped the strike.

?Izayoi-san, snap out of it! Just...calm down!?

Koishi had clamped both her hands over Sakuya?s arm, holding her back from her devastating hook. The maid looked back, her furious expression turning to her new acquaintance for a moment.

That was the cue she needed to realise she had stepped too far.

?...Ah.?

Sakuya deflated physically. The anger holding her entire body rigid dissipated, and her shoulders slumped as low as her joints would let them. Her expression couldn?t be described as apologetic - that was far too generous a term. Better would be ?conflicted?, or at best ?regretful?. Seeing that the worst had passed, Koishi let go of her arm, hanging close in case Sakuya decided to go for another swing.

She didn?t, fortunately, simply sighing as she looked lazily at Patchouli again.

?...I apologise for my temper.?

Patchouli needed a few seconds longer to really recover from the shock of being attacked. Even surprise was enough to drain the energy from her, and she fell back onto her chair with visible relief.

?...Yes, well. Perhaps my words were too close to the bone.?

Silence hung in the library. The atmosphere had thankfully returned to the tense aura of earlier, and Koishi couldn?t believe she?d found that to be a good thing. Suddenly, the calm and collected side of Sakuya seemed to be entirely out the window. For that entire argument, her emotions had flared wildly out of control, to the brink of madness. She was devoted, verging on desperate, bordering on outright insane.

But...what could Koishi do about it? Sakuya wasn?t like Mokou, acting out of hatred for Kaguya. She had good intentions, but they were warped in such a twisted way that they?d do nothing helpful. How could she show Sakuya the error of her ways if there was nothing to show?

After a far-too-long pause, Sakuya turned back towards the entrance.

?I?ll leave you to return to your sleep, then.?

?Yes, you should be doing that.?

Sakuya returned the way she came, with all the grace and livelihood of a doll. Koishi followed afterward, her face a pained combination of concern and fear.

Sango was the last to leave. She hadn?t said a thing for the entire discussion, but it had made its impact.

Everything she didn?t like about Sakuya before, she outright hated now.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Kasu on April 02, 2011, 06:31:45 PM
You did a great job with the tension surrounding this scene.

Can't wait for the next update~
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on April 02, 2011, 06:50:01 PM
Thank God someone's not afraid to do away with that standard 'unbreakable elegance' of Sakuya's and, oh, I dunno, write something creative for once.
Yay updates \o/
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Drake on April 02, 2011, 07:15:58 PM
I guess everyone talking about DRK after your short reminded you that it still existed >:3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on April 02, 2011, 11:26:55 PM
That was the idea.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on April 06, 2011, 12:40:55 AM
Pushing to have this arc wrapped up by the end of the week. Not likely to happen, but it never hurts to aim high! :V

-----

These corridors were too long, Koishi thought to herself. They gave her too much time to think to herself, and she didn?t like what was coming to mind.

What was she supposed to say?

She didn?t agree. She knew that Sakuya was taking this obsession too far. She knew that if someone didn?t tell her that and get it through her head, the girl would eventually end up biting off more than she could chew and find herself wearing a nice new pair of concrete shoes.

But how could Koishi get that across?

Did she even have a right to disagree? She?d met Sakuya yesterday, for crying out loud. Surely that was too early to be turning around and judging her. Then again, that?d be the rule under normal circumstances - ?attempting to save a new acquaintance from certain death at the hands of a secret youkai cult? didn?t qualify as normal circumstances.

If she was too forceful, there?d be bad blood between them. Considering they?d be working together afterwards, that was bad. But if she was too meek, Sakuya just wouldn?t pay any attention to her. She had to somehow hit the perfect middle ground...but what if there wasn?t one? What if the only way to get through to her was by being a jerk about it?

Then again, that didn?t work very well for Patchouli...

Koishi wasn?t really paying attention as Sakuya led her guests out of the library and back through the corridors. She caught a few vague details - Sakuya was walking the tiniest bit faster now, her footsteps just possible for Koishi to make out. Come to think of it, Sango had changed as well - not in speed, but definitely in volume. Every footstep stomped into the carpet, nudging it around slightly, ruining its straight path. Wisely, Koishi didn?t mention this fact to anyone.

Um...Sango-san? Are you okay?

In retrospect, that was a bad question. The moment Koishi looked back and saw Sango?s frustrated glare fall down on her, she knew the dolphin was anything but okay.

Lemme say something right now. If Izayoi wasn?t part of the race I?d sworn to protect, I?d be beating seven shades of hell out of her right this minute. She?s not just an asshole anymore - she?s an asshole with a few screws loose up there.

?Sango-!?

That suggestion had Koishi so angry she found herself speaking aloud. Sakuya turned back towards them, puzzled, but her understanding of what was going on was distracted by the mess that had once been a perfectly straight carpet.

?Ah. I should have guessed from those footsteps...whatever. It?s not like I can kick you out at this hour.?

Sakuya sighed beneath her breath with barely concealed irritation before getting back to her march. Everything about that aura of calm she carried felt...artificial, somehow. Lifeless. Played out. It frustrated Koishi in a way she couldn?t quite put into words.

Sango-san, that?s a horrible thing to say about her! She?s not a bad person, she?s just...misguided!

Sango?s hands were folded, like she?d locked them away so she didn?t lash out. Her grip on her elbows tightened as another thought made its way into her head.

Think about it, Koishi-san. These kids are meant to mean a lot to her. They?re so important that she?s going through all this trouble to save them. Don?t get me wrong - in another scenario it?d be kinda admirable, but the thing is she?s chasing after miracles that just aren?t gonna happen.

B-But...

Koishi couldn?t think up a response to that. She wanted there to be a better way - maybe even a way to cure these girls and give Sakuya everything she?d ever want. She?d hoped that maybe the White Pearl could look into it, find some way to fix their DNA.

That idea had been quickly shut down. It was the first thing Koishi had asked of Sango when they left the library, and the response was instant. Magic, Sango had explained, could only heal to the extent of restoring something to its original form. It could heal damage, but only if that damage wasn?t normal.

With genetic disorders, Sango went on, the original form is the ?broken? one. It runs down to the DNA - it?s an integral part of their genetic code. If there was magic that could change that, it?d be able to go further and change every little thing about a person. That sort of power in the wrong hands could be disastrous - there?s a reason the White Pearl have never studied the subject.

Honestly, Koishi would have probably preferred a simple ?No?. Less downbeat. Less disheartening. And it didn?t rub in the futility of Sakuya?s quest quite as hard.

I...don?t want to tell her that it won?t work, Sango-san. It feels like...that desire is the only thing keeping her going. If we tell her she?ll never cure them, she might...

Koishi didn?t even want to finish that thought. She hung her head, having managed to successfully frighten herself even more. It was a relief for a hand to come from behind and place itself comfortingly on her shoulder.

Koishi-san. If there?s anything I?ve seen of you humans, it?s that you?re always a hell of a lot stronger than you think you are. Physically, and mentally. She?ll make it through.

Sango?s eyes looked up at Sakuya again as the maid turned a corner. Koishi could see the scorn seeping through.

Even if I have to pull her out, kicking and screaming.

-----

As it turned out, Sakuya led the pair to the mansion?s kitchen. This was the one room that didn?t really fit the traditional Western style of the rest of the building - sleek marble walls and counters were adorned with the latest in kitchen utensils. The first thing that struck her after this was the lack of a fridge - this absence was quickly explained as Sakuya pulled at a lever built into the wall, revealing that it was hidden in plain sight.

The cutlery was just as ornate. Even if Koishi worked every day for the rest of her life, she?d have trouble affording one of the knives.

?I don?t suppose either of you are any good with cookery? After that little detour, I?m behind schedule for dinner.?

Koishi needed a second to let that thought go through properly. Instinct told her that it was the early hours of the morning and it was nowhere near time for dinner, but the Scarlet family was a massive exception. With that done, she stepped up beside Sakuya and offered her help. Best to get on her good side now, at least.

?What?ve you got to work with??

The fridge was filled with a wide range of ingredients, all first-class. This was a cut above the food they bought in bulk for the bakery - in fact, make that three or four cuts above. It was classy restaurant food, and it had all seen some use in recent days.

?Well, the girls haven?t been getting their greens of late, so I?m looking to make some salad.?

With this, Sakuya pulled out various leafy vegetables along with some potatoes and a hint of meat for good measure.

?I?ll be feeding you two as well, so the least you can do is help me out.?

She handed Koishi a knife and half a lettuce, expecting her to fill in the blanks herself. After a few minutes of digging around the counters for a board to cut it on, Koishi got to work with cutting it up. Sango, after insisting on helping out, was eventually given the prestigious job of washing the vegetables - one she took on with perhaps too much enthusiasm.

?No worries, phwee! I?m all about cleaning things up!?

Koishi chose the safest option and didn?t think about that any longer than she had to. Sakuya was next to her, peeling potatoes at a rate that would pass for a trained chef. Perhaps more disturbing was the way she could turn away from the job and look towards Koishi without a second thought, still wielding her deadly kitchen knife with perfect precision.

After a couple of minutes of awkward silence, Koishi managed to get a word out of her mouth. There was still so much she needed to know, so much about Sakuya that was a mystery. She had to get some hard facts about her if she was going to help.

?...So, how?d you end up working here? Part time job to make up the cash??

Sakuya didn?t so much as blink before she answered.

?Adopted. Orphanage.?

Suddenly, Koishi wished she could scoop her words out of the air and put them back into her mouth. She suddenly grew much more interested in the vegetable she was trying to dissect.

?I...I?m sorry. I didn?t know-?

?Of course you didn?t. Don?t worry about it.?

It was hard to take that as comforting given how neutral Sakuya?s voice was. Was the woman capable of positive emotion to anyone other than her beloved mistress? It was a question Koishi didn?t know the answer to, and it plagued her for some time afterwards.

Silence.

?...You want to know, don?t you??

Slowly, painfully, Koishi nodded. She was curious - her past could be the key to saving her - but it felt so wrong to ask about that she?d stayed silent. Luckily, Sakuya was as on the ball as ever.

?It?s alright. It was a long time ago. I barely remember it, in fact. All I know is pretty much what people have told me about it.

I was in an accident as a kid. I presume my family was, as well. We were on a bus trip in the nearby mountains when the driver lost control and sent us out into the ocean.?

Sakuya sounded horribly disconnected from her own words as she spoke, like she wasn?t really talking about her own past. Frankly, that scared Koishi a little. Still, Sakuya was peeling potatoes with absolute precision.

?By some small miracle, I was the only one who managed to make it out of the bus. Of course, that still left me several feet underwater with only a vague idea how to swim. I?m told that I passed out, and a witness to the accident dived in to save me. Besides a bit of water in my lungs, I was more or less uninjured.

But the trauma took its toll. Sakuya Izayoi...isn?t my real name. I don?t remember it. I don?t remember anything about my family, in fact. Some of the bodies were lost in the crash, and none of the people they managed to identify had children my age, so I was basically alone in the world. There were oohs and aahs, and the occasional cry of how tragic and terrible it was, but they still sent me off to some goddamn orphanage in the middle of nowhere.?

That was the hardest part of the story. Koishi could tell that by the sudden loosening of Sakuya?s grip on the knife, and the slight waver that slipped into her voice. She was aware now that Sango was listening in, looking away as she left a cabbage to be soaked through by sink water.

?I?d still be there today if Master Val?ry - Remilia?s father - hadn?t visited. He and his wife, Alexis, saw the girls struggling to cope with not being able to see friends at normal hours, and so decided to adopt a young girl into the family to help all three of us out. They chose me, and that?s when I met the mistress for the first time. I suppose I don?t just want to help the family anymore - I want to thank them, pay them back for giving me a second chance to live my life.?

Something about this story frustrated Koishi. Eventually, the niggling point grew so out of order she had to ask it.

?Izayoi-san, why is it always ?Mistress?? Aren?t there two sisters? There?s Remilia and...what was the other one named again??

?Flandre is...a different case from her sister. On a more relevant note, you haven?t been cutting.?

Koishi had forgotten entirely about her job. She quickly started cutting at the lettuce again.

?Different how, exactly??

Sakuya paused. A look of guilt ran across her face, and for the first time she actually stopped her work on the potatoes.

?Best case scenario, you never find out. Worst case scenario...you?ll see her at the dinner table.?

-----

Sango was kept strictly away from any and all machines inside the kitchen. Sakuya would give her a glare if she so much as looked at the oven, and Koishi refused to move away no matter how many times the dolphin insisted she could figure out how to use a microwave. Perhaps thanks to these precautions, the rest of the dinner preparations went smoothly from that point onward.

As the obnoxious chiming of the clock next door reminded Koishi, it was currently 3 in the morning. It had been years since she?d stayed up this late, and now she?d done it for two nights straight. Her sleep pattern was going to take one hell of a beating at this rate, but if it saved a life she could deal with some sore eyes.

The dinner table was large enough to seat at least a dozen, but only five chairs were set out at one end. That was still enough to seat the mansion?s residents in full, and even enough to allow Koishi and Sango somewhere to sit.

?Eh? What about Patchouli-san and Meiling-san??

?Patchouli?s asleep, remember. And as for China...?

From inside her dress, Sakuya pulled out a small walkie-talkie. It was labelled ?Gate?, ensuring no confusion as to who was on the other end. Turning it on with the click of a button, she shrugged to Koishi as a distinctive snoring sound came through the speaker.

?...Isn?t she meant to be working security??

?Technically, yes. She?s worked here for years, and no-one?s broken in, so we don?t exactly have grounds to fire her on. Even then, she was good friends with Master Val?ry, so I doubt Patchouli would let her go.?

Patchouli, Sakuya had explained, was the legal guardian of the children after their parents? passing on. She was in charge of running both the mansion and the bakery - a small business one of Val?ry?s distant relatives had started up in a foreign venture. It wasn?t a huge success, and it was only thanks to a weighty inheritance that the extravagant lifestyle the girls were used to had lasted this long.

?Enough talking, I think. It?s time for dinner.?

Sakuya seemed more than willing to leave the subject at that, heading into the kitchen to get together the various dishes to lay out on the table. The seating was set in stone - Remilia would sit at the head of the table, with Flandre to her left and Sakuya to her right. That left two chairs at the end for Koishi and Sango to take.

You?re sitting next to Izayoi, Koishi-san.

Sango got the message across to Koishi before she even had time to discuss it. Within seconds the dolphin had taken the seat, putting on a fake smile as she looked everywhere but straight at Sakuya. Koishi reluctantly nodded, taking the seat opposite from her.

Sakuya re-emerged from the kitchen shortly afterwards, hauling through plates of freshly made salad. She placed one neatly in front of each of the chairs, along with more types of knives and forks that Koishi knew existed a glass of orange juice.

?And for the finishing touch...?

Putting the plates to one side, Sakuya pulled out a small vial filled with red liquid. Placing it over Remilia?s glass, she allowed a few drops to fall into the drink. It changed colour within seconds, turning a deep shade of crimson. Koishi needed a minute to understand, then slowly nodded in recognition. Vampires wouldn?t be caught drinking anything other than blood, after all.

With all the preparations complete, Sakuya picked up a tiny bell on the nearby counter, and gave it a good ring.

?Milady! Dinner is served.?

Hurried footsteps paced down the corridors at the sound of that, suddenly stopping as they were on the verge of entering the room. Putting on a display of noble grace fitting for her standing, Remilia Scarlet entered while doing her best not to pant too hard from exertion.

?Sakuya, you?re a few minutes late. That?s unbecoming of you.?

?Apologies, milady. I was kept behind schedule, and thus had my guests help me. Were it not for their assistance, I would still be preparing half an hour from now.?

Was that...a compliment? It was the closest they?d had out of her, at least. Maybe Sakuya wasn?t that bad after all.

?Of course, it was their fault I was behind schedule in the first place, so the point is moot.?

Yup. Saw that coming. Still a bitch.

Sango folded her arms, grinning to herself. Koishi tried glaring at her, but the dolphin was focused on the mistress of the house. Remilia shrugged, walking towards her seat.

?Well, don?t let it happen again. I?ve been through many maids in my centuries on this earth, and I?m not keen on...incompetence.?

From behind Remilia, Sakuya shook her head violently. It was her way of quietly passing on the message ?she really hasn?t?. In front of her, the self-proclaimed vampire scrunched up her face as she saw what was being served tonight.

?Sakuya! Haven?t I told you a dozen times that the only dinner worth serving in this house is pot roast?!?

She turned back towards the maid, who nodded understandingly as if this declaration was nothing out of the ordinary.

?Milady, like I?ve always said, a true noble is always at her best physically. I understand the wonder of feasting on flesh, but all good things must be taken in moderation.?

Remilia pouted, forgetting herself again and acting like the child she was. For a few seconds she pulled the most pathetic pose she could, looking up at Sakuya with pleading eyes and a pouting lip. The maid refused to so much as budge under her mistress?s assault, and finally Remilia surrendered and took her seat.

?...Understood, Sakuya. Be glad that you?re my favourite maid, otherwise that sort of insolence would be enough to have me suck you dry.?

Remilia slowly reached down to the appropriate knife and fork, getting started on the salad Sakuya had prepared. Following her lead, Koishi and Sango picked up the matching cutlery in front of them and got to work on dinner. Sure enough, the food was excellent, thanks both to Sakuya?s culinary talent and the quality of the ingredients she was working with.

There was no discussion during dinner, other than a request for Sango to take her jacket off at the table (for certain fin-related reasons, Sango politely declined). Koishi?s eyes kept falling on the empty chair next to Sango, the one where Remilia?s sister was expected to sit. Why hadn?t she seen this girl yet? Why had everyone been unkeen on mentioning her? Something was being hidden from her.

She found out the answer very quickly. Or to be more precise, the answer stomped down the corridor into the dining room.

?Yo. Thanks for dinner, Sakuya.?

There was no way. No way they could be sisters. That was Koishi?s first thought as the girl entered the room. The hair matched, almost ash white, as did the blanched skin and red eyes. But that was where the similarities stopped entirely. Where Remilia stepped lightly and smiled with a hint of knowing, this girl went wherever she damn well pleased and seemed to be grimacing perpetually. She wore a jet-black shirt with a white vest underneath, and a frayed denim skirt. In short, she looked as if she?d just walked out of a punk rock concert.

Comparing that to the noble ?vampire? Remilia Scarlet, Koishi found herself seriously struggling to believe the two were sisters.

The girl?s eyes turned within seconds to the two newcomers. They then shifted to Sakuya, and for a moment Koishi swore she could see a tiny flame crackling within.

?Sakuya, you promised you wouldn?t bring any of your friends home.?

Sakuya had been caught off guard, having nearly fallen out of her chair when the second sister entered. Coughing and righting herself, she tried to come up with an explanation that wouldn?t lead to an argument.

?Ah, Flandre. Apologies about the intrusion of these two. My business this evening was...difficult.?

Flandre had her arms crossed rebelliously, and rolled her eyes at Sakuya?s testimony.

?Whatever. Good to see we?re letting more people in on the freak show.?

She sat at the table, leaning forward and picking up the first knife and fork to catch her eye. Without a care for the etiquette and care the rest of the table was taking for dinner, Flandre just mowed down her meal like she was being timed. The sounds of her munching and chewing filled the air for a minute or two, until there were only the bare remnants of a salad leaf on her plate.

?Good meal. Thanks again.?

The instant she?d finished, Flandre rose to her feet and made to leave.

?Wait, Flan!?

Remilia?s voice gave way again, sounding more childish than the self proclaimed vampire would like to admit. Flandre didn?t turn around, but paid her sister at least enough attention to stop in the doorway.

?...What is it??

Flandre?s sister frowned. For the first time, Koishi could look Remilia in the eye and see her emotion was genuine.  She bit her lip before starting.

?It?s just that...you spend so long in your room, you see. I haven?t had the chance to talk to you for months-?

?Oh, I?m sorry. Does Little Miss Vampire want to waste her time on a wretched little human??

Every word out of her mouth had an almost physical effect on Remilia, leaving her bent over in her chair with a desperate look on her face. ?Flan, please! You?re my sister, and I never see you anymore! I?m worried about yo-?

?SHUT UP!?

Flan flung her hand into the doorway, slamming it into the wooden outline. The wood splintered, cracks running across it in all directions for a few inches. Koishi couldn?t help but gasp at the sight of it - such destructive power from a girl of such small stature. There was only one emotion that could fuel that sort of strength.

Unbridled, absolute hatred.

?I?m sick of this stupid game you keep playing. What if I don?t wanna be a vampire? What if I wanna be normal just like everyone else?!?

Remilia looked like she?d just been stabbed in the heart. Slowly, and with difficulty, she spoke.

?F-Flan...I?m sorry, but we?re never going to be normal. I know XP is rough, but there?s nothing we can do about i-?

?Yeah there is! Sakuya said so!?

Flan turned on her feet, her eyes locking on to Sakuya. Tears were running freely down her face as she looked at the maid with pleading eyes.

?Didn?t you, Sakuya? You can fix us, right?!?

Sakuya had taken this only slightly better than Remilia had. She was pinned to her chair, eyes unable to look away from Flandre?s sorry state. Remilia?s eyes turned on the maid just like Flan?s had.

?Wait. You told Flandre what??

She was pinned down on two fronts. Flandre and Remilia were both glaring at her, and both of them were waiting for her to say the opposite of what the other wanted to hear. Koishi saw the look of pain, of struggle on Sakuya?s face as her eyes darted between the sisters - from Remilia to Flandre, then back to Remilia, then back again.

After what must have been a minute?s silence, she turned to Sakuya and quietly nodded.

?...Yes, Flandre. I?ll find a way.?

Flandre put on a smug grin of satisfaction, but only for a few moments. Then she was back to shouting at her sister.

?See, Remi!? Sakuya promised me she?d find a way to make us normal! She promised!?

Remilia looked at Sakuya with scorn for a minute, before trying in vain to bring her sister to reason.

?Flan, listen to me! Patchouli has told us a hundred times, there?s nothing we can do about it! I?m begging you, just-?

?Shut UP, Remi! All I want is to be like everyone else, okay?! I don?t wanna be locked up in this house anymore! I just...I just...!?

The words ran dry as her throat locked up, and all Flan could produce was a series of choked sobs. Her hand slammed into the doorway again, sending the cracks an inch or so further out this time. Unable to put her feelings in words, she just ran straight out the door, her footsteps echoing into the room as she ran upstairs.

?F...Flan! Wait!?

Remilia forgot entirely about both her noble act and her dinner, standing up from the table and chasing after her sister. There were only three people left at the dinner table now: Koishi, struggling to offer any sort of response to the fight she?d just witnessed; Sakuya, sitting silently with her head in her hands, and Sango, glaring straight at Sakuya with a look of complete disgust.

For all intents and purposes, dinner had just ended.

?Izayoi. We need to talk. Kitchen. Now.?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Drake on April 06, 2011, 01:08:23 AM
>Flandre entering
?Yo. Thanks for dinner, Sakuya.?

this was the best thing that could have ever happened i am laughing so hard
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on April 06, 2011, 03:49:38 AM
Yeah, not really sure why Sango's hating Sakuya so much.

Also, good stuff, as always. And push it! You can be done by the end of the week. Do it!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Omegahugger on April 06, 2011, 06:45:48 AM
Yeah, not really sure why Sango's hating Sakuya so much.
Just imagine hearing someone plan to change the very essence of someone else out of love. It might have good intentions, but forcefully altering another being isn't exactly a good thing. This, probably combined with some personal values on Sango's side, is why she's hated.

But this story is awesome! I've been following it for a while and only gotten around to replying now... Yeah, I'm slow.

And you can, Rou! You can finish before the end of the week! FIGHT!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on April 06, 2011, 02:35:17 PM
I don't think that's it. XP is a physical condition, and quite obviously a negative one. Sakuya's trying to cure an illness, not change who Remilia and Flandre are.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on April 06, 2011, 02:41:19 PM
Yeah, not really sure why Sango's hating Sakuya so much.

Quote
Lemme say something right now. If Izayoi wasn?t part of the race I?d sworn to protect, I?d be beating seven shades of hell out of her right this minute. She?s not just an asshole anymore - she?s an asshole with a few screws loose up there.
Not really sure what's missing. Sakuya's a pretty abrasive asshole in this, and her threatening to beat Patchouli didn't help matters.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on April 06, 2011, 05:35:50 PM
It was one incident that concerned what is a very emotional issue for Sakuya and Patchouli. Hardly enough to justify thinking Sakuya's an asshole.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Alfred F. Jones on April 06, 2011, 06:51:01 PM
God forbid there be something regarding Sango's reasons that the author wants to reveal later. ::)

Seriously, is there something totally incomprehensible about the idea of an action where the motives will only be revealed later?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on April 06, 2011, 07:37:08 PM
NO

I must know, NOW
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on April 06, 2011, 07:40:40 PM
God forbid there be something regarding Sango's reasons that the author wants to reveal later. ::)

Seriously, is there something totally incomprehensible about the idea of an action where the motives will only be revealed later?

No. The thing here is that we've seen everything involving Sakuya that Sango has, and I don't see anything that would justify that kind of attitude. But whatever.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on April 06, 2011, 07:42:00 PM
No. The thing here is that we've seen everything involving Sakuya that Sango has, and I don't see anything that would justify that kind of attitude. But whatever.

Except that we're not Sango, so we don't have the same background as her to justify the hissin' and the spittin'.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on April 06, 2011, 07:51:45 PM
Yeah, so I don't know why she hates Sakuya so much. That's kind of what I've been saying.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on April 07, 2011, 12:40:09 AM
We've seen Sakuya be something of a jerk several times prior.

- Besides anything her sarcastic, almost cocky attitude didn't really gel well with Sango.
- General lack of appreciation despite the fact that Koishi/Sango have saved her life on two separate occasions
- Upon finding out about the righteous cause the Pearl is fighting for and the part she plays in it, Sakuya opts instead to use her powers to win money:
Quote
?So it wasn?t just luck after all. Good! I was afraid I?d hit a downturn sooner or later.?

Sakuya?s eyes lit up, and she once again wore a pensive look. She started muttering to herself, getting more and more interested in her own ideas with every word.

?Yes, that?s interesting! I should definitely be able to find a way to use it for roulette, and that?s where the real money will be. Yes, that?ll work wonderfully...?
- The aforemented issue with Sakuya and XP. Since I apparently didn't make this clear enough, I'll restate it - short of outright genetic engineering, XP is incurable. Rather than accepting this and doing what she can to entertain the kids, Sakuya is running around bringing trouble on her head by making fortunes in underground gambling only to be duped out of it by fake doctors promising to cure an incurable disorder. Not just that, but she's deluding Flandre into thinking there's a resolution when there isn't, and is generally in complete and utter denial about what's giong on. The worst part is that she's hurting other people because of it - Patchouli nearly took a shot to the face because of Sakuya's frustration, and Flandre has never quite come to terms with XP thanks to Sakuya feeding her sweet nothings. The fact that she's actually doing more harm than good to the family system yet still claims she loves these kids drives Sango up the freaking wall.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on April 07, 2011, 02:15:52 AM
Oh, oh! I betcha I know what's gonna happen in the next update! :3

Sango is gonna pull Sakuya aside and she's gonna tear her a ne(ry

/me is shot
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on April 07, 2011, 03:06:25 AM
Oh, oh! I betcha I know what's gonna happen in the next update! :3

Sango is gonna pull Sakuya aside and she's gonna tear her a ne(ry

/me is shot
Nope~. Dolphin Rider Koishi - Eroge Edition~.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on April 07, 2011, 03:15:22 AM
Sakuya isn't trying to hurt anyone, and she doesn't want the money out of greed. There's nothing wrong with trying to help someone. Maybe it is uncurable, but her actions must be considered in the context of what she thinks, and she thinks that if she looks hard enough with enough money, she'll find a way.

But I guess different people see things differently, so whatever.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on April 07, 2011, 03:55:35 AM
Sakuya isn't trying to hurt anyone, and she doesn't want the money out of greed. There's nothing wrong with trying to help someone.
She's not trying to hurt Remilia and Flandre, but she is, and out of selfish, prideful reasons. She's also going about it in a half-cocked (participating in dangerous and illegal schemes, going to any doctor that says that they can help her, no matter their dubiousness), jack-assed (giving Flandre false hope, threatening Patchouli when she was telling her exactly why she was wrong) way.

Quote
Maybe it is uncurable, but her actions must be considered in the context of what she thinks, and she thinks that if she looks hard enough with enough money, she'll find a way.
From Sango's standpoint, she has considered the context, and has concluded that Sakuya's being incredibly stupid. Sango has different ways of thinking, yes, but her conclusion isn't at all far away from what readers would conclude. Hell, Rou even spelled it out for you why Sango thinks this way.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on April 07, 2011, 04:42:51 AM
Yes. I simply don't agree with Sango. That's really all there is to it. Sure, Sakuya may not be doing the smartest thing, but she has the right intentions, and she's trying. That's worth a hell of a lot as far as I'm concerned.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on April 07, 2011, 11:36:19 PM
Numbers were never Tewi’s thing.

She wanted to rain an army down on Izayoi right now. Bring in dozens of men, all armed to the teeth, and have them run through the mansion and unload their arsenals on anything that moved. She wanted certainty, she wanted a massacre, she wanted the building’s floors to run awash with blood.

Of course, the woman in the black dress hadn’t been fond of that idea. Too brazen, she’d said, and it would attract too much unwanted attention before they’d even made it into the mansion. She was made to go in with only six of the guards that were available - big, brawly men for that, but they didn’t talk much. In fact, the closest she’d seen to it was one of them bobbing his mouth open and closed as he loaded his gun. Tewi decided not to comment - as long as they shot straight, she didn’t care if these guys were outright illiterate.

And then there was the girl walking alongside Tewi right now. She’d been told several times that she was ‘a specialist’, though Tewi couldn’t figure out what she was supposed to be a specialist at. She looked foreign, from the strong tan on her skin, and her black hair had been neatly cropped up. She wore a baggy silver jacket, with a white stripe running down its centre, and a pair of matching pants. Notably, unlike the rest of the guards sent to accompany Tewi, she didn’t seem to be armed.

Tewi was eager and curious in equal parts. As the van continued its trip to the edge of town, she couldn’t help but ask some questions. Knowing her strengths would help Tewi with strategising, after all.

“So, what exactly is it that you do?”

The woman was silent. Her eyes, dark blue, looked into Tewi’s with a murderous intent. For a moment, they almost flickered in the van’s dim light, turning her entire eye jet-black. If she’d been in a saner state, this would’ve been enough to send Tewi running for her life.

Looking into Tewi’s eyes, though, the specialist saw no shimmer of light. The mindcoil had locked in place neatly, and nothing was going to stop her from getting her payback on Izayoi.

They looked at each other for several seconds before the woman finally offered an answer.

“...Youkai exterminator.”

Tewi pondered the words for a moment, then nodded. When the woman had kissed her, she understood - like a door had been opened, and she’d stepped out of her cage into the real world. Youkai had been around her all along - she just hadn’t known to look.

“Why would there be a youkai here? I thought the mansion didn’t have any pets.”

“The Pearl. Protecting Izayoi.”

Tewi grit her teeth. She’d heard that name before. The Pearl were the group who’d bailed Izayoi out at the casino, as well as wrecking the sting Morichika had set up at the Asakura Clinic. They’d been a thorn in Tewi’s side since the moment she’d met them, and she certainly wouldn’t mind giving those goddamn bunnygirls a little taste of lead as well.

The woman considered the question answered, and turned away from Tewi again. She reached into a jacket pocket, pulling out a small vial. It had been stoppered securely, and it was filled with a thick red liquid. Tewi didn’t need to be a genius to figure out what it was.

“What’re you doing carrying blood around? You a donor or something?”

“Gets me ready.”

Tewi’s brow furrowed. “Ready? Ready for what?”

The woman looked back to Tewi again, and grinned. That grin was enough to give away everything Tewi needed to know about this woman - her teeth were jagged, designed only to rip and tear. She looked Tewi in the eyes with that sadistic smile, licking her lips.

“For the hunt.”

Tewi knew exactly why this woman had been assigned to help her out now. She was looking into the eyes of a cold blooded killer, one who savoured not only the kill but the feast. She would’ve probably shot her right between the eyes in self-defense if the mindcoil wasn’t making her sing to the Black Claw’s tune.

Instead she nodded, mentally planning how she could use this girl’s abilities best.

“Heh. Well, don’t leave too much of a mess.”

The van came to a slow, stuttered stop. Fifty feet in front of them the mansion’s gate stood tall, looking to frighten off any trespassers.

“Alright, everyone! Save your bullets for Izayoi. After we take her out, feel free to shoot whoever the hell you feel like!”

It was a shame, then, that these trespassers either didn’t know fear or had forgotten it. Tewi held her handgun with both hands, treasuring it like a newborn baby.

“Just you wait, Izayoi. Let’s see if you can still laugh with a bullet through your heart.”

-----

The kitchen felt colder as Koishi stepped into it again. She’d felt this aggressive atmosphere earlier in the library, when Patchouli and Sakuya had been having their standoff. The only difference was that this time it was Sango giving Sakuya the death-glare, leaning back on the counter as she kept her arms firmly folded.

Sakuya still hadn’t recovered from the incident at dinner. More than anything she looked tired, ready to collapse at any moment. She stood across from Sango, taking deep breaths in an attempt to recover. Her hand rubbed at her temples as she muttered something to herself beneath her breath.

Sango had kept her thoughts to herself up until now, but she’d reached her limit. She’d had enough.

“...What do you have to say for yourself, Izayoi-san?”

Sakuya’s eyes turned to Sango, furious. She obviously didn’t want to be questioned about this, especially not right now. The answer was slow, thought-out, and had all the smoothness of granite.

“I wanted to help her. Flandre had always hated her disorder. It tore her apart to be locked away in the mansion all the time when other kids her age were frolicking in the sunshine.”

Sakuya’s rubbing at her temples grew harder. She’d been looking uncertain since the incident at dinner, like she was ready to fall over at any moment. Koishi racked her brain for something useful to say, but nothing she could think of seemed right to defuse situation. Everything she could think of saying felt either hollow or too forceful, and there didn’t seem to be a happy medium she could tread.

“What was I supposed to tell her? That there was nothing she could do about it? That she was going to be trapped in this house for the rest of her life, through no fault of her own? Tell me, dolphin, could you look a young sobbing girl in the eye and tell her she’ll just have to accept the fate that’s making her so miserable?”

Even as she threw out the question, Sakuya stepped backwards from her aggressor. She was still looking in every direction other than forward, eyeing the door and weighing up her chances of running. Koishi could see that she wasn’t even confident about her own words anymore, and Sango made the most of that uncertainty.

“If I knew for a fact that was the best she could hope for, then yes. I would. The worst thing I could do to her is give her false hope for something that was never going to happen.”

Sango looked set to explode, every muscle in her body tensed and ready to snap out at Sakuya. Koishi felt the breath catch in her throat - she wasn’t even aware the dolphin could give off this sort of anger. Sakuya was entirely on the defensive now, clutching her head so hard Koishi was afraid she’d crush her own skull.

“But...there’s got to be something out there, right? Modern science is getting more and more advanced by the day, and altering DNA can’t be too far off. Yes, all it’ll take is a little funding and-”

“See? This is what I can’t stand about you, Izayoi-san!”

Pushing herself off the counter, Sango walked up to Sakuya without a hint of hesitation. Her arms remained folded, locked away where they couldn’t do any harm. The tension was almost unbearable, and Koishi had half a mind to step in and pull Sango away right now.

But was Sango in the right? If this was the only way to get through to Sakuya, then - no, that couldn’t be it! Good intentions didn’t justify violent means! Sakuya was the perfect example of that! Surely there had to be a better way around this?

Sango definitely didn’t think so. As her tirade continued her hands slowly fell to her sides, clenching into fists.

“Can’t you see what you’ve done to this family?! Your fights with the librarian - how long have they been going on for? How long will it be before you two can’t stand the sight of each other?! You’ve seen firsthand what happened to Flandre-san - she’s still clinging to a hope that’s never going to come true, and it’s because you keep repeating it to her! Your denial’s hurting the very people you’re trying to help!”

Sakuya was pinned against the wall. Sango was inches in front of her face now, and all the guilt and worry she’d built up inside burst out in a single furious rant.

“How dare you!? What right do you have to judge me? Have you ever had to deal with what I’ve gone through? My closest friends, crippled by a disorder neither of them can control? How can you be so critical when you don’t have a clue how it-”

The sound of Sango’s hand slapping into Sakuya’s cheek echoed into the next corridor.

“SANGO-SAN!”

No more. That was as far as Koishi was willing to let this farce go on for. She was shorter than both of the women, but regardless she ran between them and pushed Sango as far away as she could. The dolphin stumbled, but stayed on her feet as she was knocked a few steps back. Immediately, Koishi turned her attention to Sakuya.

“Izayoi-san, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know she’d-”

Sakuya was standing perfectly still, her eyes staring at Sango with wonder. One hand was held over the red mark slowly forming across her cheek, and her mouth was hanging open.

“Sango-san, that was completely uncalled for!” Koishi yelled out behind her back. She glared at the dolphin, clutching Sakuya to support her. Sango seemed more frustrated than disappointed as she explained herself.

“I know, but what else was I supposed to do? Since the moment we came here I’ve seen this girl take apart everything around her without a second thought, all because she can’t come to terms about this goddamn illness! I could only take so much before I...I...”

The revelation of what she’d done hit Sango hard, and her hand reached over her mouth in awe.

“I...I...oh, crap.”

In instants Sango had slumped to her knees, in shock over her own actions. She’d hurt Sakuya. A Siren. The person she was supposed to be protecting. She murmured to herself, looking more and more panicked by the second. Koishi wasn’t sure how to feel about seeing that - it was good to know Sango was guilty, but seeing her so torn up over it was painful nonetheless.

No time for that, though. She had to talk to Sakuya right now. She was still absently rubbing at the mark on her cheek, not really thinking or reacting to anything. Koishi grabbed her by the shoulders, words flowing out from her mouth unplanned.

“Izayoi-san, I’m so sorry about that. Sango-san was completely out of order when she hit you, and there’s no way to say otherwise...but she was right about what she was talking about. You need to let go...I know it’s going to be painful, but you’ve already put yourself through so much pain trying to save these girls. I...I know you had good intentions with it, but you’ve got to understand it’s just making things worse. Please...stop fighting it...”

Sakuya stayed motionless for a few moments, the only sign of life being the glistening of tears in her eyes. Her lips moved, mouthing words that barely made it to Koishi’s ears.

“...They’ll be okay. They’ll be okay. I can make them better...”

There was no anger in Sakuya’s words any more, just desperation. She wanted to believe what she was saying, and repeated the words over and over to try and lock them in place. With every repetition she grew louder, nodding as she convinced herself of her own lies.

“Yes, yes...it’s okay...I just need to get the money together, and then-”

“Izayoi-san!”

Koishi snapped Sakuya out of her trance with a yell, shaking her shoulders back and forth. She gulped - still frightened of coming across as too aggressive - but if they didn’t take this chance, Sakuya would just go back to the self-destructive cycle she’d been putting herself through for years.

“You know you’re lying. Listen to yourself. You’re better than this, Izayoi-san. I know I’ve only known you for a day, but you’re a strong woman. I know I could never keep my cool like you can when you’re playing for such high stakes. You can do this, Izayoi-san. It’s going to hurt, but you’ll pull through.”

Sango had told Koishi earlier that Sakuya was stronger than she thought. It was time to put that claim to the test.

Sakuya looked down at Koishi fearfully. The case had been made, and the last hints of resistance started to fade away. Again, she murmured to herself, trying to force the words out of her mouth with some resistance.

“I...I can’t...”

The tears started to flow, as the horrible revelation struck Sakuya with all its force.

“I can’t...save them...!”

Then, with no warning, she fell forward into Koishi’s waiting arms and buried her head into Koishi’s soldier. Koishi flinched, but quickly came to her senses and wrapped her arms around the maid.

There were no words. Sakuya made no attempt to explain herself, Sango made no excuses for her actions, and Koishi offered nothing other than her warm embrace. The only sound that could be heard was Sakuya’s muffled sobbing as she cried into Koishi’s shoulder.

It was a few minutes before Sakuya’s voice rose up again, quiet as a whisper.

“...What do I do?”

Koishi pushed Sakuya back a little, holding her upright rather than letting the maid lean on her. She had to stand on her own for this. Again words flew out of Koishi’s mouth, unrehearsed and not even thought over.

“You do the one thing that matters, Izayoi-san. You love them for what they are.”

Sakuya looked ready to burst into tears again, but she dug into some hidden reserve of courage and resisted. She sniffled a little, nodding to herself slowly at first but gaining speed.

“...Heh...in the end, was it really that simple?”

She was smiling, laughing, like she finally understood the meaning of a joke she’d been hearing for years. She finally let go of Koishi, wiping at her face to clean off the tears.

“I was young when they told us, when they explained how Remilia and Flandre weren’t like other girls our age. It was a lot to take in, but I reacted like any kid would at the time - I thought it was unfair on them. I wanted them to get better, be normal, not feel left out of everything.”

Once or twice Sakuya stopped to break into another bout of laughter. She was laughing at herself, at the sorry state she’d trapped herself in. She was crying as she did so, every bout of laughter followed by a little sniffle. She was starting to come to terms with what she had been doing all this time.

“I fought harder than I ever thought possible for their sakes. Won millions, maybe billions, and squandered it on everyone who promised to have an answer. I didn’t care how many times I was lied to, how many times these so-called doctors stabbed me in the back. I only needed to be right once, and everything would be better.”

She laughed harder, louder, grabbing onto Koishi’s shoulder for support at one point. She was still crying even as she laughed, wiping the tears off her face now and again to try and maintain some sort of dignity.

“God, I’ve been such an idiot, haven’t I? All these years, and I never grew out of a childish belief like that. It...hurts. It hurts so much, knowing that I’m powerless do to anything to help them, and they’ll probably die never seeing what a sunny day looks like to the rest of us. I don’t want to accept it. It’s painful, like nothing I’ve ever had to go through before...”

Sakuya took a deep breath. Something had changed visibly about her, like the tears had let some inner poison leak out of her. Sakuya smiled, earnestly, as she looked Koishi straight in the eyes.

“But I have to. For their sakes as much as mine. I’ve got so much to apologise for, so I’d better get started right now.”

Sakuya wrapped her arms around Koishi, embracing her as tightly as she could. She felt almost warmer to Koishi now, the icy barrier around her heart defrosted.

“I’m sorry, you two. For everything. I’ve been so wrong, all this time...ah, what am I saying? I shouldn’t be apologising to you two, I should be apologising to the girls. And apology’s only going to get me so far, isn’t it...?”

For lack of a better phrase, Sakuya felt more alive now. Up until now, Koishi could have confused her for a doll or a machine from her actions, but everything from her here felt just that little bit more human.

“...I promise. I’m going to do everything I can to make up for what I’ve done. These girls deserve a rich, happy life, and rather than fighting against their disorder I’ll work around it. It’s not much, but it’s all I can do - and after what I’ve done, they deserve every second of it.”

The grip around Koishi grew tighter, filled with conviction. Sakuya had come to an epiphany, and she’d be damned if she didn’t act on it right this minute. The hug broke up a few seconds later, with Sakuya looking refreshed and full of life. Koishi felt a little happier seeing that - not because she’d helped, but just because that smile of hers was contagious. It was a shame she didn’t smile often, actually, because when she did she was actually sort of charming.

“...Hm?”

Sakuya noticed, with a startle, that something was weighing her fist down. Lifting her hand up as she opened it, her eyes widened as she saw a dark blue jewel lying on her palm. It glistened slightly as the harsh kitchen lighting bounced off of it.

“Ah, this is that Teardrop jewel you were telling me about, wasn’t it?”

Koishi nodded, pulling out her own orange gem for comparison. Besides the colour, the two were almost impossible to tell apart. Sakuya nodded, matter-of-factly examining the two and pondering it.

“Well, in that case...I suppose that makes us teammates.”

“Yeah, I guess it does...”

Placing the Teardrop in a pocket on her dress, Sakuya held out a hand for Koishi to take.

“In that case, I’ll say it’s a pleasure working with you, Komeiji-san.”

“R-Right. Good to have you on the team.”

She felt closer to Sakuya now, forgetting for a moment she’d literally met this woman yesterday. There was a bond - a faint one, but it was definitely there. Perhaps not quite at the level of friendship, but beyond being mere acquaintances.

“Ahem.”

Some people, though, hadn’t quite warmed up to Sakuya as much.

“...Sango-san. I think you’ve got something to say to Izayoi-san, don’t you?”

Sango was hanging her head, still somewhat ashamed of what she’d done. The collapse and revelation Sakuya had gone through afterwards had also had an effect on Sango, and the sheer anger that she had approached Sakuya with before had turned into begrudging acceptance.

“...Sorry about hitting you like that. You’ve gotta agree with me, though, you were pretty kooky.”

“True. I probably deserved that slap a little, frankly. Anyway, shall we shake on our new partnership?”

Sakuya let go of Koishi’s hand, instead holding it in front of Sango. The dolphin eyed it for a moment, suspicious, before awkwardly accepting it and shaking. She wasn’t particularly familiar with the human concept of hand-shaking, and it showed with the force she shook with, almost yanking Sakuya’s arm out of her socket.

“All those words of yours are nice, but you’d better stick to them. I’m gonna be keeping an eye on you, so I’ll know if you go out there pissing off ganglords again.”

“And I’ll be doing everything I can to make sure your stalking of me is a waste of time.”

“I-It’s not stalking, it’s surveillance! Key difference!”

Sango pouted, with Sakuya smiling almost sadistically in return. They couldn’t call each other friends, and they probably never would, but they’d make good rivals for one another if nothing else.

“Right. First things first - I need to have a chat with Flandre. She’s probably taking a walk around the gardens-

“-kuya-san! Sakuya-san! We’ve got trouble!”

Everyone flinched at once as a voice burst out from inside Sakuya’s dress. Sakuya reached into a pocket with her free hand, pulling out the receiver and rushing out a reply.

“China, what’s going on?”

The voice on the other end didn’t sound tired in the slightest. Then again, from the sight she’d seen, Meiling didn’t have time to sleep.

“T-There’s a mob headed this way! Half a dozen of them, and they’re all armed!”

The colour flushed out of Sakuya’s face. Panic threatened to overtake her, and she very nearly dropped the receiver onto the floor. Within seconds, though, she’d regained her composure, speaking calmly and clearly.

“...Hold them off for as long as you can. I’m on my way.”

With that, Sakuya put the walkie-talkie away, and slowly cracked her knuckles.

“Well, when it comes to cleaning up my own mess, I’d say this is a good way to start.”

-----

-This week- (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrnEKq2Yy7U#t=0m52s)

"I’ve worked here for fifteen years, and I owe it to Val?ry-san that his children stay safe. If you want to get in, you’re going to have to go through me."

-At long last-

“Stupid Remi. She doesn’t understand...huh? Who’re you? Wait, what are you-kyaaah!”

-The thrilling conclusion-

“If you touch one hair on her head, I will end you.”

-To the Sakuya arc-

“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t do a thing to her. The sun, on the other hand...”

-Dolphin Rider Koishi- (http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/7426/commission11051uwgevolu.jpg)

“S-Sakuya! Anyone! HELP ME!”

-Arc III: Dancing Beneath The Scarlet Moon-

“Mysterious Jack, versus some fish-food rejects. Place your bets.”

-----

Title page by the thoroughly excellent Shoxxe (http://shoxxe.deviantart.com/) of Deviantart.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Kasu on April 07, 2011, 11:54:51 PM
Things are hitting the fan. :ohdear:

Also I liked your preview. :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on April 08, 2011, 12:18:15 AM
I approve of the use of Atlantis for that preview. Very nicely done
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on April 08, 2011, 12:32:27 AM
:3 Wahaha, this'll be fun, and a nice view of things to come in your non DRK stories. Though, I hope Meiling has awesome kung-fu skills, otherwise she's toast :ohdear:

Also, that picture turned out very nicely!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Cystral Dragon on April 08, 2011, 12:36:42 AM
I'm reminded once again why I love your works. Not that I ever forgot... But anyways I'm still trying to do a lot of guesswork for the future. At this point I've probably gotten at least someone right... Hopefully.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on April 08, 2011, 01:23:21 AM
Well. That 'youkai exterminator' comment is either a massive twist or a big-time red herring, and at the moment, I'm thinking it's the latter (although part of me thinks it's too obviously a red herring and that we're supposed to write it off as one, but  for now, I think it's a genuine red herring).
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on April 08, 2011, 01:24:26 AM
... Or it might be a youkai exterminator. Targeting Sango. Because Sango's a youkai.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on April 08, 2011, 01:51:38 AM
Um... I got the idea that the woman is our Black Claw lady. If she's not in charge of the Black Claw, then she's definitely high up in its organization, and, well, which Touhou characters are known as 'youkai exterminators'?

So yeah, that's why I currently think it's a red herring; I can't see any of those people being evil unless their DRK versions are, well, something interesting (it's possible, but unlikely).
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on April 08, 2011, 02:04:17 AM
Read it again: the exterminator is a different person than Tewi's recruiter. You're probably just getting confused because Tewi refers to both the recruiter and the exterminator as "the woman", but it's pretty clearly stated that the exterminator is someone different.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on April 08, 2011, 04:04:17 AM
*Looks closely* eah, I guess they're not the same woman. I doubt the new woman is just a mook, though, so the same logic applies.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: De La Witch on April 08, 2011, 06:35:17 AM
At first mention of "Youkai Exterminator," I thought of the two shrine maidens, but neither of them are tanned in the slightest, so.... yeah, drawing a blank.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Eriaku on April 08, 2011, 12:27:01 PM
At first mention of "Youkai Exterminator," I thought of the two shrine maidens, but neither of them are tanned in the slightest, so.... yeah, drawing a blank.

This is because she's a crossover with another of Roukan's stories. Tanned skin, dark blue eyes that turn black when she's feeling violent, silver clothing with a white stripe down the middle, oh so many sharp teeth, uses the taste of blood to get in a killing mood, oh yes. It will be epic, especially since it's their first time up against presumably non-mindcoiled Claw members. Read about her here (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,1681.msg589221.html#msg589221) if you like.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: CrowCakes on April 08, 2011, 12:40:19 PM
Oh hey the crossover is actually going to happen! Oh boy oh boy oh boy- more awesome sauce to go with story!  Everyone I has have been waiting for this :V :V :V
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on April 08, 2011, 02:52:02 PM
*Looks* Oh, hey, it's Jozu. Didn't recognize that description, I guess. Can't say it's surprising to see her here, though. I was expecting her to show up as Sango's counterpart for the Black Claw, so, well, yeah.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Alfred F. Jones on April 08, 2011, 04:02:31 PM
Whew, that was quite tense. Nicely handled, Rou.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on April 09, 2011, 12:05:10 AM
?Fancy gate.?

Tewi was not an architect, but she knew a gate when she saw one. The fence circled the entire building, running well too high to climb, so it was this or nothing.

Fortunately, this thing probably wouldn?t be difficult to open. A small cubicle stood at the side of the gate, and a woman inside was currently yelling something into a speaker. Tewi was unfazed - she never intended to be stealthy with this operation. If anything, she WANTED Izayoi to know she was here, just so the cheater could beg for her life when Tewi came marching in.

Tewi, of course, had no intention of listening.

The woman in the cubicle finished whatever conversation she?d been having and ran out in front of the gate. She held her hands out as if it would somehow cover up the gate from view.

?Halt! You approach the home of Remilia Scarlet! State your business, or I will ask you to leave!?

Oh, this was rich. One guard, not even armed, asking six armed men and their companions to leave. Tewi couldn?t help but burst into laughter at the sight of that, cackling with a laugh that sounded barely human.

?Jeez, you?re hilarious. You wanna know my business? Bring Izayoi out here now, and nobody has to get hurt.?

This would be a victory in itself. Izayoi would be handed to her on a silver platter by one of her own closest friends. The betrayal would hurt her like no bullet ever could, and only at the lowest point of her despair would Tewi finally put an end to her life. It was beautifully sadistic, and the thought alone filled Tewi to the brim with adrenaline.

The answer the guard offered was not what she had expected - or wanted - to hear.

?I?m sorry, but I refuse to give in to your threats.?

Tewi gasped. That wasn?t how the plan was meant to go. Perhaps a little physical threatening would help. She pulled out her own handgun, pointing it roughly at the woman?s chest.

?You?re kidding, right? I could end you right now, and so could every one of my boys here. I?m being charitable here and giving you a chance to walk away. I mean, if you want me to fill you with lead that?s great, but I figure you?re attached to that heart of yours.?

Where was it? Where was the fear on the woman?s face? How could she stare death in the eye like this without faltering for so much as a second? Anyone sensible would be hauling Izayoi out to her right now before running for the hills, and yet this girl was standing firmly in spite of Tewi?s best efforts.

She motioned to the guards around her, and they pulled out their own guns in unison. Seven weapons were now aimed straight at the guard, and her attention wasn?t focused on any of them. Her eyes looked straight into Tewi?s, with an expression that could be mistaken for confidence.

?Maybe you?re right. Maybe I am an idiot for staying my ground. Maybe it?d be best for me to run and let you do whatever you like to Sakuya-san.?

She took on a fighting stance, slamming one foot into the ground with impressive force. Her body was relaxed, and as she took a deep breath she seemed almost disconnected from the situation she was staring down.

?But I?ve worked here for fifteen years, and I owe it to Val?ry-san that his children stay safe. If you want to get in, you?re going to have to go through me.?

This wasn?t supposed to happen. She was supposed to be cowering, shivering, not staring her down like nothing was wrong. Where was the moment of horror that Tewi had been looking for? How could she savour this victory if her opponent wasn?t afraid of her. Fuelled by sheer anger, she cocked her handgun and made to pull the trigger.

?Wait.?

A voice to Tewi?s side interrupted her. The specialist was examining the guard with interest, nodding. She grinned, baring those inhumanly sharp teeth of hers.

?Martial artist. Interesting.?

She made to approach the guard before Tewi?s hand grabbed her by the shoulder.

?Hey, what do you think you?re-?

?Save bullets. Your words. Just following orders.?

She ignored Tewi?s hand on her shoulder, and simply kept walking forward. The guard seemed unfazed by this development, maintaining her stance.

The specialist coughed, and for the first time she spoke in a full sentence.

?...Tell me your name.?

The guard grinned.

?I am Hong Meiling, student of Wing Chun. And who do I have the honour of facing??

The specialist took a stance unfamiliar to Tewi. It didn?t resemble the stance of any martial art she?d ever seen - her hands were held forward with her palms perpendicular to the ground.

?I am Jozu Manou, student of Crashing Wave.?

Meiling?s eyes widened.

?Crashing Wave? I?ve never heard of that style before.?

?Very few people have. Consider yourself fortunate in that regard.?

Those were the only words the pair had the intention of sharing. They bowed to one another as a sign of respect. Tewi, watching from behind, had to resist the urge to just shoot the guard right now. She wasn?t afraid of Jozu in the traditional sense, but she still was a rational thinker. At least, in the sense of ?If I shoot the guard this woman is probably going to eat me alive?.

For a few seconds, they stood frozen in place.

?Haaaah!?

Jozu charged, still holding her hands in tight palms. One hand came swinging at Meiling?s face, but the guard swooped to the side and avoided the attack. Looking to capitalise, she punched at Jozu?s chest while she rose, hoping the lift upwards would give her punch a little extra force. Her opponent batted it away with the back of her other hand, but it had left her trailing in momentum.

Every move Meiling performed was an extention of the one before it. Even when her attacks were dodged there was no true hole in her stance, and Jozu found her swipes being either deflected or outright avoided. Tewi wondered for a moment if this was some sort of choreographed fight that no-one had told her about, because these moves were so fluid and natural that she couldn?t believe they were coming up with their responses as they went along.

There was, however, one difference between the two, and that was endurance. Meiling was a master of her art, but she was still human. Her body could only handle so much exertion, and after a few minutes Jozu could hear her panting. Her moves started to slow down. Her punches lacked in stopping power, and her dodges were almost desperate. Her opponent, on the other hand, had yet to break a sweat, and was still attacking with the same ferocity that she?d started with.

It was time to end this.

?Teyaah!?

Jozu stabbed her right hand forward straight towards Meiling?s head. The guard was too slow to block it, so had to settle for ducking to the left.

Unfortunately this was exactly what her opponent had been expecting, and as she leapt off her feet Meiling had just enough time to realise what was happening. Instants later, Jozu?s spinning left kick collided with the side of her head. A gruesome crack rang out as the guard was practically flung to one side, hitting the ground in a miserable heap.

Rather than celebrating her victory, Jozu frowned as she looked over at her fallen enemy. She was still breathing, but Jozu hadn?t intended to kill her in the first place. Any human who could match her in the field of combat was a worthy foe, and she would reward that by sparing her.

?...If only you were a youkai, and had no need to worry about your petty human limits.?

She sighed to herself, walking into the cubicle Meiling had been guarding. A few seconds later, the gate let off a loud creaking noise as it opened. Tewi started shooing her guards inside, not so much as thanking Jozu as she rejoined the group.

?So what convinced you to start speaking like one of us humans, anyway??

Jozu had returned to her original state of stoicism, muttering out an answer.

?Worth talking to. Worthy challenge.?

?What, so I?m not worthy or something??

Jozu looked back at her with a glare of absolute disinterest.

?Master?s plaything. Serve her beck and call. Not worth respect.?

If it wasn?t for the fact the women in the black dress would kill her for it, Tewi would just shoot this woman in the face right now. As it was, there was a much bigger bounty open to her right now; with the gate open, she and the gang had free roam of the mansion. She was already picturing Izayoi recoiling as the bullets slammed into her body, coughing up blood and dying a measly mass on the floor-

?Wait, who?s that??

There was someone standing in the gardens in front of the mansion. A young girl, it seemed, and very pale. She seemed dressed for some sort of rock concert more than anything else, and was stomping around the gardens in a huff.

This had to be one of the Scarlet children, Tewi thought to herself. From what she?d heard, the girls were supposed to have some sort of screwup in their genes that meant they?d die if they were exposed to sunlight.

An idea formed in her head. Cruel, but brilliant. She could shoot Izayoi right now if she wanted, but it wouldn?t be quite as satisfying. This would give Tewi the victory she craved - she would break Izayoi, and then she would kill her.

?Change of plan, guys. We?re taking the kid!?

Jozu snapped her head back to Tewi, suddenly frustrated.

?Not the plan. Kill Izayoi. Retrieve Teardrop.?

Again with this Teardrop. Apparently it was some sort of jewel that Izayoi was carrying around with her, and the woman in the black dress wanted it when they were done. Frankly Tewi was fine with handing it over - if she got to kill Izayoi, she?d had her fun.

?You got your detour, now gimme mine.?

Jozu frowned, begrudgingly complying. She walked up to the girl in the gardens, approaching her with a steady but determined pace.

?Stupid Remi. She doesn?t understand...huh? Who?re you? Wait, what are you-kyaaah!?

-----

It had been a dash to the door the instant Meiling?s call had ended. They?d taken too long, and Sakuya knew it - her first instinct had been to run to the girls? quarters and see if they were okay. Remilia was in her room, and trying her best not to look afraid Sakuya told her to stay there and go to bed early. Flandre was nowhere to be seen, though, and this fact brought Sakuya?s heart to her throat.

Thanks to being the only one who actually knew the way out, Sakuya made it to the entrance first. The sound of screaming from the gardens horrified her before she?d even opened the door. Anything resembling maid etiquette was firmly out of the window - she kicked the door open, immediately taking in the situation outside.

?Flandre!?

Someone had grabbed Flandre, and was currently pulling her back towards the entrance. The sickly girl had no chance of fighting off her kidnapper, though she made a damn good attempt of it.

?G-Get off of me, you little...! Do you know what you?re doing?! My sister?s rich, y?know! She?ll hire assassins to kill you and stuff!?

The woman pulling Flandre along didn?t pay attention to a single word she said. She simply kept pulling her away, behind a cohort of armed guards. And behind them was-

?Morning, Izayoi! Boy, I bet this must be a great way to start your day!?

Tewi Inaba was laughing her head off, savouring the look of shock on Sakuya?s face. She was armed as well, but with six guns already pointed in Sakuya?s direction she felt no need to add a seventh. Instead she pointed it somewhere much more useful - straight at Flandre.

Koishi and Sango had caught up by now, stopping in the doorway the instant they saw what they were up against. It wasn?t getting shot that scared them so much as Tewi shooting Flandre, and they were powerless to watch as the woman in the jacket continued to haul Flandre away.

?Dammit, I said let me GO!?

In a desperate attempt to free herself, Flandre grabbed at the woman?s jacket from behind and tugged. The fabric ripped with ease, baring the woman?s back to the group in the doorway.

A large, dark grey fin poked out of her back, revealed now that the jacket covering it had been torn. The woman saw this as merely an annoyance, and walked on regardless.

Sango gasped.

?Koishi-san, be careful! That?s a shark youkai!?

Koishi jerked her head over to the dolphin.

?Shark youkai? You mean the Black Claw?s in on this?!?

Sango nodded hurriedly. Sakuya didn?t pay their conversation any notice - she was staring down Tewi with a venomous rage.

?If you touch one hair on her head, I will end you.?

Tewi smirked. She?d been waiting for Sakuya to say something like that. A trap, so to speak.

?Oh, don?t worry. I won?t do a thing to her. The sun, on the other hand...?

Sakuya?s heart skipped a beat.

?You...you monster!?

?Hah! I?ll take that as a compliment. See, if you?d just been a good girl and played fair last night, we would?ve have had to come to this. You?ve only got yourself to blame, y?know.?

The shark pulled Flandre behind the crowd of guards, and Tewi walked with her back to the still open gate. Flandre had stopped struggling, realising she was getting nowhere. She focused her energy on a different method of trying to save herself.

?S-Sakuya! Anyone! HELP ME!?

That frightened scream would have been enough to spur Sakuya to action if she wasn?t aware that?d just give Tewi a reason to shoot her. They had no choice but to play her game for now as she approached the entrance.

?We?ll be at the docks, if you need us. You?d better be quick, though - sun?s coming up pretty soon, and it?d be terrible if your friend here caught a nasty sunburn.?

She raised one hand into the air, clicking her fingers for the guards.

?Get ?em, boys.?

Koishi and Sango gasped at the same time. Koishi had been able to stop one goon with a gun by taking him by surprise. Stopping six without someone getting shot was beyond her. She dived forward, looking to tackle Sakuya and knock her out of the path of the gunfire.

Six shots were fired at once, all of them in Sakuya?s direction. She didn?t have time to dodge. She didn?t have time to think. She barely had time to press a pair of fingers against the jewel she?d been given earlier, and definitely not enough time to see it glow as she touched it.

The bullets slowed to a crawl in mid-air, before eventually stopping entirely.

Sakuya allowed herself a small grin. So they were telling her the truth after all. Casually, like she was taking a morning stroll, she took a few steps to the side, well out of the bullets? paths. A loud ticking noise began to echo from inside her dress, reaching in, she found something else had appeared alongside the Teardrop - a pure silver pocketwatch telling the completely wrong time. It now claimed there were only fourty-five seconds until midnight, when that time had passed hours ago. Not only that, but it was moving at least twice as quickly as it was supposed to - in other words, it seemed completely useless as a timepiece.

She would worry about that later, she decided. Raising her own hand up, she clicked her fingers once again.

Time restarted, the bullets flying vainly over Koishi?s head and into the stairway behind her. The guards quickly became aware these pathetic human guns had failed them, and in perfect unison all six glared at the firearms before throwing them away. They morphed in front of Sakuya?s eyes, transforming into creatures that were neither man nor fish, but an unholy combination of the two.

?You didn?t tell me you were inviting your cousins, Tororetsu-san.?

?Don?t compare me to these freaks, phwee!?

Sakuya grinned. Sango?s emotions were easy to play with. She had a feeling they would have an...interesting relationship, for lack of a more fitting word.

?Well, Komeiji-san. A quick tutorial on how to use this gem of yours would be nice.?

Koishi had picked herself up off the floor by now, brushing herself off. She didn?t seem irritated by the fact her life-saving attempt had failed - more than anything she was glad that Sakuya had managed to solve the problem herself.

?Just grab it, and say the first thing that comes to mind.?

Sakuya had been hoping for something a little more detailed than that. It?d have to do, though, and she rummaged into her pocket again to pull the gem out and lift it into the air. It hummed as it let off a dark blue light, and words started seeping out of Sakuya?s mouth in a language neither she nor Sango really understood.

?La nuit tombe, et la lumi?re s?l?ne fait plonger le monde dans la folie.? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jhS2RwGP0M)

The jewel exploded in Sakuya?s hand, bursting outwards into a thousand azure shards. They reformed soon afterwards, taking the form of playing cards and surrounding her body. Only her head and arms stood outside the swarm of cards as they wore away at her uniform, all the while protecting her decency.

The cards covering Sakuya?s feet gave way, revealing a pair of finely-polished black shoes. They continued to come apart, moving slowly up her body. They took the form of black pants beneath her waist, while above she had changed into a plain white shirt. The last few cards ran across the chest, solidifying and bursting outwards to reveal a black vest underneath. In its centre, the dark blue Teardrop shone brightly, and the silver pocketwatch from before hung to her neck by a chain.

To finish the transformation, Sakuya reached into a pocket and threw another card in the air. It exploded, like all the others, turning into a fedora that matched her outfit immaculately. She caught it in one hand, tipping it forwards slightly on her head.

?Mysterious Jack against some fish-food rejects. Place your bets.?

As always, there was a beat before Sakuya?s mind came back into control, and she looked down at what she had just become. Koishi had quite understandably freaked out at her outfit, and Mokou had only come off slightly better. Given she?d been warned about it beforehand, however, Sakuya took the transformation with a skip in her step.

?I think it looks rather nice on me, if I do say so myself.?

The fishmen had been dazzled by the lightshow for a few moments, but now they were set to attack. They charged for the doorway, intent on tearing Sakuya to shreds along with her companions.

Unafraid, Sakuya reached into her vest pocket, pulling out a deck of cards.

?Koishi-san, I?ll need you to back me up. Dealers are honourbound to shuffle before play, after all.?

She hadn?t needed to ask how these cards worked - once the Teardrop had been activated, everything came to her like she?d known it all along. These weren?t ordinary playing cards, she knew - they were weapons, ones that could stop any enemy coming within five feet of her if she so desired. The higher the card, the more devastating its effect would be. The only issue was that for these cards to work, they had to be properly shuffled, meaning she had no idea what was coming next. For all she knew, the first four cards who be the twos of every suit.

Regardless, she stepped backwards as she started to shuffle. Koishi stepped forward in her place, lifting her own Teardrop into the air.

"Wherever evil forces be,
On the land or in the sea,
All who sin should cower and flee
From Dolphin Rider Koishi!" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JzyZb-lOXA&feature=related)

It took every ounce of Sakuya?s self-control not to laugh at Koishi?s incantation. Then she looked up, seeing the girl wearing what was practically a swimsuit, and couldn?t hold it back any longer.

?Heheheheh...looks like someone turned up late to costume handouts.?

?Says the woman who dresses in playing cards?? Sango snapped back before Koishi had time to be embarrassed by the statement. Sakuya grinned wildly in return, shuffling with inhuman speed.

Koishi paid Sakuya?s jibe no mind, wielding her trident with absolute precision. The first of the six fishmen charged her, ready to stab her with claws that had once been fingers. Expertly, she ran the trident through its fingers, catching it in place.

?Iruka Swing!?

It was highly likely Koishi was coming up with these attacks as she went along, but from the way she spun the creature around on the edge of the trident Sakuya wasn?t about to complain to her. The fishman was tugged along, pulled full-circle before Koishi finally let go of her weapon - with the creature still attached. It hurtled down the stairs, slamming into the other five creatures, knocking them into a tumbled heap.

?I?ll take that back, actually. That was rather impressive.?

Koishi was blushing now, nodding quickly and murmuring a nervous thanks. Sakuya?s shuffling finally came to an end, and to signify it the cards began to glow faintly. She drew the first card, giving it a quick glance. The eight of diamonds, about as average as she could get.

Nonetheless, it would do.

?Komeiji-san, did you know that the suits of playing cards used to represent the elements??

Casually, she threw the first card forward onto the stairs. It stopped a few feet above the heads of the fishmen, who looked up at it with apprehension.

?For example, diamonds used to signify earth. Like so.?

She smiled in the direction of the fishmen as the card shone, while Koishi and Sango looked on in confusion. The card exploded, and the creatures braced themselves to receive a barrage from above.

Instead, it came from below - knives bursting out of the ground, impaling the unprepared fish creatures with ease. They burst open, turning back into the assorted fish they?d been formed with, until as before they were spirited away by a portal beneath them.

Sakuya didn?t take the time to celebrate. Now that the enemy here had been defeated there was a much more pressing matter.

Flandre.

No time to be afraid. No time to be brutish. Flandre?s life was on the line, and right now Sakuya needed to stay strong. She took a deep breath to focus herself before thinking over her plan of approach.

The docks, Tewi had said. That was on the other side of the city, and there was no way they were getting there by foot before the sun came up. The only chance they had was the little van Meiling used to drive between here and the bakery, but Meiling was the only one who could drive and-

Wait. Shit!

Meiling. She?d been at the gate. They?d gone through. What had they done to her?!

Sakuya dashed to the gate, quickly finding Meiling?s body lying on the ground. For a few short seconds, Sakuya was afraid she was dead, but the sound of the guard?s shrill breathing put her at ease.

?Meiling. Meiling, wake up...?

Koishi and Sango caught up with Sakuya a few seconds later, and immediately Sango was giving Sakuya a stern look.

?Don?t wake her up. We can?t let people know about this, remember??

Sakuya turned back to Sango, not even trying to hide her frustration.

?Well, if we want to have any chance of saving Flandre before the sun rises, we?re going to need a driver. Unless they taught you how to drive a car at dolphin school??

That did more than enough to silence Sango. Koishi looked over to her with an expression of understanding. She was trying to do her job, but the problem was that she was a little too rigid about it. Too by-the-book, never really thinking outside the box.

Sakuya would have just said she was ?simple?, but Koishi wouldn?t like her saying that.

?Mmh...nnnh...?

Meiling stirred, mumbling as she was roused out of unconsciousness. Her hand rubbed at the side of her head, wincing in pain.

?Damn, that girl can kick. And she never got tired, either.?

She was coherent. That was good. She held a finger out, watching Meiling?s eyes follow it perfectly. No sign of a concussion. Great news.

?Meiling, they?ve taken Flandre. We need you to get us to the docks right away.?

Meiling nodded, pulling herself to her feet. She was amazingly calm given everything that was going on, though she was still a little woozy. That was probably why she didn?t so much as raise an eyebrow at Koishi?s outfit.

?Uh, right. Don?t think I?m in a state to fight, though...that Jozu girl beat the crap outta me.?

She walked off into a garage just inside the fence. A few minutes later, there was the sound of an engine chugging to life, and as the garage door opened a little red van spluttered out onto the road. Its exhaust sounded distinctly like it was coughing, ready to give in and die at any moment.

Better than nothing, at least. Sakuya motioned for Sango and Koishi to get in the back while she took the seat next to Meiling.

?Y?know, that?s the first time you?ve called me Meiling in years. Whatever happened to China??

Sakuya smiled, putting a hand on Meiling?s shoulder.

?That?s the strangest thing. I was about to apologise for doing that to you all this time.?

?Well, the sentiment?s appreciated, but we have bigger matters to take care of.?

Meiling revved up the engine, cracking her neck. Sakuya?s disposition suddenly fell, and she looked back to the other two passengers.

?You two may want to put your seatbelts on. Meiling is...an aggressive driver.?

Koishi, getting the message, rushed her seatbelt on as fast as she could. Sango was slower to pick up on it.

?Huh? Do you mean she crashes into other cars or wha-?

Meiling stepped on the gas, and the little van rocketed forward at an ungodly speed.

?PHWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!?

Sango was pinned to her seat, a look of sheer terror running across her face. Meiling handled the wheel like the horns of a bull, fighting it as much as she was riding it.

Sakuya just grimaced, pressing a palm into her face. She should never have let Meiling read Initial D between shifts.

-----

Special thanks to Tempest for making sure I didn't fall flat on my face with French. :V

In other news, I've got most of the arc written up! I just have the denounement (
this is my new favourite word
) to actually finish writing, but I'll take my time posting it over the next couple of days. Please wait warmly~
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on April 09, 2011, 12:43:17 AM
Snazzy outfit, Sakuya. Put on a domino mask and you'll be one of those pulp action heroes like the Spirit or something; hell, you already have your driver/sidekick! In fact, pretty much everything about Sakuya's powers is pretty damned cool and stylish, which kind of sucks since she's kind of a jackass.

Also, calling it here: Meiling was a dragon, and knows everything about what is going on between the Pearl and the Claw. She's just so badass that she decided she didn't need to be a dragon to help out, and just so humble that she's letting Yukari have fun with her little prophecy thing and help out the Sirens instead of kicking everyone's ass all at once.  :munch:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Kasu on April 09, 2011, 12:47:26 AM
Seems that Sakuya got the cool outfit and weapon. :3

Keep up the awesomeness!  can't wait to see how this arc ends.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Drake on April 09, 2011, 01:15:09 AM
This entire update was full of "FUCK YES" pretty much every paragraph.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on April 09, 2011, 02:10:05 AM
Black Claw's ass = kicked. Excellent. Now to see Tewi's ass get kicked. And then again in her mind. So yeah.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Marokuu on April 09, 2011, 08:46:16 PM
i just attempted to read out Sakuya's and Koishi's incantations out loud after each other, I have to commend Sakuya on not laughing until she saw the costume.

Also... seems like Rou is on a Rou-ll with these updates... :colonveeplusalpha:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on April 09, 2011, 11:12:00 PM
Much to the relief of everyone, there was little in the way of traffic at this hour. This translated simply as ‘there was less for Meiling to slam into, killing everyone as a result’.

Koishi suddenly realised this was Sango’s first time in a car. She’d managed to pull her seatbelt on, but given the way she was clasping her hands in prayer she wasn’t enjoying the experience.

“K-Koishi-san, are cars always this bad?!”

Koishi shook her head, insisting that Meiling was just a maniac behind the wheel. Maybe that’d stop Sango from being quite as scared the next time she rode in a car, but it wasn’t helping much now. Sakuya seemed totally unperturbed by the drive, even when the little van quaked after going over a bump. The closest she had to concern was holding her fedora in place.

After a long and agonising half hour, the little red van came to a careful stop just outside the docks. Meiling let out a sigh of relief, exhausted mentally from the death-defying stunt she’d just pulled off.

“Well, that went pretty well. You guys still got all your limbs?”

Sakuya nodded matter-of-factly, like the roller-coaster she’d just ridden on was an every day occurrence. It probably was - this was the van she took to get to work, after all. Koishi nodded as well, though she needed a moment to catch her breath.

Sango was currently clinging to Koishi for support, trembling uncontrollably.

“K-K-Koishi-saaaan...please don’t make me ever ride in one of these again.”

Poor little dolphin, unable to comprehend these frightening human inventions. Koishi patted Sango on the shoulder for a few seconds to put her at ease.

That, though, was all the time they could afford.

“Alright, here’s where we get off. Komeiji-san, Tororetsu-san, you’re with me. Meiling, stay here and get ready for us to make our way out.”

Everyone nodded along in agreement. Sango put her vehicular trauma behind her with impressive speed as she got out the car, reaching into her jacket.

“Izayoi-san, you’d better put this on, just in case. You’re lucky I’ve always got a few spares on me.”

She handed Sakuya a ring, identical to the one she’d given Koishi weeks ago. Giving it a quick look-over, she slipped it on her finger.

“I assume you’re not giving me this to complete the outfit.”

“Put it this way - you’re not gonna have to worry about breathing if you’re wearing that.”

Sakuya seemed puzzled by what Sango was suggesting, but kept the ring on regardless. The trio walked out towards the old docks, with Koishi having dismissed her trident for now. It instead took the form of a pendant on her neck, a trick she’d picked up a few days prior.

They were a few minutes away, so Sango gave Sakuya a quick lowdown about what she needed to know as they hurried along: Tewi and the mindcoil the Black Claw had likely placed on her; the Black Key and how it would give Tewi powerful abilities that rivalled their own; and the Pearl’s rule against killing unless it was absolutely necessary. Sakuya had offered no comment on that part.

The docks, like the rest of town, were more or less abandoned at this time of day. Morichika owned the place, and had enforced heavy docking fees for anyone not in his entourage. Even during their best hours there was little honest trading here - rumours of black market trades and underworld dealings had scared off anyone looking to work proper exports. The police force had been ‘convinced’ to turn a blind eye to the subject, and patrols always seemed to turn away just when they were meant to pass this area.

Two figures were at the edge of the dock. They were specks to start with, but as they approached it became all too clear who they were. One of them stood proudly in a black sleeveless dress covered in white lace, clinging tightly to her body and practically held together by a large white bow on her chest. A pair of large, almost comical white rabbit ears had emerged from the back of her head, reminding Koishi of that old folk tale about the lying rabbit of Inaba.

The irony was almost painful.

At her side, another younger girl was huddled up. She was as pale as the last time Koishi had seen her, but she’d long since stopped calling for help. Flandre’s hands had been tied behind her back, and despite her struggle against the ropes they refused to budge. More disturbingly, something had been attached to her foot - a metallic clasp, linking her to a ball and chain.

Sakuya’s blood curdled. Her face warped into a grimace, glaring straight into Tewi’s eyes with an anger that was barely human.

“Inaba. Get away from her, right now.

Tewi savoured every little drop of anger that slipped onto Sakuya’s face. The tables had turned completely, and they were both well aware of it - now it was Sakuya dancing to Tewi’s tune, and there was little she could do about it.

Except there was, and they both knew it. She could use the watch, freeze time, throw more knives at the woman than her body could hope to endure. She knew that, and Tewi most likely knew that too. So why wasn’t Tewi afraid in the slightest? Why was she still acting as if she was in control? That scared Sakuya slightly - either the rabbit was outright insane, or there was something else going on here.

Koishi and Sango didn’t dare to move - not while Tewi had a hostage. Well aware that she had the upper hand, Tewi took a moment to revel in it, laughing in that almost demonic cackle of hers.

“Oh, no! It’s Little Miss Dealer, here to kill me with papercuts! Y’know, I’m so scared of you I think I’ll just give your girl back to you and act like none of this ever happened.”

Sarcasm dripped from every word. She was trying to get to Sakuya emotionally, play with her, manipulate her. Sakuya knew that. And yet, the urge to kill this woman where she stood grew stronger every time the bitch so much as moved her lips.

“So, Izayoi, how’s it feel? Knowing that for all your cheating, all your lying, all your timeshifting bullshit, you’re still the loser? I’ve got your little girl’s life in the palm of my hand, and I can throw her back in there any time I want - god, you have no idea how great this feels!”

Flandre trembled, looking up towards Sakuya with pleading eyes. She’d already cried out all the tears she had, and her voice barely carried over the dock.

“S...Sakuya...help me-”

“Quiet, kid! Grown-ups are talking!”

Tewi rewarded the girl’s insolence with a kick to the side. Flandre yelped in pain, bowing her head back down and keeping quiet again.

Sakuya was beginning to lose patience. She knew she was supposed to stay calm, wait for an opening, let Tewi go too far and leave herself open, but she couldn’t just sit and watch this. Tewi was mocking her, ridiculing her. She had the power to end this fight in an instant, and still the rabbit seemed intent on pissing her off. Sango seemed aware of this, putting a hand on Sakuya’s shoulder.

“Izayoi-san, don’t. She’s planning something, and-”

Sakuya glared backwards at the dolphin, murmuring across to her.

“So you’d have me stand here and watch her torture Flandre?”

“No, that’s not what I-”

Sango stopped short when she realised that was what she meant. She was conflicted, biting her lip, still not sure how to advance. Koishi didn’t say anything, but from the look on her face she was sympathising with Sakuya.

Tewi, having been ignored for all of five seconds, decided to regain the party’s attention.

“Hyaaah!”

She grabbed at Flandre’s hair, tugging it upwards with a violent yank. She looked smugly into Sakuya’s eyes.

“What was that you said earlier? If I touched one hair on her head, you’d end me?”

Tewi pulled harder, to the point where Flandre was crying out loud in pain. The grin on Tewi’s face twisted from smug to outright insane.

“Well, I’m touching about a thousand hairs right now. What’s that worth?!”

That was it. That was all Sakuya could take. She glared at Tewi with more hatred than she’d ever felt in her life. She wanted this woman dead, right now. If the others complained, she’d say she was ending a life to save a life. And if that explanation didn’t satisfy them?

Well, she’d tell them where they could stick it.

Time froze in place again as Sakuya focused herself. The watch around her neck starting ticking again - faster than a regular watch. There were rules to it, she knew now - there was a limit to how long she could hold time in place. She could do it for one minute at most, and the pocketwatch kept track. When it hit midnight, she was out of time until the moon rose again the next evening.
If she used the watch (or indeed any timepiece) as a focus, she could pass through this time normally. But sometimes that took too long, and she needed to get out right away. If she froze time instantly through sheer focus, though, the time would tick through twice as quickly. The last she’d checked, it was at forty seconds to midnight - in other words, twenty seconds.

That was enough for Sakuya to shuffle the deck, dash down the docks, and leave a card right in front of Tewi’s face. The nine of spades. Wind. It tracked its target until it was knocked away. Not that this’d be a problem considering it was inches from the rabbit’s head.

The clock struck midnight. There was a tiny ringing noise as time suddenly shifted back into phase.

The knives dug straight into Tewi’s forehead. The rabbit’s grip on Flandre’s hair stopped, and for a moment she looked up at the spot where she’d been stabbed. At least two or three, going through her head and coming out the other side. She looked up, wordlessly.

“Izayoi-san!”

Koishi and Sango starting running in afterwards. There was so much they wanted to say. Sango wanted to reprimand Sakuya for fatally wounding Tewi. Koishi wanted to make sure Flandre was alright more than anything - she’d been through a horrible experience, and it had taken its toll on her.

Neither of them thought to wonder why Tewi’s wounds weren’t bleeding.

“Not so cocky now, are you?!”

Sakuya screamed in Tewi’s ear, digging one of the knives in as she did so. Tewi looked away from the knives, straight towards Sakuya, still stunned.

For a moment, the rabbit’s face shifted into a cruel grin. Then she vanished, disappearing in a puff of smoke as Sakuya’s knives clattered against the floor.

Sakuya froze in place, her blood ice-cold. It was a trap. A decoy. And she’d wasted her trump card on it.

“But if she’s a fake, where’s-”

The question was answered before Sakuya even had the chance to finish it. A dark shadow had been floating beneath the surface of the water at the end of the dock, and only now did it burst up to the surface. To Sakuya, the whole thing happened in slow-motion - Tewi burst out of the water, almost hanging in the air for a moment, grinning at Sakuya like she knew she’d won. She grabbed at the ball attached to Flandre’s foot with both hands, and pulled it along with her as she fell back down again.

Flandre was powerless to stop herself from plunging into the depths right after it.

“FLANDRE!”

Without a moment of hesitation, Sakuya leapt forward to dive in after the girl, but Tewi burst back out again. The rabbit caught her with a punch square in the jaw, knocking her backwards onto the dock. Tewi climbed up onto dry land again, the soaked dress clinging to her body.

“I’m gonna enjoy beating you to a pulp, Izayoi.”

Tewi stepped to one side - no, both sides. She multiplied, a second identical clone standing right beside her. They looked at one another for a moment, grinning.

“And so am I.”

The pair charged Sakuya while she was on the ground, looking to kick her while she was down. Only a well-placed sweep from Sakuya saved her, sending the two onto the floor for a few seconds.

“You two, help Flandre! I’ll hold Inaba off!”

Sango and Koishi didn’t need to be told that. They’d already jumped off the dock, diving into the water to follow Flandre’s descent.

Sakuya pulled herself to her feet at the same time as the Tewi clones. The pair spoke at once, like an demented choir.

“Two on one, Izayoi. We like those odds.”

“Mysterious Jack” adjusted her fedora, unfazed. Being smacked back had knocked it out of place, which was disgraceful on her part. She lowered herself into an amateurish fighting stance. It was time to see if those lessons Meiling had given her were worth anything.

“Well, you know how it goes, Inaba. Everybody loves an underdog.”

-----

The water was murky beneath the surface, and Koishi had enough trouble making out what was a few feet in front of her before she considered how hard it would be to find Flandre. Sango had thrown her jacket off at the surface so it wouldn’t slow her down, and her silvery fin gave her just enough speed to be in front of Koishi. She was rummaging around her pockets again, pulling out another Ring of Breath and giving it over.

“Here. You’ll need to pass this onto her, and fast.”

Koishi took the ring, but there was something not quite right in Sango’s line of thought.

“Right, but...why can’t you do it?”

“Because I need to take care of-GET DOWN!”

Sango darted across the water, pushing Koishi to the side just before a dark grey blur flew past. Were it not for Sango knocking her aside, the creature would have probably torn Koishi apart. It turned around, seeing that it had failed, looking at its prey with dead black eyes.

There was no doubting what was looking at them. It was the wrong climate, the wrong season, the wrong country, but there was still a shark looking hungrily into Koishi’s eyes.

“Koishi-san, get a move on! I can handle this!”

Sango took a stance, ready to fight the beast with her bare hands. Nodding, Koishi started swimming again, gripping the ring she’d been given for dear life. The shark knew exactly what they were planning to do, and it wasn’t having any of it. It charged again, this time intent on chomping down on Koishi and devouring her in however many pieces she needed to be chewed into.

A fist from the side smacking it in the gills was enough to put that idea out of the window.

“Hey, fish-face! You’re my problem now!”

The shark reeled, visibly flinching under the force of Sango’s punch. A few seconds later it had recovered, but rather than maintaining the chase it turned to the dolphin curiously. Sango blinked once, and the shark’s form had been replaced by that of a young woman - the one who had been dragging Flandre away back at the mansion. She’d discarded the torn jacket from earlier, revealing what appeared to be a wetsuit underneath.

“Figured you wouldn’t just disappear like that. Part of Inaba’s trap, right?”

The shark youkai nodded, seeing no reason to lie. Her hand was on her chin, examining Sango’s stance intently, nodding to herself all the while.

“Flowing Tide. I should have expected nothing else from one of the kappa’s lackeys.”

Finding her interest sated, the shark took a stance of her own. She wielded her hands like blades, prepared to swipe at her foe with all the force she could muster.

Sango knew that stance all too well. The two groups had fought one another for centuries in small skirmishes, and they’d developed fighting styles to combat each other: the White Pearl used Flowing Tide, a style designed to redirect the opponent’s force and punish their errors; the Black Claw was trained in Crashing Tide, a more aggressive martial art intended to overwhelm and destroy their foe’s defenses. Each was designed with the intent of being superior to the other, but in the end they were equals. The more experienced practitioner won.

Sango cracked her knuckles. “I haven’t had a fight in the water for years. I might be a little rusty.”

“Your stance is good. You will be an interesting opponent.”

The pair bowed to one another. For a short moment, they weren’t enemies - just two combatants in a one-on-one fight, both playing fairly and honourably.

Both charged the other at once. The fight had begun.

-----

“Mmh! Mmmph!”

Koishi heard Flandre before she saw her. The girl’s muffled grunts were in time with the sound of her shuffling at the chain, but she didn’t sound like she was making any progress. Having tracked down her position, Koishi turned so she was headed straight towards Flandre, and swam with every ounce of strength she had.

By the time Koishi had caught up with her, Flandre was starting to approach her limits. Her cheeks had puffed up, and her feet were kicking wildly in an attempt to haul the metal ball off the ground. It made a lot of noise as the chain bounced around, but the weight refused to budge. When she saw Koishi approaching in the distance, she practically yelled at her through the water.

“Heeegglbp! Heeglp meeeggbbl!”

Koishi didn’t have much time. The first thing she had to do was give Flandre an air supply, and that was what the ring was for. She swam behind the girl, holding her in one place with one hand, trying to slip the ring onto one of her fingers with the other. This was difficult with Flandre still struggling for dear life.

“Flandre-san, please calm down! I can’t help you if you don’t stop panicking!”

Flandre twisted her head around in surprise. Koishi needed a second to realise exactly what it was the girl was shocked by - she’d grown so used to breathing underwater she’d forgotten it wasn’t supposed to be possible. Still, she seemed to understand, and stopped her flailing so that Koishi could slip the ring onto her finger.

“Alright. You can breathe now.”

Understandably, Flandre was a little skeptical about that. She kept holding her breath for as long as her body would let her, while Koishi started on untying her. By the time Koishi had finished untying the ropes, Flandre had hit her limit, letting out whatever air she had left and gasping in what she assumed would be water.

“...Eh?”

Flandre was equal parts relieved and confused. With her now-free hands she started rubbing at her neck, trying to see if she’d spontaneously grown gills. Koishi’s attention had turned to the clasp around her neck. She wouldn’t be able to take care of this with her hands, but thankfully she had another tool for that. She grabbed at the pendant, and the trident shone as it returned to its full size.

“Hold still, okay?”

Flandre was watching Koishi with...wonder? Respect? Admiration? Koishi couldn’t place the emotion, but it was definitely good. She kept her foot in place while Koishi stabbed at the chain with her trident, cutting it cleanly between two links. Perhaps not the best place to cut, but definitely the fastest.

“Wow...are you, like, some kinda superhero?”

“Um...I guess?”

Koishi blushed a little. No-one had ever called her that before, and it was comforting to hear. Still, now wasn’t the time for her to listen to compliments - there were two fights going on, and she needed to help out somewhere.

“Flandre-san. I want you to hide over there for now. I’ll come back for you when it’s safe to come out, alright?”

Koishi pointed towards a hole in a nearby wall, forming a small indent just large enough for a child to fit into. Flandre pouted.

“What? But you’re so cool! I wanna come watch you fight!”

Koishi put a hand on Flandre’s shoulder, giving her a stern look.

“No, Flandre-san. It’s going to be dangerous. Stay there so you don’t get hurt.”

Flandre frowned, giving Koishi the puppy-dog eyes to guilt-trip her into changing her mind. Koishi didn’t budge an inch. She’d seen Flandre’s sister try this on Sakuya earlier, so she was prepared for it.

“...Fine. But you’d better tell me how awesome it looked!”

Flandre walked across the bottom of the port into the little crevice. Koishi could only make her out because she knew what she was looking for, so Tewi and her shark companion would have no chance. Now it was time to get back to the surface and help Sakuya out with fighting Tewi.

That at least had been the plan, but before she could act the fight ended up coming to her. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDv5xhqq7Iw)

Sakuya hit the water hard, reeling from the kick to the chest that had knocked her in. Two assailants dived in afterwards, each of them looking to land the killing blow, and both of them giving Sakuya sinister smiles.

“The house always wins, Izayoi!”

One of the two Tewis took initiative, spinning a full 360 degrees in the water and finishing it with a heel drop to the chest. She hit with inhuman force, sending Sakuya slamming into the ground, only a few feet from where Koishi stood.

“Izayoi-san!”

Immediately Koishi rushed towards the fallen Siren, but before she could reach her Sakuya was already pulling herself up. She was in pain, but she was definitely conscious, and still in good shape to fight.

“Is...Is Flandre okay?”

In spite of the beating she’d just received, Sakuya’s first thoughts were for Flandre. Koishi smiled, nodding.

“She’s fine. Right now all we have to worry about is these two.”

The Tewi in front tried to finish the deed she’d started, dashing down through the water as if she was flying. A good punch to the chest would inevitably damage something important, and leave Sakuya just about dead.

Koishi waited for the rabbit to come into range, then gave her a solid smack in the face with her trident. There was a satisfying ringing noise as the weapon smacked her in the head, causing the fake to vanish in a puff of smoke.

“Hey, no interferences! This is between me and Izayoi, Flopsy!

The real Tewi had stayed behind, letting her doppelganger do all the dangerous work. A smart move tactically, but it showed she was scared of actually fighting up close. Naturally, Sakuya took advantage of this as she rose to her feet, brushing sand off of her fedora.

“If you want a fair fight, take me by yourself. None of this decoy nonsense you’ve been throwing around.”

Tewi seemed ready to throw up at that idea, deciding instead to divide herself into three. The two clones descended, one going for each of the Sirens.

“Why fight fair when you can fight smart?!”

Koishi blocked the oncoming strike with her trident, but another followed soon afterwards. Clones or not, these things hit like beasts. Sakuya took on the posture Meiling had taught her, and racked her brain to recall what she’d been trained in. Her moves were slow, uncertain, but more or less solid. The clone she’d been put against met her blow for blow, her own stance less formal but making up for it in strength and speed.

Koishi’s main advantage was that she was armed, and with a trident that improved her range considerably. Stepping back, she used it to keep the decoy at a safe distance, waiting for it to overextend itself before-

”Iruka Slash!”

The swing cut clean through Tewi, and Koishi spun the trident around in her hand for flourish. A moment passed before the fake finally started to slide in two, vanishing in a puff like all the others before it.

Sakuya, meanwhile, was getting overwhelmed fast. Fists rained down upon her, and there was only so much she could hope to block. Seeing potential, the clone came in with a brutal right hook, intent on snapping Sakuya’s neck cleanly.

Rather than dodging backwards, Sakuya pushed forwards instead, putting herself inches in front of the clone. She put a hand up, slamming it into the decoy’s face, but with the small distance it travelled there was no force behind the blow.

“Any good gambler leaves a trick up their sleeve, Inaba.”

There was a metallic clicking sound, and Koishi only saw it for an instant. A switchblade, small but sharp, popped out from Sakuya’s wrist, stabbing deep into the clone’s neck. Like every other before it, it collapsed uselessly into a wisp of smoke.

To say Tewi was unhappy with this was an understatement. Her face was red, her expression livid, her entire body tense and ready to detonate.

“You’re cheating again! You never said that you had a weapon like that! That’s not how these fights are supposed to go!”

“Well, if you bring me the rulebook to look over, I’ll surely apologise.”

Tewi made to stamp her foot against the floor, forgetting momentarily she was underwater. Grimacing, she clasped her hands together in focus.

“Fine! If I can’t win in strength, I’ll just have to win in numbers!”

A clone stepped out from where Tewi had stood. Then a second, then a third, a fourth, a fifth, and before Koishi knew what was happening there were a dozen Tewis floating above her. The true Tewi, behind them, let off a tired pant as the last of her clones emerged.

“Hah...damn, that was hard. But there’s no way in hell you guys are taking all of them at once! Get ‘em, girls!”

The twelve clones nodded at once, swarming down with the same speed as before. Each one was as strong as the single clones Koishi and Sakuya had fought earlier, except now they were expected to take six of them at once. Koishi gritted her teeth, pointing her hand into the air and pressing the emblem on the back of her glove.

”Iruka Sho-”

She never had the chance to get the hit off before the mob of Tewis overran her. Sakuya made an attempt to stab at one of them, but even as it dodged the last five grabbed Sakuya and pinned her down as well.

Then they kicked. Brutally, violently, and repeatedly.

“Gh...ah...kyah-!”

Koishi felt their feet slamming into her back, battering her arms and back. She covered up her head to at least protect it from the assault, but it was still too much for her to overcome. With the amount of pain she was going through, it was a challenge just to stay conscious.

Sakuya wasn’t having it any better. She wasn’t making any noise, but that was just stoicism. There was no way she could take a beating like that and not be hurting. The army of Tewis pressed on, relentless.

“Huh...that was hard. But damn, it feels good to see you guys have the shit beaten out of you. Not so tough now, are you, Izayoi?”

Sakuya refused to cry out in pain. She wouldn’t give Tewi the pleasure of victory, even if it meant biting her lip so hard it bled. The clones kept kicking, while their leader idly looked around the seabed.

“Hm. Where’d the twerp go? I was sure she landed somewhere around here...”

At least Flandre was safe, Sakuya thought to herself. They could kill her, but Flandre needed to get home safely. Maybe in that way she’d make up for what she did - giving her life in exchange for Flandre’s. Not the best solution, but the only one that came to mind while she was being beaten to a pulp.

“S...Stop!”

Sakuya gasped. No. No, no, no, no. Don’t let that be her. Don’t let that be Flandre. She was going to look to the side and see no-one there, especially not-

“F...Flandre...”

Sakuya didn’t realise how weak she’d become until she tried to speak, the word crawling out of her throat. The barrage of kicks stopped as the army of Tewis looked to the side, seeing a young girl glaring them down with piercing eyes.

“Leave Sakuya alone! If you don’t, I’ll...I’ll punish you!”

All twelve fakes looked at Flandre’s frail body, as did the original. Sakuya and Koishi were too beaten to make the most of the opportunity, unable to get to their feet. Some sniggering started within the crowd, soon overtaken by laughter.

“AHAHAHAHA! You’ve gotta be kidding me!”

“This little runt thinks she can take on us?!”

“Oh god, I can’t feel my sides! I think I’m gonna die laughing!”

Thirteen voices were mocking her at once with cruel, bullying voices. They probably expected Flandre to curl up into a little ball and die of shame. Instead, their insults only made her angrier.

They would come to regret that.

Sakuya thought for a moment that her eyes were deceiving her. A red blotch had appeared on Flandre’s chest, staining her shirt a blood-red hue. It spread downward, running across her skirt, and dripping out into the water in a menacing aura. Her hand clenched up, like it was holding an unseen blade.

With a flash, the hand was clasping to the hilt of a crimson sword, crackling with sheer destructive power. Suddenly, no-one was laughing.

“I said LEAVE!”

Flandre gripped the blade with both hands, pure fury driving her on.

“SAKUYA!”

She held it horizontally, pulling it back to make a swipe at the enemy.

“ALONE!”

The blade cut a scarlet arc in the water, darting forward with an almighty roar. Twelve clones flinched in unison, but the arc tore through them with ease, and in an instant all twelve had been destroyed. Sakuya and Koishi, still lying on the floor, could only watch as the projectile tore past them and made a considerable dent in the metal port behind them. The metal screamed as it crumpled, leaving everyone except Flandre picking their jaws off the floor

“N...No way! This isn’t even funny!”

Tewi was grabbing at her ears now, torn between panic and anger. Flandre looked up at her with scorn, screaming through the water. In unison with her cry, a pair of crystalline wings tore through the back of her shirt, flapping upwards to bring her inches in front of Tewi’s face. Flandre didn’t even try to say anything, simply growling at the rabbit as she slammed the blunt end of the sword into her chest. The impact was enough to send Tewi slamming into the wall, knocking her out cold without so much as a whimper.

Sakuya looked up in awe at the girl she’d risked her life to try and protect. Apparently, the tables had been turned considerably. Flandre looked down for a moment, smiling at Sakuya while the Siren pulled herself to her feet.

“See that, Sakuya? I can look after...my...self...”

Flandre’s eyes drooped, and she fell backwards into the water, her blade fading back into the void it had come from. She’d overexerted herself, and passed out within a matter of moments. Sakuya caught her on the way down, flinching slightly as her arms ached.

“Izayoi-san, get Flandre-san to the car. She needs to get home before the sun rises.”

Koishi had just about recovered from the beating, though she was grabbing at a still-smarting shoulder. Sakuya nodded, carrying the unconscious girl up to the surface, swimming about as well as she could in her injured state.

Koishi’s attention was elsewhere now, stumbling over to where Sango had been. There was still one fight going on, and Sango could need her help...

-----

Sango hadn’t lied. She really hadn’t been in a proper fight beneath the waves for a while. But once you’d learned, you never really forgot.

Her opponent unleashed a merciless barrage of attacks, each one intent on killing her. Sango rerouted, deflected, or simply dodged everything the shark threw, and in the meantime tried to make the most of her opponent’s mishaps to find an opening. She was having no luck - her foe’s movements were crisp, clean, and brutally efficient. There was no flourish, no pizazz, but absolute efficiency.

Sango was vaguely aware of the fight going on behind her. She could make out the sounds of combat going eerily silent, and she’d thought the fight was over until the screaming sound of torn metal pierced her ears. She and her opponent had both been caught off guard by that, but they were back to blows only seconds afterward. Sango continued to parry and punish, and her opponent maintained her constant vigil.

Fighting underwater should have made defense harder. After all, you suddenly had the ability to move in three dimensions, meaning your opponent could be coming at you from any point. Several times Sango had tried to dart under her opponent following an overextended punch, but it always ended with her getting a knee to the forehead. She was practically impenetrable, like no-one she’d ever fought before.

After several minutes of fighting, both sides stopped to catch their breath. They kicked away from one another, mutually, panting.

“Impressive. The Pearl has trained you well.”

Sango’s opponent passed out a quick compliment to her. The dolphin wasn’t taken in, still maintaining her stance.

“Tell me,” Sango said, as she gained distance from the shark. “What’re you doing with a group like the Black Claw?”

The shark, after some huffing and puffing, muttered out an answer. “I was bored. I spent years at the top of the food chain, but there was no challenge any more. No opposition. I needed to meet someone who could match me in combat, remind me what battle truly felt like.”

Sango lowered her pose, allowing herself a proud grin. “So am I that ‘someone’ to you?”

The shark grabbed at the belt she was wearing, pulling off a small vial. Sango’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of its contents.

“We shall have to see, won’t we?”

Slowly, deliberately, she began to remove the stopper. The instant that thing was released, the blood inside would seep into the water. From what Sango knew about sharks, that would be enough to invoke a murderous rage in her opponent, and she’d come down on Sango with more force than ever. She’d been having enough trouble keeping up already, and this would be just too much for her. Still, she could hardly run, so all she could do was maintain her stance as her foe slowly released the stopper-

“Sango-san!”

Sango and her adversary turned their heads at once, seeing Koishi approach to backup the dolphin. The shark looked in Koishi’s direction, then back to Sango, before eventually placing the vial back at her waist.

“It appears we’ve lost here. We’ll settle this another time.”

She started to swim out to sea, where she assumed Sango wouldn’t follow her.

“Wait!”

Sango called out to the woman, and she stopped in place.

“Tell me your name. So I can hold you to your promise of a rematch.”

The shark turned around again, her arms folded. She grinned.

“I am Jozu Manou, shark of the tropical seas.”

Sango returned the smile.

“Sango Tororetsu, dolphin of the eastern waters.”

Jozu nodded, taking the name in. She looked eagerly into Sango’s eyes.

“Very well, Sango. We’ll meet again.”

With that, Jozu regained her shark form and swam leisurely into the distance, comfortable in the knowledge that Sango wouldn’t follow. The dolphin stood in place where she was, one arm reaching out towards the open sea. She wondered to herself - if the shark had used that vial of hers, she’d probably have torn Sango and Koishi to shreds. Yet out of respect she’d chosen to stay her hand and finish the fight later.

Perhaps there were was some honour to be found in the ranks of the Black Claw, after all. No morals, admittedly, but honour.

“Sango-san, are you alright?”

Sango wasn’t sure how she felt. She knew this woman was the enemy, and yet it didn’t feel right to chase her down. She felt that because Jozu had given her a fair fight, it was only right for her to do the same.

“Yeah, Koishi-san, I’m fine.”

They would have their rematch, and Sango was already looking forward to it.

-----

Last segment is ready and will be uploaded tomorrow. I have pushed out 30k words in the last week, so expect me to take a break after this arc's wrapped up. x_x
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Drake on April 10, 2011, 12:14:39 AM
aaaaaAAAAaaAAAaaAaAAaaaaa

I can't even begin. Every scene and movement is so vivid I can see it in front of me as I read. This is great shit. i don't even
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on April 10, 2011, 01:29:00 AM
NO! NO BREAKS! YOU JUST TOOK A BREAK! NO MORE BREAKS!

Seriously, though, do it if you need to; that is a lot of wordage. And yeah, good stuff. Although now you've got me wondering what the deal with Flandre is (I was expecting a surprise two-for-one Siren deal with Flandre being one, too, but unless I missed something or there's something that hasn't been said yet, she doesn't have a Teardrop or anything, although I suppose it wouldn't surprise me if she does have one); I hope you don't plan on ending this ark without at least some form of an explanation.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on April 10, 2011, 06:16:52 AM
. Although now you've got me wondering what the deal with Flandre is

Once humans are made aware of magic, they can see it. Flandre, being young and hopeful, would still have massive potential to tap into magic on her own. There's a similar theory involving telepathy in youths and toddlers - they aren't predisposed to the notion 'that's impossible', so they're more in-tune with it working.
For example - if you thought a hammer was anything but a tool for driving a nail into wood, and someone handed you a hammer and nail and told you to use it to hang a picture, you'd think 'I can't do that'. But if no one told you hammers weren't able to, you'd think 'Hey, I got this hammer here. Maybe I can use it.'

Similar thing with Flandre and magic, likely. Magic is in the minds of the youthful, and all that.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on April 10, 2011, 05:13:04 PM
I think it's more than just her being aware. She ripped through all of Tewi's clones, and while yes, she did catch them by surprise, what she did looked to me like more than just a random action from desperation. But we'll see.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on April 10, 2011, 07:11:57 PM
:Cue retelling of stories of mothers shoving cars out of the way to get to their child whom they believe is in danger:

The human body is actually quite capable of tearing itself apart, but on a subconscious level, it knows that. It never truly exerts all the strength and power it *can* because it would do just that - rip itself apart. Short little bursts of it, though, will occasionally show in times of great need and desperation as massive leaps and bounds in physical strength and stamina.

Just swap 'muscle strength' for 'magical power' in this situation and there you have it, Flandre gone done exhausted herself by liftin cars swingin Laevantein
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on April 10, 2011, 07:17:19 PM
Personally, I'm wondering if Sango's belief of vampires not being real is inaccurate, for whatever reason.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: KrackoCloud on April 10, 2011, 07:25:25 PM
I thought maybe it's just that Flandre was exposed to magic and that awakened some old vampire blood in her. Maybe vampire blood is magically sensitive or something.
Oh well, we'll know the answer soon enough.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Omegahugger on April 10, 2011, 07:40:18 PM
In Memento, vampires were mentioned as being a recent race of youkai. It wouldn't be unthinkable that they appeared after all the youkai were united and Sango therefore never heard of them. At least, that's how I think.

I fully expect to be proven wrong.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on April 10, 2011, 08:56:35 PM
Koishi was still wincing a little as she helped Sango lift Tewi?s unconscious body to the surface. Those kicks had left a lot of bruises on her arms where she?d used them to cover her head. They?d probably need a few days to heal up properly.

?Wait, so you?re telling me the little girl pulled out a sword and cut them all in half? For real!??

Sango was amazed by the story Koishi told about the fight, mainly at Flandre?s miraculous intervention to save both of the Sirens. Koishi shrugged, not entirely sure what had happened herself.

?I don?t really know what was happening either. She took it all so naturally...and she was pretty strong, too. I guess after I gave her the ring of breath, she sort of understood everything that was going on.?

Sango frowned. It would probably be too late to wipe Flandre?s memory now - the thoughts were too far ingrained into her head. They would just have to work on damage control and hope that Sakuya could keep the girl under wraps.

?Anyway, Inaba?s definitely been mindcoiled. You?re going to need to work your magic again, Koishi-san.?

Koishi looked down at the limp body in front of her. Tewi had lost all magical power, and the Black Key?s effects had reversed, leaving the ex-rabbit in the plain black dress she?d been wearing earlier. Koishi looked down at herself, seeing the dormant eye still lying on her chest.

She gulped. She?d only done this once before, and it hadn?t been a pleasant experience last time. But if Tewi?s life depended on it, she was willing to take the risk. Steeling herself with a deep breath, Koishi reached down and pulled open the eyelid over her third eye.

Once again, it let off a violet ray of light, enveloping Tewi completely. Immediately Koishi felt a weight pressing down on her shoulders, and her eyelids grew heavy. Before she knew it, she was slumping onto the ground, her eyes closing as her mind left her body and entered Tewi?s.

The instant she jolted awake, the world she lived in had disappeared, replaced with the inside of Tewi?s mind.

This time, there was none of the harsh coldness she?d found inside Cirno?s head. It was dark in here more than anything, and the lights above her head flickered on now and again. She was at the end of a corridor, its walls a pale shade of red. There were doors at the ends, but black tendrils running along the walls stopped Koishi from opening them.

The mindcoil.

She was familiar with this - it had taken a similar form in Cirno?s mind. She would have to find the source and kill it; then the entire thing would collapse, and Tewi would return to normal.

As she started to make her way down the corridor, Koishi started noticing there was something else on the walls other than the mindcoils. Letters, words, written by a childish hand in white chalk.

santa claus gives me presents at christmas

It was a simple sentence, a simple belief. But Tewi was a young woman now - she must have known that Santa Claus was just a story. This was a lie, one that Tewi had told herself years ago. The chalk was faded, almost invisible, but the mindcoil underlined the words, making them stand out once again.

Moving on, she saw more of these childish lies drawn up on the walls. Stories of the tooth fairy, myths about the local shrine, the legend of the staircase whose number of steps changed on a full moon. All silly childhood stories, all underlined and brought back to light by the mindcoil. So far, so harmless.

She caught the next sentence just as she started to hear sobbing in the distance.

Papa didn?t make it to my school play because of work

This one hadn?t faded as far as the ones before it; it still hung with some strength inside Tewi?s mind. The underlining black tendril gave it extra impact. This was where Koishi started to feel slightly afraid, her pace increasing. She started to fear the worst, and had to calm herself down - maybe Tewi?s father had just been busy?

The lights were flickering, and Koishi only caught a few of the messages that followed. In the distance, she could still hear Tewi weeping.

Papa can quit any time he wants

Was it alcohol? She hoped to god it wasn?t. Maybe it was smoking? Or he was overweight. Yes, those were easier for her to take. It couldn?t be that bad.

Mama just fell down the stairs last night

Koishi stopped running at that one. She read it again, praying that she?d misread it before. Her hopes were dashed. There was only one reason Tewi could be lying to herself about that.

Mama and Papa love each other very much

Koishi had to resist the urge to be sick. This was horrible. She couldn?t keep looking at these for much longer, not if she wanted to keep her own sanity intact.

Papa won?t get mad at my report card tonight

Before she even knew it she was running. She?d put together the story that these lies were telling, and it frightened her. She didn?t want to look anymore, and it was tempting to close her eyes and look away. Still, she had to fight on. If she wanted to save Tewi, she had to understand her first of all - learn what the Claw had used to control her, and help her overcome it.

She only caught one more message before the lights went out completely.

Mama?s just sleeping Papa didn?t do anything to her

Koishi?s heart froze in her chest. Her hand ran across her mouth, and she could feel tears streaming out of her eyes. This poor girl had been through so much, and she?d lied to herself to cope with it. She?d never quite believed her own lies, though, and she?d tried to etch them in her head so they stuck.

It wouldn?t work. Deep down, Tewi had to still know the truth. It scared her. It horrified her. She was running from it. Koishi suddenly realised that in a way, Tewi and Sakuya weren?t that different - both of them were desperately looking to deny a truth they couldn?t stand.

What, then, was Tewi running from? Or at least, what in particular? What was driving her to flee from her own past, deny everything that she?d been? What had twisted her into the pathological liar she?d become?

The answer came to her as the lights flickered back to life. It screamed at her, written across all of the walls in a desperate hand.

It?s not my fault...
it?snotmyfaulttheyweren?tfightingovermeit?snotmyfaultmamaisn?tgoneisn?tnotmyfaultpapadidn?tdoitit?snotmyfaultshe?ddeadit?snotmyfaultpapachokedher
it?snotmyfaultmyfamilyfellapartit?snotmyfaultit?snotmyfaultit?snotmyfault


Koishi was running again before she knew it. It was too painful. This girl had gone through hell, and Koishi was in pain just seeing what she?d suffered. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs. She didn?t want to be here. She wanted out. She wanted to get away.

But more than any of that, she wanted to help her.

The words just repeated themselves, over and over. They only grew more frantic and desperate the further in Koishi went, until the walls were more white than red. She couldn?t read the text any more, but the crying was only growing louder as she ran down the corridor.

After what felt like far too long, Koishi reached the end of the corridor. The walls were pure white now, the chalk running a second layer on top of the faltering red paint. This was the only room with decent lighting, but it was little more than a small cube of a room.

Still desperately etching her words into the wall, Tewi Inaba muttered to herself, demented. Her other hand tugged at her dress, white to match the shade of the walls.

?It?s not my fault, right? Mama?s just asleep. They weren?t fighting over me...even if I hadn?t been there, it still would?ve happened. What would?ve happened? Nothing is wrong. Mama?s sleeping. It?s fine. Stop thinking about it.?

Even as she told herself to stop, Tewi?s hand kept scribbling on the wall uncontrollably. The floor was laced with pieces of chalk, and she?d presumably pick one up the instant the one she was holding ran out. Something was crawling along the floor onto her hand, pulsing as it ran across her fingers, culminating in a throbbing mass on the other side of her writing hand.

The core of the mindcoil. It was forcing her to write, no matter what she wanted.

?...Inaba-san.?

The girl flinched. She wasn?t used to company. She turned back to Koishi, hand still writing furiously.

?Oh, sorry. I didn?t hear you come in. It?s a shame you weren?t here earlier - I was talking to that massive rock star everyone?s in love with. Shinki? Y?know,  lead vocalist for The Gate To Makai? We?re totally best friends - I taught her everything she knows about singing. She?s offered me royalties like a trillion times, but I?m too cool for money.?

She smiled, but the teary red eyes gave her away. Koishi walked over to her, placing a hand on top of the black, gooey mass compelling her to write.

?Inaba-san, please. Stop writing.?

?What are you talking about? I?m not writing anything.?

Koishi wasn?t going to stand for that. She grabbed Tewi by the shoulder, pointing at the mindcoil?s core on her hand. The girl stared absently at it, not really paying attention.

?You can?t keep lying like this forever. You?re not helping yourself. You?re making things worse.?

Tewi was silent for a few seconds. Her head bowed down. Her hand still wrote, but it had slowed down.

?B...But if I don?t...that means...?

She started furiously scribbling again. Koishi couldn?t even see what she was writing any more, but the words that Tewi started to scream were enough of a clue.

?I didn?t kill her, I didn?t kill her, I didn?t kill her...!?

This was bad. Tewi was going off the deep end. If Koishi didn?t interfere, there was a chance the girl would snap completely. She had to calm her down.

She did it in the only way she knew how - by wrapping her arms around the poor girl.

?Aaah!??

Tewi?s writing hand jerked around, not even forming letters as she wrote. Koishi hugged her as closely as she could, whispering into her ear.

?It?s okay, Inaba-san...it?s not true. A lot of horrible things have happened to you, but they weren?t your fault. You can stop blaming yourself now...?

Tewi shivered in Koishi?s arms, sniffling. She started to cry again, screaming as her scribbling started again.

?But-but-but-but if I didn?t do it, Papa did it! That?s crazy! Papa?s a great man! He?s just...misunderstood! That?s...that?s right...?

She spoke without any honesty. She didn?t believe what she was saying, but she felt compelled to say it nonetheless. Koishi could understand - the man was her father, after all. He brought her up. He raised her. Of course she didn?t want to see him as a monster.

But if it was a choice between blaming it on him, or blaming it falsely on herself, she would need to take the lesser of two evils.

?Inaba-san, you can?t blame yourself for what your father did. He?s already hurt you enough. Don?t let him hurt you again like this.?

?But...Papa...Papa...!?

Tewi didn?t want to believe it. It was too big. Too frightening. Too scary. She wanted to run, like she always had. But even as they comforted her, Koishi?s arms were holding her in place.

Koishi felt her own heart on the verge of breaking. She?d already seen one person go through this despair tonight. Two was about all she could handle. She had to end this soon, for both of their sakes.

?Relax, Inaba-san. Just take a moment to let it in. Don?t fight it. It?ll hurt, but don?t fight it.?

Tewi struggled for a few seconds longer, but the words of Koishi finally seeped into her mind. She stopped, her writing hand freezing in place, the creature thriving on it starting to squirm in fear.

?D-Don?t be silly. You of all people should know I did it.?

?Why?s that??

Tewi looked back, a deadly serious expression in her eyes.

?I nearly killed you, didn?t I? That stupid treasure map I gave you. You nearly drowned, remember??

Koishi gasped. She was blaming herself for that, as well? Her grip on Tewi grew tighter, closer.

?Inaba-san, it was an accident. You didn?t mean for me to get hurt.?

The rabbit was shivering now, her emotions set to completely overwhelm her. She didn?t say a word, thinking silence would end the conversation now.

Koishi leaned down, and whispered into her ear.

?I forgive you.?

That, it seemed, was the magic phrase. Tewi stood upright all of a sudden, looking invigorated. She turned back to Koishi, looking to see if the girl would suddenly burst into laughter or admit she was lying. Koishi?s honest, caring smile supported her, and suddenly Tewi was beginning to gain the courage she needed to fight her fears.

?Papa. P-Papa did it.?

?Did what, Inaba-san??

Tewi didn?t want to say. She didn?t want to bring those thoughts out into the world. Only the encouragement Koishi was offering guided her along.

?P-Papa was the one who...who hurt Mama! Not me! NOT ME!?

The creature on Tewi?s hand screamed out as she spoke. She was making progress. Koishi had to push her further.

?Keep going, Inaba-san, keep going!?

Tewi was crying, but she was smiling all the while. Every word made her feel stronger, better, more powerful. She had stopped running, and she was facing her demons head on.

And it felt fantastic.

?What happened between Mama and Papa was...was their problem! I didn?t have any control over it! It...It wasn?t my fault! I did everything I could! I didn?t do anything wrong!?

The creature and Tewi screamed out at the same time. Tewi?s yelling formed words; the mindcoil?s dying cries just made Koishi?s skin crawl.

?THERE?S NOTHING WRONG WITH ME!?

Tewi screamed the last sentence out loud with all the force she could muster. The creature that had been plaguing her was forcefully torn off of her hand by an unseen force, falling backwards along with the black strands. The chalk slowly started to drift off the walls, floating into the air and likewise flying backwards into the distance. For a few seconds, there was nothing but the deafening sounds of the mindcoil?s howling and the chalk blowing past Koishi?s face.

As soon as it started, it had ended. The chalk had dissipated along with the mindcoil, revealing what had been on the wall the entire time. Tewi looked at it with wonder, like she?d never known it existed, and walked up to it with slow, deliberate steps.

Her own face looked back. She was looking into a mirror, reflecting her own face back at her.

And just above the mirror stood a plaque, reading the words ?I LOVE YOU?.

Tewi stared at her own reflection in silence for a few seconds. Then the last semblance of resistance gave way, and she burst into tears at the sight of it. Not tears of sadness - tears of joy. She?d finally reunited with a long-lost friend. The one girl who she?d stopped caring about after all those years of lying. The girl she?d written off as a monster, a demon.

Herself.

Koishi felt a tear coming to her own eye as she saw it. Her strength was leaving her as she crumpled to the floor, but even as her consciousness faded again she knew she?d done her part.

The coil had been removed. Tewi was free.

-----

?Koishi-san? Are you awake??

Sango?s voice welcomed Koishi back to the world of the living as soon as she woke up. She shielded her eyes almost as quickly as she?d opened them - the sun was finally rising, and it hit her square in the face.

?Y-Yeah, I?m back. How long was I out for??

?Half an hour or something. How?d it go??

Koishi stretched as she let her body wake up fully. It felt strange coming back here, like her whole body was nothing but a skin she could take on and off. All her limbs felt alien, like they belonged to someone else. It took a little flexing to feel comfortable in her own body again.

Reaching down, she carefully pulled Tewi?s eye open. The glint of light had returned to her eyes.

?Yeah, I think it went pretty well.?

Sango nodded, sighing in relief. She gave Koishi a little hug as congratulations. They?d pulled it off, somehow. They?d found Sakuya, saved Flandre, and even saved Tewi. All in all, about as well as things could have possibly gone.

?...Let?s take her to Kawashiro-sensei. Maybe she remembers something.?

?Right. I need to give the boss a run-down on everything that?s happened, anyway.?

Besides that, there was still a lot to sort out on the mundane side. Tewi had been caught up in some bad business, and even after all this it wasn?t right for her to just walk away without consequences. Koishi felt a little guilty about it, but Tewi had to be held responsible for her mistakes, whatever state of mind she?d been in when she made them.

Working together, the pair put Tewi?s arms behind their shoulders and started to walk. There were still a few hours before the school properly filled up, and they?d have to worry about running into any teachers other than Nitori.

Koishi yawned. She?d pulled an all-nighter for the second day in a row. There was no way she was going to make it to class today, either.

Not that she cared that much - saving lives felt like a much more productive use of her time than studying algebra.

-----

For once, Sakuya was grateful for Meiling?s complete disregard for road safety. If she spent time doing petty things like waiting at red lights and obeying speed limits, there was no way they?d make it back to the mansion before the sun came up. There was more in the way of opposing traffic this time, so Meiling got a few shouts from passing drivers as she disobeyed every driving law ever designed.

?Watch it! Outta the way! Emergency, and all that crap!?

She was yelling at drivers the instant she saw their cars in the distance, scraping around to swerve past them with momentum. Sakuya learned that day that if you try hard enough, you can make a van drift, weight and aerodynamics be damned.

Flandre was still unconscious, strapped in as Sakuya sat in the back seat alongside her. The maid had dropped the transformation, and was thankful to learn that her uniform had not, in fact, been torn to shreds by the cards. It reappeared, as stainless and well-kept as it had been before - though Sakuya?s soaking wet skin ruined that effect somewhat. (This, strangely, Meiling had ended up commenting on. Maybe her time alone in the van had been enough to get her brain back in shape.)

It felt like the longest car ride she?d ever been on, but at long last the mansion came into view. A tiny blip in the distance at first, growing larger as they approached. The gate was still open from their departure, and Meiling drove straight into the gardens rather than parking in the garage. Dozens of innocent flowers were crumpled beneath the crimson van?s wheels before it grinded to a halt. Before it had even stopped Sakuya had unstrapped Flandre and picked her up, opening the door and running for the mansion entrance. The girl was cold in her hands, the bloody rags she?d been wearing leaving their marks on Sakuya?s hands. Like the gate, the front door stood open, the only sign of intrusion being the six bullets that had embedded themselves in the main staircase.

Meiling followed soon afterward, closing the door behind Sakuya as the first few rays of light started to creep over the horizon.

?That was...close.?

Meiling gripped at her knees, panting. Sakuya didn?t waste her time with silly things like resting - Flandre could still be in danger. Not hesitating for a moment, she charged down the corridors and slammed the library door open with her shoulder, almost taking it off its hinges.

She heard two voices as she made her way in, echoing throughout the room. One of them was teary, sniffling between sentences; the other was more mature, but clearly struggling to maintain her calm.

?Patchy, why?d they take Flan?! Did they want to blackmail us, or hurt her, or get back at Sakuya for all that money she won? What if it?s all three?!?

?Remi, calm down! I?m sure there?s a perfectly good explanation for what?s going on! We just need to wait for Sakuya to return, and-?

Patchouli?s eye caught Sakuya charging down the corridor, whistling past the bookshelves as she went. The geneticist rose to her feet, and her mistress turned in the same direction soon afterward.

?Saku-?

?FLAN!?

Remilia cut Patchouli off, darting over to Sakuya as she carried over the still-unconscious Flandre. There was no time for her noble vampire game - not when her sister?s life was potentially hanging by a thread.

?W-What happened? Why?s she bleeding so much?!?

Remilia had every reason to be frightened, in all honesty - Flandre?s clothes had turned sheer scarlet, and from the smell rising up from her it could only be blood. Not wasting a moment, Patchouli knocked the books off her desk and left room for Sakuya to place the body.

?Let me see her.?

Sakuya complied immediately, placing Flandre on the desk. Patchouli would?ve worried about the stain her blood-soaked clothes would have left if she didn?t have much more important matters to take care of. She carefully removed Flandre?s clothing, checking her body for the wound responsible for this bleeding.

Patchouli?s brow furrowed.

?Sakuya. You?re certain this is her blood??

The maid flinched. Was it? It had to be. It had happened during the fight, when she?d tapped into whatever magical energy she possessed. It had risen up from her chest, staining her clothes, even passing out into the water around her. She nodded.

?...Curious. I don?t see any wounds on her body.?

Now it was Sakuya?s turn to raise an eyebrow. Looking down, she confirmed Patchouli?s claim - nowhere on Flandre?s body was there any sort of injury, let alone one that could cause so much bleeding. The closest there was to a wound was a small mark just above where Flandre?s heart would be. Sakuya thought it was a birthmark at first, but Flandre had never had anything like this before hand - a small black patch of skin, in the shape of a crucifix.

Magical, perhaps?

She couldn?t explain that to Patchouli, of course. Even if she tried, the scientist would probably write her off as a maniac, and for good reason. Still, what mattered was that the bleeding had stopped, and even if she was unconscious Flandre was still alive. Patchouli gave the girl another look-over, nodding to herself but looking uncertain. Remilia was practically pinned to her side, still crying.

?Is she okay? Is she okay!??

Patchouli finished her inspection, buttoning Flandre?s shirt back up. With a sigh of relief, she looked to Remilia with a small smile.

?Your sister will be fine, Remi. She?s suffering from blood loss, but she hasn?t been exposed to the sun. Based on the amount she?s lost she?ll be bedridden for a week, assuming her...wounds don?t reopen, but after that she should be fine.?

Patchouli?s face steeled for a moment at the word ?wounds?. She scratched slightly at her head, still unable to figure out exactly where all this blood had come from. Sakuya was relatively sure of the answer, but she decided not to voice it for the sake of her reputation.

Remilia, seeing the immediate threat had passed, switched from hugging Patchouli to hugging Sakuya. Sakuya wasn?t sure if the girl was laughing or crying.

?Oh, Sakuya, thank you so much! I was so scared after you told me to stay in bed last night, and then I couldn?t find Flan, and, and-!?

Sakuya wrapped her arms around her mistress, offering her a gentle pat on the back. She took a long deep breath, gulping. This was the part that she?d been most afraid of.

?You...you shouldn?t thank me, Remi. This was my fault.?

Remilia?s grip around Sakuya grew tighter. She looked upwards, her face a mesh of disappointment and horror.

?W-What do you mean? Was it the casino??

?...Yeah, something like that. They took Flandre hostage to get to me.?

The library fell eerily silent. Remilia slowly broke out of her hug, stepping backwards, shaking her head like she didn?t want to believe what she was hearing. Patchouli just glared at Sakuya with a ruthless look in her eyes, harbouring the disappointment of a mother visiting her daughter in prison.

All of this was Sakuya?s fault, and she knew it. If she hadn?t got herself wrapped up in all that underworld nonsense, Flandre wouldn?t have been on the brink of death earlier. She was tempted to justify herself, insist she?d been doing it for the girls, claim that in the end they?d understand.

But not anymore. She?d stopped running. She was ready to take responsibility for her actions rather than hide behind good intentions.

?I...owe both of you an apology.?

This was it. She?d managed to hold herself together up until now, because she?d had no choice. If she let up, showed a moment of weakness, she?d have been in no state to save Flandre. Now that she was okay, Sakuya let the tears flow, head bent down in shame.

?I?ve been a terrible maid. A terrible employee. A terrible friend. I?ve been running around like a headless chicken, getting myself into all sorts of danger, all because I didn?t want to accept there was something wrong with you, Remilia. I?ve hurt you all trying to keep myself in denial, and there?s nothing I can say to justify that. I?m...I?m sorry.?

Patchouli and Remilia looked upon Sakuya in amazement. Neither of them had seen her this vulnerable before. The only times Patchouli seen her in tears were when she was defending her actions, and Remilia hadn?t seen her cry for years. For a few seconds, they simply watched on in stunned silence.

Soon afterwards, Remilia slammed a fist into Sakuya?s stomach.

?You IDIOT! You think saying sorry is going to be enough?!?

Remilia didn?t hit with enough damage to injure Sakuya, but she knocked the wind right out of her. The maid stumbled back a few steps, clutching her chest and gasping. Patchouli leaned forward, amazed that her ?mistress? had lashed out in such an unladylike manner.

?Flan nearly died because of you! She?s been miserable all this time because of you! She spends all day in her room not talking to anyone because of YOU! For years, I trusted you, had faith in you, and now it turns out you?ve been poisoning my sister with your fairytales!?

Remilia pointed a finger straight at Sakuya, listing off her crimes one by one. Sakuya made no attempt to flee, nodding along with each of them. She winced visibly with each claim, almost shrinking until she was looking eye-to-eye with Remilia.

?She is right, you know. And if it hadn?t been for your friend?s intervention, you?d likely have broken my jaw last night.?

Patchouli saw fit to join in the sentencing, eyes jumping between Sakuya and Flandre. She was still uneasy about these non-existent injuries - she?d never seen anything like them in all her time studying at medical school. What mattered in the end was that whatever had happened, Flandre would survive it.

Sakuya felt just about ready to collapse where she stood. The weight of her own failures was pressing down on her like an anvil, bringing her to her knees, head and shoulders still drooping down. This was as low as her emotions could hope to fall, and the shame was almost unbearable.

Almost was the key word there, because in spite of everything she had done Sakuya struggled back to her feet.

?You?re right. It is all my fault. I?ve made mistakes, and I?m going to be held responsible for them.?

She held her head high, looking powerfully into Patchouli?s eyes.

?I may have offered an apology, but I?m not asking for forgiveness. I?m asking for a chance to repair the damage I?ve done.?

Remilia?s body still stood rigid, ready to punch Sakuya again. She was seriously considering refusing the offer and having Sakuya kicked out right now.

Sakuya offered her mistress a deep curtsy.

?Milady, I shall take care of your sister while she has fallen ill. For now, I believe you should rest. You?ve had a long day.?

?W-What, that?s it? You ask for a second chance, and then you assume that I?m going to give it to you??

Remilia had pulled her hat down over her head, trying to hide the fact she was still crying. For a few seconds, only Remilia?s sniffling filled the library.

Finally, she pulled her head back up, rubbing at her cheeks. She managed to force a smile, with some difficulty.

?...Very well. You are a talented maid, Sakuya. You would be difficult to replace.?

Patchouli wasn?t quite as optimistic on the matter as she lifted Flandre off the table, handing her back over to Sakuya.

?Understand this, Sakuya. For the next week, the concept of ?free time? as you know it will cease to exist. Every waking moment of your day will be spent either tending to Flandre, looking after the mistress, or your typical cooking duties at the bakery. You will not ask for a moment?s pause, lest I throw you out of the mansion never to return. Do I make myself clear??

Sakuya took Flandre back into her arms. Just hearing her slow, regular breathing was enough to put Sakuya at ease.

?As crystal, Patchouli. I?ll be taking Flandre to her room now. Prepare a blood transfusion while I change her into something dry.?

With that, Sakuya started the long walk back out of the library. Her family thought less of her now for certain. She?d betrayed them, in almost the worst way possible. But facing that fact had given her a strength she?d never felt before. She felt proud, worthy.

And in knowing she?d been taken back into the mansion despite everything she?d done, she felt loved.

-----

?...Well. That?s quite the story.?

Nitori leaned back on her chair in Room 495, nodding to herself along with Sango?s retelling of the night?s events. Like Sango when she?d heard it the first time around, her eyes had widened when Flandre jumped into the starring role. Nitori bit her lip, swiveling slightly in her chair.

?She?s a foreigner. I only have a list of the most prominent magical families outside of Gensouto, so I?m unlikely to have anything on her. Let?s see...?

Not showing any genuine confidence in her database, Nitori typed in the name lazily. They had to settle for the family name, Scarlet, mainly because all of them found the name Flandre so foreign they had no clue how to spell it.

The machine whirred for a few seconds, scouring its memory banks. Nitori looked away, assuming that the machine would find nothing, returning to her questioning.

?Regardless, the incident has probably made her aware of magic. Did you wipe her mind afterwards??

Sango shook her head, looking increasingly embarrassed.

?No, ma?am. She was unconscious almost as soon as she?d finished, and we had to have Izayoi-san get her home before the sun rose.?

That was not the answer Nitori had wanted to hear. She rubbed her temples with her fingers, bending down in her chair and muttering in a language Koishi had never heard of, let alone actually heard before.

?Well, it?s too late to do it now. We?ll just have to hope Izayoi can keep her under control.?

Nitori sighed. Honestly this was the best case scenario, but that didn?t make the problem of another rampant human any easier to handle. The seven Sirens were a necessary evil, but she?d wanted to keep it at that and no further.

It was better than fatalities, at least. And given the stakes the Pearl and the Claw were playing with, one more human becoming aware wasn?t that much of a loss.

The computer behind her beeped.

?Huh??

Having truly come to understand her own creation, that beeping was enough to attract her attention. It wasn?t the slow, almost sad blip of ?No match found?, it was the cheerful beeping of ?Look what I found, look what I found!?. She turned the chair around again, examining the monitor.

?...Well, I?ll be damned. It?s THAT Scarlet family.?

Three faces turned to the computer screen in varying degrees of awe. The genealogy confirmed it - Val?ry Scarlet, father of Remilia and Flandre. Their attention was more focused on the large letters at the bottom, declaring the family in general to be a RANK: S+ threat.

?The Scarlets, formerly known as the Blood Knights, are a highly dangerous human family. Their power is purely destructive - they have no powers that can aid or support, but when it comes to sheer devastation they are without equal world-wide. Thankfully, there is a drawback to this power - it is fueled by the caster?s blood, and unless it is properly trained users risk exhaustion or even death with their attacks.?

Nitori let out a low, long whistle. She was now much more concerned about Flandre becoming aware, knowing the girl had this sort of destructive power to wield. This would take a good long conversation with Sakuya when she got the chance.

Koishi on the other hand took a moment to appreciate the irony. The self-proclaimed vampire needed blood to be a threat. She?d have giggled if it wasn?t horribly inappropriate.

?Uh, anyway. Inaba-san is probably waking up soon, so I?ll go talk to her.?

Koishi stood up from her chair, making her way back out of the hidden compartment. They?d brought Tewi in carefully, but they only had an hour or so before classes began and people started swarming in. She got a wave from both the dolphin and the kappa as she left, with Nitori throwing out one last sentence to her.

?You?ve done some great work today, Koishi-chan. Go get some sleep when you?re done.?

Even if she hadn?t said that, Koishi was planning on crashing the moment she was finished here. She walked out into the classroom, where Tewi?s still-unconscious body was lying back in the front chair.

The sun rose higher into the air, bringing its light downward into the room. Its rays caught Tewi in the eye, and the girl squirmed around a little in her seat.

?Inaba-san, it?s time to get up.?

Koishi gave Tewi a gentle nudge on the shoulder to try and help her along. Slowly, gradually, Tewi opened her eyes. Rather than being surprised at what she?d found herself in, she managed something of a smile as she saw Koishi right beside her.

?...Oh, hey. That?s weird. I think I was dreaming about you just there.?

?Really? Well, that?s quite a coincidence.?

Koishi pretended to be surprised by this claim. She did a good enough job to fool the half-asleep Tewi, which was all that mattered.

As Tewi slowly became more and more aware of her surroundings, she started to become aware that she had no reason to be here. This was where Koishi would have to start playing it carefully.

?It?s strange...I don?t remember how I got here. What was I doing, again??

Think fast.

?Didn?t you have to hand a trophy back or something like that??

Tewi nodded, still a little fuzzy in terms of her memory. This was much to Koishi?s relief, given that Gensouto High had never given trophies out to their students at prizegiving. Regardless, Tewi?s attention was definitely somewhere else.

?To be honest, I really don?t remember a lot. There was...a party? No, a casino. Gambling. I...lost? The boss got really mad at me. Then I-?

Tewi?s recollections hit the critical point. She probably couldn?t recall specifics, but she had a vague idea of what had happened.

?Oh god. You lied. Did I really...a little girl...??

Koishi hung her head, then slowly nodded. Tewi?s shoulders seemed to snap, losing strength completely and almost sending her head crashing into the desk.

?That?s right, Inaba-san. You had a gun to her head, and I tackled you.?

Tewi nodded in agreement, not finding any contradiction in Koishi?s statement. That was a sign she didn?t remember the details of the fight, at least. Still, Koishi had to try another avenue.

?...Why?d you do it? I didn?t see you as the sort to try and kill someone, Inaba-san.?

Tewi looked up into the air, squinting at the ceiling. She was trying to rack something out of her brain, but nothing was coming. She bit her lip, hammering her hand against the desk.

?I...I don?t know. There was a dress, a promise, a note, a gun...a kiss? I don?t know, it?s all a blur. It feels like someone took an eraser to my mind and went nuts with it...?

She rubbed at her eyes, muttering beneath her breath. Koishi sighed - what little she remembered was useless. At least now she was aware of just how much Tewi knew - or rather, didn?t know.

Tewi put her elbows onto the desk, resting her head in her hands. It was as if she?d finally woken up, looking back at all the crimes she?d committed in the last few years. Koishi stayed silent, giving her space to think and come to terms.

?It?s probably bad that?s just the last horrible thing I?ve done, isn?t it? I?m...not a good person. I lie. I cheat. I steal.?

She tugged lightly at her own hair in frustration. This was where Koishi saw the need to step in and give Tewi the encouragement she needed to take a step in the right direction.

?No, Inaba-san. You lied. You cheated. You stole. It?s all in the past, and that makes all the difference.?

?Just like the accident in the lake??

Tewi jerked her head back to look Koishi in the face. Her expression was hard, severe; Koishi?s was soothing, compassionate.

?Yes, just like the accident in the lake. It?s okay, Tewi. I know you didn?t mean any harm.?

Tewi?s body went rock-solid for a moment as Koishi put her hand on her shoulder. Something seemed to pass through into her from Koishi, relaxing her, putting thoughts into her mind.

?Yeah, I guess you?re right. I can turn over a new leaf any time I want, can?t I??

There was a solemn smile on Tewi?s face as she pulled herself out of the chair, making her way towards the door.

?Wait! Where are you going?!?

?To the police station. I need to turn myself in. Maybe if I stand in court against the boss, I can start making up for what I did...?

The breath caught in Koishi?s throat. Tewi smiled a little brighter at the sight of that.

?Heh. Surprised you, didn?t I? Guess that?s the first sign I?m getting somewhere.?

Tewi fidgeted with the seams on her dress, looking downwards.

?...I...thank you. I don?t know why you started helping me, or what you even did, but I appreciate it. I feel...better. Calmer. Happier. I dunno how to word it, but whatever it is it feels good.?

Tewi looked back her, her eyes misty but her smile genuine.

?Thank you. Whatever it is you do, Komeiji-san, keep at it.?

With that, she stepped casually out of the door, walking willingly into certain imprisonment.

Koishi didn?t react immediately to Tewi?s departure. She held a hand out in the direction of the doorway, like she was trying to pull Tewi back into the room. There had to be a better solution. She?d been through hell, and she?d just been surviving with whatever coping mechanisms she had picked up as a child. Was it right to punish her if that was why she?d turned to crime?

Koishi?s mind said yes, but her heart said no. It was unfair on the criminal to pass judgement, but it was unfair on the victim to let them get away with it. There were two options, and she didn?t like either.

She stood there, conflicted, up until Sango emerged from behind the wall.

?Koishi-san, let?s go home. You?ve had a long day.?

Sleep. Yes. Sleep would be good. She was tired. Irrational. Maybe after a good night?s sleep, this?d all make sense.

She hoped that was the case, desperately. Otherwise it was going to plague her for far too long.

-----

Patchouli kept to her word. Sakuya had been worked to the bone since the moment she?d returned, with most of her work being tending to Flandre?s needs. She?d yet to regain consciousness, so just to be safe Patchouli had helped her to install an IV drip so she didn?t miss out on nutrients.

She was tending to the girl now, checking her again for open wounds and once again finding nothing. She?d caught Patchouli walking up and down the halls now and again, muttering about how the whole thing was impossible and ?against all scientific reasoning?. Though she wouldn?t say so out loud, Sakuya agreed whole-heartedly.

?I really haven?t seen much of this room, have I...??

It suddenly dawned on Sakuya how rarely she, or indeed anyone other than Flandre, came into this room. Most of the time, any attempt to enter earned her a tirade from Flandre about privacy and how she was busy or something like that. Sakuya just wrote her off as entering that stage of her adolescence, but now she was aware that the anger and frustration was thanks in a good part to her.

No use crying over spilled milk, Sakuya told herself. She?d just have to pay it forward.

The room was for the most part featureless. A large double bed took up most of the floor, and this was the bed Flandre was currently lying on. A wardrobe stood upright in the distant corner, full of clothes that she?d been insistent someone bought for her (since she obviously was in no condition to buy them herself). They all shared in the general punkish theme Flandre usually favoured - short black skirts, tank-tops, and spiked anklets whose purpose Sakuya couldn?t quite determine. Various tidbits lay on the floor - pencils, textbooks, various pieces for study. Patchouli hadn?t been ready to let the girls fall behind in their curriculum based on something silly like XP, and acted as their tutor as well as their attending doctor. Neither of the girls had shown much love for the regime, but Patchouli enforced it to the letter.

Hm?

After she?d finished checking over Flandre and refilling her IV bag, Sakuya?s eyes were drawn to something in the far corner of the room. On the other side of the wardrobe, a book had half-slid out, letting Sakuya read only half its title.

Given that half of the title was ?MAGICAL GIRL?, Sakuya?s curiosity was definitely aroused. She?d never seen Flandre read one of these. Hell, she didn?t know Flandre even owned manga. She carefully tip-toed over, pulling the book out in full.

Half a dozen extra books fell out after it, all with similar titles and various sparkly title pages.

?Mmmf...?

Flandre stirred in her bed at the sound of the collapsing books. Sakuya froze in place, which in retrospect was perhaps the worst thing she could have done.

?...Saku...ya??

Flandre slowly came back into awareness, her eyes falling onto the maid. Sakuya grimaced, looking down at the girly manga still in her hand. She?d been caught red-handed (though given the dominant colour of the book, pink-handed may have been a better term).

Flandre?s heart sank in her chest.

?Oh...so you found them.?

The girl had made an attempt to pull the top half of her body up, but she lacked the strength for it and slumped back down onto the bed. Sakuya was over her immediately.

?Flandre, you mustn?t move. You?re lucky to still be alive after...?

The words trailed off in her mouth. She wasn?t sure if Flandre could remember what had happened earlier today. This was where she was supposed to come up with some sort of clever lie, but in the middle of her panicking nothing came to mind.

Thankfully, Flandre filled in the blank for her.

?After I beat the crap out of that rabbit girl??

She managed a weak smile with that one. Sakuya blinked once. Flandre remembered. From what Koishi and Sango had told her, that was a very bad thing. No use in lying to her if she already knew, though.

?...Yes, after that. You pushed yourself too hard, Flandre. If you do that to yourself again, there?s a good chance you won?t be so lucky.?

Flandre didn?t really need to be told that. She was already feeling the physical effects of it: the ever present urge to go back to sleep, the difficulty she had even so much as sitting upright, and the general feeling that all the energy had been sucked out of her.

?Yeah, okay. I get it. I won?t beat people up anymore.?

Flandre pouted, disappointed that her own magical adventure wasn?t set to start any time soon. Sakuya placed both her hands over Flan?s, the closest she could show to consolidation.

?If it means anything, Flandre, you saved my life. If you hadn?t acted when you did, I would?ve probably died.?

Flan looked into Sakuya?s eyes for a moment, mouth forming a tiny o in amazement. A smile started to grow on her face.

?I...I actually...wow. That?s...that?s awesome.?

That wasn?t quite the reaction Sakuya had been expecting from her. A heart-warming moment of acceptance or something like that. Flandre?s words sounded slightly...she couldn?t find a word for it, but it was like she was rooting for herself.

?So in the end, the powerless kid who can?t even stand the sun ended up being a hero of justice??

Flandre was getting more excited with every word, bringing her hands to her chest and giggling. That was a new sight for Sakuya - she hadn?t seen Flandre so happy since the day she?d first been told about her XP.

Her XP.

Sakuya?s heart suddenly sank. She had to break the news to Flandre, didn?t she? It was going to be painful, but she had to try.

?...Hey, Flandre, there?s something I need to tell you.?

?Yeah? What is it, Sakuya??

Flandre turned to her, smiling brighter than she ever had. Sakuya didn?t know if she wanted to go through with this - she didn?t want to do it now, while the girl was so happy. It felt wrong to kill her mood like that. But at the same time, she knew that if she didn?t say it now, she?d just keep delaying it and Flandre would never know the truth. Better now than never.

?I think I?ve been wrong this whole time. There?s...probably nothing I can do to make you better.?

Flandre?s face returned to neutral as the statement hit her. Her eyes closed, and for a moment Sakuya expected her to burst into tears.

Amazingly, she didn?t.

?Yeah, I know.?

Sakuya?s jaw practically hit the floor.

?You...you know??

Flandre pulled the bedsheets in with some effort, looking down on herself.

?I think at some level, I always knew that you were just lying to yourself. I knew that Patchy was the expert on the subject, and if she said nothing could be done she was probably right. I knew that Remi wouldn?t give up on me if she thought there was really a way to make me better.

But...I didn?t wanna believe that. I didn?t wanna be some weak wannabe who couldn?t get a tan without dying of some sort of cancer. Even being normal was gonna be good enough for me. And you kinda gave me a chance to lie to myself about it more.?

She looked over to the fallen pile of sparkly comics, smiling fondly.

?I convinced Patchy to start buying me those. She won?t admit it, but she enjoys that sorta story too. I liked them because...well, they let me run. They let me pretend that I?m not some loser locked up in a mansion. They let me be a superhero, or even just a high school girl with a secret. They?re everything I?ve ever wanted to be, put onto paper. Sometimes I?d sit and just read them for hours, over and over again, just because I desperately wanted to be someone, anyone but me.?

Flandre deliberately spoke in the past tense. She took Sakuya?s hand, squeezing weakly.

?But y?know what? After what I saw at the docks, I figure maybe I?m a pretty cool person to be. I might not be able to prove it to anyone, but I got to be a hero. That, well, means a lot to me.?

Sakuya felt tears welling up in her eyes, squeezing Flandre?s hand back. She?d have hugged her if she wasn?t afraid of choking the girl in her current state.

?That...that?s right, Flandre. You?re a hero, and don?t let anyone tell you otherwise.?

Flandre smiled again. That smile alone was enough to make Sakuya feel like she?d been absolved of all her sins. She felt revived, reborn, renewed.

?Thank you, Sakuya. Y?know, don?t tell Remi I said this, but I always thought of you as my other big sister.?

That was too much praise. She wasn?t intent on intruding on Remilia?s place, and so she piped up.

?That?s touching, but I can?t accept that. I already have a little sister.?

Flandre?s head tilted slightly on the bed.

?You do? You?ve never mentioned her before.?

Wait. What had she just said? She said she had a sister. Why had she never known that? Had she forgotten? Was it coming back to her? Was she making this up as she went? Maybe she was tired. Yes, that made sense. She?d been up for far too long, and the fatigue was kicking in. Maybe she needed to close her eyes for a few minutes-

?Hey, Sakuya?!?

Sakuya collapsed onto the bed alongside Flandre, asleep the moment she hit the bedsheets. Flandre was startled for a moment, but the quiet sound of Sakuya?s snoring allayed her fears.

?...Heh. And you say I push myself too hard.?

Flandre put her hand in Sakuya?s, deciding to join her in sleeping. She clutched onto Sakuya?s hand like she was a stuffed doll - with affection and the utmost care. It wasn?t until a few hours later that Patchouli entered the room, finding the two sharing the bed, both of them with beaming smiles even in their sleep.

She decided not to punish Sakuya for this. She?d only told her to work every waking moment, after all.

-----

And thus the third arc of Dolphin Rider Koishi comes to an end.

I might take a break for a while. I wanted to wrap this arc up before uni started again, but I've got projects and exams to start working towards now. On the other hand, summer follows afterwards, so :3

Lemme take a quick moment to thank people, mainly because the story's managed to break 125k words. That makes it twice the length of Rising Star, and I don't think I'm even halfway through yet. o_O

Biggest thanks goes to Iced for working as a faithful editor and generally keeping me on the straight and narrow. I feel like I really overworked you this week in particular, and I'm grateful you looked over everything regardless without so much as a complaint. :V

Next is Sect for generally being a great source of ideas - for the record, Jozu probably wouldn't have come into existence (DRK version AND RRS version) if it wasn't for him. Besides that you're generally an awesome guy.

Shoutouts to Esi for being able to pile on the inspirational comments. A few times when I was feeling down it was the stuff you said that gave me a little faith in myself.

Shoutouts to Ruro for being the other Well Known Writer Of Absurdly Long Stories and giving me competition. :P

And finally, just a general thanks to everyone who's read and commented up to here. This started off as a silly branch-off from another story, but it's pretty much turned into the biggest thing I've ever written, by a looooooong way. Thanks for listening to the general ramblings of a swimsuit fanatic who's played too much Persona. @_@

Until next time. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xqsnsrk4U4)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Cystral Dragon on April 10, 2011, 09:49:45 PM
125k words.... Well you are now officially superhuman! Good job though finally finishing that arc. Feel free to take a small break or two to rest I don't mind.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Drake on April 10, 2011, 10:07:03 PM
o/
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Kasu on April 10, 2011, 11:13:48 PM
Dammit Rou.  You are too bloody awesome. :3

You deserve a break after all of this.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Alfred F. Jones on April 11, 2011, 12:09:28 AM
That. Was. FANTASTIC.

:bzzz:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on April 11, 2011, 12:39:51 AM
You have no idea how hard I HHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGHHHHHH'd at Flandre and Sakuya's talk there at the end. That was just so HHHHHHNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHH

/me collapses into a pile and twitches erratically
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on April 11, 2011, 01:09:47 AM
Good stuff. Of course, this woule big fight brings up a big plot question, namely: if Yukari set this all up ahead of time, why didn't she do so in a way that would prevent the Black Claw from finding the Teardrops? So basically, there's a big-ass unanswered plot question that probably won't be answered until closer to the end.

Anyways, I am wondering something: what is there to prevent the Black Claw lady from mindcoiling any of the Pearl people? Because if she could, she quite definitely would, right? So thete's another thing I'm wondering about.

In response to the latter question, coiling a Siren is incredibly risky for the Black Claw. Besides anything else they've likely been told to be cautious of mystery visitors after seeing what happened to Cirno and Tewi. Not just that, but the only of the current Sirens who lives on her own is Mokou, so going after anyone else is extremely risky because it has a very good chance to blowing her cover. Even if she DID go to all this effort, she's seen Koishi reverse the effects of the Mindcoil, so it's not even going to produce very tangible results.

For the first question, I'll say this - you're assuming Yukari is literally omniponent. If that was the case, why couldn't she just destroy the Ravager herself?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Tamer Anode/Cathode on April 11, 2011, 02:34:57 AM
I finally got around to reading this, and I'm blown away. I don't think I've ever found a fanfic that's carried such an emotional weight and depth behind it. Take that break, you've earned it. Besides, I need the time to read White Rose.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Eriaku on April 11, 2011, 04:25:55 AM
That was superb. The best part for me was inside Tewi's mind; the pacing of Koishi's horror and realization combined with the dark atmosphere and constrained options (can't leave, only one way forward) just worked. Makes me wonder just what Koishi might find inside her own head. "Wait, why am I back in the lake?" "You never left."
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Marokuu on April 13, 2011, 11:03:00 AM
I can't really form a coherent opinion right now apart from the generic "awesome" and "amazing" so I'll just say I absolutely love your scenes inside peoples minds, they're so... awesome I guess. curse my (ultimately) limited vocabulary
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on April 18, 2011, 11:16:50 PM
?Eek!?

The ice pack pressing against Koishi?s arm sent a chill across her entire body. She?d likely have pulled her arm away if it wasn?t being held in place. The pain was half the reason Koishi never came here beforehand - only a teacher catching sight of her bruises and basically ordering her to the nurse?s office was enough to do it.

The other half, admittedly, was the woman who was treating her.

It wasn?t that Koishi didn?t like Iku. Anything but, in fact - the way she built a personal bond with the student she was treating served to calm Koishi down amidst the pain. The problem was that she was still far too good at reading people, and in this situation she was likely going to pick up on things that she wasn?t supposed to see. Koishi had tried to keep her injuries secret specifically to avoid this, but all it took was one rolled-up sleeve and suddenly she was discovered.

?Sorry, I know it?s hurting, but this is the only way we can deal with this sort of bruising.?

Iku frowned as she spoke, examining the purple markings that had been left all across Koishi?s arms. It had been a couple of days since the incident with Tewi, but the fight had done some damage.

?You?re lucky nothing?s broken. Looks like these must?ve hurt a lot.?

?Huh? Uh, yeah.?

Koishi would be lying if she said she was paying attention to what she was hearing. Ever since that day her mind had been rigid, never getting that last smile from Tewi out of her head. Koishi had thought she was helping, but in the end there was no way she could have changed the past. Even if Tewi genuinely wanted to atone for her mistakes, she was shackled to her former crimes.

The pack moved down her arm, pressing against a new set of bruises. Koishi flinched slightly as the pain started to flare up again, before the cooling ice numbed her to it. Iku was barely paying attention to her own work - she was carefully following Koishi?s expression, noting the tiny movements in the girl?s face. Eventually, with a difficult tone, she put out the question on her mind.

?Komeiji-san, how did you get these??

?Ah-?

That was the exact question Koishi had hoped the nurse wouldn?t ask. As always, there was no way she could tell the truth about it - especially not with Sango just outside the door, listening in on everything she said. Her eyes turned to the side, focusing on one of the disco balls Iku had left piled up on her desk.

?I, um...was in a car with a really reckless driver. I kept getting smacked into the car door, see...?

She wasn?t technically lying, so she?d hoped the nurse would have accepted the explanation. It was to no avail, though - Iku?s eyes darted across her body, picking up every little shift, every errant twitch. It wasn?t possible for her to discern the truth, even with her impressive skills, but she knew full well that Koishi wasn?t being honest with her.

?I hope you don?t expect me to believe that, Komeiji-san.?

Koishi flinched a little as Iku flung the accusation in her direction. She stood up abruptly, ready to break for the door, until Iku?s hand clasped onto her shoulder.

?I?m trying to help you, Komeiji-san. I can?t do anything if you won?t be honest with me.?

How exactly was Koishi supposed to answer that. She couldn?t lie, but she couldn?t tell the truth either. Koishi gave the only answer that she could - no answer at all. Her shoulder slumped beneath Iku?s grip, like the life was draining out of her.

Iku?s eyes looked towards the door, to the familiar silhouette that was standing outside. Sango, of course - she?d kept faithfully to Koishi?s side since her ?transfer from a school out at sea?. Koishi saw the nurse?s attention turn to Sango, then to Koishi?s arms, then back to Sango.

She knew what conclusion Iku had drawn before the woman even opened her mouth.

?Komeiji-san, has Tororetsu done anything to-?

?No, of course not!?

In retrospect, she should?ve been calmer about it. From the way she?d practically shouted her answer, she?d undoubtedly given Iku the entirely wrong impression yet again. The nurse?s brow furrowed, looking with disdain at the figure outside the door. She held Koishi in place for a few seconds, as if still contemplating some way to separate the two.

Eventually, she gave up and let go of Koishi?s shoulder, sighing as she did.

?Look, if there?s anything you want to talk about, just the two of us, you know where to find me. Well, unless it?s Thursday, because then I?m busy teaching Biology, but otherwise you know what I mean.?

Was that supposed to be humour? If it was, it hadn?t worked. Iku?s attempt to get Koishi to warm up to her only made the Siren feel more guilty. She meant well, and Koishi knew it, but still she had no choice but to lie in front of her face like this. Which would?ve been fine if only the nurse wasn?t well aware she was being lied to.

?Uh, right. Yeah.?

Koishi nodded, not really meaning it. She didn?t want to come back here. Too awkward. She took Sango by the hand almost as soon as she?d made it out the door, quickly making her way back to class. She walked, but hastily - if anyone asked why she looked so worried, she?d tell them she was meant to be sitting a test right now.

This, once again, left Nurse Iku all by herself.

She sighed to break the familiar silence, taking a seat back at her tiny desk in the far corner of the room. It was mostly littered with her various trinkets - memoirs of the 60s, in her opinion the pinnacle of human history - but beneath them was all sorts of difficult financial paperwork. At the bottom, a large red number stared her in the face, asking for a fee that no amount of time in this school could ever hope to pay. As if to seal the deal, it wasn?t even looking for credit - the bill was only going to be resolved with cold, hard cash.

As she struggled to throw the numbers together, Iku?s thoughts drifted back to Koishi now and again. All it would take is a few minutes with the girl away from this ?friend? of hers, and she could make everything work out....

-----

Ten steps.

It wasn?t a long road, by any standard. She knew that. It?d honestly take her ten steps to go from here to the door, and that was nothing. She could do it in as many seconds, no trouble. Hell, it had taken her hundreds of steps just to get here.

So why couldn?t Mokou find the strength for the last ten paces?

Eientei stood proudly across from her, as extravagant as it had always been. The too-bright lights bursting out from within made her forget it was late in the afternoon for a moment, and the same super-priced medicines were stacked neatly on the other side of the window.

Given its own little podium, a single bottle stood above the rest. Its contents were a pale shade of red, but Mokou knew for a fact it was sweet to the taste. It was like drinking honey, only considerably better for you. Beside it, a sign triumphantly declared it to be ?The Hourai Elixir - winner of the Takeda Pharmaceutical Product of the Year Award?. With such a high praise, there was of course a ridiculous price to be paid for it - well into four digits, just for a bottle of the stuff. It never cost anywhere near that much to make, Mokou thought to herself - a thousand yen at most for one litre, and cheaper if a larger company made it by batch.

It was pure profit-making, and Mokou knew it for a fact. Kaguya was ramping up the price of her concoction so that she?d make fortunes off of it. Make cheap, sell high - it was every capitalist?s dream, and Kaguya was living it right now.

Then again, would her father be happy with her if she wasn?t turning in heavy profits? She?d never mentioned a plan to raise the elixir?s price to such a ridiculous level when they?d been working on it together. That, frankly, was only one of the many things that Kaguya hadn?t bothered to mention. About half of what Kaguya had promised to do never came through - she never made the recipe public, she never gave Mokou a hint of credit, and she definitely never left her any of the royalties. In her darkest moments Mokou had considered the worst payback imaginable - let the world know how cheap and easy the elixir was to make, and watch as Kaguya?s little pharmacy came crumbling to the ground.

She wouldn?t dare to do that now, knowing what she knew. The pressure Kaguya?s father had put her under, the urge to succeed and be perfect in every way. If Mokou cause her to fail like that, she didn?t even want to think about what her father would do to her.

That left her with one option, and that was to forgive. It seemed so easy when she just put it in words like that. All she had to do was walk in, talk to Kaguya, and say she understood why Kaguya had chosen to betray her. Simple as that. A five year old could do it.

And yet Mokou couldn?t find the courage to make even the first of those final ten steps.

There was so much that could go wrong, for one. Maybe Kaguya wasn?t there. Maybe the woman would just mock her. Maybe Mokou wouldn?t be able to control herself after all, and she?d do something she would regret later. She didn?t trust herself quite yet - it was too soon, and the wounds hadn?t healed. And what if Kaguya?s father was there? What would he think if he found out about his daughter?s actions?

Cut it out, you dumbass! You?re just trying to talk yourself out of it again!

Mokou pulled a hand out of her pocket, and hastily slapped herself across the face. She noticed a few passers-by giving her awkward looks as she did so. The pain woke her up a little, pulled her out of her self-doubt. If she was going to say things like that to herself, she was never going to find the nerve to face Kaguya. There was a time to be cautious, and this definitely wasn?t it.

Come on. Lift your left foot, Mokou...right, good. Now, step forward...

Every pace was manual, and forced. Every step needed a little bit more courage from Mokou, but she mustered it. Ten steps turned to nine, to eight, to seven. She was doing it. She was going to face Kaguya, and this time she was going to keep herself calm as she did it. Each step made her feel stronger, more powerful, and eventually she wasn?t forcing herself at all. She was walking proudly, and she was keeping herself in check all the while. She was doing it. She was doing it-

The door slammed in her face when she was only three steps away.

?Sorry, it?s five o?clock. We?re closing for now.?

The employee on the other side of the door gave an apologetic explanation as she locked up the entrance. Mokou didn?t realise she?d been holding her breath until she let it out in a single heaving sigh. The sun was setting in the distance, and all around her stores were closing for the day.

This wouldn?t have irritated Mokou if it weren?t for the fact she?d shown up at three o?clock.

Two hours. Two long, difficult hours. That was how long it had taken her to muster up enough courage to take ten steps. In terms of productivity, it was a pretty miserable showing. There was an almost literal aftertaste rising up in her throat - the bittersweet sting of disappointment.

But as she started on the walk back home, Mokou felt strangely proud of herself. Maybe it had taken her a while to do it, but she?d faced her fear. She?d taken the challenge head-on, and she was on the verge of having the conversation she needed to have with Kaguya.

She?d be back again sometime. Hopefully, the ten steps wouldn?t take quite as much effort by then.

-----

Perhaps something good had come of this entire venture, Sakuya thought to herself absently. She?d lost fortunes for the umpteenth time, and she?d been forced to accept a fact she?d really rather stayed in the dark, but as a reward for it she?d finally managed to pull Flandre out of her foul moods. Among other things, she?d had to make the girl swear to secrecy about her entire experience with magic, which was harder than she?d expected it to be. She eventually got Flandre to keep her mouth shut on the vow that Sakuya would buy her any manga she asked for - and given the impressive stack the girl had built up over the years, that?d likely be a dent on Sakuya?s paycheck. Still, better than having a bunch of youkai yelling at her for revealing the secret.

Then at last came the day when Flandre was fit enough to make it out of bed. Remilia had only caught glimpses, otherwise leaving her sister to rest, and at dinner it was clear she was concerned. There was a hint of doubt in her otherwise cocky grin, a nervous fiddling in her perfectly-kept fingers. Sakuya had decided not to offer her mistress the comfort she needed - her sister would do that for her.

The sound of stomping feet from across the corridor caught Remilia?s attention. Sakuya saw the look of fear on her face, the concern that her sister was still the same downbeat, heartbroken girl she?d been before. In fact, after what Flandre had been through, Remilia probably had good reason to think she would be in an even darker mood.

Flandre entered in the same outfit as always, walking towards the dinner table without a hint of a smile. The maid saw Remilia?s face fall, her shoulders slump.

That was Flan?s cue to break out the grin and charge her sister with one of the most affectionate hugs Sakuya had ever witnessed.

?Evening, Remi. Did ya miss me??

In the wake of this sudden assault, Remilia couldn?t maintain her prideful aura for more than ten seconds. After that the facade started to give way - her arms started to tremble, her face scrunched up, and as her mouth opened the only sound she could let out was a choked sob.

?F...Flan...?

The word came out with difficulty amongst her sobbing, but she managed it. After that she just gave up on it entirely, standing up and hugging her sister while the chair she?d been sitting in was knocked to the floor.

?Flan!?

The roles had been reversed, almost. Now it was Flandre acting as the sensible sister, patting Remilia on the back as she cried her heart out. Sakuya thought to put the chair upright again, but she decided against it. This was their moment, and not her place to interfere.

?And here I was thinking you were the older sister. What happened to the charismatic vampire lord, or whatever it was you were??

Remilia didn?t answer for a while. She was too busy hugging her sister with the tightest grip she could manage, making up for years worth of neglect in a single embrace. Sakuya could almost feel the warmth flowing both out of her and into her. She was giving her sister all the love she had to give, and taking in Flandre?s affection for the first time in an age.

?I...I thought you didn?t like it??

?Don?t worry about me, Remi. You be whatever the hell you wanna be.?

Remi practically went to mush in Flan?s hands, falling forward and resting her head on her shoulder. She wasn?t crying loudly, at least, but she still gave off the occasional sniffle as tears streamed down her face. Flan almost seemed to play off her sister?s weakness, growing only stronger as she pointed straight into the air, striking a pose as she made her declaration loud and clear.

?Just know that you?re gonna be sharing a house with the most powerful force in existence - the one, the only, Cutie Crusher Flandre-Chan!?

Remilia needed a moment to actually comprehend what she?d just heard. If anyone other than her sister had said that to her, she?d probably have laughed at their expense. Hearing it from Flandre, though, it brought around an entirely different response - it was so innocent, so childish, so energetic. It was everything that Flandre had been lacking for years, everything Remilia had desperately missed in her sister. Finally, at long last, it was all starting to come back to her. It was as if Flandre had come back to life after a long sleep, still the cheerful little kid Remilia remembered her being.

And she wouldn?t have asked for anything else in the world.

?...Hmph. Very well. It?s been boring around the mansion nowadays. There?s nothing like a little competition to keep my skills sharp.?

Remilia recovered her charisma, wiping away the last few remnants of her tears. She held her hug regardless, almost unable to let go.

?Welcome back, Flandre. It?s good to see you again.?

Flandre smiled, giving Sakuya a little wink as she did so.

?It?s good to be back, Remi.?

Maybe it was her own fault they?d fallen apart, Sakuya thought to herself. Still, the sight of them coming back together made her forget all of that for a moment, and she was as lost in the instant as the girls were. Maybe they?d never see the sun. Maybe they honestly would spend the rest of their lives locked up in this damned mansion in the middle of nowhere. Maybe they?d die of illness well before any girl should have.

But if that small, fragile existence was filled with moments like these - points in time where the two girls were lost in each other, standing up for each other, and generally being as happy as they could possible be - then Sakuya was willing to take what she could get.

-----

Nitori had planned well ahead for this operation.

Koishi had only seen a slight glimpse into the resources the kappa had available. She?d had literally centuries to prepare for this, and they hadn?t been wasted. She had access to more money than she would ever need, and more ?side-jobs? than she?d ever be able to actually hold down.

They weren?t jobs, per se - more various companies she?d constructed as alibis for getting the Sirens into restricted areas. Nitori, at least, had trained herself in every aspect - centuries obviously gave her more than enough time to learn.

Some of these occupations, though, weren?t for the sake of covert operations. One example was the occupation she was making use of right now. On the surface, it seemed completely useless - what point would there be in the leader of the White Pearl taking on a post as a pool guard, of all things? It wasn?t as if the Claw was going to stomp around Gensouto, looking for convenient pools of water to hide themselves in.

In truth, she simply needed to make sure she had access to a large body of water, at a regular time, that no-one would think to look in on. Given how much of the job involved combat beneath the surface, this sort of training area was invaluable.

So logically, it was here Nitori had taken Sango when she?d insisted on some extra practice with her form. The request hadn?t surprised Nitori in the slightest - even as Sango explained this encounter with the shark youkai in the debriefing, Nitori had seen the ambition in her eyes. The dolphin had decided to herself she was going to win this fight, and it was obvious she was going to beg her superior for sparring matches until the kappa caved in.

Nitori was more than willing to accept the challenge. She?d had a long day at work, and letting a little stress out on the recruit was the sort of thing she was going to outright savour. Nothing took your mind off of your inability to count like picking out every little weakness in a cadet?s stance.

There was no glamour to the affair - in the evening they travelled to the pool Nitori was meant to be guarding, leapt in, and fought away from human eyes. Purely business, though admittedly of a violent sort.

The fight had gone on for a few minutes now, but it could hardly be considered an even match. Slowly but surely, Sango had found herself pushed back - not by steps, just through the sheer force of Nitori?s blows.

?You?re too tense! Loosen your shoulders!?

Nitori had to shout across the water so Sango would make her out over her own yelps. The kappa was almost as fluent in Crashing Wave as she was in Flowing Tide - not from training, but from centuries of experience fighting against the style. As such, she knew how to view the fight from both angles, and in particular she knew the one weakness Sango?s style had for her to exploit - for all its ability to defend, Flowing Tide distinctly lacked in stopping power. Sango managed to get in a jab or two to punish Nitori?s advances, but she was doing no real damage to her opponent.

?Phwee-!?

A punch to Sango?s chest was enough to knock her into the back of the wall, dislocating one of the tiles on the wall. Nitori frowned, making a mental note to deal with it before the sun rose. Not that it really mattered - the house whose pool she was ?guarding? was hers as well, albeit under yet another pseudonym, so there wouldn?t be an angry owner complaining about damages.

?You have to understand that defense is only going to get you so far, Sango. If you want to exploit your opponent?s openings, you need to make your hits really count.?

Sango winced a little from the punch, needing a moment to catch her breath. Of course, both of them were wearing the usual drown-proof jewelery, and Nitori had even gone so far as to pull out her old White Pearl uniform. It was perhaps outdated now - a flowing white robe, its colour shifting to a light blue as it approached the sleeves and lower hems. It even came with a snazzy pair of white gloves, though unlike Koishi?s they were purely aesthetic. The entire getup was ornamental, but it rubbed in her authority that extra tad as she gave Sango a lesson from the school of hard knocks.

?But boss, you always taught me lashing out like that was a bad idea...?

?Well, I didn?t really expect you to get into a fight, so I figured sticking to the book would do you good. Wanna know a secret, though??

Nitori casually walked along the pool floor, whispering childishly into Sango?s ear.

?I?ve still got plenty to teach you. You don?t even know any of the fun moves yet.?

Sango?s eyes widened at the sound of that. For a moment the excitement didn?t quite make it onto her face, but Nitori could see the sudden glint in the dolphin?s eyes. The kappa had chosen her words carefully: just enough to entice the girl without looking like she was forcing her.

As she?d hoped, Sango took it in entirely.

?Well, now you?ve told me that, you can?t not teach me them, can you??

Nitori smirked, taking Sango?s hand and leading her back to the centre of the pool. She had thousands of years of training to pass on, and quickly. The first challenge that came to her was choosing just where to start...something simple, she decided. Strong enough to lure Sango in, but not too difficult for her to learn.

?...Alright. So, here?s what you do if you find your opponent isn?t protected between their legs...?

-----

--Next Time--

Now if you'd please stop wasting my time? I have work to do.

There has to be a connection here somewhere. It can't be coincidence!

This here city's goin' to the dogs, ain't it?

We're not going to budge! Bring out the pigs who let him loose!

I want her head on a goddamn platter, you hear me?!

When it comes down to it, I guess you've gotta keep on keepin' on.

None of you will ascend this day. Your vile souls will pave the depths of Hell!

Dolphin Rider Koishi
Arc IV: Blossom of the Poisoned Tree
Coming Soon
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Kasu on April 18, 2011, 11:51:35 PM
Dolphin Rider Koishi
Arc IV: Blossom of the Poisoned Tree
Coming Soon

Oh snap!  I think I see where this is goin' next. :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Eriaku on April 19, 2011, 12:32:31 AM
That was Flan?s cue to break out the grin and charge her sister with one of the most affectionate hugs Sakuya had ever witnessed.

That whole update was good, but this line made me HNNNNNNGGHHH so much I could hardly believe it. Can't wait to see who the next Siren is.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Cystral Dragon on April 19, 2011, 12:54:32 AM
HAHAHA! I actually got something correct! So here is my theory! One character from each main line game 6-13.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on April 19, 2011, 02:08:00 AM
So much for taking a break, huh? That's a good thing, though, and this was good stuff (although you suck for having Mokou fail. I guess there's always the next interlude).

As for the next chapter, well, from my previous list of Siren guesses, Youmu would be the most likely, but the chapter title seems to indicate Yuyuko, which would probably throw off the Youmu predicition as well as the Kaguya one I was uncertain about. Yuyuko'd fill the magic role nicely, meaning she'd be in instead of Kaguya, but unless we're getting a two-for-one special on Sirens, Youmu probably won't be one if Yuyuko is, since I'd expect them to be found together. So Youmu's out, and in her place, I think I'd say it's either Yuugi or Suika; Mokou may know what she's doing in a fistfight, but the team doesn't truly have a brawler-type, and the two Oni would make the best brawler-types. Suika'd probably be better for the role than Yuugi, so I think I'm putting her in to replace Youmu, making my predictions Suika, Yuyuko, Satori, and Nue.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: [K]KoaMeow on April 19, 2011, 11:28:02 AM
I just knew about this after fooling off TVTropes and finished it in a day. With an update from today to boot too.

10/10. Good job, and I'll keep scanning for the lovely updates.

Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Serena on April 19, 2011, 04:13:23 PM
Nice to get back to Mokou, even if only for a little while ^^,

Dolphin Rider Koishi
Arc IV: Blossom of the Poisoned Tree
Coming Soon

Yes  :getdown:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on April 20, 2011, 04:31:54 AM
Good stuff. Of course, this woule big fight brings up a big plot question, namely: if Yukari set this all up ahead of time, why didn't she do so in a way that would prevent the Black Claw from finding the Teardrops? So basically, there's a big-ass unanswered plot question that probably won't be answered until closer to the end.

For the first question, I'll say this - you're assuming Yukari is literally omniponent. If that was the case, why couldn't she just destroy the Ravager herself?[/color]

*Just noticed this*
True, but you were saying that she essentially chose who the Sirens would be; why couldn't she have chosen people such that the Claw would never find them in the first place? That's the question, and I'm not expecting an answer now; this is something I'm expecting will be answered later in the story.

I just knew about this after fooling off TVTropes and finished it in a day. With an update from today to boot too.

*Takes credit for this*
And actually, I probably am the one responsible for leading you here if you learned about this from TVTropes; I'm the one who put DRK on the Touhou fanfic reccomendations page.
*Wants someone to put Orphan on that page*
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on April 20, 2011, 06:27:31 AM
Because without adversity the Sirens would have no reason to make their wishes. If they were sheltered from the Black Claw, they likely wouldn't need any wishes to be granted.

inb4 Yukari is Kyuubey
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: [K]KoaMeow on April 20, 2011, 11:43:13 AM
*Takes credit for this*
And actually, I probably am the one responsible for leading you here if you learned about this from TVTropes; I'm the one who put DRK on the Touhou fanfic reccomendations page.
*Wants someone to put Orphan on that page*
Thanks a bunch.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on April 20, 2011, 02:28:47 PM
Because without adversity the Sirens would have no reason to make their wishes. If they were sheltered from the Black Claw, they likely wouldn't need any wishes to be granted.

The wishes and the Black Claw are seperate, aren't they? And besides, if the Claw didn't find them, would they even need the Teardrops?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: KrackoCloud on April 20, 2011, 04:48:57 PM
I can think of three possibilities:

Perhaps Yukari isn't as completely powerful as we think. She can control many things, but in others cases, she can only forsee things that are beyond her control. Maybe the formation of Black Claw was an inevitable result of past times.

Or similar to what Esifex said, adversity is made in order to the good guys to win.
-It shows that good overcomes evil.
-It allows people to change for the better.
-It allows people to acknowledge a present good side. Like how peace and stability is taken for granted until war and right after.

Or, possibly the best answer : Yukari thought some opposition would just make things more interesting.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Drake on April 20, 2011, 07:20:31 PM
First option. Despite Yukari's ability and knowledge, she isn't omnipotent nor omniscient.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: MoeIncubatorShea on April 21, 2011, 03:31:30 AM
Dolphin Rider Koishi
Arc IV: Blossom of the Poisoned Tree
Coming Soon


The fourth arc is on it's way!~

Also  :3 I see where this is going.~
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on April 21, 2011, 11:49:14 PM
Koishi was gradually beginning to forget what normal sleep felt like.

She?d had maybe a week to bring her schedule back into shape, and now she was being called out again by the professor. Something about ?team-building exercises? - along those lines, at least. Sango passed the message on and didn?t bother going into any real detail. That was enough to slightly concern her.

Given that most of her time now involved school, Siren-scouting and now these training sessions, Koishi was learning to savour the little time she had to cool off. She?d almost physically merged with the couch in the living room, lying square on her back. She was exhausted - this whole magical girl business wasn?t as easy as some of those anime out there made it look. It asked for hours of her time, and more physical exertion than she?d ever given in her life up until now.

Sometimes she?d watch some sparkly show about a girl like her getting powers and fighting off evil, just to perk her mood up. Other times she?d have something on in the background while she lay back, taking the moment to recharge. Every so often she?d close her eyes and open them to realise an hour had passed and she was late for dinner. She was well-rested enough from these naps to function normally, but as a result her spare time was mostly spent being either barely conscious or not conscious at all.

On this day in particular, she was on the verge of dozing off as the news droned on in front of her. She?d stopped appreciating the news quite as much since things had started around here - stories about the economy and politics didn?t mean much compared to a war for the sake of humanity.

?...And now, we have one of our reporters live at the court where Morichika is about to face trial. Hatate, over to you.?

That sentence pulled Koishi out of her daze. She hauled herself off the couch into what could be mistaken for a sitting position, rubbing at her eyes. Her hair was a tangled, jumbled mess, but she?d take care of that later.

The television in front of her showed a woman outside of Gensouto?s district court - in her twenties, perhaps, wearing a plain white shirt with a checkered skirt, and clinging onto her microphone for dear life. Koishi could make out an almost manic glint in the reporter?s eye as she reveled in every moment she spent on public television.

?Thanks, Gendo! I?m coming to you from outside Gensouto?s district court, where famed businessman Rinnosuke Morichika is set to be accused of running the largest crime ring the city?s ever seen. The rumours about him have been bouncing around for years, but it was only recently the prosecutors managed to find something solid against him - testimony from one of the higher-up employees in his underground cartel!?

Koishi?s heart crumpled up in her chest. It had to be Tewi they were talking about. Any remnants of her sleepy state before had vanished now, and she was watching the television with all the attention she could muster. The newscaster, Gendo, was a man in his fifties with a smart-looking blue suit, his humble smile the opposite of Hatate?s youthful smirk.

?Interesting, Hatate. So, this witness, have they been taken in by the police??

?They?re not saying anything official on the matter, but it?s assumed they?ve been placed under witness protection, and they?ll likely get a pardon for their crimes as well. They?ll be moved well out of Gensouto so that they can?t get caught up in any sort of payback.?

The hand gripping Koishi?s chest let go, and she could breathe again. That news was fantastic. Tewi had escaped. She had a chance to start again now, free to live a second life away from this gang nonsense. That was one point off her mind, and her sigh of relief was enough to attract other residents.

?Nya? What?re you watching, Koishi-sama??

Orin came through from the kitchen, a few scraps of dinner still clinging to her face. Utsuho followed in afterwards, taking Orin?s hand as if by instinct. Now that Koishi was aware of youkai they?d given up on hiding themselves, taking human form whenever they felt like it.

?Eh? The news? What?s so thrilling about that??

?N-Not much, I guess. Just that the guy on trial right now tried to kill me a couple of times.?

Koishi didn?t quite have the nerve to say she was relieved because a girl she barely knew was safe. It sounded too sappy, too mushy. A simple desire for revenge probably flowed a lot better, and given the sudden interest in Orin?s eyes it had worked.

?Huh? Why he do that? Did you call him a bad name or something??

Utsuho was still a little behind in the discussion, and Orin gave her a little pat on the head as she pulled her onto the couch alongside Koishi. Suddenly all three of them wanted to see how this trial went.

Sango didn?t come in until a few minutes later, by which point the trial had already begun. Her attempt to ask what was going on was met with three hushes. Koishi passed a quick thought along so the dolphin was up to speed, but the moment she was done with that she was back to focusing intently on the television.

The Gensouto court was very proud of its transparency, and as such high-profile cases were occasionally shown live on television so that the city?s inhabitants could see their judges at work. In addition, of the three or four judges the court had, this was the sort of trial where they would bring out the most famous of them all. Even Koishi, who wasn?t exactly up-to-date with the law, had heard of the woman sitting sternly in the judge?s chair.

?So that?s Judge Shiki...wonder if she?s really as good as they say they are.?

Eiki Shiki, to give her full name, was the Gensouto court?s pride and glory. To this day she?d never presided over a case and made a ruling which was considered unfair. Her sentencing was just, her conviction absolute, and her desire to find the truth nigh-limitless. Now that she was actually looking at the woman, Koishi had to had to that list of compliments by saying she was also quite beautiful - her well-kept black hair almost matched her judge?s robes, and she stared out into the court with piercing blue eyes. One hand was tightly clenched around a wooden gavel, while the other lay across a set of paperwork.

At the judge?s side stood another woman. She was clearly much younger than Judge Shiki, but she was regardless at least a good head taller. She was dressed snappily in a dark blue suit, but her stance did nothing to make her look remotely professional. She was slumped against the wall lazily, to the point where if the wall were to give way she?d simply fall backwards. Her hair was only in slightly better condition than Koishi?s - done up in a pair of dark brown pigtails, but still with far too many loose ends and stray strands. Her pale red eyes were only half open, and looked set to close completely at any moment. She was never referred to by name, but occasionally she?d pass over a few papers to the judge, so Koishi figured she had to be some sort of assistant. Maybe they?d deliberately picked someone so lazy-looking in order to make Judge Shiki look even more impressive by comparison.

The camera slowly panned across the room, stopping opposite the judge?s chair. This was where the defendant stood, though in this case stood was barely the right word. Rinnosuke Morichika, dressed in a flame-red tuxedo, was stepping to and from like he was trying to make his way out of some unseen box. There was, however, no sign of concern on his face - and given that Judge Shiki was glaring straight at him, that was an impressive feat.

To silence him, the judge slammed her gavel into the desk.

?Order, ladies and gentlemen. I hereby call this court into session in the case of The People vs. Rinnosuke Morichika. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFXb9altU74&feature=related)?

-----

?To begin,? Eiki started, without dropping so much as a beat, ?I will ask of you, Morichika-san. You stand trial for a wide range of crimes, as you well know.?

She picked up one of the pieces of paper the attendant had given her. Sure enough, there was a list of charges almost as long as the judge?s arm. Her brows rose in surprise for a moment before returning to their default glare.

?You have been charged with fraud, larceny, tax evasion, illegal gambling, drug trafficking, and accessory to several dozen murders and assaults. On each of these charges, how do you plead??

Rinnosuke didn?t answer, still walking around like he was trying to escape. He appeared restless, but not from panic - more from boredom. Eiki was having none of that, and slammed her gavel against the desk again.

?The defendant will stand in place and answer the question! How do you plead??

Only then did Rinnosuke finally stand still. He made a deliberate point of slowing down gradually rather than stopping outright, the closest he was allowed in this court to actual rebellion.

?Yeah, whatever, I didn?t do anything.?

He began to fidget with his tie, not once looking the judge in the eye. He was going out of his way to disrespect her, and she knew it. If it was in her power, she?d have taken that as proof and declared him guilty on the spot.

But she wasn?t going to do that. She was better than him. She had worked alongside the prosecutors for months to get this evidence together, and it was going to finally put this bastard behind bars where he belonged. It was rare for even Eiki to meet someone quite this sociopathic - someone lacking in any sort of morality, someone this blatantly twisted. She was disgusted by him, but at the same time slightly frightened. She had to clear her throat before she could start.

?A-Ahem. In that case, I will hand over to the prosecution to present their evidence. Raikoji-san, if you would??

The prosecutor stood up at that point, walking out from the bench. Though Eiki would never call her it in the courtroom, when they were off duty she was Sumire. She dressed neatly, in a dark blue suit that just about presented her figure. She was young and eager, looking ready to burst out and slap the defendant across the face with her evidence. From her raised vantage point, Eiki could make out a keepsake the lawyer had hidden beneath the bench - a shako cap, the sort the Japanese army used to use. Sumire had told her over drinks that it had been her grandfather?s, and that she?d wanted to keep up the family tradition of keeping the people of Gensouto safe - if admittedly in a way that didn?t involve actual fighting.

?Your Honour,? Sumire began, with the utmost dignity. ?This man, Rinnosuke Morichika, is perhaps one of the most hardened criminals Gensouto has ever seen. He has plundered millions with his rigged gambling houses, made a fortune from his underground cartels, and personally ordered the murders of at least twenty innocents. I?m not going to put any spin on it - this man is a threat to society.?

She spoke with scorn, looking angrily at Rinnosuke. The man didn?t so much as blink, and instead simply applauded her.

?Well, lady, that?s quite the imagination you?ve got there. If only you had the evidence to back it u-?

?The defendant will remain silent while the prosecution presents its case!?

Eiki hammered her gavel against the desk again, with more force this time. Rinnosuke stepped back overdramatically, putting a hand over his mouth.

?Oh, forgive me, Your Honour.?

This man was deliberately trying to get a reaction out of her. Eiki could feel it in every step he took, but it was her duty to stand resolute and give a fair ruling. Even if she?d seen firsthand the evidence that made Morichika one of the most dangerous men she?d ever met.

She?d kept her dealings with the Prosecutor?s Office secret - after all, her duties were impartial, and she wasn?t expected to come into the case with any sort of bias. But that was the one part of the job she?d never quite kept to - if there were monsters out there, she wanted to have the best chance possible of apprehending them. Morichika was just that sort of man.

Sumire cleared her throat. She started to read from the first of several documents she?d brought with her, reciting it like a dramatic script.

?First and foremost, we have testimony from a reliable witness - a former member of Morichika?s group. She will remain unnamed, but she was his adopted daughter and has testified that she played a part in rigged gambling events at his casino, The Rabbit?s Foot. Her testimony was thorough, accused Morichika directly-?

?Objection.?

Rinnosuke grinned to himself as the defense attorney finally spoke up. Like her defendant, she seemed distinctly uninterested in the case, sitting back with her feet on her own bench. Her long black hair ran down her back effortlessly with a single knot, not a single hair out of place. Her suit was red, like that of her defendant, but she?d undone the buttons to present a white shirt underneath. She muttered her statement out, absent-mindedly looking at her own paperwork.

?Your Honour, the girl in question was orphaned by an abusive relationship. She had been through various traumas before her adoption by Morichika, and thus we cannot rule out that this testimony wasn?t some sort of twisted spite.?

Eiki and Sumire winced at once. It was a cruel suggestion, but just the sort that this defense attorney was known for. She?d never been one for law school, leaving with something barely resembling a degree, but since then she?d built a mighty reputation for being able to cheat the system and find loopholes in every ruling. It was safe to say that Eiki did not meet with her casually over drinks.

?...Objection sustained. Hakurei-san, please take your feet off the bench.?

Reimu Hakurei did so with a muffled ?hmph?, still sitting back. She was bored out of her skull, and that had Eiki confused. She should?ve been concerned - there was all sorts of solid evidence incriminating Morichika, and she had to know that. So why was she so at ease? Both the defendant and his attorney were unconcerned, and that had Eiki genuinely frightened.

Sumire grimaced, shuffling her papers around to bring the next one to the surface. She cleared her throat, straightening her back before going in for another attack.

?Well, even discarding the daughter?s testimony, there?s a variety of evidence that the court has against Morichika. After we acquired a search warrant we inspected his apartment, and found conclusive evidence linking him to the murder of Layla Prismriver three months ago.?

Eiki raised her eyebrows, pretending to be surprised with a well-practiced expression. She knew the case - Layla Prismriver, a famous singer, found dead in her apartment after a supposed fight with her siblings. The trio all had solid alibis, however, and the police had no leads other than a rumour Layla was being financed by an underground group.

The pieces had fit all-too-neatly into place from there. This was it, Eiki thought to herself. There was no way the guy was getting out of this.

?We found a gun in the apartment, with Prismriver?s prints on the barrel. It was supposedly a family hand-me-down - an old Colt revolver - but it still had two filled chambers. Not just that, but Morichika?s prints are all over the handle, as well as the trigger. We can assume this is the gun that killed her, and the bullet wound matches the calibre. Presumably there was a struggle, she tried to pull the gun away, and-?

?Objection.?

The same bored moan rose from the defense attorney, now twirling a stick in one hand. There was a reason she?d never been one of the high-ranking students at law school, but damn if she didn?t know how to twist the facts.

Still, Eiki was shocked by Hakurei?s call for objection. What could she possibly have against that? The prints were taken by the court?s forensic scientist, Goro Ogawa. They were trustworthy, certain, how could she-

?I?m afraid the evidence your forensic scientist gave you is outdated. Your Honour, if you?d like to read this.?

Hakurei finally stood up from the bench, walking over to the judge?s seat and passing a piece of paper to the attendant. She examined it for a moment, letting off a quiet grunt, before handing it over to Eiki.

The judge?s grip nearly ripped the paper in two.

Apologies, but the analysis given previously was flawed. The prints on the gun's barrel were not Layla Prismriver?s, but rather Morichika?s own. ~Goro Ogawa

That was his signature, no doubt. Ogawa had signed this of his own volition, and it had negated one of the biggest pieces of evidence the prosecution had. It was too unlikely, too coincidental - why would he even run a second test?

For the tiniest moment, Eiki looked down into Morichika?s eyes.

The sly grin on his face got the whole story across in an instant.

...A bribe.

She should have guessed. Of course Morichika wasn?t going to leave himself in trouble like that. He didn?t need Hakurei for the most part - he was going to buy his way out. She had a suspicion that the rest of the prosecution?s evidence was going to be declared ?outdated?, as well.

But she KNEW this man was guilty. She?d seen the evidence first hand. She could see him practically oozing with cruelty from where she sat. Her shoulders tightened, and for a moment she looked ready to leap down and attack the man.

A hand on her shoulder was her cue to stop.

?Easy, boss. Easy.?

The scruffy attendant clamped a hand over her shoulder. It wasn?t a sign of comfort - Eiki knew this because she?d been given this grip several times over their years working together. This was their unspoken code for ?let it go, there?s nothing you can do?.

After almost half a minute of silence, Eiki forced the words out of her mouth as if they were venomous. She had to resist the urge to be physically ill as she looked the killer in the eyes, and he looked back at her like she was nothing. She knew for a fact this man was a menace, but the courts were shackling her to a not-guilty verdict.

?Objection...?

She didn?t want to say it. She point-blank refused to say it.

And yet, in the name of justice, in the name of the court she?d devoted her life to, she had no choice.

?...sustained.?

-----

?Koishi-san, are your human courts always this lousy??

Sango sighed as she watched this farce of a trial unfold. Orin frowned, her arms wrapped around her master in support, while Okuu simply nodded and pretended to understand exactly what was going on.

Koishi felt the floor of her stomach give way. She knew that Morichika was guilty as well, and there was foul play at hand here. But the courts were just getting toyed with, and she could see the frustration on Judge Shiki?s face. Several times the scruffy attendant had placed an arm on her shoulder as if to hold her back - without it Koishi almost expected the judge to play jury and executioner as well.

For half an hour, the four of them watched the trial play out, unable to look away in the same way that a car accident was mesmerising to the human eye. There was no doubt as to what the final verdict would be, and eventually the prosecutor had run out of evidence to present. Everything she put forward was declared ?outdated?, with a newer analysis that conveniently proved Morichika completely innocent. No doubt the analysts had been bought out, but even knowing that there was nothing the judge could do.

?The prosecution...withdraws its case.?

The prosecutor sighed as she returned to her bench, having presented a grand total of zero charges. Normally this wouldn?t be allowed, but given that none of their previous evidence was supposedly ?accurate? it was permitted.  Rinnosuke sighed to himself as she did so, looking up to the judge with an expression that screamed ?I told you so?.

?Well, good to see we got this nonsense cleaned up. Now if you'd please stop wasting my time? I have work to do.?

He sounded thoroughly bored, and he made a point of talking down to the judge. If insolence was a crime, there wasn?t a court that?d find him innocent. Sadly, it was a little too late for her to hold him in contempt of court, and the judge tapped her gavel against the desk to end the trial.

?Case dismissed. Morichika-san, you are...free to go.?

The camera cut back to outside the court, where there was already an outroar. It was clear to everyone that something was going on, and there were crowds bustling around outside the building to try and make a complaint. Not that there words would mean anything, though - the court had spoken, and its word was final.

Koishi turned the television off before she saw this charade continue on for a moment longer. She?d seen enough.

?C?mon, Sango-san. Let?s get ready for this team-building thing, or whatever it is I?m getting hauled into.?

Sango nodded solemnly, walking off with Koishi to make some preparations. Both of them needed to distract themselves after what they?d just witnessed. Okuu and Orin were left behind, with the raven still not quite keeping up.

?Unyu...is Koishi-sama going to be okay??

Okuu looked frightened, and was more than happy to have Orin wrap an arm around her. Given they?d spent practically their whole lives together, the pair were close in spite of their different races. Orin hugged the raven close, whispering words of comfort in her ear.

?Don?t worry, Okuu. Koishi-sama?s gonna be fine. Just you watch.?

-----

Shoutouts to Ruro for being okay with me throwing in a little White Rose cameo. :P
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Kasu on April 22, 2011, 12:44:03 AM
Wasn't expecting the Sumire appearance.  Nicely done! :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on April 22, 2011, 01:53:56 AM
You know, I always manage to forget  that the plot of PoFV involved flowers (which is odd, since 'flower' is in the title). I guess I just associate that sort of thing more strongly with Yuyuko than Shiki, since the flowers in PoFV had nothing to do with her (and because it's just plot, wheras PCB shows a flowery theme all over the place). Anyways, it now seems quite possible that this arc is centered on Shiki, although since the Sirens are supposed you be younger, she's probably not one. Komachi, maybe, since we don't know her age. I'll have to see more before I reach any new conclusions, though.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on April 22, 2011, 04:37:37 AM
:3 Remember, My Little Ponies. MY LITTLE PONIES. :smug:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: [K]KoaMeow on April 22, 2011, 06:34:15 AM
Oh hey, its Sumire. Haven't seen you for a while.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on April 22, 2011, 07:18:38 AM
:3 Remember, My Little Ponies. MY LITTLE PONIES. :smug:

LEAVE THIS MAN, SATAN! IN THE NAME OF JESUS, I CAST YOU OUT!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Metaflare on April 22, 2011, 09:42:23 PM
Guess what story made me want to sign up here

Hint: It's your's.

I can honestly say I was not expecting Reimu to be a defence attourney.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on April 22, 2011, 11:30:15 PM
I can honestly say I was not expecting Reimu to be a defence attourney.
Mokou is already occupied by being a Siren.
Miwright? :derp:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Cystral Dragon on April 22, 2011, 11:39:19 PM
Mokou is already occupied by being a Siren.
Miwright? :derp:
...Took me a while to get it but that was very punny. I also tend to forget that POFV has to do with flowers...
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on May 11, 2011, 12:35:37 AM
Warning: this topic has not been posted iOK I GET IT

-----

There wasn?t much discussion between Koishi and Sango as they made their way to the training session. Koishi was afraid of opening her mouth in case a yawn came out instead of a word. Why exactly did this ?team-building session? have to convene in the middle of the night? Maybe the professor was one of those creatures who didn?t need to sleep, and thus she didn?t understand what she was putting the Sirens through.

It was a good twenty minutes before the pair arrived, in front of a luxurious-looking home in Gensouto?s upper districts. The place looked large enough that a dozen people could live inside without any trouble, and unlike most of Gensouto?s houses even had a large garden to go with it. There wasn?t a light on inside the building; puzzled, Koishi looked at the nameplate on the gate.

?Akutagawa? Who?s that??

?Don?t tell the boss you didn?t recognise the name. She?ll give you a lecture about how young kids nowadays are forgetting the old literature.?

Based on the slightly pained voice, Sango was probably talking from experience. Koishi wisely chose not to comment again on the subject.

?So are we going inside? It?s sort of cold out here.?

Koishi had changed into her usual casual wear, but a skirt wasn?t doing her much good against the cold. She?d flung on stockings to try and help, but they only went so far. Sango shook her head, unaffected by the weather. Come to think of it, she was in a skirt as well - maybe dolphins were just better suited to the cold.

?Let?s wait for the others to get here first. Might need some help getting in.?

Getting in? Koishi didn?t really understand what the difficulty was. From where she was looking, there was a straight path from the gate to the house?s front door. If Mokou or Sakuya couldn?t find there way through that, then something was seriously wrong.

Reluctantly Koishi stood in front of the gate, waiting for the rest of the Sirens to make their appearances. Mokou was first to arrive, looking unfazed by the wind chill (though the choice of pants over a skirt probably helped). She was jogging up until she reached the gate, then stopped without looking like she?d had to put in any effort at all.

?Evening. Or morning. Not sure. Depends if I?m on time or not.?

Nitori had scheduled this training session for midnight. Koishi hadn?t determined the reason for this yet, but she still liked her theory about kappa and their lack of sleep. Sango took a glance over Koishi?s shoulder, peeking at her watch.

?Just made it, I think. 11:59.?

Sakuya was not quite as punctual. It was a full five minutes before she made it to the meeting point, and when did arrive it was from the wrong direction. Sakuya looked understandably confused as she approached, squinting at the trio. Thankfully she hadn?t opted to walk around dressed as a maid in the middle of the night, opting instead for a much more sensible long sleeved shirt and jeans.

?Sorry, never been to this side of town before. Meiling offered me a lift, but I assumed you would be wanting me here in one piece.?

Sango muttered something to herself, but nodded in understanding. Mokou gave Sakuya a quick nod as she approached, offering a hand for the maid to shake. This was the first time they?d met beyond the incident at the casino, which Mokou was all too willing to forget about.

?Name?s Mokou. Here?s to beating shit up together.?

The bluntness served to unnerve Sakuya slightly, and she squirmed as Mokou gripped her hand.

?Um, well. Yes. Pleased to meet you.?

Only now did Sango open the gate, stepping through to allow the Sirens passage. Koishi, being right next to Sango, was the first to follow.

The dolphin moved for the front door, but abruptly turned just in front of it. So they hadn?t been going into the building after all? Then what were they even doing here? Confused, Koishi followed Sango?s path to the letter, aware that Mokou and Sakuya were tracing her own footsteps in the same manner.

The trail ran on around the side of the house, with Koishi feeling cramped between the wall and the fence right across from it. She had enough space to walk, but she wasn?t lifting her arms any time soon. Circling around behind the building, Koishi was happy to be entering an open space, stepping aside so she didn?t block Mokou and Sakuya in.

It was just as well she had her hands free, because the sight of what was behind the house forced her to rub violently at her temples.

?Is...Is this a joke, Sango-san??

There was a pool behind the house - roughly twenty feet long and maybe ten feet deep. Not the size you?d see in competitions, but lofty by Gensouto?s standards. A stereo, one of the old models that had plagued the nineties, had been set up at the edge of the pool, playing a tinny recording of an orchestral piece.

Koishi wasn?t paying attention to any of these facts. Her eyes were locked on the pair of legs currently hanging above the surface of the water, opening up in time with the music. As the musical movement faded out, they sank back into the water, and this time it was a head that rose up instead.

?Oh, there you all are! I wasn?t sure if you?d be on time, so I thought I?d get some practice in before you arrived.?

Professor Kawashiro hauled herself out of the water, well away from the stereo so that she didn?t short-circuit it. The sight of her only served to give Koishi more of a headache - she was wearing a dark blue swimsuit, clearly designed to resemble the kind pupils wore during swim classes. Koishi only realised she?d taken a step backwards when her back hit against the wall. Beside her Mokou?s mouth hung open, unable to make any sort of coherent sound, while Sakuya?s face darkened.

?Now, then. I?ll bet you?re all wondering why I hauled you out here in the middle of the night to some abandoned building, aren?t you??

No-one nodded. They all had a decent idea what they were expected to do out here, and none of them were keen to follow up on it. Koishi turned to Sango again, repeating her earlier question with an added hint of concern.

?Sango-san, really. Are you expecting us to...??

She looked to the other Sirens, who wordlessly offered their dissent. They looked at once to Sango, hoping for some sort of trick to this, some sort of escape clause.

Sango shook her head. Rather than looking guilty, she seemed outright excited.

?What?s the problem, you three? The boss?ll be showing you all the steps, and I?ll be up here giving you pointers! This is gonna be a great chance to get you girls moving in time with each other, don?t you think??

Mokou was deathly silent. Sakuya?s face was utterly blank. Koishi laughed nervously, stepping towards the way out.

?Heheh...you?re not gonna believe this, but I left my Teardrop at home, so...?

It was a blatant lie, but it was all Koishi could come up with on short notice. Sango wouldn?t figure it out as long as she didn?t phwee. Mokou and Sakuya looked back towards her, then chimed in with similar excuses.

?Uh, yeah! I, uh, didn?t get the right warmup for this. Otherwise I?d, um, get cramps if I tried to swim.?

?I was having dinner at the mansion before I came here. It?s bad for your health to swim right after you eat, so I?ll have to step out as well.?

Sakuya was perhaps the only one of the three who sounded remotely convincing. All that time playing poker had taught her how to sound good when she lied.

It didn?t matter anyway, because Sango wasn?t taking any of their excuses.

?Don?t be silly. You?re all wearing the rings, so it?s not like you?re going to drown or something. And as for what to wear...?

Sango pointed to a box in the distant corner. Koishi looked towards it, feeling her throat go painfully dry.

?Yeah, borrowed them from the school wardrobes just in case you guys forgot,? Nitori said with a smirk. ?Wasn?t sure about your sizes, so I picked out a dozen or so. There?s a little space back there where you can change...?

That was the last straw for Mokou, it seemed. She?d gone from sheer silence into full-blown rage, pointing in Nitori?s direction as she yelled into the night air.

?OK, that does it! Making me dress up as a rabbit was bad enough, but this is just too far! And then you want me to do some sorta screwed up swimming...dancing...thing?! Count me out! I am not doing this! You hear me?! NOT DOING THIS!?

-----

?I can?t believe I?m doing this.?

Mokou was still muttering to herself as she stepped into the pool, clad in one of the school swimsuits Nitori had brought along. It fit her well - in fact, all of the Sirens had been able to find good fits, which made them wonder if Nitori was telling the truth about not knowing their sizes.

They?d had to work long and hard to get Mokou to agree to this, but eventually she caved in. They were sworn to make no recordings, never mention this training session again, and under no circumstances were they allowed to think that Mokou was actually enjoying this. She was here because she was a Siren - no more, no less.

Much to Nitori?s relief, Mokou forgot to insist that these training sessions never happened again.

Sakuya and Koishi had been less resistant, but not exactly eager. It was the call to work together as Sirens that eventually convinced them to take the plunge. In the end this really would help them work better as a team, even if there were a dozen less awkward ways they could have approached it.

The first ten minutes or so consisted of Nitori guiding the girls through the routine she?d set up. There were a few tricks they needed to learn - synchronised swimming needed different techniques from more practical swimming forms, and thus they had to be taught how to pull off the legs-upright pose they?d walked in on Nitori performing earlier. It was slightly disturbing when Nitori informed them that this was actually a very basic routine, designed to get them started with no experience.

Koishi gained a newfound respect for the Olympic level competitors at that moment.

Progress was fast, mainly because there was no need to deal with silly problems like breathing. It helped that thanks to the heating, the pool was actually warmer than the evening air. Initially Koishi had expected Nitori herself to be offering advice on the various flaws the girls had with their form, but instead a voice bellowed out from above the surface.

?Mokou-san, slow down! I know you must be having fun, but the other two can?t keep up with you!?

Sango was sitting at the side of the pool, yelling out commands and orders at the trio. One comment was repeated over and over again, slightly different every time: ?Mokou-san, hold up!? ?Mokou-san, you?re too fast!? ?Hang on, Mokou-san!?

Eventually, this comment earned Sango a splash in the face from Mokou. She wanted out of here as fast as possible, and if the other Sirens couldn?t keep up with her that was their problem.

Sakuya took to the swimming naturally, and was the only Siren who Sango didn?t have a criticism for. She was focusing on the poorly-recorded symphony playing on the crummy stereo, not letting simple things like dignity get the best of her.

As for Koishi, she was very much middle-of-the-road. Not the best swimmer, and sometimes fell out of rhythm, but she was putting on a better show than Mokou was. She and Sakuya were just about in sync, other than when Koishi forgot the order of the moves and had to correct herself. Mokou was miles ahead of them, and showed no intent of slowing down.

After about an hour?s practice, Nitori decided she?d worked the girls hard enough for now, allowing them to take a break at the poolside. As they took their seats she threw towels at them so they didn?t freeze over in the cold air.

?Great work, you three! You in particular, Sakuya-san. You sure you?ve never done this before??

?Quite certain. A keen ear for music, that?s all.?

Was she brushing off the compliment, or showing off? Koishi wasn?t quite sure. Sakuya may have mellowed out a little since becoming a Siren, but she was still a shifty character.

?Anyway,? Nitori started, shifting the subject hastily. ?I was wondering if you three had been watching the news earlier today??

Koishi flinched, gripping her towel like a vice. She?d just managed to get her mind off this, and now they?d brought it up again. She hung her head, silent, hoping one of the girls at her side would stand in for her.

?I was working at the time,? said Sakuya, ?but it was impossible not to hear about it. There were crowds in uproar about the verdict all over town.?

Mokou nodded along. ?Goddamn shambles. The prosecution was falling over themselves for the whole damn trial. Everything they had to show was outdated, or inaccurate, or something like that. Either that Sumire chick had no clue what she was doing...?

?...or Morichika?s been buying himself out of a jail sentence.? Nitori finished the thought for Mokou, her expression grave. Mokou grunted out a small agreement, and her companions made no attempt to object.

For a few seconds there was no sound other than the music in the background, left to repeat until the stereo battery died. At last, Koishi spoke up, uncertain.

?...Kawashiro-sensei. We need to look into Morichika.?

Nitori?s face shifted into surprise. Mokou and Sakuya looked straight at Koishi, equally bewildered.

?The Black Claw got to Inaba-san through him, right? There has to be a connection here somewhere. It can?t be coincidence!?

Koishi spoke with an emotion that almost sounded like determination, and from Koishi that was a rare thing to hear. Mokou nodded along with her, a wicked glint starting to emerge in her eyes, but Sakuya didn?t share in their enthusiasm.

?Then what?s your plan, Komeiji-san?? Sakuya asked, completely serious. ?Walk up to the criminal overlord and ask him politely if he?s involved with an underground youkai sect??

That put the wind right out of Koishi?s sails. Sakuya had been wrapped up in this dirty business long enough to know that enthusiasm and determination were never enough.

?This man managed to work his way out of a full court conviction.? Sakuya continued, without skipping a beat. ?What makes you think a trio of teenagers is going to do any better than that??

Now that Koishi had to think about it, Sakuya had a strong point. It really was asking too much for them to get that far into his business, especially since they?d already worked their way into his list of enemies after the casino incident. Still, it wasn?t fair, was it? They couldn?t just let him get away with everything, could they? There had to be punishment, justice, something like that.

Koishi felt a new emotion filling her up. It was one she?d never experienced before, not at this level. At many points during her worst moods she wondered if she was even capable of this feeling anymore.

Anger.

?We have to try, Izayoi-san.? Koishi said, her hands clenching up into fists. ?We can?t just sit here and do nothing!? She turned to Sakuya, only realising how angry she was when she saw Sakuya?s paralysing glare staring back at her.

?Or,? Sakuya said, with an added condescending tone, ?We can stay away from Morichika, and remain among the living.?

?Or,? Nitori said, butting into the conversation, ?you could let me tell you who to get in touch with.?

Sakuya and Koishi both jerked their heads across to Nitori, their dispute forgotten. The kappa smirked, knowing she?d garnered their full attention.

?That?s more like it. Anyway, turns out Morichika?s not a popular man - there?s another shadowy figure out there trying to bust him. Selling info to gossip rags, posting it on the internet, the works. Whoever it is, they know what they?re doing: they?ve got the media sworn to secrecy on their identity, but they post their stuff online under the user name Red Lily.?

The Sirens nodded along, but none of them seemed too enthusiastic. It was a few seconds before Mokou asked the question they?d all been thinking of at once.

?OK, but if this Red Lily is so secretive, how the hell are we supposed to get hold of them??

?Oh, that?s easy enough. After this scandal, there?s no doubt the Lily?s gonna be publishing soon, and they frequent one paper in particular. It?s a pretty small one, the Bunbunmaru, but conveniently they?re looking for part-timers right now...?

There was a knowing glint in Nitori?s eyes. Again, she?d managed to get her intent across perfectly without having to say a word. This time, there were no complaints, and Mokou nodded in compliance.

?As long as I don?t have to play dress-up again, that?s fine by me.?

Koishi took a moment to think about it. They?d gone from serving drinks at a casino as glamourous pin-up girls to serving coffee at a crummy news rag.

Wasn?t that a little backwards?

-----

Judge Eiki?s chambers weren?t as ornate as modern television would have made them out to be. They could have been, but Eiki was not the sort of woman to submit to self-appreciation. She thought it prideful - every moment spent basking in former victories was a moment wasted dealing with the present.

That said, after what she?d been through today, she wouldn?t have minded a little pick-me-up.

Lodged in her chair, slumped onto her desk, Eiki let the trial run through her mind on endless repeat. Every path they?d taken to get Morichika convicted. Every piece of evidence they?d painstakingly put together to make an unbeatable case.

Every look of demonic joy on Morichika?s face when a decisive fact was written off as false.

This wasn?t Hakurei?s work. The woman was a shady character, true. She?d take on any case as long as it came with a ?donation? to her personal charity, though no-one had ever found out what this charity actually funded. She was not the sort to stay inside the law, but at most she wandered along the outskirts rather than actually breaking it.

Which meant this was all Morichika?s doing.

He could have done it earlier, as well. Could have had the initial investigation bought off rather than leaving it until the last minute. He was putting himself through unnecessary danger waiting until the trial to play his trump cards. Why would an otherwise careful businessman allow such massive risks?

Eiki could only find one answer. He meant to mock her. He deliberately waited until he was in court before he sprung himself out, simply to see the look on her face when he was acquitted.

He was spitting on the face of the justice system and walking away without so much as a warning.

Eiki pulled herself up, leaning back on her chair. She reached down into one of the desk?s drawers, pulling out an ornate bottle of brandy. Remi Martin. An old, old drink, aged for a good forty years. It had been one of her few splurges, but it was one she?d never come to regret. She clutched the bottle passionately, like an old friend, as she pulled out a glass to pour herself a drink.

?Komachi,? she said, to the figure standing on the other side of the room. ?Drink with me.?

The scruffy-haired woman shook her head, speaking up for the first time since the trial.

?No can do, boss. I?d feel guilty drinking somethin? that expensive.?

Komachi was using that country twang, the one she reserved for casual moments. It was overdone right now, to the point where she was clearly forcing it. She played with one of her own pigtails, whirling it around with a finger. Eiki could see the trial had made it through to her as well; she was past the point of ever admitting it, but these injustices hurt Komachi almost as much as they hurt Eiki.

?There?s no need to be stingy, Komachi. It?s over. Take a moment to recover-?

?I said I?m fine, Eiki.?

She?d pressed too far, and Komachi was glaring at her with those ruby eyes of hers. She wasn?t set to let the matter drop any time soon, and she was just going to let this defeat gnaw at her.

Maybe that was a part of herself that Eiki saw in the girl. Why she?d kept the girl on after her career had fallen to pieces. It didn?t matter, Eiki thought to herself as she downed the glass of brandy in a mighty gulp. She barely tasted it on the way down, but when the alcohol hit her she forgot her worries for a moment.

In fact, there?d probably be no harm in another.

?Don?t ya think one?s plenty??

Eiki looked up, forcing a grin. ?I?m not driving home tonight.?

Before Komachi could let out another complaint, Eiki had poured another glass for herself. She held it out to her aide, seeing if she?d accept the offer this time around. Komachi shook her head again, and Eiki proceeded to chug the drink like it was coming out of a shot glass.

Two drinks was enough to mellow her out, and a smile drifted onto her face. She giggled, reminiscing briefly on her days as a schoolgirl. The debate club, the graduation, the bar exam, and at last her arrival into the world of law. She remembered her years in prosecution, working to uncover the truth behind smaller crimes like arson and robbery, working her way up to grand theft and murder. It was after years of commitment and success that she was offered a position as Gensouto?s chief judge, one she accepted with honour.

She forgot the snivelling rich kids who none of the teachers were brave enough to badmouth. She forgot the children of businessmen who bought their way past the bar exam. She forgot the failures, the mishaps, the ones that got away. When the alcohol hit her, she lost sight of the darkness in the world, and found herself enveloped in the light.

It was a nice contrast to how she felt when she was sober.

Komachi was looking at her disapprovingly. Ah, the youth of today. Just in her twenties, she was. A bright spark if ever there was one. She was wasted in this position, and Eiki knew it.

?Hey, Komachi,? Eiki said, grinning all the while, ?you think you could?ve done better? Than Sumire, I mean.?

The aide gave her another stern glare. Kids nowadays! So strict. They should be learning to enjoy life now while they had the chance. Before they ended up sorry excuses like she was.

?You know I?m not gonna answer that, boss. I left the profession a long time ago.?

?And why?s that? Sickness? Incompetence??

Eiki lifted the glass, swinging it, holding it vaguely in Komachi?s direction. The aide was unimpressed, turning her glimpse to one of the featureless walls.

?Same reason you?re drinkin? yer brains out, boss. Got sick of the real slime getting off the hook.?

?Yes, well. It?s what slime does. Slither around, then slip out of reach just when you think you?ve got hold of it. Disgusting.?

Eiki made to take another drink, knocking over the bottle of brandy as she did so. She took that as a sign she?d had enough tonight.

?And then there?s that Red Lily character,? Eiki slurred. ?I mean, it?s all well and good if they?re out to beat Morichika, but what if we?re dealing with someone worse? Someone who wants to take over Morichika?s turf? It doesn?t ring well with me, not at all.?

Komachi offered no response beyond a long, heavy sigh. She was still more interested in the wall than Eiki. Kids these days - didn?t give a damn about their elders. Disgraceful.

?...I?m gonna head home.?

Komachi grunted out a small comment before making her way to the door. Eiki saw her looking back at her, with...what emotion was that? Contempt? Pity? She scowled at the aide as she left. She didn?t need the pity of some young?un who couldn?t deal with the pressure when things got hot.

But then...who could blame her? Eiki knew first hand that the system she knew and loved was falling to pieces. Morichika was only the latest of dozens of criminal overlords who?d passed her by. All of them were guilty - cruel, sadistic men and women, souls as black and evil as they could become. She was supposed to be the pinnacle of justice, the woman with the power to punish these criminals. She was the white to their black.

So why was she losing so often?

Sometimes she wondered why the rest of the court respected her so much. always going on about her ?good eye for guilt? and ?giving everything she had with every trial?. How much did any of that matter when the real villains were just cheating the system? She was a false messiah, a failure, a disgrace to the title she?d been bestowed. She was no judge, not when she let the guilty walk free like this.

Eiki felt cold, a shiver wracking her entire body. It was the drink, she told herself. She was always a light drinker. In fact, she only ever really helped herself to the Remi Martin when she was consoling herself after another slimeball waltzed out of the court without a care in the world. She had fallen for it again, like she always did, enticed by the momentary high.

Now the low was striking her, leaving her feeling worse than she would?ve if she hadn?t touched the stuff at all. Here she was - a mature, intellectual, highly qualified woman - and she couldn?t resist the mindless pleasure of alcohol.

She was glad, at that moment, that Komachi had left. It would have been embarrassing if anyone were to see the highest judge of Gensouto cry.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Cystral Dragon on May 11, 2011, 12:54:44 AM
Poor Eiki :(. Red Lily though...guessing Komachi?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on May 11, 2011, 01:27:47 AM
Seems too obvious, if you ask me. Although I do have to remember the genre we're dealing with here, so it is possible.

I forgot to mention this last time, but Rou, I do not think you did the court scene well. Reimu's behavior would've led to a citation, and if it's typical of her, she'd've likely been disbarred by now. Also, discrediting Tewi via personal connections to Rinnosuke wouldn't have worked; there are methods to handle 'hostile' witnesses (the term used to refer to witnesses with potential bias). Also, there would be no withdrawing of the case. In fact, the original documents would likely have been admissable as evidence. And remember, in the end, it all comes down to what the jury thinks. So yeah. I understand Rinnosuke had to get off for plot reasons, but still.

Also, it's looking quite possible that Komachi's the next Siren, but I'm not committing to any new theories just yet.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Cystral Dragon on May 11, 2011, 01:38:18 AM
I know it is too obvious but really going by theme naming that was the only one I could think of... Especially since lilies are used at funerals and represent souls of the dpearted
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on May 11, 2011, 03:13:10 AM
Guy, you're assuming that this setting uses the same court system as your own: they have different rules as far as handling evidence and treating witnesses. Also, let's pretend that there is a jury, here, since no mention was made if there was or wasn't one: if Rinnosuke went so far as to bribe officials and hire Reimu, the master of lockpicking finding loopholes, wouldn't he also make sure that the jury was either biased in his favor, or bribed/threatened to declare him innocent?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on May 11, 2011, 03:19:34 AM
Yes. But that's not what happened.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on May 11, 2011, 03:56:22 AM
So? The point is that Rinnosuke made the case completely and utterly useless and embarrassed the entire court system. There was absolutely no way Shiki or Sumire would have been able to get Rinnosuke convicted without doing something illegal or unethical, so Sumire withdrew the case. That court scene, and several scenes before that, displayed the staggering amount of power and influence Rinnosuke has in the city, showed his cunning, and proved that he's not a pushover scumbag that Koishi and the others can easily take care of.

In fact, in a lot of ways, Rinnosuke's somewhat more dangerous than the Black Claw: at least the Sirens can easily fight them and help the people they harm.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Drake on May 11, 2011, 04:22:58 AM
it took me like a whole five minutes to parse that red lily is komachi

Quote
long and hard to get Mokou to agree to this, but eventually she caved in
this is a good quote
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on May 11, 2011, 05:22:23 AM
So? The point is that Rinnosuke made the case completely and utterly useless and embarrassed the entire court system. There was absolutely no way Shiki or Sumire would have been able to get Rinnosuke convicted without doing something illegal or unethical, so Sumire withdrew the case. That court scene, and several scenes before that, displayed the staggering amount of power and influence Rinnosuke has in the city, showed his cunning, and proved that he's not a pushover scumbag that Koishi and the others can easily take care of.

In fact, in a lot of ways, Rinnosuke's somewhat more dangerous than the Black Claw: at least the Sirens can easily fight them and help the people they harm.

You seem to underestimate laywers. Besides, there are other ways he could've gotten himself off. Also, a trial like that would be a huge affair, and certainly not finish in one session. But whatever.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Drake on May 11, 2011, 06:20:53 AM
Besides, there are other ways he could've gotten himself off. Also, a trial like that would be a huge affair, and certainly not finish in one session. But whatever.
second best quote
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on May 11, 2011, 08:57:03 AM
I forgot to mention this last time, but Rou, I do not think you did the court scene well. Reimu's behavior would've led to a citation, and if it's typical of her, she'd've likely been disbarred by now. Also, discrediting Tewi via personal connections to Rinnosuke wouldn't have worked; there are methods to handle 'hostile' witnesses (the term used to refer to witnesses with potential bias). Also, there would be no withdrawing of the case. In fact, the original documents would likely have been admissable as evidence. And remember, in the end, it all comes down to what the jury thinks. So yeah. I understand Rinnosuke had to get off for plot reasons, but still.
- Japan does not use a jury in the majority of cases. Generally, sentencing is the responsibility of the judge, which has led some to be concerned by Japan's unnaturally high conviction rates.
- In regards to everything else, I'm not going to pretend I went through painstaking amounts of research to find the most abusive way to press the system without being disbarred or held in contempt of court or whatever. I am not a lawyer, and will make no effort to claim that I know the justice system of any country particularly well (even my own).
- I sacrificed realism for the sake of drama here. This is a story about magical girls riding dolphins, for crying out loud. I'm looking to play with suspension of disbelief, but not shatter it irrevocably. Perhaps the trial wasn't perfect or clean cut, but the intention is for readers not to think about it more than they have to (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ptitleuvmtqrxe).
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Tamer Anode/Cathode on May 11, 2011, 03:12:40 PM
I'm actually surprised and impressed you decided to research for the court scene at all. Frankly, you could have based the proceedings on Gyakuten Saiban and it wouldn't have made a difference to the flow of the story, but the fact you decided to go for a bit of authenticity shows you really care about what you're writing, and that makes me care a lot more about what I'm reading.

Keep it up, Rou. I know it's a boilerplate response for me at this point, but I really want to see where this story goes.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Yukarin on May 11, 2011, 04:20:46 PM
You know what time I started reading all of this, Rou?

1:30 PM. It's now 12 midnight.

11 FREAKING HOURS OF READING THIS STRAIGHT. THAT'S HOW I LOVE THIS THING


More, please~
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Kasu on May 11, 2011, 08:53:20 PM
I feel like I'm the only one who thinks that
Red Lily is Aya.

Of course, that would be too obvious though.

Keep up the awesomeness Rou!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on May 11, 2011, 09:19:24 PM
I'm kind of interested in why you think that, Hakasu. Also, the same for Crystal.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Kasu on May 11, 2011, 09:38:08 PM
I'm kind of interested in why you think that, Hakasu. Also, the same for Crystal.
Well I heard Bunbunmaru and... yeah.

Not exactly a lot of backing for my claim.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Cystral Dragon on May 11, 2011, 10:50:43 PM
Eh. I thought I posted it earlier but Lilies are often used for funerals and "symbolize that the soul of the departed has received restored innocence after death." Komachi's job after the Scarlet Incident if I remember correctly is to take care of the souls of departed children or something like that. There is also the meaning of purity so I was guessing Komachi or Yuyuko.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Drake on May 11, 2011, 10:59:29 PM
lol you guys are missing the main factor here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycoris_(genus) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycoris_(genus))
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Cystral Dragon on May 11, 2011, 11:19:53 PM
So THAT was the name of that flower. But yeah what Drake said.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin on May 13, 2011, 10:45:41 PM
Okay, I'm done reading through it and it is all awesome. Just like everyone else said.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on June 19, 2011, 10:26:38 PM
Quick note: For those of you interested, I'm starting to upload DRK over on Fanfiction. (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7082391/1/Dolphin_Rider_Koishi) I'm trying to give the story a polish as I upload it over there, but it'll probably be a long way behind the version held here.

Anyway! It's been like a month since my last update. Have one!

-----

She hadn?t even stepped into the building yet, and already Koishi liked this better than the last job Nitori had hauled her into.

She was awake at a reasonable hour for a change. She wasn?t hanging around sketchy gamblers who?d be as likely to stab her as they?d be likely to offer her a tip. And perhaps most importantly - she wasn?t wearing an outfit that made her want to die of shame.

Nitori had told her to dress smart, so she?d gone out with Sango the day beforehand to buy herself an outfit that screamed ?temp worker?. She settled for something simple, traditional - a plain white buttoned shirt, and a long grey skirt running just after her knees. She chose to keep to her glasses rather than switching out for contacts - they added a hint of sophistication to an otherwise generic office uniform.

Sango was much harder to find clothes for, for the usual fin-related reasons. There were a variety of dresses and suits she could wear, but none of them would hide her identity as a dolphin from the masses. Even Nitori couldn?t come with anything to help, so Sango had to settle for hanging around outside the building. Knowing that the girl would be bored out of her skull, Koishi picked out a handheld for Sango to buy - something she could play with while waiting for the Sirens to finish their nine-to-five.

Still, she was missing whole days of school for this. When they?d managed to find this guy and get their info on the Red Lily, she?d have to spend the next week or so catching up. That was the part she wasn?t looking forward to quite as much.

The first day of ?work? arrived faster than Koishi had expected. There was no need for any training - temps weren?t expected to do more than pass around coffee or type out reports. She was getting paid the minimum wage for this job, but money was never a factor. She needed to get in close with the editor, try to work a few facts about this Red Lily out of her.

The Bunbunmaru office was further from the city centre than she had expected. She?d been thinking she was about to get a job in a large newspaper, but the building was probably doubling as a house and a printing press. If anything, it looked as if an office block had been lodged on top of an apartment building, with no real concern for whether the two designs worked with one another. The name BUNBUNMARU was written in unmissable letters across the top, half as tall as the building itself.

?It?s...? Koishi paused, trying to come up with some sort of compliment for the beast in front of her. ?...functional??

Sango didn?t waste her time with that sort of talk, sticking her tongue out at the building before taking her spot at the side. She hauled out her little handheld, turned it on and glared at the screen intensely. She had a good set of half a dozen games to work through, so she?d be preoccupied for a few days.

Fighting the urge to be violently ill from the architecture, Koishi made her way up to the front door. There were half a dozen buzzers at its side, every single one of them labeled ?AYA SHAMEIMARU - BUNBUNMARU REPORTER AND EDITOR?. Koishi was unable to resist the urge to press all six buttons at once. Every buzzer made a different noise, and Koishi could hear the cacophony she?d released from outside.

?Yeah, alright. I?m coming.?

A voice grunted through the intercom, sounding like it had just woken up. A set of grouchy footsteps stomped their way across to the front door. Maybe hitting all the buzzers had been a bad idea.

The door opened, revealing a scruffy looking girl in a plain shirt and jeans. She growled beneath her breath, staring at Koishi with something stronger than frustration but weaker than hatred.

?You?re one of the temps, right??

Koishi flinched, her regret growing stronger by the second.

?Y-Yeah, that?s me!? she said, trying too hard to sound energetic. ?You wouldn?t happen to be Shameimaru-san, would you??

The girl took a few seconds to respond, glaring at Koishi all the while.

?...No, as a matter of fact. I?m Momiji, her assistant. I?m the example you part-timers are expected to follow. Now, if you?ll follow me...?

Momiji reached out, nearly tugging Koishi in by the wrist until her business sense convinced her otherwise. She turned on her heels, stamping back into the room, with Koishi following along. It quickly came to light that this really was part-house - she walked past a full-blown kitchen and a living room with all the works. It wasn?t until she was led upstairs that the building started to give the impression of a business - office rooms filled with paperwork, a foreboding printing press that took up two rooms on its own, and finally the editor?s office. The door was again labelled ?AYA SHAMEIMARU - BUNBUNMARU REPORTER AND EDITOR? in obnoxiously large writing.

Momiji knocked on the door, hitting it a little harder than was necessary.

?Boss, one of the temp kids is here.?

?Let them in, Momi,? a voice called out from the other side of the door. Sighing, the long-suffering assistant complied, opening the door and allowing Koishi to step in. She didn?t follow her - in fact, she made a deliberate point of slamming the door after Koishi had made her way through.

Aya Shameimaru was more or less what Nitori had said she would be - a young woman running on one-hundred percent ambition and zero percent business sense. She sat at an ornate desk that felt horribly out of place in the otherwise bland workspace, with a pencil behind her ear and a pile of intimidating legal papers at her side. Koishi saw a pile of dust rising on top of the files, so they?d probably seen no real use. Her shirt and shirt costume was disturbingly similar to Koishi?s.

?So, you?re one of the new hotshots trying to sink her teeth into Gensokyo?s best newspaper?? Aya said, shuffling her chair forward to give Koishi a better look. ?You certainly look the part. Excellent taste in clothes, if you don?t mind me saying.?

Koishi didn?t give an immediate response, looking to the side and scratching at her head. ?Uhh. Yeah, thanks. Koishi Komeiji. It?s a pleasure to meet-?

?So, before I can take you in as an employee, I have a little test you have to go through.?

Koishi froze. A test? No-one had said anything about a test before. Was there a qualification she was supposed to have?

?Don?t worry, Koishi-san. I just have a few questions I need you to answer. I?m not going to ask for a degree or anything.?

Aya leaned backwards into her chair, smirking as she looked into Koishi?s eyes. Koishi squirmed, tugging at the sides of her skirt. Was her lack of experience about to get her fired before she?d even started?

?Question One,? Aya said, holding up one finger. ?What do you think of the Bunbunmaru??

Oh. It was that sort of interview. Well, that was a little less threatening. She knew enough about the paper that she could waffle her way into the job from here.

?Well...I figured you were one of the most trustworthy papers in Gensouto! I mean, you?re right on the pulse with the Morichika underground mob and all that. I love how your paper doesn?t cut any corners and just goes straight in for the truth and all that.?

It sounded wooden, and Koishi could hear how inauthentic her words were. She was ready for Aya to chew her out, but against her expectations the journalist just leaned back and nodded.

?Good. You passed the taste test. I wouldn?t have respected you as a woman of the press if you didn?t appreciate my work as the best Gensouto has to offer.?

Aya smirked, doing her best to look like a true professional. Koishi wondered if there was any real meaning to this question, or if it was just a trick to get candidates to throw a few cheap compliments her way.

?Alright, second question. Why should I put the fate of my paper in your hands?? Aya said, looking a little more critical this time. If the first question had been an excuse, then this one was a lot more serious. She really was looking for credibility this time around, and it wasn?t something that Koishi really had.

?...Uh.? Koishi twiddled her thumbs, racking her brain for something that sounded good. ?I?m...responsible? And efficient. And a good team player.?

?But more important than any of those...? Aya pulled the chair forward again, giving Koishi a glare that almost seemed too stern. ?...can you make a good cup of coffee if I ask for it??

Silence.

?...Yes?? Koishi replied.

?Excellent!? Aya said, offering Koishi a thumbs up. ?Two down, one to go. You?re doing great, Koishi-san.?

Koishi took back that last statement. Any credibility this ?test? had held before had just gone out the window. She relaxed, her shoulders lowering, her tone shifting into something slightly more authentic.

?T-Thanks.?

?Don?t mention it. Now, question three...?

Aya went entirely still, and her voice went totally monotone. A cold air fell in the room, and Koishi shivered in wait of the last question.

?...Do you read the Kakashi News??

Again, silence. Koishi gulped, not sure how she was meant to answer, finally deciding to just go for the truth.

?No. I?ve, uh, never even heard of it.?

Aya didn?t respond immediately, continuing to glare at her with those judging eyes. Now she really was looking for a lie from Koishi, glaring into her skull for some sign of a bluff. This was the one time Koishi had actually told the truth, so for once there was nothing for Aya to find.

Finally, after what must have been ten seconds of silence, Aya burst out into outright emotion. She stood up, puffing up her cheeks and going red in the face.

?Good! I had to make sure, see? That Himekaidou girl has it out for me, I swear she sent one of her own assistants to fake as my temp and spy on me, it?s heartbreaking seeing how other journalists can?t deal with their own shortcomings and just have to sabotage their competitors...?

Koishi wasn?t sure how genuine Aya was with her tirade. She swung her arms around wildly in all directions, letting out her tirade in one run without taking a breath. Whether or not she was genuine, Aya had one hell of a lung capacity.

She ran out of juice a few seconds later, stopping to take a breath. She slumped down into her chair again, picking up a nearby fan and blowing at her face. She whipped it up and down with impressive speed, cooling herself with a strong breeze.

?Hah. Sorry. I get very...emotional when I think about Himekaidou.?

Koishi didn?t respond. Nothing seemed like a safe response at this point, frankly. She gave the journalist a moment to regain her calm and catch her breath.

?...Right,? Aya said. ?Let?s get to business. Since you said you could pull it off, you feel like running downstairs and making me a cup of java? I need my shot before I can start my writing. Just make it black. If you can?t find anything, go ask Momiji.?

Wait. Was that an order? It was. That meant she was in. Koishi needed a moment to actually comprehend the fact, nodding and bowing.

?Y-Yes, ma?am!?

She turned, practically running out of the office back towards the kitchen. The hard part was over with. She?d managed to get into this business, and now she could start working her way into Aya?s trust to find out about the Red Lily.

Good thing she?d pulled off the sophisticated look, Koishi thought to herself. The last thing she wanted was for Aya to realise she was skipping class for this.

-----

It wasn?t difficult to find the coffee, fortunately. When Koishi went down into the kitchen to go scavenging for it, she found an entire cupboard full to the brim with Aki?s Golden Brew. She wondered if Aya?s suggestion that she?d have trouble finding this was a veiled insult.

Koishi started the kettle boiling, pulling out the first jar of coffee she could reach. Now she had to pick out a cup. Again, it was easy enough to find - there was another cupboard with its plates and cutlery perfectly ordered and piled up. She had a strange feeling this wasn?t Aya?s doing - more likely she?d had Momiji sort through the crockery when she had nothing better to do.

Koishi pulled out a mug - with the words AYA SHAMEIMARU, ACE REPORTER written on the side in garish text - and sat it over next to the kettle.

It was a good thing she wasn?t holding it when the buzzers went off, or she?d have been picking up the pieces and paying for damages. Again, six buzzers went off at once throughout the building. Each one could have passed as a fire alarm on its own - in unison, they could have been used to signal the apocalypse. Koishi grabbed at her ears, wincing as whoever was at the door refused to let the buzzers go.

?Jeez, another one?! Are all you temps this rude!??

Momiji yelled across the hallway in Koishi?s direction. Though she couldn?t see her, Koishi imagined the assistant was as irritated by the noise as she was.

?Momi! Get that for me, will you?? Aya called out from upstairs. Somehow, she didn?t seem disturbed by the noise blaring throughout the building. Koishi wondered for a moment if Aya was deaf, and doing a very good job of hiding it.

?YES, AYA.? Momiji yelled just to make sure she could be heard over the buzzers, and stamped her way down towards the front door. The buzzing finally stopped, and Koishi was left to deal with the ringing in her ears. She faintly heard Momiji opening the door and hauling in another eager employee.

She already had a good idea who it was, and she wasn?t about to give her a hero?s welcome.

-----

?C?mon, you pressed all six as well, right?? Mokou said, as she took a sip of her steaming-hot coffee. ?You got curious too. Who wouldn?t??

The pair had told Aya they were going to ?get to know each other? - they weren?t supposed to already have met, so acting like complete strangers when they were first introduced had been awkward.

?Yeah, but I didn?t hold them down as long as you did,? Koishi replied, her coffee cooling on the counter. She couldn?t stand hot drinks. ?If Sakuya-san is as bad as you, my ears might fall off...?

?Nah, you?ll be fine,? Mokou said, rubbing at one of Koishi?s ears to prove the point. ?She won?t do that. She?s the sort who?ll press them one at a time thinking that only one of them works.?

?But you barely know her. What makes you think that??

Mokou grinned widely as she took another hefty shot of coffee. ?Call it a hunch.?

A few minutes later, Mokou was proven right. A single buzzer played its one-note tune through the building, and Koishi could hear the assistant?s sigh of relief as she went to the doorway. A few minutes and another of Aya?s ?interviews? later, the pair were introduced to another ?stranger?.

?I?ll leave you three to get along,? Aya said to them, twirling a pen in her hand and eying the staircase every other word. ?I?ve got a few articles I need to proofread, and I can?t think without a constant flow of caffeine in my system. Also, there?s some old files you guys will need to sort out...?

She walked back to her office, her assistant Momiji trailing behind and looking as melancholy as always. Koishi was suddenly glad that she wasn?t going to be working here for long - she had a feeling it would be the sort of job that wore away at her soul like a grindstone.

?So,? Mokou said as soon as Aya was out of shot, ?can I assume I?ll be the only one taking up the offer of free coffee??

Mokou adjusted the suspenders holding her long beige pants up. Koishi had to wonder what had possessed her into wearing that outfit - it was the sort of apparel she expected from a balding man in his forties, not a teenage girl with a fitness obsession.

Sakuya had opted for the same outfit Koishi had, though she?d gone for a black sweater rather than a white shirt. It looked slightly more casual, and Koishi imagined it was actually a welcome break from her work uniform.

?How long do you expect we?ll be here?? Sakuya said, turning straight to business. ?If anything, I?m surprised the Lily hasn?t already been here to drop off all the juicy details of last week?s trial.?

?Eh, I figure it?s deliberate,? Mokou replied, turning the kettle on. ?These things don?t hit fever pitch right away, y?know. You?ve gotta give it a while, let people get frustrated. Let them raise complaints and have ?em get ignored. After that?s been done, then people start getting angry. It?s kinda like this water, right??

She pointed to the kettle like it was some sort of artifact.

?It starts off cold, and it takes a while to warm up. But the hotter it gets, the more it bobs around, until-?

It was at this exact moment that a droplet popped out of the top of the kettle and landed on Mokou?s palm.

?Gah!?

She ran off to the sink to run her hand under cold water. Sakuya chuckled slightly, while Koishi just looked on conflicted. She turned to Sakuya, biting her lip.

?But if the Red Lily keeps quiet for too long, what if people get too angry? We could have protests, riots...?

?Isn?t that exactly what the Lily wants?? Sakuya replied, almost monotone. ?If they wait until emotions are at a peak to release the information, it?ll drive those protestors wild. There?s no way they?ll stand around quietly and keep to holding signs up in front of the district court.?

A chill ran down Koishi?s spine, bringing her to attention. She wasn?t sure she thought so highly of this Red Lily any more. It was good that they were making the truth public, but how far were they willing to go with it?

?Alright, ladies. Coffee break?s over,? Aya yelled from upstairs. ?You three have some work to do, so get up here already.?

Koishi flinched, still tense from her own dark thoughts. She made her way up to the office section again, hoping that this Red Lily arrived sooner rather than later.

?Gimme a minute! I?m in the middle of first aid here!? Mokou yelled from over the sink. ?Damn, that really stings...?

-----

The last few days had been a blur for Eiki.

The authorities must have understood what she was going through, because they left her schedule open for several days afterward. Her cases were handed to other judges, and her daily routine was nothing more than menial paperwork. Maybe they were giving her a chance to recover after the nightmare of a case she?d been through. If she were to be more honest, though, they were probably trying to keep her out of the limelight because they knew she was a hate figure right now.

The complaints in the press had been growing. Claims that the Morichika case was a disgrace to the modern justice system, that the prosecution was horribly organised and the judge unable to see the guilty party right in front of her face. Sumire had taken most of the punishment - there were rumours she was going to be removed from the prosecutor?s office entirely - but Eiki had been the target of several less than polite comments.

She knew looking at them would only hurt her, but she felt like she was expected to take all of this in. As her morning slowly dragged along, she found herself reading through half a dozen tabloids, all of them still fuming about Morichika?s release. After the third article about her supposed secret connection to the mafia, she gave up and just put her head down on the desk.

The door to her office creaked open.

?Mornin?, boss.?

Morning? It was noon by now. Komachi was never on time, but even by her standards this was late. Eiki wished she still had the energy to chastise her assistant for her sloppiness, but all that reading had drained the life out of her.

?Good afternoon, Komachi.?

She lifted her head up, pushing the tabloids off the desk and trying her best to look productive. Komachi didn?t let that one slip, sadly.

?You need to get your head outta the papers, Eiki. It?s all garbage. You know what happened in that courtroom.?

?What does it matter if I know?? Eiki responded, eyeing the empty bottle of brandy on the floor. She?d made it through the hangover, but it was still distressing knowing that a bottle she?d saved for over a decade had been used up in a single night. ?I can?t go out there and tell the public that Ogawa was bribed. What do you think they?ll do if we give them a target to go after? The man has a family, Komachi. They shouldn?t suffer because-?

?And you should?? Komachi leaned over the table, her face only inches from Eiki?s. Her stern expression took up Eiki?s entire view as the country twang dropped out of her voice again. ?You did nothing wrong, and neither did Sumire. Neither of you should be suffering because some guy in forensics buckled to a mob bribe.?

Eiki leaned backwards, pulling her chair a few inches back. ?I could have done better. I could have found another way, another point to press, given Sumire something else to work with-?

?Listen to yourself!? Komachi couldn?t lean forward any further, so she made up for the distance by raising her voice. ?You can?t win them all, Eiki. There was nothing you could?ve done to change it, and yet you?re lazing around here beating yourself up rather than getting out there and doing something.?

She was right. Eiki knew that. She wasn?t going to get anywhere by sitting here and feeling sorry for herself. This was pointless, and it was doing nothing other than making her feel worse.

But at the same time, it felt like she deserved this. Even if she hadn?t been the one to take the bribe, she was the one who was entrusted with delivering the verdict. If she?d found a way to declare Morichika guilty, none of this would have happened. She didn?t care what Komachi had to say - this was her fault.

Eiki didn?t offer a response in words, but Komachi could tell how she felt just from looking into her eyes. There was a weight in her stare, a guilt that hung to her like a ball and chain. Eventually Komachi pulled her head back, giving Eiki a look of disgust.

?...Jeez. Get your head out of your ass, Eiki. It?s not all about you.?

With that, she turned on her heels and made for the door.

?Where do you think you?re going?? Eiki asked, her voice gaining strength at last.

?I have paperwork that needs filed,? Komachi replied without bothering to look back. ?You sure don?t seem to need my help around here.? She slammed the door behind her on the way out, and the sound hung in Eiki?s ears long after Komachi had left.

She?d done it again, hadn?t she? Yet again she?d managed to scare Komachi off with her whining when she could have been out there actually solving the problem. Sometimes Eiki wondered how she?d managed to get into this position in the first place. She stared at the bottle again. Ten years of effort, and it had gone from prime condition to utterly useless in the space of a day. She almost empathised with it, picking it up off the floor.

She nearly dropped the bottle when her phone went off.

A message. Probably more commiserations from her fellow employees. Eiki had half a mind to delete the message without even looking at it.

The sender?s name was enough to change her mind immediately.

RL

-----

The street she?d been told to visit was a wretched mess. The smell made her stomach churn, and the walls had turned a sickly shade of green. It took a lot of self-restraint for Eiki to keep herself from emptying the contents of her stomach onto the floor. She?d have never come here of her own choice, but the offer had been too good to pass up.

Help with Morichika. Two o?clock. District 1, Block 3, House 6. Come alone. Tell no-one.

Even with an address and the wonders of modern GPS, it had taken Eiki some time to find the place. Her final destination was a crummy apartment in a lower class apartment complex. This was the sort of neighbourhood parents told their kids to stay away from, and it wasn?t hard to tell why. The whole place carried a threatening aura, and no matter how many times Eiki looked behind her back she swore she was being watched by something.

Was this a trap? A joke? If this really was the Red Lily calling her out for a meeting, then it made no sense. Why would they choose now of all times to side with the courts? And more disturbingly, how had the Lily managed to get hold of her phone number? She?d brought a gun with her just in case - an old Beretta which she?d never needed to use - but it wasn?t enough to get rid of this heavy atmosphere.

At last, the clock struck two in the distance. Eiki knocked the door politely with two clean hits, waiting for her host to allow her in. After a few seconds the door was opened, and a young woman in a silver jacket beckoned her inside. She seemed foreign, with pure black hair and well-tanned skin. Eiki only had to look her in the eyes for a moment to know that she wasn?t the Red Lily - she had the look of a servant, the expression of a woman who followed orders rather than giving them. Still, there was a dangerous glint in her eyes that stopped Eiki from giving her another look as she stepped into the building.

The apartment was bare, without a hint of wallpaper or furniture. All there was for Eiki to sit on was a barren bed in the corner of the living room. She accepted it - a bad seat was still more comfortable than standing. There was no way this was the Lily?s actual home - it was a go-between, maybe one they?d rented out solely for this meeting.

The woman in the silver jacket walked into a room in the side, presumably to call in her superior. Eventually, Eiki came face to face with the Red Lily.

At first, she couldn?t understand the name. For a Red Lily, the woman seemed to have a taste for black dresses...
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on June 19, 2011, 10:41:45 PM
Oh hey I just noticed, your avatar is Jozu, isn't it

Indeed it is. :P
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Cystral Dragon on June 20, 2011, 12:45:19 AM
I feel that this Red Lily is a fake, I wouldn't be surprised if the organization decided to dispose of Morichika in order to hide their tracks.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on June 20, 2011, 01:11:47 AM
Well, I'd complain about how long this update took, but I think it's partially my fault for encouraging Remnants of the Endless Rain. Still just as good as always, though.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Kips McKipzerson on June 20, 2011, 06:18:26 AM
I just finished reading all the way up to this update, And I would write a whole damned essay saying how completely awesome this story is if it werent 2AM and my mind being melted with sheer awesome by this story.

inb4redlily=lilyblack
inb4redlily'sservent=lilywhite
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Marokuu on June 20, 2011, 07:59:26 AM
inb4 mindcoil.

I always feel a rush of excitement when I see this story has been updated and it's always justified.

Also, poor Momiji :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on June 20, 2011, 09:14:11 AM
Red Lily is clearly Shiro, the nekomata from Fables of the Fabulous Feline Who Is Fortunate and Feliney and Other Words that Start With F

:derp:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on June 20, 2011, 04:41:37 PM
Red Lily is clearly Shiro, the nekomata from Fables of the Fabulous Feline Who Is Fortunate and Feliney and Other Words that Start With F

:derp:
Fantastic, Forthright, Free, Frank, Furtive, Fabled, Faint-furred, Fairminded, Faltering, Famous, Fanciful, Fanged, Fantastic, Far-eastern, Fascinating, Fast-moving, Favored, Fearful, Felicitous, Feminine, (not at all) Feral, Fetching (for some people at least :3), Flexible, Flourishing, Flummoxed, Fortuitous, Fragile, Fresh, Friendly, Frosted (in terms of hair color), and, lastly and most unfortunately, Fictitious.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin on June 20, 2011, 09:27:01 PM
Ah, the ontological cliffhanger: we're left with just enough information to ultimately have no idea whatsoever what's going on :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Metaflare on June 21, 2011, 07:07:09 PM
Holy crap, if this Red Lily is in fact Lily White/Black, I will be awed.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Marokuu on June 25, 2011, 05:39:09 PM
Am I the only one that thinks this is that shark-girl and the (mindcoiling) lady in the black dress that is as of yet anonymous?

I mean, Eiki's mind is probably in a real state after losing that case in such a way and I rather feel like believing that Komachi is the Red Lily (because of those flowers at sanzu) and the next siren.

This is of course just my ramblings though so feel free to ignore them :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on June 25, 2011, 10:00:10 PM
It takes a little bit of cross-reading to catch it at first glimpse, but yes, that's Jozu and Mindcoil. The 'servant girl' who answered the door was described as wearing exactly that which Jozu typically wears - the silver and white color scheme, at least, with the tanned skin and black hair. You'd have to read across a few of Rou's other works to become instantly familiar with the description, though, but yes, you're right.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Metaflare on June 26, 2011, 05:43:28 AM
Wait, then...

Well I guess we know who the next antagonist of the week is.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on June 26, 2011, 02:36:22 PM
inb4 Shikieiki pulls her gun on Mindcoil for trying to make out with a Gensotou Circuit Judge.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Eriaku on June 26, 2011, 02:44:23 PM
inb4 Shikieiki pulls her gun on Mindcoil for trying to make out with a Gensotou Circuit Judge.

"Your motion ? is denied."
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Zemyla on July 03, 2011, 08:51:34 PM
I think I see Ms. Mindcoil's plan.  Eiki seeks out revenge against Mr. Morichika, and if that gets out, even if Koishi removes the mindcoil (because she has to know that somehow they can remove mindcoils), she's disgraced and can no longer serve as an obstacle.  Sneaky, sneaky.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on July 08, 2011, 07:27:11 AM
<comment removed by commenter because I dislike it>
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Aya Squawkermaru on July 09, 2011, 03:33:03 AM
Gah! Curse you Rou! I've spent hours reading this!

Anyway, this is awesome. I was going to say that I thought Red Lily was Marisa, (black dresses, sudden introduction of Reimu into the story) but that someone confirmed that the girl who opened the door was Jozu, so there goes that theory.

I'm guessing either Aya or Komachi is the next Siren.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on July 09, 2011, 06:55:26 AM
Or Momiji or Sumire or Jozu herself after being un-mindcoiled you never know or ROUKAN IS REALLY THE BLACK CLAW
:omg:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Aya Squawkermaru on July 09, 2011, 02:17:57 PM
Or it's actually Koishi and she doesn't realize she's leading the Black Claw... IN HER SLEEP.
  :derp:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on July 09, 2011, 09:48:09 PM
Tyler Durden kills Trinity with Rosebud. In a dream.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin on July 09, 2011, 10:04:18 PM
The big twist at the end is that there may or may not be a twist.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Aya Squawkermaru on July 09, 2011, 10:24:46 PM
Nitori is actually Lily White in disguise.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on July 10, 2011, 03:53:29 AM
Koishi is actually Satori's imaginary sister that took over Satori's body when the Black Claw murdered her parents. The finale will involve Koishi using her mind walking ability to go into her own mind so she can go into Satori's mind so they both can BWOOOOOOONG
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Aya Squawkermaru on July 10, 2011, 04:00:16 AM
Nazrin was mindcoiled by the Black Claw, but then Rin ate her, so now Rin is mindcoiled by Nazrin's mindcoil!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on July 10, 2011, 12:23:17 PM
Koishi is Yukari who is Reimu who is really the girl under the hood with the mindcoils and the sloppy make-outs and the whole story is just an allegory for coming to terms with your own demons with the elements of a coming-of-age story mixed in wherein Koishi must deal with the loss of her wizened instructor and mentor Obi-wanitori Kenoshiro while learning the ways of the magical world from her brash and more impulsive new friend Han Sangolo to take on the BWOOOOOONG


I think we're having too much fun with this :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Aya Squawkermaru on July 10, 2011, 01:27:50 PM
Rou is actually Elvis Presley's evil twin, who stole one of William Shakespeare's as-of-yet unknown stories in order to make himself famous, and will go under the guise of Elvis Presley, making millions in royalties, until he eventually settles down with a nice woman who may or may not be cryogenically frozen when Rou flies off into space on a rocket shaped like a Sango, Phwee.

Someone needs to put a stop to this madness.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on July 11, 2011, 01:26:06 PM
Guys stop ruining all my great plot twists ;_;
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on July 27, 2011, 11:50:54 PM
Hoshiguma?s was not a high-class bar. It had a family area with no families, served three flavours of cheap ale at absurd prices, and won over patrons with promises of karaoke. Thankfully for them, they were too drunk to make out their own warbled notes; Koishi, in comparison, was forced to listen to the group murder at least half a dozen classics while she was on her lunch break.

?This is worse than that one time the boss tried to set me up a cover act as a travelling popstar...?

Sango?s head was lying on the table, one ear pressed into the slightly damp wood. Koishi would have probably joined her if it wouldn?t have made the pair look even more out of place here.

She?d been visiting Hoshiguma?s regularly, as a lunch-break location after her work at the Bunbunmaru - though the more she thought about it, the less it seemed like actual ?work?. It was menial labour at best - typing out articles, making coffee, and all the other chores Aya could find for her to do. Initially she?d thought there wouldn?t be enough to keep both the three Temps and Aya?s assistant Momiji occupied, but she?d underestimated just how many articles Aya had written up that needed proofing.

The articles themselves were pure gossip - X sleeping with Y, X cheating on Y with Z, X?s secret drug addictions, and so on. There were dozens of these, all of them telling different stories - and some of them telling stories that blatantly contradicted each other. Koishi wondered where Aya found the ?evidence? for these stories - the only listed source of information was ?my trusty informant?, which was probably journalist lingo for ?I?m making this up as I go along?.

At one point, Koishi had noticed they were producing far too many articles to fit in one issue of the Bunbunmaru. When she brought the problem up with Aya, the journalist had told with a completely straight face that it was always good to have a backlog in case of a slow news week. Apparently, the Bunbunmaru was not the top source of Gensokyo when it came to news ?as it happens?.

Koishi was beginning to question Shameimaru?s integrity as a whole, frankly.

?How sure are we that the Lily actually does visit this place? Maybe Shameimaru-san made the whole thing up...?

?The boss said the Lily?s information was 100% accurate,? Sango replied, pulling her head off of the table as the karaoke died off in the distance. ?Either Shameimaru?s a really lucky guesser, or the Lily?s passing the message on. Hell, maybe she IS the Lily.?

Koishi blinked, sitting up. She?d never thought of that. The idea of Aya Shameimaru being this secret underground informant had never crossed her mind. She couldn?t quite parse the concept, trying to imagine Shameimaru one of Gensouto?s top dirt-dealers. It wasn?t her, she told herself - Aya never came across as the sort.

There were other reasons, too. ?How would she get the info?? Koishi asked rhetorically. ?This sort of stuff has to come straight from the courts, and I don?t think any bailiff with half a mind would let Shameimaru-san in on a trial.?

?Huh. True.?

Sango sighed. The lull in the singing was coming to an end, and the next drunken rendition of a pop song Koishi was too young to recognise began to clog up the air. Koishi had built a tolerance by now, but Sango?s sensitive ears still couldn?t deal with such broken notes.

Thankfully for both of them, the singing stopped when the television broke to a news report. It was a live feed from the same news programme Koishi had been watching a few days ago, and once again it was taking place outside of the Gensouto court. Like beforehand they were watching the young woman in the checkered skirt, still with the same mad glint in her eyes as she stared into the camera, but this time there was a growing mob behind her that she had to shout to be heard above.

?-We interrupt your scheduled program to bring you this special bulletin, right outside of Gensouto?s district court. The public outcry at the recent trial of Rinnosuke Morichika has reached a fever point, bringing together this protesting mob right here. They?ve been calling for an overturning of the sentence for the last half hour, but there has been no official statement as of this time. The protests are expected to continue well into the evening-?

At that point, the reporter?s voice was drowned out by the slurs of the patrons.

?The hell?s all this about? The bastard did it, plain as day.?

?This country?s law system is a fucking farce, ya hear me? Hell, I could done better than that bitch they had givin? out the verdict!?

They laughed, with blunt cackles that stung Koishi?s ears. She?d been afraid of emotions rising to this point. She rose to her feet again, grabbing Sango and making for the door. Sango didn?t so much as flinch, willingly following her out of the bar. Neither of them had to put their thoughts into words at that point.

If the Red Lily was going to drop the news, it would be today.

-----

By the time Koishi arrived, the news had already reached the Bunbunmaru. Four heads were looming over a small Blackberry resting in the palm of Momiji?s hand. Aya, as usual, refused to play fair and physically nudged the Sirens out of the way.

?Bit of a waste of time, isn?t it?? Mokou said, grunting as she stood on her toes. ?It?s not like they?ve got any solid evidence to work with. I mean, it?s obvious, but-?

?I dunno,? Aya replied with a little wink. ?I figure someone in the know might take this opening to spill the beans.?

Koishi wasn?t really paying attention to either of them at that moment, though. For the first time since her arrival here, her attention was on Momiji. Maybe she?d been seeing things, but that hat she wore - the one she refused to be seen without - Koishi swore she?d seen it twitch for a second there. It was more motion than she saw from the rest of Momiji?s body. She looked at the hat intently to see if it would happen again, but after a few seconds the assistant gave her a death glare for her staring.

?Anyway!? Aya declared, pushing Mokou and Sakuya backwards. ?Komeiji-san, welcome back from your lunch break. Now that the three of you are done, I need you to go into the article archive and get this week?s writing in order. Remember, alphabetical by name first, incident second. I don?t want to see any of you out here until it?s done, or you can all go find jobs at Kakashi News!?

There was a pause for a moment.

?...But don?t get a job at Kakashi News. Himekaidou is an asshole, y?know that? Thinks she can run a paper and be a journalist at the same time. What a bitch.?

Koishi looked at the rest of the Sirens, slightly stunned. Aya had never given an order quite so aggressively, and she?d never threatened to fire them. They all nodded along, running off out of the office to get back to their temp work.

The archive was a room on the other side of the building, as far away from the office as possible. The far wall was lined with filing cabinets, each labelled by week and running back for at least a year. The drawer for this week?s archives hung open, its insides bare; on a table in front of the cabinets, dozens of articles were lying around in no particular order, begging to be sorted.

The Sirens groaned. This was not going to be a fun job, even with three of them working together. They cut the list of names into three and made to collect their own files first.

?So she?s getting us outta the way,? Mokou said. She juggled files on Forlorn Hope and Fornication, trying to remember which came first. ?Guess she doesn?t trust us to meet the Red Lily in person.?

Koishi and Sakuya nodded. Sure enough, a humanoid shadow took a position just outside of the archive and started leaning on the door. It had to be Momiji. They weren?t getting out of here unseen at this rate, so the trio begrudgingly got to work on their filing.

Three buzzers marked the arrival - not just the three bottom buzzers, either. It was a specific set of buzzers, and Koishi figured it was meant to act as some sort of code. For the first time since the Sirens? arrival, Aya actually answered the call herself, not even letting her informant enter the building.

?So in the end, we?re putting our trust in Sango-san, aren?t we?? Sakuya said, clearly unhappy about this fact. Koishi frowned in her direction, but her attention was too focused on communicating with Sango to care.

She looked out the window. Sure enough, there was a hooded figure hunched over her handheld desperately trying to beat the game?s final boss.

Sango-san. That?s the Lily.

The figure flinched, standing upright. The Lily was looming outside the doorway, covered by a long hood that stopped Koishi from making out their face. They handed a small package over to Aya - probably some sort of data file that she?d upload to her computer, full to the brim with judicial secrets.

None of the girls were doing their filing any more. All three were perched besides the window, trying to make out some sort of clue who the Lily was. They couldn?t make out as much as a hint of identification. No more than thirty seconds later the transaction was complete, and the Lily walked off into the distance again.

I?m on it, Koishi-san.

After giving the Lily a small headstart, Sango made to pursue. Koishi watched them for as long as she could, until eventually the pair were lost in the crowd.

Silence hung in the room for a few seconds. Outside, Koishi heard Aya skipping down the hallway yelling about how this was going to be the scoop of the decade.

?So now what?? Mokou said, folding her arms and grumbling. Her eyes moved to the door, where Momiji was still keeping watch.

They widened when the assistant suddenly stood upright and made her way down the corridor, then out of the building entirely.

Koishi looked to Sakuya, who looked to Mokou, who looked back to Koishi again. The same look of confusion passed across all three of their faces.

?...Do we...?? Mokou asked, already stepping towards the door.

?If we?ve been given a chance, we may as well take it.? Sakuya nodded, following along behind. Koishi was last, biting her lip as she made it out of the door and out of the Bunbunmaru.

She had a strange feeling that Aya wouldn?t be wanting them back after she saw how much ?filing? they?d managed to do.

-----

Catching up with Sango took a few minutes, but Koishi eventually managed to reunite with her dolphin companion. The hooded figure hadn?t noticed yet - or at least, didn?t seem to have noticed them. They were starting to break into the alleyways now, and Sakuya nodded towards the Lily as if in understanding.

?I?d like to split up,? she said, muttering, ?but we?re too far behind. We might need to catch up a little.?

The rest of the group nodded, picking up their pace a little. It was hard to keep quiet in these back alleys - there were cans and bottles that would make far too much noise if they were stepped on, so the entire street turned into a minefield. It was probably a deliberate choice on the Lily?s part, now that Koishi thought about it.

There was no attempt at misdirection. No zig-zagging through the alleys, no taking four left turns. The Lily wasn?t trying to lose the pursuers, they were just trying to lead them out of sight. That concerned Koishi, and as another junction emerged in the distance she muttered to the crowd that now was probably a good time to start going their separate ways.

Unfortunately, this was also the time when the Lily stopped right in the centre of the junction, turned on the spot, and pointed a gun at the group. A simple revolver, but being simple didn?t stop it from being deadly.

?Curious lot, ain?t ya??

Her voice - yes, that had to be a woman?s voice - was almost too calm at a time like this. The gun was primed straight for Koishi?s head, and without even thinking about it Sango stood in the way. There was no gunshot, though - the Lily was just trying to pin them down so she could make her exit.

?You girls just hang tight there, ?kay? It?d be a shame if I had to put a bullet in one of you young ?uns.?

She didn?t sound that much older than them, honestly, but now wasn?t the time to make comments about age. The Lily was slowly stepping backwards through the alleyway, well out of following distance. Koishi saw Mokou looking around the alleyway, estimating the distance - there were a good fifteen feet between them and the Lily right now, and there was no way she could run that without the Lily getting a shot at someone. She hung her head, grimacing as their target started to leave.

Just barely, Koishi saw the first signs of a smile on the Lily?s face.

?That?s good. Now, let?s just act like this all never happened, shall we-?

What followed was almost too fast for Koishi to follow. Something leapt out from behind the Lily. There was a whack - the sound of flesh slamming into flesh - and a tiny gasp fell out of the Lily?s throat. Her gun clattered to the floor as she slumped backwards, her attacker quickly grabbing beneath her arms and holding her body up.

What was going on? Koishi didn?t really know right now, but she knew that she needed to talk to the Lily more than anything. Now that no-one was in danger of being shot, the group charged forward towards the Lily?s attacked. Without even thinking about it, Koishi had already closed her hand over her Teardrop, ready for a real fight to break out.

When they were close enough to recognise the attacker, that hand loosened its grip immediately.

?M-Momiji-san...??

Momiji looked as bored as ever, grunting as she held the taller woman upright. Eventually she just gave up on it, resting the Lily on the ground. Her hat fell off of her head as she bent down - and the wig of short brunette hair went with it.

?Wha-?

Koishi?s question faded in her throat as Momiji stood upright again. Her hair was pure white, Koishi could see now, but that wasn?t what her attention was on - she was looking at the large, wolf-like ears standing up off the top of her head. Looking to her side, she saw Mokou and Sakuya looking just as surprised. Even Sango seemed taken aback by it.

?Y-You?re a youkai?!? Sango took her stance, ready to charge at Momiji, but the assistant simply sighed to herself.

?Please, Tororetsu, explain why I seem like an enemy given that I just caught your target for you. Jeez, Kawashiro told me you kids were gonna be anxious, but I didn?t realise you?d be this bad.?

She knew Sango?s name. More importantly, she knew Nitori?s. That could only mean...

?So you?re Kawashiro?s man on the inside,? Sakuya said, smiling as she put the pieces together. ?I was wondering how she knew the Lily was in contact with Shameimaru at all.?

Momiji smiled. ?I was posted there for general reconnaissance around the time this all started. It was a lucky break.?

This was apparently not enough of an answer for Sango, who was currently stepping forward and gesturing in every direction her arms would let her. Her mouth bobbed open and shut as she stared at Momiji like she was a ghost.

?B-B-B-But I thought we didn?t have any on-ground operatives! I thought all you surface youkai either went domestic or ran off into the wilds!?

?I convinced Kawashiro not to tell you about me,? Momiji replied, sounding more annoyed by the second, ?because I didn?t want to risk an amateur like you blowing my cover. ?

?Amateur?!?

Now Sango was raring for a fight, back in her ready stance and looking to give Momiji a good brawl. Momiji ignored her entirely, focusing on the unconscious woman on the floor. Sakuya had already picked up the gun, giving it a look from all angles, smiling.

?Smith and Wesson. Our woman has taste, I see.?

The hood still hung over half of the Lily?s face, and Momiji carefully leaned down to pull it away. One of her pigtails had come undone on the way down, leading her dark brown hair to run down one side of her face.

Koishi gasped.

?Hey...isn?t this the assistant Judge Shiki had during last week?s case...??

It had taken a while for Koishi to make the connection. That woman she?d seen on the news report was bored, uncaring, but the Lily had never stopped to slouch even once. It had been an act, she realised - what better way to put Morichika off her scent than to act like she didn?t really give a damn?

?Huh. Well, I?ll be damned.? Mokou muttered to herself, pocketing the bobble that had clattered to the ground beside her. There?d be no harm in giving that back to her - though Koishi saw Sakuya keeping the gun to herself for now.

?There?s a safehouse nearby. Kawashiro hired out a few places in case we needed somewhere to hide.? Momiji leaned down again, wrapping one of the Lily?s arms around her shoulder before looking up sternly at the crowd. ?I don?t suppose any of you are going to help me with this??

That was Sango?s cue to swoop down and take the other shoulder, intent on doing more of the work than Momiji was. The pair glared at one another for a moment before trudging along, doing what they could to make it look like the Lily wasn?t unconscious. The Sirens followed behind, still treading carefully - but this time, it was to avoid the ominous air that had fallen between the two youkai.

?When we?ve got this taken care of, we?re totally having a sparring match! I?ll show you just how much of an amateur I am, you hear me?!?

?Keep telling yourself that, kid. Keep telling yourself that.?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Aya Squawkermaru on July 28, 2011, 12:09:30 AM
Dude. Nobody has ever made me like Momiji. Granted, we haven't seen much of her yet, but I do like this portrayal.

So yeah, good job.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on July 28, 2011, 12:12:10 AM
I have read.
I approve.

I also like Komachi's use of a pistol to start with. If she ends up being a Siren, I wonder how she'll manifest her typical powers 'a la magical girl'~
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Metaflare on July 28, 2011, 12:12:48 AM
Oh Momiji, when will you ever not be awesome  :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on July 28, 2011, 02:26:34 AM
As good as always, Rou.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin on July 28, 2011, 06:06:07 AM
Yeah ... didn't someone mention that "Red Lily" made sense from the association with Komachi?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Metaflare on July 28, 2011, 06:09:04 AM
Just because it's predictable, doesn't mean it's not good  :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on July 28, 2011, 07:06:12 AM
Just because it's predictable, doesn't mean it's not good  :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Yukarin on July 28, 2011, 10:33:50 AM
Momiji is fucking awesome.

hell yes
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin on July 28, 2011, 10:54:13 PM
Didn't say it was bad. In fact, her specific method of being hidden was awesome. I mean, nobody would suspect Bruce Wayne of being Batman ... :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on July 29, 2011, 05:51:21 AM
I mean, nobody would suspect Bruce Wayne of being Batman ... :3

Actually, a bunch of people suspect it, but they just can't prove it, because he's the Goddamn Batman.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin on July 29, 2011, 06:35:33 AM
Actually, a bunch of people suspect it, but they just can't prove it, because he's the Goddamn Batman.
See, that only reinforces my po-- wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Red Lily = Batman. IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Sect on July 29, 2011, 11:42:17 AM
See, that only reinforces my po-- wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Red Lily = Batman. IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW!
??? No it doesn't: there's no way Red Lily can hide those gonzagas under the Batsuit.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin on July 29, 2011, 08:22:53 PM
Then she obviously has bat-gazongas!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on July 29, 2011, 09:44:37 PM
We need :facedesk: for situations just like this
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Tamer Anode/Cathode on July 29, 2011, 10:38:51 PM
Then she obviously has bat-gazongas!
Well, of course, that utility belt has everything, you know.

Interested to see where this arc is going.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Drakometar on August 06, 2011, 07:14:20 PM
Er... About the Claw's leader... Betting on Iku. I mean, she has no shapeshifting powers to begin with, so she could get plastic surgery. And she keeps talking about how if she could only get Sango away from Koishi, so.... I guess it works..?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Undinehunt on January 17, 2012, 02:57:19 AM
Is anyone still alive out here? Is this story, that could have had the rating of 15/10 in well done, still alive?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Esifex on January 17, 2012, 05:39:00 AM
In due time. Writers and authors have lives outside of MotK - and yes, sad to say, some stories do just fade away.
Rou will get back to DRK when he gets back to it, if he wants to. Yes, we all agree, it'd be 100% awesome if he did, but we can't force him if he's got other stuff on his plate.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Yukarin on January 22, 2012, 07:10:05 AM
You know...

I thought there was a new chapter in DRK when I saw this on "unread".

Nope. Chuck Testa.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin on January 22, 2012, 07:43:28 AM
I'm pretty sure this has been shelved indefinitely. Rou made a post about it in another thread, I believe.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi
Post by: Scrittore on January 22, 2012, 10:36:06 PM
I don't think so. Rou said in his previous Sango and Koishi-based installment that he was putting his fics on temporary hiatus... Unless I missed something he posted a while back. At any rate, I doubt DRK's demise. I think he'll update again when he has time, or when school's 'outta the way.
Title: Dolphin Rider Koishi (/hiatus)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on January 25, 2012, 08:23:03 PM
Right, so. Hello again.

Apologies for the massive hiatus. During the writing of this arc I hit one scene that I pulled off really badly, and my frustration with it stopped the whole project dead in its tracks for an age. After seeing all the posts in recent days asking 'what happened when is the next chapter', I thought to myself that I'd left it off for long enough.

So with another shot I wrote that scene the RIGHT way, and as an encore finished the rest of the Red Lily arc. That's right, I'm coming back in with a solid 18,000 words of content. (Not all at once, though. That'd be a bit silly.) Doesn't make up for six months of nothing, but it's all I've got.

Thanks for bearing with me, and I hope what I produce ends up being worth the wait!

Quick recap of the arc for those who haven't read this in a while:
After local mobster Rinnosuke Morichika escapes a jail sentence by buying out the court, the Sirens go undercover at a local newspaper to make contact with an infamous underground informant, the Red Lily. After chasing the woman into a back alley, they're unexpectedly saved by one of the newspaper's employees - Momiji Inubashiri, actually an operative for the White Pearl. Now the team brings the Lily back to a local safehouse to see if they can shake any news out of the Lily - in particular, his new association with the Black Claw...

-----

The safehouse was like something from a housing catalogue, in that everything inside looked completely by-the-book. There were no hints of personal decoration - no mementos, no pictures, nothing. Momiji closed the door behind the group as they entered, putting on a pair of chain locks for good measure, before hauling the Lily?s body onto the living room couch.

?She?ll wake up in a little while. No lasting damage, but she?ll have one hell of a headache.?

Momiji pulled her jeans down slightly, and Koishi saw a small bushy tail slip out from underneath. Now that she?d seen the ears it wasn?t much of a surprise, so she nodded as if in approval. The wolf let out a sigh of relief, letting her tail wriggle around a little.

?Hate these jeans you humans always wear. I?d have gone for a skirt, but then all it?d take is one gust of wind and the secret?s out. Anyway, if you?re looking for something to drink, there?s plenty of coffee in the back.?

She made no attempt to move towards the kitchen. Neither did anyone else. The incident in the alleyway had knocked any hint of sleepiness out of them.

?I?m fine, thanks,? Koishi said with a small bow. Mokou and Sakuya muttered similar apologies, eyes darting around the room for somewhere to sit. There was only one other chair in the room, and Momiji had already taken it for herself. The Lily was sprawled over the couch, so the Sirens were left to sit on the floor. At least the carpet was comfy enough.

?Hey, Sango-san, you probably want to sit down,? Koishi said, looking up at the dolphin. ?Your legs?ll hurt if you keep standing like that.?

Either Sango wasn?t listening to Koishi?s suggestion, or she was ignoring it. Her eyes stayed fixed on Momiji. Now that the wolf was seated, Sango was looking down on her with a childish frown. Momiji?s eyes never turned to her, moving instead between the three Sirens, gauging them.

?Which one of you is the leader of this band of misfits??

Koishi blinked. They had a leader? She?d never thought about it. It couldn?t be her, though. Maybe Mokou. She had the charisma. But Sakuya had the brains to run the operation. She turned to her companions for their opinions, only to find both of them staring right back at her.

?Well, Koishi-san here was the first of us,? Mokou said, rubbing at the back of her head. ?She pulled me outta a dark spot - hell, if it wasn?t for her, I?d pretty much be a living popsicle.?

?She has that talent of hers, as well,? Sakuya chimed in, correcting her posture slightly as she did so. ?She?s the only one here who can pull people out of that Mindcoil, or whatever it is you call it.?

Momiji?s eyes turned to Koishi. They flared with intensity. Koishi only managed to return the look for a few seconds before her head drooped like a weight had been placed on it. The wolf sighed.

?If you?re the one in charge of this operation, then you may need my help even more than I thought you would.?

The words hit Koishi hard, and her head slumped down further.

?Oh, come on!? Sango stamped a foot into the carpet. ?We?re on the same team, aren?t we? Why?re you being so hard on Koishi-san? You?ve only just met her!?

Momiji?s glance finally turned to Sango, and frustration spilled out of her voice. ?I know a leader when I see one, and this girl doesn?t fit the description. If she gets nervous just from one stare, how am I meant to think she can keep her cool against a Black Claw operative??

Was she right? No, she couldn?t be. She?d made it this far. Didn?t that stand for something?

?Bullshit!? Mokou yelled. ?Yeah, she?s a little anxious and all, but when it comes down to it Koishi-san gets things done! The maid and I both owe her our lives, right??

Koishi felt a hand on her shoulder. Warm, friendly. She managed to pull her head up again.

?Indeed,? Sakuya continued, placing her own arm on Koishi?s other shoulder. ?Perhaps she needs a little more faith in herself, but her heart is always in the right place.?

Of course. They trusted her, didn?t they? She felt their hands on her shoulders, and power seemed to flow into her. She looked up at Momiji again, gulping as she found her voice.

?I...I may have moments when I?m not the best leader. But I?m part of a great team, and we cover each others? weaknesses. They don?t just depend on me. We all depend on each other.?

Momiji raised her eyebrows. She looked into Koishi?s eyes again. Her expression was blank, like she couldn?t make out what was going on inside, one way or the other.

Finally she let out a small grunt. ?Hmph. I dunno what Yakumo was thinking when she chose you, but the woman wasn?t the sort to make a mistake when things got serious.?

Sango?s eyes widened. ?Wait, you knew ol? Yukari? How old does that even make you??

?That?s a question you?re not supposed to ask a woman,? Momiji snapped back, looking to Sango for a moment before turning away again. The dolphin tried to return the favour, but she couldn?t match the wolf?s intensity. ?But yes, I was around back in the War of Catalcysm. Just a cub, learning how the world worked.

?Those were the days - back when we had forts built into the mountains, when the wolves had forests to hunt in and the birds could soar in the sky.? Her voice had drifted into a nostalgic, almost sorrowful tone. She looked upwards at nothing in particular, and Koishi could make out a glint in her eyes.

?Wait, what forts are these?? Mokou asked, rubbing her head. ?Are you saying you guys had buildings you built yourselves??

Momiji?s attention turned to Mokou, giving the Siren another dirty look. ?Had was the key word there. We had to take the forts down as the human colonisation expanded - we couldn?t leave evidence for the humans to look for us, because if we were discovered it would start another war all over again.?

Now she looked downward, her eyes on her lap. ?So as the centuries went by, we lost our footholds one by one, until eventually there wasn?t anywhere left for us. Mankind has claimed ownership of just about every landmass on the planet - we don?t have anywhere to hide anymore. So we either live in the deepest, darkest hiding spots we can find or just live out simple lives as domestic animals. We?re the ones that run away when they?re getting old, or just mysteriously vanish into the night to find a new owner. Either way, it?s a pretty shitty life compared to all the things you can do with opposable thumbs.?

She twiddled hers, smiling for a moment at her first attempt to crack a joke. It didn?t go over very well with her audience, so she gave up and went back to her normal tone. ?As for me, the Pearl wanted me to work deep undercover for the job, so I?ve been living a ?human? life around here for the last few months.

?Your laws are ridiculous, by the way - why would any self-respecting nation ban dueling to resolve grudges? Honestly, nanny states and kid gloves all around.?

She cricked her neck, and her expression gained a hint of snark. ?But hey, at least there are some youkai that don?t have to worry about that sort of thing. I hear it?s still pretty easy living out in the ocean, so all those finny folk have plenty of room to hide in. It must be nice being able to swim around without humans showing up and acting like they own the place.?

On the last sentence, her eyes turned to Sango. The dolphin flinched, needing a moment to collect herself. When she did, she repaid Momiji?s glare in equal measure. ?So what, you?re mad at me because I haven?t had to go through the same crap you have??

?Not you,? Momiji stated. ?All your kind. You, Kawashiro, and the rest of your fishy friends. Easy for you to keep fighting the good fight when humanity hasn?t been dumping their waste in your front lawn, isn't it??

Sango took a large step forward. Momiji stood up from her seat to meet her. Both sides raised their fists, and if another moment had passed they would have doubtlessly come to blows.

?Both of you, quit it!?

Koishi had jumped up from her spot on the floor, jumping between the two youkai. Sango looked down on her in shock, while Momiji maintained her stance.

?Out of the way, kid. This doesn?t concern you.?

?Of course it concerns me!? Koishi answered, turning around to Momiji. Her voice burst out with a power she never knew she had. ?We?re a team, remember? And you can?t blame Sango-san for being who she is. You?re acting like she?s the one who got you in this mess in the first place!?

Momiji?s ears stood on end, and for an instant her look shifted down to Koishi. That stare reminded Koishi exactly who she was messing with, and she started to regret interfering in the first place.

Before Momiji could do anything else, a groan resounded from the couch.

?Nngh...?

The Lily squirmed in her sleep, reaching out with one arm and almost grabbing Sakuya. Every eye in the room fell on her.

?...We?ll finish this later,? Momiji said, only turning to Sango for a moment. ?Our guest won?t co-operate if she sees you beaten to a pulp in the corner.?

?Strange,? Sango said with a smirk, ?I was gonna say the exact same thing to you.?

Koishi sighed. She hoped this talk with the Lily would go on long into the night.

-----

What just happened...?

Komachi?s mind was hazy. Everything hurt. She curled forward on instinct, her hands clutching the back of her head. Her eyes were squeezed shut, every muscle in her body tensing in an attempt to distract herself from the pain.

She remembered being followed by Morichika?s goons into the alley, leading them out and trying to scare them off with her weapon. It had worked, she was sure of it, but everything between then and now was a blank. When was now, anyway? Where was she, what was she doing here, who was watching her?

She?d start working on finding the answers to those questions after the pain stopped.

?...Tororetsu, out here. Can?t risk her seeing us...?

Someone was speaking above her. One voice, followed by two sets of footsteps leaving the room. The leaders of the gang that had jumped her in the alley? Whoever they were, they?d left.

The pain had dulled now. Amazingly quickly, in fact - within thirty seconds it had become nothing more than a mild throb in the back of her head. She opened her eyes and found herself staring head on at the back of a couch. She squirmed as her own warm breath struck her face.

?How?re you feeling??

A different voice called out to her. Young, rough, feminine. One of the high-schoolers who had tailed her. Sure enough, as she turned around she saw three of the girls who had stalked her into the back alleys. One of the grey-haired ones had left; the other was still looming over her, along with the rough looking girl with the black hair and the blonde kid who seemed way too formal for a gangster. None of their expressions looked immediately aggressive - if anything, the silver-haired girl looked outright concerned.

?Like I just got shot in the back of the head,? Komachi replied, pulling herself up to a sitting position. The girls were right next to the couch, so she wasn?t getting anywhere any time soon. On the bright side, she wasn?t being beaten to a bloody pulp, so things could always have been worse.

The short one with the silver hair frowned, sitting across the arm of the couch. ?I?m sorry about what happened...we didn?t know that Momiji-san would be so aggressive. We never meant to hurt you...?

The throbbing headache Komachi was brandishing disagreed with that claim. She?d never met a gangster who wasn?t willing to break a few bones to get his point across. Maybe they?d deliberately picked out the kids to interrogate her, just to sell that angle a little more.

Well, Komachi wasn?t buying a word of it. Unless all three of them pulled out police badges, she was going to assume they all had it in for her.

?High schoolers? This here city's goin' to the dogs, ain't it?? Komachi smirked, leaning back on the couch. ?Cut to the point, girls. You gonna buy me out??

The blonde one sighed. ?We didn?t think this far ahead, did we? Unless we?re actually going to do this like Morichika would. Koishi-san?? Her grin was a little too genuine, and Komachi almost thought she?d go ahead with it until the silver-haired girl frowned at her.

?No, Sakuya-san. We?re better than that.?

The blonde nodded knowingly, as if she?d expected the answer from the beginning. Komachi did not share in the smile. Why would they discuss this in front of her? Either this trio had no plan at all, or this was all a trick to get her to drop her guard.

She had no reason to even consider the former. Morichika never moved without knowing what to do in every instance, and he was the only figure in Gensouto who would be out for her blood.

She?d keep her guard up, then, and play along with their little charade. It would buy her time to figure out an escape.

?So, Miss Red Lily...? The black-haired one sat in front of the couch, legs crossed. She seemed the most genuine of the three in that she was the gruff sort Komachi expected to see in Morichika?s gang. ?We wanted to ask about your work tracking down Rinnosuke Morichika.?

Checking how much she had on Morichika. What else would he want to know? It was so simple Komachi almost laughed at herself for not thinking of it sooner.

She shrugged, hoping it didn?t come off as too artificial. ?Well, I?ve been doing a lotta work for the last coupla months. I?d be here all day if I told ya everythin?, and I have a reservation for dinner tonight.?

Black Hair frowned at Komachi?s reaction. The prisoner allowed herself a little smirk. If she was at their mercy, she may as well make the most of it. The other two - Silver and Blondie, she?d named them - were looking at each other uncertainly. Eventually it was Blondie who broke the silence, getting comfortable on the other arm of the couch, her grip a lot looser than Silver?s.

?Well, we?re relatively certain that he isn?t working alone. What do you know about his accomplices??

Accomplices? That was a strange suggestion. Who was around that Morichika would ally with? Gensouto had some smaller criminal groups, but none of them could to match Morichika in power or wealth.

Then again...now that Komachi thought about it, Morichika?s influence had grown rapidly in the last few months. The Rabbit?s Foot getting larger, running that crazy no-limit festival...all sorts of new dramatics that even Morichika shouldn?t have been able to afford. That money had to be coming from somewhere, but from where?

Dammit. Now they had her thinking. Were these girls trying to mislead her, or were they checking if she knew something dangerous? If so, what would they do if she said something they didn?t want to hear? Komachi could feel the hairs on the back of her neck tremble. She rubbed at her head, pretending to think as she looked around the room.

At the doorway on the left behind the silver-haired girl, she could see a pair of shadows. The ones who?d been talking when she woke up, probably. That was a non-option, then. The window in the room was right behind Black Hair, but she could see a street outside. So they were on the ground floor. That was good.

That left the door on the right, the one the blonde was blocking. Komachi could see a kitchen beyond - if it had a door, there was no doubt they?d have locked it securely.

Which left one course of action, and she?d only have one shot at it.

Slowly, deliberately, she yawned. She let her body sway to the left.

?Man, so tired...?

Silver leaned back in time with Komachi?s approach. The blonde made up for it, leaning forward on the couch arm.

That was Komachi?s cue to shift to the right and push Blondie off the couch.

?Wha-?

The blonde had been caught off guard, falling off the edge. Komachi took the opportunity, grabbing the couch arm and vaulting over it, hitting the ground running.

?H-Hey, wait up!? Black-Hair yelled at her. She broke for the door to the kitchen, assuming that was where Komachi was headed.

Kids nowadays. No imagination.

Komachi swung to her side, away from the kitchen door - and towards the window.

The glass exploded outward as she leapt into a side alley. Shards of glass dug into her arms, drawing blood. Her hands scraped against concrete, and she grimaced as she rushed to her feet. She ran for the main street full pelt, knowing that the thugs would be right on her tail.

She had to get to the court. They?d figured her out. She needed protection. Maybe she?d have to admit her little side-job as the Red Lily, but Eiki would understand.

It had all been for the greater good.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: BT on January 25, 2012, 11:04:16 PM
Oh yes oh yes oh yes.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Eatay on January 26, 2012, 12:21:02 AM
You"re back, Thank god.
I will wait an eternity for this story to be written, just don't ever give up on it please.  It is through your works I am inspired to write some myself. Rou you are awesome.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Metaflare on January 26, 2012, 02:27:10 AM
Holy hell yes Komachi

this is the best komachi
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Drake on January 26, 2012, 02:30:39 AM
>writing under two perspectives that survey the same situation but end up exactly opposite to one another

this is like dessert but in writing form
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Yukarin on January 26, 2012, 03:29:00 AM
yesssssssss
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Cystral Dragon on January 26, 2012, 03:44:32 AM
I an now praising the lord. (Even if I'm not Christian.)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on January 26, 2012, 07:20:37 AM
Oh, hell yes.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: CrowCakes on January 26, 2012, 09:51:18 AM
I thought it would never come back to life. :toot:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Yaersulf on January 26, 2012, 11:34:26 AM
Simply amazing Rou, you're awesome. I can't wait for more. :D
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: UndyingHunterKamigama on January 26, 2012, 10:41:45 PM
I'm so glad that you decided to continue this! Komachi is quite clever and untrusting in this chapter. I am now looking forward for the next chapter
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Drake on January 26, 2012, 11:17:49 PM
untrusting
she was captured by morichika's goons, of course she was untrusting
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on January 27, 2012, 09:02:50 PM
?I swear, I leave you three alone for five damn minutes...?

The front door of the safehouse could not be opened fast enough. Momiji had seen fit to chew the Sirens out the moment she heard the window shatter. Sakuya was still muttering to herself as Momiji undid the locks, cursing about how she?d let her guard down.

?As if you were much better,? Mokou yelled as they ran through the doorway. ?Pulling Sango-san outta the room ?just in case she saw something?? You knew she was gonna be suspicious of us!?

?It?s called being cautious.?

?And leaving three teenagers to keep watch over the prisoner is what you call cautious?? Sango chimed in. Koishi wondered how strongly Sango actually felt on the matter, or whether she was looking for any excuse to call Momiji out.

?We can worry about this later,? Koishi said with a hint of discomfort. ?We need to find her now, okay??

Momiji nodded, grumbling. Sango pouted a little, but likewise kept quiet. Koishi had to take her by the hand and pull her along as they stepped out onto the main street.

The faceless masses of the public stood in front of them as they stepped out on to the streets. Koishi couldn?t recognise anyone here, and definitely not the Lily. Her blood cooled to freezing.

?She?ll be heading to the district court,? Sakuya said with a sigh. ?Looking for some sort of protection from the higher-ups.?

It made sense. Where else would she go? She probably thought that Morichika had figured her out. That raised Koishi?s spirits for a moment, until she realised the obvious conclusion.

If they give her witness protection, we?ll never get the answers we need...!

By now the Lily definitely had the lead. It was a fool?s errand, but charging towards the district court was better than sitting around and waiting for her to escape.

They ran for at least ten minutes, pushing aside pedestrians all the way. Sango held Koishi by the hand, leading her along, and Momiji did the same with Sakuya. Mokou was fit enough to keep up on her own.

Ah...?

Even before they made it to the court, Koishi could hear it. The sound of chanting, dozens of voices calling out at once. She saw them on the way over - a mass of people, waving signs and calling for a mistrial. They had formed a picket line, and a small group of suit-wearing officials were grumbling at the side about being unable to get to work.

Koishi couldn?t make out anything they were saying - all of their calls were drowned out by the woman at the front of the crowd, her voice blaring through a megaphone. Given that she had a pedestal all to herself, she had to be the organiser of the protest.

Wait. Is that...?

The dark blue dress had seemed familiar, and as they came closer Koishi managed to place it. She?d seen it in history class during the brief moments when she wasn?t feeding answers to Sango. Sure enough, as they came to the side of the crowd, she placed the owner of the dress.

Kamishirasawa-sensei?!

Professor Keine Kamishirasawa seemed to be doing her best to kill off the credibility of the mob she?d brought together, yelling at the top of her lungs in the direction of the court.

?Judge Eiki Shiki of the District Court of Gensouto! We demand an investigation into the case of The People vs. Rinnosuke Morichika! Your employees are in that criminal?s pockets, and you know it!?

There was a clamour of cries in agreement from the crowd behind her. Keine went red in the face, working her lungs to their physical limit. Koishi had to grab at her ears for her own safety as she walked past.

?Morichika stands to get away with embezzling of funds, drug racketeering, illegal gambling, even so far as murder! What did Layla Prismriver do to deserve her fate? Why are you letting Morichika walk away an innocent man when his guilt is plain as day?!?

She wondered if this protest would get anywhere. Words only got so far, and the court hadn?t budged on their sentence in the last few days. She put her attention back to the court, and how to get around the picket line. Maybe there was a back entrance-

?Don?t think you can hide! We have the proof we need, right here!?

Koishi was sure she felt her heart fall out of her chest somewhere during that sentence. She turned around. Keine was holding up a phone in her hand. She couldn?t have-

?Respectable journalist Aya Shameimaru has produced her latest revelation from her inside source! She has cold, hard evidence of transactions between Morichika and a member of Gensouto?s forensics team! Can you hear me in there, Goro Ogawa? Your secret?s out!?

The crowd?s cheering grew louder. Koishi could see the police growing restless at the sight. Without even thinking, she stopped in place, Sango vainly tugging at her arm.

?Eh? Koishi-san...??

Koishi?s eyes flew around the crowd. One group was moving about, someone pushing through their ranks. When at last they came clear at the other side - amongst boos from the crowd - Koishi gasped.

The Red Lily was still in sight.

?Koishi-san!?

Sango reached out for her, but she was too late. Koishi flew into the crowd, trying to squeeze her way past the protesting masses. She was smaller than the Lily, so she?d have an easier time of it.

Within a few seconds she was lost in the middle of the protest, struggling to break open a route. What she?d gained in size she lost in strength, and the picket line refused to budge.

In the distance, she heard the sound of wood shattering.

Then all hell broke loose.

The crowd began to scream, and Koishi was pushed to and fro along with them. Officers moved in, marching in time as they brandished tonfas.

?You are all under arrest for breaching of the peace, and assaulting an officer of the law!? their leader shouted with a voice that almost matched Keine?s megaphone. ?Surrender quietly, and no harm will be done!?

The protestors were anything but quiet. Dozens of voices rose up from the crowd - some confused, others terrified, others still furious. No-one knew what was going on, but as the tonfas came down the confusion turned into outright panic.

Keine had lost any semblance of authority, yelling at the officers trying to climb the pedestal as she kicked them away. ?YOU WILL NOT TAKE US!? she yelled at no-one in particular. ?WE STAND FOR FREEDOM, JUSTICE, AND THE RIGHTS OF THE COMMON PEOPLE!?

Koishi was trapped in the middle of it all, still trying to make it past the picket line. The Red Lily was out of sight now, but if she got inside the court maybe she could still track her down-

Thwack.

Something cracked against the back of her head, and her world burst into stars. She reached back, feeling something warm and sticking against her fingers. Turning around, she saw an officer raising his tonfa, ready to strike her again.

He was pushed aside as someone grabbed Koishi by the arm and hauled her out.

?This is too much!? Sango yelled. ?We need to get outta here!?

Officers turned in her direction, yelling obscenities. They grabbed at her, trying to pull her back in, but Sango?s grip was stronger. One of the officers went for her instead, his tonfa set to come down on the dolphin?s head.

Koishi was just conscious enough to see Sango send a foot backwards between his legs.

?Official business, phwee! Can?t hang around!?

The officer fell without a word, still gripping at Sango as he fell. Koishi heard the tear of fabric as Sango?s jacket came apart under his grip, then the dolphin?s panicked footsteps as she led Koishi away. Koishi stumbled along with her, eyes falling in and out of focus, the whole world sounding muted.

Keine pointed in her direction - no, not hers, Sango?s. Koishi?s head fell backwards, and she saw that Sango?s fin was in plain sight.

?E-Everyone!? Keine screamed above the madness. ?There?s a monster over there, hauling someone away!?

No-one listened, and soon enough Keine was hauled off of her podium to join in the cacophony. Koishi?s eyes grew misty, the first droplets of rain falling onto her face. She felt tired, her eyes closing of their own accord.

?K-Koishi-san! Don?t you dare pass out on me now! Koishi-sa-?

-----

When Koishi?s eyes opened again, she had no idea where she was.

?Nn??

Her head throbbed. Her arms were stiff as she reached towards the source of the pain. A bandage had been rolled around her head, but it was warm and damp along the length of her wound.

Moments later, a light shone in her eye. On instinct, she jerked away.

?Hold still.?

A hand gripped at her head, holding it in place. Someone hovered above her, but her vision was still too blurry to make out who. The voice rang a vague bell, but her brain was full of mist right now.

?No obvious signs of a concussion. Can you stand??

Koishi nodded. She could stand. Probably. The figure pulled away as she rose to her feet. Her first steps were clumsy, but after a minute she had found her bearings.

?Ughh...?

The rush of blood to the head helped nothing. She?d taken a heavy injury, and she was probably lucky to get away with a little dizziness. Her eyes came into focus, and she found a familiar figure standing over her.

?Nagae-san??

Iku Nagae looked down on her with a hard frown, shivering in the cold. The rain had soaked through the nurse?s dress, the change in weather catching her off guard. Looking down on herself, Koishi found a baggy jacket thrown over her to protect her from the rain.

?Ah, sorry,? Koishi said, pulling the jacket off and handing it back. Iku nodded in thanks as she pulled it back on, wrapping her arms around herself.

?It?s not a problem. Fixing injuries is what I do, after all. Just count yourself lucky your friends ran into me when they did, or you?d be waking up in a hospital ward right about now.?

Koishi nodded, but her attention fell mostly into recollection. What had happened? The Lily had escaped, they?d chased her, the protest had stopped them, and then her mind went blank. All she remembered was struggling and someone smacking her hard.

She?d put it together later. Or someone would explain. Either would work.

?Thank you, Nagae-san.?

?Seriously, just call me Iku,? the nurse responded, patting Koishi on the shoulder. Her face turned grave for a moment. ?I?m not going to ask you where you got that injury, but if we can arrange an appointment during school hours that?d be wonderful.?

She didn?t even bring up the fact that Koishi had been skipping class to work at the Bunbunmaru. She just patted at her shoulder, smiled, then made her way out.

Out of where? Koishi wondered. It hadn?t come to her to look at her surroundings. Gritty black walls stood on both sides of her. A back alley, then, somewhere where Iku could work her art in quiet. And behind her-

?Koishi-saaaan!?

Sango almost bowled her over as she leapt towards her, hugging her for dear life.

?You...you?re a dummy! A big, lousy dummy!? she bawled, almost choking Koishi in her grip. ?Do you have any idea how worried I was about you? I thought you were dead!?

Koishi reached around, patting at Sango?s back. She was wearing Sakuya?s sweater, and her fin was out of sight again. She remembered the look of horror on Keine?s face when she?d seen Sango?s true form. Hopefully the teacher would write it off as a hallucination brought on by the panic of the riot.

?You awake?? Mokou came forward from behind Sango, with Momiji and Sakuya following suit. The two Sirens looked concerned, and even Momiji looked worried for Koishi?s safety. The look vanished a moment later, though, and she was back to the stern wolf that Koishi recognised.

?Are you fit to fight??

Koishi nodded. ?Do I need to hop on one leg to prove it??

?That?ll be fine. You have the OK from the nurse, so you should survive.?

Silence hung among the party for a while. They were well aware their target had escaped, but no-one knew quite what to say about it. Koishi was the one to finally break the silence.

?So...what happened back there, exactly??

?One of the protestors took it a step too far,? Mokou answered, hands in her pockets and eyes on the ground. ?Smacked a cop in the head with a signboard, and it all went to hell from there.?

Koishi nodded. She?d figured as much. It happened with this sort of protest - one man let his emotions get the better of him, and suddenly everyone involved was a criminal.

?I?m not so sure it was that simple.?

All eyes turned to Sakuya, who had placed her hand on her chin in contemplation. Her other hand fiddled with one of her braids. She had only been wearing a simple shirt under her sweater, but the cold didn't seem to reach her.

?I caught a look at the man Mokou-san was talking about. Up until he attacked, he looked perfectly docile. He wasn?t even taking part in the chanting.?

Sakuya didn?t complete her line of reasoning, letting everyone else fill in the gap for themselves. When Koishi made the realisation, she couldn?t help but let it out.

?You think he was a plant??

?Indeed,? Sakuya answered, smiling all the while. ?The force needed an excuse to get rid of the protestors, so they added a plain-clothes cop to their number who crossed the line.?

?But that?s kind of dirty,? Mokou said, biting her lip. ?Isn?t Judge Shiki supposed to be one of the good guys? I didn?t figure she would be the sort to resort to that.?

The crowd nodded along with her. Something was wrong. They were all willing to agree with that. But Koishi?s thoughts went a step or two further. A thought came to her, lodging itself into her mind until she couldn?t stop thinking about it.

Maybe they hadn?t been the only ones to figure out the Red Lily. Could the Black Claw had discovered her too?

What if they?d already infiltrated the court?

-----

What the hell was that?

Komachi slammed the front door of the district court behind her, its metallic clang echoing throughout the entrance hall. The dying sounds of the protest fell silent along with it.

Up until those last few moments, it had been an ordinary case of angry middle-class citizens employing their right to free speech. But just as she was closing the door, the entire thing had collapsed into chaos after one protestor took the law into his own hands.

The thought left her uneasy as she made her way to the Head Judge?s office. She had to talk to Eiki now, before Morichika?s goons managed to track her down.

The lawyers she passed by on the way looked as nervous as she was. Half a dozen of them were walking in the opposite direction, muttering to one another about how Eiki?s state was such a shame and it shouldn?t have come to this. Immediately Komachi assumed the worst - Morichika had struck back in the most dramatic way possible. She burst into a run, afraid that all she would find in the room was a frigid corpse.

When she pulled open the door to find Eiki sitting at her desk, the relief nearly brought her to her knees.

?Ah, Komachi,? Eiki said, cheerier than Komachi had seen her in recent days. ?Take a seat.?

Komachi nodded, stepping into the room, but she couldn?t help but feel like something was brushing her the wrong way as she entered. It wasn?t one large thing, but a combination of several tiny quirks. The empty bottle of Remy Martin lying on her table. The papers lying scattered across the desk of a peerless neat freak. The way Eiki leaned forward and backward in her chair, eyes bouncing about the room with a childish impatience.

Something didn?t fit.

?I thought it was your day off today, Komachi,? Eiki said, her eyes never meeting Komachi?s. Her smile had shifted from relaxing to offputting. ?What are you doing in court? Did you leave something in the office??

Alright, Komachi told herself. This is it. Maybe Eiki wasn?t in the most stable mood, but if she didn?t say it now she might not live long enough to get another chance.

?Eiki,? she started, slowly as she built up the courage. ?I?ve got something to tell you-?

?You?re the Red Lily? I?m well aware of that.?

Komachi felt her stomach shrink to the size of a pea.

?How...how did you...?

Eiki?s eyes fell on her, and immediately Komachi wished they hadn?t. Something was missing from her eyes - a glint of life, a vital spark was absent from her expression. It was like she?d put on a mask that refused to stop smiling all the time.

?Let?s just say a little birdie told me.?

At that moment, a hand fell onto Komachi?s shoulder. She shuddered as she looked up to its owner. A young woman in a silver jacket was looking down on her, with a stronger killing intent than any thug Komachi had ever come across. The tan made her hard to place - Middle Eastern, maybe? - but she recognised the look of a trained killer.

?You?ve been rather naughty, haven?t you?? Eiki dropped the cheerful guise, and Komachi found her stern expression more comforting than her smile. ?You?ve been leaking some very sensitive information to the public. We have laws against that.?

Komachi grit her teeth. Eiki wasn?t listening. She had hoped the judge would see the sense behind what she?d done, but all she?d got for her efforts was more venom. Nevertheless, she kept trying - she knew Eiki would understand if she thought about it.

?What else was I supposed to do? Sit there and let scumbags like Morichika walk away??

Eiki clasped her hands together, pouting like an infant. The judge Komachi knew wouldn?t be caught dead doing that.

?Komachi, Morichika?s case pains me as much as it does you, but you have to understand that the law is the law! You can?t just break the rules to suit your needs.?

?You don?t have a right to say that,? Komachi spat back. This wasn?t Eiki. It couldn?t be. ?I saw what you did outside. You dropped a plant into the crowd, didn?t yo-?

Before she could finish the sentence, the woman in the jacket grabbed her by the back of the head and slammed her face into the desk.

?Kh-!?

A small line of blood trickled from her nose, ruining the mahogany finish of the desk. She looked up at Eiki, eyes filled with scorn.

That scorn turned to dread when she saw the woman pull a gun from the desk and point it at her head.

?The law is the exception that proves the rule,? she said, with absolute authority in her voice. ?I break the rules so no-one else has to. Those folks outside were stopping hard-working employees getting into work. That?s illegal, you know.?

Komachi looked up at the woman she?d served under for months now. Apart from the twisted look on her face, every little detail was exactly as she remembered it.

Had Eiki lost it? Had the Morichika case been the last push, the final step that drove her over the edge? Komachi would have almost pitied her if she wasn?t set to blow her brains out.

She heard the woman in the jacket step to one side, so the bullet wouldn?t go through Komachi?s head and into her.

?I?ll give you thirty seconds to contemplate your failings before I deal with you.?

She had to think. She?d made it out of one hopeless scenario already, so why couldn?t she do it again? Admittedly, this one involved a lot more firepower than the three punks earlier had been carrying, but there had to be a way out.

Hastily, a plan took form in her head. It was risky and haphazard, but it was better than dying.

Her foot rose up, stamping down on her captor?s foot. For some reason she wasn?t wearing shoes - or even socks - so Komachi?s kick slammed down at full force. The woman howled in pain, letting go of her head.

She saw Eiki?s finger pull the trigger in slow motion as she fired. Her head swung to the side, away from the woman in the silver jacket, as she rolled away. The bullet slid across her face, drawing a line in blood across her cheek.

As she got to her feet, she saw Eiki?s gun already pointing at her again. The door was too far away. She?d never make it in time.

Komachi fell to her knees, sliding forward and putting all of her strength into shoving the desk forward. Eiki was bowled over by her own furniture, the gun jerking in another direction as it fired. The bullet managed to lodge itself in the shoulder of the woman in the silver jacket, and she stumbled backwards in pain as she clutched her wound.

Fate wasn?t going to give her another chance like this. Komachi ran for the door, dashing through the corridors and away from Eiki. She should have taken the hint when she saw her workmates avoiding her. The judge had lost her mind, and learning that Komachi was the Lily hadn?t helped matters at all.

She was sure they would chase after her. She needed to lose them, and once again an idea burst into her head. She avoided both the front entrance and the back entrance, instead making her way to the small kitchen used for lunchtime breaks between cases. Most importantly, the kitchen had a chute they chucked all of their waste out of.

It wasn?t the cleanest option, but it was the safest.

She burst into the kitchen too quickly for anyone to stop, knocking someone?s lunch to the floor in the process. She punched the chute open and dived in soon afterwards, barely fitting inside. The smell was abominable as she slid down the slope, the whole world dank and dark.

When she came out on the other side, it was waist deep in a garbage tip.

?Bleeeech.?

Komachi pulled herself out, peeling off various pieces of trash that had stuck to her suit. They wouldn?t think to follow her down here.

Her body felt heavy, and as she fell from the tip she found it too difficult to pull herself upright. Now that she was out of immediate danger, fatigue was starting to kick in. She needed a minute to catch her breath before she could get back to running. As long as no-one saw her before then, she would be okay.

When she saw the gang of high-schoolers from earlier walk past, she pulled her head back with a sigh.

I knew my luck was gonna run out eventually...
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Drake on January 27, 2012, 09:39:52 PM
I absolutely love the way you're writing very distinct traits to every new character. It's fantastic. Komachi is probably my favorite character thus far, Sakuya barely behind.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Scrittore on January 30, 2012, 04:08:16 AM
( A little late, but whatever )

When I saw that this had updated, I spilled my porridge, kissed the monitor, and read the newest sections while rice gruel dripped onto my lap.  :)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Marokuu on January 30, 2012, 09:07:19 AM
Dangit Rou you almost made me miss my bus. That's what I get for checking PSL in the morning I guess.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: UndyingHunterKamigama on January 30, 2012, 10:30:52 PM
As always, another enjoyable chapter. I look forward to the next chapter. And hopefully, Komachi doesn't shoot Koishi~
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on January 31, 2012, 09:09:33 PM
?Hm??

Koishi?s eyes had been wandering. They had just started the trip away from the court to decide on their plan of action, so it wasn?t like she had anything better to do. As she?d looked at the tip, she saw something stirring at the side of the garbage pile.

The sight nearly knocked her eyes out of her sockets. She grabbed Sango by the sleeve, hauling her back in.

?What is it? Don?t tell me you need to use the bathroom.?

Koishi didn?t say anything. She just pointed at the figure sitting next to the garbage tip.

Though she was covered in a good bit of waste now, there was no doubting the figure of the Red Lily.

?What exactly are you two stopping for?? Momiji asked, her words almost sounding like a growl. ?We need to get back to the sa-? As she pulled her head around, she saw the Lily as well. ?Huh. So the piece of trash ended up where she belonged.?

Koishi was already running towards her, holding out a hand. ?What happened? Are you hurt??

It was a needless question. Blood was tricking down her cheek, as well as her nose. As the Lily looked up into Koishi?s eyes, she tried to sniff up some of the blood to save face.

?My best friend just tried to shoot me in the head. And yes, I?m hurt. Thanks for askin?.?

She tried to pull herself to her feet on her own, refusing Koishi?s assistance. She made it about halfway up before her legs buckled.

?Yeah...I think I?m in a pretty bad state, now that ya mention it.?

Koishi brought her arm closer. ?Please. We want to help you.?

?Help me?? The Lily couldn?t help but chuckle at that. ?Yeah, that?s why you cornered me in a back alley, knocked me out, hauled me away to your little safehouse and started interrogatin? me. Is that what kids call helpin? nowadays??

She wasn?t buying it. Koishi grit her teeth. ?But-?

A hand fell on her shoulder, and looking up she saw Momiji stare down at her. The wolf wore a small smile.

?No worries. I?ve got this.?

She turned to the Lily, her expression utterly blank.

?Given your injuries and your desperate escape plan, I assume someone in the court is trying to kill you. As I see it, you have two options - you come with us and maybe we?re going to kill you, or you stay here and whoever tried shooting you earlier is definitely going to finish the job.?

The Lily looked up at Momiji, her eyes struggling to focus. Another laugh came out of her, but this one was slower, more strained.

?Well, when you put it that way, I don?t have much of a choice, do I??

At last she took Koishi?s hand, and the Siren helped her to her feet. She took the Lily?s arm and pulled it around her shoulder, with Momiji doing the same on her side. The pair hauled her back out onto the street, where the rest of the party was looking on with shock.

?Is...is that...?? Mokou stuttered, pointing uselessly at the Lily. Sakuya chuckled at their good fortune, while Sango simply frowned as she turned her attention to Momiji.

?I could?ve done that, you know.?

Momiji didn?t even answer her.

?Let?s get her back to the safehouse. She probably needs some first aid.?

The wolf sniffed at the air, and jerked her head away from the Red Lily.

?And a bath wouldn?t hurt, either.?

-----

As Koishi made it to the safehouse, she saw the fragments of glass still littering the side street. No-one had reported the broken window, which was good. Police presence would only make this harder.

Momiji pulled the key from her pocket and opened the door, bringing the Lily in behind her. Her eyes fall on the couch, before she sniffed at the Lily and decided otherwise. She took the Lily off of Koishi?s hands, leading her into the bathroom.

?Someone grab me a change of clothes from the bedroom next door,? she yelled. Mokou was closest, so she stepped into the bedroom and brought out an outfit. Koishi couldn?t help but notice that it was the same white shirt and red jeans that Momiji was wearing right now.

?Um, Momiji-san, is that all you wear?? Koishi asked. Momiji tilted her head.

?I don?t see any reason to vary my wardrobe. I?m used to fur, and clothes make a poor replacement for it.?

With that, she stepped inside the bathroom again. She returned a few minutes later, locking the door behind her. ?I?ve treated the wounds. She?s fine, mostly, just exhausted. She?s taking a quick bath to wash the scent off.?

No-one was willing to argue with that idea. They?d all had a smell of the Lily on the way over, and it was an experience they?d chosen to forget.

?Doesn?t someone need to watch her?? Mokou asked. ?I mean, she broke out of here once. She might do it again.?

?That?s unlikely,? Sakuya answered, twirling a braid around her finger. ?If what she said about being attacked in the court is true, then she doesn?t have anywhere to run.?

Koishi felt something tremble in her chest. The idea that had been plaguing her mind all this time was coming to fruition. The Lily had been attacked by her own employer, the woman she trusted most in the world.

There was only one good explanation for this.

?I think the Black Claw may have got to Judge Shiki,? she declared to the room.

No-one responded, but at the same time no-one objected. It added up - the Lily was threatening Morichika, who had connections with the Black Claw. Shiki had shifted from by-the-book judge to chronic rule-breaker overnight. She?d even tried to murder her own best friend. The symptoms were in plain sight, and the diagnosis was Mindcoil.

?So what?s our course of action?? Mokou slammed a fist into her palm. Her legs shook, like she was fighting the urge to run outside and beat down some thugs this instant. ?The judge is dirty, so how do we clean her up??

Momiji answered with a sigh. ?We might have other problems. If the Claw is willing to attack the Red Lily, we can?t rule out the chance they?ll target anyone connected to the Lily. That includes the Bunbunmaru.?

Koishi hadn?t even thought of that. Aya was probably sitting around the office, laughing at how her story had made headline news. She would have no idea how deep a hole she had managed to dig for herself.

?I propose we split up into teams. One group will head to the court to deal with the judge. Komeiji, you?ll be in charge of that team.?

Koishi nodded. She was the only one who could eliminate a Mindcoil, so naturally responsibility would fall to her.

?I?ll head the other team,? Momiji said, pointing to herself. ?We?ll head back to the Bunbunmaru and watch to see if anyone makes any moves on Aya. And if they do...? The wolf?s eyes glinted. ?I?ve got a trick or two up my sleeve, so to speak.?

?What about the Lily?? Sango asked. ?We can?t just leave her here.?

?That I don?t have an answer to,? Momiji said with a shrug. ?It?s too dangerous to bring her along, but we can?t just leave her for the Claw to finish off.?

Koishi thought the problem over for a moment. Was it fair for them to make that choice for her? No, it's not, she decided.

?Let?s just ask the Lily herself," she said at last. "It?s her best friend we?re fighting, so it?s only fair.?

Everyone nodded along with that. It was the best answer to a difficult question.

For half an hour, everyone?s eyes were locked on the bathroom door, waiting for the Lily to emerge. Mokou lay across the couch and did sit-ups to pass the time. Sakuya managed to unearth a deck of cards Momiji had lying around and started to practice her trick shuffles. Sango challenged Momiji to a rock-paper-scissors contest. It had started as a first-to-three, but the score was currently sitting at 75-74 to Momiji. As Sango declared that the contest was now first-to-one-hundred-and-fifty-one, the door finally creaked open.

The Red Lily stumbled out into the room, wearing the clothes that Momiji had lent her. The pants were too baggy, but the shirt wasn?t baggy enough. Her hair hung down her back, and she held one of her baubles in her hand. Mokou remembered she had bagged the other one, pulling it out of her pocket and throwing it at her.

?Thanks,? the Lily muttered, not sounding thankful at all. ?I was wonderin? where I left that.?

She stepped out into the centre of the room, everyone else making room for her. She slumped onto the floor, crossing her legs and looking out the remnants of the window. It was as if she was examining a painting behind the broken frame, but all anyone else could see was a moss-ridden wall.

?She knew.? Her words sounded more like a confirmation to herself than to anyone else. ?I dunno who told her, but she knew who I was.? She began to tie her hair up, the baubles holding her hair in two pigtails. No-one dared to interrupt her.

?Eiki was a great woman. She had her problems, but she was the best damn judge Gensouto?s ever had. Hell, I?m even gonna say she was the best judge in the country. I never, ever disagreed with her rulings.?

She was missing the informal dialect she had been sharing with them before. It had been a facade as well, Koishi thought to herself.

?But in the end, the system did her in. She took on one too many slimeballs who threw the rulebook right in her face. The law made her, and it broke her as well. The greatest judge I ever met, and now she?s preaching justice with a bullet to the head. Makes you think, doesn?t it??

No-one could speak their suspicions. What were they supposed to do? Tell the Lily that the judge was probably possessed by some sort of brain parasite? There was no way the Lily would ever buy that.

?So, why did you do it?? Koishi asked, giving the Lily the excuse she needed to keep talking. ?Why?d you become the Red Lily??

The Lily took a long time to answer. She leaned backwards, apparently bored with the wall, instead looking up towards the ceiling.

?I was a prosecutor once. Hottest little piece?a justice to come out of the academy in years. The court had a lot of hope pinned on me. They wanted me to move mountains and change Gensouto forever.

?But no-one really does, do they? I ran into the same wall Eiki ran into - bastards who know every loophole in the system, every work-around. They say the strength of the lawyer rests in the weakness of the law, and these assholes proved it every step of the way.?

She pressed her face down into her knees. When she brought it back up, her eyes were red and misty.

?I couldn?t take it. I couldn?t just sit there and let those monsters get away with it all. So I did what I had to. Maybe I had to step outside the law myself, but was there any other way??

?Yes,? Sakuya answered, ?and maybe you?d have found it if you weren?t such a quitter.?

The Lily jerked her head about, looking at Sakuya with a look of utter scorn. ?The hell do you think you?re saying to me, kid??

?I said you?re a quitter,? Sakuya repeated, without a hint of emotion on her face. ?You ran away because you couldn?t win every battle. If the laws are that weak, why didn?t you petition to have them tightened??

?Because it was too late by then,? the Lily stammered, eyes never moving away from Sakuya. They smouldered with a new-born rage. ?What good is a stronger law when the criminal is already free??

?Means you?ll get ?em next time.? Mokou butted into the conversation, sitting up on the couch and looking down on the Lily. ?Besides, if you have to break the law to get things done, doesn?t that make you as bad as the folks you?re trying to lock away??

?It?s different!? the Lily yelled.

?No,? Sakuya said, her blank expression giving way to disdain. ?It?s breaking the same law that you were supposed to protect. You?re a quitter and a hypocrite.?

The Lily froze, eyes wide open as the first few traces of tears slid down her cheek. It was the look of someone who was facing a fact they didn?t want to admit. Koishi had seen it more than once since this whole affair had started.

Mokou and Sakuya looked towards her, nodding. Koishi nodded back. They had opened the Lily up, but they knew Koishi was the best at being gentle about it. She sat down in front of the Lily, meeting her eye-to-eye.

?Red Lily-san...?

?Komachi,? the Lily gasped. ?Call me Komachi.?

?Komachi-san. What my friends are saying may be true, but it?s only true in the past. You walked away from being a lawyer, right? You weren?t disbarred or anything.?

Komachi shook her head.

?So what?s stopping you from going back to it??

No answer.

?I?ve seen you in action, Komachi-san. You?re smarter than you want people to think you are. In a matter of months you?ve managed to become one of the most feared figures in the underworld. Why can?t you do the same again, but legally this time??

Komachi?s mouth bobbed open and shut, but words failed to come out. Koishi took her hand, looking her head-on with a brilliant smile.

?Don?t sink to their level, Komachi-san. You?re better than this. Stronger than this. I believe in you.?

Komachi could barely see for the tears in her eyes. Her hand grabbed at Koishi?s, squeezing hard enough that Koishi thought she would break something. She moaned, her voice low and mournful, like all of the feelings welling up inside her were being expelled at once. All the while Koishi held her hand, squeezing back in support.

When she finally let go, Komachi was gasping for breath. She pulled herself up, sniffling and rubbing at her nose.

?Damn kids...why?d you have to go and make me feel bad? I was almost done convincing myself I was a superhero or somethin?.?

Koishi had never realised how tall Komachi was when she was standing straight. She even had a few inches over Mokou when she wasn?t slumping forward.

?To be honest, they?ve been askin? me to come back for months now. They wanted me to take the Morichika case, too...maybe if I?d got the facts straight then, I wouldn?t have ended up in this mess in the first place.?

Her voice gained strength with every word. She rubbed away the last few tears on her face.

?But fine. When all of this crap is taken care of, I?ll get right back to it. I?ll shine off my badge, get my suit ironed, and walk back into that court like nothing?s wrong. And this time, I?m gonna stick to it until those bastards serve the time they deserve.?

Everyone was nodding along, cheering Komachi on without words. Koishi let go of her hand, pulling away now that Komachi seemed ready to stand on her own.

When she saw what was sitting in Komachi?s hand, she almost fell over.

?Ah, that?s-?

Komachi tilted her head, looking down at her own hand.

Sitting in her palm was an indigo-coloured jewel in the shape of a teardrop.

?Phweee!?? Sango gripped her head to keep it from falling off. ?The Red Lily is a Siren?!?

?Siren?? Komachi stared at her, scratching her head. ?What the hell is a Si-?

She cut herself short as she turned abruptly towards Mokou. ?Hey, wasn?t your hair black all of five minutes ago!??

Koishi blinked, sliding her glasses away. She?d been wearing them since work began, and she?d only kept hold of them during the riot thanks to a stroke of luck.

As she looked again, she saw Komachi?s hair flare up to a brilliant red, and her eyes had darkened to match it. She seemed to jump to and fro even when she was standing still, never keeping to one place. When she stepped towards Mokou, she made one step - and the distance between the two shrank to bring them right next to each other.

She had wondered how Komachi had managed to move so quickly earlier. She?d brushed past them like they weren?t there. At first she?d figured that the Lily was just athletic, but that wasn?t the whole truth.

She can control...distance?

Komachi turned over to Sakuya, still as puzzled as before. ?And you! You were Blondie! Did somethin? in my mind snap just there?!?

This wasn?t part of the plan. No-one had been ready for the Red Lily to become the newest member of their team. Koishi was the first to react, putting a hand on Komachi?s shoulder. It took a good bit of stretching.

?Komachi-san, I think we owe you an explanation...?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Esifex on January 31, 2012, 10:21:51 PM
She's going for distance
She's going for speeeeed

SHE'S GOING THE DISTANCE
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: BT on January 31, 2012, 10:25:31 PM
I would have preferred Scythe Woman, I think.  :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Scrittore on February 01, 2012, 04:30:22 AM
Heartstrings make wonderful guitars, don't they Koishi?  :derp:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on February 01, 2012, 04:45:07 AM
Why didn't Sango pick up that Komachi was a Siren? She did 'phwee' within range of Komachi, I think, didn't she?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Esifex on February 01, 2012, 06:36:00 AM
Why didn't Sango pick up that Komachi was a Siren? She did 'phwee' within range of Komachi, I think, didn't she?

Likely in the presence of three other confirmed and active Sirens. Probably got a distorted reason, or maybe it was an exasperated phwee instead of a sonar phwee.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on February 01, 2012, 07:42:24 AM
Why didn't Sango pick up that Komachi was a Siren? She did 'phwee' within range of Komachi, I think, didn't she?
I very deliberately avoided that for the most part, but I think I made a slip-up in this update with the "Don't tell me you need to use the bathroom" line. The only other time Sango phwees is during the protest when Komachi's already made it into the court and she's distracted by the whole 'Koishi bleeding from the head' thing. Anyway, thanks for the heads up; I'll fix that.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: CrowCakes on February 01, 2012, 12:12:09 PM
I wondered how many ways Komachi would get verified as a Siren, but considering her age, it was hard for me to guess anything but an emotional release. I just never thought that it would be by attacking her beliefs and then cheering her up.

So I should ask a question so that I benefit from this: wasn't that kind of roundabout, i.e. unraveling it by questions? tl;dr I don't get why you didn't approach it more directly.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on February 01, 2012, 02:43:42 PM
So I should ask a question so that I benefit from this: wasn't that kind of roundabout, i.e. unraveling it by questions? tl;dr I don't get why you didn't approach it more directly.
I don't think that initially they planned to do anything. They only wanted to know "Do you want to come with us to take care of Eiki?" but felt that after all she'd been through she had the right to speak her mind. It was only when Komachi started going into the Red Lily stuff that Sakuya decided 'yeah, this woman needs a talking to'. Then Mokou jumped in, and they tried to open her up a bit. Both of them knew from experience that Koishi was the best at helping people come to terms with these things, so they stopped to let her finish the job.

At least, that was the plan. Hopefully it didn't come across as too heavy-handed.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: UndyingHunterKamigama on February 01, 2012, 11:58:15 PM
Let's see,
Koishi - TH 11 SA
Mokou - TH 8 IN
Sakuya - TH 6
Komachi - TH 9

So far my theory is that a single boss from each touhou game would be brought here. But then again I could be wrong. Another wonderfully made chapter~
But with Komachi's ability being dragged here, I have to wonder. Does it only affect 'her' distance, or could she change the other siren's distances?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Scrittore on February 02, 2012, 04:23:57 AM
Huh. Makes me wonder if Sanae or someone might show up as a Sailor Scout Siren. But considering how Reimu's a lawyer and Nitori is the boss of the Pearl... Whatever, whatever happens, it'll be awesome. On a side note, will Shinki ever show up? Will Marisa make an appearance? I wonder, I wonder...  :wat:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: BT on February 02, 2012, 01:53:32 PM
If he goes with MoF it better be Suwako.

Frog woman must exist.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Scrittore on February 03, 2012, 04:26:08 AM
Frog woman does exist, but she might be involved with the Pearl or the Claw already; after all, Suwa-mama does have a froggy theme going on. Frog = Aquatic animal ( I know it's an amphibian but worth a shot ) = Water = .....

I can't wait to see how all of this unfolds...
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Silent Harmony on February 03, 2012, 06:44:55 AM
Komachi is a siren
:*

*Ahem* Blatant fanboying aside, I admit I had heavy suspicions. Still, this is the first "adult" to be made a siren, and a rarity in the "magical girl" genre (for obvious reasons). I'm also interested in the limits of her ability. Is it just herself, or does it affects others? What's the range? The limits?

I'm a little surprised at how easily she accepted the girls this time. It's like as soon as she took a bath all doubt suddenly vanished. I assume we can blame it on the shock of being shot at point-blank (by her best friend no less); there is no reason for Rinnosuke's goons to capture her after that rather than kill her on the spot.  My guess anyways.

About the mission, I'm guessing Komachi will certainly join Koishi in saving Eiki, and I'd assume where Koishi goes Sango goes. So I'm guessing it's Mokou, Sakuya, and Momiji protecting Aya.

Enjoying the story as always Rou.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Esifex on February 03, 2012, 04:36:13 PM
So I'm guessing it's Mokou, Sakuya, and Momiji protecting Aya.

Enjoying the story as always Rou.

Oh, good point. THAT would be impressive to see - the more brawly Sirens (and Momiji) in action together. Hoboy :D
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on February 04, 2012, 06:52:08 AM
She can control...distance?


AND HER SCYTHE OF CRAZY AWESOMENESS SHALL PILLAGE THE EEEEEEEEVVVVVVVIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLLL
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on February 04, 2012, 07:58:04 PM
There wasn?t enough time for everyone to hang around, so the team split up into two groups. Momiji, Mokou and Sakuya headed for the Bunbunmaru, while Koishi and Sango got Komachi up to speed before taking on the judge. Momiji had given them a spare Ring of Breath as they?d left, and Komachi had put it on without really knowing why she had to.

Komachi was skeptical to start, but the sight of the general populace served a big part in convincing her. For a few minutes she did little beyond pointing out the curious hair colours of passers-by. After the twentieth teenage boy with bright blue hair, the point had been made.

From that point on, she was surprisingly receptive of the facts. The hunt for the Teardrops, the War of Catalysm, even the idea of having her own powers. Koishi explained what she had seen Komachi do, and the lawyer nodded along with it.

?Yeah, I was wonderin? how I did that. I mean, no matter how fast you are, you?ve got no right dodgin? a bullet from point-blank range.?

When they were a block away from the court, the conversation shifted to a darker tone.

?So, Eiki,? Komachi started, turning to Koishi with trembling eyes. ?You can fix her, right??

Koishi frowned. ?I can remove the mindcoil, but I can?t erase what she?s done. If the truth about that protest comes to light-?

?Yeah, I get it.? Komachi nodded, like she?d been expecting that answer to begin with. ?She?ll be kicked outta court faster than you can say ?miscarriage of justice?.?

Koishi couldn?t say that particularly quickly, but she got the point. Komachi took a moment to steel herself before she started walking towards the court.

?How?re we getting in?? Sango asked. ?I?m gonna assume they won?t just let you through the front door.?

?Fire escape,? Komachi answered. ?They probably haven?t thought of that. It?s locked, see.?

She led Koishi and Sango around the side of the building. The police had dispersed by now, but there was no promise that the security inside would be willing to let people just waltz by. The fire escape was thankfully unmanned, and Komachi led the trio as they made their way up.

?She had someone else with her,? Komachi said as she climbed the steps, stepping quietly to avoid being overheard. ?Some tanned chick wearing a buncha silver.?

?I?ll take care of her,? Sango answered, more serious than Koishi had seen her in a while. Sango had explained the whole shark issue to her a while ago, but she?d never realised how seriously she was taking it.

When they reached the second floor of the fire escape, Komachi shuffled through her keys. Koishi counted at least two dozen of them on her ring. With only a moment?s thought, she pulled out one and placed it in the lock. The door opened with a satisfying click.

?Working right under the head judge has some nice benefits,? she said with a wink.

The judge?s office was on the other side of this floor. They had made it past most of the guards on the bottom floor, but there was no guarantee that these floors were safe either. The trio stepped carefully, hanging to every wall and keeping as quiet as they could.

Sango was the first to hear it.

?Koishi-san, listen.?

Koishi did as she was told, taking a moment to focus on her surroundings. She picked it up - faint, slow breathing coming from the next corridor. It sounded strained, like with every breath the owner of the voice was fighting the urge to scream.

She poked her head around the corner. The shark girl, Jozu, was standing between them and the door to the judge?s office. Her eyes fell onto Jozu?s shoulder right away - blood had soaked right through her jacket, and she was still gripping at the wound with her other hand.

?Oh, right.? Komachi chuckled. ?That?s my fault.?

Rather than congratulating her for getting rid of a problem, Sango rewarded Komachi with a stern glare. The ex-Red Lily stepped back.

?Isn?t that a good thing, Sango-san?? Koishi asked. ?Now she?s not a problem.?

?I know, but...? Sango put her forehead against the wall, gritting her teeth. She stepped out into the corridor. Koishi was too slow to grab her as she stepped out into the open.

Jozu looked up to her, forcing a grin. Her teeth were terribly sharp.

?You again. I?m afraid...something has come up. I?m a little preoccupied right now.?

She winced. That bullet wound probably hurt like hell. Sango took a deep breath, then pointed her thumb down the corridor.

?Get outta here. Come back when you?re ready to fight.?

Jozu?s eyes widened in surprise at first, but slowly a look of gratitude rose to her face. She nodded, stumbling past Sango and towards the entrance.

?You gonna get out okay?? Sango asked.

?I presume you and your friends will give me enough of a distraction,? Jozu answered.

With that she was gone, walking down the corridor with a hand still pressed against her shoulder. Koishi didn?t move until the shark was out of sight.

?Well, that was sorta dumb, wasn?t it?? Komachi said, still looking in the direction Jozu had fled. ?Couldn?t you have just taken her prisoner or somethin???

Sango shook her head. ?She?s not like the rest of the Claw. She plays fair, and she deserves better than that.?

Komachi shrugged. Given the mad world she?d been flung into in the last half hour, she was willing to leave a lot of questions unasked.

As they stepped towards the door, they found Eiki?s voice much easier to make out than her bodyguard?s.

?What do you mean she?s not at home? I want you to make a full scan of the perimeter right now. Leave no stone unturned, no lead unfollowed. If you don?t come back with Komachi, you may as well sign yourself up for unemployment. I want her head on a goddamn platter, you hear me?!?

The sheer anger charging through her voice was a far cry from the well-spoken woman Koishi had seen on the news. Komachi seemed to deflate just from the sound of it, looking to Koishi for a sign to step in.

Koishi nodded.

When the trio stepped into the room, they found Eiki standing at the distant wall. Her desk had been tipped, and a broken bottle lay across the floor. Glass shards had dug into Eiki?s legs, but she paid them no mind.

There was a gun in her hand.

She turned as the door creaked open, hanging up the phone and throwing it away. It crashed into the wall, falling to pieces.

?Ah, there you are!? Eiki grinned, with a smile Koishi had never seen on a sane human being. ?So you?ve turned yourself in. Good to see that some of my influence has rubbed off on you.?

Koishi recognised the symptoms - more than anything, the lack of any sort of light in her eyes. Her guess had been dead-on.

?Eiki, listen to me,? Komachi said, stepping out into the room. ?You?re very sick right now, and this girl is going to help you...?

?Sick? Sick?!? The gun was raised, pointed right at Komachi?s head. ?Oh, but I?m the only one who isn?t sick! I?m the one helping you, Komachi. Why don?t you understand that??

Komachi?s voice dropped to a cool fury.

?Eiki. Put the gun down, right now.?

Eiki answered by pulling the trigger.

It happened too quickly for Koishi?s eyes to follow. Komachi had taken a small step to the left, and suddenly she had crossed half of the room. The bullet lodged itself harmlessly in the wall behind her.

?What?!?

Eiki turned and fired at her again. This time Komachi moved forward, and by the time Eiki was lining up the third shot Komachi was inches away from her. With a smack at the wrist, she knocked the gun from the judge?s hand.

?It?s over, Eiki. It?s all over.?

Eiki?s eyes jumped between Komachi and the gun. It was kicked away before she could grab it. She stepped backwards, putting her back to the window, as a wicked laugh began to heave out from her chest.

?Over? Heh...hahaha...you?re wrong, Komachi.?

She flicked the window open, the wind blowing into the room. They were on the second story, and there was no balcony.

By the time Komachi realised Eiki was falling backwards, it was already too late.

?It?s only just begun!?

Koishi could only watch in shock as Eiki tipped backwards, throwing herself out of the window behind her. What was she doing? None of the Mindcoil victims had ever tried to kill themselves before.

When she saw a golden key in the judge?s hand, she understood.

?EIKI!?

Komachi screamed as she leaped towards the window, but even with her newfound speed she wasn?t fast enough. She turned away, unable to bring herself to watch the judge turned into a fine paste on the ground.

Koishi had no such concern, pulling her head out and looking down. She caught the moment when Eiki plunged the key into her own chest, twisting just over where her heart was.

She stopped in midair as the key shone gold. The gold gave way to black, and Eiki was consumed in an orb of darkness. Komachi mustered up the nerve to look down at her, and the sight stunned her into silence.

When the orb began to break apart, Eiki kept herself aloft with her newfound wings.

She came up to the window, wings flapping behind her like she?d had them all her life. Both of them were perfectly kept, one black and the other white. She wore the long, dark-blue robe of a judge, but dozens of golden medals were scattered across it. Her hair was a brilliant green, running long on one side of her face but short on the other. Her dark blue eyes looked down on Komachi with a hint of pride.

?Shall we take this elsewhere??

She clicked her fingers, and in an instant all four of them disappeared.

-----

When Koishi?s eyes came back into focus, a cloud was passing by her face.

Her head spun, and as she looked down the feeling only grew worse. A transparent floor was all that stood between her and a long plummet to earth. She pulled her head away from the sight, looking around the room instead.

She stood behind a defendant?s bench, with Komachi and Sango alongside her. The benches were made of marble, a brilliant white flooding Koishi?s vision. There were no walls, no ceiling, no prosecutor, and no defense attorney.

There was only the judge, standing tall at her bench, a gavel in her hand.

?Welcome to the court of utopia. This is where I, the Judge of Paradise, will carry out your sentences.?

Komachi was already leaping over the bench, but stopped halfway when she saw that there was no floor on the other side. She stood on the bench, looking up at Eiki with a growl.

?You stand accused of crimes too numerous to count, but beyond all of them you have committed the gravest of sins - acting against me, the one true holder of the law.?

Eiki raised her gavel, her eyes brimming with righteous indignation.

?None of you shall ascend this day. Your vile souls will pave the depths of Hell!?

As she slammed her gavel down on the bench, Koishi felt the floor give way.

?Watch out!?

Sango grabbed Koishi by the hand, hauling her up onto the bench before her rider began to fall. Komachi stayed in place, staring down Eiki without a hint of fear.

Eiki frowned. ?So you refuse even to go along with my sentence? I had hoped to end this painlessly, but if you force my hand I have no choice but to serve as judge, jury...?

She rose up into the air, soaring above the court. Her gavel extended, growing to become a full-blown quarterstaff. It started white at one end but darkened to black at the other.

?And executioner!?

She swooped down, bringing the staff towards Komachi?s head. The lawyer ducked faster than her reflexes should have allowed, and Eiki flew above her as her attack struck nothing.

?Alright, time to see if you?ve been makin? stuff up,? Komachi muttered, pulling out her Teardrop. Koishi nodded, pulling out her own and demonstrating.

?Wherever evil forces be,
On the land or in the sea,
All who sin should cower and flee
From Dolphin Rider Koishi!? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8pgaLKB1BA)

For all of her chanting and her transforming, Koishi had to admit she was in a rough position. The chant talked about enemies on land and at sea, but it didn?t mention anything about the air.

?Sango-san, you can?t swim in the sky, right?? she asked as the trident emerged in her hand.

?Phwee? Why would I be able to do that??

It was worth asking.

By then, Eiki was heading down for another swoop. Koishi brought her trident up to block the attack coming her way, looking to Komachi.

?Your turn, Komachi-san!?

Komachi took a moment to grimace at Koishi?s outfit, but eventually lifted her own Teardrop into the air.

?Death and life have their determined appointments.? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3KOaX4U-Pg&feature=related)

The Teardrop shone at first, but a purple mist seeped out of it, surrounding Komachi and covering her from view.

?I am the ferryman, the Lady of the Sanzu River.?

With the sound of a gunshot, the mist dispersed. The figure within was definitely Komachi, but there was a new devilish glint in her eye. A long black coat hung over her, with a white tank-top and worn jeans underneath. Her belt was covered in pouches, with a coin emblem in the centre. But most impressive of all was the gun she was wielding - with the size of a shotgun but the shape of a revolver, she pointed it into the air. The barrel smouldered as the last hints of mist faded away.

?I?m the Red Lily. Death is my business, and business is pleasure.?

She didn?t skip a beat when Eiki came down on her again. She brought the gun up to meet her, cocking it in one hand.

?Titanic, fire!?

As she pulled the trigger, the blast was strong enough that Koishi almost lost her balance on the bench. A bullet plowed through the air at breakneck speed, aimed straight at one of Eiki?s wings. Feathers burst out in all directions as it made contact, Eiki?s swoop breaking to the side at the last minute.

Komachi smirked as she blew the smoke away from the tip of her gun. There hadn't been an ounce of recoil.

?Whoa...? Koishi looked on in awe. ?Komachi-san, you?re really getting into this.?

Komachi shrugged. ?Well, being Eiki?s assistant gave me a lotta downtime, and I kinda have a thing for Westerns...?

Eiki?s left wing had lost some of its strength, and she could no longer fly at full speed. She pulled back, stepping onto the judge?s bench and holding her staff above her head.

?Is there no end to your foolishness? Accept your punishment with dignity!? She threw it towards the witness bench, spinning as it flew. Koishi leapt to the side, flinging herself onto the defense attorney?s bench. Sango landed beside her, teeth grit as she looked up at the judge.

?There?s no way I can hit her from that distance!? the dolphin groaned.

Koishi raised her trident. ?That?s my job.? She pointed it at Eiki, balls of light forming at the tips. Eiki looked down at her, raising a single eyebrow.

?Iruka Beam!?

The laser burst outward, aiming for Eiki?s other wing. The judge jumped to the side, well out of the way of the attack. Koishi grimaced - the Iruka Beam wasn?t made to curve. Eiki looked down at her with a hint of smugness.

?Not so fast!?

Komachi called out from the other side of the room, where she?d taken refuge on the prosecutor?s bench. Koishi saw her reach forward, clasping at the air with her fist, then pulling it to the right.

In time with her movements, Koishi?s beam bent to the side.

?Wha-?

Eiki leaped over the beam, but it clipped at her wing on the way over. She landed hard, more of her feathers fluttering down to earth. Koishi looked to Komachi, as surprised as the judge was.

?What was that??

?Hell if I know,? Komachi answered. ?All I know is that it worked.?

Eiki rose to her feet again, livid at the two Sirens. Her staff returned to her, and as soon as she had a grasp on it she smacked the tip into the bench.

The marble began to darken and crumble, and before long the bench was falling to the earth below.

?Court is dismissed!?

Now Koishi began to really worry. If Eiki could destroy the benches just by touching them, she couldn?t let the judge come close. She brought the trident up again, ready to swipe at Eiki when she came down.

The judge had taken to the air again after destroying her own foothold. Komachi?s gun was primed to bring her down, and she lined up the shot as Eiki swooped down towards the defendant?s bench.

?Fire!?

The bullet came charging out, but this time Eiki was out of the way. The shot flew right past her - and right towards Koishi.

?Watch it!?

Komachi clasped her fist shut, and at her will the bullet stopped in midair. She flung it to the side, sending it careening into the distance.

?Sorry!? she yelled across the benches. ?This thing is hard to aim.?

Koishi wasn?t exactly comforted by the claim. She felt her pulse quicken as Eiki?s staff tapped at the empty bench, and another foothold fell away.

The judge turned towards them with a blank stare and a wicked grin. Her wings flapped out of time with one another.

?So which of the infidels wants to be executed first?!?

She sent the staff spinning through the air towards the prosecutor?s bench. Komachi primed herself, readying the Titanic to shoot it out of the sky.

It broke to the side at the last minute, catching Sango square in the chest.

?Phweeeeeeee!?

The dolphin lost her balance on the marble bench as the staff slammed into her. It knocked her backwards, off of the bench and down towards the distant earth.

?SANGO-SAN!?

Koishi?s scream went unanswered. Sango fell out of sight within seconds, nothing coming between her and a grisly end.

Koishi held an arm out where Sango had been. The world grew misty as tears came to her eyes. All the while, Eiki was laughing maniacally about how the sinner had finally been judged.

The sorrow overwhelmed her, filling her up until there was no room left. What remained spilled out, taking the form of anger instead.

She looked up towards Eiki, a new fire blazing in her eyes. Things had just got personal.

The staff was her way in. As it flew back towards Eiki it tapped at the bench, taking Koishi?s foothold apart. She leaped forward as the marble crumbled, grabbing for the staff twirling through the air. She caught it in one hand, spinning around along with it, never letting her eyes drift to the monumental drop beneath her.

Eiki gasped. She hadn?t seen this coming. She tried to fly out of the way, but the staff did its job and returned to its master. Koishi wrapped her arms around the judge?s waist, holding on for dear life.

?Now, Komachi-san!?

She?d managed to weigh the judge down. Now Komachi had all the time she needed to line up her final shot. She cocked the Titanic, aiming it at the stronger wing of the two.

The bullet pierced the wing cleanly, sending another spray of feathers flying about. Eiki winced in pain as the shot struck her, her wings flapping madly to keep her in the air. If she didn?t have Koishi clinging onto her, she might have managed it, too.

?N-No! I?m...I?m falling!?

Eiki dropped the staff, waving her arms about in a desperate attempt to keep herself airborne, but her wings could no longer supply the power they needed. She began to spiral downwards, Koishi still holding onto her.

?Komachi-san, get on!?

Eiki was their ticket to a safe landing. Komachi nodded, leaping off the last bench of her own free will. She reached terminal velocity quickly, while Eiki was still trying to cushion her fall. Komachi grabbed the judge by the wings, holding her down and stopping her last attempt at resistance. She was reduced to babbling about justice and retribution, but her words fell on deaf ears.

A dot came into view beneath them.

?Sango-san!?

Koishi made out her partner?s form, still flailing about as she fell helplessly to earth. She leaned Eiki down against her will, trying to pick up speed.

Sango came no closer, but the ground did.

No!

There wasn?t anything she could do, she realised. Sango was going to die, and she could only watch it happen. She turned about, looking to Komachi for any sort of help.

She saw the lawyer staring at Sango with the utmost focus.

?W...What are you...??

Komachi didn?t answer. The winds battered her face, but her eyes never shifted. She raised one hand above her head, gritting her teeth. Only her flimsy grip on Eiki was keeping her from falling to her own death.

?To hell with terminal velocity!?

As she brought her hand down, Eiki picked up speed that she physically shouldn?t have had. She yelled as the city came closer and closer, and Sango began to grow in their vision.

Komachi was manipulating the distance between them and Sango. From the beads of sweat dripping down her face it was no simple task, but she barely blinked as she continued her work. Sango was the size of Koishi?s pinky, then her hand, then her arm, until finally they had managed to catch up with her.

?Koishi-saaaaan!?

Sango?s face was wet. She had been crying the whole way down. She reached an arm out towards Koishi, kicking through the air to bring herself closer. Koishi stretched out as far as she could manage, grimacing as she pushed her muscles as far as they were willing to go.

Her pain was rewarded with Sango?s fingers sliding along hers, until finally their hands linked. Immediately she pulled the dolphin in, wrapping an arm around her to be safe. She squeezed the dolphin, embracing her as tightly as she could with her spare hand. Sango wrapped her arms around Koishi?s waist, almost choking the life out of her.

?Time to pull this bird up!?

Komachi brought her arm back down and pulled backwards, bringing Eiki parallel to the ground. The wind billowed beneath her wings with such force that feathers were snapping off, but their descent was slowing down. All they had to do now was find a place to land.

The sea was the easy answer, and it was a big enough target that they had no need to worry about missing.

Koishi clung on with her spare hand as Komachi brought them down towards the water. The judge?s wings were a shadow of their former selves, the last few feathers falling away as they came to the surface of the water. Koishi tensed, and as the sea slammed into her face she became aware this was an excellent move.

She twirled around under the water, needing a moment to get her bearings. As soon as she?d figured out which way was up, she looked around for the others. Eiki was closest to her, hanging limp in the water. The crash must have knocked her out. Tiny bubbles slipped out of her mouth as she started to sink down towards the seabed.

?Uh-oh!?

Koishi wrapped her arms around the judge, trying to lift her to the surface. Eiki was heavier than she looked, and Koishi couldn?t lift her up at any great speed.

When Komachi came from the other side and did her share of the lifting, they made it to the surface in a matter of seconds.

?Haah, hah...?

As Koishi broke the surface with Eiki in tow, she took a moment to catch her breath. She looked up at the sky, at the clouds fluttering carelessly above her. It was hard to think that she?d been up there all of five minutes ago, and harder still to think that she had survived the descent.

?Hm??

Sango was hugging her by the waist, trembling and shivering.

?U-Uuuu...I?m pretty sure that?s a solid reason for a fear of heights...?

Koishi reached back with one hand and patted the dolphin on the head. For a moment Koishi thought she had lost her, but Komachi had managed to do the impossible and save her from becoming a dolphin pancake.

?How?s she looking, Komachi-san?? she asked.

Komachi put her ear beside Eiki?s mouth, nodding. ?She?s breathing, but we?d better get her to shore fast. We?re all gonna catch a cold otherwise.?

?Oh, I can help with that!? Sango?s face lit up as she dipped under the water. Shifting into her dolphin form, she slid underneath Eiki and started pulling her along, giving Koishi and Komachi a burst of speed at the same time.

Komachi started. ?Huh. So she really is a dolphin.?

Koishi stuck out her tongue. ?Didn?t she explain all of this earlier??

?Yeah, but...?

The complaint died in her throat. Komachi sighed, getting back to kicking.

?Well, I guess it isn?t the strangest thing I?ve seen today...?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on February 04, 2012, 09:25:28 PM
But most impressive of all was the gun she was wielding - with the size of a shotgun but the shape of a revolver, she pointed it into the air. The barrel smouldered as the last hints of mist faded away.

 :* BY GOD THAT'S EVEN BETTER
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: The Unlimited RR on February 05, 2012, 04:30:19 AM
Komachi with a spirit shotgun?

Dammit, now I imagine Komachi on a bike growling, "Look into my eyes...!  YOU ARE GUILTY!" (http://"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DKBzGkNmDM")
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Undinehunt on February 09, 2012, 12:44:59 AM
Now we get aerial flights? That combines two classes of battles, I think. Air and Underwater.

So we get, Koishi's type of magic, Mokou's gauntlets, Sakuya's cards, and Komachi's guns. The next weapons would have to do with... possibly a sword and kicking shoes?

By the way, I love this fanfic
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on February 11, 2012, 10:09:49 PM
Momiji wasn?t quite sure what to expect when she got to the Bunbunmaru.

She?d been on patrol when she wasn?t on duty, looking for Black Claw operatives and striking them down before they had a chance to cause any trouble. But she?d never taken on more than the run-of-the-mill foot soldiers, and she doubted the Claw would settle for that when it came to taking out a target like Aya.

?What about now?? Mokou asked, clutching her Teardrop in one hand. Momiji felt her blood pressure rise higher still.

?For the last time, no. You don?t transform until absolutely necessary. If either of you ended up seen by civilians, you?d give me a lot of cleaning up to do.?

Mokou frowned. She was going to ask the same question in about thirty seconds, like she had been doing for the last five minutes. Momiji considered running ahead just to get away from her, but leaving the phoenix on her own might make things even worse. She had to make sure Mokou knew exactly what she could and could not do.

?So here?s the plan. Aya?s probably going to have realised that she ruffled a few feathers with that report. She has a safehouse to hide in, so secret even I don?t know where it is. I want you two there for her as backup in case someone gets the drop on her. If she asks what?s going on, just say that you?re secret agents trying to protect her from Morichika. We?ll meet up at the school at sundown.?

Sakuya nodded in understanding. Mokou?s frown grew deeper. The plan probably didn?t include enough face-punching to entertain her.

?So what?re you gonna be doing?? Mokou asked. ?Don?t tell me you?re leaving the petty humans to take care of the hostage.?

Momiji winked.

?I?ll be watching from above.?

She turned away into a nearby alley, a cramped one with the walls only a few feet apart. Keeping her momentum she kicked against the left wall, propelling herself upwards. She kicked the right wall in the same manner, bouncing between the two and gradually gaining height. Within a minute she had climbed up to the roof, hauling herself up and looking down onto the street. The two Sirens were still looking down the alley, stunned.

Had they never seen a youkai before?

?Don?t you two have a job to do?? she yelled. The Sirens flinched, and started running towards the Bunbunmaru again. Momiji shadowed them, jumping from rooftop to rooftop with leaps that humans could only dream of.

There was no sign of a Black Claw presence on the ground, and the two humans made it to the Bunbunmaru without much trouble. Momiji had expected as much. The Claw would want to deal with this carefully. They wanted Aya to disappear without a trace, or she?d just become a martyr.

That was why she?d chosen to check the rooftops. It was the covert route that most people wouldn?t think of guarding. It?d take an agent with impressive speed and skill to make the leaps, but Momiji didn?t doubt that the Claw had that sort of operative in the wings. She kept her eyes locked on the roofs around her, looking for anyone else taking the same route she was.

A dot prancing about in the distance caught her eye. She matched its movement, but didn?t let it lure her away from her objective. It could be a distraction, Momiji thought to herself. Only when Momiji made the final leap, landing on the roof of the Bunbunmaru offices, did she see the dot come closer.

The creature leapt across the roofs with the grace of a fox. A cloak shielded it from view, but Momiji could see a pair of stiff-looking greaves on its feet. She winced. If it could make jumps like that while it was weighed down with armour, this was shaping to be a difficult fight.

And a fight was exactly what she was going to get. The target had spotted her, and it was blazing across the roofs with an obvious intent to kill. Momiji raised her arms forward, whispering a mantra in a tongue no human understood.

Cold steel formed in her hands. In her left, an ornate metal shield with a maple leaf engraved on it. In her right, a wide-edged sword that curved to a beautiful tip. Other youkai opted for more modern or magical fighting styles, but Momiji was a sucker for tradition.

The assassin made the final jump towards the Bunbunmaru, one arm emerging from underneath the cloak. It held a silver saber with a sleek blade no thicker than Momiji?s pinky. It charged forward, thrusting at Momiji?s chest. The wolf swung her shield across, deflecting the blow and letting her opponent?s momentum carry her forward.

She rolled gracefully, making it to her feet before Momiji could capitalise. Her hood had fallen, revealing the face of a young woman. Momiji could tell no more than that - she wore a winged helmet that would have suited a valkyrie, and a domino mask covered most of her face from view. That was curious - for all the subtlety, Claw agents usually didn?t go this far out of their way to hide their identities.

The girl saw no reason to recover her hood, going on the attack again. Her thrusts never erred from their target, and Momiji was forced on the defensive. Blow after blow clattered against her shield, but her opponent never gave her any opening for a counterattack. Momiji maintained her defense, waiting for her enemy to make a mistake.

She attempted to sidestep as the assailant pulled her saber back, hoping her foe would swing at thin air. Much to Momiji?s frustration her opponent never took the bait - in fact, she stepped almost in time with Momiji, not even giving her a chance to recover.

The wolf was forced into a battle of attrition. In an instant where she wasn?t fighting for her life, she looked down onto the streets. Aya was making her way out of the building, Mokou and Sakuya at her sides. She felt a new strength build inside her as she came back to the fight. She didn?t have to win, she just needed to buy Aya the time she needed.

It was anything but simple. Her opponent?s thrusts all came in with deadly force, and a slip-up on Momiji?s part would be instantly fatal. She had some narrow escapes where her enemy?s saber scraped against the rim of her shield. Her wig had fallen away a long time ago, her wolf ears perked as she focused all her attention on the bout.

She heard her opponent panting, growing short of breath. Momiji grinned. She?d weathered the storm, and soon it would be her turn to strike. She maintained her defensive, batting away strikes until her enemy?s fatigue got the better of her.

Her foe pulled her arm back a little slower than usual, and Momiji could see her face turning red behind the mask. This was as good an opening as any. She swung her sword around, ready to slice the agent clean in two.

By the time her sword had finished its arc, the girl was already on the floor, sweeping Momiji off her feet with a kick.

A feint?!

Momiji was falling. She brought her arms in to shield her chest, waiting for her opponent to go for a coup de grace, but instead she heard the sound of frantic footsteps. The enemy was running away.

?Dammit!?

Momiji leaped to her feet, scanning the rooftop. No sign of the attacker. She must have jumped down into the streets so Momiji wouldn?t see her leaving.

The wolf grit her teeth. She had been so close, and letting her guard down once had cost her the fight. Maybe she hadn?t lost, but she definitely hadn?t won.

At least Aya had escaped. Even if there was a trace of where she?d gone, the agent would be too busy fleeing to follow it. Momiji had done her job.

She was just going to have to worry about a rogue agent on the streets. One with a damn good sword arm, and reflexes to match. She picked her wig off the floor, shielding her ears from view. She slid down a drainpipe after dismissing her weapons, making her way back to rendezvous with her boss.

She wondered if the judge had been dealt with yet. Or maybe she?d managed to kill off the three agents Momiji had sent to take care of her.

Momiji really hoped that wasn?t the case. Kawashiro wouldn?t stand for it.

-----

It was a five minute swim to the beach, and thankfully there was no-one in sight. The sun was setting as evening drew close, and the waters were far too cold for a casual swim. Koishi?s chattering teeth reminded her of this fact every few seconds.

All of them were soaked through when they stepped onto the sand, but Komachi had it worst of all. She?d discarded her coat at some point, and her shirt clung too tightly to her chest. Koishi couldn?t look at her without jealousy seeping into her mind. She looked down at her own chest, a flat surface from top to bottom. Even Sango was better endowed than she was.

?Kid, are you gonna help me out or just keep oglin? me??

Komachi?s voice snapped with impatience, knocking Koishi to her senses. Eiki had been laid down on the beach, unconscious but still breathing. The wings had been burnt away in the landing, leaving Eiki looking just like she had been before she?d used the Black Key.

Koishi came towards her, sitting in the sand next to the fallen judge. She turned to Komachi, her face ashen.

?Alright, I?ll warn you now. Out here it?s going to look like I?ve passed out, but I?ll basically be inside her head and getting rid of the parasite.?

Komachi nodded. She stayed only inches from Eiki?s body, and Koishi saw her biting her lip and fidgeting. She pulled a smile.

?It?s fine, I?ve done this a couple of times before. I?m sure I?ll be okay.?

She reached down to her chest, her hand gripping at her third eye. She pointed it at Eiki?s body, pulling its eyelids open, and welcomed the familiar sensation of her consciousness drifting from her body.

Her eyes opened, and saw nothing.

?Eh??

Her legs kicked at air - no, not air. She could swim in it. But it was unlike anything she?d experienced before. In the distance, all she could see in all directions was an impenetrable wall of black.

Pulsing, throbbing black.

N-No way...

The mindcoil had consumed everything. She swam towards the wall, set to tear the creature away, but no matter how far she swam she never seemed any closer to her goal. Was she even moving? She couldn?t tell.

A figure in the distance caught her attention. This one she was able to approach, and as she had come to expect it was Eiki herself. She hung limp in the water, in a long-cut black suit, with a veil over her face. It was an outfit for mourning.

But mourning what?

She put a hand on Eiki?s shoulder, shaking her awake. Eiki?s eyes fluttered open, and she turned to Koishi with a look of dread.

?What did you do that for? I didn?t want to come back.?

She forced her eyes shut, curling up into a ball and turning away. Koishi?s brow furrowed.

?Shiki-san, where are we??

?Where else?? Eiki held her hands outward. ?This is me.?

Koishi looked in the same direction that Eiki was, seeing nothing but the ominous black walls in the distance.

?Fitting, isn?t it?? Eiki laughed, but from the sound she made she may as well have been crying. ?Empty, vacuous, and rotten to the core.?

This had been inside her all along, Koishi thought to herself. The Mindcoil could only prey on an idea that was already there. Here, it had picked up on Eiki?s feelings for herself.

?Shiki-san, that?s not true,? Koishi answered, shifting about to face Eiki head on. ?You?re the head judge of Gensouto. You?ve put hundreds, maybe thousands of criminals behind bars.?

Eiki turned to her, her face twisting to a look of fury in an instant.

?And what about the ones that got away? Rinnosuke Morichika - how many more are going to suffer at his hands thanks to me? I was supposed to put him away, but I let him walk.?

She grabbed at her hair, pulling at it so fiercely Koishi expected her to rip it right off her head.

?What about Layla? She was just a little girl, she didn?t know what she was getting into...what about her family? They were calling on me to get their sister justice, but I let them down. And now he?s going to keep on ruining peoples? lives because I couldn?t get him a guilty verdict.?

Her anger passed as quickly as it had emerged, and she fell backwards again. She stared upwards with eyes that looked barely alive.

?I was an idiot. I should have known that Morichika would try to buy out everyone involved in the case. If I?d given them protection, kept the evidence locked away, it all could have changed...now there won?t be any salvation for Layla. I may as well have killed her myself. I?m an accomplice in the crime. If a real judge had been taking the case, there wouldn?t have been any room for doubt.?

This all sounded familiar to Koishi. It rang with a tone she could imagine coming from her own voice. It reminded her of what she had been like before she?d met Sango, before all of this Siren nonsense had started.

She didn?t realise how much she hated that voice until now.

?So please, leave me alone,? Eiki muttered, closing her eyes. ?I have no right to judge the lives of others. It?s best I simply rot away rather than causing any more tro-?

The sound of Koishi?s palm slapping against Eiki?s face echoed throughout the water. The judge twirled about, grabbing her cheek, her face flaring red where Koishi had smacked her.

?Stop and listen to yourself for a moment,? Koishi said, her voice stronger and angrier than she?d intended. ?You?re just like Komachi-san was. You?re running away because you think your job is too hard.?

Eiki trembled, tears rising to her face. Her voice was fearful, like a prisoner begging her captor for forgiveness.

?You couldn?t understand! Do you know how it feels to let a criminal loose on the streets?! My crimes outweigh my virtues a hundred fold!?

?Not your crimes,? Koishi whispered. ?Your only crime is being human.?

?Isn?t that bad enough?? Eiki stretched her arms out to the walls again. ?After all, if it isn?t white, it?s black. If you?re not a saint, you?re a sinner. If you?re not a hero, you?re a villain. When you?re a judge, everything falls to one absolute or the other - guilty or not guilty.?

Koishi grit her teeth. Eiki had seemed like such a well-balanced woman on television. She?d never imagined that a monster like this had been growing inside her all along. Force wasn't the answer here, but she knew what had worked up until now.

She embraced Eiki, hugging her with all her might.

?Eh?? Eiki froze in place, taken aback by the gesture. Koishi knew this was her chance.

?Shiki-san. You?re not perfect, but that doesn?t mean you?re broken. You can?t let every mistake wear you down.?

The judge started to struggle against her grip. She didn?t like what she was hearing, but Koishi wasn?t going to give her a choice. Around them, the walls began to quake and groan.

?Learn from your mistakes, then let them go. Once you?ve learned all you can from the past, you need to get back to the present.?

The Mindcoil howled. She was getting through to her. One more good push would do it. She looked up to Eiki with a smile, in spite of the judge?s look of distress.

?I talked to a friend about this, actually. She used to be a lawyer, but she?s been out of it for a while. She told me that you were a great woman - not just that, but the best judge Gensouto?s ever seen. You don?t think she?s lying, do you??

Eiki?s struggling reached its peak, but Koishi refused to let her go. Here, deep down in Eiki?s mind, she could make a difference. She could rid her of her demons and help her start again.

Koishi placed her hands on Eiki?s shoulders, looking her straight in the eye.

?Shiki-san. How do you plead??

The judge grit her teeth, trying to hold the words in, trying to break away. Koishi held her down, pulling the veil from her face. She wasn?t running away from this.

?...N...?

The first sounds to come from Eiki were quiet, and not even words. With every whisper the walls flared out, screaming with a thousand voices.

?...Not...?

Koishi could almost feel the tension building up inside the woman. It grew stronger and stronger, flooding Eiki until she could no longer hold it back. She screamed, her voice echoing across the water.

?NOT GUILTY!?

As the sound struck the walls they shattered like shards of glass. The Mindcoil yelled with a million voices, the cacophony forcing Koishi to cover her ears. As the fragments struck the floor, they crumbled into dust as an unseen wind carried them away.

Eiki had gone limp in Koishi?s hands, the sheer force of what she?d done driving the life right out of her. Koishi let her go, and she sank backwards with her eyes locked on the ceiling.

A smile rose to her face.

?Look at that," she said, pointing upwards.

Koishi turned towards the ceiling. Now that the wall of black had fallen away, she could see a brilliant light show surrounding her. Colours of every shade and every brightness assaulted her. There was no white or black, but every colour in between flooded her senses.

She felt Eiki?s hand clutching at hers.

?It?s beautiful, isn?t it?? the judge asked, her eyes red and dry.

Koishi felt her body growing heavy. Her job was done here. She squeezed back as the world slowly faded away.

?Yes, it?s beautiful...and it?s all yours.?

-----

?Nn.?

Koishi always found coming back to her body a little disorienting. Going from the fantastic world of the subconscious back into the mundane realm of the living brought its fair share of disappointment.

?Morning, Koishi-san.?

Sango was already helping her to her feet, giving her room to get her bearings. Komachi looked up at her, her expression as nervous as it had been before Koishi had drifted away.

?You did it, right?? It sounded more like a plea than a question. Koishi leaned down, pulling up one of Eiki?s eyelids.

A bright blue eye looked back at her.

?Yeah, it worked,? Koishi answered with a sigh of relief. ?She?ll wake up in a couple of hours, but she won?t remember a thi-?

Komachi was hugging her before she could finish her sentence.

?Dammit, kid, you?re a lifesaver. I was scared I?d lost her, but-?

Komachi only realised she was squeezing too hard when Koishi went blue in the face.

?Oh, uh, sorry. Just really, really excited, is all.?

Koishi caught her breath, falling backwards onto the sand. She felt good. Saving someone who should have been beyond redemption did that to her.

?So what?re you gonna do now, Komachi-san?? Sango asked. ?We?ll need to get hold of you and arrange a meeting with the boss.?

Komachi nodded, but she?d already hauled Eiki onto her shoulder.

?Can it wait a few days? I?ve got some personal stuff to sort out now.?

?Don?t see why not,? Sango answered. ?Just watch out. The Black Claw might try to target Judge Shiki again.?

Komachi smirked. ?Why do you think I?m taking her home with me??

Koishi watched her go, back straight and shoulders propped. Compared to the laid-back lawyer she?d seen on TV, she looked like she?d been reborn. It was a sight that brought an uncontrollable smile to Koishi?s face.

She looked up to the sky, the sun setting in the distance. Dozens of shades filled the air, from the darkest reds to the brightest yellows. It was a hundred times more beautiful than a wall of white could ever be.

-----

?That?s, uh...? Nitori scratched her head as Momiji finished her report. ?That wasn?t what I was ready to hear, actually.?

Nitori had been ready for a lot to go wrong in the operation, but the last thing she?d expected was for the Red Lily to be a Siren. She spun around in her chair, needing a moment to bring herself to her senses.

?What about Shameimaru?? she asked.

?Safe,? Momiji answered, with visible relief. ?But the agent I fought on the rooftop managed to escape.? She growled, looking away with a scowl on her face.

She had always been prideful, Nitori thought to herself. A brilliant operative, but one with a habit of letting her prejudices get the better of her. She had never quite accepted Nitori as her superior, and she?d accepted the post at the Bunbunmaru only after a good deal of suggestion.

In that regard, maybe this operation had turned out well for her. The defeat would burrow through her outer shell, working its way into her thoughts. It would put down her pride and help her focus on the greater good that all of them were fighting for.

?Ma?am, may I make a request??

Momiji?s expression was evasive, still not looking Nitori in the eye. That was a first. Normally, Momiji would be glaring straight at her in an attempt to scare her into agreement.

?Shoot,? Nitori answered, leaning backwards in her chair.

?Shameimaru may have retreated to a safehouse, but I doubt that will be the end of the Bunbunmaru. She?ll keep producing articles and rooting out the low-lifes, and it?s possible that Morichika or the Black Claw will make another attack on her.?

The wolf bowed forward, almost bringing her face down onto Nitori?s desk.

?I?d like to be reassigned to the permanent protection of Aya Shameimaru.?

Nitori couldn?t hide her gasp. This just kept getting more and more surprising. She?d hoped Momiji would learn some humility, but she hadn?t expected it to happen this quickly.

?Momiji, you aren?t...? She found it hard to speak, having trouble believing what she was about to suggest. ?You aren?t getting attached to a human, are you??

Momiji?s tail stood on end, and she creaked back upward with a defiant look on her face.

?Of course not! Well, I mean, her enthusiasm is certainly impressive, but that?s irrelevant. I just want to do my job in full.?

She was staring out the window, arms crossed and tail flapping behind her. That said more than enough.

Nitori smiled, leaning forward and nodding.

?Very well. You start your new position first thing tomorrow morning.?

Momiji?s face lit up for a moment. ?Ah, thank-? She caught herself halfway through the sentence, clearing her throat and regaining her composure before starting again. ?I mean, thank you, ma?am. I appreciate this.?

I know you do, Nitori thought to herself with a smirk. You appreciate it more than you?re willing to tell me.

She would have to keep an eye on the wolf, she decided. This promised to be interesting.

-----

?Huh??

Eiki?s thoughts were hazy as she came to. The last 24 hours had blended together in her memory, none of it sticking out. She remembered a phone call, the Lily, a black dress - and nothing else. Her body ached, and she pulled herself up to try and make some sense of things.

She quickly realised this wasn?t her house. She was lying on the couch in an unfamiliar living room.

?Morning,? Komachi yelled from the kitchen next door. ?Want me to get you some coffee??

Now that she mentioned it, Eiki did feel awfully cold. She looked down on herself, feeling her clothes clinging to her skin. She was soaked through. How had that happened? She couldn?t remember, and that frustrated her.

?That?d be great, thanks,? she answered. She looked around the room while she waited on Komachi to come through. She had a humble enough abode, well below her pay grade. The only sign of luxury was the television - a 40-inch behemoth with a surround sound system. Mountains of DVDs stood at each side of it, with titles like Last Of The Wild West, The Space Cowboy, and A Fistful Of Yen. Komachi had mentioned once or twice that she?d taken a fancy for Westerns recently, but Eiki had never realised it was to this extent.

Eventually, Komachi returned with two cups. She handed one to Eiki as the judge sat upright. The coffee was strong and dark, and it brushed away the last hints of dizziness in her mind.

?You feeling okay?? Komachi asked. For some reason, hearing her ask that made Eiki?s heart shiver. She felt like she owed Komachi for something, but she couldn?t put it to words. She gave up on it, deciding to deal with more important matters instead.

?Komachi, how did I get here??

The blank space in her memory was too frustrating to let slip. Komachi?s expression darkened, and immediately Eiki knew that she'd forgotten something terribly important.

?It?s a long story,? Komachi started. ?It was the Morichika case that started it, I think. It sorta pushed you over the edge. Like, even worse than you usually are when you lose a case.?

Eiki?s heart sank. What had she done? She sat in silence, listening with a bowed head as Komachi continued.

?You were sick. Very sick. You did a lot of...scary things. Then, when it all got too much...?

Komachi paused, struggling to speak. Eiki urged her on with desperate eyes.

?I caught you walking out into the ocean with rocks in your pockets. If I hadn't pulled you out...well, you'd probably be dead.?

Eiki couldn?t put a word to the emotion that flooded her. Shame? Regret? Guilt? It was all of these, and more. She bowed her head down, ready for the world to swallow her.

A pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist.

?It?s gonna be okay, Eiki. I?m gonna talk to the court and see if I can get you some off time. You need a nice, long break before you come back to work.?

She didn?t realise she was leaning into the hug until her face brushed against Komachi?s. She made no attempt to change this fact.

?But what?s going to happen to the court when I?m gone? What if there?s another big case, and I?m not there??

Komachi ruffled her by the hair. She was a head taller than Eiki and it felt almost unfair sometimes.

?No worries, boss. I?ll cover it for you.?

Eiki gasped. ?You mean...?

Komachi smirked.

?Yeah. I think it?s time both of us stopped running away, don?t you??

Eiki just blinked to start with. She knew. Of course she did. She?d been there when Eiki was at her worst. And now she was here to pull her out of it.

Eiki hugged her back, pushing her face into Komachi?s chest so she wouldn?t be seen crying. Now she remembered why she felt she owed Komachi. She couldn?t have asked for a better friend.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Hanzo K. on February 11, 2012, 10:29:13 PM
Beautiful. Simply Beautiful.
If I knew some fitting music, I'd link 'em with appropriate pointers to specific parts.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Cystral Dragon on February 11, 2012, 10:51:43 PM
WMG:Masked Woman is Hatate/Youmu/Any sword wielding character/Ran/Batman/Sango/Robin/The World

Anyways I like how you handled the Mind Coil.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: UndyingHunterKamigama on February 12, 2012, 01:41:35 AM
Great work as always. Momiji's battle would be with someone that can fight with a sword, but then again you did show Komachi using guns and Sakuya using cards.


Shikieki's mind coil was pretty much dealt with. And Tsun-tsun Momiji~ I like that Momiji~ Are we going to see more of her on the future? Or will she be just appearing for this short while?


I can't wait for vengeance to strike back against Rinnosuke.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Fetch()tirade on February 12, 2012, 02:15:35 AM
You do a really good job at coming up with and painting a scene. It's to the point where I'm reading a few lines at a time and then stopping to imagine it as a show playing in my head.

A Fistful Of Yen
I laughed. Really hard.

Also relevant. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfUe2eckPFQ)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on February 12, 2012, 02:40:58 AM
?What about Layla? She was just a little girl, she didn?t know what she was getting into...what about her family? They were calling on me to get their sister justice, but I let them down. And now he?s going to keep on ruining peoples? lives because I couldn?t get him a guilty verdict.?

Hooray you remember Layla

Good use btw.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: BT on February 12, 2012, 03:17:07 PM
I liked the sudden change in Mindcoil Mechanics.

Get to writing on the Mokou-Kaguya side-story. Now. >:U
Title: Dolphin Rider Koishi ~Intermission~
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on February 20, 2012, 07:59:08 PM
?Komeiji! Sit up straight!?

The teacher?s voice pulled Koishi out of her daze. She?d slept for two or three hours at most last night. After the whole Red Lily incident had come to an end, she?d returned to school several days behind on every single subject - and with major tests coming up within the week. That had been a difficult deficit to pull back, but with enough focus and an ample supply of caffeine just about anything was possible. For once, during the weekly study meetups, it had been Cirno teaching her rather than the other way around. That had been a refreshing change for both of them.

The time Koishi didn?t spend studying was usually spent training with Sango. It wasn?t an ?official? session, but Sango had insisted on training at every moment she could. She had changed since the incident at the dock, since she?d met that shark woman. She?d been getting stronger by the day, but it must have left her as little time to sleep as Koishi had.

Then again, Sango had mentioned dolphins could sleep with half of their brain at a time. Koishi?s partner was sitting upright at her desk, but her eyes seemed to have glazed over. Koishi waved a hand in front of her while the teacher wasn?t looking. Sango didn?t so much as blink.

Wish I could pull that off.

The period drew to a close, and Koishi stumbled out of her chair. She gave Sango a gentle shove on the shoulder.

In typical form, Sango fell to the floor.

?Hyaah! S-Sir, I can?t answer that question! It?s a tenet of my religio-oh hi, Koishi-san.?

Koishi giggled, helping Sango up to her feet. She took care to pull down Sango?s jacket so no-one got a glimpse of what was coming out of her back.

?Should I assume you?re going to need a copy of my notes for homework tonight??

?Please and thank you,? Sango answered with a bow. Nitori had managed to sneak her into the register, but she had to keep her scores above water so the school wouldn?t get suspicious. It would be awkward if the head office tried to call her parents only to learn that Sango had no official record in the database. Or the national census, for that matter.

The pair walked together, squeezing each others? hands to keep themselves awake. Next up was History, which had been a whole different class for the last few days. Professor Kamishirasawa had spent some time in a cell after the protest, but had recently been let out with an official pardon and a promise that the Morichika investigation would be looked into. The school had given her a break to recover from the incident, but no-one knew quite how long she?d be away for. A substitute teacher had taken the class in her absence, much to the relief of her students - there was no threat of erasers being thrown, or whatever it was that she did to students who forgot their homework.

Koishi physically deflated when she saw Keine behind her desk. At the sight of the Siren, the teacher's eyes popped open.

?Oh, my, Komeiji-san! Such a pleasure to see you. You got caught up in all of that nonsense with the court, didn?t you??

As Koishi nodded, she felt her head throb again. The injury she?d managed to give herself in the riot was healing, but it still ached now and then. It had made her sleep even less restful than it would have been otherwise.

?I?ll live,? she said as she rubbed the back of her head. ?Good to see the misunderstanding got cleared up.?

?Misunderstanding?? Keine folded her arms and pouted. ?There was no misunderstanding there! That was the government abusing its power, like it has throughout the annals of history. If there?s anything mankind struggles to do, it?s keep the peace. I was planning a special class on it to underline the point, in fact.?

She craned her head around to look behind Koishi. Sango was standing in the doorway, still holding Koishi?s hand.

?Tororetsu, take your seat. And take off that jacket of yours.?

The second sentence brought a look of fear to Sango?s face.

?Eh? B-But Kamishirasawa-sensei, the school rules say it?s okay to wear a jacket on top of the school uniform.?

Keine?s eyes burrowed straight into Sango. ?Well, the rules of this classroom say that it isn?t.?

Koishi gulped. Keine had seen something she shouldn?t have at the protest, and now she was intent on proving it true. She took a step around Koishi to get to Sango, ready to rip the jacket off herself.

?Uh, Kamishirasawa-sensei, Sango-san needs to wear that!? Koishi said as she stood in the way again. ?She?s from Okinawa, you see, and it?s a lot colder here, so she?s not quite used to the climate.? She turned to the students who had already taken their seats. ?Right, everyone??

She got a wave of mumbled agreements. No-one knew enough about Sango to say otherwise, which was exactly what Koishi had been banking on.

?See? No problem. Now, let?s go take our seats.?

Koishi pulled Sango along before Keine could press the point further. The teacher glowered at the pair, but ultimately conceded her defeat and turned to the chalkboard.

?Alright, students, you won?t need your textbooks. Today, I?m going to teach you why humanity will never have a trustworthy government...?

-----

?Thanks for coming to see me, Koishi-san. I really appreciate it.?

Iku was doing her best to ease Koishi in, a hand on her shoulder and a smile on her face. She was more or less ignoring Sango, who was standing outside the door and twiddling her thumbs.

?But does she always have to come over??

Her words made Koishi droop. She?d never had a good explanation, and it got harder with each passing day. Already Iku probably suspected that Sango was abusing her. Better than her finding out the truth, though.

Iku nodded without Koishi needing to say a word. She moved away, motioning for Koishi to lie on the bed at the back of the nurse?s office. Koishi did so.

?Now, Koishi-san, I wanted to talk about your family today.?

Koishi gasped without meaning to. Iku flinched.

?Ah, sorry,? she said, biting her lip. ?It?s just that we?ve never taken the time to talk about it. I?m worried you might be welling it all up, so I thought giving you a chance to talk about it would be a relief.?

Sweat trickled down Koishi?s face, her hands clenching into fists. Iku was right, she thought to herself. She?d put her family out of her mind for the last few months. It had been a pleasant experience. Orin, Okuu, Sango, the Sirens - they had become her new family to make up for the one she?d lost.

She had run away from it before. But she had been weaker then. Maybe she could deal with it now.

?Okay,? she said after a long silence, giving Iku a weak nod. The nurse smiled.

?Alright, then. Tell me about your mother, to start with.?

Koishi closed her eyes, trying to get a picture of her mother in her mind?s eye. The only memories she had of her were pictures that her father had shown her over the years. She saw a proud young woman with brilliant brunette hair and glittering eyes, but who stood a head beneath her husband.

?My mother...I don?t remember her. I never met her, and I heard she died giving birth to me. Father always had praises to sing for her, and I don?t think there was a day where he forgot her.?

Iku was scribbling notes down without looking at the paper, her eyes never straying from Koishi. ?Interesting. What about your father? What did he do??

This would be a little harder. Koishi steeled herself, taking a deep breath before she continued.

?My father was a vet. I think he met my mother when she brought one of her dogs in for a checkup, actually. He was a good man, always cheerful and smiling, but he had to work long hours to support the family on his own. That?s probably why he died so young.?

It hadn?t registered with Koishi when it happened. A heart attack at work, she?d been told. She?d been sad, of course, but she had never felt really alone without him. She saw so little of him that she was almost used to him being unavailable.

?So most of the time, it was just us around the house. Me, and...? Her voice grew hoarse, the last word flopping out of her mouth. ?Onee-chan.?

How long had it been since she?d used that word? It felt foreign to her now. Alien, even. Iku had noticed it as well, raising her head upwards and writing down a note on it.

?Your sister...Satori, right? Tell me about her.?

Iku?s voice grew more severe. This was the point that she?d been aiming towards all along, Koishi thought to herself. She heard the old voice in her head take form again, whispering warnings that this was too much and she should walk out of the room right now.

She silenced them. Iku was right. She had been bottling this up. It was time to talk about it.

?Onee-chan...?

She didn?t want to use that word. It reminded her too much of her old self. She?d been too clingy and dependent on Satori to get anywhere. She shook her head about as she started again.

?...No, Satori. She was my big sister, and she never let me forget about it. Ever since we could walk she was there for me. She would step through puddles on the way to school to check if they were too deep for me. She was there to show me how to do all the chores and look after the animals we kept around the house. She even helped me with homework when I got stuck.?

She could sit around all day listing all the things Satori had done for her. For years they had been more or less inseparable, to the point where Koishi struggled to remember moments when they?d been apart. That had made her disappearance a thousand times harder for Koishi.

?I don?t know where she?s gone. I don?t even know if she?s still alive. That?s the hardest part, I think. I keep hoping that she?ll just show up on the doorstep and come back into my life like magic. I know it?s silly, but...?

Koishi felt her face grow wet. She had known from the start talking about this would be difficult, but if she let it out now maybe it wouldn?t haunt her later.

?So I guess I haven?t come to terms with it yet. I dream about her sometimes, and that doesn?t help. I just want things to end, one way or the other.?

Iku was scribbling furiously, and Koishi couldn?t see her face for the notebook. When at last the nurse finished with her notes, she put the book to the side with a sigh.

?Alright, that?s enough for today. Thanks for being so open about it.?

Koishi shook her head as she sat up on the bed. She took a deep breath in, and it felt like something had been washed out of her.

?No, Nagae-san. Thanks for letting me get it off my chest.?

Maybe she wasn?t ready yet, but she felt stronger now than she had before. Maybe somewhere down the line she?d be able to look at it all and smile.

She stepped out of the office, waving at Iku on the way out. The nurse eyed her with concern, but made no attempt to stop her. Sango turned around and took her hand the moment she was out of the office.

?Hey, Koishi-san, have you been crying?? Sango looked into her eyes, seeing the red marks running across them. ?Are you okay??

Koishi took a deep breath, walking on with a brisk but steady pace.

?Yeah, Sango-san. I think I am.?

-----

Today for sure.

She?d been too busy with work to make her usual visit to the store, and the time away just made her more eager to get it over with. Maybe it was a good thing. Maybe that would be the extra boost that brought her into the building.

Into Eientei.

Mokou leaned against the window, right next to the entrance. Deep breaths. Focus. This wasn?t hard. It was a matter of walking in and asking to see Kaguya. There wasn?t any tough number-crunching or muscle-pumping involved. Walk in, open a door, say a few words.

She took a moment to laugh at herself. A few days ago she?d been helping a journalist fall off the grid without a care in the world, and now she was stumped by a door.

They hadn?t talked in months. Mokou closed her eyes, bringing Kaguya?s face to mind in her memory. She was a beautiful girl, more than anyone Mokou had ever met. The Siren couldn?t help but feel jealous thinking about her.

I had to work hard for this body, but she could eat sweets all day and still have a great complexion.

In fact, every time Mokou had seen Kaguya, she was helping herself to something sweet. Mokou had warned her about the dangers all the time, how all that candy would make her fat and so on. Kaguya had kept eating them in spite of Mokou?s warning, and she never suffered any ill effects.

Back then, Mokou had figured it was just metabolism. From what she knew of the world now, she wondered if eternal beauty was part of Kaguya?s bloodline. A silly idea, but it offput some of the tension she was wrestling with.

OK. I think I?m ready.

Another deep breath as Mokou stretched her arms out. This was it, she?d decided. This was the day she?d go in and get her discussion. She turned away from the window, walking towards the door with her eyes on the floor. There was a large stand at the front of the store advertising the Hourai Elixir, and looking at that would drain her will away.

As she opened the door and stepped into Eientei, she felt like she?d climbed a mountain with her bare hands.

She hid in the aisles, pretending to care about the products on display. Her eyes drifted, falling on one shiny box after another. Most of the products didn?t work - she could tell just from looking through the ingredients. Regardless, they sold, and thus they were here for gullible customers to buy.

Poking her head out from the end of the aisle, Mokou could see the counter. There was only one attendant, a young woman with long flowing hair. She must have had to skip her lunch break, because she was nibbling on a carrot as she waited on a customer. Mokou pulled away before the woman saw her.

Step 1 had been accomplished. Step 2 was to ask the attendant for an appointment with Kaguya. It was like stepping into the building - laughably easy on paper, but disturbingly difficult in reality. Mokou?s feet had jammed into the floor, refusing to move at her will. This was too much. She couldn?t do this. Kaguya would laugh her out, maybe even deny her entirely-

No!

Mokou pressed herself against the aisle, rubbing at her temples to try and work the unhelpful thoughts out of her head.

You?re gonna do this, Mokou. If she turns you down, at least you tried to make amends.

She gulped. Her foot slid forward, picking up speed as she stepped out of the aisle and down towards the counter. She didn?t stop to think about how she looked - if she hesitated for any reason, she might have never finished the journey. The employee at the counter snuck the carrot behind her back as she gave the customer a curious glance.

?Can I help you??

Mokou felt her face flare up. This was it. All she had to do was say a few words, and she was done.

?C...C...?

Why was her throat closing up? She was struggling to breathe, let alone speak.

?Condoms?? the shopkeeper answered, her expression dropping to a look of cloying friendliness. ?It?s alright to be nervous asking about it. Should I assume this is your first time??

Mokou shook her head, feeling like her skin had been lit on fire. Now she looked like a moron with a verbal tic and a new boyfriend. She swallowed, feeling the blockage in her throat pass on. She wasn?t sure if she?d mustered her courage, or if she just wanted to set the record straight.

?Co...could I speak to Kaguya-san, please??

The moment the words had leapt off her tongue, Mokou felt a weight lift from her stomach. She smiled to herself, paying no attention to the growing confusion of the employee standing across from her.

?Kaguya Houraisan?? She eyed Mokou for a moment, probably on the assumption that this was some sort of joke. Mokou looked back at her with the sternest expression she could manage. Finally the woman gave in and picked up a phone at the side of the counter. ?Hello? Yes, this is Reisen...?

Mokou felt her insides dancing about in ways they weren?t supposed to. Her stomach had swapped places with her lungs, and her intestines were wrapped up in each other. This could be the moment she?d been preparing for these last few months. A chance to talk to Kaguya, to clear the water, to put the entire affair into perspective. She watched Reisen with flaring anticipation.

?Ah, alright. I?ll let her know.? She put the phone down, then turned to Mokou with a frown. ?I?m afraid she?s not here right now. She?s away on a business trip.?

Mokou felt like she?d just been pronounced clinically dead.

?I see,? she mumbled. ?Any clue when she?ll be back??

?I?m afraid not,? the employee answered, hands cradled and head drooped forward in apology. ?She does have a habit of jetting off to new factories and advertising new products.?

Of course. What had she been thinking? This was Kaguya?s job now. She wasn?t going to be ready to talk whenever Mokou felt like it. She nodded along in understanding, shuffling towards the door.

?Alright, I?ll come back later.? It had been a resounding defeat, she thought to herself as she stumbled towards the door.

Reisen called out to her a few steps from the exit. ?Uh, can I take a message for her??

Mokou raised her head. That question reminded her of all the hurdles she?d crossed to get here. A few months ago she?d been too nervous to walk in the door, and before that she couldn?t even step into the building with losing herself to rage. Now she was on the verge of talking to Kaguya like a calm, rational human being.

?Tell her...? Mokou stopped, wondering if it was wise to give her name. It could give Kaguya reason to avoid her. But if she wanted Kaguya to be open about it, then she had to start by being open on her end. ?Tell her Mokou wanted a chance to talk things through.?

Reisen nodded, scribbling it down with one hand as she nibbled at the carrot she held in the other. Mokou straightened up, stepping out the door with a childish grin on her face. She?d never felt more proud about saying a few words to a woman she'd never met before.

-----

The place had really gone to pieces while she was away.

Sakuya wasn?t strong enough to juggle undercover work at the Bunbunmaru as well as her duties around the Scarlet household. She?d kept the girls fed, preparing their dinners early before leaving them for Meiling to serve while she took a much-needed rest. The Bakery had closed for another of its ?breaks? - money was no issue, but the frequent closing and opening of the store had won her no favour with Patchouli. By the time things had finally died down there was a good bit of dusting to do.

She decided to spend the weekend making up for lost time by cleaning every last inch of the building. It had become a habit for her, and when she worked time seemed to fly past her at a brilliant pace. She?d found the fun in cleaning - challenging herself to dust particularly rough spots, timing herself to beat records, and making it to distant corners of the room without having to shift away half the furniture.

Her duties eventually brought her down into the depths of the earth, more popularly known as the basement.

Sakuya had never understood why Patchouli had insisted on basing her library here. A room with a window was much more suited to reading, she figured. Maybe Patchouli wanted to experience the feeling of a world without sunlight for herself. What mattered was that it was here, it was dusty, and it wasn?t moving any time soon.

The books were still in good condition. From the looks of it, Patchouli had been giving the shelves a little sweep while she was away. The floors and walls, on the other hand, were in a dire state. The further from the centre of the room she got, the deeper the layers of dust she had to sweep at.

It was probably no coincidence that Patchouli?s desk was in the middle of this circle.

A small spluttering sound called Sakuya away from her work and towards the desk. Patchouli sat at her usual spot, with a handkerchief covering her mouth as she coughed. She looked up at Sakuya without much enthusiasm.

?So, the wandering maid has returned. Do you feel like doing your job today??

?Hello to you, too, Patchouli,? Sakuya answered as she gave the desk a quick brushing. It was probably unnecessary - Patchouli wouldn?t let so much as a speck of dust sit on her workspace - but she felt like having a chat. She?d been stalking the building on her own for hours, so conversation would be a good break. Even if her chatting partner wasn?t so keen on talking to her.

?So what pulled you away from work?? Patchouli asked, sitting upright. ?Flandre was back on her feet only a few weeks ago and now you?re disappearing again. I thought you said you were done with Morichika??

?I am,? Sakuya answered without a pause. ?I had personal business to attend to, though. Family matters, so to speak.?

That was enough to shut Patchouli up. A look of pain jumped to her face for a moment before she turned away.

?I...see. My apologies. Just be sure to make up for your absence.?

Sakuya nodded, walking off and returning to her dusting. It was not a lie she wanted to tell, but it was the only good reason she had. Patchouli was a doctor, and she?d been brought up with science all her life. She?d be the last person to buy the story of the Sirens.

About halfway through her duties, a thought jumped to Sakuya?s mind. She recalled an off-hand comment Flandre made to her some time before. As she walked back to the desk, she became vaguely aware of the wicked grin on her own face.

?Patchouli.?

?What is it?? Patchouli asked, not looking up from her work.

?I had a little discussion with Flandre earlier.?

?Yes, and??

?She told me about your penchant for magical girl stories.?

Silence. Patchouli didn?t so much as budge from her studying.

?What?s your point, Sakuya??

Sakuya frowned. She?d been looking for some sort of shy response from the librarian, going red in the face and denying the fact.

?Well, I imagined that sort of childish literature would be beneath someone of your standing.?

At last Patchouli put her book down and turned to Sakuya, but her expression was far from nervous. If anything, she seemed offended by the comment.

?You may not be aware, of this, but during my time at Cambridge I had many friends studying English degrees, and they recommended an array of ?wonderful? books to me. They had the bleakest tastes imaginable, and every time I tried to read through one of their stories I felt myself too depressed to complete it. So no, I?ve never been the sort to care for ?upper-class? literature.?

She reached under her desk to a drawer that Sakuya had never seen her open. Several volumes of manga were stored inside, all starring a young girl in a witch?s garb.

?After I moved here, the atmosphere of the house could be considered morose at best, so I decided to buy myself one or two of these books to lighten my spirits. I suppose somewhere down the line it became a habit, and I keep up to date when I can.?

Patchouli smiled. There was a warmth in that smile that Sakuya had never seen from her before. She pulled out one of the books and offered it to Sakuya.

?Go ahead. You wanted to mock me, so think of this as me throwing your plan back in your face.?

Sakuya felt slightly ashamed as she opened up the book, flickering through the pages. She had expected a run-of-the-mill manga about high school girls and fluffy mascots, but the story seemed much deeper than it had looked on the outside. The hero was a young witch who fought villains to keep her city safe, but in order to keep her identity hidden she?d been forced to run away from her family. The story made a point of showing how much the girl was struggling to survive away from home.

?This is what you consider uplifting?? Sakuya asked, furrowing her brow.

Patchouli sighed. ?Sakuya, magical girl stories have a transition into adulthood as a running theme. That story there is a prime example, though they take it more literally. The heroine has to learn independence and how to fend for herself, while still juggling her duties as the city?s guardian.?

The doctor spoke with a passion Sakuya hadn?t heard from her in years. Her words had a weight that made Sakuya stand up and listen, even on this ridiculous subject.

?There?s more to it, though. With magical girl series, no matter how tough or bleak things get there?s usually a happy ending. Maybe the hero has to fight for it, and maybe they have to lose something, but ultimately their morals win out and evil is defeated. That?s the sort of story that keeps me going - one where the heroes have to struggle for their victory, but they succeed in the end.?

Patchouli took the book from Sakuya and placed it in the drawer, sliding it back in under the desk. ?So does that satisfy your curiosity??

Sakuya nodded. She?d never been one for that kind of story herself - she preferred adventures where the hero won through quick wits and sheer guile - but she could understand what Patchouli was looking for with an explanation as thorough as that.

?One question, Patchouli. If you?re not ashamed of your interests, why is this the first time you?ve mentioned them to me??

Patchouli smirked.

?I wanted to disappoint you when you dug up the truth.?

-----

?...Yes, call it all off. For the last few days, I?ve been going through...some serious stress. ...Yes, I?d like some time off. ...Yes, I?ll attend the meeting. Send the letter to Onozuka, though - I?m staying at her place until I?ve got a grip on things. ...Thank you, sir. Bye.?

Eiki hung up the phone and threw herself face-first on the couch. It was a call she had never wanted to make - declaring herself unfit for work. She?d been making calls to the police as well, asking for overturnings of some of her own rulings - for example, the unlawful arrest of the Morichika protestors. She had been avoiding the media ever since, but she was sure they already had all the info they needed on her.

Komachi had done what she could to help Eiki. The judge lived alone, but now more than ever she needed some company. Komachi made breakfast for her every morning before heading off to the court. Now that she was trying to get to being a lawyer she had a lot of red tape to cut.

Eiki was left with more spare time than she was used to.

She was the sort who dove into her work whole-heartedly at the cost of her leisure time. She had always been of the opinion that her work brought her more relief than any sort of leisure activity could ever offer. Now that she?d been relieved from duty, she wasn?t quite sure what to do with herself.

Komachi?s abode didn?t offer much to do either. There was a computer that hadn?t seen an update in about ten years and still ran on dial-up. She would have been fine with that, but it was password protected. A few moldy board games were hidden under her bed, but all of them needed another player. She couldn?t even leave the house, because Komachi had the only set of keys.

The only option was the TV, and the endless piles of DVDs that had formed around it. She examined their contents for anything even mildly thought provoking. A Shakespearean play? A classic tale of love and loss? Anything that wasn?t another goddamn Western?

Nope. In Komachi?s world, Clint Eastwood stood as the undisputed king of cinema.

For half an hour she fiddled with the TV, refusing to accept the situation. She found out quickly that it didn?t even have any reception. No news, no finance, not even a talk show. There was almost nothing for her to do other than work her way through Komachi?s collection.

The first movie was an indie production on a shoestring budget, produced in black and white for ?authenticity?. Eiki had to stop the movie at several points to just glare at some of the blatant mistakes. At one point, a plane could be heard flying overhead, and at another the hero?s gun jumped from one hand to the other between cuts. With nothing else to do, Eiki looked for every little error and screwup on the part of the producers.

When she had finished with it, she threw in another movie without thinking about it. With a name like The Space Cowboy, there was no way it couldn?t be horrible. Sure enough, it was a barrage of tacky special effects and horrible costumes. When she got to the scene where the protagonist stormed the enemy UFO on horseback, she had to watch it three times in a row just so she could fully ?appreciate? the scene.

It wasn?t until halfway through the third movie that she realised she was enjoying herself.

?Yo, I?m back.?

Komachi let herself in, but Eiki found herself too caught up in the movie to notice. Vampires of San Francisco had been too good a title to let up, and it delivered on every expectation Eiki had.

?No way.? Komachi stepped into the room, looking as nervous as a soldier in a minefield. She was staring at the television in dumb shock. ?You?re watching that??

Eiki shrugged. ?Consider it a morbid curiosity. It?s so utterly bizarre that I can?t bring myself to look away.?

Komachi froze in place, eyes falling onto Eiki. The lawyer looked much more official than before, Eiki thought to herself. Her back was straight, her suit had been ironed, and her badge had been carefully pinned on. She looked ready to walk back into the profession any day now.

?Seriously, I got through about ten minutes of it before I had to stop.? She sat down next to Eiki, barely able to bring herself to look at the screen. ?The hero is some sorta vampire cowboy, right??

?Not exactly,? Eiki answered. ?In truth, he?s a vampire werewolf cowboy. The rest of his clan has shunned him, and he wanders the wasteland in search of-?

?Y?know what? Forget I asked.?

Komachi cradled her head in her hands as the movie continued, occasionally mustering the courage to take a peek at the action. Nine times out of ten, what was going on onscreen was so mindless or absurd that she pulled away. In comparison, Eiki laughed out loud at every little twist the movie made up as it went along.

?Komachi, do you know what you?re missing? I never believed I?d see the hero fight a zombie ninja, but this movie never fails to-?

?Actually, I think I have work to do.? Komachi stood up again, her face ash white. ??Scuse me. Dinner will be ready in an hour.? She stomped off, almost veering into the bathroom to throw up.

Eiki stuck her nose up. It won?t do her well not to see the funny side of things. The woman will die young at this rate...

-----

?Alright, that?s been a good session. Let?s take a break.?

Nitori couldn?t have said that at a better time. Sango fell forwards in the water, almost passing out from sheer exhaustion. They?d been brawling for an hour at least, and Sango had been worked to her limits. She?d learned a while back that Nitori wasn?t exactly fighting fair - she?d developed small braces for her arms and legs that improved her strength and endurance. Sango had no such luxuries, and fighting her off for so long had just about drained her.

She took some solace from the fact that Nitori was only a little better off. The kappa pulled herself to the surface and sat at the side of the pool, catching her breath. Sango let her own buoyancy carry her upwards - her arms and legs may as well have been made of stone right now.

?How?re you feeling?? Nitori asked, tipping her over so her face was above the surface. Sango gasped, panted, wheezed, did everything she could to get more air into her system. After two minutes without an answer, Nitori nodded.

If she?d had the energy to speak, Sango?s answer would have been along the lines of ?like I snapped every muscle in my body?.

The training had grown more intense after the Red Lily incident, with Nitori working Sango to the point of exhaustion. She would leave her bruised and battered, but stronger for the experience. Then in their next session she would push Sango to her new limits, in an endless cycle of breakdown and rebirth.

If they?d had more time, Sango would have settled for a less strenuous regimen. But they had months, maybe weeks until the next time she had to fight Jozu. She couldn?t afford anything other than the most brutal training Nitori had to offer. And brutal was the only word that really described what she was being put through.

Nitori refused to train her every night, out of concern for what Sango was doing to herself. Every other night she trained on her own - not quite as stressful on her body, but enough hard work that she was a little stronger next time she was around.

After about five minutes, Sango had regained feeling in her arms. She shuffled over to the poolside, and Nitori gave her a hand up. Sango couldn?t help but be jealous of her, still going strong. She?d offered to make Sango her own set of braces, but the dolphin had turned it down. That was cheating, and the last thing she wanted to do was cheat. She would beat Jozu legitimately.

?S...So,? she started, finding the strength to speak. She had to stop to gasp at several points. ?What?s...the plan...with the next Siren??

Nitori stared up into the sky, eyes locked on the stared in the distance. ?Have you noticed a pattern in the Sirens you?ve come across??

Sango thought for a moment. Mokou, then Sakuya, then Komachi...what did they have in common? Her brain was too busy counting her injuries to think too hard. Nitori sighed.

?Mokou-san developed the Hourai Elixir, the most potent health product in history. Sakuya-san staged one of the biggest heists Gensouto?s ever seen. And Komachi, of course, was the infamous Red Lily.?

Nitori looked to Sango for any hint of understanding. Half a minute later, Sango nodded.

?So...we want...famous people??

?Not famous so much as talented,? Nitori replied. ?You and Koishi-san did a sweep of most of the city, so we need to assume the remaining Sirens are living well out of sight. They?re busy, or they?re locked away all day, or something. We should focus our efforts on any big events to happen in the city - competitions, speeches, things like that."

Sango nodded slowly, mainly because her neck still hurt too much to move any faster. She had a point - if the rest of the Sirens were ordinary folk, she would have probably run into them by now. But as much sense as that line of reasoning made, it left one question.

?What about...Koishi-san??

Nitori shrugged. ?I dunno. She?s the black sheep, but like I said we?re running out of places to look. We?re going to have to assume she?s just an exception to the rule.?

It wasn?t an answer, but it was as good as she was likely to get. Yukari didn?t seem to like making her plans obvious, that was for sure.

?Oh, and as a warning. The Black Claw will probably be catching onto the same idea, so you might run into your shark friend more often now.?

Sango gasped. Her pain and fatigue began to fade away. Her youkai body was recovering, but her newfound anticipation cranked that healing into overdrive.

?Your orders are not to engage unless necessary, of course. But I get the feeling you two might just appreciate each others? company.?

Nitori understood better than Sango had thought. Under no circumstances would the dolphin ever consider Jozu a friend - they were still on opposite sides of the war, after all. But there was a respect they held for each other in spite of that, and she thought of the shark as a fierce rival.

A rival she wanted to beat into the ground.

?You gonna need help getting home tonight?? Nitori asked as she held out a hand. ?I can walk you to the door if you want.?

Sango was only just strong enough to take the kappa?s hand in return. ?That?d be great, thanks...? Nitori pulled her up, wrapped an arm over her shoulder, and started leading her away from the pool. Neither of them cared about the fact they were soaking wet - that was collateral damage from a good session.

By the time they were halfway to Koishi?s house, Sango had recovered enough to walk on her own, and insisted on doing as much. She swore she heard her legs creaking as she walked, and Nitori kept close to her in case she fell over mid-journey. It was a close call once or twice, but Sango managed to make it home without collapsing.

?Thanks again, boss,? she said as she opened the door. Koishi had cut her a key so she could leave for training sessions like these.

?Take care of yourself.? Nitori saluted as she turned around, heading back to her little safehouse. Sango closed the door as she stepped in. Koishi was asleep at this hour, but she had to check on her just to be sure nothing had happened. She found the little Siren asleep at her desk, with the cat lying asleep at her feet and the crow still perked up on the desk.

?Thanks a lot, guys. You?re doing great.?

Okuu nodded. The two youkai had insisted they could stand in for Sango while she was training, and so far they?d done the job pretty well. Sango offered them a thumbs up before heading to her own room and falling face-first onto bed. Within a few minutes, she was already drowsy and on the verge of falling asleep.

Every muscle in her body was complaining, but in spite of that Sango had to smile. Her training was going to hurt, but it would be soooooo worth it in the end.

-----

Author's Note: And that's just about the end of the Red Lily Arc.

I'll be honest and say that the next arc probably won't show up for a while. Given that I left this story mid-arc for about six months last time, I want to make sure that I've got a full arc written up before I start again. So far I've got about 8k written of the next segment, but there's a lot more I've got planned with it.

Thanks for bearing with me over the hiatus. I'm gonna do my best to finish this story outright before the end of 2012. I'm so far in now that it'd be a shame not to go all the way. :P
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Fetch()tirade on February 20, 2012, 08:24:41 PM
That was a damn fine wrap-up, Rou.
Take all the time you need to write or relax, because you really make some quality stuff here in this thread (and in others).
Good job.

Also, some little parts that made me crack up:
- Libertarian Keine
- Cashier Reisen
   + I could totally imagine her saying "What's up, doc?"
- B-movie enthusiast Eiki
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Hanzo K. on February 20, 2012, 08:35:10 PM
Eiki was freakin' awesome. And the little thought about knowing when to enjoy yourself before you end up dying young was great.
Something I never would've expected to come out of her at least.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi (The Return!)
Post by: Drake on February 20, 2012, 10:52:05 PM
"Amply" is an adverb; "ample" is the adjective! ...But seriously I only noticed because it was in the first paragraph.

Wonderful work all around. Every wrap-up was satisfying in its own way. End of chapter foreshadowing was well put without being blatant. My favorite part is oddly enough, Komachi's house being, pretty much completely empty.
Title: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on May 14, 2012, 12:20:26 AM
Well, it's the 14th of May (over here in Europe, that is). For those aren't aware, 5/14 is considered to be Koishi Day in Japan (5-1-4 = こ-い-し) which usually leads to a storm of fanwork and pictures of her.

And I thought to myself, why not jump on the bandwagon and post my own Koishi stuff? Or to be more precise, the stuff I've been writing for months but-was-waiting-until-the-arc-was-just-about-finished-to-start-posting?

That's right. I'm just putting the finishing touches on the arc's finale right now, but I'm sitting on roughly 40,000 words for this arc. I'm intending to update twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday, so on this regimen I should have enough material for about a month of constant updates.

So, without further ado, let's start the next arc of Dolphin Rider Koishi (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,10474.msg803360.html#msg803360). Thanks for waiting. :3

-----

?Men!?

The young competitor brought her wooden blade down at her opponent?s head with at full speed. Her foe blocked, bringing the blade to the side before coming in with a swing of her own.

?Dou!?

Her blade struck true, crashing into the protective armour. She kept her form, bringing her sword around for another strike. At the side, three judges lifted red flags in unison.

?The match is complete! Challenger Hakesawa is victorious!?

With that, the atmosphere faded. Both girls lowered their stances and brought their blades to their sides. They hauled off their helmets, bowing towards each other and again towards the audience. This had been one of the last battles in a long day of fighting for them. The audience applauded them as they made their way out of the sports hall to make way for the finalists.

Among the audience was a small group of teenage girls. They were seated well away from the rest of the crowd, and had been eying up each contestant with such intensity that they may as well have been the judges.

?So you?re sure you haven?t detected anything, Sango-san?? Koishi asked. This had been her first time watching a kendo competition, and it had been an interesting experience. She?d seen these quiet, restrained young girls erupt into powerhouses in the name of battle. A little part of her wondered how different she would have been if she?d picked up kendo as a child.

Sango was leaning forward, eyes locked on the competition. Every few seconds she would give off another phwee and shake her head. As the competitors left the room, she leaned backwards with a sigh.

?Hauu...not getting anything. No Sirens here.?

Koishi shrugged. This wasn?t the first event they?d visited for the sake of surveillance - ever since meeting Komachi, they?d kept their inspections solely to formal events like this. They?d visited track meets, swim meets, Go tournaments (that had really made her head hurt), and every other event that had a chance of bringing out the talented girls of Gensouto. So far, none of it had led to any actual results - Sango hadn?t even found a trace of a Siren.

There were seven, Koishi thought to herself. She?d found Mokou easily enough, but Sakuya and Komachi had taken a little more work. There were still three Sirens out there, so why was it so hard to find them?

?Afternoon.? Sakuya stepped towards the group with a tray in her hand, effortlessly slipping past the members of the audience blocking her way. She laid the tray down on Koishi?s lap, and the smell of fresh cookies wafted up into the Siren?s nose.

?Ah, thanks, Sakuya-san,? Koishi said as she bit down on one. The dough was soft with a hint of vanilla. She let the taste flutter about in her mouth for a while before she swallowed it.

Sakuya looked down warmly at her own creation. ?You?ve kept me away from work with all of this surveillance, so I had to purge the baking urges somehow. Oh, and be careful.? She pointed to the slightly green cookies on the side. ?Those ones were made with that special mix that Mokou-san gave me. They taste...? Sakuya?s face twisted. ?Nothing like any cookie I?ve ever tried.?

?More for me, then!? The girl sitting behind Koishi promptly snatched one of the ?special? cookies off the tray. A strand of her hair whipped into Koishi?s face. ?Whoa, sorry,? Mokou said as she sat up again. ?Watching these girls smack each other with sticks really works up an appetite.?

Sango was polite enough to ask before she took one, at least. Sakuya helped herself because, after all, they were her cookies. The only Siren missing was Komachi, but that was because her duties had left her too busy for this sort of work. She?d met with Nitori a week after becoming a Siren, and the pair had agreed that she would only be called on when help was desperately needed. As it was, having four people monitor a kendo tournament was already more than enough.

The final was much of the same. While Koishi couldn?t deny that the girls fighting were much better with a sword than she was, she felt something absent in their form, a certain immaturity in their strikes. They had little interest in defense, focusing only on brushing the enemy away for long enough to make their own attack. It wasn?t as refined as she had expected, but that might have just been television getting to her.

As the final blow was struck, the referees declared the winner amidst a round of applause. Koishi and the rest of the Sirens clapped along as well, but she couldn?t help feeling a little disappointed that they?d failed in their search yet again. How many of these events would they have to attend before they found another Siren? The Claw would be on the hunt as well, and they couldn?t afford to keep being wrong.

An elderly man stepped out before the audience. He?d introduced himself earlier as the president of the local kendo club, and bowed towards the crowd in order to call for silence.

?Many thanks for visiting the 23rd Gensouto Annual Girls' Kendo Tournament. Before we begin with the prize giving, we have a small exhibition to present.?

Oohs and aahs drifted across the crowd. Koishi held her breath, hoping this was the appearance of another potential Siren.

?Today we give you a young man who has risen gradually up the ranks in the last few years. He is one of the city?s brightest new talents, having attained the title of third dan last month. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Youki Saigyouji.?

Half the crowd erupted into applause at the sound of that name. Koishi frowned, and Sango drooped her head alongside her. Another swing and a miss. The exhibition might be interesting, though.

All it took was three steps, and Koishi knew she was witnessing something special.

Youki Saigyouji had a form that none of his female counterparts could match. Even from this distance, Koishi could feel his presence pressing down on her. It was the force of a warrior, a man who?d trained with the blade his whole life. His pale brown hair was cut short, no lower than his ears.

He stepped out into the centre of the hall in a simple green gi, with no care for armour. At his side were two blades - a long katana and a wakizashi. They were real swords, glinting with light as he drew them from their sheaths.

?Is that even legal?? Koishi asked no-one in particular.

?Think so,? Mokou said, leaning forward with her head just above Koishi?s. ?It was banned for ages, but recently it?s come back into popularity.?

?Lemme guess. You looked that up last night??

Mokou grabbed the last of the ?healthy? cookies and stuffed it in her mouth. That was pretty much a yes.

Youki took a careful stance, drawing the longer blade with his left hand and the wakizashi in his right. He took a deep, careful breath, and Koishi couldn?t bring herself to look away.

Then he exploded.

?Taaaah!?

His voice was higher than she?d expected, but he roared with the bellow of a demon. He swiped forward, striking with one blade and then the other. He stepped around the hall, never dropping his guard, never resting for an instant. Every slash flowed like water through a stream, looking natural and fluid even to an inexperienced viewer like Koishi.

?Doryaah!?

Youki yelled with every swipe, as if it gave him strength. He circled the hall, fighting unseen assailants from every angle. The crowd was silent, enraptured by the display of grace and brilliance taking place before them. For two minutes he fought, the look of utter focus never fading from his brilliant blue eyes.

With his last swings he brought both swords forward, drawing an X in the air. In the same motion he sheathed the shorter blade. Reaching into a pocket with his now free hand, he pulled out an ball and threw it into the air.

By the time it hit the ground, the ball had been chopped into four pieces.

Youki flicked his sword downward in a calm but firm motion, placing it back into its sheath in a well-practiced ritual. Koishi clapped almost uncontrollably. In two minutes, he?d shown her exactly what she had thought was missing from the previous competitors. He had been focused, devoted, but at the same time passionate and furious. It was that paradox that had made his performance so enticing.

?Damn.? Mokou let out a low whistle. ?Now there?s a guy I wouldn?t mind coaching.?

?What makes you think you can coach him?? Koishi asked.

?I can coach anyone. I?m willing to bet his diet needs a little work.?

Koishi sniffed at the cookie crumbles falling from Mokou?s lap. They smelled less like cookies and more like broccoli. She casually shifted the conversation elsewhere.

?What did you think, Sakuya-san??

Sakuya didn?t answer. Her entire body had frozen in place, her eyes still locked on Youki. She was blushing, and only turned to react to Koishi a few seconds later.

?Oh. Well, he...was quite good, I suppose.?

She kept watching him as he left, following him up until he walked out of the hall again. The elderly president re-emerged to begin the awards ceremony. While he wasn?t looking, Sakuya stood up with a new look of conviction on her face.

?I?ll be right back.?

She shifted past the rest of the crowd, walking in the same direction Youki had left in. Koishi wasn?t quite sure what she?d missed in that small exchange.

?Ooh. Sounds like someone?s got a crush,? Mokou said, vaulting over the chair to sit next to Koishi. ?Can?t blame her, I guess. The guy?s a nice piece of work.?

?Maybe,? Koishi answered.

?Maybe?? Mokou lowered an eyebrow. ?You think she?s got some other reason for going back there??

That look on her face when she?d left. That determination wasn?t something that Koishi connected with having a crush. It was something much stronger, much more personal. She remembered something Sakuya had told her a long time beforehand.

?Well, she was in an accident when she was a kid...?

-----

She knew him.

Sakuya couldn?t put a word to the feeling, but somehow Youki Saigyouji had rung a vague bell in the back of her head. Her memory had been a hazy mist for years, tidbits jumping out to tease her now and then before falling back into the fog. Youki had brought up one of those fragments, but she wasn?t sure what about him was so familiar.

Did she have a brother? No, she didn?t think so. Maybe he was an acquaintance, then? Someone she?d known back at school. She?d only managed to look him in the eye for an instant during the exhibition, but as she looked him in the face she swore she?d seen him gasp. It had been such a small reaction that she was beginning to doubt her own instincts, and that was very rare for her.

It was easy to get into the back. She stood straight, keeping her pace steady. She did her best to look a few years older than she was. She'd learned that the easiest way to sneak in was simply to act natural. People were only attracted to something that looked out of place, so if she blended in no-one would care.

Two or three employees walked past in the other direction, but they barely looked at her. She?d dressed sensibly in a shirt and vest along with a pair of long jeans, so she looked just official enough to be here. No-one recognised her, but this event was large enough that no-one could be expected to know everyone involved. Maybe they?d ask questions about her later, but by then it would be too late.

She saw Youki as he stepped into a small room at the back of the building. His dressing room? If he was as famous as the president had made him out to be, she supposed it was the least they would have offered him. She had placed her hand on the doorknob when she suddenly realised she had no clue what to ask him.

Hello, Saigyouji-san! Do you remember me? Because I don?t, and I was wondering if you could help with that...

What was she trying to achieve here? Waltzing into his life when it had been years since he?d seen her - if he had seen her at all - and hoping that he could reconstruct her life story for her? It had been a silly idea, but now that she had come this far there was no reason to back down.

She knocked. ?Saigyouji-san??

?One moment,? Youki said from the other side of the door. Sakuya heard him shuffling about, presumably to change out of his training uniform. When he opened the door he was wearing a long green shirt, with a hakama covering his lower half. Sakuya raised her eyebrows at the sight - hakama were usually reserved for the most formal of occasions. Youki must have come from an upper-class family to be dressed like that.

?My face is here.?

His words were short, blunt and to the point. Sakuya moved her attention away from Youki?s choice of outfit, and looked up to him. He was a few inches taller than her, and he made the most of them as he stared her down. Already he was beginning to close the door.

?Uh...? Sakuya was lost for words for the first time in weeks. There was no witty retort, no clever comeback, just a stuttering and stammering as she tried to find something to say. Finally, all the words spewed out at once. ?Do you have any idea who I am??

Youki?s eyes widened. He seemed to come apart, his expression softening, his eyes looking down on her with pity rather than annoyance. The power behind his presence faded, and now he seemed more like an ordinary highschooler than a home-schooled prodigy. Sakuya?s heart soared at the sight - he did know her, he did!

He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. When he did, any compassion in him was long gone.

?No, I don?t. Goodbye.?

When he slammed the door, he almost smacked her in the face with it. She heard it lock with a final click.

What...just happened?

She had seen it in his eyes. It was more than just recognition. He knew her better than he should have. A total stranger wouldn?t have reacted to her like that.

But why had he turned her down? He had fought off that recognition and deliberately pushed her away. He?d teased her with a clue to her past only to yank it from her hands.

A new feeling of frustration flooded her. He was hiding something from her, and he was doing a poor job of acting otherwise. What hurt most was how clumsy he'd been about it.

She made her way out as quickly as she?d entered. By the time she was back in the hall the ceremony had ended, and the Sirens were among the crowds flooding towards the door.

She had an idea. But it would take some help.

?Hey, Sango-san,? she said, slipping into the crowd without a shove. ?Can I arrange a meeting with your boss? I have a favour I need to call in.?

-----

?You want me to do what??

Nitori?s expression sat somewhere between surprise and disappointment. Sakuya stood at the other side of the kappa?s desk, furrowing her brow and turning the look of disapproval right back at her.

?I said that I would like the White Pearl to perform reconnaissance on the Saigyouji family.?

?I heard that. I just missed the part where there was any good reason for us to do it.?

Nitori folded her arms. When Sango had called her last night saying that Sakuya wanted to see her, she had figured there was some sort of emergency that needed taken care of. Now the Siren was trying to act like her boss, and Nitori wasn?t the sort to take orders from her subordinates.

?Consider it paying back a favour,? Sakuya said. ?You?ve put me and the other Sirens into situations that could easily have got us all killed, and we aren?t here by choice. I?m a member of your team thanks to choices your boss made thousands of years ago. I think that earns me the right to ask something of you now and again.?

?And what if something comes up?? Nitori asked. ?We?re already spread thin enough without going on personal errands.?

?Last I checked, we had a good week of downtime before the next big event. Or are you going to start sending us on useless patrols again??

Nitori?s hands curled up into fists. She was being provoked, she told herself as she took a deep breath. She was above this. She was the leader here, and she was going to show some authority.

?Why are you so interested in the Saigyouji family??

?I think they might have a clue as to who I am.?

?On what grounds??

?I talked with the son, Youki. He was suspicious.?

Nitori almost slammed her hand into the desk. ?You want to have me send the team on a side-mission based on a hunch??

?I can hardly do it myself. He knows my face now.? Sakuya?s expression didn?t falter for an instant. There was something in those eyes that scared Nitori. It was a look of disregard, what could be politely referred to as pragmatism. She was grateful that Sakuya was on their side, because she would have made a dangerous enemy.

It also meant that even if Nitori turned her down, she would probably find another way to deal with the problem. With that in mind, there was no point in arguing the matter any further.

?Fine. If you can get the rest of the Sirens to go along with your plan, you?re free to do what you want until your next reconnaissance job. But I?d like to bring up one thing before you start on your recruitment.?

Nitori turned the computer on her desk towards Sakuya. Normally it functioned as a simple computer on the school network, but at the push of a hidden button it connected to the database she kept hidden in Room 495. She?d taken the measure of performing a quick search on the Saigyouji family after Sango had explained the situation.

?I already checked the records. There?s no sign of a missing child, and none of the families that the Saigyouji do business with have had any disappearances, either.?

She turned back to Sakuya with an icy glare.

?So more likely than not, you?re going on a wild goose chase. And if you aren?t, then you?re looking for something that?s been buried for years. You?re going to have to do a good bit of digging in order to find out the truth, and you?re asking people you?ve barely met to help you out. Are you sure you want to go ahead with this??

Sakuya?s expression changed then, ever so slightly. A new surge of life came to her, her doll-like eyes shining with new conviction.

?I?ve been looking for a clue for as long as I can remember. I don?t intend to let anything stop me.?

Especially not you. That was the ending that Sakuya had never put into words. Her voice echoed with determination, and Nitori believed her whole-heartedly. Nothing was going to stop her from investigating the Saigyouji family.

Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, she hadn?t decided yet.

?Then there?s no point stopping you. I?ll arrange a cover job if you need one.? Nitori shrugged, slumping backwards into her chair. ?Just don?t let this get in the way of your work, understand? If you don?t have any results by the end of the week, I?m hauling you away for your own good. You know you get too wrapped up in these things.?

Sakuya smirked. ?What makes you think I?ll need a week??

-----

Lorelei?s was quiet in the evenings. It had earned a reputation for the infamous Mystia Mondays, when the owner would burst into song while her customers tried to enjoy their dinner. Her voice could be described as a cacophony at best, and when the police fined her for disturbance of the peace Mystia Mondays came to a very definite end.

The scars still remained in the minds of the customers, and evenings brought their fair share of empty tables. Sakuya quickly took the first empty chair she could find, counting the rest of the seats. Four more. Good.

A waiter came to the table, asking for an order. Sakuya took a minute to eye him - no, her - over. She?d caught herself halfway through a mistake. The waiter was a woman, but it was hard to tell at first glance. Only a hint of lipstick clued her in that she wasn?t being served by a man.

?I?ll be fine, thanks,? she told the waitress, waving her away with a hand. ?I?m waiting on someone.?

Sakuya had told the team to meet here at six, bur she?d shown up a few minutes early to be safe. She passed the time looking at the walls, examining the pictures of fishermen catching things like sharks and swordfish. From a casual glance, she was willing to guess that 80% of them were fake, and that was a generous estimate.

The first pair to arrive, of course, were the heroine and her steed.

?Phwee. I thought I did a lot of studying...?

?Sango-san, you only looked through the booklet once.?

?Exactly! I just had trouble with the remembering part.?

Koishi seemed to be in good spirits as she stepped into Lorelei?s. Sango was less so, trailing along behind her with her head slumped, almost shrinking to Koishi?s height. It was Koishi who saw Sakuya first, waving and leading Sango towards the table. The dolphin fell onto the chair with all the grace of a sack of bricks.

?School went badly, then?? Sakuya asked, her eyes falling onto Sango. The dolphin was fun to toy with, and her lack of education gave Sakuya plenty of ammunition.

?We got the results for our preliminaries,? Koishi said, tipping up the edge of her hat. Though her expression was cheerful, Sakuya could see red lines running across her eyes.

?I managed to get good grades all around,? she continued. ?All that work ended up paying off. But Sango-san...?

Koishi didn?t need to finish the sentence. Sango was staring longingly at the menu to distract herself. It was probably a good thing she wouldn?t need to look for a university when she graduated, Sakuya thought to herself.

Next to arrive was Mokou, rolling an arm about in its socket as she winced. The bone made an ugly crick as she sat down without so much as a wave. ?Evening.?

Koishi turned to her, concerned. ?Mokou-san, are you alright? What happened??

?Did you notice the new yoga club that started up today, Koishi-san??

?Huh? No, not really.?

?I decided to give it a shot. Figured it couldn?t be that hard, so I skipped the beginner course and went straight to intermediate.?

Mokou almost melted into her seat. ?I don?t think my skeleton is on speaking terms with me right now.?

She had taken the seat next to Sango, and the pair rubbed shoulders. Neither looked set to move unless the ceiling caved in. They shared idle chatter about the weather and the lack of progress in their investigations up until the last of their number stumbled through the door.

?Sorry, ladies! Had some last-minute paperwork to round up.?

Komachi sauntered into the restaurant, in the same suit Koishi had seen her in back when they?d first met. They hadn?t met often - Komachi was usually too busy getting back to her job to take part in the usual patrols. She was playing with a new badge on her lapel as she took the seat between Koishi and Sakuya.

?Guess who?s just been reinstated as a court prosecutor?? she said, beaming.

?Really? Komachi-san, that?s fantastic!? Koishi said, taking her hand and shaking it. Sango and Mokou only had the energy to mutter congratulations. Sakuya simply nodded.

She called the waitress over again, letting her companions make their orders. It was only when the woman was well out of earshot that Sakuya began to speak.

?You?re probably wondering why I called you out here.?

?No kiddin?,? Komachi grumbled. ?I?ve only got a couple?a days off duty before I start dealin? with real cases, so this had better be good.?

Sakuya gulped. She?d been rehearsing this discussion for an hour beforehand. She wasn?t used to making requests of others, and she definitely wasn?t used to doing it delicately. She took a deep breath before she started.

?I don?t say this very often, but I need your help with a very private matter.?

There were raised eyebrows all around. They hadn?t expected this from her. Sakuya didn?t blame them - even she had trouble hearing these words coming from her own mouth.

?This isn?t a simple situation, so let me lay out what I?m talking about. I need to find out about a man named Youki Saigyouji...?

Koishi blinked. ?The one from the kendo performance yesterday??

?That?s right. I?ve got a personal issue to take care of with him.?

?Like what?? Mokou asked. Sakuya paused before answering. She?d been trying to find the best way to say this without sounding absurd, but in the end there was no way around it.

?I don?t know.?

No-one spoke a word. Sakuya felt four pairs of eyes locking in on her. The next part of her story fell out of her mouth in one long stream of words.

?I?ve done my reading. The Saigyouji family live in a manor on the outskirts of town. I?m certain they know something about who I am, but the records I?ve found have shown nothing in the way of missing daughters. Still, I can?t help but feel that the family has something to hide.?

?On no evidence,? Komachi said.

Sakuya sighed. ?Yes, on no evidence. I wanted your help on that matter, in fact. Now that you?re reinstated as a lawyer, I?ll be needing your clearance to look into the family files. If there?s something hidden about this family, it?s buried really deep.?

She turned to the remaining three. ?You?ll be working undercover at the manor. I?ve convinced Kawashiro to prepare a cover story for you to get in. Your goal will be to find out if the Saigyouji are hiding something - and if so, figure out what. It?s a short-term operation - if you haven?t found something within a week, I?ll call the whole thing off.?

That was the entirety of her plan. She made no attempt to hide how weak her evidence was. Lying would do her no good here. The results were far from hopeful.

?So lemme get this straight,? Mokou said when Sakuya finally finished. ?You have no real evidence that this guy knows what happened to you, and no reason to think that this scouting is going to turn up anything at all??

Sakuya nodded. ?I?m a gambler, and sometimes gamblers have hunches that they can?t put words to. They follow them even when all the odds say they?re wrong.?

Mokou raised an eyebrow in bewilderment, slumping backwards into her chair. Her expression was complex, like she hadn?t decided whether she agreed yet. Across from her, Komachi was even less enthusiastic about the idea, eying the door and rocking in her chair. She was a busy woman, and there was no way she?d waste her free time on worthless leads like this.

Sakuya was just about ready to give up when Koishi spoke.

?Sakuya-san, how much does this mean to you??

Sakuya gasped. She?d been trying to avoid that question. She had distanced herself from the problem, because she knew that if she let her emotions seep in she would come apart. Now it seemed like coming out with it all was the only way she would be able to convince the Sirens to help her.

?It?s...? She struggled with the first few words, unsure of just what she should say. Mokou and Komachi looked at her with a new curiosity. Sakuya felt her face flash red and her eyes mist up.

?When I turned thirteen, I spent the best part of a year searching for my family. I had nothing to work with - no name, no occupation, not even an idea where I used to live. I barely ate, barely slept, barely thought of anything other than finding out who I was. Not that it got me anywhere - by my fourteenth birthday, I was just as lost as I had always been.?

She covered her face with one hand. She couldn?t let them see her crying. She rubbed at her eyes, letting out the odd sniffle as she spoke.

?But yesterday, I felt something. It wasn?t just a hunch. I?ve never had a feeling like this about anything. I don?t know if it?s intuition or instinct or something like that, but somehow I know that Youki Saigyouji is the first lead I?ve ever had.?

She put her elbow on the table, rubbing at her temples with her hand. She felt more powerless than she?d ever been in her life. ?But I can?t do it myself. He recognised me, and he made a point of locking me out.?

She hung her head low, bowing towards the rest of the Sirens. ?Please. One week. That's all I'm asking of you.?

Silence hung over the room for a few moments. Mokou and Komachi looked to one another, shrugging. It was the lawyer who spoke first.

?One condition,? Komachi said, putting a hand on Sakuya?s shoulder. ?I want a batch of those cookies you?ve been makin? for everyone else. Why?ve you gotta punish a woman for havin? a day job??

?I want a batch too,? Mokou added. ?The special stuff. I?ll get together another serving of my special formula after we?re done.?

Sakuya?s heart grew wings and flew. She lifted herself off the table, back into her seat. She almost asked Koishi for her opinion, but from the smile on her face there was no need to ask.

?I don?t need anything, Sakuya-san. I just want to do what I can to help.?

Of course. Koishi was too nice for her own good. The other Sirens had managed to talk themselves into some free cookies, but Koishi didn?t want any of it. Sakuya wasn?t sure if that compassion was something she envied or disliked.

?Hey, wait a minute,? Sango said, suddenly coming to life. ?How come no-one asked me??

?Because wherever Koishi-san goes, you?re right behind her,? Mokou answered.

?That?s not the point! ...OK, maybe it is, but you?re really making me feel left out here!?

Sakuya smiled as the dolphin began to protest. She wasn?t used to having friends outside of the mansion, and the girls' company was a refreshing change for her. She wondered if they would stay in touch when all of this Siren nonsense was over.

She hoped so.

?So, what?s the plan?? Sango asked, eager to be part of the conversation. ?You said the boss had a cover job for us to use. What is it??

Mokou nudged her with an elbow. ?Hey, whatever it is, there?s no way it?ll be as bad as our last gig. What could possibly be worse than working as a temp for some second-rate tabloid??

-----

?See? This isn?t so bad.?

Mokou had taken to her new uniform right away. The overalls had won her over in a way that a formal outfit never could, and she took advantage of the fact that she now had pockets to stick her hands in. She strolled towards the manor, whistling to pass the time.

Koishi wasn?t quite as pleased.

?Aren?t gardeners meant to be taller than this? There are going to be bushes that are larger than me.?

The outfit consisted of a shirt and pants, with the overalls worn on top of it. The extra layers made Koishi feel too warm, and the bagginess of her ensemble left her worried something would slip at any moment. Mokou?s taller, bustier frame had none of these issues.

Koishi felt Sango pat her on the head. ?No worries, Koishi-san. I?ll delegate you all the easy jobs.? Sango couldn?t use the same disguise thanks to her fin, so instead she was serving as their boss. Her outfit was casual, almost identical to her everyday fare, but she had added a very important touch.

She shuffled her square-rimmed glasses into place. ?Wow, the boss was right. These really do make you look smarter.?

Koishi rolled her eyes. She?d finally caved in to Nitori?s suggestion of contact lenses. They were magical, obviously, and served the same purpose as the glasses she?d been wearing up until now. They could be dismissed and replaced with a wave of her hand if she needed to see the magical world for any reason.

Not that she would need to get rid of them. As far as she was concerned, this was shaping up to be another routine recon job.

Wait. She gulped as she thought that statement over. Every time I think that, I?m wrong for some reason...
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Kasu on May 14, 2012, 12:41:57 AM
Yessss.  I've been waiting for this~

This arc has certainly gotten off to an intriguing start. :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: LaserTurtle on May 14, 2012, 03:46:32 AM
WHOAMAN

THIS JUST UPDATED

THIS, THE REASON I GOT HOOKED ON ALL THESE STORIES AND MOTK IN GENERAL

YES.

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. NO HOMO OR HETERO, BUT STILL.

Also caps lock is fun but that's besides the point I am in love with this series as much as it is possible to want to father a story's babies they will be half-human half-text monstrosities but I'm really losing my point here and what is a comma?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: KrackoCloud on May 14, 2012, 04:42:57 AM
Ah man! UPDATE.
I'm very excited to see how this is going to turn out!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Esifex on May 14, 2012, 05:31:55 AM
Oh.

More of this dribble?

/me sniffs derisively.







fuck yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Yaersulf on May 14, 2012, 01:55:54 PM
Hoooray, it's back!
My days just weren't quite the same without the anticipation of a new DRK update.  :D
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: D8ms on May 14, 2012, 02:37:06 PM
That's right. I'm just putting the finishing touches on the arc's finale right now, but I'm sitting on roughly 40,000 words for this arc. I'm intending to update twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday, so on this regimen I should have enough material for about a month of constant updates.

Oh my god... I think I need a moment to calm my excited heart
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: XephyrEnigma on May 14, 2012, 03:54:38 PM
Excellent work as always. Good to see you've got it planned out. Looking forward to the next update.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on May 16, 2012, 03:47:29 PM
The Saigyouji manor was on the opposite side of town, as far away from the Scarlet manor as possible. Supposedly the pair had been built at the same time, with families from the east and west bickering over whose architecture was the most beautiful. The argument had never been resolved, but everyone could agree that two stunning manors had been built as a result.

Where the Scarlet mansion had opted for sheer style and pizazz, the Saigyouji home was refined and almost minimalistic. As Koishi passed through the front gate she felt out of place, like she?d stepped several centuries into the past. The whole building had the feeling of a fairy-tale around it, from the little stream running through the front garden to the tiled walls keeping out intruders, all the way up to the cherry blossom symbol that had been painted on the manor?s roof. This was the place for a feudal lord to oversee his dealings.

It definitely wasn?t the place for a young girl wearing overalls.

?I?ll do the talking,? Sango said, stepping in front of the Sirens. ?I?m the boss, remember??  She made a cocky strut towards the door, fiddling incessantly at her glasses. Mokou bit her lip as she watched the dolphin make her way ahead.

?Are we sure it?s safe to let her act like that??

Koishi shrugged. ?She can?t do that much damage. And we did leave her doing nothing last time...?

They were a few paces behind Sango when she knocked at the door. There was no reply, and for thirty seconds none of them could even hear the sound of footsteps. Sango was about to knock again when the door was suddenly pulled open.

?Ah, so you?re the gardeners we were expecting? I hope I didn?t leave you waiting for long.?

The woman who opened the door belonged to same fairytale as the house she lived in. She bowed towards her employees, wearing a long blue kimono straight out of a history book. Her short brown hair was beginning to fade to grey, but her face wouldn?t have looked out of place on a woman half her age.

Mokou let out a low whistle at the sight. ?I?ve gotta learn her secret,? she whispered to Koishi.

Sango cleared her throat, straightening her back and putting on her most serious expression. She?d been practicing her speech on the journey here, and she nailed it.

?Good day, ma?am. We are here on behalf of Kawashiro Industries. We heard you were looking for a new team of gardeners, so I?ve brought two of my finest-?

Her speech was interrupted by the woman grabbing her by the neck and ruffling her hair. ?Oh, look at the little girl trying to act so formal! It?s just too adorable, isn?t it??

Sango squirmed and shuffled under the woman?s grip. Koishi saw her jerk away - not at full force, but strong enough that it should have overcome an elderly woman. Her opponent maintained her grip, running her fingers through Sango?s hair with a look of adoration on her face. She was stronger than she looked.

?P-Please, ma?am, I?d like to remind you that I?m an esteemed professional, and being embraced by my employer is not part of my job description...?

The woman gasped. ?Ah, forgive me. Sometimes I have trouble resisting certain...urges.? She pulled back, bowing to the trio again. ?I am Yuyuko Saigyouji, the lady of the house. You will be answering to me from now on, if I?m to understand our contract.?

Sango was too busy preening her hair and adjusting her glasses to offer a response, so Koishi stepped in. ?Saigyouji-san, may we have a tour of the manor? Your home seems rather spacious, so it?d be good to know where everything is.?

Yuyuko?s eyes fell on Koishi, with a smile that made her worry she?d be the next in line for a hug from her boss. Yuyuko seemed to change her mind at the last minute, thankfully. She cleared her throat. ?Certainly, ladies. If you would follow me, please.?

She stepped backwards into the manor, her footsteps so quiet that Koishi couldn?t hear them even if she tried. It was like her feet never touched the floor, merely hovering above the planks. Strong and subtle - that wasn?t a combination you saw in every housewife.

?Phwee...? Sango moaned as she trodded along, her hair still in a mess after Yuyuko?s meddling. ?What did I do wrong? I dressed smart, and I talked smart, so why did she hug me??

Koishi gave her a pat on the back. ?Sango-san, I think you were trying too hard...?

-----

The insides of the manor had been well maintained. This building had stood for decades, but the wooden walls looked as sturdy as they had been the day the manor was built. Koishi had seen reenactments of the Edo period that were less accurate than this.

Mokou was less impressed. Koishi saw her rolling her eyes. All this wood would react poorly to a spark of fire, so naturally she would feel uneasy.

The corridors continued on for longer than Koishi had thought possible. It felt as if the building was too large to fit inside itself. Paper walls and doors ran down the length of the corridor, but from the layer of dust most of them hadn?t seen any use in the last few years.

?Saigyouji-san, who lives here?? Koishi asked.

?Just me and my son. My husband passed away some time ago,? Yuyuko said. Her expression remained bright. ?I know that much of the mansion goes unused, but my husband loved it. I couldn?t bring myself to leave. There?ll be a good flow of newcomers, though - I have a new chief of security moving in tomorrow, so maybe I should give the place a little dusting...?

As they continued onward, Koishi heard another sound coming from the distance. She caught the swipe of a blade cutting through the air, along with its owner growling. Mokou had told her that the yell made your attack stronger, but Koishi had never seen fit to try it. Shouting made her throat hurt.

Yuyuko?s path deliberately brought them right past the room Youki was training in. Through the paper wall Koishi could see his silhouette shifting from one form to the next, striking with the same grace he?d shown in the exhibition.

He?s the one Sakuya-san had a hunch about, right?

She reached out for the door, intending to look inside, but the moment she stopped Yuyuko turned around.

?I wouldn?t do that if I were you. Youki practices very intently, and I doubt he?ll want to be disturbed.?

Koishi froze. How had Yuyuko heard her? No, it wasn?t what she heard, it was what she didn?t hear. Her feet had been creaking on the floorboards, and Yuyuko must have noticed when the creaking stopped. For a woman her age to notice that was totally abnormal.

?...Saigyouji-san, do you train like your son does??

Yuyuko giggled. ?I taught him everything he knows. The Saigyouji family doesn?t let things like gender get in the way of heritage. Why, I was quite the charmer back in my day...?

She turned around and continued to lead them onwards, murmuring about her childhood. Koishi was too bewildered to really pay attention.

Sango-san...this woman barely seems human. Is she a youkai or something?

Sango scratched her head.

No, but she does a damn good job of acting like it.

Mokou was eying her employer up with what looked like admiration. Koishi heard her muttering about how she ?needed to learn all of Saigyouji-san?s secrets now?. She pulled a little closer to Yuyuko, and at several points made to ask something, but the words never quite made it off of her lips.

At last, Yuyuko came to a stop in front of another paper door. Mokou nearly walked into her back, pulling away a few paces to step back in line with Koishi.

?I hope you aren?t put off by the size of the job,? Yuyuko said as she pulled the door open. ?I admit that this work is long overdue, and it may take some time for you to get the garden back in order. You?ll be paid handsomely, of course.?

Yuyuko stepped out into her garden, her gardeners following suit. Koishi felt the breath catch in her throat. A stone staircase stood in front of her, running up the mountain further than she could see. Yuyuko started to climb it, her steps still totally silent. Mokou and Sango climbed the steps two-at-a-time, while the mere mortal Koishi brought up the rear. At her sides stood two rows of cherry blossom trees, their petals fluttering off their branches and onto the stairs.

Koishi counted seventy steps in total, and she had to catch her breath as she came to the top. As she did, her eyes locked onto the crowning glory of the garden - another cherry blossom tree, larger than any two of its neighbours and taller than the manor itself. A sea of cherry blossoms had gathered beneath it, from newly-shed pink petals to long-dead brown. Sango eyed them curiously, judging the height of the piles.

Looks deep enough to swim in, don?t you think?

Koishi turned to Sango, mystified. She decided it was best not to inquire further. Yuyuko led the trio to the tip of the pile, pointing to a small shed in the corner.

?You?ll find some brooms in there, and some bags to hold the petals in. Normally I would just let them lie, but the weather reports say there?ll be strong winds tomorrow night, and I?d hate to bring a wave of dead leaves down upon Gensouto.?

With that, Yuyuko turned on her heels and made her way back to the manor. ?If it?s too much for two people, I?m sure that your adorable supervisor can lend a hand as well~!?

?That?s not what professionals do!? Sango yelled as Yuyuko fell out of sight. The elderly woman either didn?t hear her or paid her no mind. The trio were left on their own to consider the scale of their assignment.

?...Y?know, I think that grandma might?ve had a point,? Mokou said. She frowned as she turned towards Sango. ?Feel like giving us some help??

It took some convincing from Koishi - and a hefty amount of flattery from Mokou - but finally Sango allowed herself to take a part in the hard labour. Koishi grabbed three brooms from the shed, bringing out a dozen garbage bags for good measure.

?Just consider yourself lucky that I?m a generous boss,? Sango mumbled, adjusting her glasses yet again. ?I oughta give myself a promotion for this...?

-----

?I don?t get why you hadta come along,? Komachi grumbled.

She finished up the last of the official forms she?d needed to sign. Bringing a civilian into the district court wasn?t common, and she had been forced to come up with a good reason for it. She marked it down as research for a potential investigation, which was just vague enough to work. Handing it to the attendant, she made her way towards the court archives, her guest shadowing her movement.

?It seemed unfair for me to ask a favour of you all and do nothing myself,? Sakuya answered. ?This is the only way I can be of assistance. I?m sure you?ll find some legwork for me to do.?

?You?re gonna regret sayin? that. We?ve got fifty years of records to dig through - business deals, education, all the hard-brow stuff. It?d help if you had any idea what we were looking for.?

?Near death experiences have a habit of making me forgetful.?

Komachi sighed. She still thought this entire job was a farce, but when she?d seen how desperate Sakuya was about it she couldn?t bring herself to say no. She was getting soft in her old age, she told herself. She was turning twenty-eight next month, and it wasn?t an event she planned to celebrate.

A familiar face caught Komachi?s attention, pulling her out of her rumination. ?Sumire??

Her fellow prosecutor had been so caught up in the files she was reading over that she almost walked right into Komachi. Sumire only looked up when Komachi spoke, and looked immediately apologetic.

?Ah, Komachi! Sorry, I?m just looking over our files on Morichika again.?

?Morichika? Isn?t the investigation finished?? Komachi asked.

?Technically, yes. We can?t charge him for the crimes from the previous trial thanks to double jeopardy, but there are probably several other charges I can pin him to. We?ll take more care with our employees this time - keep it undercover, make sure that Morichika doesn?t have a chance to influence the verdict again.?

Komachi grinned. It was good to know that the court had been in good hands while she was out of action. Sumire was new but esteemed - she?d only been around for six months, but the court had high hopes for her. It was like looking down at a younger version of herself before things had started to come apart. She made a mental note to watch Sumire just to make sure she didn?t make the same mistakes Komachi had.

?I heard you were reinstated recently. Why did you take a break, again??

?Personal stuff.? Komachi?s tone was distant, and Sumire took it as a cue not to press the point. ?Anyway, can you do me a little favour??

Sumire glanced at her watch. ?Sure, but it?ll have to be quick. I?ve got a meeting to attend in fifteen minutes.?

?No worries. I just need clearance to the archives for a bit.?

?The archives? But I thought you weren?t on duty yet.?

?Call it a side-project. It?s all by-the-book, but I figure that getting an official OK would clear up some doubts.?

?You?ll have to be more precise than that, I?m afraid. I assume it has something to do with the girl standing behind you??

Sakuya had made no attempt to hide, and being blonde in a nation like Japan was an easy way to get noticed. She stepped forwards, offering Sumire a hand.

?Sakuya Izayoi. I?ve asked Onozuka-san to help me with a missing persons case.?

Sumire took Sakuya?s hand, but still seemed a little uneasy in her presence.

?Who?s the missing person??

?Me,? Sakuya answered, without a hint of sarcasm. Sumire spent a few seconds doing nothing other than stare into Sakuya?s eyes, looking for some sort of sign that this was a joke.

There wasn?t one.

?...I get the feeling I wouldn?t want to ask,? Sumire said as she pulled her hand back. ?Anyway, Komachi, I trust you enough to know you?ve probably got a good reason for this. I admit I haven?t known you for long, but I got to listen to six months of my cohorts going on about how great a prosecutor you were.?

?How great a prosecutor I am, you mean.? Komachi folded her arms and nodded to herself with a smirk.

?Yes, that. I?ll vouch for you if something comes up. You still remember how to get to the archives, right??

??Course I do. Eiki had me sortin? the files every week.?

Sumire glanced at her watch again, biting her lip as she started to walk. ?Anyway, good to see you again. Good luck, Komachi!? She waved with her spare hand as she left, her files on Morichika tucked under one arm. Komachi tried to wave back, but Sumire was out of sight before she could even raise her hand.

?Why aren?t you that busy?? Sakuya asked.

?Oh, don?t worry. I will be soon enough.? Komachi sighed. Work as Eiki?s assistant had given her loose hours and plenty of free time. Coming back to her real job was going to be a painful transition.

As Komachi led Sakuya towards the archives, several other members of the court passed by. Some of them nodded at Komachi with approval or muttered congratulations. Sakuya got a few looks, but nothing more than a passing glance, and most of them were looking at her hair more than anything else.

?I?m gonna go ahead and guess you?re not a natural blonde if you?re from around here,? Komachi said.

?Your guess would be correct.?

?So why?d you dye it blonde??

Sakuya shrugged. ?I used to do a little gambling,? she said, when the corridors were empty. ?Taking back some of Morichika?s dirty money, if you will. Acting like a fool is a good way to make your opponent drop their guard, and no-one suspects a blonde-bimbo foreigner. I even spent a few weeks un-teaching myself Japanese for the sake of authenticity.?

Komachi pondered for a while to try and find a good way to respond to that. She couldn?t condone gambling, and definitely not hustling, but at the same time hearing about Morichika losing a fortune couldn?t make her feel anything but content. She had heard stories of an incident at the Rabbit?s Foot some time ago, but it probably wasn?t something Sakuya would be keen on discussing. She decided it would be best to just take the conversation down another tangent.

?You thinking of dyin? it back? What is your natural colour, anyway??

?If I wash it out, you?ll know, but not a moment sooner. A woman is entitled to her secrets.?

Komachi shrugged. It didn?t really bother her either way. She was a lawyer, not a beautician. They stayed quiet up until they finally arrived at the archives. Komachi led Sakuya to the section on business affairs, which consisted of three full filing cabinets. She pulled out one of the drawers, thumbing through to find the file on the Saigyouji family.

?Hey, kid. You said you wanted to do some legwork.?

Sakuya nodded.

?In that case, you mind gettin? me some coffee? We?re probably gonna be here for a while.?

-----

?OK, I changed my mind,? Sango said, slumping onto the staircase. ?I?m giving myself two promotions.?

Koishi was too tired to comment. Four straight hours of work had taken their toll on her. She?d been packing the petals into bags, filling them to the brim, then hauling them down the neverending staircase towards the rest of the family refuse. The first few bags weren?t an issue, but as the number hit double digits stamina became a much bigger factor.

For the most part, Koishi was just an ordinary high-schooler. She wasn?t used to hard labour, and the work had worn away at her. She?d considered taking a break, but when she saw Mokou and Sango going at the job without any sort of pause she couldn?t let herself be the only one opting out. Her conscience was sated, but her muscles were complaining. Very loudly.

?Nothin? like a good workout, huh?? Mokou said, sitting down at Koishi?s other side. She wiped a layer of sweat from her brow, then leaned backwards on the staircase with her hands behind her head. She looked ready to leap back to her feet and start again at any moment. Koishi put a hand on her shoulder just to make sure she didn?t get any ideas.

?I never want to lift another petal in my life,? Koishi said, burying her face in her knees. She hoped that Yuyuko would at least offer them refreshments as thanks for their work.

?Too bad. We?ve gotta finish this up tomorrow, but I think we?re done for today.? Mokou looked over to Koishi, frowning. ?You okay? You pushed yourself pretty hard.?

?I?ll survive.? She?d be able to get through the next few hours as long as no lifting was involved. Her arms were on strike right now.

?So, what exactly is Sakuya-san looking for?? Sango asked. She had taken off the glasses during her work, and was taking great pleasure in putting them back on. ?All she said was that she figures they?re hiding something.?

Mokou shrugged. ?What, you think she gave me secret orders? I know as much as you do about it, and I?m just as lost. I figure we just watch and look for something outta place.?

?They live in a historical reenactment. That?s pretty out of place.?

?OK, outta place in the bad way.?

Koishi closed her eyes, turning about the problem in her head. It was like trying to solve a jigsaw when she only had one piece to work with. She craned her neck up, turning towards the dolphin.

?Sango-san, what exactly did the professor find out about the Saigyouji family??

?There really isn?t much to look at,? Sango said, rubbing at the back of her head. ?The Saigyouji family started off with a funeral service a couple of generations back. Through some wise investments and lucky breaks, they came into wealth, and Yuyuko Saigyouji gets by purely through playing the stock market. They?ve been skilled swordsmen for centuries, but it?s only the last few generations that have really stood out. Yuyuko was pretty much the brightest star of the lot - easily one of the top 100 kendo practitioners of her generation, and one of the top 5 women.?

?What about Youki? Or Yuyuko?s husband??

?Mr. Saigyouji was an architect. A descendant of the guy who built this house, actually. He was the one who bought the manor, but he died a few years later. Pretty frail, from what I heard. And Youki - well, Yuyuko?s been training him his whole life to be her successor. It?s working, too - he?s already a third-dan, and there?s talk that he might be challenging for fourth-dan later this year.?

Koishi?s eyes widened. She?d heard of men who trained for decades to reach a dan grade, and Youki had done it before the age of 20. A little part of her wished she had something to train for so fervently.

?So there?s no sign any of them are involved in anything suspicious??

Sango shook her head. ?The boss gave the whole family a look over. The late Mr. Saigyouji was clean, and there?s no sign Yuyuko is getting her hands dirty. As for Youki, he?s pretty much locked in the house whenever he?s not out performing at tournaments, so there isn?t much of a chance for him to do anything weird.?

Koishi?s brow furrowed. The man they?d been sent in to check on was a recluse with little contact with the outside world, yet Sakuya swore that she recognised him. The jigsaw remained as full of holes as ever, and the trio sat in silence for a few minutes trying to make something coherent of it. They were all pulled out of their thoughts by a set of quiet but audible footsteps.

?Are you fatigued??

Youki Saigyouji spoke with the same respect one would use to speak to an emperor. He bowed towards the gardeners as they rose to their feet. Koishi felt her face grow hot looking him over. The flawless posture, the small smile amidst his firm demeanour - he was like the hero of a feudal epic, the one who slew the demon king and rescued the princess. She had to take a deep breath and let her little fantasies drift off before she spoke.

?Y...Yes, we?re a little tired. We got most of the leaves cleared out, but we?ll get the rest of it done tomorrow.?

The young swordsman looked up the staircase, towards the massive tree that served as the garden?s main attraction. He sighed with a frustration that betrayed his expression.

?I wonder why Mother is only having it cleared up now. I used to train out here, under the cherry blossoms, but Mother told me it was too dangerous and I could fall down the steps.? For a moment, his expression grew intense, almost resentful. ?There are still days where she will barge into my room and make me breakfast or set out clothes for the day. It?s as if I?m still an eight-year-old. It?s charming in its own way, but-?

With a flash of realisation, Youki caught himself mid-rant and clammed up. He bowed deeply in apology, and his expression had recovered by the time his face was in view again. Koishi fought the urge to laugh at the young man?s awkwardness - she wouldn?t doubt his skill with a blade, but social grace was not his strong point.

?...Forgive my tangent. Mother was asking if you would care to dine with us tonight as thanks for your work today.?

Koishi blinked. She looked to Mokou and Sango for a moment, but she wasn?t really paying attention. Even if this wasn?t the perfect opportunity to take a closer look at the family interactions between Youki and his mother, the thought of free food after all that work was too good for Koishi to ignore.

?We?d love to. Right??

?Sure thing,? Mokou answered, flexing her arms and stretching. ?I?ll have something simple. I figure you guys eat pretty well, anyway.?

Sango bit her lip. ?I, uh...don?t suppose you?re eating fish tonight??

?Today is Monday, so dinner is shabu-shabu with miso soup and rice,? Youki replied, almost mechanically. ?If you?d like to decline, I understand. Dining is somewhat rigid in our household - a balanced diet leads to a healthy body.?

Sango seemed to seriously consider the idea for a moment, but her duty won out. ?On second thought, miso soup will be fine. Besides, I?d be a lousy boss if I let these two enjoy the benefits without enjoying them myself.?

Youki raised an eyebrow. ?You?re their superior? I never would have guessed.?

?Whaa-did you miss the glasses or something? How could I not be in charge wearing these things?!?

Another smile slipped across the swordsman?s face, but he didn?t allow his emotions to seep out beyond that. He turned on his heels, beginning the long trip down the stairway.

?Mother will be done soon. If you?ll follow me...?

Mokou was right behind him, already looking refreshed. Sango was next, pouting and muttering about professionalism and integrity. Koishi needed a moment to start her descent, still reeling from exhaustion. No matter how plain this dinner was, it would taste wonderful after a long day?s work-

d n t f r g t

?Huh??

Koishi jerked around. For a moment, she thought she?d heard a whisper as the wind had blown past her face. She?d caught a voice, so quiet that she couldn?t tell who had spoken it. Without knowing why, she climbed the last few steps and approached the mighty cherry blossom tree.

She focused, listening for the source of the sound, but the winds had died down. Was she wrong? No, she?d heard it, she knew she had - someone had spoken to her, but she didn?t know what they wanted to say-

?Hey, Koishi-san! What?re you doing up there??

Sango?s yell brought Koishi back to reality. She jerked awake, and the voice fell into the back of her mind. She turned around to see Sango looking towards her with concern.

?I?m fine,? Koishi answered, rubbing at her eyes. ?Just...I really think I overdid it.?

Sango frowned. ?Jeez, I told you that you should have taken a break.? She grumbled, holding out a hand. Koishi took it without a moment of hesitation. She was tired, she thought to herself. There were better things to do than listen to voices in the wind. She gave Sango?s hand a little squeeze as they started to retrace their steps.

?Going beyond the duty to help an ailing employee,? Sango said to herself with a smirk. ?At this rate, I?m going to be my own boss...?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: LaserTurtle on May 16, 2012, 10:29:19 PM
Good to see the Saigyou Ayakashi being as creepy as a cherry tree can be. Talky talky talky.

And I just realized they're searching for sirens wrong! :o All the previous sirens did do some crazy big stuff but they never were publicly acclaimed for it!
...of course I might just be overthinking it like I always do.




no I do NOT incessantly stalk this story, why do you ask?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Kasu on May 16, 2012, 11:16:45 PM
Did I detect some crossover in this update? :3

Anyway, can't wait to see if or how Youmu fits into this.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on May 17, 2012, 01:17:03 AM
And I just realized they're searching for sirens wrong! :o All the previous sirens did do some crazy big stuff but they never were publicly acclaimed for it!
...of course I might just be overthinking it like I always do.

They're not searching for sirens. They're searching for clues to Sakuya's past. Not that I expect this to stop them from finding a siren, presumably the conspicuously-absent Youmu.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Esifex on May 17, 2012, 05:17:34 AM
presumably the conspicuously-absent Youmu.

Shhhhhhhh you're giving away the story!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: UndyingHunterKamigama on May 18, 2012, 10:44:01 PM
I've been away for too long or just enough time.
I thought this would never get updated!
I'm glad you proved me wrong!


And that


d n t f r g t


That's something from either the Netherworld tree or something else?
I'm surprised Youki looked so young though.
I can't be the only one.
And I'm glad its Friday today!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on May 20, 2012, 08:41:21 PM
Koishi didn?t sit at the dinner table so much as she collapsed at it. She?d already discarded her shoes before stepping into the dining room, and her legs just about gave way as she plopped onto the floor. Without thinking, she pulled her legs to one side and straightened her back. Sango pursed her lips.

?What?re you doing that for, Koishi-san??

?It?s how you?re supposed to sit at a dinner table.?

Koishi had never really bothered with the usual etiquette at home. Satori had rammed it into her head, but after she?d disappeared Koishi ended up dropping the habit. Sango looked puzzled, but followed suit as she put her legs to the side in the same manner. Mokou had already done it without needing to be told. Koishi was unsurprised - of course the health nut was going to take dinner seriously.

Nothing had been served yet, so Koishi?s eyes wandered across the room. It was a traditional tatami room, and given the manor?s size it was almost claustrophobic in its size. Her back was almost pinned to the wall, and Sango could sit no more than a foot away from her. The wall behind her had a small recess with a scroll hanging from it. It was a tokonoma, and according to custom the most important guest of the house was to take their seat here. Sango had made a beeline for it as soon as Koishi had mentioned it, and she?d pulled Koishi along with her.

Mokou was sitting opposite them. To her left - and Koishi?s right - was the seat closest to the entrance, which was traditionally taken by the host. The spot was empty - Yuyuko was still making dinner, after all. Youki was first to emerge, taking the remaining edge opposite the entrance.

Sango looked at him with wonder. ?Koishi-san, why isn?t he sitting like we are??

Koishi poked her head around to look at the young swordsman. His legs were folded at the thighs as he sat on his heels, hands resting on his lap. He stared into the distance with intense focus.

?That?s seiza, Sango-san. It?s how people sit when they?re being formal.?

Was she meant to sit like that too? Koishi bit her lip. Seiza wasn?t something she?d practiced, and it was painful if you hadn?t been brought up with it. Youki caught her glance, and gave her a small shake of the head.

?Don?t worry. I won?t ask guests to partake in our rituals.?

His posture was flawless, Koishi noted. Seiza was a dying practice, but Youki was a prime example of how to do it right.

?Doesn?t that hurt?? Koishi asked, breaking the ice. Youki shook his head again.

?It did at first, but that was thanks to a lack of discipline. I?ve ironed out flaws like that with years of practice.?

He spoke about sitting with the same focus and intent some people would use to discuss their life ambitions. Koishi wasn?t sure whether to be impressed or disturbed. Mokou gave the man a small nod, then shuffled around to match his posture. Youki eyed her for a moment before nodding in approval.

?That doesn?t look so hard,? Sango said, tucking her legs in as well. She did her best to match Youki?s intensity as she copied his stance, but she had little success on either count. Within a few minutes Koishi could see the dolphin begin to fidget, until finally she pulled her legs out and grit her teeth in frustration.

Ow, ow, ow! Why do people do this to themselves?!

Pins and needles, most likely - that was what always happened when people tried seiza for the first time. It was why Koishi was keeping her legs firmly where they were.

This is my chance to talk to him, Koishi thought to herself. Maybe I can find something.

?So, I saw you perform at that tournament on the weekend,? she started. ?You put on an amazing show. I wasn?t the sort to care for kendo otherwise, but your performance really opened my eyes.?

Youki tilted his head. ?Your compliment is humbling, but I must ask what you were doing at a kendo tournament if you have no interest in the sport.?

Koishi flinched. ?Well, uh-?

?I pulled her along,? Mokou answered without skipping a beat. ?You were awesome, by the way. I screwed around with kendo for a couple of years, but that was only with one sword. Using two must be twice as hard, at least.?

?It?s the family style,? Youki said, with no emphasis or pride. ?I learned it from Mother, who learned it from her father, who learned it from his father. Such is the way of the Saigyouji family.?

?That?s it?? Sango raised an eyebrow. ?Surely you?ve got something else to do with your time. A guy your age must go out with friends or play video games or something.?

Youki inhaled deeply through the nose, the first hints of frustration seeping onto his face. His words were laced with venom.

?Oh yes, of course. Why should I maintain family tradition and practice an ancient art when I can whittle away my time playing some game where I pretend to practice an ancient art??

The words almost smacked Sango in the chest. She slumped down until sharp glares from everyone at the table convinced her to sit upright. Koishi frowned.

So he really does stay locked away...

The answer simply made the puzzle even murkier. How could Sakuya have recognised someone who she could have never met? Perhaps she was mistaken. That was the logical conclusion, but Koishi couldn?t shake the feeling that Sakuya wouldn?t ask for their help unless she really felt something strong about this lead.

The only problem was that Koishi had no idea what Sakuya had seen in this man. And the harder she looked, the less she found.

?Sorry to keep you!? a voice called from the kitchen. ?I?m just coming through!?

Yuyuko Saigyouji entered the room with a hefty tray in her hands, almost large enough to fill the table she was placing it on. In the midst of multiple plates of rice and soup, a pleasant steam was rising from a heaving pot of stew. Shabu-shabu was a classic dish made with thinly-sliced beef, and flavoured with tofu and whatever vegetables the cook thought fitting. The name came from the shaking sound the beef made as it was swung around the pot during cooking.

Koishi had never tried shabu-shabu before. It was too much effort to cook, and produced too many helpings to be worth the time when she lived alone. Still, as Yuyuko placed the tray in front of her, she was already starting to regret that choice. The smell of beef, onions and carrots wafted into her nose, and only well-trained manners kept her from taking a bite right then.

?Now, don?t be afraid to take as much as you want,? Yuyuko said with a smile as she passed out the bowls of rice and soup. ?There?s more than enough for everyone, and I?ll just keep the leftovers for another night.?

Mokou offered only a polite nod. Already Koishi could tell she didn?t plan on eating much - too fattening, or something like that. Sango stuck her nose up at the lack of fish in the mix, but the glorious aroma won her over in the end. Everyone at the table clasped their hands together to say their graces.

?Let?s eat.?

For a few minutes, the sheer desire to eat caused Koishi to forget the circumstances that had brought her here. The shabu-shabu was a new experience, and one well worth going through - Yuyuko clearly had experience beyond swordplay. The perfectly prepared beef, the careful balance between vegetables and meat, the sauce that Yuyuko had prepared to accompany the meal - it was like a 5-star restaurant, except instead of paying for it Koishi had worked for four hours straight. Much to her own surprise, this dinner ended up being worth the effort.

?This is great stuff,? Mokou said, though Koishi noticed she hadn?t put much on her plate. ?If you?re willing to pay us with dinner like this, I think I might work here for life.?

Sango looked conflicted. ?It could really use some salmon, but...I guess it?s good enough.?

Koishi got the point across through action, giving herself a heaping plate and working through it bite-by-bite. Yuyuko turned to her, nodding with a mother?s smile.

?You?ve got quite the face, Komeiji-san.? She turned to her own son, with a pout that suited her shoe size more than her age. ?Youki, why don?t you ever smile like that??

?It?s unbecoming of me,? Youki answered, never looking away from his plate. ?A warrior should remain resolute at all times.?

Yuyuko transformed into the most childish girl in the room within a second. She stood up from her spot in the host?s seat, circling around the table and digging her hand into Youki?s hair.

?Ah, Mother-?!?

The noble swordsman was defenseless against his mother?s onslaught as she ruffled his light brown hair out of place. She wore the mischievous grin of an infant who?d kicked over a sandcastle. Youki?s expression quickly shuffled from neutral to shocked to desperate.

?M-Mother, could you please leave your mollycoddling for when we are not seeing to guests??

?Why would I do that? What?s wrong with a mother showing affection for her son??

She nuzzled him, rubbing their cheeks together. Youki cried out in complaint, but for once he seemed unable to defend himself. The three gardeners looked each other over, silently debating on whether to intervene. Memories of Sango being assaulted by Yuyuko at the front entrance flooded Koishi's mind.

The vote was unanimous. Sorry, Youki-san, but you have to take one for the team.

The rest of dinner passed by in the same manner. Before Koishi knew what was going on, she was sitting in front of an empty pile of plates as Yuyuko scooped up the leftovers for tomorrow?s brunch. Koishi bowed, murmured her thanks for the meal, and made her way out along with Mokou and Sango. With dinner finished, they had no good reason to hang around anymore.

Youki led them to the entrance while Yuyuko began cleaning the dishes. The swordsman had done everything he could to regain his composure after his mother?s display, but the frayed and twisted hair killed any severity his expression may have had. Koishi felt almost welcome as he brought her to the door and wished them safe travels.

It wasn?t until they were out of the manor and well out of earshot that Koishi found her voice.

?Well, that was...strange.?

Mokou nodded in agreement. ?Toro-chan, are you sure your boss?s intel is legitimate? Because that woman did NOT look like a master swordsman to me.?

?What?re you looking at me like that for, phwee? I?m just the messenger, okay?!?

Sango looked hurt. Koishi couldn?t have imagined the day had went well for her. They?d learned nothing, and her pride had been trampled on from sunrise to sunset.

Why does no-one think I?m a good boss...?

Koishi gave the dolphin a little pat on the back as they started the long trip home. It was walks like this that made Koishi wish she?d taken the time to learn how to drive.

She?d learned one thing for certain - the Saigyouji family was odd. Beyond odd, even - verging on eccentric.

Suspicious, though? She?d need a little longer to figure that out.

-----

?Y?know, this is exactly what I was looking forward to when I went into law,? Komachi said, as she tossed another folder to the side. ?Nothing makes a day off like reading through the affairs of some well-off old woman.?

Sakuya was only half-listening. Her focus was entirely on the document in front of her, eyes darting across the paper and absorbing every word. She had decided it wasn?t thorough enough to look through the Saigyouji family history, and she?d pulled out files on every family that the Saigyouji had done business with as well. She had Komachi look over the files when she was done with then, just in case she had missed something.

The records told Sakuya little beyond what she already knew about Yuyuko Saigyouji. She had inherited a great deal of family wealth when she came of age. Educated in economics by some of the greatest minds in the country, and trained in swordsmanship by her father, she had blossomed on both counts. Sakuya made sure to examine all of Saigyouji?s dealings with great care, but she couldn?t find any link with Morichika?s underground dealings - every yen Yuyuko had made was legitimate.

The family engaged in the usual upper-class soirees, where rich people bragged to each other about how rich they were. Yuyuko was less verbal about her wealth and moreso about her son, whose brilliance she declared in public whenever she had a chance. She?d also challenged other families to formal duels on two separate occasions, with no-one honestly certain how serious she was being with the gesture. She was considered brilliant, but thoroughly unusual by her peers.

Sakuya?s search led her to skim over the details of most of these upper-class folk as well, just in the hope of finding a connection to the Saigyouji family. There was little to find - Yuyuko tended to work in the open market rather than engaging in buyouts and mergers with other companies. Most of them had never even set foot in Yuyuko?s home.

She did notice a few oddities in the finances of Yuyuko?s competitors, which she mentioned to Komachi as an afterthought. The lawyer had perked up at that, circling the incriminating lines and sticking them in a separate pile to bring up later. The chance to catch rich folk red-handed was likely the only thing keeping Komachi awake and focused at this point.

Without any leads among Yuyuko?s contacts, Sakuya zeroed in on the most important person in her investigation - Youki Saigyouji. There was even less to work with there than with his mother, because unless he was performing at an event Youki was almost always locked away in the Saigyouji household. Yuyuko made little effort to share his progress with the outside world - besides a period of illness as a child, his life was effectively a blank slate. She would have cursed, but she was already getting enough looks from passers-by without adding foul language to the mix.

After three hours of intense study, Sakuya put the last folder to the side. She put a hand against her face, sighing as her brain went into neutral. Even she could only focus for so long on a subject, and the monotony had gradually worn away at her concentration. Kawashiro had been telling the truth - there really was nothing to be found here. She felt something come loose in her stomach - despair was too strong a word, but frustration didn?t seem quite strong enough.

She was pulled out of her haze by the clink of a coffee cup being placed in front of her.

?Happy now?? Komachi asked, picking up the folders and starting on the job of returning them to their proper places. Sakuya watched her move, how she knew every folder and file down to the colour of the ink. Looking at her reminded Sakuya of her brief stint at the Bunbunmaru. She sighed to herself, relieved that she wouldn?t have to make a living as monotonous as that.

?Happy isn?t the word I?d use. ?Content? is more like it.? Sakuya took a sip from the cup. It was barely coffee, but she?d drank worse.

?Well, if it means I don?t have to haul you around like it?s Take-Your-Daughter-To-Work day, it?s good enough for me.? Komachi?s complaints were in stark contrast with her eagerness to clean up after herself. Sakuya wondered how much of it was a ruse; normally it would have been easy to gauge, but Komachi had always seemed the sort to keep her true feelings to herself. She held a faint aura of mystery about her, even after the Red Lily business was long finished.

Sakuya had to admit that mystery had a certain charm to it.

?Still, I didn?t think you?d keep at it for so long,? the lawyer said as she took a seat next to Sakuya. ?Are you this obsessive about all your hunches??

Sakuya shook her head. ?I?m a gambler, but that doesn?t make me an idiot. I know when to quit.?

?Then are you stoppin? now?? Komachi raised an eyebrow, her face caught in another expression Sakuya couldn?t really read. She was smiling, but something seemed a little off about her eyes, as if she was looking for something on Sakuya?s face. She was looking for a serious answer.

The maid pondered the question for a moment. She?d seen the evidence for herself, and it had amounted to nothing. There was no sign that the Saigyouji family had anything to do with her past, or even a sign they?d been involved in anything underhanded at all. There?d been no sign of anything suspicious from Koishi?s team, either - they were under orders to call Sakuya if they found anything worth looking into, but she hadn?t heard a thing.

She recalled her brief encounter with Youki in the corridor. In her mind she replayed the instant where his expression crumpled, where the otherwise-invincible swordsman showed his weakness. In that moment she?d felt her heart leap with certainty. She had convinced herself, there and then, that she was onto something.

That euphoria had long since dwindled, of course. But Sakuya could still feel something stirring in her chest, even when all the evidence was telling her to drop it. The feeling frustrated her. She had no suitable words to describe it with, but at the same time it pulsed with the resolve she needed to keep going.

?No,? she said at last, shortly but bluntly. ?Maybe there?s nothing official that incriminates Saigyouji, but there could be other sources we haven?t tried yet. It?ll take some more digging on our part, but we have a week to kill while Koishi-san?s team is at work anyway.?

Komachi blinked. For an instant, Sakuya saw a look of definite shock cross her face. It was quickly replaced with a disgruntled pout.

?You have a week to kill, y?mean,? she said, with the tone of a 5-year-old being sent to bed. ?I?ve got three days before I have to report for formal duty, and I can hardly miss that when I?ve just been reinstated.?

?Then you?d better work fast.? Sakuya?s smile was half-joking, half-smug. A few seconds later, Komachi?s face rose to match it.

?...Geez. Kid, you?re the craziest girl I?ve ever met.? Komachi grinned. ?And you oughta consider that a compliment.?

?I intended to.? Sakuya gave a small bow as she rose to her feet, stretching her legs for the first time in hours. She rubbed at her eyes, which had long since acclimated to the measly light of the archives. Komachi stood up soon afterward, rubbing at the back of her head as she made for the exit.

?Guess I?ll have to resort to her, then.?

Sakuya furrowed her brow. ?Excuse me??

The lawyer let out a long, troubled sigh. ?If you wanna find out what the Saigyouji family is up to, I can call in a favour. I know someone who?s good at that sort of stuff.?

?But you?re the Red Lily, aren?t you?? Sakuya spoke in hushed tones in case anyone passed by. ?I thought gathering information was your specialty.?

?All I did was tell Shameimaru stuff she wasn?t meant to know. I?m a damn good prosecutor, but that doesn?t make me a good investigator.?

?But you know someone who can fill in the blanks.? Sakuya already felt her strength returning, her stupor all but gone.

?Yeah, but...? Komachi was grumbling, visibly miserable. ?I?ll have to make some preparations for it. She?ll want a suitable tribute before she?s willing to work with me.?

Now Sakuya was the stunned one, raising an eyebrow. ?Tribute? What are you talking about??

?You?ll see tomorrow.? Komachi wore the smile of a woman who?d accepted her fate. ?Y?know how I said you?re the craziest girl I?ve ever met? Well, this girl is sitting pretty in second place. She calls herself Detective Kotohime...?

-----

Koishi still wasn?t used to doing this much cooking in the evenings.

She wasn?t cooking for herself, obviously. She and Sango had eaten more than their fair share during their time at the Saigyouji residence. But there were two mouths at home that demanded to be fed, and as of late they?d become a lot more picky about their meals. Almost as soon as Koishi had opened the satchel of cat food, the typical complaints came from the living room.

?Nyaaaaah, you went for the supermarket brand again?! I need some variety too, y?know!?

Rin had always preferred certain foods over others, but normally she would eat what she was given. Now that she could put her complaints into words, she was much less willing to go along quietly. Koishi let out a little sigh as she brought the food bowl in, holding a saucer of milk in her other hand. Rin was sitting on her knees, arms folded and cheeks puffed out as she refused to make eye contact.

?Rin, we discussed this earlier. They come in packs of twelve, and they expire fast, so if I switched it up the food would go bad.? Koishi placed the dinner down on the floor, giving the catgirl a little scratch behind the ears. ?I?ll get you something fancier once we?re done with these, okay??

The cat grumbled, but Koishi?s touch was enough to break down her frustrations. She nuzzled at the hand, letting off a small purr before bending down and starting on her dinner. Utsuho was sitting next to her, wings tucked in as she placed her legs under the table. Her bowl of birdseed was almost totally depleted.

?Koishi-sama,? she said, frowning, ?Can I have some ice cream when I?m done??

?Wouldn?t that be bad for you?? Koishi said. ?I thought some youkai were weak to food like that.?

?Ravens are sturdy, especially when it comes to their stomachs. ? Utsuho spoke matter-of-factly - she wasn't trying to act superior, but rather she was stating what seemed like a basic fact. She gave a pitiful look that Koishi struggled to resist.

?Hey, no fair!? Rin pulled up from her meal, livid once again. ?If Okuu gets to have ice cream, I want some too!? She joined in, although her expression was more aggressive than upset. The pressure from both of them was enough to break Koishi?s resistance.

?Alright, alright.? Sometimes Koishi wondered who was the owner in this relationship. ?Sango-san, you want any ice cream??

Sango didn?t seem to notice. Last night she?d found an old games console that Koishi had left in the attic a few months ago. She?d only found one game for it, but she had been playing it to death whenever they weren?t on duty. Unfortunately, the game was from the old generation where beating the first level was considered a major accolade.

A familiar death-cry burst out from the television. Sango?s complaints followed along a few seconds later. ?Phweeeeeeee! How was I meant to see that bad guy coming?! Now I have to start from the beginning again...?

In her defense, the furious outbursts were getting further and further apart, so Koishi had to assume Sango was getting the hang of it. She decided it was best not to interrupt the dolphin in the middle of her work, and focused on satisfying her pets.

After a few minutes, Rin wiped away the last few specks of meat on her face. Her ears twitched in excitement as Koishi stepped in with two bowls of ice cream, laying one down in front of each of them. A spoon had been laid in each bowl, but neither of them saw any use.

?I?ve always wanted to try this stuff,? Rin whispered, eyes glinting with excitement. She leaned forward, taking a small lick at the dessert - and a small lick was all she got, because within an instant she was flinching backwards as if the food was poisonous. ?Myaaaah! It?sh weally weally cold!?

Koishi wasn?t sure how to respond to that. For a moment she just stared at Rin in awe, before the obvious facts slipped out of her mouth.

?Uh, Rin...it?s called ice cream for a reason.?

?Yeah, yeah, I get it...Okuu, do you want my share??

Rin turned towards her companion, to find Utsuho looking down on an entirely empty bowl. While Rin tended to lick and nibble at her food, Utsuho preferred to skip the formalities. While Koishi?s attention had been on Rin, the raven had swallowed each scoop one after the other.

It was a few seconds before the consequences kicked in.

?Unyuuuu...my brain hurts...? Utsuho toppled to her side, clutching at her head and almost sliding under the table. Rin stared at her in shock, then looked at the leftovers in front of her. With something resembling terror, she nudged the bowl across the table in front of Koishi.

?Humans are scary,? she said, ears drooping. She helped Utsuho to sit up again, wrapping her arms around her to warm her up. Utsuho leaned into the hug, giving off a small coo as her wings flapped behind her.

Koishi smiled. ?You two are close, aren?t you? I?m guessing you knew each other before we took you in.?

?Something like that,? Rin answered. Her eyes lost focus for a moment in nostalgia. ?I was a street cat without anywhere to go. She was a little birdie that got separated from her flock. I?d never really talked to a youkai who wasn?t a cat before, so it was pretty awesome.?

?She told me I was bird-brained,? Utsuho murmured, still euphoric from the hug.

?Well, you kinda are,? Rin yelped in response. ?Remember that time you tried to snatch a pie from behind the shop window??

?How was I supposed to know which side of the window it was on?? Utsuho pouted, rubbing at her forehead as the memories struck her. Rin rolled her eyes.

?See, Koishi-sama? This was what I had to deal with. To be fair, Okuu saved my ass plenty of times as well. We made a pretty good living on the streets, though I heard there were a lotta youkai less lucky than we were.?

Koishi nodded. She imagined the pair of them rummaging for leftovers and robbing stores to keep themselves fed. It was remarkably easy - the pair had a natural chemistry she couldn?t put words to.

?So if you were so content on the streets, how did you end up becoming pets??

It took only an instant for Koishi to realise she?d asked the wrong question. Rin?s ears stood on end, and she started to lean into the raven?s hug.

?Well, uh...it?s a long story. Too long to be worth talking about-?

?Orin ran in front of a car,? Utsuho said without so much as blinking. The cat?s grip on her shifted to a vice.

?Okuu, you promised you weren?t going to tell! And I figured he was gonna brake earlier, okay?!?

For such a long story, Koishi had managed to get the general idea within a few sentences. Rin deflated now that the truth was out, lying on Utsuho?s back and letting out a small growl.

?She got lucky,? Utsuho continued. ?She only broke two legs, and she got sent off to the vet afterward. I went along with her and caused a ruckus until they brought our cages together. Then the vet let his daughter get some practice looking after us-?

Koishi knew the rest of the story. ?And that was Satori, right??

Utsuho nodded. ?Yes. We had never been tended to before, and if Orin had been able to walk she would have broken out onto the streets again. But Satori-sama didn?t just look after us - she talked to us, played with us, did everything she could to cheer us up. In the end she grew so attached to us that she asked her father to take us home, and..well, then we met you.?

Koishi could still remember the first day Satori had brought the pets home. From the moment they stepped in they adored their owner, Rin stroking at her ankles and Utsuho perched on her shoulder. Koishi had needed a little longer to work her way into their good books, but after a year or so she was as loved as Satori was.

?...Right.? Koishi gave her pets a sad smile. ?You miss her too, don?t you??

Rin emerged from behind Utsuho, looking more confused than she was upset. ?Koishi-sama, are you alright? Usually when you talk about this stuff, you get a little...?

?No, it?s fine.? Koishi shook her head, forcing herself to stay strong. ?I?ll just have to be as good a master as Satori was, won?t I??

Rin blinked. She looked at Utsuho, and the pair nodded at each other. They spoke at once, their voices in perfect unison.

??You already are, Koishi-sama.??

Koishi let out a little gasp. She felt her face warm up as she buried it in her hands. If her arms were long enough, she?d have hugged both of them at once.

?Thanks, you two. Really.? After a few seconds, she had recovered enough to look her pets in the eye again. ?Now, who wants to watch Sango fail at video games some more??

Both pets smiled at that. No-one in this house was willing to turn down a little schadenfreude.

?Wha?? Sango called from the living room. ?Koishi-san, don?t turn my suffering into a spectator spoooooooooort!?

Koishi let out a long, hearty laugh. This house had never felt so alive.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Yaersulf on May 20, 2012, 09:04:22 PM
Oooooh Kotohime, this is going to be FUN.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on May 23, 2012, 07:00:35 PM
?Well, that was a lot safer than most of my car journeys.?

Sakuya couldn?t help but sound a little upset as she stepped out of the vehicle. The journey had taken twice as long as she had expected it to - then again, she was used to Meiling?s barely legal, death defying stunts on the road. Komachi had been more willing to stop at red lights and peacefully coexist with other drivers. Her car probably couldn?t handle that sort of exertion, anyway.

?I call her Ol' Rusty. She ain?t fast, and she ain?t pretty, but she gets the job done.? Komachi emerged from the other side, giving the car a loving tap on the hood. ?Bought it from a pal five years ago, and she hasn?t missed a beat.?

?Do you refer to everything you own as ?she??? Sakuya asked without looking her in the eye.

?Only the stuff I?d be willin? to hug in public.?

Komachi walked away, without bothering to elaborate. Sakuya followed, too distracted to ponder over the lawyer?s choice of words.

The street was a nigh-endless line of apartment blocks, housing roughly four-hundred people. They were cheaply built, but with just enough reinforcement to keep them standing should an earthquake hit. They looked more suited for a middle-class employee than a master investigator, but Komachi insisted this was her contact?s address. She approached one of the apartment blocks, Sakuya trailing behind.

?OK, so here?s the deal,? Komachi said, her voice now much more serious. ?Kotohime is, well...strange is the best word I can think of. She?s not the sorta girl I?d want at my next birthday party, but I can?t deny she?s good at what she does. But she?s gonna ask some strange things of you, so it?d really help if you just played along.?

Sakuya frowned. ?You?re putting me in a room with a lunatic, and you won?t even let me poke fun at her? You lawyers really are a dull lot.?

?Hey, not my fault if you piss her off and she decides not to help us. Just trying to help.?

The maid gulped. Perhaps she had been pushing her luck recently. She decided to keep quiet as Komachi pressed an unmarked buzzer. A few seconds later, the intercom crackled to life.

?State your business.? The voice on the other end of the line was hard to make out, but held a tone somewhere between gleeful and melodramatic. Komachi clenched her teeth.

?Let us in, Kotohime,? she muttered. There was silence for a few seconds as the voice pondered the idea, before a noble?s laugh resounded from the metal box.

?Ohohohoho...you know that?s not what you?re supposed to say, Onozuka.?

?Just lemme in already. I really don?t wanna play games with you today.?

This time there was no reply at all, but the faint crackling of the intercom remained. Kotohime was waiting for Komachi to say whatever she was supposed to, and there was no sign she?d let them in otherwise. Sakuya saw the lawyer?s eyes drift towards the door, and she could almost hear the woman ask herself whether it was worth breaking the door down.

Eventually, sensibility won out.

?...Princess Kotohime, may I request an audience?? Komachi spoke begrudgingly, looking set to vomit with every word. A childish giggle came from the intercom.

?Certainly!? With a buzz, the door unlocked. Komachi let herself in, shoulders slumped like she was struggling with her own weight. Sakuya kept a few paces away from  her, concerned her lack of enthusiasm was contagious.

Two flights of stairs later, Komachi came to a stop in front of an apartment door. The first thing Sakuya noticed was the flowery pattern engraved on the door. As she approached it became clear it was no engraving - rather, it had been painted meticulously to make the door look more fancy than it really was. She was beginning to understand why Komachi had been so worried about coming here.

The door was half-open, and Komachi let herself in. The apartment itself was everything Sakuya hadn?t been expecting - in short, it was a dump. She had to tread carefully across a minefield of empty soda cans and ready-meal wrappers to cross the hall. The wallpaper was peeling in places, and the ceiling fan whirled pitifully above her head. The whole place seemed designed to send Sakuya into overdrive - years as a maid had built certain instincts into her, and she had to fight the urge to overhaul the entire apartment without even being asked. The only saving grace was the faint smell of tea coming from the kitchen.

Kotohime?s room, thankfully, was only mildly tarnished. A few dozen cans of a popular energy drink were propped up next to one of the most impressive computers Sakuya had seen in her life. The whole rig hummed with power, letting off a faint blue light and whirring faster than any machine she?d ever witnessed. There was an electronic archive hidden away in the mansion for listing employees and finances, but against this behemoth it may as well have been a calculator.

The woman herself was seated in front of the computer, eyes jumping between three monitors at once. One screen displayed a database whose contents Sakuya couldn?t identify with a single glance. A second showed stock markets, reporting a gradually increasing stock in Kotohime?s favour. The final monitor was filled with numbers and symbols in what looked like a programming language - regrettably, one field in which Sakuya had never become fluent. Kotohime twirled about with deliberate flair as she swirled the chair about to face her guests.

?Onozuka. I?m surprised you haven?t cut ties with me by now.?

Sakuya gave the woman one of her cursory examinations. Late teens, maybe early twenties. Long brown hair, frayed and pointing in every direction. Vaguely red eyes, bright and curious. A nightgown with small gem-accessories sewn into it, perhaps as a makeshift robe. A small book in English hidden under her chair - Sakuya could just make out the words HANSEL AND GRETEL on the cover. She could draw many conclusions from her observations, but none of them seemed worth declaring given that she?d been ordered to keep quiet. She stayed in the doorway, allowing Komachi to do the talking on her behalf.

The lawyer grumbled, unable to look Kotohime in the eye. ?I?m not gonna pretend that I?ll enjoy this visit. I?m here for business, so if you wanna do away with the pleasantries that?d be wonderful.?

Kotohime sat up, a head shorter than Komachi but twice as proud. She waved a finger from side to side, tutting with disappointment.

?Oh, Onozuka. You know I request my payment in advance, don?t you??

Komachi grumbled, reaching into one of the pockets on her suit and pulling out a small bag. She flung it at Kotohime, and the ?inspector? caught it effortlessly in one hand. She opened it up, pulling out one of the dozen teabags held within. She held one close, took a sniff at it, and frowned.

?Darjeeling again? I hope you understand you?re becoming predictable now.?

?It was all I could get on short notice,? Komachi said with a shrug. ?It counts, right??

Kotohime thought it over for a moment, rustling at the tea leaves inside of the bag, before at last she nodded.

?Allow me to test it myself, and I will decide then.? She hurled it across the room, this time with a throw towards Sakuya. Her aim was better than the maid had expected, and Sakuya grabbed it with ease.

?Izayoi-san, would you mind making me a cup? I believe it?s your specialty.?

Sakuya felt her heart skip a beat. She turned to Komachi, mouth wide open in a rare look of surprise. The lawyer simply shrugged with a knowing smile. Thankfully, Kotohime was too vain to let her deduction go unexplained.

?When Onozuka made contact, I thought that a little background reading was in order. Sure enough, yesterday she was marked down as reading through court archives alongside a Sakuya Izayoi, who happens to be serving as a maid for the young Remilia Scarlet.? Every word sounded more smug than the one before it, her arms beginning to swing about in wild rotations. ?And for an encore, I found out that Izayoi-san has been doing some individual research throughout Gensouto?s public records - in particular, looking into the workings of the Saigyouji family.?

She held her arms out, awaiting a round of applause. ?So are you here to learn about the Saigyouji family, or have I made some sort of foolish miscalculation??

Sakuya wanted desperately to say she was wrong, but every deduction had hit its target. She settled for turning on her heels and heading to the kitchen, refusing to give the woman the attention she was looking for.

?A stubborn one,? Kotohime said as Sakuya departed. The maid couldn?t make out Komachi?s response before she was out of earshot.

The kitchen was at the end of the hallway, and Sakuya sighed as she looked within. Unlike every other room in the house, the kitchen had been given a great deal of care, and every surface was spotless. Sakuya felt more comfortable here than she had in Kotohime?s room, as if she had stepped into her natural environment. It was enough to make her forget the cocky grin on Kotohime?s face while she prepared the tea. Darjeeling wasn?t a brand she was intimately familiar with, but she knew enough about tea to have a general idea what she was doing.

A few minutes later, she returned with a perfectly made cup. She took care not to trip on the return journey, and was doubly careful not to give in to the urge to spray the boiling drink all over Kotohime. The ?princess? was chuckling to herself as Sakuya returned, telling a story that Komachi clearly wasn?t listening to.

?...And then I told him what HE could cyber, and-oh, you?re back.? Kotohime stretched an arm out to reach at the tea, refusing to leave her chair. Sakuya glared at her for a few seconds, waiting for her to stand up, but Kotohime was adamant about staying put. Finally Sakuya took the two steps necessary to place the cup right in Kotohime?s hand.

?Thank you. Was that so hard?? As the investigator took a tentative sip of the drink, Sakuya had to turn away and look towards Komachi. She didn?t trust herself to keep calm in the face of such blatant egotism. It was like talking to a caricature of herself, with every frustrating trait magnified by a factor of twenty.

Her cue to turn back was the small clink as Kotohime placed the cup on the desk, followed by a long sigh of satisfaction.

?Ahh, that really is a wonderful blend. Perhaps your taste is better than I thought.? Kotohime turned to Sakuya, that unbearable smile sliding onto her face again. ?I?d check the adoption records, if I were you.?

Sakuya raised an eyebrow. ?Excuse me?? The moment the words were out of her mouth, Sakuya already regretted them. Kotohime?s smile grew as she started another monologue on her own greatness.

?I assume by now you understand what Onozuka sees in me. I?m something of a technician, a fact-finder on the endless bounds of the internet. And since I was doing so much background reading on you, I decided to read up on this Saigyouji woman as well. An interesting madam, certainly, though I found no trace of anything blatantly illegal in her doings. What I did find, though, was a small anomaly looking through the public records.?

Now Sakuya couldn?t bring herself to look away. She knew she was giving Kotohime the public audience she was looking for, but this was the closest she?d had to an actual lead. She nodded for Kotohime to continue.

?Well, what I found was that Saigyouji?s name came up somewhere where it shouldn?t have. It was an old link, unavailable through standard methods, but with a few custom programs I found her name swimming around in the Gensouto adoption files. Only the name, though - the report itself seems to have been wiped from the system. Curious, that - they only store files when there?s a successful adoption, and usually every new parent gets a report written on them.?

?How certain are you about this?? Sakuya asked. ?I?ve searched through every public record I could find on Yuyuko Saigyouji, and I?ve found nothing referring to adoption.?

Kotohime shrugged. ?Anything can disappear if you throw enough money at it. Unless, of course, you have a princess on your side.? She winked, and Sakuya struggled to keep herself from throwing up at the sight of it. She turned away to Komachi again.

?Where does the court keep official adoption records?? she asked. ?They might have wiped the electronic file, but the paper copy might still be floating around.?

Komachi seemed startled, like the conversation had finally knocked her awake. She rubbed at the back of her head. ?Well, they?re in the archives like everything else. I figured if you were looking for that sorta stuff, you would go to the adoption agency...but if it?s something Saigyouji was trying to hide, the court record is the one she?s most likely to have missed.?

Sakuya nodded. She?d considered looking through adoption records before, but with no leads and a mountain of other options to look through it had been low on her list of priorities. She was frustrated that the answer had been so close from the beginning, but at least they were getting somewhere now.

?Thanks,? Sakuya muttered to Kotohime, offering her a small bow. Kotohime lapped up the praise, giving a noble wave to her as she left.

?Goodbye, Izayoi-san. If you need my services again, you know where to find me.?

Silently, Sakuya prayed to herself that this would be her first and last meeting with Kotohime. The look of relief on Komachi?s face as she closed the door behind her suggested she wasn?t alone in that thought.

?How often have you needed to work with her?? Sakuya asked as they stepped out onto the street.

Komachi grunted. ?More than enough. I hope this shows you how much I?m willing to help you out.?

?And I hope this lead shows you that sometimes a gambler?s hunch really does get you somewhere.?

Komachi?s face crumpled up. ?Yeah, whatever. Just get in the car. We?ve got some more reading to do.?

-----

?Aaaand that?s the last of them.?

Mokou threw the final bag into the pile, which by now was higher than she was tall. Koishi and Sango stood alongside her, taking a moment to witness their own work. Around them, the winds were beginning to pick up, which would have been a surefire sign of disaster if the leaves hadn?t been taken care of.

?It?s beautiful, isn?t it?? Sango said, one arm around Koishi?s shoulder and the other wiping at her eyes. ?It?s amazing what can happen when humans and dolphins put aside their differences and work together. It just gets me so emotional...?

Koishi wasn?t too impressed by the pile itself, but the feeling of a long day?s work had a definite appeal to her. Her muscles ached, but it was the sort of pain that came from doing something useful with herself, and it felt like she?d grow back a little stronger once the pain had passed. She leaned into Sango?s shoulder a little, almost falling asleep from relief.

The moment was ruined by a loud growling from Sango?s stomach.

?Oh...uh.? The dolphin looked down at herself, then to the Sirens. Koishi gave her a little pat on the stomach.

?You hungry, Sango-san??

?No!? Sango paused for a moment before pouting. ?Well, yeah. I was up late last night, so I kinda skipped breakfast...?

A door shuffled open behind her. ?Well, you?ll be grateful to know that dinner is served.? Youki Saigyouji stepped out to greet them once again, his expression as neutral as ever. He eyed the pile of leaf-filled bags for a moment, offering a small nod of approval before beckoning the trio inside. The gardeners gratefully followed in his footsteps as they started the labyrinthine journey to the dining room.

?What?re you having tonight?? Mokou asked, looking as if the exercise hadn?t fazed her at all. ?I?m a growing girl, so I can?t get by on something petty after a long day?s work.?

Youki didn?t even look back at her. ?On Tuesdays, we serve motsunabe. My mother is intent on hearty meals so that I grow big and strong.? He frowned. ?Her words, not mine.?

Sango tilted her head. ?Motsunabe??

?It?s a soup with beef offal and cabbage in it, basically,? Koishi said. ?And probably a bunch of extras too, if it?s like yesterday.?

Youki nodded. ?Not to worry, though. There?ll be an extra mouth at the table tonight.?

?Eh?? Now Sango tilted her head in the other direction.

?I believe my mother mentioned that we were hiring a new chief of security, correct?? Youki had a tone that wouldn?t sound out of place in a lecture room, Koishi thought to herself. ?She arrived a few hours ago, and she?s been getting on wonderfully with my mother. She?s been invited to dinner along with the rest of you, so you needn?t worry about leftovers.?

Koishi had to feel a little relieved at that. A hearty meal once in a while was good, but she couldn?t manage to eat that much two nights in a row. Sango would be willing to eat whatever Koishi didn?t, if it came down to it. She stepped into the dining room, smiling as the smell of dinner wafted into her nose.

The smile vanished from her face when she saw who was already seated at the table.

?You-? Sango was the one to cry out, pointing an arm towards the newcomer. Seated at the kotatsu was a woman in a baggy silver jacket, with a deeper tan than anyone native from Gensouto could be expected to have. Koishi?s eyes were locked on her back - she could only see it because she was looking for it, but the tip of the girl?s shark fin was barely visible beneath her clothes. Mokou needed a minute to understand what was going on - this was her first time meeting the woman in person, after all - but when it clicked, she was as shocked as the rest of the gardeners.

The woman paid little attention to them in comparison - other than giving Sango a playful wink. Youki looked puzzled as he turned to the dolphin.

?You two have met before?? he asked.

?Ah-? Sango stopped herself, going red in the face. ?N...No, actually. She just looked really similar to someone I know.?

The swordsman seemed unconvinced, but his expression carried a look of indifference. He simply took his seat at the table, taking the formal seiza position he?d been maintaining for all of yesterday. The security chief eyed him for a moment before copying his stance, tucking her legs in and sitting on them.

That, of course, was Sango?s cue to copy her.

...Sango-san, what are you doing?

Koishi looked to her side, raising an eyebrow. Sango didn?t look back, her focus solely on the shark sitting across from her.

I can?t let her show off like that, can I?

Koishi frowned. She had expected something more mature, but these two had a rivalry that would have seemed more fitting among middle-schoolers. She did her best to ignore them, but there was little else to look at. The table was silent, with Mokou looking as nervous as she was and Youki busy daydreaming about something.

After about five minutes, there were two small grunts as the youkai gave up. Both of them dropped the stance at once, giving each other the same proud smirks. Koishi sighed, wondering to herself how much longer dinner would take to arrive. Thankfully, she didn?t have to wait long.

?Evening~!? Yuyuko strolled into the room with pot of soup in her hand. Beef bubbled beneath the surface, the scent almost overpowering. In any other circumstance it would have been a wonderful meal.

The atmosphere was somewhere between tepid and outright dead. Beyond saying grace at the start of the meal, none of the guests spoke a word. The closest they had to interaction were the occasional glares that Sango and Jozu gave each other. Koishi and Mokou never looked away from the meal, leaving Yuyuko to wax poetic about her son?s achievements to an audience that wasn?t really listening.

?Youki, remember that time I took you to the beach?? she said, hand hanging over Youki?s head, ready to ruffle at his hair. Youki looked back at her, bewildered.

?Forgive me, mother, but I don?t recall that incident.?

Yuyuko went tense for a moment, frowning like a child. ?Oh, but of course you do! Surely you recall running from the waves when you learned you couldn?t cut them? You were only a boy when it happened, but if an old lady can remember it surely you can as well.?

Youki stared into his mother?s eyes for a moment, expressionless. Koishi saw him let out a small gasp, as if an idea had just struck him.

?...Ah, yes, now I remember,? he said at last, with obvious relief. ?Will we ever have another outing like that, mother??

?If you do well in nationals this year, who knows?? Yuyuko giggled, finally ruffling her son?s hair. Her plate was fuller than anyone else?s in spite of her age and health, she had a monstrous appetite. Even the youkai were taken aback by how much Yuyuko could put away.

A few minutes later, it was a beeping noise that broke the silence. Yuyuko reached into her kimono, pulling out a small cell phone. She didn?t seem to care for the anachronism as she put it to her ear.

?Saigyouji speaking. ...Now? Can it wait? ...How much? ...And you?re certain? ...Alright, I?ll be right there.?

She put it away, looking out to the table with a sigh. ?I?m sorry, ladies, but I must be off. An urgent business deal has come up that needs my attention. I trust that Youki will take care of you in my stead.?

She leaned down, giving her son a kiss on the cheek. ?I?ll see you later, Youki,? she said, sounding like a high-schooler bidding farewell to her boyfriend. She strolled leisurely towards the door, letting herself out and leaving her guests to finish their dinner.

It was two minutes later before Jozu stood up.

?May I be excused?? she asked, looking to Youki with brilliant blue eyes. The swordsman shrugged.

?Me too,? Sango chimed in, standing up the moment Jozu had left the room. ?I, uh...need to use the bathroom.?

Again, Youki gave her a nod of acceptance, mostly nonchalant at his guests? behaviour. Koishi wondered where his mind was right now - it wasn?t at the dinner table, that was for sure. He didn't even look at Sango as she followed behind Jozu.

?So, Koishi-san,? Mokou said, leaning over and speaking for the first time in over ten minutes. ?Should we ask Saigyouji-san to make shark soup tomorrow??

Koishi had to keep herself from laughing out loud.

-----

Jozu was waiting for Sango as she stepped out of the dining room. The pair walked at an even pace, moving two or three rooms out of earshot. The only person they were keeping out of the loop was Youki - Koishi and Mokou knew what the youkai really were, and there was nothing to hide there.

Eventually Jozu let herself into a small bedroom at the end of the corridor. It had never been furbished, and Sango stepped onto a cold stone floor as she followed the shark inside. A tiny window kept the room from being pitch-black.

?How?s the shoulder?? Sango asked. She could see the patchwork on the jacket where Jozu?s bullet-wound had been.

?Never been better,? Jozu answered, rolling her arm about in its socket. ?That which does not kill me makes me angrier.?

The pair grinned at each other. For a moment, Sango forgot that this woman was supposed to be her enemy.

?So what are you doing here?? Sango kept her distance, but she stayed tense, ready for Jozu to lash out at her at any moment. The shark had no such concerns, leaning on the back wall and never taking her eyes off the dolphin.

Jozu raised an eyebrow. ?You mean you don?t know?? She stifled a laugh, shaking her head in amazement and disapproval. ?Honestly, you White Pearl folks are luckier than you have any right to be.?

Sango felt her stomach drop. ?What?re you talking about??

?What do you think I?m talking about?? Jozu?s grin grew wider, giving Sango a glimpse of her brutally sharp teeth. ?I?m talking about the Siren in this building right now.?

Sango felt numb. Her mouth bobbed open and shut for a few moments before she regained her composure.

?You...you mean Yuyuko-san, right??

Jozu shook her head, watching intently as a look of awe rose to Sango?s face. If it wasn?t Yuyuko, that could only mean...

?It took me by surprise as well,? Jozu said, shrugging her shoulders. ?But if you look through the letter that the old hag left you guys, she never says that the Sirens are all girls, does she??

Sango couldn?t answer, her mouth still bobbing like a fish. She gripped her temples as the world begin to spin. It was a minute before she was calm enough to speak again.

?Why?? she asked, no longer sure which way was up. ?Why are you telling me this??

Jozu walked towards her, and Sango primed herself to fight. She went limp when Jozu placed an arm on her shoulder.

?You could have killed me in the courthouse. You didn?t. I don?t like owing anyone a favour, so let?s say we?re even now.?

The shark put on her menacing grin again. ?Besides, I want a fair rematch when everything kicks off.  If it takes you by surprise, that defeats the point, doesn?t it??

Jozu gave Sango a pat on the back, squeezing at the back-fin as she made her way out. She put her hands in her pockets, strolling into the corridor without a care in the world.

?Oh, and while I?m giving you hints...? she turned back, giving Sango a dead-serious expression. ?That wasn?t a business meeting that Saigyouji got hauled away to. She?s going to be a little...different when she gets back.?

Sango could only watch as Jozu walked away, her footsteps fading into silence as she vanished into the mansion. The dolphin muttered a profanity in a language that would have made her parents blush. The Siren had been right in front of her, and she?d missed it.

As she ran towards the dining room, she felt the fatigue from the day?s work fade away. Nothing was going to keep her from doing her job.

One failure was more than enough.

-----

Koishi pressed her face against the kotatsu, grumbling to herself as she rubbed at her stomach. With Yuyuko?s disappearance there was now far too much dinner to go around, and she was full enough that even looking at the pot made her feel queasy. Mokou leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling, looking as full as Koishi was.

Youki scooped up the pot when he noticed his guests were finished, hauling it away into the kitchen. For a moment, the two Sirens were truly alone. Mokou?s expression darkened.

?The hell?s going on now? This place was already weird enough, but what does the Black Claw have to do here??

?Maybe they?re interested in Saigyouji-san,? Koishi said, staring at the wall opposite her. ?She?s rich and influential. Maybe they want a hand in the economy??

?Nah, that?s not it. They already have Morichika for their income. There?s gotta be something else here.?

?Hmm.? Koishi felt her thoughts wander, like her brain was looking in all directions for a sensible answer and finding nothing. ?Maybe Saigyouji-san is a Siren? Komachi-san is pretty old, but that didn?t rule her out.?

?We checked that. Toro-chan didn?t get any sort of response from her.? Mokou placed an elbow on the table, bending over and fiddling with a strand of her hair. ?Maybe she?s after us? Y?know, like an assassin.?

Koishi shook her head. ?I don?t think so. If she wanted to kill us, why wouldn?t she have attacked already? She?s trying too hard to fit in for it to be something as basic as that.?

Mokou opened her mouth to speak. Sango burst in before she could speak, face flushed and pace hurried.

?Where?s Youki-san?? the dolphin asked, standing rigid in the doorway.

Koishi tilted her head, pointing towards the kitchen. Sango nodded, and promptly followed after the swordsman. Koishi and Mokou looked at each other, each trying to see if their companion had a clue what was going on. Neither of them found much of anything.

?Phwee?! But...but...?

No more than thirty seconds later, Sango tumbled out of the doorway. She was scratching at her head so hard that a few strands of her hair were falling to the floor. She took a seat at the kotatsu, looking despondent.

?How did we miss this? This is...holy crap, this is...?

Koishi gave the dolphin a push on the shoulder. ?Calm down, Sango-san. What?s going on??

Sango frowned as she turned to Koishi. ?You wouldn?t believe me if I told you.?

?You?re a dolphin-girl leading me on a magical quest to save the world from evil animal people. Try me.?

The dolphin sighed, before she reluctantly spoke.

?I think...Youki-san is a Siren.?

Koishi flinched so hard her knees almost smacked against the bottom of the kotatsu. Mokou wore an expression verging on disappointment.

?I thought the Sirens were all meant to be girls. Why does this guy count as one? He doesn?t even act like a girl!?

?You?re not really that feminine either, Mokou-san,? Koishi said.

?Quiet, you.?

Sango looked like she?d managed to get over the initial shock now, straightening her back and taking a deep breath before she started again.

?I don?t know what?s going on, but Jozu is here to get rid of him. And they?ve probably sent off Saigyouji-san to get Mindcoiled, so we don?t have a lot of time.?

Koishi gulped. A little part of her had been expecting this from the start - whenever they were hauled out somewhere for a seemingly minor duty, it expanded into a full-blown Siren hunt. It was an expectation that flew in the face of common sense, but Koishi had given up on common sense a long time ago.

?Something wrong?? Youki stepped out from the kitchen, wiping his hands as he went. He must have finished cleaning the dishes. ?I heard your superior making some strange whining, so I was wondering if she had hurt herself.?

The three gardeners went silent. Koishi and Mokou both turned to Sango, waiting for the dolphin to explain herself.

?Oh, well...yeah! I stubbed my toe on something in the corridor. Don?t worry, I?ll survive. I?m a big girl now, see??

She fiddled with the glasses again for effect. Youki shrugged, the faint hint of concern vanishing from his face.

?I assume you can let yourselves out now. If there is any handiwork you feel needs to be done around the house, now is the time to do it. My mother will pay you accordingly so long as you keep a list of what?s been done. If you need me, I?ll be training - don?t disturb me unless something drastic comes up. Any questions??

Youki waited no longer than a second. When he saw no sign of his guests asking anything, he gave them a small nod before walking away. The icy atmosphere in the room shifted away along with him. Koishi felt like she could breathe again as he slipped out of earshot.

?He?s scary,? Koishi muttered to herself.

?Good thing he?s gonna be on our side.? Mokou rose to her feet, stretching to bring her body back to life. ?So what?s the plan, ladies??

?He looks pretty stubborn,? Sango said with a frown. ?I don?t think he?ll believe us unless we have evidence. Maybe if you transform in front of him, Koishi-san??

Koishi nodded. If there was anything she?d learned in her time as a Siren, it was that the best way to convince someone magic existed was to demonstrate.

?Uh, Koishi-san...? Mokou put an arm over Koishi?s shoulder, looking ready to console her. ?If you want me to do it instead, I?m fine with that. I mean, your outfit is...?

?Silly? Childish? Immature?? Koishi spouted out one word after another. Mokou grit her teeth before finally nodding in agreement.

Koishi just smiled back.

?Don?t worry, I?m used to the swimsuit jibes by now. And, well...the outfit?s kinda growing on me.?

Mokou returned the grin, stepping away and putting her hands in her pockets.

?Hey, Toro-chan,? Mokou asked, turning to Sango. ?How?d you figure all this out, anyway??

Sango rubbed at the back of her head, laughing nervously. ?Let?s just say a friend told me...?

-----

Koishi made the call on the trip over to Youki?s training room. Sakuya had told her to get in touch the moment she came across something worth mentioning. Koishi was relatively sure the discoveries she had made over the last half-hour would qualify as important.

She got an answer on the third ring.

?What is it?? Sakuya muttered from the other end of the line. ?Onozuka-san and I are following up a lead right now. Can this wait??

?Youki-san is a Siren, and the Black Claw already know about it.?

Sakuya was silent for five full seconds.

?Well, that?s...not what I was expecting to hear.?

?It wasn?t what I was expecting to tell you, either,? Koishi answered. ?They?ve got his mother under their control. Mokou-san and I will try to hold them off when they get here, but we might need some backup.?

?We?ll be there as soon as we?re done on our end.?

Koishi gasped. ?But Sakuya-san, they could be here any minute now-?

?I doubt your new companion will be as cooperative as you want him to be. I may have only met him once, but that?s enough for me to know he?s a stubborn son of a bitch. You?ll need more ammo if you want him to cooperate.?

Koishi?s grip on the phone tightened. ?You really think he?ll be that rough about it??

?I saw a lot of myself in him, so that?s probably a safe assumption.?

Sakuya spoke like she was the leading authority on Youki Saigyouji. Against that confidence, Koishi could only agree with her.

?Head over here as soon as you?re done, okay? We don?t know how big a force they?ll be sending.?

?Understood. Let me know if the situation worsens.?

Sakuya hung up without offering anything as genial as a goodbye. Koishi felt a wave of unease strike her as she put her phone away. Sakuya sounded too certain in herself to be wrong, and that meant Youki wasn?t going to be as friendly as she would have wanted.

Still, he probably won?t argue about a magical girl transforming right in front of him.

Koishi heard Youki before she saw him. The swordsman?s cries echoed through the corridors, and the entire building seemed to tremble in time with his swings. Eventually she found his silhouette on the other side of a paper wall, and she stood mesmerised for an instant at the sight of his swordplay. She only came back into the world of the living when she heard Mokou pulling the door open.

?Hm?? Youki finished his swing, lowering the swords he?d been wielding. Koishi could see the glint of real steel for an instant before the blades vanished into their sheaths. He folded his arms, looking mildly frustrated by the interruption.

?I hope this is an urgent matter,? he said, tapping at the floor with one foot. ?I have a national tournament to prepare for next month, and I won?t be in a fit state to compete if my training gets interrupted like this.?

The air felt heavy in the dojo as Youki?s eyes fell onto Koishi. Sakuya?s words floated through her mind as she took a deep breath. She had to word this carefully.

?Youki-san,? she started, stepping forward as she clutched her Teardrop in one hand. ?I have to talk to you about something important.?

Youki raised an eyebrow for an instant before his expression grew morose. ?I see. You?re one of the journalists, aren?t you? Working undercover to get close and personal with the young prodigy. Well, you can take your article and-?

Koishi lifted her arm into the air before Youki could finish. An orange light seeped out from between her fingers as she felt a familiar power creep across her body.

?Wherever evil forces be,
On the land or in the sea,
All who sin should cower and flee
From Dolphin Rider Koishi!? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8pgaLKB1BA)

The look of astonishment on Youki?s face as Koishi transformed was the largest display of emotion she?d seen from the swordsman in the two days she?d known him. He put a hand to the handle of his blade, ready to lash out at her.

?Just to make it clear, we don?t all look this silly,? Mokou said, waving at Youki from behind. The swordsman didn?t even turn to look at her.

Koishi placed her newfound trident on the floor as a peace offering, holding out a hand for Youki to shake. ?Now, I understand this is all going to be very sudden, but I need you to trust me, okay??

Youki remained rigid, beginning to draw one of his blades. His expression was torn between anger, fear and shock. Was he willing to attack Koishi? She didn?t know, and she certainly didn?t want to find out.

She thought of Yuyuko, undoubtedly on her way to becoming a slave of the Black Claw. That had to convince him, surely. She pulled her hand back, staring solemnly into his eyes.

?Youki-san...your mother is in a lot of danger right now, and so are you. I want to help you, but I need you to cooperate with us. Do you understand??

At the mention of his mother, Youki?s posture visibly loosened. His hand whipped away from the sword, and he reluctantly nodded in agreement. He looked exhausted, like his training regimen had finally caught up with him.

?I?ll say this - if you?re another trickster, you?re certainly much smarter than your predecessors. And if my mother truly is in danger, it?s my duty as her son to protect her.?

Koishi felt the weight on her shoulders begin to lift. Maybe this would be easier than Sakuya had been expecting. She?d made the right call in mentioning Youki?s mother, that was for sure.

?Alright. First of all, you?re not going to be able to fight like that. But you?ve got some special powers you can tap into...hopefully.?

Youki was hiding something. Koishi had seen from experience that every Siren had some sort of baggage dragging their heart down. Youki would be no different, and with Sakuya and Komachi preoccupied Koishi could use his help.

?Youki-san...we know you've been keeping a secret. We need you to tell us the truth about what?s going on here.?

The swordsman?s eyes wavered. It must have been the look he gave Sakuya when they met. Koishi could understand what had made Sakuya so suspicious now - the look didn?t belong on his face, like it had been taken from someone else and plastered onto him. It wasn?t an expression she expected from a fearless swordsman.

Then who did it belong to?

?If you want to become a Siren, you have to come to terms with whatever it is you?re hiding. We know there?s something wrong here, but we need you to tell us what. I?m not going to pretend it?s easy, but-?

?No.?

Youki was hanging his head, his hair blocking most of his face from view. He seemed to shrink, the frigid atmosphere fading away along with his composure.

?I won?t help you,? Youki repeated, shaking his head violently. ?I can?t.?

Koishi?s heart caved in on itself. Sakuya?s prediction had rung true after all. She looked back, seeing Mokou and Sango standing by the door in silence. They were willing to leave the talking to her, but Koishi wasn?t sure if she could make anything of this.

?Youki-san...please. This is really, really important. If you don?t help us, your mother might-?

?Die?? Youki pulled his head up, a look of cold fury on his face. ?That was what you were going to say, wasn?t it??

Koishi flinched, but slowly nodded in response. Youki laughed to himself for a moment, but it was a laugh that may as well have been a sob.

?You honestly don?t understand what you?ve stepped into. You don?t realise how much you are asking of me.? Every word was laced with finality, like Youki was resigned to a fate he couldn?t even speak of. ?Perhaps you speak the truth. Perhaps my mother may die if I stay silent. But if I tell you what you want to know, then I am forcing a fate worse than death upon her...and upon myself, as well.?

He fell to his knees, looking as if he was struggling to stay upright. His whole body trembled, cowering in fear like Koishi had never seen him before. Before she had struggled to speak out of fear; now she was silenced by sheer pity.

?Forgive me,? Youki said, his voice shrinking with every word. ?Perhaps you think me a coward. And...perhaps you are right. If my mother is in danger, I will do whatever it takes to protect her. Just...not that. I beg of you.?

He leaned forward, bowing at Koishi?s feet as deeply as he could. Koishi wanted to be sick at the sight of this once-proud man, reduced to a trembling wreck. What could have happened to bring this sort of change in him?

Whatever it was, it was clear Youki wasn?t going to talk about it. Koishi stepped backwards, whispering an apology and fighting the urge to flee the room in shame. She couldn?t push him any harder for fear that she would break him, but she had to find the truth somehow. Did she have no choice but to wait on Sakuya and hope her lead went somewhere useful?

d  n t o r  e  t

?Aah-?

Koishi froze. A voice leaped into her head, one that she had heard once before. It was louder, but still as hard to make out as it had been before. Either the source was stronger, or taking on this form had made her more sensitive to it.

In an instant, she knew what she had to do.

?Sango-san, Mokou-san. Keep this room protected. The Claw might arrive any minute.?

?Eh? Well, sure, but what about you?? Sango asked. ?Where are you going??

?I need to talk to someone.? Koishi was already opening the door before Sango could ask any more questions. This was good, given that Koishi honestly didn?t have any answers for her. She let instinct take over, pushing her through the labyrinthine corridors of the manor.

She understood what had driven Sakuya now. She was acting on something that was barely evidence, completely unprovable, but the idea seemed so real to her that she couldn?t ignore it. Explaining to Sango would have taken too long, if it was possible at all. What would the dolphin think if Koishi told her she?d been hearing disembodied voices in her head?

Her journey finally brought her out of the manor and into the garden. The winds were picking up, like the news had predicted. The cold gusts lashed at Koishi?s skin as she climbed up the stairs. As much as the outfit was growing on her, she wished it would offer her more protection from the elements.

At last, the mighty centerpiece of the garden came into view. No matter how many times she saw it, Koishi couldn?t help but be amazed by the sheer size of the tree at the end of the footpath. Several blossoms had been knocked from its branches by the wind, swirling around in a tiny tornado.

Standing in front of the tree was a child half of Koishi?s age.

The boy was a head shorter than Koishi, with a full head of hair and pale eyes. He was dressed in rags that had been through years of decay. Two wooden swords hung at his side, the blades worn away by the unerring hand of time. The dancing petals flew towards him, passing through as if he wasn?t there. He paid them no mind. His eyes were focused solely on Koishi.

She approached cautiously, but deep down she felt no fear. The young boy showed no signs of aggression. More than anything, it looked as if he was ready to cry. Koishi would have hugged him, but she doubted she could so much as touch him.

?You...? He spoke with the voice that Koishi had heard, echoing slightly as it reached her. ?You can see me??

Koishi nodded. The fact brought a light to the child?s face, his expression brightening.

?Yes, yes! They didn?t forget. They didn?t forget me! Mother didn?t-?

?Wait.? Koishi felt a growing pang of dread in her chest. ?Who...are you??

Koishi felt like she knew what she was going to hear before the boy spoke. He uttered the words with sheer conviction.

Words he?d waited years to say.

?My name is Youki Saigyouji.?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Kasu on May 23, 2012, 10:18:46 PM
Oh snap.  I think I finally see where you're going with this.

Holy crap.  This is all kinds of glorious.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: LaserTurtle on May 24, 2012, 01:22:28 AM
All I have are ghosts of ideas.

haha get it because ghosts you know like Yuyuko and Youmu and I'll just stop talking now

And in unrelated news, DOUBLE YOUKI ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE SKY! But what does it mean? :derp:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on May 24, 2012, 03:53:51 AM
I was wondering about Youki myself, although I didn't have a reason for the... let's say extensive deception. Now that adoption is involved, there are all sorts of possible reasons. It seems, however, that the adopted child is pretending to be a pre-existing person (Youki), rather than just having a fake identity set up, which I suspect to be important.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Esifex on May 24, 2012, 05:22:05 AM
Serious spoilers here in my conjecture. Reveal at your own risk.

I mean it. And no, I don't have any insider info from Broukan.


The Youki in the room with Sango and Mokou is actually Youmu, who is reverse-trapping to play the part of Youki as Yuyuko's replacement goldfish. Alternatively, that actually is Youki, and the ghost at the cherry blossom tree is Youki's ghost half
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on May 24, 2012, 06:38:11 AM
The Youki in the room with Sango and Mokou is actually Youmu

Which is the same thing I was saying.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Esifex on May 24, 2012, 05:32:07 PM
Which is the same thing I was saying.
then you should've spoiler'd it >:[
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on May 24, 2012, 06:22:15 PM
Being deliberately vague is more fun.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: KrackoCloud on May 26, 2012, 05:16:30 AM
I just remembered - Wonder how mindcoil-Yuyuko is going to turn out. I'm really anticipating the battle!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on May 27, 2012, 07:58:58 PM
“You’re sure this thing can’t go any faster?”

Sakuya folded her arms, trying to will the traffic ahead of her to push onward. There were almost half a dozen cars between them and the traffic lights, and no other lanes to shift across.

“I dunno if you realise, but there are other people on the road,” Komachi grumbled. Her hands were clamped to the wheel, fingers tapping out the theme to a song Sakuya didn’t recognise. “We’re a few blocks out, so if you’re that desperate you may as well walk.”

The road was full to the brim. Sakuya stared at it, then towards the door. She unfastened her seatbelt.

“Actually, that’s an excellent idea.”

Komachi jerked her head around. “Hey, you can’t just walk out! I don't wanna pick you off the tarmac!”

“It’s not like anyone's moving, is it?” Sakuya nudged the door open, slipping out into the motionless traffic. Several drivers blared their horns at her, but she paid them no mind. “I’ll meet you inside.”

Komachi looked set to complain, but now that Sakuya was out of the car it was too late to do much about it. She muttered something resembling a yes before closing the door behind her.

Sure enough, Sakuya’s trip to the sidewalk was perfectly safe. She slithered between cars, ignoring the profanities of the drivers as she stepped off of the road. From there, she broke into a sprint down the street, charging past pedestrians whenever her path was blocked.

She wasn’t sure what was driving her to this. Normally she’d be the sort to sit back and act refined in these situations, but something about this lead had lit a fuse in her chest. She refused to sit around and wait for a moment longer than she had to.

By the time the district court came into view, Sakuya could feel her lungs burning. She wasn’t particularly unfit, but she didn’t have the inhuman endurance that Mokou possessed. As she stepped in, she allowed herself to slow to a casual pace. No matter how desperate she was, running around a courthouse would attract undue attention.

She remembered the path to the archives, and most of the guards recognised her as she passed. Sometimes having a memorable look paid off for her.

“Wait, weren’t you with Onozuka-san?” one of the security staff asked.

Sakuya imagined Komachi stuck out in traffic, yelling obscenities at the traffic lights. She smirked.

“She’ll catch up.”

She spoke with enough authority that a guard on a low pay grade didn’t see fit to question her. Two minutes later, she had the archives to herself again. As soon as the guards were out of sight she began to open cabinets at random. The drawers weren’t labelled, and Komachi hadn’t bothered to explain the ordering system to her. In the end she settled for brute force.

“The adoption records should be around here somewhere...”

Sakuya fingered through the folders, looking for anything that resembled what she was looking for. She glanced down the room, seeing dozens of identical cabinets. Maybe she should have waited for Komachi after all.

After five minutes of scrambling through the records, the door heaved open behind her.

“I swear, sometimes I wonder if you’re tryin’ to get me fired.”

Komachi didn’t take her complaints any further than that. Sakuya was grateful for it. The time she spent complaining was time she could spend telling Sakuya where to look.

“You want the third cabinet on the left,” Komachi said, answering the question before Sakuya had time to ask it. “Saigyouji will probably be in the second drawer.”

Sakuya nodded, almost leaping across the room to get to the right cabinet. She pulled the drawer open, reading through the names as quickly as her eyes could process them. When she found the name Saigyouji among the list, she had to fight the urge to scream with joy.

“Got it.” She opted for something much more polite as she lifted the folder out and laid it onto the desk. It was a small, musty file, no more than a few pages long. Minimal coverage was what Yuyuko would have wanted if she was planning to cover it up.

This still didn’t answer the important question, though. Why would Yuyuko Saigyouji adopt a child? And if so, where had they gone? The answers were sitting in front of her, Sakuya thought to herself. She felt a pang of fear as she turned to the first page, wondering if she was about to uncover something best kept hidden.

“Let’s see...covering letter from the adoption agency, dated for the 23rd of April, ten years ago...”

Sakuya gasped. The pieces were coming together.

“What’s so special about the date?” Komachi asked, looming over Sakuya’s shoulder to peer at the letter.

Sakuya felt something well up in her throat. She struggled to get the words out.

“That was...a few days after Youki fell ill.”

Komachi sat in awkward silence for a moment. Sakuya shook herself and continued.

“About ten years ago, Youki was struck down with a serious illness. His mother was secretive about it, but that was how she was with everything. This was before he made a name for himself in kendo, so most people didn’t even know what he looked like. A month later, he recovered with no obvious side effects.”

“How is that relevant to-” Komachi cut herself off, staring off into the distance in awe. “Wait. So while Youki's being sick, Yuyuko adopts a kid?”

Sakuya nodded. She felt numb, barely noticing that she was digging her fingernails into her palms.

“Youki...isn’t Youki,” she said, more to herself than to Komachi. “The illness must have been more serious than Saigyouji wanted to admit. Too serious.” She needed to hold onto the desk for support as the line of thought reached its conclusion.

“Youki died ten years ago. The man I met - the man we thought was Youki - is his replacement.”

Komachi stood stone-faced behind her. She nodded in resigned understanding.

“If that’s true...why would the kid agree to it? I mean, having a new home is great and all, but why would they agree to become someone else?”

“I don’t know the answer to that question,” Sakuya answered. Her fingers gripped at the corner of the page. “But if I keep reading, I might find out.”

The next page was a wall of text. Sakuya skimmed through as quickly as she could, taking in everything that seemed relevant. She glazed over paragraphs covering the head of the establishment and the adoption agency he worked for.

These papers declare the owner, Yuyuko Saigyouji, to be a suitable carer. As of April 23rd, she is to be entrusted with the care of Youmu Konpaku, until such a date where the dependent can be expected to sustain herself-

“Ah-”

Something stabbed at Sakuya’s chest. She read the line again.

As of April 23rd, she is to be entrusted with the care of Youmu Konpaku

Something in her mind was giving way. She leaned forward, burning the words into her eyes.

the care of Youmu Konpaku

Y o u m u   K o n p a k u

Sakuya heard it. She heard the sound of a wall falling apart inside her brain. A deluge of memories poured in from behind it, assaulting her senses.

“Kyaah!”

She lost her balance, falling forwards onto the desk. She was home. School was over. The smell of her mother’s homemade dinner in floating through the air. No. Not home. The beach. Her first time eating ice cream. So cold her teeth hurt. No, the bus, off the road, mama wasn’t moving, why was nobody moving-

“Hey, kid! Speak to me!”

Komachi grabbed at her shoulder. That link to reality was enough to pull Sakuya out of her trance. Five years of her life had played in front of her eyes in the last five seconds. She felt painfully fragile as she pulled herself upright, ready to fall apart if so much as a breeze blew her the wrong way.

“...Sorry. I’m alright.”

“Like hell you are,” Komachi said. “You don’t fall over ‘cause you read a word the wrong way. What’s going on?”

“No time. Have to go.” Sakuya stumbled towards the door with the posture of a zombie. “Koishi-san. Backup. Remember?”

Komachi was mute as she followed Sakuya out of the courthouse. She gave nods to security officers that passed by, but otherwise Sakuya had stunned her into silence. Once or twice she walked into Sakuya as the maid’s steps grew erratic. Sakuya felt blank, empty, like the sudden rush of memory had washed out everything else inside her. Her head felt like an eggshell, and as she stepped into the car she could feel the brittle walls cracking. She grabbed her temples and fought back a scream.

She’d never felt this sort of hatred towards anyone in her life, not even Morichika. If she ever got her hands on Yuyuko Saigyouji, she wouldn’t be able to control herself.

“What the hell’s happening with you?” Komachi yelled as she threw the key into the ignition.

“Not important,” Sakuya whispered, barely able to hear herself over the throbbing in her skull. “Just go already. It doesn’t matter.”

Komachi’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. “Alright, missy, I have had just about enough of you. You haul me out on my days off to help you out, and when you finally get somewhere suddenly I’m outta the loop? This started being my problem as soon as I had to put my ass on the line for it. When we get to Saigyouji’s place we are probably going to have to fight off a ton of those crazy youkai things, and I can’t have you grabbing your head and yelling every five minutes.

So you know what we’re doing?” Komachi folded her arms and leaned back in the driver’s seat. “We are going nowhere until you let me know what the hell you just figured out.”

Sakuya was tempted to shove a foot over and hit the gas pedal on Komachi’s behalf, but in the end the lawyer had a point. She’d be useless in a fight if these headaches didn’t go away. She took a moment to focus, leaning back in her chair as the energy faded from her body.

“I knew the name.”

Komachi leaned forward. “What?”

“The child. The one Yuyuko adopted. I recognised it. Well, I didn’t before, but...I remember now.”

The world grew misty as Sakuya felt the tears well up in her eyes.

“Youmu Konpaku...she’s my sister.”

-----

Koishi sat at the foot of the tree. For once, the tree itself was at the back of her mind. She couldn’t look away from the spirit of Youki Saigyouji, who had taken a seiza pose to sit across from her. It must have been much easier when you were dead, Koishi thought to herself. No need to worry about pins and needles.

“Youki-san,” she started, voice shaking a little. Talking to the deceased was not her specialty. “How...are you?”

The ghost frowned. “You don’t need to be so sensitive, miss. I know what I am. I’ve had ten years to figure it out.”

Koishi gasped, bringing a hand forward as if to try pulling the words back out of the air. “Uh, sorry. I’m not really used to talking to, uh...ghosts.”

Youki wore a small smile. “I don’t think most people are. You’re the first person to see me, in fact. I was scared that everyone forgot who I was...” He looked away, his eyes wistful. Koishi wondered if ghosts could cry.

She had to know the truth, though. If anyone could tell her what was happening, it was him. She clenched her fists together as she took a deep breath.

“Youki-san...please. I need you to tell me what happened here.”

The spirit simply nodded. The question didn’t faze him in the slightest - if anything, it was as if he had expected it from the beginning. He spoke with a serene tone, like he was telling the story of someone else entirely.

“It all started ten years ago. I woke up late for my daily training, feeling feverish, and half an hour later I was bedridden. Illness wasn’t something I was used to, but this was a worse disease than anything I’d ever been through.

My mother...she was a wonderful woman, and she understood that a young boy could not stay sane with nothing but his room to keep him company. Not just that - I was homeschooled from birth, so I had little experience with children my own age. She told me about it a week after I fell ill - that I would be getting a sister, and it would be Youmu Konpaku.”

Koishi blinked. “Youmu...?”

“A family friend,” Youki answered. “You know that the Saigyouji family is active in the kendo circles, I assume? The Konpaku family is another smaller family with similar roots. They weren’t as wealthy, but they were talented - the younger sister, Youmu, was even better than me at her age. They were a force to be reckoned with, until...the accident.”

He slumped, like the memories were finally reaching him. “There was a girls’ invitational tournament off in the mountains. The rest of Youmu’s family traveled for it - she’d have gone too, but she’d come down with a cold that weeked. She wasn’t there for the accident - the bus they were driving slid off the road and crashed into the ocean. There was no immediate family to take her in, and my mother had always been close to the Konpaku family. I suppose the adoption worked out for all of us.”

Koishi could imagine the scene. It was a win-win situation for both children - Youmu had someone to live with after she’d lost her own family, and Youki could finally feel and act like a child.

But things hadn’t worked out.

“So what happened?” Koishi was almost scared to ask, but she had come too far to give up now. She had to find the truth, as ugly as it might have been. Now Youki was definitely feeling the weight of the situation, beginning to phase in and out of Koishi’s vision.

“For a few weeks, it was wonderful. Youmu opened up to me, and I had lots of fun with her. It was like I finally had a real sister. Then there came the day when I felt a little hotter than usual, and it started getting harder and harder to breathe...”

For a few moments, he vanished entirely, before jumping back into Koishi’s sight. He had jumped to the right, unable to keep his position stable as he jumped in and out of existence.

“By the time I understood what was going on, I was standing outside of my body. My mother was kneeling over my bed, shaking my head, screaming with a voice that I’ve done my best to forget. I tried to speak to her, to speak to Youmu, but no-one even knew I was there.”

Now he was on the verge of losing calm, jumping from left to right after every sentence. “After a few days, my mother...changed. I think...I meant a lot to her, and it was so out of the blue that she didn’t want to accept it. She had to replace me. And she had the perfect replacement.”

No. She didn’t... Koishi shook her head, her blood freezing in her veins. Youki gave a small nod.

“For a few weeks, Youmu didn’t play along. My mother started calling her Youki, dressing her in my clothes, teaching her my moves, telling her anecdotes she’d never been around to see. But that resistance only lasted so long. Eventually, Youmu took up the mantle, and she’s been living under my name ever since.”

His eyes misted up, but no tears fell from them. “And now my own mother doesn’t remember me. She doesn’t...she doesn’t...” His mouth opened, and for an instant Koishi heard the boy let out a pathetic whine at his own fate.

Then he came apart entirely. He vanished along with a gust of the passing wind, leaving Koishi alone among the cherry blossoms.

“Youki-san?”

Koishi stood up, looking around for the young spirit. She stepped towards the tree, looking for any semblance of Youki. Had the emotions left him too panicked to maintain his form? She wouldn’t find out. There was no sign of him.

What she did notice was the dirt.

“Oh, god.”

She had been wondering why Youki only showed up here. As she looked at the ground, she could make out a small patch of dirt that stood out above the rest. It was a lighter colour than the dirt surrounding it - barely, but just enough for her to notice.

It was about the size of a young child.

“She...buried him here...”

Koishi felt something rising up in her throat. She fell to her knees and barely kept her stomach’s contents from being thrown to the floor. She made slow, deliberate steps down the staircase, holding a hand over her mouth the entire way.

She was in the presence of something abominable. All the time, she’d been in the presence of a girl who’d been forced to live a lie on the part of a woman who couldn’t cope with reality. Two tragedies had come together and become something that Koishi could barely imagine, let alone think about.

They had to know. Sango and Mokou had to know what was going on. Koishi wasn’t going to let this farce go on any longer. It was cruel on Youmu.

But more than that, it was cruel on the boy who’d been forced to watch as his mother forgot him.

-----

By the time Komachi and Sakuya emerged from the courthouse, the evening rush hour had died down. Komachi had plenty of room to maneuver as she brought Old Rusty back onto the road, pushing its engine as hard as it could be pushed. This only came up to a mile or two above the speed limit, but every little bit helped.

Sakuya was recovering from her earlier stupor. She still murmured to herself, whispering stories of days gone by so her brain could process them in full. Komachi led her along, giving her a chance to get it off her chest as they went.

“So what IS your name?” Komachi asked. “I mean, your real one.”

Sakuya paused for a moment, like she was struggling to pull the answer to that question out of her head. After thirty seconds, the word seeped out of her mouth.

“Miyo,” she murmured. “Miyo Konpaku.” She nodded along with herself, smiling as the answer satisfied her. That was good. That was progress.

“And Youmu is your little sister, right?” Komachi kept her eyes on the road, only looking back to Sakuya when she stayed silent.

“Yes. Not by much. A year or so. At our age that was a big gap. I was always the trustworthy big sister that she depended on.” Sakuya laughed, rubbing at her eyes a little. “When she was just learning to speak she would call me Myon. The nickname stuck. I thought it was cute.”

For a minute or so she was quiet. Komachi thought of asking another question, but Sakuya’s look was determined as she watched the scenery pass by. It seemed like a poor idea to distract her until she was ready to talk, and until then Komachi focused her attention on the road. They would make it to the manor in fifteen minutes at this rate. Whether that would be fast enough was a question Komachi didn’t have the answer to.

Sakuya let out a sigh as an unspoken warning that she was about to speak.

“My family loved swordfighting, and they trained us in kendo from an early age. I was never able to get very far - I could handle form, but there was no real strength in my blows. Youmu, though - the sword came so naturally to her it may as well have been sewn to her arm. She was amazing to watch, even at that age. It’s good to know that she hasn’t lost her touch. She’s beating the men at their own game, even.”

The maid had wrapped her arms around herself, unable to find anything to hug inside the car. Every story she let out made her smile a little brighter. Komachi had to smile at that. Maybe Sakuya’s life had been bleak, and maybe it wouldn’t be the cleanest of reunions, but nothing could take away from the fact that Sakuya had finally found her family. And a sister, at that.

If she wasn’t at the wheel, Komachi would have probably gone back there and hugged her herself.

“Hm?”

Komachi was so caught up in Sakuya’s reaction that she barely noticed the other car. It was a low-cut limousine, blasting out from behind them at break-neck pace. Komachi only had an instant to turn and catch a look at the driver.

Yuyuko Saigyouji clung to the wheel like a woman possessed, a look of sheer hatred blazing in her eyes. There was a passenger at her side, but it was an unfamiliar face that Komachi had no time to take in. Moments later the car was well ahead of them, swerving left and right between traffic as it cut a path towards the manor.

“Oh, shit.” Komachi tried to bring Old Rusty up a gear, but all she got for her efforts was a feeble splutter from the engine. She kicked the machine as a reward for its good work.

Sakuya stirred, like she’d been abruptly woken from a long sleep. “What’s going on?”

Komachi heard the vein popping out of her own forehead. “We just got overtaken by everyone’s favourite kidnapper.”

No sooner had the words left her mouth than she regretted them. Sakuya transformed in an instant, the cheerful daze giving way to the same hateful look that Yuyuko had been brandishing.

“Go.”

She muttered the word as an order rather than a request. Komachi began to feel uncomfortable in her own car.

“I’m going as fast as she can muster, but-”

“Your specialty is distance, isn’t it? Then work your magic.”

Sakuya’s words were emotionless, but Komachi could see the darkness in her eyes. She was planning to do something unforgivable to Yuyuko when they caught up with her. As much as that concerned Komachi, they couldn’t leave the rest of the Sirens without proper backup.

Well, if we’re busting out the big guns...

Komachi opened the glove compartment, pulling out a siren. Opening her window, she planted the device firmly on the roof of her car, taking care not to accidentally give the car a new sunroof. A cord ran down the siren, ending in a remote control with a single button on it. As Komachi pressed it, the siren let off the deafening wail of a police vehicle.

“I got this as a present for hauling in a big fish on my first case,” Komachi yelled. “I hope you realise that if anyone catches wind of this I’m probably gonna go to jail, right?”

“You’re a lawyer,” Sakuya answered, her voice still dangerously cold. “Making up excuses is how you make your living.”

Komachi was beginning to get a little frightened of Sakuya. She found herself unusually grateful that her job would keep them from crossing paths too often in the future.

“I’m gonna pretend that was a thank you. Now, let’s roll!”

Komachi reached into a pocket in her suit. Her fingers ran across a familiar smoothness as she lifted the Teardrop above her head.

“Death and life have their determined appointments...” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL3KNlnBK94)

-----

When Koishi stepped back into the dojo, the mood was as dark as when she had left. Mokou had transformed in her absence, practicing punch combos as flames flickered around her fists. Sango walked up and down the length of the room, murmuring something about “punching her in the nose”. Youki was seated where he had been before, eyes firmly closed as he seemed lost in meditation.

No, Koishi thought to herself. That was wrong. That wasn’t Youki. It had never been. The hard part was getting him to go along with that.

No-one paid much attention to Koishi when she stepped in. Sango stopped her pacing across the room, giving her a small wave. The dolphin still seemed lost in her anti-Jozu battle plans, getting back to her wandering moments later. A fight was imminent. No-one was in the mood for discussion.

Except Koishi.

“Youki-san,” she said, stepping towards the swordsman again. “We need to talk.”

Youki - at least that was what he called himself - opened his eyes in an instant. He was awake and aware within a second as he looked up at the Siren.

“I’ve already told you that I’m not saying anything.” His tone was accusatory, almost aggressive. “Don’t you have better things to do than poke through someone else’s private life?”

Koishi shook her head. She wasn’t going to let this travesty continue any longer.

“You don’t have to lie anymore, Youmu-san.”

The name was enough. The colour vanished from Youki’s face. Mokou and Sango turned around to see what had put the swordsman on edge.

“How...did you...” The words choked out of Youmu’s mouth. Koishi knelt down beside her, patting at her shoulder.

“Youki-san explained everything to me. I know what happened to you.”

“OK, hold up,” Mokou said, standing above Koishi and looking down on her with puzzled anger. “You’re trying to say this isn’t Youki Saigyouji?”

Koishi nodded. It was hard to get the words out - even thinking about it made her tremble - but even if it was painful, the truth had to be heard.

“We haven’t been talking to Youki Saigyouji from the beginning. We haven’t even been talking to a man. The real Youki-san died ten years ago.”

“Then how did you talk to him?” Sango asked, poking her head around from behind Mokou.

“I...” This was hard for Koishi to word. In the end it sounded almost too simple. “I met his spirit, I guess. He hasn’t passed on properly. I don’t think he can while his mother denies his death.”

Sango’s face crumpled, but Koishi was too busy to ask why. She turned back to the trembling swordsman. “It’s okay, Youmu-san. You don’t need to hide anymore.”

Youmu looked like she was struggling to keep herself from falling over. Her body shook uncontrollably, like it was set to explode. Koishi had seen this reaction before - slowly, but surely, Youmu was approaching the truth she had to face. Just a little longer, and she would be through the hardest part.

Koishi didn’t expect the trembling to stop so suddenly. And she certainly didn’t predict the laughter that followed.

“Heh...” Youmu’s voice rose half an octave, but it was painfully calm. “You may have good intentions, but you’re far too naive.”

“W-What?” Koishi shuffled backwards, caught entirely off guard. Wasn’t this the part where everything got better?

“I’ve had ten years to speak up,” Youmu continued, standing up and looking down on Koishi. “Do you think it’s simple to pretend you’re a man? All I had to do was bare my chest and the whole thing would have fallen apart. If it was that easy to stop being Youki, do you think I’d still be here if I didn’t want to be?”

She began to stride around the room, circling Koishi. “Think about it. If I go back to being Youmu, what does that make me? An orphan with a maniac for a caretaker and nothing resembling a family. No mama, no papa, no Miyo - I don’t want to go back to that again.”

More than anything, Youmu sounded distant. She was speaking about herself so impersonally Koishi almost thought she was talking about someone else.

“So you would have me drop the masquerade and return to my measly excuse for a life, and at the same time lose the affection of the one woman on this earth who still cares about me?” Youmu shoved her face in front of Koishi’s, so close their noses almost touched. “That’s what I mean when I say you’re naive. Some of us don’t get happy endings. Stop being a child.”

Koishi was motionless. She felt like she’d just been stabbed in the heart. Youmu stepped away, sitting where she had been before and retaking her meditative pose. She was silent up until the whirring of an engine caught everyone's attention.

“Cars at the front entrance, I believe," Youmu said, speaking with a man's voice once again. "If that’s the danger you’re speaking about, you’d best go do something about it.”

There was no answer from Koishi. She slowly rose to her feet, but her eyes were empty. Mokou grit her teeth, looking set to take control of the situation.

Koishi spoke before anyone else could step in.

“No.”

She felt every eye in the room turn to her as she shook her head. She wouldn’t accept that. She couldn’t.

“Youmu-san. You can’t live your whole life wearing someone else’s face. Deep down you know you’re lying to yourself, and that’s hurting you more than the truth ever would.”

Youmu glared at her, but didn’t bother to respond. Either she was unimpressed, or she didn’t want to listen. Koishi kept speaking regardless.

“It’s the same with Yuyuko-san. For ten years, you’ve let her live out the delusion that her son’s still alive. Maybe she honestly doesn't remember, maybe she's hidden it from herself. But that can't last forever, and the longer you keep this up the worse it'll be for her when it all comes crashing down. You’re hurting her just like you’re hurting yourself.”

Koishi took a deep breath. She felt calmer than she expected to be. She’d grown used to this pressure over time. In the end, nothing was going to stop her from helping Youmu, whether she liked it or not.

“I’m not going to act like this will be painless, Youmu-san. It’s not a nice thing to come to terms with, but one day you’ll thank yourself for it. I promise.”

Youmu didn’t so much as budge. Koishi would have talked with her again, but there were more pressing matters to deal with. Koishi turned around to face Mokou and Sango, resuming her mantle as the unspoken leader.

“I’ll stay with Youmu-san and make sure no-one touches her. Mokou-san, you get out there and handle the resistance. Sakuya-san and Komachi-san are on their way, but you’ll have to hold them off until then. Sango-san, I assume you’ve got personal business to take care of, but if you finish early we could always use some more backup.”

Mokou smirked. “Leaving all the heavy lifting to me? Well, at least you’re honest about your limitations.”

Sango offered a salute. “I won’t come back until that shark’s had a plentiful helping of my fist in her face. Hold the fort until I’m back, alright?”

The trio nodded to each other before going their separate ways. Koishi remained behind, hanging next to the door, readying her trident to attack the first enemy to find their way here.

She looked back at Youmu, still lost in thought. The swordsman’s stance had softened a little. Maybe Koishi had made some progress with her, but it would be a slow grind.

If that’s what I have to go through, so be it. Koishi gripped the trident tightly, focusing on her duty. This girl’s been abandoned by everyone she's ever met. It's about time someone reached a hand out to her.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: LaserTurtle on May 27, 2012, 10:26:47 PM
...dang

I was joking when I thought that Sakuya and Youmu were actually related. All I was going off of was the hair color. This story's just gonna get crazier and crazier and awesomer. If I was a man of the army I'd salute you. As I'm not, you'll have to make do with my insane crackpot theories.

*shifty eyes*

now to wait for the revelation that Rinnosuke is actually their great-grandfather
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on May 28, 2012, 02:34:32 AM
*Reminds everyone that Youmu was one of my Siren predictions*

She and Sakuya being sisters wasn't too much of a surprise, either. Someone with a mysterious past finding something familiar about someone else? Red f***ing flag.

Anyways, good stuff.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Omegahugger on May 28, 2012, 05:39:50 AM
An amnesiac recognizing an unknown person? A pretty big red flag.

An amnesiac Sakuya saying she has a sister? A red flag so huge it can be seen from the moon.

Still, I have absolutely no complaints about this developement. C:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Esifex on May 28, 2012, 06:06:51 AM
The plot congeals! \o/

Er, wait... thickens. That's the word.

/me absently polishes off his 'Librarian' tag, whistles non-chalantly
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Yaersulf on May 28, 2012, 07:23:53 AM
What an evil place for a cliffhanger, now I'm going to be checking for updates constantly, even though I know there's an update schedule!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Mеа on May 28, 2012, 08:12:30 AM
Great Read! Even though it took me 3 sleepless nights that I could have spent on studying (but who does that anyway?)
You seem to know the conventions of Japanese honorifics quite well, and the only part I cringed a little was when Kaguya called Mokou "Mokou-tan" *shiver*
Unless that was deliberate? It just feels... creepy
Other than that though, I've never been this excited over a fanfiction ever, keep it up!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: BT on May 28, 2012, 08:33:30 AM
I completely did not notice the part where Sakuya mentions a sister, so, um, yeah, I was surprised. This was awesome.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on May 29, 2012, 04:40:05 AM
Woah.

I mean, like, wow.

It surprises me that there is atleast two people [You and the Gensokyo USA guy] in fanon communities that take one character's history and twist it up and down and all-a-frickin'-round. Seeing how crafted the machinations of the Saigyougi family that's hiding behind all the pretty foil that is Touhou into an almost mystery novel-worthy plot twistastic conspiracy of clusterfuck.


Also, typo;

As of April 23rd, she is to be entrusted with the care of Youmu Konpaku[/i]


Also also, even though this will never exist, I suddenly thought up of a weed smoker (http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Marine_Benefit/Characters#Kasumi_Shindou) who is friends with a marine biologist (http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Marine_Benefit/Characters#Mikoto_Yaobi) and her sister. (http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Marine_Benefit/Characters#Megumi_Yaobi)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Esifex on May 29, 2012, 05:40:06 PM
It surprises me that there is atleast two people [You and the Gensokyo USA guy] in fanon communities that take one character's history and twist it up and down and all-a-frickin'-round. Seeing how crafted the machinations of the Saigyougi family that's hiding behind all the pretty foil that is Touhou into an almost mystery novel-worthy plot twistastic conspiracy of clusterfuck.

I don't quite think I get where you're coming from, here. That is also kind of hard to understand, too, broski.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: D8ms on May 29, 2012, 06:10:59 PM
I don't quite think I get where you're coming from, here. That is also kind of hard to understand, too, broski.

My interpretation is that he is complementing Rou's imagination, primarily the liberties that he took with the characters' respective pasts, as well as his story telling.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: UndyingHunterKamigama on May 29, 2012, 09:42:49 PM
That revelation.... was like a punch to the inside of my guts.
I never realized it. Its hard to find awesome authors like these right?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Esifex on May 30, 2012, 12:40:03 AM
I never realized it. Its hard to find awesome authors like these right?

Pretty much, yeah, actually. If you think this is nice, go read some of Rou's other stuff, too. Rising Star is long enough to be its own novel.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Joveus Molai on May 30, 2012, 01:12:48 AM
Its hard to find awesome authors like these right?

You can try this TVtropes link (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanficRecs/Touhou), which is a repository for some of the better Touhou fics out there (though half or more of the recommended stuff on that page are doujin manga).

TakerFoxx's Imperfect Metamorphosis is pretty fun, if flawed. As Esifex said, you can also try more of Roukanken's stuff. Iced Fairy is also a skilled veteran Touhou writer--just look at the number of contests he's won!

Complements to Rou's plot twist there; changing the expected roles of characters threw me off,  at least, as to
what actually happened with Youmu.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on May 30, 2012, 02:02:19 AM
My interpretation is that he is complementing Rou's imagination, primarily the liberties that he took with the characters' respective pasts, as well as his story telling.

Yes, that is what i meant.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Aya Squawkermaru on May 30, 2012, 04:49:35 AM
...I have three pages of this to catch up on.

It's like a three course meal, but in literary form. And tastier.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: D8ms on May 30, 2012, 03:19:55 PM
It's Wednesday!
Eagerly await the next installment.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on May 30, 2012, 05:44:16 PM
Mokou stormed out to the entrance, seeing a single limousine parked outside the gate. The sight calmed her nerves a little - one car couldn?t hold that many youkai. Maybe this would be easier than she thought.

As she pulled open the front door she found two women standing at the gate, with a limousine behind them. Yuyuko was one of them, but Mokou needed only a cursory glance to see that she had changed. Her eyes were dark and empty, and her stance was so rigid Mokou almost expected her to explode. She was carrying a pair of ornate blades, probably supplied to her by the Claw.

Mokou didn?t recognise the other woman. She was shorter, with an winged helmet and a domino mask hiding her face. She wore a long violet dress, along with greaves and armoured gloves that didn?t seem to weigh her down. An immaculate silver saber hung at her waist. She showed no sign of using it, though - in fact, she showed no sign of attacking at all. She was swirling her hands about, murmuring in whispers Mokou couldn?t overhear from this distance.

Is this a trap?

Mokou lowered herself, raising her fists. She had to prepare herself for whatever the Claw was planning. She got her answer a few seconds later, when with a final incantation the masked assailant pulled her hands away. Space tore open where her hands had been, and a pale green hole emerged in front of her. Mokou could vaguely see the depths of the ocean on the other side of the portal.

Then the fishmen began to pour out.

Ohhh, boy.

Mokou had never fought one of these things before. They slumped towards the front door with primal rasps. She looked them over as they slithered closer.

Slow. Probably not that smart. Sharp claws, but those legs look awful weedy. Sweeps should work well.

She waited for a crowd to gather. She counted out six monsters emerging from the gap. They had barely pried the gate open, so they could only pass through in single file.

That made things easier.

?Doryaaaah!?

Mokou charged, her golden wings pulling open behind her. She leaped forward, wings flapping for an extra burst of speed. She planted a drop kick on the first fishman?s chest. It fell backwards, landing on the youkai behind it. A chain reaction ensued, with each fishman being bowled over by the one in front of it.

?Wow.? Mokou gave the face-down monster a kick for good measure. It promptly exploded into a stream of fish, which phased into the ground as they were dismissed. ?You guys don?t hire your minions for their intellect, do you??

The fishmen rose to their feet, only to try the same tactic again. Mokou only had one opponent to deal with, and its form was sloppy at best. She ducked its swipes with little difficulty. When it dropped its guard, she threw a devastating straight that punched a hole in its chest.

Mokou felt almost disappointed by how easy this was. She?d been expecting an endless barrage of ravenous beasts. Instead it felt like she was wailing on a set of very scaly punching bags. They weren?t even smart enough to spread out-

Shnnk!

The sound of the wooden gateway slicing apart made Mokou?s blood quake. As a chunk of the gate collapsed to the ground, Yuyuko sheated her blades. She took no time to appreciate her work, pointing towards the gaping hole in the doorway.

?All of you, into the manor. Bring me my son!?

The fishmen took the hint. They began to swarm in, two or three at a time.

That?s not so good.

Mokou backtracked as the group began to overwhelm her. She wasn?t the best when it came to crowd control. She started to abuse their weaknesses, going in for sweeps that floored anything near her. With the little time that bought her she tried to pick off the stragglers that had slipped past her. Most went down with a punch, but every so often one made it into the actual manor.

Dammit. Mokou got angrier with every creature that slipped by her. Here?s hoping Koishi-san can handle herself.

The stream of fishmen showed no sign of stopping. For every youkai that Mokou defeated, two more emerged from the portal. Gradually she let more and more slip past her. They started to catch onto her tactics, swiping at her legs when she went for yet another sweep. A claw darted across her skin just deep enough to hurt like hell. She had to pull back further, simply punching out everything in range. This wasn?t going to work out.

In the distance, Mokou could hear a siren. The police? That would take a lot of explaining. Maybe they?d just drive on by and ignore the monsters and magical girls on the doorstep? As unlikely as it was, that was their best option-

CRASH.

The battle went on hold as the sound of metal slamming against metal filled the air. The summoner turned around, the portal vanishing as her concentration was broken. From behind the mass of fishmen, Mokou could just about see the battered remains of a second car that had crashed into the limousine. Pillars of smoke wafted out from the bonnet as the driver pried her door open.

?Dammit, didn?t realise it?d be so hard to brake. Guess I?m walkin? to work for a while.?

Komachi turned her attention to Yuyuko. The noble stared her down without fear.

?Evening, Saigyouji-san. Sorry to barge in, but I have a friend who really wants to talk to you...?

Moments later Sakuya burst out of the other door. She pulled three cards from her trusty deck, flinging them at Yuyuko. The summoner leaped in the way of the attack, cutting the cards to pieces with a single swipe.

?Go,? she muttered to Yuyuko, pushing her into the crowd of fishmen. With that, time seemed to restart, and the fishmen roared in unison as they resumed the charge.

Mokou had to work not to be bowled over by the swarm. Again she punched out everything that got close. She tried to find Yuyuko amidst the masses, but by the time she saw her she was already at the entrance. Sakuya leaped through the gate, throwing half a dozen cards at the fishmen.

?GET DOWN!? she yelled, just in time for Mokou to react. The phoenix ducked as a barrage of knives flew into the crowd. The fishmen shrieked as they were impaled from all directions, collapsing and quickly sinking into the floor.

Mokou rose to her feet, brushing herself off. She grinned. ?Heh, about time you guys showed up. I was afraid you?d leave me to do all the work-?

Sakuya charged into the manor without even looking at her.

?Hey, wait up!? Mokou yelled. ?We could use some backup out he-?

?Don?t even bother.? Komachi had stepped through the gate amidst the chaos. She grabbed Mokou by the shoulder. ?Let?s just say she?s got some personal business with the old lady.?

Mokou would have asked more, but the summoner was regaining her focus again. The portal reopened, and once again the fishmen began to spew out.

?So it?s just you and me.? Mokou adjusted her gauntlets, the jewels on them flashing red for a moment. ?Tell me, Komachi-san, how good are you at dancing??

Komachi pulled her gun from inside her jacket. She pointed the juggernaut at the front of the crowd. Her finger curled around the trigger.

?I can handle myself, but I step on people?s shoes a lot. Think I might wanna sit back and watch from the sidelines...?

-----

Sango heard Jozu?s footsteps lead her along as she stepped further into the manor. She soon found herself in an abandoned area of the house, perfect for avoiding the battle that was keeping everyone else occupied.

As Sango poked her head around the corridor, she saw Jozu waltzing along without a care in the world. This was the perfect chance for a surprise attack, Sango thought to herself. She had no intention of resorting to that, though. Against Jozu, she refused to fight dirty. Jozu had agreed to the same on her part.

?I?m over here,? Sango yelled. Jozu stopped in her tracks, turning about on the spot. She slowly began to approach Sango, cracking her knuckles as she went.

?A shame we don?t have any water to play around in,? Jozu said, shrugging her shoulders. ?It doesn?t matter. Superior fundamentals should win out.?

Sango nodded in agreement. If there?d been a pond or a lake nearby, they?d have settled their differences there. All the manor had was a measly little stream, so they had to make do with fighting on land.

?I wanna ask you a question before we start.? Sango opened her hand out, assuming the stance of Flowing Tide. ?Aren?t you scared of what your bosses will do if they find out you?re feeding us intel??

The words must have tickled Jozu, because she laughed at them. Sango got another glimpse of those brilliant, deadly teeth of hers as she clenched her fists. Her jacket fell to the floor, revealing the wetsuit beneath it.

?I don?t get scared, Tororetsu. If I piss off the higher-ups, then that just means more people waiting in line to fight me. I?m not here to stand for the Claw. I?m just here because I like the smell of blood.?

?A predator to the end, huh?? Sango loosened her shoulders a little. ?Honestly, your talent is wasted working as the Claw?s hitman. If you came over to the White Pearl, you?d have a lot more enemies to deal with.?

Everything Sango said only seemed to make Jozu laugh harder. There might not be a fight at all at this rate.

?So that?s your gambit, huh? Well, I can?t say I?m not interested, but I have one condition.?

Her voice dropped near the end of the sentence. Sango tensed herself again. ?What would that be??

?I?ll only work with you...? Jozu raced forward, a fist raised, her eyes glinting with excitement. "-if you can beat me!?

Sango deflected the first strike with ease. She surprised herself with her own speed. Training underwater had been the extra boost she needed. She returned her own strike, which Jozu nimbly sidestepped.

For the first few minutes, Sango made little attempt to attack. She focused on deflecting the blows that Jozu rained down on her. All the while she was reading Jozu?s stance, looking for weaknesses. She searched for an opening to capitalise on. All she would need was one over-extension, and Jozu would be eating splinters.

?I dunno what they taught you White Pearl saps, but you don?t win fights by blocking!? Jozu grew frustrated. Her punches became faster, but also more reckless. They were harder to dodge, but left her vulnerable after every strike.

Now Sango started to advance. She punished every mistake with a smack to the side or a clip on the arm. On their own they did little damage, but over time they started to add up. By the time Jozu noticed she was overexposed, her reflexes were slowing down.

Sango pressed the advantage, stepping forward and turning the momentum in her favour. Crashing Wave was a brilliant style for offense, but its defense was poor. Jozu blocked most of the oncoming strikes with her arms, which only served to tire her more. Her legs were mostly unused - she couldn?t have been used to kicks outside the water, Sango thought to herself.

She was doing it. She was beating Jozu. Sango could hardly believe it. Every strike brought her one step closer to victory, one step nearer to beating the youkai she?d had on her hit list since-

?Phwee!?

A fist slammed into Sango?s face, almost knocking her off her feet. She stumbled backwards, the smell of iron hanging in her nose.

?The fight isn't over 'til someone stops moving,? Jozu said, still stepping backwards. ?Didn?t the kappa ever tell you that?? She was fumbling at her belt for a vial containing a crimson liquid.

Sango gulped. Jozu had only been playing around up until now. This was the sign she was going to start fighting for real.

?I?m going to warn you, I won?t be in control of myself. If I do something I regret...? She placed two fingers on the cork on the top of the vial. ?You?ve been an entertaining opponent, Tororetsu.?

As she popped off the cork, Jozu pulled the vial to her nose and sniffed at it. Her eyes popped open, her pupils expanding until her eyes were sheer black. The vial dropped to the ground and shattered. The shark hunched forward, panting as she leaned on the wall for support.

Sango heard the gasps grow angrier and angrier. She saw the muscles in Jozu?s arms tighten. She could almost hear Jozu?s heart pumping as hard as it would go.

And she could imagine the higher functions of Jozu?s brain shutting down as sheer instinct took over.

?Grr...aaaah...?

Jozu let out a feral growl as she began to stomp towards Sango. She eyed the dolphin as if she was nothing more than her next meal. Sango resumed her stance, preparing herself for the barrage that was set to follow.

?GRAAAAAAAAAAAAH!?

As Jozu brought down the first blow, she roared with an intensity that chilled Sango to the bone.

-----

?Iruka Slash!?

Koishi cut an arc in the air as another fishman scrambled through the door. The monster came apart in an instant. That had been seven in the last minute. If Mokou couldn?t hold them off herself, the Claw?s numbers were greater than they?d anticipated.

She looked back at Youmu. The swordsman was still in her meditative stance, looking up for barely a moment when something stepped into the room. The only sign of concern she showed was the hand hanging over the hilt of her larger blade.

Koishi didn?t doubt her skill with a sword, but Youmu would only be able to go so far on human prowess alone. What would happen to her if Koishi was struck down?

Not important, Koishi thought to herself. I just have to keep going.

Another fishman screamed around the corner, leaping into the room with its arms splayed out. Koishi fired an Iruka Shot square into its head. The resulting spray of fish slithered down Koishi?s legs before being consumed by the ground.

?Haah.?

In a brief pause, Koishi took the time to wipe her brow. She wasn?t tired yet, but she couldn?t help but feel this was the warm-up period. The Claw had to know by now that crowds of fishmen wouldn?t be enough to take down the Sirens. And there was still Yuyuko unaccounted for, and Sango seemed sure she was going to become a-

?Oh, Youkiii~!?

From the other side of the paper wall, Koishi caught a familiar silhouette. She leaped backwards on instinct. Moments later, a blade pierced through the wall, impaling the space she had once occupied.

?Ah, Komeiji-san?? Yuyuko peeped through the hole she?d made in the wall, one soulless eye poking into the room. ?I thought you?d be finished here. Or did you wait until I was back before you finished dinner??

She made three more swipes across the wall before kicking her way in. Koishi stepped back, brandishing her trident, standing between Yuyuko and her ?son? at all times. Yuyuko looked back at her with an ecstatic smile.

?I?m afraid I have to ask you to leave, Komeiji-san. I need to make some arrangements with my son.?

The blade she?d cut the wall down with still hung in her hand, its companion still in its sheath. Youmu awoke from her slumber at last, her eyes falling on Yuyuko with horror.

?Mother, what are you doing??

As soon as Youmu spoke up, Yuyuko turned to her, looking over Koishi?s shoulder. ?Ahhh, there you are! I?ve been making some arrangements with my new friends. They told me that they?d make you a champion with a little bit of training.? She motioned at the last few fish flopping about on the ground. ?Don?t they seem so nice to you??

Youmu?s face grew dark. ?Mother, you can?t trust them. They?re-?

?Slimy? Yes, of course, but that?s in their nature.? Yuyuko sounded ready to laugh at any moment. ?Come with me, Youki. I?m just trying to help you, that?s all. And that?s why-?

The sword whipped forward faster than Koishi could react. She broke to the side, but not quite fast enough. She fell back a step as she felt a wound open across her cheek. Yuyuko?s voice jumped from cheerful to utterly heartless.

?You shouldn?t be interfering in the family?s business, Komeiji-san.? A moment later, her cheer returned. ?Now, come on, Youki. Don?t you want to do well in the nationals this year??

She tried to step forward, but Koishi remained in her path. Yuyuko was leading her 'son' into a trap, and she wasn't even aware of it. If she gave Youmu over to the Black Claw, they'd kill her for certain. There was only one option here.

?...Youmu-san. Run.?

Youmu?s eyes widened. ?What? Koishi-san, I can?t-?

?Just do it!? Koishi yelled. ?Your mother?s sick right now. You can?t talk her out of this.?

Yuyuko let out the hearty chuckle of a noblewoman. ?Sick? Ohohoho! I?m anything but sick, Komeiji-san. I?m just doing what I can to be a good mother to my little boy.? She brought the blade forward again, pointing it at Koishi?s throat as her voice lost all emotion. ?And you?re proving to be a very bad influence on him.?

Koishi pulled the blade to the side with her trident. She looked back to Youmu, desperation written on her face.

?Please, Youmu-san. I?ll hold her off.?

Youmu?s eyes flickered with indecision for an instant, leaping between Yuyuko and the door. Finally she nodded, charging at the doorway only a few feet from Yuyuko.

?Youki, where are you going?!? Yuyuko brought her sword around to block Youmu as she passed by. Koishi caught the blade in her trident, deflecting it and knocking her back. Youmu made her escape, slipping out the door and sprinting down the corridor.

For an instant, Yuyuko looked heartbroken. She stared off into the distance at the quickly shrinking Youmu. When she turned back to Koishi, all that sorrow had transformed into rage.

?You...you mean to poison my son with your insolence?!? She drew her second blade, swinging both swords over her head in a cross. Her screams echoed into the corridors beyond. ?I?ll tear you apart and hang you from the roof as an example!?

Koishi brought up the trident?s shaft to block the two swords that flew down at her. She already knew this fight was too much for her to handle alone.

But she could stall for long enough. That was all that mattered.

-----

It was only when she was halfway down the corridor that Youmu realised she had no idea where she was trying to go. On instinct she?d been heading for the entrance, but presumably that was where the assault was coming from. The garden didn?t offer her a way out either - she could get lost in the forest, but it was fenced off so no-one could sneak in and damage the trees.

Even if she could leave, did she want to? Her mother was...Youmu didn?t know what it was, but she?d been struck down by a terrible affliction. Those dead eyes couldn?t belong to Yuyuko Saigyouji. Not the woman who?d raised her like a son for ten years.

She couldn?t leave her behind. Mother or not, Youmu owed her a grave debt. Surely she could make her mother listen to reason?

Your mother?s sick right now. You can?t talk her out of this.

Komeiji?s words rang true in her head. Youmu had seen it in her mother?s eyes. Something was missing. She wasn?t all there anymore. Whatever was in control of Yuyuko?s body was no longer her mother. She had no choice but to take Komeiji at her word. Her main priority right now was getting out of the manor alive.

This was much more difficult than she would have liked.

Youmu came to a stop as she saw a crowd gathering on the other side of the corridor. Half a dozen fishmen were fighting each other to lead the pack, all of them looking at Youmu with ravenous eyes. They were too fast for her to outrun, and even if they weren?t she only had dead-ends left to hide in.

Slowly, Youmu drew her swords. She was suddenly grateful that her mother had insisted on training with real steel at all times. Wooden weapons would have had even less effect. From what she?d seen of these beasts, she figured she could take on two or three easily enough. Anything beyond that, though...

Damn. I?m outmatched.

Youmu swiped at the closest creature, batting it away with a blade. The monsters flinched, but pulled back without any sign of slowing down. Youmu kept them at arm?s distance, but she could only hold back one at a time. On sheer numbers alone, she was pushed gradually backwards against the wall. The monsters' rasping tore at her ears as they became to surrounder her. She muttered a prayer to any god that happened to be listening.

?Catch!?

Well, that wasn?t the answer she?d been looking for. A voice popped up from the opposite end of the corridor, and moments later a projectile flew through the crowd straight at Youmu. She blocked it with the blunt end of her sword on reactions alone.

For a brief instant, she saw a playing card attached to her blade. Then a sea of knives burst out of it, cutting the rest of the crowd to ribbons.

As she stood among a heaping pile of floundering fish, Youmu had to ask herself what on earth had just transpired.

?Honestly, that never gets old,? said the voice from before. A head poked out from behind a junction in the corridor. Youmu blanched at the sight of it. It was the goddamn lookalike tipping her hat as if this was a formal greeting. She waltzed over to Youmu, brushing off her vest and picking the knives out of the ground as she went. She stuffed them into a seemingly bottomless pouch at her side.

Youmu felt her heartrate jump. No. Not her. This was the last person she wanted to see right now. Just looking at her face brought back memories Youmu would have rather left forgotten. How could anyone look so much like...like...

?What, you aren?t even going to thank me?? The card shark continued to approach Youmu, reaching a hand out to ruffle at her hair. Youmu had a sword at her throat in an instant.

?Leave me alone.? Youmu felt her blood boil. Was this a joke? Was fate taunting her? This girl looked so much like Miyo it almost hurt to look at her. All Youmu could think of doing was scaring her away.

The girl frowned. ?I see you haven?t learned any manners while you were here. Didn?t Papa teach you that threatening people you don?t like helps no-one?

Youmu?s pulse stopped for a moment. A memory from a past life jumped in front of her eyes. A bully at school who had made fun of her for being short. He had ended up with a black eye. She had ended up on the wrong end of her father?s lectures.

He had used those exact words.

?...Who are you?? Youmu?s voice trembled. The possibility was so tempting she wanted to believe it, but common sense still held over her. Miyo had been dead for ten years.

Hadn?t she?

?You know, that?s a funny question.? The silver-haired girl shrugged her shoulders. Hadn?t she been blonde last time Youmu met her? ?Up until a few hours ago, I couldn?t give you a real answer.?

She smiled, brighter than Youmu thought possible with that pale expression. ?It took some reading to get myself up to speed. But in the end, there was no way I was ever going to forget you.?

The words caught Youmu off guard just long enough for the girl to step forward and embrace her. The sword clattered to the floor.

?Aaah...?

Those hands. Those warm, loving hands. She hadn?t felt softness like this in ten long years, but she would never forget where it came from.

?M...Myon...??

The girl nodded, giving Youmu a little squeeze. ?Sorry I?m late, Youmu. I got a little derailed.?

This wasn?t happening. This wasn?t real. Youmu had been attacked by ravenous monsters and reunited with her long-lost sister all in one day. It was too terrible and too wonderful, both at the same time. It was completely, utterly impossible.

But even then, there was only so long she could fight ut. Even if there was no good reason to believe this was her sister, she wanted to. Every night for the last ten years she had wished that her family would come back to her. And now one of them finally had.

She felt Miyo?s tender embrace wear away her last shard of resistance.

?Miyo...Miyo!!?

Youmu wrapped her arms around her sister, letting the tears flow freely. She clung to Miyo for dear life, burying her face in her sister?s shoulder. She sobbed for almost a minute, crying until she had no tears left to shed.

?I?m sorry...I?m so sorry...? she gasped. All this time, Miyo must have been looking for her. Pretending to be someone else had made it that much harder. If she?d just been honest...

Miyo gave her a pat on the head. ?It?s alright, Youmu. I understand. You were young. You didn?t know what to do. Just promise me you won?t run away from yourself again, alright??

Youmu nodded, sniffling as she struggled to regain her composure. She had to be strong in front of her sister.

?Y-Yes. I promise, Miyo. From now on, I?m Youmu. Not Youki.? She murmured to herself to cement the fact. ?Not Youki...?

As she spoke the words, a surge of power roared through her like a jolt of electricity. She felt something forming in her hand.

?Eh??

Youmu pulled out of the hug, opening her hand. Resting in her palm was an emerald in the shape of a teardrop, identical in shape to the one Komeiji had been brandishing earlier. Was this the source of her power...?

?Welcome to the Sirens,? Miyo said, patting her on the shoulder. ?We?re glad to have you.?

Youmu looked down on the jewel with a feeling of pride. And I?m glad to be here, too.

The feeling passed when she remembered something very important. She gasped.

?No time. We need to hurry.? She grabbed her sword off the floor, sheathed it, and pulled Miyo along in the direction she had come from.

?Hey, where are you taking me?!? Miyo asked, making no attempt to resist.

?My mother is about to kill one of your friends.?

Miyo?s euphoria faded away. ?Ah. That...does sound like a good reason to hurry, yes.?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on May 30, 2012, 10:11:05 PM
Revelations? Check.

Dramatic battles? Check.

Cold-blooded vengance against the one who stole your sister? FUCK YEAH

In short, just about all I needed for an epic update.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: LaserTurtle on May 30, 2012, 10:15:40 PM
Now this is when the fun starts!

I can't tell what I like the most: The battles with the fish monsters or the mindcoil removals.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: CrowCakes on May 31, 2012, 02:02:35 AM
Roukan, you magnificent troll, stop feeding off my anxiety with cliffhangers.

Although, if there's one thing I have to say about the recent developments in the story, it's Sakuya regaining her memories at the snap of a finger upon seeing Youmu's name. She did get a visual ID on Youmu beforehand, and I'm not exactly a fan of that thing, so I can't think of anything else that could go around it. I just feel ticked that it went that fast and that easy.

Oh yeah, I have a little something.

(http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/151/e/4/troll_patchy_by_crowcakes-d51tozx.png)

Troll Patchy forever.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: BT on May 31, 2012, 07:19:53 AM
Yeah, the revelation method itself was a bit too... ordinary, but hey, the plot is great overall.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Esifex on May 31, 2012, 08:55:12 AM
Sakuya had spent years searching, ended up giving up on it and just settling for taking care of the Scarlet sisters, and all this time it was literally as simple as going to a courthouse and checking some old adoption records. She literally tried too hard; I think that's a little character development for her. Sometimes you need to work smart, not hard.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Aya Squawkermaru on May 31, 2012, 04:20:46 PM
Sakuya had spent years searching, ended up giving up on it and just settling for taking care of the Scarlet sisters, and all this time it was literally as simple as going to a courthouse and checking some old adoption records. She literally tried too hard; I think that's a little character development for her. Sometimes you need to work smart, not hard.

In all fairness, if she had checked the records before this happened, she wouldn't have known what to look for. She knew jack-squat about her past.

Anyway, good update, though this arc does feel like it's going a bit too quickly. Maybe that's just me, but it's something to think about.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Mеа on June 01, 2012, 08:17:35 AM
I don't think there was enough internal turmoil shown, but then that's just me
Looks like Yuyu caught the kold
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Esifex on June 02, 2012, 04:37:00 AM
Don't forget, too, that Sakuya has been busy with being a maid and caretaker for the Scarlets, thus occupying her time, and then suddenly, LAWYER FRIEND GET

And I don't have enough experience being reunited with long lost siblings that I'd been hoping against hope to find again to know exactly how quickly that should've taken for Youmu to understand.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on June 03, 2012, 07:43:36 PM
That does it. When we?re done here, I?m not eating fish for a week.

Mokou felt the stench of sea water pour into her nostrils. She gagged a little as the monsters continued to rain down on her. She?d long since lost count of how many she?d taken down. However many it was, it wasn?t enough. Their numbers seemed endless.

Most of the enemy was focusing on her, but one or two snuck past to go for Komachi. The gunslinger smacked them away with the sheer weight of her revolver, but the deafening blasts it gave off every time she fired served as a better deterrent. Mokou had nearly been beheaded by a shot zooming past her ear; the fish she?d been brawling with was not as fortunate.

Mokou wasn?t sure how long she?d been fighting for. Five minutes? Ten? However long it was, they?d accomplished nothing. The summoner was still sending out wave after wave of fishmen through the portal. If they could reach her, they might be able to distract her long enough to close the gateway, but that meant charging through dozens of angry youkai. Mokou could fly over, but that would leave Komachi to deal with the whole horde. As a distance fighter, her odds were poor at best.

?This isn?t even fair...?

Mokou felt her arms growing heavy. Even a Siren had limits. Looking behind her, she saw Komachi counting her remaining bullets. She looked unhappy with the result.

It was at that moment Mokou came up with a brilliancy.

?Hey, Komachi-san. Looks like it?s time for plan B.?

?Eh?? Komachi wheezed out the question, looking almost as tired herself. ?What?s plan B, kid??

Mokou winked. ?I need you to shoot me.?

The look of confusion on Komachi?s face was worth it. Mokou had to smile as she took to the air, hanging a few feet above the fishmen. The closest ones clawed at her legs, but she was too high for most of them to reach.

?Trust me on this one!?

Komachi was conflicted for only a moment. There was no time to ask questions. She pointed the gun at the phoenix, finger primed on the trigger.

?This had better work, y?hear me? If you don?t block this...well, I guess you?ll be dead anyway, so either way I win!?

Mokou wasn?t going to pretend she knew what she was doing. This was a gambit at best, but it was better than getting worn down slowly by a barrage of fishmen.

She lifted her hand up in front of her, clenching it in a fist. She saw the hammer drop on the bullet before she heard the gunshot.

?Inferno Gauntlet, Counter Mode!?

The jewels on her glove flickered blue. The bullet careened towards her with enough force to take her arm off.

Against all common sense, she punched it.

Sparks burst from the fabric as her whole body shook under the strength of the attack. Her armband whipped at her arm, a feather forming within it in seconds. The jewels grew hotter, jumping from blue to purple to red.

?Khh...!?

As the last remnants of the bullet were absorbed, the jewels were flashing white and letting out smoke. Mokou?s whole hand was shaking, the heat becoming almost unbearable. It was spreading up her body, cooking her arm from the inside. There was more force in that shot than Mokou could absorb.

Of course, that was the plan.

?Inferno Gauntlet...?

The crowd had moved forward while she was in the air. Mokou now hung above the center of the pack. She gave one last swoop of her wings to gain a few more feet of height.

Then she fell.

?DETONATE!?

As she struck the ground, Mokou could see a flicker of light emerge from the Inferno Gauntlet. An instant later, a brilliant white flame ripped her apart.

-----

In all honesty, Mokou had expected dying to be a lot more dramatic than this.

The first time had been pretty rough, admittedly. All those icicles shoved into her hurt like hell. This time, though, she?d blown herself up so rapidly her body hadn?t even been able to process the pain.

From her point of view, the world simply seemed to jump. One moment, she was in the center of a swarm of fishmen - the next, she was lying in a smouldering crater. She had no recollection of what had happened in between because she hadn?t been around to experience it.

She didn?t have to look too hard to see the fruits of her effort, at least. The smoke hung in her nostrils as she clambered to her feet, grabbing the edge of the crater and pulling herself up. Every last fishman had been taken out in the attack, and the last of their number was slipping through the floor as Mokou brought her head up.

There was no sign of the summoner, though Mokou could see a girl-shaped dent in the limousine where she?d been standing. Nice blast radius, Mokou thought to herself. She must have escaped while Mokou was busy being dead.

?Well, look who?s back.?

A hand slapped onto Mokou?s shoulder from behind. Turning around, Mokou saw the grinning, ash-covered figure of Komachi. Her face was covered in small scrapes, and her coat was torn in several places.

?You could warned me you were gonna blow up,? Komachi said, her grip on Mokou?s shoulder tightening. ?The valkyrie ran for it after you went off. I?d have chased her, but you hit me pretty hard as well.?

Mokou frowned. ?Sorry. It was a heat of the moment thing. Besides, it was that or getting cut to bits by the mackerel monsters, so I?d like to think it worked out in the end.?

The lawyer gave her a wry smile. ?You?ve got a point there, kid. Besides, this?ll be a good excuse for me to take a nice long bath when I get home.? She turned Mokou around, shoving her towards the door. ?Now, go see if everyone else is holding up. I?m gonna need to catch my breath for a little longer.?

The urge to make a grandma joke was overwhelming, but Mokou managed to resist. She gave Komachi one last thumbs up before grabbing at the front door.

As she pushed it to the side, she heard it tear and come off the wall entirely.

?...Well, I guess we could always tell Saigyouji-san that the Claw did it.?

-----

?Kyaah!?

Koishi blocked the oncoming sword with the very edge of her trident. She felt the force behind the blow pass into her arms. Her nerves were on fire, but if she paused for a moment Yuyuko would strike her down.

Despite her age, Yuyuko was as good with a blade as Youmu was, if not better. She swung with grace and power that would have impressed warriors half her age. Every attack chained flawlessly into the next, leaving Koishi on a constant defensive. The Siren couldn?t make any distance for the Iruka Shot, and her opponent was smarter and faster than any fishman.

?Honestly, children these days are so impudent!? All the while, Yuyuko was laughing to herself. ?To think that I almost let my dearest Youki be drawn in by filth like you...!? Her expression was manic, but tears were running down her cheeks. Koishi couldn?t bear to look her in the eye.

I can?t take much more of this...!

Koishi?s muscles felt like lead. She could barely hold the trident, let alone block with it. Yuyuko made the most of her weakness, striking twice in quick succession. The first hit loosened Koishi?s grip on her weapon. The second knocked it clean out of her hands.

?No-?

Koishi reached down for the trident, but soon found two blades forming a cross along her neck. Yuyuko pushed her backwards, trapping her against the wall. Koishi squirmed for a moment, but it was a futile gesture. The fight was over.

?So what have we learned today~?? Yuyuko asked in a sing-song tone. ?Isn?t it a good idea to listen to your elders when they tell you to leave? You could have avoided all of this, Komeiji-san, but I?m afraid you forced my hand-?

?Let her go, mother!?

The voice from the corridor caught both Koishi and Yuyuko by surprise. They turned to the doorway to find Youmu stepping in, a hand outstretched to beckon her mother away.

?Aaah, there you are!? Yuyuko kept her blades primed at Koishi?s throat, even as she looked away. Koishi still had no room to slip her head out of the deathtrap. All she could do was watch and pray for an opening.

But why did Youmu-san come back? I was trying to help her escape!

Youmu stepped forward, every movement uncertain. She stuttered on her words, speaking only with the utmost care. ?Mother, please. Komeiji-san deserves a second chance, doesn?t she? Surely it?s best for you to lead by example.?

What was this? Koishi raised an eyebrow as the swordsman tried to talk sense into Yuyuko. It became clearer when she made out a silhouette behind the door, shuffling at a deck of cards.

Sakuya-san...!

?Hmph.? Yuyuko?s expression hardened, her swords pushing a little further into Koishi?s neck. ?If I give her another chance to dig her claws into you, I can?t dare to imagine the consequences. This is for your own good, Youki.?

Everything happened at once. The swords beginning to slide down Koishi?s throat. Youmu reaching out and yelling at her mother.

And outside the room, Sakuya bringing the world to a halt.

Koishi was vaguely aware of the timestop. She was trapped as well, but still conscious. The world around her had faded into shades of grey, Yuyuko?s swords forever stuck at her neck. They?d drawn small slits along her skin, but the timestop had kicked in before they could hit anything important.

?Eh...??

Youmu was aware as well, gazing in awe at the monotone world. Like Koishi, she was planted to the floor, frozen in place, only able to move her eyes. There was only one person who could act, and she was entering the room right now.

Sakuya began to stomp towards Yuyuko, a frightening aura hanging around her. Her eyes never moved away from the noble, burning with an anger Koishi had never seen on a sane human being. She watched as Sakuya grabbed Yuyuko by the neck, pulling her backwards without resistance. She opened Yuyuko?s hands, grabbed the swords and threw them to a distant corner of the room.

With that done, she pushed Yuyuko to the floor. She sat over her, trapping Yuyuko?s hands under her knees.

In the distance, Koishi heard the swinging of a pendulum as time started again. She fell forwards, grabbing at the marks on her throat and gasping in relief. Youmu stood in place, looking around without a clue what was going on.

?Ah-? But no-one was more surprised by this turn of events than Yuyuko. Sakuya?s weight held her down, and all she could do was struggle as the Siren pulled out a silver dagger from her pouch.

?Tell me, Saigyouji-san.? Sakuya?s voice was cold as steel as she held the knife over Yuyuko?s chest. ?Should I make this quick, or is it alright if I savour the moment a little??

Koishi let out a tiny gasp. She saw a familiar insanity lingering in Sakuya?s eyes. It was the look of a woman with no regard for human life. Koishi had always known Sakuya could take things too far, but-

?Miyo!? Youmu was the first one to react, dashing towards Sakuya and her victim. ?What do you think you?re doing?!?

Sakuya looked back with an almost cruel glare. ?Stay away, Youmu. I?m giving this monster exactly what she deserves.?

?But...but...? Youmu?s voice broke, shifting back to the higher voice she?d only shown Koishi briefly. ?She?s done nothing wrong, Miyo! Komeiji-san said she was sick!?

Yuyuko was motionless, eyes as empty as always. She may as well have already been dead. Koishi thought she made out her arm stirring under Sakuya, but she couldn?t tell from this distance.

?Sick?? Sakuya wore a broken smile. ?That?s a fitting term for the woman who made you live a lie for ten years.? She ran the blade along Yuyuko?s collarbone, cutting into the fabric of her kimono. ?Do you have any idea how long I spent looking for you, Youmu? You weren?t there when I needed you more than ever. I had to stumble around for a decade with no clue who I was. And it?s all thanks to her.?

Yuyuko refused to react, not even glancing in Sakuya?s direction. Sakuya grabbed her by the hair, pulling her head forward to meet her gaze.

?Miyo, that?s enough!? Youmu grabbed at Sakuya from behind, trying to pull her away. ?It?s not like that. You can't expect me to choose between the two of you!?

Koishi couldn?t sit at the side lines anymore. She approached the fighting Sirens, gulping before she spoke.

?She?s right, Sakuya-san. No matter what Saigyouji-san did, killing her isn't going to solve anythi-?

?SHUT UP!? Sakuya?s cry almost deafened Koishi with its intensity. Sheer rage ran across her face as she brought the knife inches away from Yuyuko?s eye. ?She wronged me. She?s the reason I?ve been so lost all these years. Why do I have to just let her get away with it??

Koishi flinched. Sakuya sounded beyond reasoning, and Koishi had no idea why. What was she supposed to do?

Thankfully, it was Youmu who intervened. She stopped trying to pry Sakuya off, and instead hugged her from behind.

?Miyo...she?s not a monster. Even before she...changed, she was the woman who took me in when I thought I'd lost everything. She was willing to take me in and love me like her own daughter. She wanted to give me a second chance...I know she changed after Youki died, but the woman I know is still in there somewhere. I owe her a debt I can never truly repay.?

Sakuya?s grip began to falter. She trembled as she pulled her knife to the side.

?And that?s why I can?t let you hurt her.? Youmu spoke with a sternness that felt alien coming from a girl her age. ?I don?t care if we aren?t related by blood. I love her, Miyo. Yuyuko Saigyouji is still my mother, and she always will be.?

She pulled Sakuya back again. ?Which means...in a way, she?s your mother too.?

This time the maid barely resisted. Sakuya was clinging to the knife so tightly that the hilt nearly slapped. Youmu hugged her all the while, nuzzling at her cheek and whispering comforting words.

Koishi let out a sigh of relief. She slumped to the ground, her exertion catching up to her. Her eyes lazily fell on Yuyuko, still lying on the ground.

She was pulling a golden key from her pocket.

?Ohoho...? Yuyuko?s face lit up with a condescending smile. ?You seem to have forced me into a corner.?

The key dug into her chest like there was nothing there. Yuyuko?s grin only widened as she gave it a twist, unlocking her potential.

If Youmu hadn?t noticed the Black Key, she certainly noticed its side effects. There was a sudden flash before Yuyuko was consumed by the darkness within the key. Sakuya brandished the knife again, pushing Youmu backwards as she prepared to strike.

?It?s awfully cramped in here. Shall we take this outside??

The orb powered upwards, blowing a hole in the roof. Koishi shielded herself from the falling splinters before picking her trident off the floor.

?Come on. We?ve got to catch her before she goes too far.?

?But where is she going?? Sakuya asked, gradually coming back to her senses.

Koishi forced a smile. ?I have a pretty good idea.?

-----

It was still seventy steps up the staircase to the garden, but it felt like a lot less at the speed Koishi was going.

?What makes you so sure she?s coming here?? Sakuya was right behind her, keeping her fedora in check as the winds grew more violent. Youmu stayed at her side, but Koishi knew the swordsman could have darted past them if she wanted to.

?She still wants to fight us,? Koishi replied. ?She wants an open space. Where else would she go??

The maid nodded in agreement. She was fumbling with her knives, trying to blunt the edges of some of them to use as weapons in the upcoming fight. Youmu?s words had hit home with her.

?Still, I didn?t know you two were sisters. Uh...Sakuya-san, should I call you Miyo now??

Sakuya shook her head. ?I?ve grown quite fond of Sakuya Izayoi, actually. I?d like to leave my real name reserved for someone special.?

Youmu didn?t even turn towards her sister. Koishi didn?t have to guess what she was thinking about. They?d given her a super-quick explanation of the Mindcoil on the way up, and it had only made Youmu more determined to get involved.

?Youmu-san...your mother is really dangerous now. We can probably handle this, so-?

?No.? One word, spoken with true determination. ?It?s my fault this ?Mindcoil? had something to prey on. I won?t sit back and let you clean up this mess for me.?

Koishi ended her protesting there. Nothing she said would change the swordsman?s mind right now. Koishi looked back up the staircase as the mighty centerpiece of the garden came into view.

Her guess had been on the mark. Yuyuko Saigyouji was sitting in front of the tree in a perfect seiza stance. Her kimono was now black with red markings along the sleeves. A pale pink butterfly was hanging on her shoulder, fluttering in time with her breath. She had no weapon, but still looked up with a proud smile as the Sirens climbed the last few steps.

?Isn?t it so much nicer out here?? she asked, in the tone most people would use to discuss the weather. ?The poets used to say there were bodies buried beneath the cherry blossoms. I consider it fitting, given the fate that is about to befall you.?

In spite of her pose, Yuyuko was letting off an immense pressure. Koishi could practically feel her knees buckling under Yuyuko?s glare. Another butterfly crawled up onto her other shoulder, glistening in the wind.

?So, do you think the two of you can defeat me? I?m not certain why you brought Youki along, but I think he can learn from this.?

Koishi made to step forward, but to her surprise someone came out from behind her and pushed her back.

?Actually,? Youmu said, holding Sakuya back on her other side, ?I?ll be fighting you myself.?

Yuyuko?s composure quickly came apart. Koishi and Sakuya both looked at the swordsman, stunned.

?Youmu-san, are you sure about this?? Koishi barely had to ask. She heard that same determination in Youmu?s voice. Perhaps this had been her plan all along.

Youmu took another step forward. The other Sirens didn?t follow.

?I will not dishonour my mother by challenging her to an unfair fight. I trust that you will both stay out of my affairs.?

She continued to stride onwards, reaching for her Teardrop.

?We can?t just let her do this,? Sakuya said, making to catch up with her sister. ?What if Saigyouji-?

Koishi grabbed Sakuya by the shoulder. The maid went tense for an instant, before going limp.

?It?s okay, Sakuya-san. This is her problem, right??

Begrudgingly, Sakuya offered a nod. Regardless, Koishi couldn?t help but notice she was clinging tightly to one of her daggers. Hopefully Youmu wouldn?t need the backup.

Youmu came to a stop in the centre of the courtyard, five paces away from Yuyuko. The noble rose to her feet, looking ready to burst out of her skin.

?Youki, what is the meaning of this? Step aside so I can deal with these troublemakers.?

The swordsman gulped. Koishi could see the nerves leaking out of her from here.

?Mother, I...? Youmu?s face scrunched up for a moment before the words flew out. ?I?m not your son.?

Yuyuko tilted her head. ?What on earth are you talking about??

?I?m not Youki Saigyouji. Your son died ten years ago. Don?t you remember??

Yuyuko?s expression was blank, like she hadn?t heard a word Youmu had said. Gradually, terror began to surface in her eyes.

?You?re...not my son??

Youmu nodded. Koishi let out a little gasp from the sidelines. Was Yuyuko responding? Was she actually taking this in?

Those hopes were quickly dashed as Yuyuko?s face twisted into a look of unholy fury.

?You...what have you done to Youki?!?

The ground shuddered as Yuyuko stepped off the ground, hanging in the air. The butterflies fluttered off her arms in opposite directions. They landed on the trees at her side, killing their roots with a single touch. In seconds both trees were a lifeless grey. The dead branches let their petals drift downwards, circling Yuyuko like a tornado.

?Mother!? Youmu shielded herself from the barrage of petals with one arm. ?Please, listen to me! Youki is de-?

?LIAR!? A voice screamed from within the vortex. ?You mean to fool me, don?t you?! And you even disguised yourself as my son to do it! You make me sick, do you understand?!?

Yuyuko stretched her arms outwards, and a wave of butterflies took form along her wingspan. As she whipped her arms forward, the glittering spirits flew in deadly arcs towards the Sirens. Fortunately, they could only fly straight; Youmu rolled to the side, Koishi ducked under hers, and Sakuya seemed to simply shift out of harm?s way.

Youmu grit her teeth. She fumbled at her pocket as she rose to her feet. ?You leave me no choice, mother. Forgive me...!?

She raised her Teardrop to the air as it sparkled with a dark green light. Her form grew blurry, like a camera out of focus, but her words were loud and clear.

?Like a blossom?s fall;
With grace and beauty till death.
So shall I battle.? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGOYPtDUfrs)

Youmu grew hazier and hazier, until Koishi could barely make out her shape. The sound of a sword being drawn resounded through the courtyard. A silver line cut through the haze that had once been Youmu, causing it to split in two.

On one side of the cut, Youmu stood ready with both blades drawn. A metal breastplate hung over her chest, grey with a white spirit emblem over her heart. Beneath it, she wore the same gi that Koishi had seen her perform in at the tournament, but the sleeves had been torn away from it. Ghost-shaped patterns ran along the outfit's hems. Like Sakuya, her hair was an almost glittering silver.

On the other side of the cut was another Youmu, though not as solid as the first. It was monochrome, and at times seemed to flicker out of view. It was a mirror image of the original, with everything flipped horizontally. Its swords pulsed with pale blue light.

The line faded away, and both Youmus held an arm out, crossing the blades in their off hands. The longer swords were pointed forward, at the swirling petals and the woman within them.

?We are body,? the two girls spoke in unison. ?We are mind. We are spirit. We are Konpaku.?

The petals finally broke away, forming an orderly shape behind Yuyuko. They took the form of a massive fan, with butterflies drawn into the fabric. Yuyuko herself was still floating in the air, spirits floating beneath her feet as butterflies swarmed around her.

?I don?t give a damn who you are. There?s only one thing that matters to me.?

The ground trembled again as Yuyuko stretched an arm towards Youmu. The butterflies on her fan shone violet, humming faintly.

?You are NOT! MY! SON!?

Yuyuko clicked her fingers. The lights on the fan burst forward, firing a barrage of lasers. Youmu dodged to the side, her clone rolling in the other direction.

The lasers fired again, targeting both Youmus. Butterflies emerged from the fan, strolling through the air towards their targets. They were deadly but slow, and the swordsmen carved a path through the onslaught with blistering speed. They struck at the fan, only for Yuyuko to float out of reach.

Youmu remained calm. Standing in Yuyuko?s blind spot, she lifted her katana upwards in time with her copy. It flashed green with power.

?Konpaku Secret Technique - Roukanken!?

The green flash extended along the blade, doubling its length in seconds. She held it with perfect balance, swiping at the fan again. Yuyuko was unprepared for the new attack, squirming as the fan was sliced on both sides. Two of the butterfly emblems were cut from the root, fading and dying before they hit the ground.

?Why, you-!? Yuyuko flinched as if she?d been struck herself. She floated further into the air, out of even Roukanken?s reach. The remaining emblems fired faster, and butterflies fell into the blind spot of Yuyuko?s attack pattern. Youmu leaped out, swerving left and right between the lasers, wincing as stray shots scraped along her arms.

Sakuya began to fiddle with a knife, her expression darkening as the battle continued. She had every reason to be concerned - Youmu had little way to make up the distance between her and her opponent. The lasers drew closer and closer, and Koishi saw the fear rise onto Youmu?s face as well.

She also saw the moment when that fear gave way to eagerness. An idea had jumped into Youmu?s head.

The fighter burst to the side, her shadow running in the opposite direction. She dashed straight for one of the dead trees from earlier, letting her momentum carry her up the wall. Her clone matched her movements, walking in thin air.

Yuyuko shook her head in disappointment before motioning with her arm. The lasers aimed at the roots of the tree, blasting a hole in it. The whole structure crumbled, the decay rising up to match the dashing swordsman. Youmu ran until there was no longer a tree to run on, leaping at the last minute. She brought Roukanken aloft, swinging to cut Yuyuko in half.

Yuyuko let out a small chuckle as she floated backwards. Youmu?s sword hit nothing.

As expected.

?Aaaah!? Yuyuko screamed in surprise as the shadow?s sword sliced into her back. The wound barely drew blood, but more pressingly her fan had been ripped in half. Her source of power gone, Yuyuko plummeted downwards with all the grace of a brick. She hit the paved courtyard with a slam, while Youmu barely made a sound as she hit the ground.

?You...? The noble shrugged off the blow, though she stumbled as she came back to her feet. Her kimono was covered in dirt and gashes from the fight. ?You mean to break me? Sever the bond between mother and son for your own selfish gains...??

Youmu was still for a moment. The clone walked across the courtyard, walking into her before it disappeared entirely. She sheathed her blades, holding out a hand.

?No. I mean to save you.?

Yuyuko stared at the offering for an instant before slapping the hand away. ?You mock me with your false gratitude. I won?t listen to a word you say until you give me back my son.?

Youmu sighed. She pulled out both blades, carefully laying them on the ground in front of Yuyuko.

?Very well, then. Shall we settle this honourably??

The swordsman stepped backwards, her fists clenching. The same two swords took form in her hands, pulsing with blue light. Of course she?d be able to make her own swords, Koishi thought to herself.

Yuyuko smiled wryly. ?I taught my son that conviction won battles. Having something to fight for was the edge when fighting an equal foe.? She picked the swords off the ground, wielding them flawlessly. ?Do you believe your conviction can match my love for my son??

Youmu matched her pose, nodding. Koishi saw the tears forming in her eyes.

The last of the cherry blossoms drifted to the ground as the wind died down. Both swordsmen gazed upon it as a silent witness to the fight. Youmu and Yuyuko stood poised to strike, neither moving from their spot. This would not be a drawn-out slugfest.

The blossom touched the earth, and both fighters charged in sync. The sound of clashing blades filled the air, and moments later the fight was over.

From Koishi?s viewpoint, it was difficult to tell who had won at first. The swordsmen stood back to back, arms outstretched at the ends of their swings. The branches rustled in the dying breaths of the wind.

?Ah...?

Slowly, gradually, Yuyuko Saigyouji slumped forwards. Another cut joined the marks all across her kimono, this one barely scraping over her heart. She looked down on it, nodding to herself in understanding. Koishi knew what Yuyuko was thinking to herself.

It could have been deeper.

Youmu had won, but pulled back with the final blow. As Yuyuko was taking in the fact, she was oblivious to Youmu walking up behind her.

?It seems you taught me well.?

Youmu brought the blunt end of her katana into the side of Yuyuko?s head. The noble flopped to the side, knocked out instantly by the strike. Youmu caught her before her head could slam into the earth. Enough damage had already been done.

As Koishi and Sakuya approached the victor, Youmu wrapped her arms around her mother. She grit her teeth, muttering to herself.

?If only I?d told you sooner, we could have avoided all of this...?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Metaflare on June 03, 2012, 11:52:59 PM
Of course she?d be able to make her own swords, Koishi thought to herself.

Now I'm expecting Youmu to use Unlimited Blade Works
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: LaserTurtle on June 04, 2012, 02:45:06 AM
I've been playing too much Binding of Isaac lately, so I'm seeing the descent into the mind as going down to the next floor, where Koishi's going to fight the boss, which is inevitably going to be twisted, messed up, and horribly disfigured.

ermmm... huh. I might need therapy.

...In other news, I'm calling Kogasa as a mindcoil victim. Her power would totally be playing on everyone's fears in a horribly nightmarish way surprising everyone.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: BT on June 04, 2012, 06:59:05 AM
Well, next arc is either UFO or MoF. Both should be interesting.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: King_Rule on June 04, 2012, 04:27:53 PM
By the way things are going the MoF siren will be either Sanae or Suwako and the UFO is either Shou or Nue.

Or I could be completely wrong.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: BT on June 04, 2012, 05:16:02 PM
MoF has to be Sanae. UFO is an enigma.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: CrowCakes on June 05, 2012, 03:14:56 PM
I would have included some more details, but it's 11 PM here.

(http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/157/2/f/a_youmu_drawing_by_crowcakes-d52hfqk.png)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on June 05, 2012, 04:12:55 PM
I would have included some more details, but it's 11 PM here.

(http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/157/2/f/a_youmu_drawing_by_crowcakes-d52hfqk.png)

   :sword!:
 8)

the thought of littleshrimp making it a getamped 2 skin would be fantastic
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 In Progress
Post by: Silent Harmony on June 05, 2012, 10:06:54 PM
Catching up on this story has been an absolute treat.
Title: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 Complete
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on June 06, 2012, 08:41:45 PM
?Graaaaaaaaaarr!?

Jozu brought down another swing, her jagged claws tearing at Sango?s sleeves. The dolphin grabbed her arm and tried to pull her off balance. Jozu just jumped in sync with the pull, staying on her feet and sending in another swing at Sango?s side.

Under the bloodlust, Jozu?s moves were far from fluent. She struck wildly, almost at random. She made up for that clumsiness in speed, strength, and sheer reactions. She was beyond anything Sango had ever fought or even dreamed of fighting.

But I have the upper hand in intellect. I need a plan...

As Sango barely sidestepped another slash, she heard the wall crumble as Jozu punched through it. Even with her newfound strength, the shark shouldn?t have been able to hit that hard. Was this area of the manor in disrepair?

It?s better than nothing!

Sango ran down the corridor, straight towards a wall. Jozu was on her in an instant, building momentum as she pulled back a fist. Sango heard the air whistle as the attack came rushing in, rolling to the side at the last moment.

She came to a stop face first in the wall, but she?d managed to kill off most of her speed before impact. Jozu was less lucky, and Sango looked up to see the shark?s entire arm trapped in the wall. This was her opening.

?Taah!?

Sango brought a palm chop down on Jozu?s neck. Flowing Tide wasn?t a style for brute force, but its practitioners were taught about pressure points so that they could make their hits count. By all accounts, Sango?s attack should have left Jozu?s arms locked up.

Except the shark didn?t so much as flinch.

What is she, some sort of berserker?!

Before Sango could take another free hit, Jozu tore her arm out of the woodwork. It was bloodied and covered in splinters, but she paid it no mind. Her nervous system must have shut down the ?unnecessary? connections - nerves that complained about things like pain.

Sango was beginning to feel very uncomfortable in Jozu?s presence. For a second the shark?s jagged teeth morphed into a smile. Maybe she didn?t have much of her higher functions left, but she could recognise patterns. That trick wasn?t going to work again.

The fight had been hard to start with, but for Sango it was beginning to verge on impossible. She had no way of hurting or even fazing Jozu in this state. She could deflect her attacks, but Jozu recovered too quickly for Sango to punish anything. In the end it would be a battle of endurance, and Sango was pretty sure who?d win at that.

She gulped as the next swing came in, only to see it slip right past her.

?Eh??

Jozu had seemingly slipped mid-swing, falling to the floor with a crash. She grasped at her head, growling and kicking as she rolled around. Sango stood over her at a barely safe distance.

?Gaah! Rraaaahh!?

The shark groaned with an agonising howl. She twisted and flailed in every direction, roaring in pain. Even if Jozu had been trying to kill her moments ago, Sango couldn?t help but feel bad watching this.

?Gaah, hnnn...?

The struggling gradually diminished, and the moaning along with it. Sango saw Jozu?s eyes flash violet for a moment before retracting back to their normal size. When the squirming stopped entirely, Jozu was looking up at the ceiling as she panted for breath.

?I...I hate it when they do that...?

She grabbed at a wall to help herself up. She could barely stand now that the damage Sango had done was kicking in. Whatever that was, it had knocked Jozu out of her bloodlust state. But why?

Before Sango could ask, Jozu cupped a hand over one ear and turned away.

?Jozu here. This had better be good,? she said to whoever was listening. Maybe it was a telepathic link of some sort. ?Uh-huh. Look, I don?t care if the rest of the operation went to hell. I was in the middle of something, and now you?ve totally killed my buzz.?

Sango stood a good distance away from Jozu, refusing to take advantage of the situation. Jozu continued her one-sided chat, her initial anger starting to fade.

?...I know you?re worried, but I?m in good hands, okay? She?s even standing there waiting on me to finish. She?s a good kid.?

Jozu gave Sango a wink. The dolphin blushed a little.

?I guess you haven?t left me with a choice, have you? Alright, I?ll consent to the warp. See you back at base.?

When she brought her hand down, a familiar hole started to open in the floor beneath her. It was the same portal that had spirited away the defeated fishmen. In other words, Jozu was running.

?Sorry about this,? she said, this time to Sango. She rubbed at her back, wincing as she touched what was probably a bruise. ?My partner was worried when she couldn?t contact me, so she had to turn my brain back on. Now I?m really not in the mood for fighting, if y?know what I mean.?

?You have a partner who can screw with your head?? Sango asked.

Jozu shrugged. ?We?re kinda close, I guess. Something about having a strong bond together. Either way, I need to go report about how we just failed spectacularly and stuff.?

The hole grew until Jozu began to fall into it. She sank slowly, offering Sango a salute as she descended.

?Next time I?m gonna make sure she doesn?t interfere, got it??

Sango tried to grab her arm and yank Jozu out of the hole, but by the time she had made it up close the portal was already closing. Sango?s fingers pressed against solid wood, finding no trace of her opponent.

She was relieved to not be dead, but she couldn?t help but feel a little cheated.

?Hey!? A voice echoed out from around the corner. Turning around, Sango saw Mokou jogging down the corridor towards her. She looked utterly unscathed, which fit Jozu?s story that the Claw had lost on all counts.

?Yo, just checking if everything?s fine on your end. What happened to the shark chick??

Sango wasn?t quite sure how to feel as she responded. Eventually she settled for begrudging relief.

?I think I just won on a technicality.?

-----

Koishi cricked her neck. She took a moment to notice how used she was getting to all of this.

?Lay her down for me, Youmu-san.?

Youmu nodded. Koishi had given her a quick explanation of how the mindcoil removal would work. She?d been very quick to accept it - likely because she knew of no other way to help her mother out of her current state.

She carefully placed Yuyuko on the ground. The noble seemed to be asleep, but Koishi had made sure to check her condition was stable before anything else. She knelt down in front of the body, putting a hand on her third eye.

?...Mother??

Before she could start, a voice called out from behind the body. Koishi glanced up to see the familiar, ethereal form of Youki Konpaku. He stood over his mother, eyes locked on Youmu. He instantly raised his wooden blade, looking ready to take her head on.

?You. You?re the impostor. It?s your fault that-?

?No, Youki-san,? Koishi said, cutting him off. ?It?s no-one?s fault. Your mother needed help to cope, and Youmu-san needed someone to care for her. They both needed each other.?

Sakuya and Youmu both gave Koishi awkward stares as she spoke.

?Koishi-san, who are you talking to?? Sakuya asked, eyebrow raised.

Koishi pointed to the ghost hanging over Yuyuko. ?I?m talking to him, obviously.?

Sakuya stared up at where Koishi was pointing, but her expression remained befuddled. Maybe no-one other than Koishi could see him. Not that it mattered right now.

?Youki-san, I?m trying to help your mother. She?s locked you away somewhere inside her head, so I?m gonna poke around a bit and fix it. Alright??

The spirit looked upon Koishi with wonder. ?You can do that??

?It?s a talent,? Koishi replied with a wink. The other Sirens seemed to be accepting her eccentric manner. She did her best not to think about how silly she looked.

Youki?s expression lightened. Koishi saw a spark of hope jump into his eyes.

?If you can...? He started to flicker under the weight of his emotions again. ?If you can save her...I will be in your debt.?

?Don?t worry.? Koishi grabbed at her third eye again, one hand on the eyelid. ?It?s what I do.?

This had all become strangely routine to Koishi. Opening the eyelid, watching the light hit Yuyuko, and feeling herself fall out of her own body. It was getting so routine that it felt as natural as the real world now. She opened her eyes, looking about to see what the inside of Yuyuko?s mind resembled.

She stood in a forest of cherry blossoms, unable to make out the sky for the petals overhead. Black tendrils ran along the trunks of the trees, slowly grinding down the wood. Koishi didn?t want to imagine the consequences that could have on Yuyuko?s psyche.

The wind was cold, blowing towards the east. As Koishi followed its path, she saw the bright colours of the petals begin to fade. The brilliant pink gave way to pale red, and then to dark brown. The Mindcoils lapped further around the trees, eating away more and more at the wooden foundations. The further she walked, the stronger their hold on Yuyuko?s mind.

Finally Koishi found herself in a truly dead forest. She was knee-deep in dead blossom petals, wading rather than walking. As the trees broke apart at last, she found a pathway leading further to the east. The wind was stronger now, almost pushing Koishi along with it as she walked.

As she stepped out, Koishi found herself nearing the edge of a massive cliff. She looked down, unable to see anything at the bottom of the drop. She picked up a stone at her feet, throwing it into the abyss. She never heard it land. She gulped, wondering if she could die in someone else?s head.

She continued down the path, closer and closer to the cliff?s edge. Koishi had to watch she wasn?t blown off by the force, the winds getting stronger the further she went. She walked past a blank headstone, without so much as a carving on it.

Yuyuko Saigyouji was sitting at the very end of the cliff, staring into the darkness below. She was dressed in a black kimono with a veil over her head. For once she was acting her age, weak and frail as her head craned around towards Koishi.

There was a knife embedded in her chest, a red stain dried into the fabric.

?Saigyouji-san!?

Koishi darted across the cliff, taking Yuyuko by the arm and pulling her away from the ledge. Yuyuko went along with her moves willingly, like a doll with its strings cut. Koishi laid her down against the gravestone as she looked at the wound.

?What?s wrong?? Yuyuko murmured, a smile plastered onto her face. ?You aren?t worried about a little old woman past her prime, are you??

She never looked down at the dagger, though she clearly flinched from the pain it was causing her. The stain on her kimono was slowly growing larger.

?Saigyouji-san, your chest-?

?Shhh.? Yuyuko brought a hand up to Koishi?s lips, silencing her. ?I know, Komeiji-san.?

Koishi stuttered on the words, incredulous. ?B-But it?s hurting you! We need to take it out, or...?

?Or I?ll die?? Yuyuko chuckled to herself, shaking her head. ?Kids these days. I swear, your games and movies have given you some terrible ideas about life.?

She pulled herself up on the tombstone, leaning back on it as she looked off into the distance. The sky was a single-tone grey.

?A wound like this is painful, but it stops the blood flow. If I take it out, there?s going to be a great big hole in my heart. How do you think that will turn out??

Koishi took another look at the wound. The whole blade had dug into Yuyuko, with only the hilt still visible. Yuyuko would lose dangerous amounts of blood. Koishi couldn?t tell how long the blade was, but for it to be causing this much pain it would have to be several inches at least. The prognosis was poor.

But I can?t leave her like this...

The noble barely had the strength to move. If Koishi grabbed at the knife, she probably couldn?t offer much resistance. Maybe Yuyuko couldn?t die of blood loss in her own mind. Was that a risk Koishi was willing to take?

She thought it over for a moment. Yuyuko paid her no mind as she did so, still staring at the clouds above.

...Right. That might just work.

Carefully, Koishi brought out a hand towards the dagger, closing it around the hilt. Yuyuko went rigid as the knife twitched in her chest.

?Komeiji-san...what do you think you?re doing...??

Yuyuko didn?t want to be helped. She wanted to keep this knife in her chest for the rest of her life. Koishi couldn?t let that happen. She had to save Yuyuko, whether or not she wanted to be saved.

?Saigyouji-san, I want you to start thinking about everything you?ve done with Youki for the last ten years.?

?W-Wha? But why would I-?

?Just do it!? Koishi couldn?t hide her desperation. Her hands were trembling as she gripped Yuyuko?s shoulder for support. She had to remove the knife if she wanted to save Yuyuko from the Mindcoil, but if she made a mistake...

No. I promised Youki-san I would help her. She brushed the thoughts aside, her hands going still as she squeezed at the hilt. Yuyuko was trying to squirm about under Koishi?s grip, still too weak to really fight.

?Alright. On three.?

Koishi steeled herself. Yuyuko was muttering, too quiet for Koishi to hear. She saw the same word forming on her lips over and over again.

Youki

?One...?

YoukiYoukiYouki

?Two...?

YoukiYoukiYoukiYoukiYou-

?Three!?

Koishi pulled the dagger out in one smooth movement.

Yuyuko?s bloodcurdling scream almost knocked her off the cliff.

?IYAAAAAAAAAAAAH! PUT IT BACK, PUT IT BACK, PUT IT BAAACK!? She flailed like a dying insect, limbs jerking weakly in all directions. Blood gushed onto her kimono, soaking the fabric completely. Koishi was quick to act, dropping the knife and grabbing the ribbon around her neck. She wrapped it around Yuyuko?s chest as a makeshift bandage, pushing down on it to try and stop the bleeding.

?Please, Saigyouji-san! You have to remember!?

Yuyuko continued to struggle, trapped between Koishi and the gravestone. Her eyes were streaming with tears as her strength began to fade. Koishi could hear her pulse dwindling as she pressed on the wound.

?Youki...Youkiiiii...don?t leave me like this...?

Her eyes began to glaze over. Her heart was giving up. Right now, in Koishi?s arms, Yuyuko was dying. She was remembering the truth, and it was literally killing her.

Koishi gulped. She had one shot at this, and if it didn?t work she?d never forgive herself for it.

?Saigyouji-san, I know it?s hard. But you have to remember these last ten years. You were happy, weren?t you??

Yuyuko?s eyes drifted towards Koishi. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.

?You were still a mother,? Koishi continued, almost screaming the words to make sure that Yuyuko could hear her. ?Maybe Youki-san was gone, but there was another child. What was her name??

There was no answer for what felt like an eternity. Yuyuko?s pulse was tiny, ready to give out at any moment. A pool of blood was forming around her, growing by the second.

Dammit, I?m losing her!

Koishi shook Yuyuko, yelling into her ear. ?Saigyouji-san, don?t give up! What was her name?!?

There was still no reply, only a slow breath out as Yuyuko went limp entirely. The flow of blood from the wound slowed to a stop. Koishi could no longer hear Yuyuko?s heartbeat.

No! Not like this!

Koishi put both hands over Yuyuko?s chest, pressing down over her heart. She wasn?t sure how much carried over in the subconscious, but she had to try.

?One, two, three, four...?

The body jerked and shook beneath her, but Yuyuko?s eyes were blank. Still, Koishi kept thumping.

?Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two...?

A minute passed. Two minutes. Maybe five. Koishi wasn?t paying attention. She wasn?t going to stop until Yuyuko came back to her. Her hands were sticky and soaked with blood, but she couldn?t afford to surrender. Not after the promise she?d made to Youki.

The choked gasp of Yuyuko breathing again was one of the most beautiful sounds Koishi had ever heard.

?Puhaahhh!?

Yuyuko was back, but she was still clearly weak. Koishi kept thumping at her chest, likely the only thing keeping her from passing out again. The noble winced and yelped with every compression.

?Nnn, khhh...why?? she whispered, with all the strength she had. ?Why can?t you just let me die??

That wasn?t an option. Koishi shook her head.

?You can?t be that selfish, Saigyouji-san. There?s someone waiting for you. Someone whose heart you?ll break if you let die now.?

Yuyuko?s eyes widened with amazement. ?But Youki is...Youki is-?

?It?s not Youki!? Koishi yelled. ?You have to remember her. You took her in when her family passed away. You were going to raise her like she was your own daughter.? It was getting to her. The blood, the death, the pressure. Koishi felt her eyes filling up with tears. ?Her name! You have to tell me her name!?

The noble?s mouth hung open for a moment, like the fact had struck her for the first time. She looked upwards, trying to draw the answer from the clouds above.

?...Y...?

The word finally started to leak from her lips. Koishi could feel Yuyuko?s heart getting stronger as she came closer and closer to the answer.

?You...mu...?

Koishi nodded feverishly. ?Keep remembering, Saigyouji-san. You can do this!?

Blood was oozing from the wound, but Koishi could feel the flow start to weaken. In contrast, Yuyuko?s heart was growing stronger as she came to terms with the truth at last.

?That?s right. Youmu...? Yuyuko nodded as the memories began to take form again. ?She was a feisty child. The only girl her age who could challenge my Youki in a fight, and the first to ever beat him. She was a brilliant talent, but...after the accident, she was never really the same. There was a little hole in her heart. After we took her in, she cried herself to sleep for the first few weeks. I could hear her from across the hall...?

Koishi took her hands away from Yuyuko?s chest. Yuyuko?s heart continued to pump on its own, as the bloodflow grew weaker and weaker.

?But she got better.? Yuyuko smiled to herself. ?We did what we could for her, Youki and I. I gave her a room to herself, and trained her in the same way I?d train my own son. Youki could barely walk, but he still made the effort to see her every day. I think it was the first time Youki ever acted his age. Around each other, they could be children rather than warriors.?

The last few droplets of blood tainted the kimono. By now the fabric was ruined, with more red than black.

?Then I...I...? The final piece of the puzzle clicked into place. Yuyuko went silent as dread washed over her. ?Oh, God, what have I done?!?

She fell forwards, burying her face in Koishi?s chest. She sobbed wildly as Koishi gave her a comforting pat on the back. The wound had closed, but it would leave an ugly scar for a long time to come.

?It?s okay, Saigyouji-san. You?re not alone.?

Koishi kept patting at Yuyuko?s back. She wasn?t sure how long she sat there, but at last Yuyuko pulled herself up and rubbed at her eyes.

?Right...you?re right, Komeiji-san. I have Youmu, don?t I??

Koishi nodded. She picked up the dagger that had been embedded in Yuyuko?s chest for so long. With a still-clean part of her ribbon, she wiped the blood from it and handed it over to the noble.

?I think you know what you need to do now.? Koishi looked towards the gravestone. Yuyuko nodded in solemn understanding, shifting herself around to face it. She brought the dagger down, grinding the tip against the rock.

As soon as she began to carve, there was a unholy screech in the direction of the forest. From here Koishi could see the Mindcoil starting to retract. Yuyuko looked up for a moment at the sound.

?It?s nothing. Keep writing.?

The noble complied. She seemed willing to go along with Koishi now. She spent a while thinking over what to write, but with each line she drew in the stone the screeching grew louder. The Mindcoil was letting out its final death howls.

At last, Yuyuko moved away from the stone, throwing the dagger off the cliff into the abyss beneath. She looked upon the inscription with a sad grin.

Here lies Youki Saigyouji,
taken long before his time.
He was a great warrior,
but a better son.


The howling from the forest dwindled into nothing. Koishi saw the last of the black markings descend from the trees, but the damage they had done remained. She was still looking into a field of death as she felt herself weakening.

But she couldn?t help but smile to herself. She knew that if Yuyuko could make it through that part of the forest, there?d be a brilliant field of cherry blossoms waiting for her on the other side.

And I know a girl who?ll help her along the way...

-----

?Hnnnh...?

Koishi was slower than usual in getting to her feet. She breathed through her nose, the cool evening air clearing away the lingering smell of blood. Yuyuko was still lying in front of her, unconscious. There was no gaping hole in her chest, thankfully. That would have been difficult to explain.

??Is it done???

Youmu and Youki spoke at once. The spirit still hung over his mother, fidgeting with nerves as he looked Koishi in the eye. Youmu was much more controlled, but she?d taken Sakuya?s hand and was squeezing it for support.

?I did what I could,? Koishi said. ?I opened her eyes, but I don?t think she?s through the mourning stage yet. I?ll need you to help her with that, Youmu-san.?

Youmu nodded. Besides a heaving sigh and another squeeze at Sakuya?s hand, she didn?t let her emotions betray her. Youki, in comparison, was trembling on the spot.

?I...thank you, stranger,? he said. He reached down and stroked at Yuyuko?s forehead. He looked more mature than his mother as he tended to her with a bright smile. ?Mother, I was so worried you had forgotten me forever. I?m so sorry for leaving you like this, but I have to go.?

He began to come apart, his feet crumbling to dust in the wind. Next came his legs, his torso, and his arms. Koishi gasped at the sight, but Youki simply shrugged at it.

?Don?t worry. I?ve outstayed my welcome in this world for long enough. It?s time for me to see what?s on the other side.?

The last part of Youki to fade away was his face. He was smiling until the end, his last words merely a whisper on the wind.

?Farewell, mother. I will always love you.?

Then he was gone, and the winds died along with him. Koishi stared up into the spot where Youki had once stood, bowing forwards.

?Goodbye, Youki-san. May your soul find peace at last.?

Sakuya and Youmu nodded along with her. They couldn?t see Youki, but they seemed to understand what was going on. Youmu let go of Sakuya?s hand at last, putting an arm behind her mother and lifting her to her feet.

?So what now?? she asked. ?When will she wake up??

?It?ll be an hour or so, I think,? Koishi answered. ?She won?t remember the Sirens or the Mindcoil, but she should at least remember what happened to Youki-san.? She looked up at Youmu, frowning. ?You?ll want to be with her when she wakes up. She?s going to have a lot to come to terms with.?

?Right.? Youmu started to carry her towards the staircase, only to bump into someone else going the other way.

?Whoa, sorry.? Mokou carefully moved to the side to let Youmu past before catching up with the other Sirens. She seemed just about unharmed, though she had a nervous grin on her face. ?Looks like I showed up late. Everything alright on this end??

Koishi nodded. Before she could say anything else, Sakuya interjected.

?So what have you come here to admit to us??

The phoenix-girl flinched. ?Damn, am I that obvious??

Sakuya simply shrugged.

?Guess I may as well come clean now,? Mokou said, rubbing at the back of her head with a sigh. ?See, I did a liiiiiittle bit of damage to the front entrance...?

-----

As Yuyuko opened her eyes, she felt as if she had stepped out of a long dream.

?Hauu-!?

For an instant there was a pain in her chest, and she jolted awake as she grabbed at her heart. As she sat up, she found herself lying in her own bed, scratches and scrapes all over her body. This wasn?t a new experience for her - as a fighter, she was used to the occasional injury. What was more concerning was that she couldn?t remember how she?d been hurt in the first place.

?Mother, are you alright??

Footsteps started down the hallway, moving towards her room. Youki?s voice, she thought to herself. It was comforting to know she was being cared for-

No, that?s not it.

Yuyuko furrowed her brow. That was Youki. It had to be. She?d heard that voice for the last ten years. How could it not be Youki? She tried to hide her concern as the door opened.

A young swordsman stepped into the room, carrying two cups of green tea. He handed one of them to Yuyuko, and she accepted it gratefully. She felt her body warm up as the warm liquid slipped down her throat.

?I have been better,? she said after downing half the cup in one shot. ?I think I may finally have to accept I?m not a young woman anymore.?

The swordsman smiled. His face was unusually bright, Yuyuko thought to herself. Normally he was more refined and mature than this. It was a refreshing change. She had always wanted Youki to be a little more childish.

No, that?s wrong.

Again, the voice in the back of her head was nagging at her. Something was wrong with this whole scenario, but she couldn?t put a word to it. Her hands began to shiver.

?Mother?? The swordsman looked her over again, drawing closer. Concern was etched on his face. ?Is there a problem??

Yuyuko couldn?t help but look into his eyes. There was something that didn?t fit with Youki?s expression. Something strange, something unnatural. It was almost as if-

as if she wasn?t looking at Youki at all.

?Oh.?

She remembered. It felt as if her brain had been rammed by a truck. She placed the tea on the cabinet at her side, shrinking into her bed covers.

That?s not my son.

?Mother!? Her guest pulled at the covers to look at her. Yuyuko couldn?t bear to look the swordsman in the eye.

That?s not even a man.

Yuyuko thought back to the past, searching for a distant memory. A name fell off of her lips, one that she hadn?t spoken for ten years.

?Youmu.?

At the same time, saying that name was relieving and heartbreaking. Yuyuko felt as if she had finally stepped out of her dream and into the real world, but that meant...

Youki is dead.

The weight of the realisation pressed her against the bed. She fell silent, like the revelation had knocked the life out of her. It was only when Youmu wrapped her arms around her that she felt warmth return to her body.

?It?s alright, mother.? Youmu patted her on the back. The feeling felt familiar to her, but in a way she couldn?t put into words. ?I?m here now.?

Yuyuko felt ill. She couldn?t stand it. She almost spat the words out, but any anger in them was directed at herself.

?Don?t call me that. I?m not your mother.?

To her surprise, Youmu simply smiled. She hugged Yuyuko harder, giving her a faint kiss on the cheek.

?Of course you are. For the last ten years, you raised me with love and care as if I was your own son. You did everything you could to make me happy.?

Yuyuko shook her head. She couldn?t accept this. She didn?t deserve to be forgiven just like that.

?But Youmu, I...I did something terrible to you. I took away ten years of your life out of selfishness. I only cared for you because you reminded me of my son. In spite of that, how can you still call me your mother??

She pushed Youmu away. Rather than fighting back, Youmu let herself be knocked away. She wasn?t offended, but she didn?t try to push her way back into Yuyuko?s face again.

?You?re right. What you did was horrible, but you weren?t alone in it.? She pulled away her gi, revealing her chest. Rather than a bra, she was wearing a tightly-wrapped sarashi to hide her breasts. ?I could have left at any time and shown this to somebody, and your whole world would have come apart. I could have pushed you out of this fantasy any time I wanted, but I didn?t.?

She smiled, but her expression conveyed more sorrow than happiness. ?I?m as guilty as you are, mother. I wanted to be Youki. I wanted to have a family again, and making you admit the truth might have lost me that chance forever.?

She forced a laugh. ?And remember, you took me in when I thought I had lost everything. You were willing to give me another opportunity to live my life. I can?t thank you enough for that.?

Yuyuko wasn?t sure whether to laugh or cry. She?d been so stupid. After Youki had died, she was terrified of being left alone. Yet here was a girl who had cared for her for ten years, shielding her from the painful truth.

?We?re both such fools, aren?t we?? Yuyuko said as she sat up again. Youmu nodded along with her, the pair of them wearing bittersweet grins.

?Ah, I just remembered something.? Yuyuko turned around to the cabinet she?d laid her cup on. She grabbed at the middle cabinet, pulling it open and reaching inside. After some fumbling, she pulled out a black ribbon from within.

?I took this from you, didn?t I? Youki never wore a ribbon, after all.?

Youmu stared at the ribbon in awe, like it was made of solid gold. Yuyuko offered it to her, and Youmu snatched it out of her hands. Her fingers moved clumsily as she tied it into her hair. She hadn?t worn it for ten years, so she was out of practice.

When at last she?d managed to put on the ribbon, Yuyuko looked at her with an overwhelming sense of nostalgia.

?My, it?s like you?re eight years old again.?

Youmu flinched. For an instant, Yuyuko could see the girl blushing. She couldn?t help but giggle at the sight. It felt like Youmu was the one light brightening up her day.

She wasn?t over Youki yet. She wasn?t sure if she?d ever be able to think about him without her heart breaking a little. But with Youmu by her side, she felt she?d find the strength to smile again.

Youmu...I can?t thank you enough.

-----

Sango pouted as she dumped another pile of gravel into the crater.

?How am I going to explain this to the boss? I am so getting demoted...?

Mokou had left a good bit of damage in her wake, most of which was too drastic to fix in a few hours. The gate was a lost cause, but the front door clipped back into place with a little bit of coercion. The Sirens had hastily replaced the gate with a set of wooden boards, with a door-shaped gateway built into it. It wasn?t the prettiest piece of handiwork, but it was more or less functional.

?See? Like nothing ever happened.? Mokou rubbed her hands in satisfaction. She?d been leading the charge for three reasons - she had more stamina left than any of her teammates, she knew her way around a hammer and nails better than anyone else, and it was only fair that she was made to clean up her own mess. The rest of the team either dealt with side jobs or handled the comparatively simple job of filling the hole that Mokou had left in the ground. Luckily there were plenty of materials to be found in the shed, though that had necessitated a few long journeys through the manor to the back garden.

?Oh, certainly. The gravel looks exactly like the grass that used to be there,? Sakuya said with a wry grin. ?Though I?m relatively sure those flowers were alive when we got here.?

?Hey, I?m not a miracle worker. I figure Youmu-san?s a decent gardener. Give her a few months and this place?ll be good as new.?

The cars at the entrance were gone after a quick call to the Kawashiro Towing Service. Nitori had only hung around long enough to get a short explanation of the scenario before hauling away the limousine the Claw had been using, muttering something about analysis. Komachi had called a tow truck from her insurer half an hour later, heading off along with them to work through all the necessary red tape.

By the time they?d managed to make the front garden look like a shadow of its former self, Youmu emerged from the front door. Mokou pumped her fist when she saw it stay upright this time.

?How did it go?? Koishi asked.

?She?s awake, and responsive,? Youmu answered. She seemed younger than she was an hour ago. The ribbon in her hair probably contributed to that. ?She?ll need time to heal, though. I think she needs me to be with her.?

Koishi nodded. She had expected as much. ?We understand. We?ll try to keep you out of our affairs for as long as possible, but if there?s an emergency we may need to ask for your help.?

?Of course. After all you?ve done for me, it?s the least I can do.? She bowed with the utmost severity, but the hair-ribbon softened her expression a little.

Sakuya was next to come forward, giving her sister a hug. ?I?ll visit whenever I can, alright??

Youmu returned the hug, almost melting in her sister?s grasp. Now she really did look like a girl her age. ?I?ll hold you to that, Miyo. We have a lot of catching up to do.?

?I?ll teach you to play poker, and you teach me how to swing a sword. Everybody wins.?

?Poker? Can?t we play something civilised like shogi instead??

Sakuya didn?t answer, but Koishi saw her rolling her eyes.

It was getting dark when the Sirens finally started to leave. Youmu led them to the gate and waved them off. She watched them all the way down the road, until she was just a speck in the distance. Koishi felt a warmth deep in her heart as she waved back, leaving with the feeling that she?d made a real change in someone else?s life.

?So, Sakuya-san,? Mokou said, nudging at Sakuya?s shoulder. ?When am I gonna get those cookies??

-----

?Komeiji was talking to ghosts??

Nitori was attentive in spite of her lack of sleep. She had called Sango in the following morning for an emergency debriefing. Too much had gone on last night for her to be content with the explanation she?d been given.

?Yes, boss. She was talking to Youki Saigyouji?s ghost, in particular.?

That was particularly unusual, and well out of the range of Koishi?s normal abilities. She pulled up the table of rankings on her computer and added a few extra pluses to Koishi?s grade.

?How?s Konpaku??

?She?s gonna be busy. Saigyouji-san needs a lot of help right now. I think we need to give her some space.?

Nitori nodded, one hand tapping at her desk. The family situation there was a sensitive issue, and she didn?t want to interfere with it if possible. She?d been worried about the Mindcoils for a while, honestly - the extractions had seemed too clean, too perfect. Maybe it was because every victim had some sort of support to fall back on after they were saved. Either way, she didn?t want to test that hypothesis too thoroughly.

?Anything else to report, Tororetsu?? she asked. She wanted to get this debriefing over with so she could help herself to a good night?s sleep.

?No, ma?am.? Sango tilted her head a little. ?Though I thought you were doing an analysis on the car the Black Claw had been using last night. Did you find anything??

This was the question Nitori hadn?t wanted to hear. She concealed her discomfort as she started on her answer.

?I traced the car to a local dealer. Bought online with an untraceable email address and credit card. From what I can tell, Saigyouji picked it up on the way back to the manor and brought the other girl along with her.?

The dolphin frowned, crossing her arms. ?Wow, these guys are really good at covering their tracks. You?d think they would have left something behind.?

If only you knew, Nitori thought to herself.

?Anyway, thanks for the report. You?re dismissed.?

Sango saluted. ?Aye aye, ma?am.? She turned on her heels, walking out of Room 495. The passageway slid shut behind her.

As soon as she was out of the room, Nitori felt her heart rate return to normal. She wasn?t used to lying to her agents. She?d been grappling with herself over whether to tell the truth all night, as she ran the hundredth test to make sure she wasn?t following a false lead.

The numbers didn?t lie. They couldn?t. Right now, Nitori was sitting on a revelation that could blow the war right open. In her day, keeping info like this to herself would have qualified as treason. Her conscience was telling her to come out with the truth, but she didn?t know if she had the nerve to follow through with it.

Well, you know what they say, she thought to herself as she dumped the papers in a nearby trashcan. She threw in a lighter a few seconds later, watching as they caught alight. What you don?t know can?t hurt you.

Right?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 Complete
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on June 06, 2012, 08:46:26 PM
So we're done again. Another arc finished, and another story in my head that I've finally put down to paper. I'm starting to delude myself into thinking I might actually finish this story one of these days.

Anyway, the usual shoutouts are in order. Thanks to Iced, my proofreader, and the guy who beats me over the head when I try to give up. Thanks to #s-l the chat for giving me a place to blabber when I don't feel like writing. Thanks to everyone who got involved over here (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,12701.0.html) - I really appreciate all the support you guys are showing.

And just generally, thanks to everyone who's kept up with DRK for this long. It's been nearly two years and 200,000 words since I started, and I wouldn't have made it this far without the support of everyone reading and keeping up. I can't thank you guys enough.

Until next time. Hopefully summer will give me more time to work on the next arc...
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 Complete
Post by: Aya Squawkermaru on June 06, 2012, 10:08:24 PM
Fantastic arc, as always. :3 I'm guessing there'll be three more arcs. Two for the other Sirens, then one final, epic conclusion arc thingy. I could be wrong, though. Part of me doesn't want this story to end~

By the way, I'm going to have to kill you for that cliffhanger. Not cool, man. Not cool. :V I mean, what?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 Complete
Post by: Kasu on June 06, 2012, 10:18:08 PM
That was one of the most thrilling arcs so far, I have to admit. :3

Can't wait to see what the next one brings!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 Complete
Post by: LaserTurtle on June 06, 2012, 11:05:17 PM
Wait, Jozu said something about her employer messing with her mind.

WHAT.

Am I reading the signs correctly?
Is Satori really the bad guy?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 Complete
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on June 07, 2012, 01:52:21 AM
Is Satori really the bad guy?

It's certainly a possibility I've considered. She's certainly going to show up at some point, but I have my own suspicions as to when and in what role she will.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 Complete
Post by: Aya Squawkermaru on June 07, 2012, 04:00:37 AM
Wait, Jozu said something about her employer messing with her mind.

WHAT.

Am I reading the signs correctly?
Is Satori really the bad guy?

While that's certainly a possibility, it seems a bit too obvious right now. I'm thinking more along the lines of
Satori being an 8th Siren.
That would also be fairly obvious, but it makes more sense in my mind. I dunno.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 Complete
Post by: BT on June 07, 2012, 05:52:00 AM
Satori went from "probably a Siren" to "probably a baddie" to me. Thing is, I believe Jozu was referring to another underling when she mentioned her telepathic partner. That bit with Nitori at the end is the obvious red herring clue, though. I was actually thinking Jozu's partner was a new OC.

...

Meh, nevermind. On reread it's pretty obvious the boss is Satori, what with 'sharing a close bond' and being in charge of the operation. I thought it would be less obvious than this. :C
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 Complete
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on June 07, 2012, 06:51:56 AM
If Satori's the Claw leader, then that would mean she's not Koishi's sister. I realize it can be hard to keep this in mind, but most of the characters seen so far, and all of the Sirens, are human, even the ones, such as Koishi, that are youkai in Touhou series canon. The animals are youkai, as is Nitori, and obviously the Black Claw leader as well. Although she may not be the true leader; she's just the one we've known as the leader so far. Regardless, we know she's a youkai because in one of the segments from her PoV early on, she noted that she recognized Nitori from way back when, and that was, what, hundreds of years ago? Thousands? I don't remember, but either way, humans don't live that long. So Koishi's sister is not the Claw leader unless Koishi is also a youkai, which would contradict things that have already been stated, such as the Sirens being humans. If Satori is the Claw leader, then, it means she's not Koishi's sister, and I'm pretty sure she is Koishi's sister. I think that Satori may very well be under Claw control, and there's also a high likelyhood that she's a Siren, but right now, I'd have to say that no, she's not the Claw leader.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 Complete
Post by: Aya Squawkermaru on June 07, 2012, 07:05:45 AM
If Satori's the Claw leader, then that would mean she's not Koishi's sister. I realize it can be hard to keep this in mind, but most of the characters seen so far, and all of the Sirens, are human, even the ones, such as Koishi, that are youkai in Touhou series canon. The animals are youkai, as is Nitori, and obviously the Black Claw leader as well. Although she may not be the true leader; she's just the one we've known as the leader so far. Regardless, we know she's a youkai because in one of the segments from her PoV early on, she noted that she recognized Nitori from way back when, and that was, what, hundreds of years ago? Thousands? I don't remember, but either way, humans don't live that long. So Koishi's sister is not the Claw leader unless Koishi is also a youkai, which would contradict things that have already been stated, such as the Sirens being humans. If Satori is the Claw leader, then, it means she's not Koishi's sister, and I'm pretty sure she is Koishi's sister. I think that Satori may very well be under Claw control, and there's also a high likelyhood that she's a Siren, but right now, I'd have to say that no, she's not the Claw leader.

Though, I think it's highly possible that Koishi is a Youkai. In fact, I have very little doubt in my mind that she is a Youkai, and that they were wrong about all the Sirens being humans. Koishi is, obviously, a VERY special case, which could allow for her to be the exception to the rule.

On a side note, I actually am starting to think Satori is under claw control. She doesn't necessarily have to be the leader; I'm thinking she's probably just one of the higher-ups. Pretty much a Black Claw equivalent of Koishi, what with the Sango/Jozu parallel. I'm not sure how I feel about this, since it is a bit too obvious, but if Rou pulls it off well, the obviousness won't matter much to me.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 Complete
Post by: Hanzo K. on June 07, 2012, 07:09:23 AM
Theory:
Since this is a magical girl kinda thing, there's a good chance she's the equivalent of Black Lady/Dark Moon from Sailor Moon.

Alternate Theory:
Since she said she recognized Nitori from way back when, there could be a possibility that she's being bodyjacked.
Like, some evil force is using her as a mere puppet, and the Satori we saw wasn't really the real one, but the evil force masquerading as her.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 Complete
Post by: BT on June 07, 2012, 10:50:50 AM
Obviously I meant that Satori is under Mindcoil control. If the leader has to be some kind of youkai, then I guess it's not Satori, but 'the leader' could also be the mindcoil itself. \o/
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 Complete
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on June 07, 2012, 07:15:23 PM
Obviously I meant that Satori is under Mindcoil control. If the leader has to be some kind of youkai, then I guess it's not Satori, but 'the leader' could also be the mindcoil itself. \o/

Even if the leader would be something as eldritch as the mindcoil itself, just how would Yukari try to deal with something that we have no idea how it would be personificated? Nitori stated that youkai had the same ideals and concepts of magic as humans did, and that the humans rebelled against them and their offer of peaceful living, so the youkai had to fight fire with fire. Cast in point; The Ravager. But because of how it's ambigous sentinence absolutly screwed everyone over and formed the Black Claw, then what sort of machinations would form it in modern-day Gensouto?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 Complete
Post by: Hanzo K. on June 07, 2012, 07:37:35 PM
Wait, that just gave me another idea.
The Ravager IS  The Mindcoil!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 Complete
Post by: Tamer Anode/Cathode on June 07, 2012, 07:49:01 PM
Alternate, probably out there idea:
The Ravager is the Yatagarasu, and something very, very bad is going to happen to Okuu.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 Complete
Post by: Silent Harmony on June 09, 2012, 07:24:10 AM
I don't know why, but I feel like things tied themselves up a little too cleanly this time. Thinking hard, I guess I just would've loved to have seen more interaction between
Miyo and Yuyuko
, especially given the former's bitter feelings towards the latter. Also how in the world is
Yuyuko going to introduce Youmu to the world, and what kind of fallout are we in for given that she's basically "forced" a girl to pretend to be her son for 10 years. Youmu may have gone along by choice, but only because the alternative was being an orphan.
I suppose there is always more time for all of that in the future.

Another great arc overall, despite my grumblings just now. I eagerly await the next one.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 5 Complete
Post by: Esifex on June 09, 2012, 10:21:17 PM
I don't know why, but I feel like things tied themselves up a little too cleanly this time. Thinking hard, I guess I just would've loved to have seen more interaction between
Miyo and Yuyuko
, especially given the former's bitter feelings towards the latter. Also how in the world is
Yuyuko going to introduce Youmu to the world, and what kind of fallout are we in for given that she's basically "forced" a girl to pretend to be her son for 10 years. Youmu may have gone along by choice, but only because the alternative was being an orphan.
I suppose there is always more time for all of that in the future.

Another great arc overall, despite my grumblings just now. I eagerly await the next one.

Youmu wouldn't mind it - remember how she keeps pointing out all she had to do was just expose her chest, etc etc, but didn't, because she likes having a mother now. Now she's gotten Yuyuko to acknowledge that she really is Youmu and not Youki, she'd probably be willing to go out as Youki just to keep things simple.
Title: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6 Begins!
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on August 15, 2012, 09:43:13 PM
Sup, guys.

Arc 6.

Weekly updates.

Let's go.

-----

History class had never been so nerve-wracking.

Ever since the incident at the protest, Keine had focused her attention on Sango alone. There was no doubt she?d seen something, but most people would have discarded it as a trick of the mind by now. The professor?s obsession with Sango was verging on inhuman.

It had started with a polite request for Sango to remove her jacket. When that failed she cited school rules, only to be blocked when Koishi reminded her that the dress code didn?t forbid wearing anything on top of the uniform. Then followed a series of hare-brained schemes to smoke out Sango?s secret - resulting in today, where she had turned all the room?s radiators on at full temperature.

?Phwee...?

Sango?s head slumped on the desk, sweat dripping off of her forehead. Keine had ?conveniently? seated her right next to one of the radiators, and the dolphin had been struggling just to stay conscious. Her eyes were locked on the conspicuous new addition to the teacher?s desk - a digital camera, its red light flashing on and off, already focused on Sango?s seat. It had been programmed to track the dolphin, never moving away from her.

?What the hell?s going on?? one of the students muttered. ?Maybe Tororetsu-san is weird, but there?s no way it?s worth all this.?

?Yeah,? another boy said, undoing the top buttons of his shirt. ?Who the hell would up the temperature on a sunny day like this??

The grumbles scattered across the class in all directions. It was the sort of chatter that Keine normally wouldn?t tolerate, but the rest of the class may as well not have existed. The professor had her eyes on Sango alone, watching for the slightest twitch or complaint.

Koishi bit her lip. Her companion looked ready to pass out. The clock on the other side of the room ticked on at a leisurely pace, each second stretching out longer than the last. Part of her wondered if the class would ever come to an end.

Thankfully, it did.

?Phew.?

As soon as the bell sounded, Sango was on her feet and shimmying behind Koishi to get some distance from the radiator. She pumped her fist in self-congratulation, running for the door to make a quick trip to the nearest water fountain.

?Just a moment, Tororetsu-san,? Keine said, holding an arm out in front of the doorway. ?I?d like to talk to you after class, please.?

The muttering and grumbling fell silent in an instant. The unwavering heat gave way to a deathly chill throughout the classroom. No-one exchanged words - Keine?s reputation already spoke for itself. A couple of students winced in recollection.

Koishi gulped. This didn?t bode well for Sango. The dolphin broke away from the crowd, standing in the far corner that Keine pointed towards. The rest of the class shuffled out of the room, most of them staring at the floor as they left.

Only Mokou turned around on the way out. She looked up towards Koishi, lifting her eyebrows in a silent question.

Koishi nodded. Don?t worry, Mokou-san. I?ll handle this.

Mokou was slow to respond, but at last let the hubbub of the crowd consume her. The last few stragglers drifted out of the doorway, leaving only three people in the room.

?I don?t recall telling you to stay behind,? Keine said, her voice venomous as she turned to Koishi. ?I asked for Tororetsu-san, and no-one else.?

Koishi took a deep breath as she approached the teacher, standing right in front of her desk. ?Pardon me for asking, but you never said why you wanted to see Sango-san on her own.?

A raised eyebrow. ?And since when is that your business??

?She?s my friend. Isn?t that enough??

Keine?s eyes shot daggers into Koishi, as if she was trying to kill her with a glance. Koishi stood firm, feet pressing into the floor as she held her ground. After a five-second standoff, the teacher sighed.

?You know what this is about, Komeiji-san.? Keine opened a drawer in her desk, rustling around in it as she spoke. ?Your friend has been showing a consistent lack of discipline since her arrival here. She even refuses to follow a simple order like taking her jacket off.?

At last, Keine removed a strap of leather as long as her arm. She gave it a practice swing on the ground, scattering the dust with a lightning-fast crack.

?I believe some punishment is in order.?

Sango eyed the belt cautiously, hands falling to her sides. Keine took long, proud steps towards her, stroking the leather like a prized possession.

Koishi?s stomach churned. She?d heard stories of the professor?s use of corporal punishment, but this was her first time witnessing it first hand.

?Tororetsu-san. Hold your hand out, please.?

The dolphin obeyed, holding her right arm out for the teacher to see. Keine took a step back to get the proper distance, before bringing the belt down on Sango?s hand with a smack.

?Hyauu-!?

The dolphin let out a yelp as a red mark appeared where she?d been struck. It was nothing her youkai physique couldn?t handle, but that didn?t make it any less painful. Keine pulled the belt back in, growling.

?Well, Tororetsu-san? All I?m asking is for you to take the jacket off. If you won?t do it, we?ll be here all night.?

Sango winced, but ultimately shook her head. There was too much at stake for her to let Keine know the truth. The teacher?s face darkened, and she brought the belt down on Sango again, with a little more force than last time.

The strike never reached its target.

?Komeiji-san?!?

Keine blurted out Koishi?s name as she pulled the belt back. The blow had caught Koishi just above the eye, and it was every bit as painful as she had expected it to be. Her knees almost buckled from the impact, but she managed to keep herself standing as she stood between Sango and the teacher.

?Kamishirasawa-sensei...this has to stop.? She took a step forward, trying to intimidate a woman almost two heads taller than her. ?You?ve been picking on Sango-san for no good reason. Giving her extra homework, calling her out on mistakes that everyone makes...what do you have against her??

Keine?s face warped at the accusation. On instinct she brought the belt in again, this time making it crack against Koishi?s cheek. A crescent cut appeared on the Siren?s face as her whole body trembled.

But she stood firm.

?And now you?re trying to beat it out of her,? she said, letting a deep-seated anger bubble up to the surface. ?What gives you the right to hurt another human being like that??

Keine?s expression was rabid now. Her eyes flared, her lips twisted, and for an instant Koishi could see the words forming on her lips.

She?s a monster.

That was what Keine wanted to say. That was what she?d seen at the protest. That was what she?d been trying to prove. But she could hardly make an accusation like that without evidence. That was what the camera was for - even if no-one was around, it would catch Sango in the act if she took the jacket off.

?It ends now.? Koishi stood as tall as she could manage. ?Sango-san is my friend. If you want to hurt her, you?ll have to get through me first.?

Sango let out a little gasp. She shook her head, her hair flapping about behind her. Koishi-san, don?t do this! I can take the hits better than you can!

Keine?s eyes narrowed. She held her nose up, looking down on Koishi as if the Siren was the most disgusting thing she?d ever laid her eyes on.

I know. Koishi?s knees were still shaking. The pain made her eyes mist up. She dug her fingernails into her palms to fight the urge to yell. But if I just sat there and let her hit you, what sort of friend would that make me?

That had been her once. She had been too cowardly to defend anyone, let alone herself. But she refused to let herself fall into that trap again. She looked up at Keine, the tears in her eyes belying her determination.

?You little-?

Keine pulled her arm as far back as she could for maximum impact. Koishi watched the strike come in in slow motion, the air around it splitting apart with such force it almost produced a wind current.

?Keine!?

A voice from the doorway stopped Keine mid-swing. Her heart almost leaped out of her throat as she turned around to face the speaker. Iku Nagae was stomping through the doorway, with the same indignant expression as Koishi. Mokou hung right behind her, face flushed as she caught her breath.

?What do you think you?re doing to these girls?? She grabbed the camera on the desk as she passed it. ?And you?re recording it, too? What on earth is wrong with you??

Keine?s presence disappeared the moment Iku picked up the camera. She dropped the belt harmlessly at her feet, the blood flushing from her face. Her mouth bobbed open and shut, but no sound emerged.

?Come with me,? Iku said, grabbing Keine by the sleeve and tugging her away. ?You have a lot of explaining to do.?

Keine followed along, almost lifeless as she trailed behind. Koishi and Sango watched her stumble out of the room, neither of them speaking a word until the teachers were well out of earshot.

?Well, that went a lot better in my head.? Koishi grabbed at her face, the adrenaline of the situation starting to wear off. Her skin stung where she?d been lashed by the belt, and there?d be a mark left there for certain.

?You all right?? Mokou darted over to Koishi, taking a quick glance at her wounds. ?Hmm...looks painful, but I think I can help with it. If we head back to my place, I can whip up a cream that?ll fix you right up.?

?Koishi-san...? Sango still struggled to find the words, staring at Koishi in awe. When at last she spoke, she planted a hand squarely on Koishi?s shoulder. ?What was that all about? You know that hurt you a lot more than it would have hurt me. There was no reason for you to-?

?I know.?

With two small words, Koishi silenced Sango in an instant. She smiled in spite of the pain from her newfound injuries.

?It?s a reflex, y?know? I just do it without thinking. When I see someone in trouble, I kind of jump into action and do everything I can. Isn?t that what heroes do??

Sango didn?t seem impressed - in fact, if anything, Koishi?s story seemed to concern her. She opened her mouth to speak again, but Mokou beat her to it.

?She?s got a point, Koishi-san. I know you wanted me to let you handle this yourself, but when I saw her pull out the belt I figured you were in over your head. You?re lucky I managed to run into Nagae-san pretty quickly.?

That didn?t sound quite as heroic, but Mokou did have a point. Koishi felt her initial rush of courage diminish a little. Maybe she was going too far with her heroics, especially if they left her feeling as crummy as this.

?Ow...how far away is your house again, Mokou-san??

?Five minutes, tops. Two if you run.? She beckoned Koishi towards the exit. ?This way.?

Koishi nodded. She took a step forward before turning back to Sango. The dolphin stood in place, Koishi?s declaration still ringing in her ears.

?Sango-san, aren?t you going to come with us?? Koishi gave her a poke on the shoulder, and she jerked upright.

?Uh, yeah! That?d be great.?

She brightened up, putting an arm around Koishi as she headed for the doorway. The Siren smiled to herself. Maybe she?d been a bit pushy about it, but her intentions couldn?t have been better if she tried.

?Now, I?m gonna warn you,? Mokou said, waving a finger about. ?This stuff doesn?t smell all that good, so I?d advise you to hold your nose...?

-----

With all of her recent excursions, Sakuya was beginning to wonder when Patchouli would just grow tired of her antics and throw her out of the house.

She?d been working double time while she was at home to make up for it, but Patchouli never seemed ready to let her off the hook. She?d made threats of redundancy once or twice, but the odds of her following through on them were almost non-existent. Patchouli was harsh, but ultimately she had to know that Sakuya had an irreplaceable bond with the Scarlet sisters.

Not that it stopped her from coming up with a new snide comment every time Sakuya came home, of course.

Luckily, Patchouli was much more understanding when it came to visiting Youmu. Long-lost sisters were a big deal, after all. Sakuya had kept to her word and visited whenever she wasn?t needed. Given that patrols mainly consisted of attending local events and watching for anyone interesting, it turned out the team could survive in her absence. She made three or four visits a week, walking wherever the public transport couldn?t take her. She?d considered taking a lift from Meiling, but she had never been a fan of ten-car pileups.

Today was one of those visits. She took a moment to catch her breath as she finished the climb up the hill to the Saigyouji manor. It wasn?t getting any shorter, but she was building up her stamina little by little. Youmu would have been able to run laps around her. She?d always been the more athletic sister, and ten years of swordplay had just made the gap between them larger.

It?s a shame she?s so simple when it comes down to it.

Sakuya playfully twirled around the bag in her hand. This was an idea she?d been pondering for a while, and she?d only finally found the nerve to try out. She?d worked up Youmu?s trust over the last few days, so with any luck the swordsman would buy into the scheme without any clue she was being duped.

The gate was still as flimsy as they?d left it. Sakuya cringed a little as she slipped through the gateway and walked across the gravel towards the front door. Youmu was already waiting for her at the entrance.

?I?m surprised no-one?s tried to break this down,? Sakuya said, tapping at the wood with one hand.

?An attack on the Saigyouji family?? Youmu smirked. ?The thieves of the area know better than that.?

In spite of her recent revelations, Youmu had kept strictly to her usual gi. Only the hair-ribbon offered a hint towards her femininity. Sakuya frowned as she followed her sister into the manor.

?How?s your mother?? she asked. It was a question she forced herself to ask out of politeness. She still hadn?t come to terms with Yuyuko?s actions, whatever her excuse happened to be. For Youmu?s sake Sakuya stayed well away from the noble, in case she did something everyone would regret.

?It?s complicated. There?s a lot of bureaucracy she has to wade through, and it?s taking its toll on her.? Youmu sighed. At least she?d started to emote like a real person now. ?There might even be some charges filed against her involving fraud. The kendo association are trying to keep the whole thing under wraps - they might have a national scandal on their hands.?

?What, are they mad that a mere girl managed to outdo their best competitors?? Sakuya ruffled at Youmu?s hair, eager to shift the subject away from Yuyuko. The swordsman barely flinched. She was probably used to her mother giving her the same treatment.

?Anyway, she?s taking a little rest right now. I?ve been tending to her wherever I can, and hopefully after a few months we?ll have this all sorted out.? Youmu pulled her head back. ?What about you? I still can?t believe you took a job as a maid. It sounds so...beneath you.?

Sakuya chuckled. ?Perhaps it is, but it was better than nothing. And everything?s fine at home. Flan?s been busy with a project of hers. Remilia hired a professional costume artist to design a magical girl outfit with her. Kirisame, I think her name was.?

?Isn?t she a little old for fantasies like that??

?You?re never too old for that sort of thing, in my opinion.? Sakuya put on a devilish grin. ?I mean, look at Koishi-san. She?s probably got the silliest outfit of all of us, but she?s really getting into the whole superhero business.?

Youmu began to blush. ?Is that normal for girls these days??

?No. But neither is being a super-strict swordsman, so you two have a lot in common.?

That was enough to silence Youmu on the matter. Sakuya felt warmer in her presence, like she?d been reunited with a long-lost piece of herself, but there was a straightforwardness to her that Sakuya would have never possessed.

It gave her so many opportunities for entertainment, she was unable to contain herself.

?By the way,? Sakuya said, twirling the bag in her hand again, ?I was wanting to ask you something.?

?What is it??

?When was the last time you dressed like a girl??

Youmu tripped, narrowly keeping herself from falling over. Now she was really blushing.

?W-What sort of question is that?? she wheezed.

Sakuya shrugged, reaching into the bag and pulling out some clothes. She laid a grey blazer on the ground in front of Youmu, then a skirt to go along with it. Youmu pulled back as if she was allergic to them.

?What?s the matter?? Sakuya asked. ?I was thinking you?d look sort of cute in it, that?s all.?

Youmu?s face was beetroot, and she couldn?t bring herself to look forwards. She stumbled on her words, flapping her arms about as her charisma buckled up and died.

?Cute? Why would I want to be cute?! I?m a grown woman, Miyo!?

?Oh, come on. You don?t even have to wear it in front of your mother or anything.?

?No. Absolutely not!? Youmu crossed her arms with a mighty ?hmph?. For all her supposed maturity, she still knew how to pout like a child. Sakuya let out a well-rehearsed sigh.

?What if I made it a bet?? She reached into her pocket, pulling out a silver coin. ?Let?s make it 50/50. Heads, you play dressup. Tails, I go sparring with you for an hour. Sound fair??

Sparring with Youmu for an hour was verging on suicide, especially for someone with as little training as Sakuya. Youmu glowered at her, no doubt imagining the sort of pain she?d inflict on Sakuya if she won. That was exactly what Sakuya wanted her to be thinking about.

?You promise that you won?t complain if you lose?? the swordsman grumbled. Her hands were already clenched as her blushing started to fade.

Sakuya curtseyed. ?Only if you promise to do the same.?

Youmu weighed the thought over for some time. She looked down at the outfit in dread, then towards Sakuya with visible hostility. Finally she gave Sakuya a pained nod.

?Don?t worry. I?ll try not to break anything too badly.?

Oh, I?m not worrying at all, Sakuya thought to herself as she flipped the coin upwards.

It would land on heads. She knew that. Using a two-headed coin killed the suspense a little. Youmu would disapprove, of course, but technically Sakuya hadn?t lied to her. She?d just chosen not to mention that there were no tails on this coin.  Better yet, Youmu had trapped herself - she?d promised not to complain, and she didn?t seem the sort to go back on her vows.

You samurai and your honour, Sakuya thought to herself. So easy to play with...

-----

Sumire?s offer had been irresistible.

Komachi?s return to law was not as triumphant as she?d been hoping for. If Eiki had been in charge she would have started on the top rung again, but with another head judge acting in her place Komachi was reduced to basic archiving. In short, she was exactly where she?d been as Eiki?s subordinate.

She?d been okay with it before, but that was because she had given up on being a lawyer. Now that she wanted back into the practice, the lack of progress was infuriating. She had started to peek over people?s shoulders, offering tidbits of advice for their cases as she went through withdrawal.

A few days later, Sumire approached Komachi with the deal. She had been working on the Morichika case ever since his acquittal, digging into every lead and every possibility. Her output was astounding, especially for someone so new, but she was still prone to the occasional rookie slip-up.

This was exactly why she had come to Komachi.

?I figured that it was worth testing how true all the rumours about you were,? Sumire had said, slipping a folder of research onto the desk. ?Besides, whatever the higher-ups say, we can?t waste talent like you on pencil pushing. So, you want in??

It was the easiest decision Komachi had ever made. As soon as she?d opened the folder she felt her brain click into position, long-forgotten synapses firing at blinding speed. She devoured Sumire?s research, taking in every fact and tidbit from the invaluable to the mundane. She began to fill the blanks in her head, building hypotheses and arguments strong enough to demand further inquiry.

The days were long, but brutally efficient. The two lawyers split their efforts between research and analysis. Sumire was better with fieldwork because she lacked the suspicious aura that Komachi possessed. She was also a lot more friendly with sources, whereas Komachi was far from easy to open up to.

They built a system to work by: Sumire would travel around the city and follow up any new leads during the day, and in the evenings Komachi would put the puzzle together and decide where her companion had to go next. They saw little of each other; both of them were so caught up in their own work that they had little time to be social. They would speak for half an hour at most in the evenings when Sumire handed in her findings for the day.

It was in one of these short meetings that Komachi saw a change in Sumire.  Her enthusiasm was muffled, her expression distant and her hands impatient. She had put together another immaculate report, but she almost trembled as she placed it on Komachi?s desk. The lawyer was on edge as she opened the file and read through Sumire?s work.

?Talk me through this,? Komachi said. She trusted Sumire to have written down her thoughts concisely, but it was best to let the girl speak her mind.

?Ah, yes,? Sumire stuttered. ?So like you asked, I did some reading into Morichika?s childhood to look for potential contacts.?

?And you found...??

?Well, he was a problem child from early on. His parents were gamblers and frequently blew their rent payments on Pachinko. They were habitual liars themselves, abusing family and friends for loans they would never pay back. He was about seven when they broke up and he went to live with his father.?

?This is where we reach his school troubles, right??

?Yes. Morichika picked up the habit from his parents, and there?s a history of disciplinary action against him. His father paid him little mind, usually too caught up in his own debt to do much parenting. Over the years he moved up from small-time pickpocketing to doing some work under a local dealer. Obviously when he used his profits to move into business he got rid of the damning evidence. All I?ve got is hearsay from a convicted criminal, and that?ll never hold in court.?

Komachi nodded. This was textbook Morichika play - he removed anything blatantly incriminating, but left behind just enough to get the police curious. He never got away without leaving some sort of vague clue towards his involvement, sometimes even deliberately leaving a mark. It was verging on pathological, like he was trying to demonstrate how untouchable he was to anyone who wanted to bring him in. So far, he?d been right - the Layla Prismriver case had been the closest they?d ever come to catching him, but that slip-up with the forensic officer had destroyed all of their work.

But he was human, Komachi thought to herself. He couldn?t run forever, especially if he couldn?t resist leaving a trail of breadcrumbs in his wake.

?So, wanna tell me why you?re so riled up?? she asked. Sumire flinched for a moment, but hung her head in shame as another side of the story oozed out of her.

?Komachi-san...the more I read into Morichika?s past, the more I wonder how much of a monster he really is. He was born into a bad family and got brought up to see lying and stealing as a virtue. I feel like...like it?s not so much his fault as it is the fault of the circumstances he got brought up in.?

Of course. It should have been more obvious. Sumire was the sort that had come into the practice seeking justice, putting away evildoers and protecting the innocent. In truth, it was never as simple as that - everyone had something to hide, and conversely even the greatest monsters were usually pushed down the road to darkness by someone else.

That problem had plagued Komachi for a while, but around the time she?d left the practice she had found her answer. She closed the file, sighing as she looked up to Sumire with almost maternal pity.

?Look, maybe you?re right. Maybe Morichika is some tragic figure whose childhood would make kids in Africa cry. But that?s not your problem, Sumire. Think of the Prismriver sisters. If you went up and told them that it wasn?t Morichika?s fault that Layla died, they?d skin you alive.?

Sumire gasped, taken aback by Komachi?s cruel streak. Komachi paid her no mind as she continued.

?Prison?s more than just a cell and a window, Sumire. There are professionals who make it a job to work with these people, who tend to criminals and try to fix them. They?re called psychologists. But there are other professionals who make a living out of locking these people away before they can do any more harm.?

She threw the folder at Sumire. ?That's what you are, so start acting like it. Look for schoolmates, anyone who can get us a proper link to that dealer. We need something concrete to pin him to, and everything else will go from there.?

For a moment Komachi was afraid she?d pushed too hard. Sumire barely grabbed the folder, a few pages falling out onto the floor. She nodded as she twisted towards the door and let herself out, not bothering to pick up the fallen sheets.

?Damn.? Komachi muttered to herself as she picked up the fallen paper. No big loss. There?d been nothing of value in that report anyway.

Maybe she was trying too hard to fix the kid. Sumire reminded her too much of how she?d been in the olden days - bold, bright, and painfully naive. Without a helping hand, Sumire might fall into the same trap that had cost Komachi her job. She was trying to help, but she had never been much of an orator. That was the sort of thing she usually left to other people.

?Heh.? Komachi smirked as she pulled out another folder of finances. She?d been looking through Morichika?s business dealings when she had nothing else to look at, and there were a few promising leads to follow up on. ?Koishi-san, what I?d give to have you here right now...?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: KrackoCloud on August 15, 2012, 10:00:29 PM
Uuuuoooooooohhhhhhhhh!!! It's back!

Which reminds me I still have to draw normal Komachi :Y
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Mеа on August 15, 2012, 11:00:33 PM
You have no idea how excited I was when I saw the '-new-' next to this thread

And I see your favorite word is still 'immaculate'
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: LaserTurtle on August 15, 2012, 11:17:08 PM
H
eck
yeah! New magical girl hijinks!

I have no idea what's even going to happen in this arc, since there was no preview, but I know it's gonna be great!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Kasu on August 16, 2012, 12:36:19 AM
I've been waiting for this!

Can't wait to see where it goes this time! :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on August 16, 2012, 03:15:13 AM
More DRK hell yes!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: BT on August 16, 2012, 06:30:36 PM
EoSD, check.
PCB, check.
IN, check.
PoFV, check.

SA, check.

What time is it? It's MoF time!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on August 17, 2012, 07:15:46 AM
Holy.
WHAT.
FUCKING VERY YES.

Keine got what she deserverd, Marisa refrences [i was rather expecting Alice for that), and character development. All that I liked to see and want to see more of it.

I also think you should update the fanfiction.net version, 'cause how long has it been since it ended at Ch.6?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on August 18, 2012, 10:44:15 AM
I also think you should update the fanfiction.net version, 'cause how long has it been since it ended at Ch.6?
Quick note on this - I discontinued the ff.net version because after a couple of weeks there had been no interest beyond the people who had already read it on MotK. Literally, all the comments were like 'saw this on MotK' or 'good to see you're uploading this here'. I figured it wasn't worth the trouble if it wasn't actually gonna reach a new audience, so. :V
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Joveus Molai on August 18, 2012, 01:45:26 PM
I dunno, I find that shorter fics on ff.net often have trouble getting a large readership, and only the really popular or really long fics end up getting reviews by ff.net people. You may want to keep at it--when the story gets enough words/chapters, more ff.net people give it a read. Not to mention, there is the possibility that a good number of ff.net people simply read and just don't have anything to say; have you checked how many hits DRK has gotten at ff.net?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Scrittore on August 18, 2012, 03:47:17 PM
Quick note on this - I discontinued the ff.net version because after a couple of weeks there had been no interest beyond the people who had already read it on MotK. Literally, all the comments were like 'saw this on MotK' or 'good to see you're uploading this here'. I figured it wasn't worth the trouble if it wasn't actually gonna reach a new audience, so. :V

Actually, I disagree. I usually lurk around the Touhou Fanfiction page and was first introduced to your work via the ff.net version of DKR. I read through it, and after seeing the lack of upates, decided to search up DKR on Google. MotK was the first result, so I clicked it and finally got to read through the arcs I missed.

You were, in a way, the catalyst to me joining MotK. I... I'm actually not sure where I'm going with this response, but I suppose I just wanted to say that posting on ff.net wasn't an entire waste.

I think that you've given up on the ff.net version of DKR far too quickly. You've only posted six chpters; the first arc. Perhaps if you updated, there'd be more reviews. If I recall, the Mokou arc is the next, am I correct? In that case, I highly recommend that you at least upload that arc. Your unique take on the Hourai rivals has left a deep impression on; judging by the reviews, your other readers and myself. I believe that the Fujiwara arc is your story's defining chapter, where the stakes finally start to rise and the action becomes more apparent.

If you'd at least post that masterpiece, I believe that you'd be abke to garner more attention.

//is embarrassed.

Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Esifex on August 20, 2012, 02:27:36 AM
DAMMIT ROU I WAS TRYING TO GET TO SLEEP LIKE A HALF HOUR AGO AND SAW THIS UPDATE

NOW GET OVER HERE AND KISS ME YOU SEXY PIECE OF MANFLESH

/me slobbers all over Rou
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on August 22, 2012, 06:29:31 PM
So I'm updating FF now and again, as per suggestion! Gonna take a while to catch up, so if you want your updates to be hot off the grill this is still the best place to go.

And on that note...

-----

?You wanna what??

Sango blanched at the suggestion. That was to be expected given what Koishi had just said.

?I want to visit mother and father today.?

The dolphin pouted. ?But this is a day off, isn?t it? Why would you spend it doing something as downbeat as that??

That was true, admittedly. After their run-in with Keine, Nitori had given Koishi and Sango the weekend to recover. Mokou?s cream had worked its magic, removing any trace of the marks the belt had left on them. It was a chance for Koishi to treat herself, either spending the whole day slacking off or doing some genuine socialising.

But Koishi had remembered a duty she?d long left unattended.

?I haven?t visited my parents since Satori disappeared. I want to pay my respects.?

Sango was eying her, fingers fidgeting. Koishi could make out the doubt in her eyes.

?Are you sure you?re okay with that? I mean, I always thought you were pretty sensitive about your family.?

Was she? Koishi had to think back to the day she?d met Sango. The girl she?d been then seemed nothing like the girl she was now. She cringed as she recalled how she?d cowered under the bedsheets, begging for destiny to pick anyone but her.

It?s in the past now, she told herself. I?m stronger.

?Yeah, it?s fine,? she said at last. ?Honestly, Satori and I promised to offer them flowers every three months, but after she vanished I sort of forgot. So I?m going to leave them a whole bouquet today to make up for it.?

There was a trace of sadness in Koishi?s voice. More than usual, though, she felt in control of her emotions. She wanted to grieve, but she had matured enough to find a proper time for it. She had decided that time was now.

?Nyaa?? Rin?s head poked out from behind the doorway. ?Koishi-sama, you?re going to visit the family grave??

Koishi nodded. The cat stepped out from behind the door, rubbing at the milk covering her lips.

?Can me and Okuu come as well? I mean, your old man fixed me up, so I kinda owe him.?

?That?d be nice, but...? Koishi came close and ruffled at Rin?s hair. ?The graveyard has a rule against bringing pets in with you. Sorry.?

?Pets?? Rin stuck up her nose. ?I wasn?t meaning like that. I meant in this form!? She motioned towards her almost-human figure.

?Eh?? Koishi grabbed at one of Rin?s ears on instinct. It twitched in her grasp, while Rin?s tail rubbed at her thigh.

?How do you plan to do that?? Koishi asked. ?Sango-san can get away with a jacket because she only has a fin to cover, but you two-?

Rin put a finger over Koishi?s mouth, smirking as she silenced her. ?Don?t worry about that, Koishi-sama. Me and Okuu have been preparing for something like this...?

-----

It was like she?d just walked into a noir film.

As she walked down the street, Koishi was boxed in by a pair of women in trenchcoats. On her left, the taller woman was letting her long black hair run down her back; to the right, the redhead was wearing a fedora that seemed to twitch up and down when she smiled. Sango was trailing behind, and though Koishi couldn?t see her right now she assumed the dolphin was laughing.

?Sho here?sh the plan, shee?? Rin said, pointing a finger at her feathery friend. ?We walk big, long shtridesh and act like we own the plaesh, shee? And if anyone triesh ta shtop ush, we tell ?em we?ve got an offer they can?t refu-?

?What are you doing?? Koishi?s voice was devoid of humor. Rin looked back at her with a pout.

?I?m staying in character. I saw people talking like that on TV when they dressed up like this.?

Koishi began to seriously consider hiding the remote when she left the house. Rin had been exposed to some terrible influences.

The other gangster was much quieter, thankfully. Her coat flapped in and out as she shuffled her wings beneath it. Beads of sweat ran down her face, and she wiped at them now and again. The bright sunlight wasn?t doing anything to help the matter. Koishi would have waited until a cooler day, but tomorrow she?d be back at school.

Hang in there, Utsuho. She reached up and gave the raven a little pat on the head. Utsuho cooed and leaned towards her master, paying no mind to the glares the trio were receiving as they made their way to the graveyard.

?So where did you two even find those outfits?? Koishi asked. She?d been wanting to ask the question since they?d left the house, but she?d held back on a lingering fear she wouldn?t like the answer. Utsuho turned towards her with the same matter-of-fact look she always showed.

?Orin found them lying in a dumpster a few months ago. They were full of holes, but she put a lot of work into sewing the coats back together.?

That was less incriminating than Koishi had been afraid of. She let out a breath she hadn?t noticed she?d been holding in.

?Wait, Rin can sew??

Utsuho tilted her head. ?Well, she can now. She took a while to learn, and there were a lot of...mistakes.?

On the word ?mistakes?, Rin slumped forwards. Now that she was looking, Koishi could make out scratches all over the catgirl?s fingers. How much must she have wanted to get out into the city if she was willing to go through that?

?Quit making me sound so bad.? Rin perked up, shoving Utsuho away a little. The raven yelped, her coat flapping out and almost revealing her wings as she stumbled to the left. ?I learned, and that?s all that matters.?

The cat looked away in a huff, but Koishi couldn?t help but smile. Rin had never been good when it came to admitting her feelings, but she?d clearly wanted to make this journey for quite a while. It had been a good idea to bring them along, she decided.

When they made it to the cemetery, Koishi turned on her heels towards the dolphin trailing behind them. It was a quiet day in these parts, with no-one in earshot in any direction.

?I?ll stay out here,? Sango said as she stood guard at the entrance. ?I didn?t know your folks, so it doesn?t make sense for me to visit.?

Koishi nodded. It was good to know that Sango understood. She nudged the two coated youkai along into the graveyard, following on behind.

Good to see we made it here without trouble. Sango let her thoughts seep into Koishi?s head. I was afraid we?d need to explain to someone that you weren?t getting kidnapped by the Mafia.

Yes, Koishi thought. It was definitely a good thing Sango wasn?t coming along.

-----

Koishi walked through the field of graves, finding her destination without even thinking about it. She?d memorised her path so intently that even a few months of ignorance wasn?t enough to get it out of her head.

How often have I been here? she wondered. She'd visited once or twice a month after her father?s death, though she only offered flowers on special days. A local gravekeeper gave her a familiar wave as she passed, and she returned it. She?d never taken the time to ask his name, and he?d never asked for hers. Maybe she would get around to it one day.

She came to a stop in front of a modest grave. The cemetery was too crowded for any family to get more than a few square metres of coverage, and the Komeiji grave was no exception. The stone itself was a tall marble slab with the family name engraved on it, and the family?s ashes were buried underneath. There was a small footspace in front of the grave, only large enough for one person at a time.

Utsuho was first to step up, as had been decided on the way here. She had been carrying a flower bouquet for the whole journey, which she carefully placed in front of the grave. She was poor at hiding her emotions, wings trembling beneath her coat as she looked upon the earth.

?Komeiji-san...I?m not going to lie, I didn?t know you very well. I was a nuisance for you, refusing to leave the surgery even when there was nothing wrong with me. I didn?t want to leave Orin on her own, that?s all. I wanted to tell you, but I couldn?t...?

She smiled weakly. ?But somehow, you knew. You kept us together, and you took both of us in at once. Without you, I would have never met Satori-sama or Koishi-sama. We?d be back on the streets, or holed up in an adoption centre with nowhere to go. I owe you a lot, more than I could have ever repaid.? For a moment, she looked ready to hug the gravestone itself, but instead rose to her feet. ?Thank you, Komeiji-san. I never got to say goodbye to you before, so...goodbye, I think.?

As she stepped away from the grave, Utsuho looked conflicted. Perhaps she?d expected more from the ritual, a moment of revelation or a message from the dead. Rin gave her a pat on the shoulder before stepping towards the grave herself. The cat placed small sticks of incense at each side of the gravestone, lighting them as she fell to her knees. Koishi had bought them on the journey over, intent on making a proper service out of this visit.

?Heya. Remember me? I?m the dumbass who walked in front of a car.? Rin fidgeted with the legs that she?d broken years ago. ?Not that it matters much. I?m feeling better than ever thanks to you.?

Unlike Utsuho, Rin gazed at the sky while she spoke. Maybe she thought that with no clouds in the way, her words would make it to heaven.

?Y?know, I wasn?t keen on having an owner to start with. I kinda liked living on the streets, when it was me and Okuu against the world. I was ready to break out at the first chance I got. But then you introduced me to Satori-sama, and...? She smiled, her grin stronger than Utsuho?s. ?You have great daughters, Komeiji-san. They?re two of the nicest humans I?ve ever met in my life. I?m sure you?re proud of both of ?em.?

She stood up, saluting as she looked towards the sun. ?So long, old man. Thanks for everything.? She walked away more satisfied than her companion, giving her a little hug as she made room for Koishi. The Siren had agreed to go last from the beginning - after all, this was her pets? first visit to the grave. She?d been here dozens of times.

?Hello, mother. Hello, father.? She placed a watery bucket at the foot of the grave. She dipped a cloth into it and scrubbed at the marble, washing off the dust and grime that had built up in her absence. ?Sorry I?m late. I got a little caught up with something.?

It had always been difficult for Koishi to address her mother in these visits, mainly because she didn't remember her. All Koishi had of her was her father?s stories, but from what he?d said she was a fine woman.

?There?s been a lot going on recently. I don?t think you?d believe me if I told you. It?s the sort of story I?d make up when I was eight years old after too much television.? She laughed at herself, thinking of her costume again. She could easily imagine herself drawing a scribbled sketch of it as a little girl and proudly showing it to her father.

?I?ve been awfully busy, which is why I haven?t been around for you. I know I promised, and-?

She considered mentioning Satori, but decided against it. In the off-chance that her parents could hear her from beyond the grave, she didn?t want to leave them worried for their other daughter.

?-and Satori wishes she could be here too. We?ve both been going through a rough time lately.?

How many times had Koishi come close to death in the last few months? Half a dozen, maybe more? That was more danger than some grown men went through in a lifetime. It was strange to think that back in the beginning, when she?d first learned about the Sirens, she had tried to run away from it all.

?It?s been fun, though, in its own strange way. It?s a satisfying job.?

She?d changed the lives of dozens of people, and she?d even saved one or two of them along the way. Just thinking about that made Koishi?s heart flutter with achievement.

?I?ve met a lot of new people along the way. Some of them were a little scary at first, but...? She put a hand to her chin, trying to find the words she was looking for. ?I don?t think any of them were that bad, in the end. Misguided, maybe, but not bad.?

She thought of the Mindcoil victims. Cirno, who only wanted to be respected. Tewi, the victim of a dysfunctional family. Eiki, unable to stand the injustice around her. Yuyuko, who loved her son almost too much. Each of them had only been trying to cope with the hand fate had dealt them.

Koishi had helped them come to their senses, and she had done what she could to change them for the better. If she?d learned anything from the experience, it was that no-one was beyond help. It was just easier when she could walk into someone?s head and have a chat with their inner demons personally.

?So in the end, I?m glad I?ve had so much to do lately.? She turned around towards her pets with a wink. ?And I?m glad I had some good friends to point me in the right direction.?

Rin gave her a thumbs up. Utsuho simply nodded. The pair stepped back as Koishi wiped the last specks of moss off of the marble.

?Anyway, it was good seeing you two again. I?ll have some great stories for you next time, I promise.? Koishi rose to her feet, bowing towards the grave. She felt lighter as she stepped away, a weight lifted from her chest. ?Don?t worry about me, okay? I?ll be fine.?

That?s right, Koishi thought to herself. As long as I can help people, I?ll keep going.

Rin ruffled at the Siren?s hair as she walked away from the grave. ?You really have grown up, haven?t you??

Koishi chuckled, warming up in the youkai?s embrace. ?I guess you could say that. Are you two done here??

The two pets nodded their consensus. Utsuho seemed much more cheerful than she had been before. Koishi?s words must have reached her, too.

?In that case, we?d better get back to the entrance,? the Siren said, leading her pets back through the graveyard. ?Here?s hoping Sango-san is still in one piece.?

-----

?Phweeee~...?

Sango whistled to herself, foot tapping against the ground as she looked back through the gateway. Still no sign of Koishi and her pets. It had been almost twenty minutes now, and Sango had been on her own for the whole time. She hadn?t even found the chance to pick up something to play with on the way out.

With nothing else to do she?d been trying to compose a song, whistling to herself. This would have been a lot easier if she wasn?t tone deaf - she would imagine one note, try to play it, and get another note entirely. She gave up, her foot-tapping getting faster.

She was interrupted by the sound of sobbing in the distance.

?Huh??

She pried her head around, stopping to look at an oncoming stranger. The man stared at his shoes as he trudged down the road, sighing wistfully every few seconds. Just looking at him was enough to squeeze Sango?s heart with guilt.

?Um, mister...are you alright??

The man flinched, looking up at the dolphin. His expression lightened only for an instant.

?Oh, hello. I?m fine, really. Just...?

He looked through the gateway into the graveyard, his lip shivering. Sango filled in the blanks herself.

?I just need a little help to get through the day. A few hundred yen to buy myself dinner tonight. That?s all I?m asking...?

He was almost too pitiful for Sango to bear. She?d never forgive herself if she turned him down. She had plenty of money to burn, anyway - the boss had given her more than enough to live on.

?Well, alright.?

Sango pulled her wallet out from her pocket, opening it up to take a look through her chance.

He snatched at it, and ran.

Eh? Sango stood in place, absently watching the man running into the distance with her entire fortune. D...Did he just-

?Gets ?em every time!? he yelled, dashing into the more populated city square. He meant to lose Sango in the crowd, she realised. After a few seconds of paralysis, her brain finally caught up with what was going on.

?Oh, that son of a-?

Sango gave chase, running at full-pelt to chase the thief. Her adversary cut a well-rehearsed path through the streets of Gensouto. He cut corners, slipped into alleyways, and slid through spaces too large to walk through. He was leaner than Sango, fitting into passageways she couldn?t sneak in. She was forced to go the long way around and lose time.

After a minute?s chase, Sango had made no progress. On the long straights she was faster, but he pulled away from her in the back-alleys. But he was running out of options, and if he kept this up Sango?s endurance would win out. Desperate, he pulled into a long street with stores on both sides, filled with dozens of shoppers and families. Sango hung right behind him. This was her chance.

?Gimme back my wallet!? Sango yelled. The crowd turned towards her with various gasps and mumbles. The would-be thief looked out to the masses, then plowed through them to make his escape. He shoved bystanders out of the way, sometimes deliberately pushing them at Sango to hold her back.

?Ahh, sorry, excuse me, really sorry...!? Sango murmured apologies as she cleared a path. She was slower and gentler than the pickpocket, which only gave him more time to break away. Sango cursed beneath her breath as her target shrank into the distance.

His escape was cut short when someone tripped him up.

?Whaa!?

As the pickpocket dropped to the ground, Sango could see the tripper step out of the crowd and weigh him down. The rest of the bystanders stepped away to make a clearing. The mugger squirmed about, but after all the chasing he was too tired to get away.

Sango had ample time to squeeze through the crowds and reach the clearing. In that time her newfound ally had reached into the man?s pockets and retrieved her wallet.

?This is yours, right??

Sango nodded, absently taking back the wallet and putting it away more securely. For a few seconds, she could do nothing but stare at the girl who?d helped her out. She looked about Koishi?s age, maybe a little older, with radiant blonde hair and bright brown eyes. Her outfit was sloppy, a red shirt with white sleeves and a short-cut skirt. She switched from looking between the pickpocket and Sango every few seconds, pushing down to keep him from slipping away.

A bystander pulled out a cell phone and alerted the police. It was a few minutes before a car appeared, and a pair of uniformed officers stepped onto the scene. The young girl moved aside to let them apprehend the culprit.

?Uh...? Sango rubbed at the back of her head. She?d figured that getting back her own wallet would have been easier than this. ?Thanks.?

The girl winked. ?Don?t mention it. Anyway, I?d better go before the suits start asking questions.?

With that she turned on her heels and vanished into the crowd, just like the man she?d foiled. Sango reached out for her, grabbing nothing but air.

?Wait! Come back, phwee-!?

The whole thing had left Sango horribly flustered, and the word slipped off her lips almost by accident.

Ah-!

The tremor of power she felt coming from the girl?s direction almost made Sango buckle at the knees.

I...I found her!

Again with the coincidences. Yukari Yakumo had a really twisted sense of humour. Sango made to chase the source of the echo, but a police officer placed a hand on her shoulder.

?I?m sorry, but we?re going to need you to answer some questions about what happened here.?

The dolphin?s heart sank as the Teardrop faded further and further out of her range. She slumped her shoulders as she faced the officer.

?Can I at least tell my friends where I am??

The man nodded. With a stiff lip, Sango pulled out her phone and hit one of the few numbers she had on speed-dial.

?Hi, Koishi-san? Yeah, I?m gonna need you to pick me up at the police station when you?re done. It?s a long story...?

-----

Well, this wasn?t how I planned to spend my day off.

Koishi felt horribly out of place as she sat outside the questioning room. She?d made her way over as soon as she received the phone call, dropping off the pets at home on the way. Bringing more youkai into the public eye seemed like a bad idea.

She had hoped this would be a painless procedure. After all, Sango was the victim, wasn?t she? There was nothing to hold her accountable for. They would ask some questions and send her on her way.

When the officer stepped out of the room grabbing at his temples, Koishi already knew things wouldn?t be that simple.

?You the relative I was hearing about?? he said as he turned to Koishi. Relative wasn?t the word, but it was close enough. She nodded.

The man sighed with relief. ?Finally. About damn time I met someone I could get some answers from.?

?Answers?? Koishi already didn?t like where this was headed.

?Yeah.? He pointed into the room, where Sango was twiddling her thumbs. ?Your friend here isn?t showing up on any of our databases. She?s not down in the census, in our fingerprint records, anywhere. And when I tried to get the local medics to see if she was hurt, she started pushing them away! Let me tell ya, that?s the sort of girl I?d write out of my will.?

Uh-oh.

This was exactly the sort of scenario that Koishi had been afraid of. The police were going to call on her to present documents that didn?t exist. She tried to come up with a semi-believable lie, but nothing seemed even remotely plausible.

?So, mind telling me what?s going on?? the man asked, his gruff expression short on patience. ?And before you get any wise ideas, I?d like to remind you that concealing information from the police is a chargeable offense.?

That last part made Koishi even less sure what to say in her defense. She began to sweat, hands trembling as her mouth bobbed open and shut.

?Well, uh, you see, it?s-?

?Sango-chaaaan!?

Koishi was cut short by another voice barging into the room. She turned about to see an irate math professor stomping towards her.

?You!? Nitori yelled, pointing at the officer with enough intensity to make the grown man flinch. ?Are you the one who?s been bothering my little girl?!?

The man cringed, like Nitori?s words were stabbing through his skull. ?Look, lady, your ?little girl? has a lot of explaining to do. Why isn?t she showing up on any official records, and why is she being so damn uncooperative about it??

Nitori folded her arms and pouted. She played the role of overbearing mother a little too well, Koishi thought to herself.

?Of course she?s uncooperative! She?s only lived in Japan for a few months!?

The officer leered. ?But she told me she moved here from Okinawa.?

?She doesn?t want to look awkward,? Nitori continued, lying with a perfectly straight face. ?Her family are away on business for the year, so she?s been left in my care until they return. She?s a harmless little girl who barely knows her way around Gensouto, and you?re pressing her as if she?s the villain! She was robbed, for heaven?s sake!?

She reached into her purse and pulled out a wad of papers, certificates and signatures that backed up her claim. It was almost disturbing how much paperwork the kappa had prepared for this sort of outcome.

The cop took one look at the pile of evidence before he rolled his eyes. This was more work than he was willing to put himself through.

?OK, whatever. I get the idea. Your girl can go.?

?You bet she can.? Nitori darted into the questioning room, grabbing Sango by the hand and pulling her out into the corridor. ?And I?d better not hear you folks calling her in for the trial! Can?t you see you?ve done enough to her already?!?

Sango was hiding behind Nitori?s back, barely poking her head out to look as the officer. Either she had rehearsed this, or she had picked up the idea very quickly. The officer raised his hands in surrender.

?Alright, alright! I?ll get things cleared up. Just...just get outta here.?

Nitori stuck her nose up. ?It?s nice to see that SOMEONE still has some sense in this police force. For shame!? She stomped out of the building with Sango trailing behind, looking ready to cry at any moment.

Koishi watched them go, then turned back to the officer. For a few seconds, there was an awkward silence.

?Sorry.? It was all she could think to say. The officer just shrugged before walking in the other direction to get back to his job.

Koishi caught up with the youkai as they made it out the front entrance. Nitori kept up the act until they were a few blocks clear of the precinct; then she let go of Sango?s hand and looked back at her with a very different anger.

?I hope you understand how long I had to spend putting those files together. That kind of forgery isn?t easy, you know.?

Sango nodded along. ?Yes, boss.?

?Do you have anything to say for yourself??

The dolphin raised her head. Her grin was far too smug for someone who was meant to be getting chewed out.

?Actually, I do. I was doing some on-the-field research, y?see.?

?And??

Sango winked. ?I think I just found Siren Number 6.?

-----

?So you say she ran away from you??

The moment Sango had explained the story in full, the trio had retreated to Room 495. Nitori was seated at her behemoth of a computer, filing through police records with a wave of her hand.

?That?s right,? Sango answered. ?She said something about not wanting to be questioned.?

Koishi sat at the side, watching the two youkai go to work. She didn?t have Sango?s first-hand experience or Nitori?s techno-genius, so all she could do was watch and wait.

After a few minutes of scouring the database, Nitori pulled up a list of several cases from the last twelve months. They ranged from harassment to pickpocketing to assault, running in different corners of the city.

The one thing they had in common was that each crime was supposedly stopped by a young girl in blonde hair, who fled before the police?s arrival.

?Sounds like you ran into the local good Samaritan,? Nitori said. She scrolled through the reports, frowning as she examined them in more detail. ?Looks like no-one recognised her, though. Everyone gives more or less the same physical description, but we don?t have a name or an address or anything.?

The two youkai looked through the files intently for a few minutes, getting nowhere. Koishi joined in, but found nothing that the youkai hadn?t already noticed.

But she did have an idea.

?Kawashiro-sensei. Is there a map of Gensouto on your computer??

Nitori swiveled around in her chair. ?Of course there is. Why do you ask??

Koishi put a finger to her lip. She was starting to wonder if this idea was too convenient. She?d got it from TV shows rather than real-life experience. Still, now she?d started she had to follow through.

?Maybe we should try plotting the locations of the crimes on the map. There might be a pattern to where they happen.?

Nitori raised an eyebrow. She turned around, fiddling with the keyboard and making wide swivel motions with her hands. Monitors jumped in and out, forwards and backwards, as a map of Gensouto came into view.

?OK, plotting...now.?

With a satisfied smack of the enter key, Nitori folded her arms as she watched a series of Xs appear across the map. Each of them represented a crime, and they?d been marked with their respective dates to give a sense of time.

It wasn?t hard to see the pattern. Sango was the first to speak up.

?Hey, it?s a circle!?

It was less intuitive on a list, but with a picture it was easy enough to see the pattern. The incidents all revolved around a central point, with the later crimes taking place further out from it.

?Heh.? Nitori tipped her hat to Koishi. ?Nice catch.?

?Don?t mention it,? Koishi said. Apparently procedural cop shows were good for something after all.

?And in the middle of it all is...?

Nitori zoomed in on the blocks in the middle of the circle. It clipped one corner of a local zoo, but the remainder of the area mainly consisted of temples and shrines. Most of them were old Shinto shrines that barely saw use, but one building stood out among the others.

?The Myouren Institute.? Nitori pumped her fist. ?Direct hit!?

Koishi gasped. She?d heard of the Myouren Institute. It was a local charity that attempted to, in its own words, ?cultivate the seeds of enlightenment in the populace?. They were part orphanage, part religious foundation, and they were kept afloat through generous donations from the public.

But the Institute wasn?t without its share of scandals. Some said that the current director, Byakuren Hijiri, had made some questionable life choices before her rise to power. Others noted that the children the Institute took in typically didn?t come back into society until they?d come of age, and that their world views were heavily restricted as a result. Still, it was better than not having an orphanage at all.

A girl who wasn?t supposed to be out in public, who they wouldn?t bump into normally, and who no-one recognised. It all fit together. At the very least, it was worth taking a good look.

?Alright, your school work tomorrow is canceled.? Nitori cracked her knuckles as she stepped out of the chair. ?Koishi-san, Sango-san, you?re going to look around the Myouren Institute and see if you can find any trace of our Siren.

?But how are we gonna get in?? Sango asked. ?If they?re so secluded that they don?t let their kids out, how are we gonna find her??

Nitori tutted at the dolphin with a wave of a finger. ?That?s easier than you think, my dear. Tell me...have you ever wanted to adopt a little sister??

?Uh...no??

The kappa smirked. ?Well, you do now.?

-----

The secrecy was growing on her.

Shou had been nervous about her trips when she?d started, never going very far with it. If grandma had caught her, it would have made her situation even worse. But old lady Hijiri never left the Institute anyway, so her fears had been more or less unfounded.

Still, it?d be bad for a police report to put her on the scene. She?d become a master of the quick getaway, disappearing from sight before anyone could pin her down. It meant no praise from her peers, but that had never been a problem for her. She crept around to the rear end of the Institute as always, ducking under the windows so no-one saw her pass.

This must be how it feels to be a ninja, she thought to herself.

The window was slightly open, just as she?d left it. There was just enough room for her to slip her hand through the crack, grabbing at the latch inside and pulling it up. The window rose with ease, and with a vault she leaped back into her own room.

Expedition complete! She gave a bow to no-one in particular. No, it?s alright. Spare your applause.

The room was untouched. None of the cleaning staff visited her anymore, probably on grandma?s orders. Shou had long since been considered a bad influence on the other children, so she didn?t even get to take part in the normal sutra sessions anymore. A barely-touched copy of the Pali Canon was gathering dust in the corner, and she only ever picked it up when she needed a doorstop.

From the other side of the room, there was a frustrated squeak. Tiny hands rattled at metal bars. Shou sighed as she looked at her mouse cage.

?Good to see you too, Nazrin.?

She reached under her bed, pulling out a small packet of pellets and holding them out. Nazrin poked her head between the bars, nibbling greedily at the food. In spite of her hunger, the mouse took care not to bite her master?s hand by accident. She wouldn?t take that sort of care if anyone else tried to feed her, as a member of the cleaning staff had found out the hard way.

After a few minutes, the mouse had finished her meal. She took a few gulps from the water bottle attached to her cage, before sitting upright and looking through the bars at her master. She tilted her head, her tail flapping about behind her.

?Yeah, I had a good time today,? Shou said in response. She had interpreted Nazrin?s behaviour as a question, though in truth the mouse might have been wondering when her next feeding time was. ?Bumped into another incident on the way back. Sometimes it feels like I?m attracting these thugs, y?know??

She had run into crimes almost unnaturally often. Each time she had done what she could before vanishing into the crowd, but it was something she encountered almost every other day. Maybe she?d been born under a bad star as a child, and everything had gone downhill from there.

?...Well, whatever. I have my other things to worry about now.?

She slumped onto her bed, eyeing the clock on the opposite wall. She counted the time until grandma?s arrival. Ten minutes. Five. Two. One.

Knock, knock. ?Shou, are you in there??

Byakuren?s voice was frozen over with fear. She made no attempt to open the door, or even grab at the doorknob.

?Yes, Hijiri-san,? Shou replied, trying to keep her voice as neutral as possible. ?I?m here.?

Silence. This was the part Shou hated the most. Grandma chose every word with clinical care, sometimes taking two or three minutes just to speak a single sentence. She seemed afraid that one syllable in the wrong place would unleash some sort of monster.

?Where have you been today?? she asked at last.

Now it was Shou?s turn to stay silent. The question was impossible for her to answer, whatever she said. Grandma knew she had left the Institute - she always did, during the hours everyone else spent reciting prayers together. Shou had been honest about it first, telling Byakuren plainly that she?d been out for a walk to explore the city.

Of course, that had never worked. One of the quacks had told Byakuren that Shou was a compulsive liar, and since then she had never taken any of her stories at face value. In the end she?d decided answering her was a waste of breath, and simply let the question hang.

The air itself was frigid up until Byakuren?s footsteps faded into the distance. She hadn?t even offered Shou so much as a ?goodnight?. Shou wished this was a new experience, but it had become part of her daily regimen by now.

She looked out of the window, the crisp night air seeping into her room as the moon came into view. There was a whole world out there, she thought to herself. Yet she?d seen so little of it, and in the end she had never been able to make it away from the Institute.

She turned to Nazrin. The mouse was fiddling with the door to her cage, a tiny growl echoing in her throat. She could do with a walk around the Institute tomorrow, Shou thought to herself. It wouldn?t do her any good to be trapped in that little box forever, after all.

I know that better than anyone, Shou thought as she kicked her shoes off. Squirming under her covers without even changing out of her clothes, she let herself drift into a peaceful slumber.

In her dreams, she was more free than she would ever be in reality.

-----

NEXT TIME:

Did you walk out of some little girl?s colouring book? You look like you?re seven years old!

I?d like to be the good guy, but when good doesn?t pay well enough...

We?re pretty similar. We?re both stuck in a cage at the end of the day.

Next time, I won?t hold back. I?ll kill you if I have to.

I want you to explain everything to her. We can?t lie like this any more.

I never meant to hurt anyone, I swear...

For the sake of Gensouto, I?ll banish you forever!


DOLPHIN RIDER KOISHI, ARC 6: THE ILL-FATED STAR
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: King_Rule on August 22, 2012, 07:02:15 PM
And thus, the tiger gets her chance to roar.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: LaserTurtle on August 22, 2012, 10:37:58 PM
Oh yeah, I forgot about UFO.

Huh. This arc seems a little off of the norm. It's probably because they found the next Siren so easily.

Calling it right now, Hina's the MoF Siren. No evidence to back my claim up, but I've got as good of a chance as any.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on August 23, 2012, 12:16:32 AM
:O

Yes, the Myouren get their time to shine.
and the taoists i guess since im assuming that their going to be a negative influence in this arc.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: The Unlimited RR on August 23, 2012, 04:30:23 AM
By the way the teaser's setting up, I can completely SMELL the Hokuto Shinken leaking from this chapter.  Let's hope I actually get something right with this...
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Mеа on August 23, 2012, 07:39:45 AM
The thing that just would not leave my mind through that whole passage was this (http://lohas.nicoseiga.jp/thumb/716556i)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: BT on August 23, 2012, 09:30:44 AM
Ha, I was thinking Ten Desires what with the cemetery and all.
Calling it right now, Hina's the MoF Siren. No evidence to back my claim up, but I've got as good of a chance as any.
I'm actually not sure if there's going to be a MoF siren at this rate ;-;
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: LaserTurtle on August 23, 2012, 10:27:40 PM
I'm actually not sure if there's going to be a MoF siren at this rate ;-;

There's seven of them right? We've still got another chance!

Unless the Ten Desires crew steals the spotlight. ;_;
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Metaflare on August 24, 2012, 12:31:27 AM
Unless the Ten Desires crew steals the spotlight. ;_;

I actually wouldn't mind this.

Magical girl Yoshika  :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on August 24, 2012, 01:05:01 AM
Didn't this story start before TD was out? We may well see some of them, but unless Rou made some changes to his plans, I don't think we'll see a siren among that crew.

That said, I'd love to see Kyokou as a siren.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Alfred F. Jones on August 27, 2012, 11:36:01 AM
I stayed up until 5:31 am reading this-- or rather, re-reading it from the beginning and picking up where I left off. Time well spent, I say.

This is the sort of mahou shoujo story I would run home from school to watch every day, because of how absorbing the storytelling is. In particular I love the intricacies of your plots and how you play with canon and weave these complex tales that are so much fun to unravel. Keep up the fantastic work so far. :)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Yukarin on August 27, 2012, 12:12:04 PM
make this into an anime

or a comic
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on August 27, 2012, 02:55:55 PM
make this into an anime

or a comic
If I had the time, and the money, and the focus, and the energy, and the ability, and ZUN's permission, I would be doing this.

Anyway, I'm going to be away for the most of the week, so enjoy your early update!

-----

?This is not what I signed up for.?

Komachi scratched her head as she looked up at the overpowering decor of the Myouren Institute. Every wall and window was plastered with tacky motivational messages and posters. Most had the Institute?s logo - a wooden ship taking ?The Voyage To Enlightenment? - in the corner. None of them were remotely original.

?Sorry, Komachi-san.? Koishi reached up and put a hand on Komachi?s shoulder for support. ?But neither of us are old enough to really be involved with adoption, so...?

?Yeah, yeah. Pick on the old lady, why don?t ya?? Komachi?s eyes were locked on the floor, refusing to take another look at the nonsense staining the walls. ?Who knows? Maybe the break?ll do me some good. Sumire said I needed to step away from the case for a bit, anyway.?

With a hung head and a pale face, the lawyer stumbled towards the front entrance. Koishi and Sango followed behind, holding hands and doing their best to act like siblings. Sharing a hair colour helped a lot on that front.

They were only a few steps into the room when they heard the shout.

?GOOD MORNING!?

Komachi almost fell over as a young girl screamed into her ear. She twirled about as if she?d been attacked, raising a fist.

?You little-? Koishi saw the first syllable of a profanity form on Komachi?s lips. The girl looked terrified, clutching her broom to shield herself. A second later, Komachi remembered the role she was meant to play.

?...angel. Little angel.? She reached out and gave the girl a little pat on the head. The child stared up at the hand in wonder before nuzzling at it like a cat.

?Little angel! Kyouko-chan?s an angel!? she said to herself. Komachi gave her companions another glare when the girl wasn?t looking.

?Oh, someone?s here?? At the sound of the girl?s yelling, an older woman stepped out of a side corridor. She had a cell phone to her ear, which she was constantly speaking into. ?Look, Unzan, I need to hang up on you right now. ...No, it?s a visitor. That?s my job, remember?? She grabbed at her pale brown hair, tucked beneath the hood of her jacket. ?No, I can?t put you on hold. I?m paying for this call, and I?m not going to-well, fine! YOU hang up!?

She pocketed the cell phone, taking a deep breath before approaching the trio of newcomers. ?Sorry about that. My boyfriend is...dense.? She bowed towards Komachi, quickly deciding she was the senior member of the group. ?My name is Ichirin. I?m the receptionist of the Myouren Institute. Is there anything I can help you with??

Komachi smiled, probably at the sight of someone her own size. ?Well, I heard ya had an adoption system around here, and I wanted to take a look around.? She wrapped her arms around Koishi and Sango, pulling them in as tightly as she could. ?My two girls were asking me about getting a little sister, and I felt our house needed a few more heads, if y?know what I mean.?

Koishi would have been impressed by Komachi?s acting if she wasn?t having the life squeezed out of her by her ?embrace?. Komachi let go just in time to avoid breaking something.

?Ah, so you want to meet the children?? Ichirin nodded, giving the broom-holder another pat on the head. ?Kyouko-chan, go to your room, okay??

Kyouko offered Ichirin a salute. ?Yes, ma?am!? She scurried off down the corridor, taking her broom with her. Ichirin sighed as she watched her go.

?I apologise if she was difficult. Some of our children are a little unruly. We try to cultivate mindfulness in them, but there?s only so far we can help someone who doesn?t want our help.? Her expression sank as she put her hands in her pockets. Was she thinking of someone in particular? ?Anyway, if you want to look around the premises, you?ll need to be supervised by a senior official. I think Hijiri-san is free right now, actually...?

She pulled out her phone again, hammering in another number and putting it to her ear. ?Hi, Hijiri-san? There?s a woman here who?s considering an adoption, and she wants to take a look around. ...OK, that?s great. Thanks.? She closed the phone over. ?She?ll be here in a few minutes, so if you could just take a seat?? She motioned to a corner of the room flooded with chairs. Komachi nodded, motioning for her ?kids? to sit alongside her.

?Now, if you?ll excuse me, I?ll-? Ichirin?s departure was interrupted by her phone ringing again. She looked at the caller ID with a groan before putting it back to her ear. ?Unzan, it?s been two minutes. Of course I?m still busy.? Koishi heard her muttering to her boyfriend all the way down the corridor until she was out of sight.

?Strange girl,? Sango said. Koishi shrugged. She?d seen a lot stranger in the last few months.

With the receptionist gone, Koishi had a chance to look around while they waited on Byakuren. It turned out not to be worth the effort, as once again the walls were plastered with ?YOU CAN DO ANYTHING? and ?REACH FOR THE STARS?. It was well-intended, undoubtedly, but even Koishi had to admit it was rather corny.

A few minutes later, footsteps echoed down the corridor, and the director of the Institute stepped in.

?Good morning! I assume you?re the prospective parent I was hearing about?? She bowed towards Komachi. ?I?m Byakuren Hijiri. It?s a pleasure to meet you.?

Byakuren was the sort of woman that definitely left an impression. Her light brown hair bounced about as if it had a life of its own, and she swirled her hands about in all directions as she spoke. She smiled perpetually, and never seemed quite capable of standing still. Koishi worried that the woman would burst out of her skin if she didn?t calm down.

?I?d like to say before anything else that you?re doing a great thing.? Byakuren took Komachi?s hands and looked into her eyes. ?These kids need love and affection desperately, and while the Institute does its best we can?t fill in for a real parental figure. There aren?t enough of us to go around, sadly, so it?s people like you that deserve the real praise.?

Komachi visibly shivered. It had to be hard to receive praise like that when she had no intention of actually adopting anyone. That said, if they did find a Siren here, they?d have to arrange some sort of housing for her. Koishi figured the professor would have a plan ready for that.

?Anyway, would you like me to show you around?? Byakuren stepped back into the corridor, beckoning Komachi in with one finger. ?You can bring your little girls in too, if you?d like.?

Komachi stepped out of the chair and followed, with Koishi and Sango right behind her. They passed through a few more corridors of cliches and business mottos before the decor shifted away from tacky posters into a much more subdued wooden framework. The posters grew less and less common until there was almost nothing to differentiate one wall from another. The change made Koishi even less willing to look around.

?Bit bleak in here,? Komachi said to break the awkward silence that ensued. ?Where did all the confidence boosters go??

?We don?t do much in the way of decoration,? Byakuren answered, still beaming. ?We have to give off a very different outlook for the outside world - they think we?re a little box of sunshine and rainbows.?

?Then what are you??

?We?re something much greater than that. Look at all the children nowadays who are told how special and valuable they are. Where does it lead them? More often than not, into a life of misery and mediocrity.? Byakuren spoke with the quiet confidence of faith. ?We believe it?s best that children truly understand the way of life. We teach them Buddhist practices, offer an education system, and generally try to cultivate mindfulness. Many of our children go on to take up the cloth at a local monastery, but some are taken in by loving families like your own.?

It was a nice idea on paper, but something about it rubbed Koishi the wrong way. She kept the feeling to herself - after all, that Kyouko girl had seemed rather happy. Maybe she was just being judgmental.

?Right! I?ll give you a few minutes with each of the kids.? Byakuren turned into a corridor with a dozen doors at each side, each with a little name plate above the doorknob. ?They?re all lovely, really. You?ll get on great with them.?

Sure enough, the boys and girls of the Institute were well-mannered children all around. None of them were older than twelve or thirteen, and each of them had the same bright smile as Byakuren. Many of them spoke highly of Byakuren for being a wonderful teacher, and the Institute in general for being a great place to be brought up. They ranged from shy to proud and from calm to energetic, but a couple stood out among the rest. Kyouko, the girl from earlier, could recite Buddhist sutras with her eyes closed, and took great pride in that fact. Another girl seemed convinced she was a navy captain and refused to eat anything other than curry rice at dinner time.

As eye-opening as the experience was, the team didn?t find what they were looking for. The blonde-haired Siren was nowhere to be found. There wasn?t even anyone close to her age.

Koishi sighed to herself. And the lead had looked so promising, too.

?Well, that?s everyone,? Byakuren said as she led the trio out of the last room. ?Did anyone catch your eye??

Komachi pulled a straight face. ?I?ll have to think about it. They?re all great kids, though...if you ask me, most of ?em don?t look like they really wanna leave. You mighta done too good a job there.?

?Is that a compliment?? Byakuren brushed it off with a small giggle. ?I made a point of teaching them that they couldn?t stay here forever. One day, they?ll all have to-?

She stopped mid-sentence as her head jerked about. ?Ah-!? She stepped to the side, her smile suddenly looking much less genuine. ?A-Anyway, I?m hoping that you choose to spend some more time with our girls and-hyaah!? she stopped again as something scurried between her legs. By the time Koishi noticed it, it was already behind her.

Turning around, Koishi saw a mouse running down the hallway. It cut a strangely-precise path down the corridor, and seemed too well-groomed to be feral - but none of the kids they?d met kept any pets at all. It was curious enough that Koishi couldn?t help but follow after it.

?Where are you going?!? Byakuren yelled from behind, her cheer forgotten. ?That area?s not open to visitors!?

Koishi ignored her. Somewhere in her gut a voice told her this was the way to go. It was like Alice and the white rabbit, though a great deal less hygienic. She found it easy to keep up with the mouse as it took her far away from the kids? living quarters, into a whole new area of the Institute.

The mouse turned into another corridor of bedrooms, but this one was almost uninhabited. Most of the doors had no nameplate, and some hung open to show empty rooms. The animal ran to the end of the corridor, slinking into a hole at the bottom of the last door and creeping inside. The name ?SHOU? was written in big bold letters above the doorknob.

Found you. Koishi felt a surge of accomplishment charge through her. Sango was the first to catch up, her youkai physique winning out over the two humans.

?Eh?? Sango stared in astonishment at the nameplate. ?There?s another one??

Koishi didn?t answer. She just motioned towards the door. Sango took that as her cue to make her usual check.

?Uh...phwee!?

It only took a second for the echo to return to the dolphin. She jerked upright and nodded.

Just as Koishi had suspected.

?Wait, don?t-? Byakuren called out from the other side of the corridor, but as she saw Koishi standing in front of the door her vigor faded away. Komachi followed behind, looking unwilling to add physical exertion to her list of duties today.

?Uh, Hijiri-san?? Koishi said as she pointed at the door. ?I think you forgot about someone.?

-----

?...I see.?

Byakuren?s expression went sour as she came up to Koishi. She stared at the door with and trembled, looking ready to run at any moment. ?You should leave that girl alone.?

?Huh?? Komachi glowered at Byakuren. ?What?s that supposed to mean? You?re not playin? favourites, are ya??

?Shou is...I?d like to say she?s a work in progress, but it?d be more accurate to say she?s the Institute?s greatest failure.? The director sighed. ?We took her in when she was barely old enough to walk, and she?s gone nowhere since then. She?s never been willing to go along with her elders, and I think she?s been sneaking out and getting into fights. I?ve called in every professional I can to examine her, but all I hear are darker and darker diagnoses. If we can?t help her, what sort of damage could she do to an actual family??

Koishi?s brow furrowed. Something about Byakuren?s argument sounded off. Did she not know about all the work Shou had been doing around the city? Her despair sounded genuine enough, but why would Shou lie about something like that?

?Hijiri-san...is it okay if we talk to her?? Koishi clasped her hands together and bowed her head. ?Just for a few minutes, that?s all.?

Byakuren raised an eyebrow. ?Why would you insist on working with a problem child? Honestly, you should leave her to us-?

?Please!? Koishi couldn?t hide her desperation. She couldn?t rely on Sango running into Shou by chance again. This was their best chance to make real contact with the Siren.

Byakuren sank into contemplation for a few seconds. Eventually, she nodded. ?Very well. I?ll make myself scarce, then. Let me know if she does anything unruly.? She moved further down the corridor to give the ?family? some distance.

Koishi cracked her neck. She probably wouldn?t have long, so she?d have to make a good first impression. She took a deep breath as she knocked on the door.

?Yeah, I heard all of that,? said the voice on the other side. ?Come in already.?

Koishi frowned. That wasn?t the best start. She was slow and gentle as she pulled the door open.

Shou?s room was in a whole other league from the rest of the institute. For one, she had the gall to put a poster up on her wall, an old pinup from The Gate To Makai. The lead singer winked as she gave the camera a nice angle on her chest. A guitar sat in the corner of the room gathering dust, and a pile of dirty clothing was building up in front of the wardrobe. Koishi could see plenty of tank-tops, vests, skirts, and other outfits you wouldn?t imagine on a Buddhist monk.

Shou herself was sitting on the bed, tending to the cage on the nearby chest of drawers. She carefully nudged her mouse through the doorway before closing the latch. The mouse glowered at her.

?Sorry, Nazrin, but I really don?t get a lot of visitors. Be good, okay??

The mouse, unsurprisingly, didn?t respond. It walked off into a corner of its cage and munched at a food pellet. That was sufficiently good behaviour for Shou.

?Anyway, who are you to be so interested in-? As Shou turned towards the door, her eyes locked on Sango immediately. The penny dropped. ?Huh. This is a first.?

Sango waved as she followed Koishi inside. ?Hi! Sorry we didn?t call in advance or anything, but you?re a really hard girl to find.?

Shou fell backwards onto the bed. ?Well, grandma tells me not to bring anyone home with me, so my hands are tied there.?

?Grandma??

?Byakuren-san, obviously.? She stuck her tongue out at Sango. ?Have you seen that woman? She?s like fifty or something, but she does everything she can to hide it. Besides, by now she?s the closest thing to a grandma I have.?

She seemed bright enough, if maybe a bit unruly for her surroundings. Perhaps this wouldn?t be so hard.

Koishi took a seat next to Shou on the bed. ?Uh, Shou-san...is it okay if we ask you a few questions about where you?ve been recently??

She?d chosen her words poorly. The girl tensed. ?Oh, for the love of-you?re one of those counselors, are you? Jeez, I told her I was sick of you people trying to fix me.? Shou rolled about on the bed, growling as if she was ready to roar. ?No, I don?t have abandonment issues, and no, I?m not acting for the attention of some absent father figure. I?ve heard all of these theories before, and I?m sick of ?em.?

The burst of aggression caught Koishi off guard. She shuffled down the bed slightly to move a few inches away.

?I?m not a counselor,? she said. ?I just want to get to know you.?

Shou rolled her eyes. ?Yeah, that?s what they all say. They talk to me for an hour, they smile and nod a lot, and then they go tell grandma I?m messed up in the head. Which of course means they want her to fork out for another set of ?therapy? sessions...?

She sat up, looking towards Nazrin rather than her guests. ?Anyway, I know how you guys work. You just take everything I say and bend it so it means what you want it to. I?m not playing along with your crap anymore, alright??

The mouse seemed to share in her frustration, pressing against the walls of the cage and hissing at Koishi. The Siren gulped.

?Look, Shou-san...? She thought for a moment, trying to find a lighter way to open Shou up. She looked for something heartfelt that wouldn?t be misinterpreted, that?d win the new Siren over without falling prey to suspicion.

Nothing came to her. Whatever Shou had been through, it had left her without any semblance of trust. There were no words that could bridge the gap between them.

Then again, there is that thing they say about words and actions.

Koishi nodded to Sango. The dolphin nodded back and closed the door behind her. Komachi looked out of the loop as Sango motioned for her to step away.

Time to skip the pleasantries.

?Shou-san, I want to show you something.? Koishi reached into the usual pocket and pulled out her Teardrop. She held it out on her palm and showed it to Shou.

?Eh? This isn?t bribery, is it?? Shou looked even more disgusted by the idea, sticking up her nose at it.

Koishi grinned. This was her favourite part. She squeezed the Teardrop and began to chant.

?Wherever evil forces be,
On the land or in the sea,
All who sin should cower and flee
From Dolphin Rider Koishi!?


Shou just about fell off of the bed in awe as Koishi transformed right before her eyes. Even the mouse cowered into the back of its cage at the sight of her. She added a little twirl of her trident for effect, winking at Shou as she took on her Siren form.

Her pride was deflated rapidly when Shou started to laugh.

?Ah...hahahaa!? Shou pointed with one hand, covering her eyes with the other. ?Holy shit, really? Did you walk out of some little girl?s colouring book? You look like you?re seven years old!?

Koishi wanted to bop her over the head, but she resisted the urge. She settled for tapping the bottom of the trident against the floor with a satisfying thump.

?Shou-san, we have a reason to believe you?re part of something very important. You might be...well, one of us.?

This time Shou had no witty comeback. She stood in silence, looking up and down Koishi?s body for a moment.

?...You?re serious, aren?t you?? Shou sounded like she was expecting a punchline any minute now. Koishi looked back at her without a hint of humour.

Finally, Shou asked the most important question of all. ?Do I have to wear something as corny as that??

?Probably not,? Komachi interjected. Koishi smacked her trident against the floor again.

?Then you?ve got my interest. Even if you?re making this all up, it sounds like a fun way to waste my afternoon.? Shou jumped to her feet, cracking her neck as she did. ?But, uh, can we talk about this later? Grandma will probably kick you out in a few minutes if you?re not one of those ?professionals?.?

?Sounds good.? Koishi put a hand over the Teardrop on her chest, and the transformation played out again in reverse. Within seconds she was back to being an everyday high-schooler. ?I figure you?re going to sneak out again??

?Whatever gave you that idea?? Shou said with a smirk. ?Grandma doesn?t try to stop me anymore, so I can meet you wherever.?

?How does Lorelei?s at noon sound??

Shou patted at her stomach. ?Great, as long as you?re paying for it.?

?It?s a date, then.? Koishi bowed. ?And, um...thanks for hearing us out.?

Shou rubbed at her nose. ?Hey, don?t mention it. Looking at your crummy getup has already made my morning.?

Deep breaths, Koishi. Deep breaths.

The trio shuffled out of the room, with Koishi being the last to leave. All in all, it had gone as well as she could have asked for. She could only hope that Shou would be receptive and willing to take on the role of a Siren.

And yet, as she stepped out into the corridor, she couldn?t help but feel two tiny eyes glaring at her.

-----

?So how was she??

Byakuren jumped to Komachi?s side as they turned out of the corridor. The lawyer grumbled out a response.

?She seemed okay enough. Rebellious, maybe, but lively.?

Byakuren frowned. If Shou had been telling the truth, the director probably had a very different view of her. They may as well have been discussing two different people.

?Anyway, I hope you?re satisfied now.? Byakuren made sure to work a smile back onto her face as she led the ?family? to the door. ?Get in touch with us if you make a decision, alright??

It was hard to keep a straight face as she lied, but her time in court had given Komachi plenty of practice. ?Sure thing. Thanks for the tour.?

Byakuren gave them one final wave before returning to her duties. Komachi led her supposed children out of the Institute, never looking back for fear of seeing those goddamn posters again. It took a block?s distance for her to muster up the courage to turn around.

?So what the hell was that?? she said to Koishi. ?I thought we were meant to be subtle about this stuff.?

Koishi answered with a surprising amount of confidence. ?She?s a Siren, isn?t she? We?ve got no reason to hide it from her, and it?s not like she?s going to tell anyone.?

That...made a decent amount of sense. If Shou was sick of being psychoanalysed, the last thing she?d want is to mention something that would really make her look crazy. Maybe Koishi was better at planning this stuff than Komachi gave her credit for.

?Anyway, what?s our next move?? Komachi asked. ?Are we just gonna wait on her like we said, or are we doing some snooping??

Koishi shook her head. ?We?re sticking to the straight and narrow, Komachi-san. The surveillance is their job.?

She pointed across the road at a nearby van, proclaiming itself to belong to Riverfort Carpenters. On her cue, the back grate was pulled up, and three figures in blue jumpsuits stepped out from within.

?Morning.? Mokou gave Koishi a quick wave as she stepped out of the van. She carried a roll of carpet beneath one arm to give the illusion of actually working. Behind her, Sakuya and Youmu were chattering like schoolgirls.

?I told you, I?m not doing it again,? Youmu said. ?Once was bad enough, alright??

Sakuya prodded her sister?s shoulder. ?All I?m asking is that you act more like a woman. I?m still wrapping my head around the whole ?sister? thing, and your habit of dressing as a man is getting me confused.?

Youmu began to blush. ?It?s embarrassing! I feel so vulnerable in a skir-? She was stopped mid-sentence when she walked into Mokou?s back. ?Oof!?

Koishi craned her head around to see the swordsman. ?Youmu-san? I thought you were busy today.?

Youmu stepped out from behind Mokou, rubbing at her nose and pulling her cap down over her face. ?Mother is away for a few days. She?s meeting the shareholders to explain her absence. She?s been looking a lot brighter recently, so hopefully she?ll maintain their trust.?

As the conversation drifted to Yuyuko, Komachi noticed Sakuya?s eyes growing distant, like she?d mentally stepped out of the conversation. She gave the maid a little nudge to restore her focus.

?You guys know your side of the operation, right?? Koishi asked.

?You betcha,? Mokou answered.

?We?re to watch out for any questionable goings on in the Institute,? Sakuya said.

?And if the Claw catches on, it?s our duty to make sure no-one gets hurt,? Youmu chimed in.

Koishi nodded along in acceptance. ?Alright, I?m counting on you three. Let me know if anything comes up.?

The three Sirens nodded back, doing their best to look official as they stepped towards the Institute. They had all the paperwork to prove they were there for a carpeting job. Whether or not anyone in the Institute had actually wanted a carpeting job was a matter of little concern, as long as no-one asked too many questions.

Komachi gave Koishi a pat on the back. ?You handled that pretty well.?

?Eh?? Koishi looked up at her, puzzled.

?Just sayin? that I didn?t think of you as the sort to lead when I met ya.?

Koishi smiled weakly as she brushed away Komachi?s hand. ?Well, there?s a lot riding on me being a good leader. I can?t let all those people down, can I??

She acted humble, but there was a grain of pride in her smile. Komachi wondered what sort of woman Koishi would become with a few more years of growth.

?So are we going, or what?? Sango asked, rubbing at her stomach. ?There?s a grilled mackerel with my name on it.?

?Sango-san, it?s eleven,? Koishi replied. ?We?ll be half an hour early if we show up now.?

?I can eat two helpings. What?s your point??

Komachi felt a smirk rise to her face. Their banter these two shared made her feel a few years younger than she really was. And as gluttonous as she was being about it, Sango had a point. It was worth showing up early, just in case-

?Ah.?

Komachi never finished that thought. Her eyes happened to stop on someone walking down the other side of the road, passing one broken-down shrine after another. She recognised that crimson suit, that perfectly-preened brown hair, and that casual gait that seemed out of place alongside both of them.

Reimu Hakurei. Morichika?s defense attorney.

Hakurei was a source Komachi had been trying to get her hands on for weeks, but she?d been unusually hard to find. She was rarely at her place of residence, and even when she was around she made a point of not answering calls.

?...Hey. You two go on ahead.?

Komachi let Hakurei walk on for a bit before she started to follow her. She kept to the other side of the road, hoping that Reimu wouldn?t remember her face.

?Komachi-san? Where are you going?? Koishi asked.

She shouldn?t have followed. Sumire told her to step away from the case for some clarity. But right now she didn?t give a damn what Sumire thought. This chance wasn?t going to come up again.

?I?ve got business. You two can deal with the kid, right??

Koishi looked ready to complain, but she caught the glint of determination in Komachi?s eyes. She gave up on resisting soon afterwards.

?Well, if it?s that important to you, Sango-san and I will be fine on our own.?

?Here?s hopin?.? Komachi gave her another pat on the back. ?Knock her dead for me, alright??

Koishi returned a weak nod. Sango began tugging at her arm in the direction of Lorelei?s, and Koishi let the dolphin pull her along. Komachi turned the other direction, towards the slowly-shrinking figure of Reimu Hakurei.

You never struck me as the pious sort. What are you doing out here?

Reimu was surprisingly easy to follow. The woman made no attempt to look backwards. In fact, she was barely paying attention to what was in front of her. She sauntered down the street without a care, barely avoiding a collision with a passerby on more than one occasion.

Komachi let herself relax, simply matching Reimu?s pace from a safe distance. The attorney cut a straight path down the street. Now and then she?d look at a broken-down shrine and let out a sigh so loud that Komachi could hear it from almost a block away. Many of the smaller institutions had come apart in the last few years, for reasons Komachi had never bothered to read up on.

At last Reimu turned to the side, walking up a staircase hidden between two of the fallen shrines. It ran up the length of a small hill, and Reimu?s steps echoed through the block as she climbed upwards. Komachi gave her more distance just in case, before following behind her with the quietest steps she could manage.

It took her two minutes to climb the staircase, and she had to lean on the shrine?s torii gate for support. At the top of the hill was the largest shrine of them all, though it was still no larger than an ordinary household. Maybe at some point the smaller shrines had been built around it; now it was a shadow of its former self, with the roof caving in and the walls looking brittle. As Komachi stepped through the courtyard she worried her footsteps would be heavy enough to bring the whole shrine down.

In spite of the disrepair, it wasn?t abandoned. Komachi noted the orderly piles of leaves on both sides of the courtyard. This place had been tended to recently. Reimu herself was nowhere to be seen, though the front door of the shrine hung slightly ajar. A donation box sat in front of the door. Peering down into it Komachi saw nothing more valuable than a 50-yen coin, and even that was gathering dust.

Must be hard to make a living like that.

Still, why would Reimu come all the way out here? Maybe she had affairs with the local shrine maiden. Unable to contain her curiosity, Komachi cautiously pulled the door open and let herself in.

She found Reimu?s shoes at the door, with her suit lying on the floor a few paces further in. Her pants lay a few steps further again, as if Reimu had been undressing herself as she went. Komachi was suddenly much less comfortable with her intrusion. She was about to step out when the voice echoed from across the hall.

?Come in, Komachi-san.?

So she had been paying attention. Komachi sighed. She could hardly leave now. After taking her shoes off she stepped into the shrine properly, tip-toeing around the fallen clothes as she followed the voice. It led her to a small sitting room, with a kotatsu barely large enough for two people.

Already seated at the kotatsu was Reimu Hakurei. She had changed into the garb of a shrine maiden, mostly a bright red with white sleeves detached from the rest of the outfit. She was sipping at a cup of green tea, with another sitting on the other side of the table. She looked up at Komachi, beckoning her to sit down with one hand. Komachi complied, the floor creaking with a painful whine.

?You were the last person I expected to find me,? Reimu said. She seemed like another woman now, Komachi thought to herself. There was a calmness, a solemnity that she?d never had before. It almost made Komachi forget about Reimu?s questionable reputation.

Almost, but not entirely.

?I?ve gotta admit, it?s pretty clever,? Komachi said as she picked up her own cup. She wasn?t a big fan of green tea, but she could force it down. ?I?d never think you?d use some old shrine as a hideaway.?

?It?s not a hideaway. I live here. I just keep it to myself because my clients might find me too eccentric.?

Komachi almost spilled her drink down her chest. Reimu?s face didn?t shift in the slightest. Either she was the best liar Komachi had ever met, or she actually was telling the truth. The girl had seemed awfully straightforward up until now, so Komachi doubted it was the former.

?A defense attorney...and a shrine maiden? That?s a strange set of jobs to be juggling.?

?I didn?t have much say in it.? Reimu?s voice held a faint trace of scorn. ?My family were very insistent that I make something of myself outside of the faith. Law was the most obvious option, I guess.?

Komachi rolled her eyes. ?I?m not much of a believer, but I don?t think the Shinto faith approves of getting criminals out of their convictions.?

The accusation flew straight over Reimu?s head. She finished her tea, placing the cup on the kotatsu with a sigh.

?Komachi-san, how much do you think it costs to maintain a shrine of this size??

The question came out of nowhere. Komachi thought for a moment, but before she could answer Reimu continued.

?The Hakurei Shrine has been passed from generation to generation for the last three-hundred years. Sadly, it wasn?t built to survive that long, and as you?ve probably noticed the place is starting to come apart. The repairs are costly, and the rent keeps getting higher. That?s thanks to the local councils pushing for it to be declared a ?cultural heritage? - which means they?re going to kick me out of the home my family?s owned for centuries.?

She wasn?t angry - at least, she didn?t sound angry. It was hard to make out any sort of emotion at all from Reimu. Perhaps her anger on the matter was already spent.

?If we?d been getting the usual stream of donations, things would be easier. But I?m assuming you saw the donation box on the way in. Ever since the Myouren Institute came into the public eye, the flow of power has gradually shifted from us to them. There used to be dozens of active shrines in this area, each praying to their own native god. Now the Hakurei Shrine is all that?s left.?

Was this meant to be a sob story? If so, Komachi was unimpressed. She left her tea on the kotatsu, unfinished.

?I?m missin? something here. You needed money, I get that much. But why does that mean you have to work with assholes by default??

Reimu snorted. Maybe she was forcing back a laugh, or maybe she was concealing her disdain. It was hard to tell.

?Plenty of reasons. One, they?re returning customers. These folks get in trouble more often than your average do-gooder. That means more work for me, and they?re usually willing to pay extra if I make the most of my skills. Two...? Now Reimu let a frown slide onto her face. ?Well, I have a very specific skill set.?

?And what?s that?? Komachi wasn?t sure why she asked. She already knew what Reimu?s specialty was.

?Well, when it came to law school, I wasn?t the most...studious of applicants. I scraped out of the bar exam by the skin of my teeth, and I?m honestly not the best when it comes to a coherent case. What I could do, though, was find the loopholes and get-out clauses in legislation. It?s not the nicest job, but it pays better than the alternatives.? She looked up at a hole in the roof where the tiling was starting to come apart. ?And right now, good pay overrides everything else.?

Komachi was torn. She couldn?t condone Reimu?s actions, but in a way she could sort of understand. This shrine had been everything to her family, and she was holding onto it in the only way she could.

Komachi remembered another woman who had gone against the law for the sake of what was important to her. She almost cringed at the irony.

?So, once again, I don?t have a choice in it,? Reimu said. She stared down into the empty cup in front of her. ?I?d like to be the good guy, but when good doesn?t pay well enough you have to go with what you can get, don?t you??

There was silence for almost a minute. Reimu didn?t look up, and Komachi didn?t look away. Eventually it was the shrine maiden who broke the silence.

?Now what do you want? I assume you came here for a reason beyond listening to my life story. Looking to sell me out to a gossip rag, perhaps??

Komachi wasn?t sure what to say. She?d been planning to grill Reimu on Morichika, in the most aggressive manner she could think of. Now she?d seen some context, going for an all-out assault seemed almost too much.

But that didn?t mean she was going to give up.

?Reimu-san, I need you to tell me everything you know about Rinnosuke Morichika.?

Reimu blinked. ?Really? You?re asking me to sell out one of my own clients?? She shook her head. ?I?m sorry, but I can?t help you. Secrecy is something my employers value highly. If they find out I?ve started playing fair, my business is going to dry up.?

?I don?t have to say I got it from you.? Komachi thought of the heaving pile of paperwork sitting back in her office. ?I?ve already got a dozen leads to work on, but I need someone to point out where to go. I can put you down as a protected source - with the rest of the case as strong as it is, we?ll probably get away with it.?

The shrine maiden didn?t answer. She traced along the tip of her cup with one finger as she looked to the side. Komachi could almost see the two possibilities bouncing about in her eyes. She had to push harder.

?Look, Reimu-san. You knew I was following you here, but you didn?t even try to lose me. If you really weren?t willing to help me you?d have at least tried to cover your tracks.?

Reimu gasped. It was the largest display of emotion she?d shown so far.

?I?m guessing you?re scared,? Komachi continued. ?If anyone found out about this, you wouldn?t just lose business; hell, I?m willing to bet there?d be people willing to kill you off in case you spill their secrets. I understand that. Of course it?s scary.?

Komachi slammed a fist into the kotatsu, shaking the cup at her side. ?But I?m giving you a chance here. You kept on saying that you never had a choice in anything. I?m giving you the choice right now. You can keep on doing what the men with money tell you to do, or you can go to bed tonight knowing that for the first time in years you chose to do the right thing.?

Reimu bit her lip. She tapped her fingers against the kotatsu, taking deep breaths as she weighed up the options in her mind. Komachi could only watch her think. She?d made her point.

Finally, the shrine maiden rose to her feet with a sigh.

?If this guy wasn?t the meanest son of a bitch I?ve ever met, I?d be shoving you out the door right now. Let me get you a pen and paper.?

Komachi felt the unease seep out of her system. She picked up her cup again, finishing what was left of her tea. It was bitter as hell, but as she swallowed the last drop she couldn?t help but feel like the victor.

?You might wanna get a few sheets while you?re at it. I get the feeling you?ve got a lot to tell me.?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Esifex on August 27, 2012, 07:01:20 PM
rou y u so good ;-;
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: BT on August 27, 2012, 07:08:36 PM
So many "YES" moments in this one.
Quote from: =D
?GOOD MORNING!?
Undisputed winner, though.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on August 27, 2012, 10:36:50 PM
Quote from: Ichirin Kumoi
"Sorry about that. My boyfriend is...
Quote from: Ichirin Kumoi
"...dense.”
(http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/mother-of-god-gif.gif)
(http://www.gamesprays.com/files/resource_media/preview/approved-4356_preview.png)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: LaserTurtle on August 27, 2012, 11:21:58 PM
Friggin' Buddhists, taking all the faith.

Does that mean Sanae is in a similar position?

Holy cow pun intended if you want it to be, I just realized this might happen.
What if Sanae is mindcoiled into attacking Shou for stealing the faith/donations from the Moriya shrine?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: CrowCakes on August 28, 2012, 02:14:03 AM
Quote from: Reimu
Well, I have a very specific skill set.

The first thing that came to my mind was Taken.

I really want to put up other words in this post and see if there's anything to improve on, but I can't. :fail: Not unless there's something you yourself would point out, Rou.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: UndyingHunterKamigama on September 02, 2012, 09:41:31 PM
Things are looking pretty direct here. All they have to do is meet up with Shou, and Komachi is getting her information on Rinnosuke from Reimu.


Those things happening makes me feel something is gonna happen. Something that would complicate matters I guess


Anyway another great chapter. I doubt there's anything else to improve on here. The writing quality here is high
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on September 05, 2012, 11:04:32 AM
Sango was true to her word. Even as she picked the last few traces of mackerel off of her plate, Koishi could hear her stomach rumble in anticipation of its second helping. The dolphin wiped at her face with her sleeve.

?It really is a good thing I got my wallet back, or else I?d never be able to treat myself like this.? She sat up in her chair, raising an arm to get the attention of the staff. ?Hey, can I get a-?

?No, Sango-san.? Koishi sighed. ?At least wait until Shou-san gets here, alright??

Sango hesitated, her arm hanging in place for a moment. With a pout, she pulled it back down to her side. ?Spoilsport.?

Koishi smiled. ?You?ll get fat if you eat too much. I thought dolphins were meant to be aerodynamic??

The dolphin had no answer to that. She just glared at Koishi, her eyes turning to the door every so often. They?d taken a table in the far corner of Lorelei?s, well away from the rest of the patrons. No-one would hear their discussion too clearly, and it was as close to privacy as they could hope to manage.

Koishi was starting to worry Shou would never arrive when the front door jingled. The Siren stumbled through the doorway, her expression pale. She?d hastily changed into a black tank-top and matching pants, and two spiked bracelets hung to her wrists. She was still trying to fix her hair as she tip-toed around the tables towards the back.

?Uh, hey.? She gave Koishi a thumbs up as she seated herself across from her. She looked around the room, biting her lip. ?Question. Did you slip me something, or did everyone?s hair just go technicolour??

?Oh, right,? Koishi said. She?d forgotten to warn Shou about the changes accepting magic would have on her. She pulled out a pair of glasses and slipped them across the table. ?Wear these.?

Shou raised an eyebrow. ?Won?t I look really nerdy in glasses??

?There are contact lenses, but I didn?t have any on short notice.?

Shou begrudgingly picked up the glasses and slipped them on. She sighed with relief as the blue and pink hues in the crowd gave way to the typical brown and black.

?Sorry I took so long to get here. I spent ten minutes asking Grandma why she?d dyed her hair purple.? She let out a stilted laugh. ?Bet she thinks I?m even crazier now.?

Koishi did her best to smile back. She took care not to push too quickly - pressing too hard could cause Shou to close herself off. It was best to gradually move towards the serious matters, she decided.

The usual waitress came to take their order. She?d made a point of emphasising her femininity since their misunderstanding, Koishi noticed - the pants had been replaced with a long skirt, and her hair was tied into a neat ponytail. She seemed uncomfortable in the new getup, walking clumsily in high-heels that didn?t really fit her.

?I?ll have the Jumbo Ocean Feast,? Shou declared with a regal grin. She pointed to the picture on the menu, next to a price tag with too many zeroes for Koishi?s liking. Sango almost jolted out of her chair.

?What? Koishi-san never lets me have that!? She looked towards Koishi, then towards the waitress with a brilliant fire in her eyes. ?Make that two Jumbo Feasts. With all the sides!?

The waitress jotted down the order, looking unnerved in the presence of two almighty gluttons. She managed a small bow before scurrying off to the kitchen. Shou and Sango shared a knowing look with one another. Koishi kept the inevitable bill out of her mind as she looked towards the sixth Siren.

?I?m guessing you don?t eat out often.?

Shou beamed. ?Grandma makes me live on rice and gruel, and I can only afford to feed Nazrin on my allowance. I?d be here even if I thought you were talking crap as long as you were offering me a free meal.?

She picked up a nearby fork and started to twirl it around in her hand. She seemed perpetually amazed by her surroundings, like she?d stepped out of the wilderness into modern society for the first time. It was a simple pleasure that Koishi couldn?t quite relate to - the things that stunned Shou seemed utterly ordinary to her.

?So, let?s talk business.? Shou leaned forward in her chair, grinning like a child. ?Do we get cool powers? Is there a secret hideout? Do we have some sorta team catchphrase I have to learn??

Her sheer zeal stunned Koishi. The punkish outfit didn?t mesh well with this sort of enthusiasm. Shou seemed to realise the fact, pulling back and taking a deep breath.

?Sorry. The little kids watch the latest anime in the half hour of TV-time grandma gives us, and I sorta sneak in and watch it along with them. Would saying I was a fan make me a lot less cool in your eyes??

Koishi shook her head immediately. She?d reignited her passion for the genre ever since she?d become a Siren. There was no shame in having an interest like that.

?And to answer your question...? Koishi put a finger to her lips. ?It?s complicated. I?ll try to summarise it.?

She did her best to explain the situation to Shou in time for their meals to arrive. She explained the Sirens, why they existed, and what Shou had to do to become one. Shou took the whole thing with a surprisingly open mind - then again, the hair fiasco she?d gone through on the way here would have shattered any doubt she had left.

The meals arrived almost immediately after Koishi?s explanation had ended. It took two waiters to bring all of the food to the table, as two full-to-bursting dishes were laid in front of Shou and Sango. Their eyes lit up in sync, and they both started to dissect their meals without bothering with minor issues like swallowing. Koishi?s relatively modest plate followed behind, and she was much more careful and refined in her dining. She did her best to ignore the unpleasant looks her companions were getting.

Two minutes later, Shou pulled away from her meal long enough to start talking again. ?Sho Ib gaaha-? She flinched, swallowed, and started again. ?So I?ve got to grow up before I get my superpowers, basically??

Koishi nodded. ?Not quite as simple as that, but you?re close. You have to make a wish from the bottom of your heart, so it pretty much has to be something personal and powerful. Something lifechanging.?

Shou?s lips twisted. She placed her fork on the table, taking a swig from her glass of water. She looked up at the wallpaper with a sudden interest.

?Shou-san, can you tell me a bit about yourself?? Koishi reached over the table and put her hand on top of Shou?s. Shou looked back with surprise, but her face warmed up a few moments later. She took a deep breath before she started to speak.

?Well, there?s not much to say. I was a kid when I ended up at the Institute. Didn?t know my folks. Think they were a young family who couldn?t afford a kid, so they sent me somewhere I?d be able to live well. For the first few years it was great - I got on with everyone, and even grandma was on good terms with me.? She smiled, eyes glimmering with nostalgia. ?I couldn?t have asked for a better childhood, really. They taught me everything I know, and gave me a place to live. It was like a family and a school rolled into one.?

She leaned back in her chair again, staring at the ceiling. Her eyes followed a fan lazily twirling above her.

?When I was thirteen or so, things changed. We?d been learning sutras and mantras our whole lives as part of our education. I got the general idea - wanting stuff is bad, rejecting desire is good, blah blah blah - but it never really hit home with me. All the other kids were sold on it, and most of them are working as monks at the local monastery. But I just didn?t feel it, if you know what I mean.?

Koishi recalled the guitar gathering dust in Shou?s room, the rock poster peeling off her wall, the pile of vests and shirts dominating the floor space. None of it had any place in the Institute.

Maybe Shou didn?t have a place there either.

?Don?t get me wrong. I don?t hate grandma for what she does. I?d probably be out on the streets without her.? She scratched at her head, trying to scrape the words off her skull. ?But her course...it?s not for everyone. I never stepped foot outside of the Institute, other than the hour of exercise we got every day. I saw glimpses of the rest of Gensouto, but I never got to experience it for myself.?

Koishi tried to imagine that sort of life, longing for a world that was always just out of reach. It was a painful thought.

?So that?s why you started sneaking out?? she asked.

Shou nodded. ?I didn?t go far to start off. Just local shops and such. I thought I?d get away with it, but one day grandma saw me coming in the window. She started freaking out, thinking that I was getting wrapped up in gang warfare or something.? She grabbed at the fork again, her hand clamping at it as she bared her teeth. ?And of course, the men in the coats told her everything she didn?t want to hear, in the name of getting me some ?professional help?. I?ve been in and out of clinics ever since.?

Koishi felt a little hole open in her chest. She couldn?t imagine how many times Shou had tried to explain, only to be silenced by a man who apparently knew her better than she knew herself. Shou pulled a brave face.

?She didn?t try to stop me after that. I think she?s scared of me now. I couldn?t bear to be around her like that, so I started leaving more and more often. I tried to do what other kids my age did. I got into music, picked up a dirt-cheap guitar with the change I found lying around. And eventually, I met Naz.?

?You mean Nazrin, right?? Koishi asked.

?Yeah, that?s right. I bumped into her on one of my first trips out. I hadn?t really seen a mouse before - at least, not one that grandma didn?t call the exterminator on. I found her with her tail stuck in a door hinge.? She frowned, her eyes darkening. ?I couldn?t bear to leave her like that, but when I brought her back grandma said she?d just pass her diseases onto me. By that point, she?d found something to criticise about everything I did, so it didn?t mean much to me anymore.?

By now, Shou seemed like a totally different girl from the one who?d barged through the door. The life had been draining out of her with every word, to the point where her expression was almost devoid of emotion.

?It was just helping out to start, but after a few weeks I started getting attached to her. The more I looked after Naz, the more she reminded me of myself. We?re pretty similar, in a lot of ways.? She looked away in resignation. ?We?re both stuck in a cage at the end of the day.?

That was it, Koishi thought to herself. Shou was looking at the world beyond the Institute, desperately wanting to be a part of it. Until she was considered ?ready? she wouldn?t be allowed to leave, but to be ?ready? she?d have to kill off the urge to leave in the first place. It was a paradox.

All she wants is to be normal, Koishi thought to herself. She pondered for a moment to think of how she could help.

After some consideration, she found a lead to work with.

?Shou-san. Why did you save Nazrin again??

Shou blinked. ?Well...no reason, I guess. I just thought it was a shame to see an animal suffer like that.?

?That?s not what most people would do,? Koishi said. ?They?d think it wasn?t their problem, and they?d leave the animal to die.?

Shou stammered. ?Well-?

?Not just that,? Koishi continued. ?I know you?ve been helping out with all sorts of crimes you?ve been running into. Not just Sango-san-? Koishi pointed to the dolphin currently submerged in her food - ?but every crime you seem to have come across. Just one of those would have been brave, but to help out in dozens without even taking a reward...that takes something very special.?

The Siren began to blush. ?R-Really? It?s not really anything that big. I mean, it?s just doing what it takes to help people. That?s the least I should be doing, isn?t it??

Koishi shook her head. ?Shou-san, you?re a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for. Most girls your age would run away from a pickpocket, not try to hold him down.? She leaned forward over the table, touching Shou?s hand again. ?How old are you??

?Seventeen this year.?

?Then you should be old enough to live your own life.? She squeezed at Shou?s hand. ?If you want to see the world, you need to tell that to Byakuren-san. She?ll be concerned, but there?s nothing she can legally do to stop you. You can even live with me for a few months while you get things together. But you?ll have to take the first step.?

Shou had to feel strong enough to make her wish, Koishi thought to herself. There was no need to push her too hard when the Claw was nowhere to be found. The rest would be up to Shou, and whether she could find the strength to step away from the Institute.

It was a few seconds before Shou managed to smile. ?You know, none of the therapists ever told me that. They all said I had to stay in a safe environment for my own protection.?

?Maybe all you needed was a second opinion.? Koishi returned the smile as she pointed to Shou?s dish. ?By the way, isn?t that getting cold??

Shou looked down at her plate, flinching like she?d just remembered it existed. ?Oh, crap!? She went right back to eating, and if anything she was faster than she was before. Every bite seemed to fill her with glee, like she was swallowing pure ambrosia.

Koishi almost forgot that someone else had been sitting at the table.

?Uuu, Koishi-san...? Sango gulped down the last morsel of food on her plate, both hands rubbing at her stomach as it grumbled. ?Can I go to the little dolphin?s room??

Koishi had to keep herself from laughing. ?They don?t have one of those, but there?s a little girl?s room.?

?Yeah, that?ll do.? Sango rose to her feet, one hand over her mouth as she ran to the bathroom. Koishi watched her with a doting gaze before turning back to Shou.

?And that?s why you should stop to chew once in a while.?

-----

Mokou had struggled to build the nerve to snoop around the office. She?d done her fair share of investigations, but this was her first time actually poking around where she didn?t belong. It was Sakuya who?d managed to talk her into doing her job.

?What are the stories about this woman, anyway??

Mokou gulped as she skimmed through the cabinets, trying to commit as little personal information to memory as possible. Byakuren herself was away tending to the children, and she?d been unwise enough to leave her door unlocked. Sakuya refused to let them pass the chance up.

The office was immaculate, every file and folder in its proper place. Even the memos on the wall were sorted in alphabetical order. It was a neatness that verged on OCD - or perhaps it was doing its best to hide something.

?Kawashiro gave her a background check last night,? Sakuya said as she pulled out a desk drawer and skimmed its contents. ?Her life before the institute was quite colourful.?

?Colourful??

Sakuya nodded. ?Simple childhood, born into a middle-class family. She was fourteen when her older brother died in an accident, and it had a profound and catastrophic effect on her behaviour. She turned into a problem child almost overnight, with a history of thefts, assaults, and drug abuse. Apparently the professor found her criminal record to be rather unpleasant reading.?

Mokou furrowed her brow. ?And they let a woman with a history like that look after an orphanage??

?Well, it was thirty years ago. She was in prison for a few years in her late teens, and it seems that was where she found religion. She became a devout Buddhist, and since then she?s been working as a force of good in the local community.?

Sakuya grumbled out the last sentence as if it was a complaint. Mokou turned around, stopping the search for a moment.

?You don?t sound like you approve of that. What?s up??

Sakuya sighed. ?It?s too simple, if you ask me. I don?t like the idea that becoming a Buddhist magically fixed all of her problems.?

?Maybe it didn?t,? Mokou answered. ?Maybe she?s just learned how to bottle ?em up.?

The maid glared at Mokou for a moment, but she had no answer. She returned to her search, still looking frustrated at the lack of evidence they?d found on Byakuren so far.

Ten minutes later, they had searched the whole room to no avail. Mokou and Sakuya were careful to put everything back where it had been - any sort of change in the room?s layout could attract Byakuren?s attention.

?Are you finished?? Youmu asked from out in the corridor. She?d opted to stand guard for the pair as they looked around the room, but it turned out to be unnecessary. The corridors had been deathly quiet, like the whole building was abandoned.

?Yeah, we?re done.? Mokou stepped out of the room first, with Sakuya right behind her. They left the door barely open like they?d found it, heading deeper into the facility for any secrets Byakuren happened to be hiding.

?Please tell me you don?t make a habit of raiding people?s offices, Miyo,? Youmu said, glancing at her sister with disdain. There was no response.

Again, there was little to find. Not only was there nothing hidden or suspicious, but there was nothing of interest at all. At several points Mokou had to double-check she wasn?t walking through the same featureless corridor over and over again. It was like everything noteworthy or eye-catching had been deliberately torn from the walls.

The inner workings of the Institute were bland, almost featureless. There were corridors filled with living quarters, but every single child was locked away in total silence. Supposedly it was Introspection Hour, a time for all the children to reside in their rooms and ponder whatever sutra they?d been taught today.

?Sakuya-san, was your orphanage anything like this?? Mokou asked.

Sakuya shook her head. ?I was at the Shoutoku Foundation on the other side of the city. It was a lot more mainstream than this.? She bit her lip. ?To be honest, I?m glad I didn?t end up here. This atmosphere would have driven me mad.?

?Likewise,? Youmu added. She had taken Sakuya?s hand without Mokou even noticing. ?If Mother hadn?t taken me in, I?d have ended up here as well.? She tensed visibly. ?It seems...how do I word this...?

?Lifeless?? Mokou offered.

?No, not that.? Youmu put a hand on her chin. ?It seems too...serene.? She nodded in agreement with her own choice of words. ?These children should be more lively, more energetic, yet they lock themselves away in their rooms to meditate for most of the day. That doesn?t feel like the sort of lifestyle you should force on a child.?

Mokou nodded in agreement. She wouldn?t have lasted any longer than the other Sirens in this institute. She was the sort of girl who struggled to sit in place for half an hour. Meditation would have destroyed her. Being forced into that sort of routine for years was something she didn?t want to think about.

?I can?t deny there are good intentions, but-?

Mokou stopped mid-sentence. She looked about the corridor, finding no-one but her fellow Sirens.

?Mokou-san, what are you doing?? Youmu asked.

?Quiet.? Mokou held out a hand to silence Youmu, then cupped it around her ear. ?Do you hear that??

Youmu looked bewildered for a moment, but copied Mokou?s movements with Sakuya following suit. All three moved towards the wall on their right, the rear wall of the Institute.

Glug, glug, glug...

Something was being poured on the other side of the wall. Mokou heard the grinding sound of metal running across earth. She tried to peek out of a porthole, but the windows were too high and small to be of any use. All she could see was the small forest growing behind the Institute.

?The hell is going on out there?? Mokou said.

Sakuya gulped. That alone was enough to get Mokou worried.

?Let?s go,? the maid said. She darted down the corridor, back around towards the entrance. Mokou and Youmu followed behind her, easily keeping up with her pace.

By sheer bad luck, they ran into the one person still roaming the Institute at this hour.

?You three?? Byakuren?s mouth formed a tiny o as she saw the three carpenters running towards her. ?What?s got you in such a rush??

Crap. Mokou cursed beneath her breath. There were no words for how suspicious they looked right now. Sakuya was still leading the pack, so if anyone was going to be explaining it was her.

She didn?t, and instead she blazed past Byakuren like she wasn?t even there.

?H-Hey! What are you doing?!?

Byakuren stammered as the other two carpenters charged at her. Mokou broke to her left, while Youmu slipped to her right.

?Sorry! Official business!? Mokou yelled. It was a horrendous excuse, but it was all she could come up with on short notice. Moments later, Mokou heard Byakuren?s own footsteps move in tandem with their own.

?What was that for?? Mokou yelled to Sakuya as she caught up. ?Why didn?t you come up with something? We just totally blew our cover!?

Sakuya?s answer was hesitant. The severity of her expression sent chills down Mokou?s spine.

?There wasn?t just a sound, Mokou-san,? Sakuya said. ?There was a smell too.?

They charged past the reception desk, almost knocking the cell phone from Ichirin?s hand. Even then, the trip was only half-done - now they had to run all the way around the building to get to the rear wall.

?A smell?? Youmu said.

Sakuya nodded. ?It?ll be stronger out in the open. Take a sniff.?

The suggestion puzzled Mokou for a moment, but on Sakuya?s orders she took a breath through her nose. She caught a hint of something foul in the air, a smell that burned at her nostrils.

It was the smell of gasoline.

Oh, shit.

Mokou put two and two together, and started to push ahead of the other Sirens. She was faster on her feet than Sakuya by a long shot, and Youmu wouldn?t leave her sister behind. She made it to the rear end of the building a few seconds before the other Sirens.

Her eyes quickly fell on the now-drained barrel of gasoline, and the woman standing beside it.

?Ah.?

Keine Kamishirasawa did not offer the most grandiose of entrances. She stepped backwards from the Siren, terror rising to her face. She stepped away from the wall, out of the puddle of gasoline she had poured along its length.

?I?m sorry,? she whispered as she looked towards the forest. Mokou followed her gaze, seeing a wave of fishmen emerge from between the trees. Then another wave behind that. And another. And another.

She almost missed the lighter in Keine?s hand.

?No!?

Time slowed down for Mokou. The lighter left Keine?s hands. Mokou was running, faster than she?d ever ran before. She dived forwards, holding a hand out to grab at the lighter before it touched the ground.

As her body slammed into the earth, the lighter tapped against her fingertips.

Then all she saw was a brilliant pillar of flame.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Kasu on September 05, 2012, 12:43:10 PM
Well I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I wasn't exactly expecting that.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Hanzo K. on September 05, 2012, 12:52:35 PM
I...Uh....Vhat just happen here?!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: LaserTurtle on September 05, 2012, 03:21:12 PM
Keine is an arsonist now. That's unexpected.

Oh yeah, there're fishmen too, but that's practically a given.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on September 05, 2012, 10:59:24 PM
awwwwww ssshhhiiitttteee :o

This is going to be interesting, is all I can say.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Metaflare on September 06, 2012, 12:26:03 AM
Huh. And here I thought the victim this time would be Byakuren.

what a tweest
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on September 11, 2012, 10:01:50 PM
?So how?d you find today??

Koishi made small talk as she walked Shou back to the Institute. The new Siren had slowed down on her eating after seeing Sango scurry off. Sango was quiet on the return journey, looking deathly pale and mumbling about how she would never eat lobster again.

?Well, that?s a hard question.? Shou put a hand on her chin. ?It was fun, yeah, and a free meal is always great. But you?ve given me a lot to think about, too.? She nodded to herself, a steel-eyed determination on her face. ?I wanna do this again, if you?re up for it.?

Koishi smiled. ?Sure. I?ll treat you to lunch as often as you-?

The sight silenced her mid-sentence. Across the block, in the direction of the Institute, a wall of smoke was billowing upwards.

?What the-?

?A fire!? Shou yelled before Koishi could finish. By the time Koishi?s brain had caught up, Shou was already halfway down the street.

?Shou-san, wait!? Koishi followed behind as quickly as she could. Sango perked to life again, her earlier nausea forgotten as she kept firmly to Koishi?s side.

At the entrance, the noise was almost unbearable. A crowd of children was being led out of the building, most of the younger ones screaming uncontrollably. Byakuren led them away, looking as terrified as the children she was caring for.

?Grandma!? Shou ran towards Byakuren immediately, looking at the sea of hysterical children surrounding her. ?You need some help over here??

Byakuren?s mouth hung open for a moment, but finally she nodded in response. Shou moved around to the rear of the crowd, pushing the younger kids along.

?It?s okay, everything?s going to be fine...? She patted little Kyouko on the head as she nudged her away from the fire. The bawling was beginning to quieten down.

As Koishi caught up with her, she looked to her side. ?Sango-san, help out here. I?ll take a look around the back.?

?Got it!? Sango nodded, quickly joining the fray at the entrance. She joined in with Shou, leading the kids away and singing songs to try and lift the mood.

No-one noticed Koishi running in the opposite direction. She circled around the building, towards the fire. Without stopping to think, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her Teardrop.

?Wherever evil forces be,
On the land or in the sea,
All who sin should cower and flee
From Dolphin Rider Koishi!?


Even as she took on her Siren form, Koishi never stopped running. An instant could be the difference between life and death here. A wave of heat assaulted her senses, and the smell of acrid smoke flooded her nose. The fire had already engulfed the rear end of the building, and it crept along gradually to consume the rest.

Something leaped out at her as she turned the corner. On sheer instinct, Koishi brought her trident around to swing at it. A fishman came apart in front of her, flopping to the ground as a trio of helpless mackerel.

It was the first of many.

?What is this...??

Fishmen flooded Koishi?s vision. Dozens, maybe even hundreds of them were running towards the burning building. For a moment Koishi thought they planned to attack, but she could make out another face in the crowd making a quick escape.

That?s...Kamishirasawa-sensei!?

Keine was creeping through the crowd, using the fishmen as a walking blockade. There were already two dozen creatures between her and Koishi, and all of them looked ready to tear the Siren apart. Koishi aimed her trident forward, summoning a trio of orbs at its tips.

?Iruka Beam!?

A ray of light fired straight through the army of fishmen, taking out a dozen of them in one shot. In the tiny opening it gave her, Koishi blitzed forwards before another line of monsters could fill the gap.

She heard the sound of fists pounding against flesh. To her left, Mokou was holding off a wave singlehandedly. Her clothes were charred and singed, like she?d been inches from the fire when it had started.

To her right, Youmu was pushing back a wave with mighty swipes of her blades. She cut two paths at once, covering Sakuya from both angles. The maid drew card after card, sending a storm of knives into the surrounding fish. The numbers of the enemy force were beginning to dwindle, and the Sirens' victory seemed inevitable.

No, that?s wrong, Koishi thought. The fishmen were expendable. They'd always been. The real problem - Keine - was getting away while the fishmen kept the Sirens distracted. As it was, Koishi was the only one who had a chance of catching her. She knocked away anything coming close to her, chasing Keine into the forest the army must have emerged from. She was five feet away, four, three-

?Hyaah!??

She stopped just in time as a silver blade sliced through the air in front of her. An assailant leaped out from behind the tree, bringing her sword forward for another strike. Koishi trapped the blade with her trident, pulling it out of harm?s way.

This is the girl Mokou-san told me about!

She?d heard of the masked figure several times beforehand, but this was her first time seeing her. The helm and mask covered her face, but as Koishi got her first proper look she swore she heard the woman gasp.

Her surprise was short-lived. She pulled the sword back, coming in with another thrust. Koishi leaped backwards to dodge the blow. Keine pulled away, shrinking until she was nothing but a dot in Koishi?s vision.

Dammit!

Koishi didn?t even have time to look in Keine?s direction. The fencer was forcing her back with careful thrusts, each one taking all of Koishi?s attention to redirect. It was all she could do to keep herself from being skewered.

Yet even as she fought, there was a glimmer of uncertainty in her mind.

This is the first time I?ve met her...isn?t it?

-----

?It?ll be okay. It?ll all be okay...?

Shou gave one of the kids a hug, squeezing her and patting her on the back. There were still sniffles and sobs coming from the crowd, but the kids were just about in control of themselves now. Shou had done everything she could, and the dolphin girl had been a big help as well. She had a natural inclination towards funny faces and cheery songs.

Byakuren finally allowed herself to sigh with relief, but she refused to look away from the fire. By now half of the building had been engulfed, and the rest was set to follow. The sound of crackling wood filled the air, and breathing through the nose was all but impossible.

?Is everyone out?? Shou asked as she moved around to the front of the crowd.

Byakuren barely heard her, but she managed a nod. ?Y-Yes. I did a quick head-count just there. All the children are accounted for.?

So no-one was hurt. That was a huge relief, Shou thought to herself. If the fire had started in the evening, or in the night when the kids were asleep, the results could have been catastrophic-

Wait.

No. She was wrong, Shou realised. She looked through the crowd again. An important face was missing.

?Where?s Nazrin??

She knew the answer to her own question. She'd locked Nazrin away in her cage before sneaking out. The mouse was still trapped inside.

?Oh. I...? Byakuren?s eyes widened. They began to mist up as she put a hand to her mouth. ?Shou, I?m so sorry-?

?I?m going in.?

Shou stated her intentions without a shred of doubt. She pushed Byakuren away before the monk had a chance to object.

?What?!? Byakuren turned back to her, but she was a few vital paces behind. ?Shou, you can?t! The whole building will collapse at this rate!?

As Shou vanished into the building, her answer consisted of a single word.

?Exactly.?

Nazrin was as much a friend to Shou as any of the children at the Institute. She wouldn?t even consider letting a friend die like this.

It wasn?t long before Shou found herself walking amongst the flames. The smoke stung at her eyes. She leaned forwards, bringing herself down to where the air was breathable. The walls were coming apart around her, planks falling forward and almost smacking into her.

?Nazrin? Nazrin!?

Shou?s lungs burned and her legs ached, but she refused to let herself stop. She pulled around into the corridor she lived in by herself, running towards the last room. With every step, the fire grew stronger around her. She felt the flames licking at her legs, burning at her skin. As she grabbed the doorknob, she fought back the urge to scream as the metal singed her hand.

?Nazrin, I?m here!?

She yanked the door open, finding her own room as a blazing inferno. Her Gate To Makai poster was a pile of ash in the corner. The guitar was still smouldering, but it was well beyond saving.

And in the corner of the room, Nazrin was batting furiously at her cage.

She?s alright!

In one smooth motion, Shou undid the latch on the cage and pulled Nazrin out. The mouse made no attempt to fight her. She cupped her hand to keep Nazrin secure as she made her escape.

By now, every cell in Shou?s body cried out in pain. Her legs threatened to buckle beneath her. Her lungs wanted to give out. Only willpower was keeping her functioning at this point. Her sheer force of heart was indestructible.

And yet she'd never felt more alive.

The feeling was an epiphany that drowned out the pain for an instant. This feeling of defending someone she cared for, doing what she could to help others - it clicked with her in a way no 'ordinary' life ever could. This was the life she wanted to lead, the one she wanted to carve for herself.

That?s right, she thought to herself as she picked up speed. From now on, I want to devote myself to saving every life I can!

She felt a warm sensation in her heart as the thought grew in power. Something took form in her spare hand. She looked down at it for an instant, seeing a brilliant yellow light come from within.

She didn?t notice the falling beam until it was too late.

?Ah-!?

As the wooden beam slammed into her head, Shou heard the sound of her own skull cracking.

The impact was like a switch that turned off her body. Her momentum came to a sudden halt. Her knees buckled, and she flopped forwards onto the ground. Her hands went limp, dropping Nazrin to the floor. There was no pain, just an immense weight that left her pinned to the ground.

Something warm was running down her face. It dripped into her eyes, forcing her to close them. She could feel Nazrin nuzzling at the back of her palm, trying to rouse her. Shou did what she could to summon the energy to stand, but there was nothing left in her.

With an eerie calmness, she realised that she was dying.

?Naz...rin...?

She choked out the words, struggling even to speak in her condition. The weight on her back grew stronger, threatening to engulf her at any moment. Her heartbeat echoed in her head, every pulse a little weaker than the one before it.

?Go...you can...make it...?

Nazrin was out of the cage now. She could make it out on her own if she hurried. In that regard, Shou?s efforts hadn?t been in vain. Drained of everything she had, the young girl finally succumbed to the weight.

As she slipped out of consciousness, the last thing she heard was a tiny voice.

?Master...master, don?t leave me...?

-----

What is this girl?!

Before Koishi knew what was happening, she was back in the clearing behind the Institute. The fencer had pushed her all the way out of the forest back to where she?d started, all without putting a foot wrong. Her technique was flawless, and she guessed her way out of every escape Koishi attempted. None of her attacks had been a massive threat, but Koishi wasn?t left with a single opening.

How am I meant to beat her when she knows what I?m going to try before I do?

Looking back, Koishi saw the last few members of the fishman army being disposed of. Mokou slammed her fist into yet another face, and Sakuya took the time to adjust her collar while Youmu protected her. They?d dealt with the distraction, but the Claw had succeeded in their main goal.

Keine had escaped, and the Institute was burning.

The masked assailant started to hold her ground. Her only job was to keep Koishi preoccupied. Most likely she?d disappear into the forest at the first chance Koishi gave her. It was all the Siren could do to keep her from running now, and she had to-

?Nazrin??

A voice echoed out from inside the building. Everyone in the clearing turned around to face it.

?Nazrin!?

Koishi?s heart collapsed.

She...she can?t be-!

It took one look at the building to know it was on its last legs. There was no way Shou would survive in there. Koishi was the first one to react to the voice.

Hang on, Shou-san! I?m coming!

She ran towards the blazing wall, finding an opening where the planks had come apart. She hurled herself through it, the wood scraping at her bare legs as she landed inside. Immediately she was engulfed in heat and fire, but even amongst the smoke she had no trouble breathing. The Ring of Breath glittered on her finger as she paced further into the corridors.

?KOISHI!?

She heard her companions cry out for her beyond the wall. There was no time to stop. Shou?s life was at risk here. She followed the sound of Shou?s voice through the corridors as she called out for her pet.

?Nazrin, I?m here!?

The voice grew louder as Koishi pushed through the burning building. The walls were giving way, and the ceiling would soon follow suit. Koishi raced onwards, at speeds no normal human could have managed. She had to save Shou. She had to-

?Ah-!?

In the distance, Koishi heard wood slamming against something. Then, the sound of a body crumpling to the floor.

No.

An icy grip clamped around Koishi?s heart. She forgot the flames for a moment, fear driving her towards the noise. She had a good idea what that sound was, but she didn?t want to accept it. Not until she saw it with her own eyes. There was still hope.

When she found the body on the floor, her worst fears came to life in front of her.

I?m too late.

Shou was lying face-down on the ground in a pool of her own blood. Her lips were a pale blue. Her chest was motionless. Even from this distance, Koishi could see the massive wound on the back of her head.

No-one could survive that.

?Master...?

A young girl sat at Shou?s side, grabbing at her hand. Tears streamed down her face as she squeezed at the Siren?s fingers, to no avail. Her mouse-like ears drooped forward, and her tail coiled around itself.

?Master, don?t leave me...?

Any rational person would have given up then. That injury was fatal, without a doubt. Koishi knew that, but in spite of it she moved towards the lifeless body, her eyes still flickering with hope. Maybe Nitori could heal her, or there was some sort of magic that would bring her back. Something. Anything.

?Ah??

Nazrin?s ears pricked up. She pulled her head upwards, staring straight at Koishi. For a moment they were lost in each other?s eyes.

Koishi caught the instant where the mouse?s expression turned venomous. Then the ceiling above caved in, and the mouse leaped backwards to clear the wreckage. It cut the corridor in two, separating the mouse from Koishi and Shou. Koishi heard the sound of tiny feet scurrying away in the other direction.

It?s not over. It can?t be over.

Koishi leaned down, grabbing Shou and lifting her onto her shoulders. The flames grew more intense around her. The walls and ceilings looked set to collapse. Carrying Shou slowed Koishi to a snail?s pace, and it was a long trip back to the exit.

I can?t think like that. Koishi shook her head. I am not giving up on her.

Distracted by her thoughts, Koishi didn?t notice the falling beam until the last minute. She broke to the side, turning herself to keep Shou out of the way. The beam crashed into her knee, sending an unimaginable burst of pain into her system.

?Hyaaah!?

Koishi?s leg gave way. She dropped to her knees, Shou almost rolling off of her shoulders. A sharp throbbing ran up her thigh in time with her pulse. It wasn?t broken, but moving it was an ordeal all on its own. Carrying someone in this state was even more of a struggle.

No. I can?t accept that.

Koishi tried over and over to rise to her feet, but her leg refused to obey. Shou tumbled off her back and onto the floor, her body flopping over like a ragdoll.

It was over, Koishi realised. She had failed.

I...can?t...

She reached out into the inferno, a plea for help dying on her lips. She felt weaker than she had ever been in her life.

To her surprise, someone snatched at her hand and pulled her away.

?What are you doing?!?

The voice belonged to the last person she had expected. As Koishi was tugged out of the flames, she saw the figure of her masked assailant pulling her towards safety.

Huh? Why would she-

There was no time to think it over. Even being pulled along, Koishi?s leg cried out every time she put pressure on it. She limped behind the masked fencer as they dashed towards the exit. Pillars and beams came apart around them. The fencer swerved around everything in her path, Koishi following on behind her.

The heat was unbearable. The pain in her knee was agonising. But more than anything, Koishi felt her heart burning up as she looked backwards at the body she?d left behind.

?There!?

The swordsman yelled as she leaped out of the rear entrance to the building, pulling Koishi out along with her. The cool air of the evening was like an oasis in the desert, and Koishi gasped in breath after breath to get the smell of smoke out of her system. She fell onto her back, finally letting her weak leg rest as she gave in to exhaustion. Behind her, the last remnants of the Myouren Institute caved in on themselves.

?Koishi-san!?

Sango was the first to run up to them, cradling Koishi?s head in her lap. The three Sirens followed behind her, covered in scrapes and bruises from the melee.

?Are you alright?? the woman behind the mask asked. Koishi managed a nod in response. The voice rang a distant bell in the back of her head.

Sango looked about, seeing one head missing from the group. ?Wait, where?s Shou-san...??

All Koishi could manage was to look towards the blazing building she?d been pulled from. Sango?s face went white.

?...Shit.? Mokou clenched her fists, then slammed them into a nearby tree. ?Shit, shit, SHIT!? Her punches echoed through the wood, almost snapping the tree in half.

Sakuya and Youmu looked at each other, then towards the flames. They hung their heads in silence, like they were guests at a funeral. Even the masked attacker joined them, her blade sheathed as she bowed her head towards the blazing remnants of the Institute.

After a minute without a word, she turned around again, looking towards Koishi. ?I need to speak to her.?

Koishi gasped. She tried to step away as the woman approached her, but every ounce of strength in her had already fled.

?Watch it, pal.? Mokou leaped in between the two before the valkyrie could get too close. ?Last time I checked, you were trying to stab her in the chest.?

The figure responded with a heaving sigh. She held her arms out in an act of surrender. ?If I attack her, you may strike me down where I stand.?

?And what?s stopping us from fighting you right now?? Sakuya asked, her expression venomous.

The valkyrie managed a small smile. ?Surely you Sirens have some semblance of honour. I saved her life, so in return I should be able to expect you to spare mine.?

Sakuya?s face only darkened, but Youmu grabbed at her shoulder. ?She?s right, Miyo. It would be unjust to leave our debt to her unpaid.?

The maid looked ready to erupt, but at last she went limp and gave up her resistance. On seeing her companions give their consent, Mokou begrudgingly stepped to the side.

?Don?t try anything funny,? she muttered.

The valkyrie smiled again. ?I wouldn?t dream of it.?

She knelt down at Koishi?s side, opposite Sango. Koishi could see a glimmer of anger in the eyes behind the mask.

?What were you thinking?? Her anger was restrained, but unmissable. ?Being a Siren doesn?t make you invincible, you know. If I hadn?t stepped in, your friends would have been mourning your death as well.?

What? How could this woman even suggest that? Koishi felt sick just looking at her. She felt her strength coming back to her as she choked out a response.

?I...I had to try and save Shou-san. I couldn?t live with myself if she...if she...?

The image flashed in front of her eyes again. Shou lying lifeless on the floor, a terrible wound still spewing blood in all directions. Koishi had to stave off the urge to vomit.

The valkyrie shook her head. ?It was too late to save her. All you managed to do was put yourself in more danger.? She frowned, and now Koishi could make out something resembling sadness in her eyes. ?This is why you don?t belong on the battlefield. You?re a threat to yourself and your companions.?

Koishi felt all the sorrow inside her transform into rage in an instant. She leaned forwards, head rising out of Sango?s lap as she glared straight at the masked woman.

?What makes you think you can tell me this? Why should I listen to a word you say??

The valkyrie frowned. For a moment she trembled, eyes uncertain, but at last she let off another sigh.

She reached up, pulling off her mask and helm.

?Because I don?t want to see you get hurt, Koishi.?

Koishi?s entire world came to a standstill at that moment. Looking down on her was a face she hadn?t seen for months, a face she had wanted to see more than anything.

But not like this.

?O-Onee-chan...??

Satori Komeiji nodded back. There was a cold determination in her eyes, along with an unmistakable glint of light. Mokou and Sango gasped in unison, while Sakuya and Youmu merely flinched.

?Koishi, I want you to promise me something.? From the bluntness of her voice, she may as well have been giving Koishi an order. ?I never want to see you as an adversary again. I went easy on you today, but next time...? She gulped, going tense as the last words leaped out of her. ?Next time, I won?t hold back. I?ll kill you if I have to.?

Koishi was no longer coherent enough to manage a response. Her mouth bobbed open and closed, but no sound came out. She felt like her body and soul had both gone entirely numb.

No, no, no, no, no...

She watched on, powerless, as Satori retreated back into the forest. Mokou leaned down over her, rubbing some sort of gel along her legs where the burns had dug into her skin. She felt the pain, but she didn?t wince at it. It was as if she was witnessing someone else playing out her life for her.

Only when the blaring sounds of a fire engine filled the air did Sango tap her on the shoulder.

?C?mon, Koishi-san. We?ve got to get out of here.? The dolphin wrapped Koishi?s arm around her shoulder, with Mokou quickly taking the other. Koishi was grateful for their help - it was all she could manage to put one foot in front of the other right now. Mokou?s salve had helped with her knee, but it still hurt to walk on.

?Can...can I go home?? she asked. More than anything, she wanted to wrap herself up in bed and pretend this had all been one horrible dream.

Sango looked back at her with a frown. ?Sorry, Koishi-san, but we can?t. We have to head to room 495.?

?But why??

Sango stared off into the distance. ?My boss has a lot of explaining to do.?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Alfred F. Jones on September 11, 2012, 10:30:58 PM
SUSPENSE!

While I fully expected Satori would be on Team Black Claw, I didn't expect to see her like this (in a combat role, I mean). This is going to be fun.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Hanzo K. on September 11, 2012, 11:02:43 PM
Wait, is Shou...actually dead..? :ohdear:
Does this mean that Naz is the one who'll inherit the role of UFO Siren?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Joveus Molai on September 11, 2012, 11:24:45 PM
...you know, I had a feeling something like this was going to happen.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: LaserTurtle on September 11, 2012, 11:39:14 PM
Um guys a siren is dead. What we do?

Yes, I know that Mokou dies all the time, but when Shou dies, she dies forever!

Though now I'm starting to wonder if Yukari expected this to happen.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on September 12, 2012, 01:16:16 AM
 :ohdear: :ohdear: :ohdear: :ohdear: :ohdear: :ohdear:

Though now I'm starting to wonder if Yukari expected this to happen.

That too, though. It seems Yukari is as black comedy as every fanon interpretation as ever [though i'm not complaining, am i? :D]

Does this mean that Naz is the one who'll inherit the role of UFO Siren?

This was also what I may see coming now that I think about it. What with what Orin and Okuu became.

ohhh the suspense one man can unfold with nothing but a keyboard and an internet connection
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on September 12, 2012, 02:01:13 AM
I think the fact that so far, only one post mentioned Satori says something; namely, that everybody knew she'd show up as a 'villain'. She's not acting mindcoiled, though, which is bad in my opinion, as I consider mind control to be a less-bad (but still bad) cliche than the whole 'actually working for the bad guys for some reason but ends up becoming one of the good guys' thing that's likely to happen now.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Hanzo K. on September 12, 2012, 02:05:01 AM
The way I see it, she's the Fate to koi-koi's Nanoha. Basically, she has her reasons for it, likely to protect koi-koi.
She said it herself that she didn't want to run into koi-koi like this.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on September 12, 2012, 03:20:18 AM
I know. I just really don't like that sort of thing. I know it's fairly normal for magical girl stories, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: KrackoCloud on September 12, 2012, 04:00:42 AM
Nazriiiiiiiin

I wouldn't be surprised if Nazrin took over the Siren role, but at the same time Shou died so quickly! I have to hope that she'll be back.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Metaflare on September 12, 2012, 05:10:45 AM
Welp

Nice knowing you Shou, you were cool for your short amount of screentime
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: BT on September 12, 2012, 06:08:43 AM
Nazrin won't take over, she's a youkai.

If won't forgive you if you somehow bring Shou back.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: CrowCakes on September 12, 2012, 11:14:30 AM
I just thought of something. But first, let me clarify: do both the White Pearl and Black Claw want the potential Sirens alive and supporting their causes, or is it just the White Pearl?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on September 12, 2012, 04:05:41 PM
I seem to recall the Claw leader lady saying something about killing one of them and extracting the Teardrop from her corpse. So no, the Claw doesn't need them alive.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: S1nZ_9001 on September 15, 2012, 06:42:22 AM
Holy.....

i needed to sign up just to say my thoughts , but it is EPIC!

I'll be eagerly awaiting the next part of your work.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on September 19, 2012, 08:20:53 PM
The sun was setting by the time the school came into view. The last few students were crawling out of the gates, murmuring to each other about the accident down by the zoo. No-one paid much mind to the group trudging back into the building with all the enthusiasm of a funeral service.

Koishi was at the back of the group, with Sango standing beside her. She still leaned on the dolphin?s shoulder as she limped along. It would take a day or two for her leg for heal, Mokou had told her. Until then, she wouldn?t be up for much in the way of physical exertion.

The rest of the Sirens had been quiet on the way back to base. Mokou?s hands were in her pockets as she looked up to the heavens. Sakuya and Youmu had been holding hands since the start of the journey. Komachi had caught up with them halfway there, lost in her own train of thought, but when they had told her about Shou?s death she had joined in on their somber walk back to headquarters.

Nitori, of course, had already been informed. Sango had called her on the way over, explaining the situation in as few words as possible. Notably, she had left Satori?s participation out of her report entirely. Koishi wasn?t sure what to think about that, but she wasn?t sure what to think about anything right now.

At last the group came to a stop in Nitori?s classroom. Sango drew the White Pearl?s symbol across the board with a lazy hand, and the wall slid open. They shuffled into the secret room one after the other, with Koishi being the last to step in.

Nitori was seated at her desk, holding her head in her hands. Her expression was utterly neutral.

?It?s good to see all of you are safe,? she said. The words sounded generic, like she was using them for lack of anything else to say. Her voice was quiet, barely alive.

The crowd broke apart as Sango stepped forward. She tugged Koishi along with her, stopping right in front of Nitori?s desk. Anger swept across her face, darker than anything Koishi had ever seen from her.

?Boss, what the hell do you think is going on??

Sango squeezed at Koishi?s hand like a vice. The Siren fought back a yelp.

?We saw her, boss. We saw Satori-san. And she?s working with the Claw now.?

Nitori?s eyes almost popped out of her skull. An instant later, she was hanging her head in shame.

?You must?ve figured this out,? Sango continued. ?She was in the car when we were helping Youmu-san. You must have tracked her DNA or something. We thought she was dead, for crying out loud!?

Koishi?s mouth went dry. Every muscle in her body went tense. Nitori looked down on her, gulping like a child caught in a lie. The kappa clenched her teeth, slamming her hands against the desk.

?What do you want from me?? she said, glaring at Sango.

?I want you to explain everything to her,? Sango replied, squeezing at Koishi?s hand again. ?We can?t lie like this any more.?

Nitori paused, then nodded at last. She turned the seat back towards Koishi, her hands fidgeting with nerves.

?Koishi-san, there?s something we never told you before.? She sighed, like she was trying to heave the truth out of her chest. ?You...weren?t the first Siren we detected. There was another before you, an unusually early bloomer compared to the rest of the Sirens. The Claw got to her before we could protect her.?

She hung her head in shame. ?It was Satori-san. That happened a few months before you awakened to your power. We hadn?t seen anything of her since then, so we had assumed she was dead. I didn?t expect the Claw to use her as a soldier.?

She looked into Koishi?s eyes with guilt, but an undeniable conviction. She had no intention of repenting.

?...So you knew?? Koishi?s voice trembled. Her hand clenched at Sango?s, tight enough to make her bones creak. ?Sango-san, you knew what happened to Satori all this time??

The dolphin winced. ?Aaah-I, I wanted to tell you, but-?

?I ordered it,? Nitori interrupted, slamming the desk again. ?I told Sango to stay quiet about your sister.?

Koishi let out a little gasp. She let go of Sango?s hand, and the dolphin backed off to tend to her injury. Koishi turned back to Nitori, her whole body beginning to shiver.

?Why?? The first word was almost choked out, but she found strength with every word that followed. ?Why would you lie to me like that? I spent months worried about her, and you...?

Nitori took a deep breath, like she was trying to reinforce herself. ?What would have happened if I did tell you? Like I said, we all thought your sister was dead. How would you have reacted to that??

The worst part was knowing that she was right. That sort of news would have broken Koishi long before now. If anything, she should have been thanking Nitori for protecting her from the truth for so long.

?I...I don?t...?

Koishi stammered, toppling forward and grabbing at the desk for support. Her knee began to throb again, making it difficult to stand. Sango was looming over her in an instant, holding her upright.

?Easy, Koishi-san.? She held Koishi tightly but tenderly, as if the Siren was made of glass. ?You?ve been through a lot recently. You?re heading home to recover for a few days.?

Nitori nodded in concurrence. ?I agree. Koishi-san, you?re off duty until further notice.?

Koishi?s heart dropped. ?What? No! I have to-?

?No, Koishi-san.? The compassion dropped out of Nitori?s voice in an instant. ?You?re injured. Right now, you aren?t in a fit state to help anybody.?

Again, Nitori?s words rung painfully true. Koishi went limp in Sango?s grip, managing a tiny nod in consent. She felt like half a dozen weights were stacked on her shoulders, forcing her to slump forward at all times.

As she was led out of the room, Koishi vaguely heard her companions offering their condolences. She was barely listening, and the voices all meshed together into one illegible mess. She caught words, fragments, promises that things would be okay. Her friends were coming for her in her time of need, but all Koishi could think was that they were too late.

And if I hadn?t messed up, Shou-san would be here too.

Koishi buried her face in Sango?s arm as they left the school. She leaned into Sango as hard as she could, putting as little weight as possible on her weak knee. She wrapped her arms around Sango for the whole journey, sniffling and drying her face on the dolphin?s sleeve.

?It?s alright, Koishi-san. It?s going to be okay...?

Sango gave her a gentle pat on the back to lead her along. The sun had set by the time they made it back home. Sango let them both in, still handling Koishi like she would shatter if Sango pressed too hard.

?You should probably get some sleep,? Sango said. ?You want me to bunk with you for now??

Koishi hesitated for a few seconds before shaking her head. ?No. I think I?ll be fine. You?ll be sleeping next door anyway, won?t you??

?Sure thing.?

As she led Koishi to her bedroom, two sets of frantic footsteps charged through the house.

?Koishi-sama!? Rin scurried towards her master, arms outwards for a hug. ?How did things g-? She stopped halfway when she saw the empty look in Koishi?s eyes. ?K-Koishi-sama??

Behind her, Utsuho poked her head out of the doorway. The bird mirrored Rin?s concern almost perfectly. They looked at one another, then back to Koishi, both waiting for the other to make the first move.

It was Koishi who finally broke the deadlock by falling into their embrace.

?Hello, you two,? she said. ?I?m sorry, I...I?ve had a long day. I think I?m going to need to rest for a while, so-?

Her two pets hugged her back, and Koishi basked in their warmth.

?Koishi-sama, I was worried this would happen...? Rin gave her a pat on the head, her ears drooping. ?You can rest easy now, okay? We?ll take care of everything.?

Utsuho nodded in agreement, bringing her wings around to circle Koishi. Their feathers tickled at her arms.

?Koishi-sama...you?ve spent so long looking after us," the raven said. "Now it?s our chance to make it up to you.?

The hug kindled the tiny fire left in Koishi?s heart. She managed a smile as she pulled out of the embrace.

?Thanks, you two.? She yawned louder than she ever had in her life. ?I think I need to get some sleep for now, though. Don?t make too much noise, alright??

The pets saluted back to her. ?Yes, ma?am!? they yelled in unison. They practically carried Koishi to her bedroom, pushing her through the doorway.

?Goodnight, Koishi-sama.? Rin winked. ?We?ll make you breakfast tomorrow, okay??

Koishi nodded. ?That?d be wonderful. Goodnight, you two.? She closed the door with a quiet creak. She put her ear close to the wood, waiting to hear her pets move away.

When she was sure she was alone, she finally let the tears begin to flow. She leaped onto her bed, burying her face in a pillow to choke out her sobs. She let out every bit of emotion she?d been holding back, only stopping when there were no more tears left to shed.

She threw her clothes to the floor as she pulled out a nightgown from the closet. She didn?t bother with menial chores like brushing her teeth, opting instead to collapse onto her bed and bury herself beneath the covers. The whole day?s exertion was catching up with her, and it was a struggle just to keep her eyes open.

When she closed them, Shou leaped into her vision. She was smiling, laughing, dancing about in front of Koishi?s eyes, only for the image to give way to Shou as Koishi had last seen her. Her vision jumped between the Siren?s endless energy and her lifeless corpse, switching between the two seemingly at random. The wound on Shou?s head was deeper every time Koishi saw it, and she couldn?t look at it for more than five seconds without pulling her eyes open and fighting back a scream.

After an hour of trying and failing to fall asleep, Koishi turned about in her bed. She stared at the wardrobe again, at a teddy bear gathering dust in the back corner. It was a toy she?d adored as a child, but she?d grown out of it by the age of fifteen.

Without a hint of shame, she rose out of bed, burrowed the teddy bear out from amongst the rest of the wardrobe?s debris, and pulled it back into bed with her.

It?s not Sango-san, but it?s as close as I?ll get.

She squeezed the toy with all her might, feeling its soft fur stroking at her hands. As she let her eyes drift shut again Shou was nowhere to be seen, and she finally felt alone as she passed into a quiet slumber.

Her dreams were another story.

-----

How did it come to this?

Satori was alone with her thoughts, sitting on the floor of the cell. This had been her holding chamber once, but it had become her personal quarters after she had pledged her allegiance. It was both airtight and soundproof, and placed well away from the schools of fish that circled the fortress.

She looked down at the bulbous red eye dangling from her chest. It was a part of her bloodline, or so she'd been told. In her Siren form it disappeared, and she could use its power as she willed; otherwise, it took in the thoughts of everyone around her, whether she wanted it to or not. This was the only place she could go to feel truly alone with herself.

Now she had plenty of space to wallow in her own frustration.

Koishi. How had she been wrapped up in this madness? She wasn?t made for war. She was still just a little girl trying to play hero. It was better for everyone if she just stopped fighting.

But what if she doesn?t? What if she keeps going?

Satori clenched her fists. She?d put on a brave front when they first met. Could she really bring herself to fight her own sister? Even with everything that was at stake, could she turn against her own family? It was a question she had no clear answer to. She sat in contemplation for what must have been hours, the conundrum tumbling around her skull non-stop.

She was interrupted by the sound of someone else?s mind. It was a feeling akin to fingers scratching at her skull, along with whispered voices in her ear. She caught a familiar flurry of vows to ?beat up that dolphin the next time I see her?.

?Come in, Jozu.?

The shark stepped through the first of the two doors to Satori?s room. The Siren heard the water churning out of the airlock before Jozu stepped into the cell, dripping water onto the bricks.

?The boss is ready to talk to you.?

Satori nodded as she rose to her feet. She stretched like she was waking up from a long sleep, making sure her Ring of Breath was firmly lodged on her finger. She had no need to worry about her Teardrop - it was sewn into the fabric of her wetsuit, a violet gem hanging over the centre of her chest. She?d been wearing this outfit ever since she had agreed with work with the Claw, simply for the sake of practicality.

She took Jozu?s hand and led her back into the airlock. The door closed behind them, and the room was flooded in a matter of seconds. Satori was so used to it that she barely paid it mind any more, the ring humming on her finger every time she breathed in. She pushed forward into the water, swimming through the fort?s hallways with Jozu at her side.

?I heard about what happened up there.? Jozu said with a frown. She squeezed lightly at Satori?s hand. ?You gonna be alright??

Satori managed a smile. ?I?ll be fine,? she said. ?I?m just...surprised, that?s all.?

?Yeah, I can imagine.? Jozu looked up, through one of the fort?s windowed ceilings. The surface of the water couldn?t even be seen from here. ?Who?d have thought your sister was partners with the Wonder Dolphin??

Satori?s smile grew wider. ?Wonder Dolphin? You have a different name for that girl every day. You?re obsessed with her, I swear.?

?It?s not obsession!? Jozu growled. ?She?s my rival. It?s practically my job to fight her. I?m just working lots and lots of overtime, alright??

Satori chuckled. This was just the sort of small talk she needed right now. It was a chance to get some distance from the surface affair, a chance to recover before she talked with her superior about it. She gave the shark a little pat on the back, stroking at her jagged fin.

?...Seriously, though, I hope your sister listens to you,? Jozu said, her expression growing serious again. ?It must be hard enough for you already, going against your people like this.?

The Siren nodded. It had been hard for her. For the first few weeks she had refused to co-operate, but gradually she?d come to understand what the Claw was fighting for. She had come to terms with the decisions she had made since then - at least, until this.

?...Yes. I hope so, too,? Satori replied. She was speaking to herself as much as she was speaking to Jozu. With any luck, Koishi would listen to reason, and there?d be nothing left to worry about.

At last Jozu brought Satori into the main throne room of the fortress. The walls were patterned with sapphires and emeralds shaped like fish, a priceless mosaic on every side. A red carpet ran along the floor, leading up to a golden throne that was currently uninhabited. It was crowned with a shimmering stone, with seven tear-shaped holes engraved into it. Satori clutched at her chest as she approached the throne.

That?s what I have to do. Collect all seven, and things will be right again.

Jozu came to a stop halfway down the hall, letting Satori continue on her own. She fell to her knees at the foot of the throne, bowing her head to an unseen ruler.

You wished to speak with me, Siren?

A voice echoed through the very currents of the room. Satori trembled as the sound struck her, the water itself resounding with pride and majesty.

?Yes, ma?am. I?d like to ask some questions about our last operation.?

Her words were frustratingly indirect. She had never actually met the head of the Black Claw in person. Almost no-one had, in fact - only Jozu had ever seen her face, and she was sworn to silence on that matter. Supposedly it was to keep her identity secret in case an agent was kidnapped and interrogated, which made sense in a twisted sort of way.

What is it? The stern voice already gave Satori little room for small talk. Toramaru?s death was unfortunate, but unavoidable. There was nothing that could have been done to prevent it.

The plan had been simple. The Myouren Institute was too closed off for the Claw to do its job properly. Instead, they would burn it down to leave the Siren in the open before capturing her.

Instead, the Siren Satori was meant to apprehend had jumped into the fire, and died before she could be rescued. They hadn?t even recovered her Teardrop. It had been a failure, but Satori had already come to terms with that.

?No, that?s not it,? Satori said, shaking her head. ?It?s about...it?s about Koishi.? She took a deep breath. ?I?m not sure if I?ll be able to fight her.?

Silence. The water cooled down, sending a chill down Satori?s spine.

Siren. Do you recall the vow you made when you joined us?

Satori gulped. Of course she did. It was an oath spoken by every member of the Black Claw during their initiation.

?I solemnly swear that I shall fight ?til my last breath, to reclaim that which the humans have stolen.? She recited it without even stopping to think.

Precisely. You promised me your undying loyalty. Are you saying now that your determination is wavering?

The water grew colder again. Satori hugged herself to maintain her warmth.

?No, ma?am, I-?

Then what are you doing here? The room trembled as the echoing voice grew more intense. I will not tolerate uncertainty within my ranks. If you are not our ally, you are merely another human. The voice spat the last word out as if it was vomiting.

Satori began to shiver. Even though her superior wasn?t there in person, she had an immense presence that made Satori?s blood dance in her veins. Satori's heart gained pace in her chest, the first tendrils of fear seeping into her. She blurted out her request in one long string of words.

?I want you to talk to her. Please. She just needs to hear our side of the story, and then she?ll understand.?

The water was so cold now that Satori expected it to freeze around her. You think that you can make demands of me?

?It?s not a demand. Just a request.? Satori bowed forward, pressing her forehead against the carpet. ?This is all I?ll ever ask of you, I swear.?

There was a moment of silence before the chill in the water resided. The tides calmed to a stop as the voice recomposed itself.

...Very well. Perhaps now is the best time to make your sister understand our ways.

Satori nodded, rising up only to bow again. ?Thank you, ma?am. Nothing else to report.? She rose to her feet, swimming away from the throne with a weight lifted from her shoulders. The head of the Black Claw was a brilliant negotiator. If anyone could make Koishi see the truth, it was her.

Jozu was waiting to take her back to her cell at the end of the hallway. The shark?s expression was complicated, but her mind was a mish-mash of emotions too jumbled for Satori to decipher. She was strange like that - most youkai had rather simple thought processes, but Jozu's thoughts sometimes descended into what Satori heard as white noise. As she led the Siren back to her quarters, Jozu?s hand gripped hers a little bit tighter.

?What?s wrong?? Satori asked.

Jozu looked back towards the throne room, then to Satori. She bit her lip, and for a moment Satori could make out one thought rising above the rest in Jozu?s mind. Before she could hear it, it was gone.

?It?s nothing,? Jozu said with a shrug of her shoulders. ?Let?s just get ready for our next mission, alright??

Satori eyed the shark curiously, before finally managing a nod. Her nervousness left Satori uneasy, but she knew from experience that when Jozu wanted to keep a secret it stayed hidden. She let the thought pass out of her head, tuning out the sounds of Jozu?s mind.

Koishi was going to be taken care of. The only thing holding Satori back would soon be a non-issue. Now Satori could focus solely on her duties.

The fate of the youkai people was in her hands.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Kasu on September 19, 2012, 09:18:56 PM
Well crap. Seems like things are gonna get even more intense.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Esifex on September 22, 2012, 12:08:23 AM
omg you're using the nicknames I assembled for Sango aren't you
you totally are omg I love you
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: UndyingHunterKamigama on September 22, 2012, 06:03:55 PM
Having read the latest chapters, knew the story was going way too direct. Man this is bad.


But wait, how many Sirens are there left? With one dead I think a problem is going to rise.
Also, Satori better explain her reasons of joining the other side on the next chapters.


As always, another great chapter of DRK
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Hanzo K. on September 22, 2012, 06:45:00 PM
Odds are pretty likely she's doing it to protect Koi-koi.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on September 26, 2012, 05:26:29 PM
Mokou was used to waking up early, but usually with a little more sleep than this.

Last night had been difficult. Nitori had ordered them to meet at the school at dawn to catch Keine on the way in; if she didn?t arrive, they were to make a beeline for her house and confront her there. They?d have struck right away if there hadn?t been injuries to tend to.

Mokou had been in bed for seven hours, but little of that time had been spent asleep. The weight of Shou?s death only struck her when she arrived home, and she spent most of the night imagining how things could have gone. She dragged herself towards the meeting point, bringing along a satchel and hugging it every so often.

She was the last to arrive, which was unusual for her. Sakuya and Youmu were leaning on the school?s front gate, both looking ready to fall over. Komachi was better at hiding her fatigue, but sometimes her eyes would flutter closed only to pop back open moments later. None of them had slept any better than Mokou had, apparently.

Luckily, Mokou had prepared for this.

?Here you go, guys.? She opened the satchel she had brought with her and dug into it. She handed out flasks to the other Sirens, all filled with viscous brown liquids. ?Not my best brew, but it should keep us conscious until we haul her in.?

The drink was foul, but its effect was profound. Even Komachi had to stand upright as a bolt of energy charged through her system. Youmu downed hers in a swig without even flinching, while Sakuya sipped at hers more tentatively.

?Needs more sugar,? she said.

?Hey, I?ve never made this before. I just threw a bunch of stuff in a blender and hoped for the best.?

It was a little more thought-out than Mokou was implying, but it had the vile aftertaste of a science experiment. Regardless, it did its job. In spite of their lack of sleep and rest, the Sirens were as ready for combat as they?d ever be. After half an hour with no sign of their target, they started on a steady pace for Keine's place of residence. There was no guarantee the woman would even be there - she may well have fled after last night?s attack.

?So what?s the plan?? Komachi asked. ?I mean, if we get holda this woman, what are we supposed to do with her??

No-one answered immediately. Even Nitori?s orders on that front had been deliberately vague - she?d only told them to ?do whatever was necessary?. That could have meant anything, but it was Sakuya who gave her interpretation first.

?We kill her, obviously.? She shrugged as if it was obvious, unconcerned by the three deathglares that fell on her as a result. ?She?s an enemy agent. She?d kill any of us given half a chance.?

Mokou tried to think the problem over, but her head was still clouded with emotion. The idea was alluring in its own way. Keine had killed Shou, after all. Wasn?t it unfair on Shou not to seek payback?

...No, that?s not it.

She knew better than anyone how fruitless vengeance could be. She cleared her throat and gathered her nerves.

?We can?t just kill her, Sakuya-san. We?ll capture her if we have to. I?m sure the boss will be able to get something useful out of her.?

Sakuya rolled her eyes. ?Oh, of course she?ll co-operate once we have her locked up. And where are we meant to hide her? Right in the middle of our base of operations??

This time it was Komachi who interjected. ?Kid, the health nut has a point. Where I?m from, we?ve got rules about justice. You can?t just ice people, Sakuya-san. That makes you a vigilante.?

?So what, you?d go easy on her when she just burned down an orphanage?? Sakuya grabbed at her temples, grimacing with frustration. ?Honestly, the whole lot of you are so naive that I-?

Youmu?s hand grabbed at Sakuya?s shoulder, stopping her cold in her tracks. ?Miyo, they?re right.? She spoke quietly, but with determination. ?If we kill Keine-san, we?re falling to the Black Claw?s level. I can?t believe you?re even considering something like that.?

Sakuya seemed especially sensitive to her sister?s words. She went stiff for an instant before heaving out a massive breath.

?...I can?t promise I won?t act in self-defense. Understand??

A flurry of nods followed. The quartet continued onwards, but the atmosphere among them was painfully grim. No-one seemed to know how to break the silence that followed.

Where?s Koishi-san when you need her? Mokou thought to herself. She?d find something to say at a time like this. She turned around to examine the motley crew she was traveling with - a nigh-homicidal card-sharp maid, a prosecutor with a very colourful history, and a swordsman who had only recently come to terms with her femininity.

Mokou smirked. They looked like something out of a bad punchline.

Eventually, Keine?s residence came into view. It was a small, unassuming cottage, almost a block away from the next house. A single light was on in the sitting room, and Mokou could make out a silhouette sitting within. The front door hung slightly open, creaking as if to beckon them inside.

The Sirens observed it from a safe distance, with various levels of surprise.

?This is too easy,? Mokou said. ?It?s gotta be a trap.?

?Oh, undoubtedly.? Sakuya had already grabbed at her Teardrop. ?Should we go for the window, then??

?Hey, look at how small that thing is.? Komachi pointed at the window, then looked down at her chest. ?Iunno about you, but there?s no way I?m gettin? through there.?

Youmu opened her mouth for an answer, but Komachi?s derailment onto the subject of her chest was enough to stun her into silence. She blushed for almost half a minute before she managed to regain her composure.

Two minutes later, no-one had decided on a safe way to approach the situation. The whole thing just seemed too welcoming, like Keine was begging to be attacked. Anything and everything could be a trap.

?Oh, to hell with this.? Mokou cracked her neck. This was going nowhere. ?In for a penny-!?

She was off to a running start before anyone could stop her. With no witnesses in sight, she raised her Teardrop to the air and let it glisten in her hand.

?Fujiyama Phoenix, Rise!?

She was engulfed in her own flames as she rolled through the front door. She rolled forwards, covering her head to prepare for the inevitable barrage of blows that would rain down on her.

She only looked up when Sakuya poked her in the side.

?What do you think you?re doing??

Mokou laughed awkwardly as she pulled herself up to her feet. ?If there?d been a bomb or something in the doorway, you?d be thanking me right now.?

?Actually, I?d be thanking your corpse, but that?s another matter.?

The rest of the Sirens had followed Mokou?s lead, taking on their Siren forms. Mokou was still on point, taking one cautious step after another towards the sitting room. Youmu hung right behind her, with Sakuya and Komachi at the rear for long-range cover.

They were surprised to find Keine still in the sitting room, as she had been when they were outside. She hadn?t even tried to hide herself. She looked up at the Sirens, lips trembling as she tried to speak.

?I knew you would be looking for me.?

Slowly, she pulled herself to her feet, her eyes never moving away from the Sirens. Mokou raised her fists, ready for Keine to unleash hell on them.

The last thing she expected was for Keine to fall to her knees and bow.

?Please, listen. You don?t understand. I never meant to hurt anyone, I swear...?

Mokou gasped. Keine was sobbing like a child in front of her, begging for forgiveness over and over. She?d been expecting a climactic battle with the villain who?d killed one of their own, not a defenseless woman pleading for mercy.

?This is...pathetic,? Sakuya said with a raised eyebrow. ?I would have expected a murderer to face her fate with a little more courage than this.?

Mokou winced at the sight of Keine. She?d come here looking to bury a hatchet, but looking down on her Mokou couldn?t help but feel an ounce of pity seep into her system.

?Well, whatever. If she isn?t going to kill us, we may as well start asking our questions.? Sakuya had no such impediment, eyes burrowing into the teacher without a hint of remorse. ?So tell me - what possesses a high-school teacher to randomly burn down an orphanage??

No-one else seemed willing or able to move. Keine stared up at the maid, mouth bobbing open and shut without making any sound. She wiped at her face, sitting up to face them.

?S-She told me to do it.?

Mokou?s brow dropped. ?Who? Who told you??

The words crawled out of Keine?s mouth, dripping onto the floor in front of her.

?T-The nurse. She didn?t give me a choice...?

-----

I just thought it was a shame to see an animal suffer like that.

The wound had ripped off a chunk of its flesh. Dark-red blood splashed across the floor, forming gruesome patterns alongside the flickering flames. She wanted to run, but her legs had frozen in place. Looking down on herself, she saw her knee shackled to a ball and chain.

We?re both stuck in a cage at the end of the day.

The corpse shuddered, long-dead muscle and bone rising upwards. It let out a low, feral moan as it rose to its feet. One of its eyeballs had fallen out, leaving a gaping hole in its face. Blood oozed out, pumping as if its heart had started all over again.

She felt her stomach heave, but her body wouldn?t even let her throw up. She could not look away. She could not escape. All she could do was watch.

The creature raised one rigid arm, pointing it straight forward. Its face warped as it let out a wretched cry of agony. It grew louder and louder, to the point where nothing else existed.

?HYAAAAAAAAAH!?

Koishi screamed as she bolted upright, both hands smothering the teddy bear she?d taken to bed with her. Her clothes and bedsheets were soaked with sweat, and her face was still wet where she had been crying. Almost as soon as she awoke, panicked footsteps barged down the corridor.

?Koishi-san! What happened?!?

Sango was first on the scene, scanning the room for intruders. Koishi?s pets were right on her tail, fighting amongst each other to be the first into the room. Koishi didn?t need to say a word to them - the look on her face said more than enough.

?Ah, Koishi-sama...? Utsuho walked over to the side of the bed, wrapping her arms and wings around her owner. ?It?s okay, it was just a nightmare. You?re safe now...?

Koishi returned the hug, squeezing as hard as she could at the raven?s waist. Rin joined in the hug soon afterward, purring as she nuzzled at Koishi?s face.

Had it been a dream? It must have been, Koishi thought to herself. But it felt so real, so frightening, that she struggled to believe it. She hadn?t had a dream that vivid since Satori had disappeared. She had forgotten the primal terror that flooded her now, every muscle rigid from fear.

It took two minutes for the feeling to decline. Koishi?s panicked gasps to gave way to slow, controlled breaths as her pets moved away. She felt as if she was seven years old again, being tended to by her father after night terrors.

At least I don?t wet myself nowadays.

As soon as she stood up, a familiar pain popped up in her knee. It was strong enough to stand on, but any sort of exercise was too much for her to bear right now. She looked down on herself, her clothes clinging to her slender frame. She grabbed a nightgown from the nearby wardrobe.

?I?m going to have a bath.?

?Do you need any help?? Utsuho asked. ?I can carry you into the bath if you need me to.?

Rin?s ears drooped. ?I was gonna make that offer. Why?d you have to beat me to it??

?I?m fine, you two,? Koishi said to interrupt them, already headed for the door. ?Thanks for offering, though.?

The pets nodded along in understanding. Rin ran off to the kitchen to cook up something thoroughly unhealthy for breakfast, and Utsuho followed behind to sort through the family mail. Sango stood outside of the bathroom as Koishi locked the door behind her, stripping down as she filled up the bathtub.

?Are you going to need any help in there?? Sango asked from the other side of the door.

?I?ll be fine,? Koishi answered. ?Besides, I?m not wearing anything, so it would be a little awkward.?

That was a good enough answer to silence Sango. Koishi could practically feel the heat wafting off the dolphin as her imagination ran away with her. The Siren smiled weakly as she lowered herself into the water, washing herself clean with a bar of soap.

There was still an ugly mark where the beam had struck her. The wood had drawn a cross along her knee, leaving a scar that ran several inches deep. She wasn?t sure if it would ever heal - the muscle beneath it could knit back together, but she had been left with a permanent souvenir from the Myouren Institute.

Looking at the wound pulled Koishi back into the events of the night before. She grabbed at the ring lying among the rest of her clothing, slipped it onto her finger, and dipped her head into the water. She felt alone with her thoughts beneath the surface, even knowing that Sango was standing outside.

She was numb as she placed one hand over her chest. It felt like there was a hole where her heart should have been, and everything was seeping out of her. Within a few days, there would be nothing left but an empty shell.

I failed.

There was no simpler way to put it. Shou had been her responsibility. If she?d been doing her job properly, Koishi would have kept her safe. Instead, she?d left an innocent girl to die in the ruins of her own home.

All I had to do was look after her...

Koishi was silent. She wasn?t sure how long she spent under the water, letting last night?s events sink in. She only surfaced when she heard Sango knocking on the door to make sure Koishi hadn?t drowned herself. By then the water was barely lukewarm, and she hauled herself out and dried herself with a nearby towel. She heaved on the nightgown she had brought in with her - she had no intention of leaving the house today, so getting dressed seemed like too much effort.

?You alright?? Sango asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. Koishi wasn?t sure how she felt. She wasn?t sure if she felt much of anything anymore. She gave a shrug, unable to give a straight answer.

?Breakfast is served, Koishi-sama!? Rin hollered from the kitchen. Koishi heeded the call, sitting herself at the dining table. Sango followed her in, licking her lips in excitement. The dolphin reached into the fridge, pulling out a tin of canned mackerel and spooned it onto a plate. She pulled up the seat next to Koishi before digging into her meal.

Koishi?s breakfast consisted of a plate of burnt toast. The room still held the faint smell of smoke. She barely noticed, grabbing at the toast and biting down on it. It was so hard she almost broke a tooth.

?Um, sorry about that.? The cat chuckled anxiously as she looked away. ?I saw you use that toaster thingy before, but I didn?t realise you had to take it out before it went all black and stuff.?

Koishi nodded, forcing another smile. ?It?s alright, Rin. You did your best.? She continued to devour her breakfast, paying no attention to the lack of garnish. All that mattered was that it was edible.

Rin looked down on her with such pity that Koishi began to wonder who the real pet in the relationship was. The cat turned to Sango, lip quivering. ?Is she gonna be alright??

?Physically, yeah. Mentally...? Sango joined in, aiming a second look of sorrow at Koishi. ?I?m not sure. She?s been through a lot.?

Koishi was barely listening. She felt the world falling out of focus around her, like she was slowly shifting out of existence. Her heart and soul continued to pour out of the hole in her chest. She hadn?t felt this empty since Satori had disappeared.

And now she wants to kill me.

Her eyes started to mist up. Another hole for her emotions to seep out of. She let her tears flow freely, hoping that eventually she?d run herself dry. She felt a hand press on her shoulder, vaguely heard Rin say that things would be alright.

She was wrong, Koishi thought. Things weren?t alright. Things would never be alright. Not after-

Ding-dong.

A bell chimed through the house, pulling Koishi back into reality. Utsuho rushed into the dining room, two piles of letters under her arms.

?Um, Koishi-sama, there?s a lady at the door. She says she?s from your school.?

Ah. This was a school day, now that she thought about it. She?d had a few questionable absences thanks to her Siren work, so of course someone was going to get suspicious. She rubbed at her eyes and took a deep breath as she stood up.

?Stay in here, you three. I?ll take care of this.?

The pets nodded, and Sango was too busy eating to respond. Koishi made the trip to the front door alone, straightening up her nightgown as she came to the door. She was ready to show her guest the mark on her leg if she needed a suitable alibi.

?Koishi-san? Are you in??

Koishi recognised the voice instantly. Iku Nagae, the school nurse. She was probably here to check up on the after-class incident she had walked in on. Koishi opened the door, stepping aside to let her in.

?Good morning, Nagae-san.?

The woman chuckled. ?How many times do I have to tell you to call me Iku? You should lighten up more around your elders, Koishi-san.?

She had an irresistible smile, Koishi noticed. When she grinned, Koishi couldn?t help but join in. Her bright grin was a strange contrast to the jet-black dress she was wearing.

?Anyway, let?s get down to business,? Iku said as she bowed her head. ?I need some alone time with you, Koishi-san.?

?Is this about my absence?? Koishi pulled up her nightgown to reveal the scar she?d received during last night?s injury. ?I was in hospital last night after I-?

She never got to finish the sentence.

Iku bolted forward like a flash of lightning. Her arms wrapped around Koishi?s waist, her face so close that Koishi felt the nurse?s breath on her cheek. Her smile seemed sharper, verging on sardonic.

?I?ve been wanting to do this for a while, Koishi-san,? Iku whispered in her ear. ?It took so long to get you away from that dolphin friend of yours.?

Koishi tried to scream, but as she opened her mouth Iku?s lips pressed against hers. Something slithered down her tongue, and as it reached the back of her throat she fought back the urge to gag. The creature slid moved upwards, past her nose, towards her-

Aaah!

Her body felt like it was made of lead. She tried to move her arms, but they refused to obey. She watched them rise and fall, seemingly of their own volition. Black tendrils curled into her vision, crawling along her eyes. Iku broke away from the kiss, patting her on the head with a sly smile.

?Doesn?t that feel so much better??

Koishi tried to move, but her legs were planted to the ground. She heaved and struggled just to open her mouth, words creaking out of her at a glacial pace.

?What...have...you...?

?What have I done?? Iku was polite enough to finish Koishi?s sentence for her. ?Oh, it?s nothing much. Since you have a terrible habit of overriding my normal coils, I saved you something a little special.?

The weight increased, and Koishi?s voice died in her throat. She could feel something wrapping around her brain, like a spider building its web inside her skull. The tendrils expanded across her vision, and she couldn?t even blink to bat them away.

?Normally, my coils split your psyche as I see fit, but that wouldn?t work on you. Your little parlor tricks would just let you slip back out again. But this...? She grinned maniacally, an inventor waxing poetic about her masterpiece. ?Slowly but surely, it?s locking your whole consciousness away in the back of your head. It?ll put you somewhere where you can?t interfere with my work.?

She reached into her dress, pulling out a shimmering gold key. Koishi could only see through the slits left by the tendrils, but she would recognise that light anywhere.

?Your body, on the other hand, will be of some use to me. Be a dear and kill those other Sirens for me, would you??

Iku gave Koishi another pat on the head before turning for the door. Koishi could only watch her go, squinting as the tendrils began to block what little vision she had left. Her consciousness was growing hazy.

She felt her body move on its own, carrying her back to the kitchen. The last of her sight was gone, but she could still hear the world around her.

?So, Koishi-san, who was i-? Sango stopped mid-sentence. ?K-Koishi-san? Are you alright??

Koishi wanted to tell her pets to run, but she had long-since lost control of herself. She felt a stabbing pain as the Black Key was rammed into her chest, heard the shimmering of magic as she took on her new form.

?Come on, you three,? she said, another voice speaking with her mouth. ?Koishi-sama has some hunting to do.?

Sango was the first to react. ?You two, get out of here! She?s been-? Her voice was cut short as Koishi heard a whip lashing through the air. Sango?s body slumped to the floor.

?Koishi-sama!? Utsuho cried out, grabbing Koishi by the shoulders and shaking her. ?What?s wrong with you? What are you doing!??

Whatever was controlling Koishi at that point did not answer. There were two more whip-cracks, two cries cut short. Now even the sounds were muffled and hard to make out.

What have I done...?

Then she was falling, down into a void deeper than anything she had ever seen in her life. She fell for what felt like an eternity, surrounded by walls that pulsed and throbbed in macabre rhythms.

When she landed, it was with a splash.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: BT on September 26, 2012, 06:08:04 PM
When is Sango getting the award for best bodyguard in history?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Hanzo K. on September 26, 2012, 06:22:43 PM
...Well fuck.

(I could've been wordy and elaborate, but that wasn't an adequate way of expressing myself this time around.)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Kasu on September 26, 2012, 07:00:24 PM
...Well fuck.
Took the words right outta my mouth.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on September 26, 2012, 07:25:34 PM
*Sighs*

You know, I knew this was going to happen. I think I remarked about it in the past, something along the lines of really not wanting it to happen, but I was still pretty sure it would. And it did.

Also, Iku? Really? Not only did you make that red-herring levels of obvious, but Iku? I've liked how you've done most of the interpretations, but I don't think you can pull off a villanous Iku. I just don't see how that could possibly work (unless you're pulling a lame-ass fakeout).


So yeah, not exactly my favorite chapter. The story's still good, but this chapter? Not so much, IMO.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: BT on September 26, 2012, 09:08:34 PM
Also, Iku? Really? Not only did you make that red-herring levels of obvious, but Iku? I've liked how you've done most of the interpretations, but I don't think you can pull off a villanous Iku. I just don't see how that could possibly work (unless you're pulling a lame-ass fakeout).
I don't see how that's a problem. If anything, it would be interesting to see how it works out.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Yaersulf on September 26, 2012, 09:14:24 PM
Nooooo, my hopes and dreams of a peaceful and heartwarming recovery arc! Shattered!

In all seriousness though, nice twist Rou, didn't see a lot of that coming! :)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on September 26, 2012, 10:40:47 PM
Oh shit.

You are lucky i caught this at lunch today, Rou.

This is going to be interesting. And I have a feeling to know who is going to save the day.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: King_Rule on September 26, 2012, 10:58:18 PM
Koishi's Heart-Throbbing Adventure.





*shudders*
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on September 26, 2012, 11:31:50 PM
This is going to be interesting. And I have a feeling to know who is going to save the day.

It is kind of obvious.

Which brings up another thing: Rou, why the hell did Iku just do something that's pretty much certain to turn Satori against her? Really, that's just extremely ****ing stupid on Iku's part. I realize this sort of thing happens in a lot of magical girl series, but it's stupid there, too. As far as I'm concerned, it's just bad writing, and you're a better writer than that. Surely you could have come up with a better trigger for Satori to switch sides, one that didn't rely on Iku taking hold of the Idiot Ball.

This chapter was something of a major plunge in quality, IMO. Here's hoping the next one is back up to previous standards.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: LaserTurtle on September 27, 2012, 01:21:35 AM
Well from the way I see it, Iku is trying to kill either of the Komejis by having them fight it out. Satori doesn't have the mindcoil removal powers Koishi does, so she'll have to kill Koishi if she wins. That'll probably break Satori when she realizes what she has done, and even if she refuses to continue fighting for the Black Claw, she's mindcoil material. If she kills herself, the Black Claw will extract the shirikodama teardrop. If Koishi wins, the Black Claw has something better than a mind reader under its control. Win-win.

...Of course, this is based on bad guy logic. Good guy logic declares that Koishi will power through the not-a-mindcoil through faith in her friends at the crucial moment.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on September 27, 2012, 01:27:38 AM
Satori's defection would hurt the Claw far more than just from losing a member. Don't forget about how much she no doubt knows about them.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: LaserTurtle on September 27, 2012, 01:40:48 AM
Satori's defection would hurt the Claw far more than just from losing a member. Don't forget about how much she no doubt knows about them.
And that's why they mindcoil her! Then she can't do anything anyways!
Plus, they can keep her fighting under them, that way. I'm such a great bad guy!
And just like a bad guy, there might be something I'm overlooking. Nothing that I can find, though.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on September 27, 2012, 02:34:02 AM
It's not about what would work; it's about what was done. And remember that Iku can't exactly take Satori by surprise, nor can she hide what was done (mind-reader and all that).
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Omegahugger on September 27, 2012, 04:07:02 AM
Isn't it possible that Iku is still just a minor pawn in a bigger game?
She might've been ordered to "Mindcoil every siren" and not gotten the memo about Satori's plans. It's only been a day at most, after all, and we don't know how the Black Claw gives out orders.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on September 27, 2012, 07:31:51 AM
True, but that's one of the possibilities I was thinking of when I mentioned the possibility of Iku as the Claw leader being a 'lame-ass fakeout'.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Joveus Molai on September 28, 2012, 01:25:16 AM
Going back and reading the early bits with Iku made me go all  :o

Quote
"You seem to be troubled, Komeiji-san. Can I assume that you're feeling guilty about not being able to do more in that little scuffle?"

Koishi jittered a little in her chair. Right on the mark, yet again.

"Y-Yes...how do you do that, Nagae-sensei?"

"Woman's intuition. And please, call me Iku."

And...

Quote
"Komeiji-san. I just want you to know that if anything is troubling you, you can come to me and speak in private. I'd offer you a chance to talk now, but..."

She glared out the window, towards the silhouette of Sango standing outside the door. She was keeping vigil, watching the nurse's office almost like a guard.

Not to mention...

Quote
She cursed in the empty classroom.

"The damned Order made it there first?! Son of a submariner!"

And finally...

Quote
[Iku] sighed. [Koishi and Sango] made her job so difficult sometimes.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on September 28, 2012, 04:50:33 AM
I think it has to do with information. As a story continues, the readers generally learn more about the plot, and as I know from experience, it's much easier to keep readers interested when they don't know what's going on than it is when the answers start coming.

I would say, however, that this last chapter is the only one I've truly disliked. Yeah, the last few haven't been as good as the rest of the story, IMO, but given the overall quality of this story, it could fall pretty far and still be good. And despite my opinion on the last chapter, I think the rest of the story's going to be good, too.

I'm aware, though, that I seem to be in the minority opinion when it comes to the most recent chapters. Which isn't surprising, given that, generally, I'm very much not a fan of magical girl stories, this story being an exception, mainly because of how well-written it is (aside from the think with Iku I already mentioned, but nobody's going to be at the top of their game all the time). I'm definitely going to keep reading, because despite the last chapter, it is still a good story.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Alfred F. Jones on September 28, 2012, 05:21:05 AM
I think we all are aware that you dislike the last installment, Guy. Quit beating a dead horse. And as much as I dislike taking out my mod hat in PSL, you can consider this post a warning.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on September 28, 2012, 05:43:01 AM
I have no intention of saying anything more (hell, I had no intention of saying it more than once at all, but then a conversation got started). I don't intend to bring it up again.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Joveus Molai on September 29, 2012, 04:22:22 PM
Some more  :o moments, gained from a thorough rereading of previous DRK arcs (emphasis in bold):

Quote
This, once again, left Nurse Iku all by herself.

She sighed to break the familiar silence, taking a seat back at her tiny desk in the far corner of the room. It was mostly littered with her various trinkets - memoirs of the 60s, in her opinion the pinnacle of human history - but beneath them was all sorts of difficult financial paperwork. At the bottom, a large red number stared her in the face, asking for a fee that no amount of time in this school could ever hope to pay. As if to seal the deal, it wasn?t even looking for credit - the bill was only going to be resolved with cold, hard cash.

Now, keep in mind what happened previously in the arc:

Quote
The woman shrugged, nonchalantly. This man was too simple-minded for his position sometimes. It had been easy to win his trust; she had both money to finance operations, and if necessary she had men to carry them out. Or at least, creatures who looked enough like men to fool him.

?I?ll pay back your debt personally. Cash, of course, just how you like it. But leave the hunt for Miss Izayoi to me.?

The amount lost would be a sizable chunk of her finances, but it was payable. The last thing she needed was to have Morichika turn on her now. At the sound of her offer, the man?s expression loosened slightly. This was the first time she?d let him down, and if she was willing to pay for her short comings he was willing to give her a second chance.

And once again...

Quote
As she struggled to throw the numbers together, Iku?s thoughts drifted back to Koishi now and again. All it would take is a few minutes with the girl away from this ?friend? of hers, and she could make everything work out....

And don't forget the scene where Koishi talks to Iku about her family...

Quote
Thanks for coming to see me, Koishi-san. I really appreciate it.?

Iku was doing her best to ease Koishi in, a hand on her shoulder and a smile on her face. She was more or less ignoring Sango, who was standing outside the door and twiddling her thumbs.

?But does she always have to come over??

...which in this new light is rather  :o
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: BT on September 29, 2012, 05:06:31 PM
I remembered the latter comment pretty well. Didn't seem to recall anything else, though. Debt?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Joveus Molai on September 29, 2012, 05:12:39 PM
I remembered the latter comment pretty well. Didn't seem to recall anything else, though. Debt?

In that arc, Sakuya had won a fat wad of cash off of Morichika's gambling den via skill and her yet undiscovered Siren powers. This was not supposed to happen; what was supposed to happen was Tewi and the casino's dealer were supposed to work together to win all the earnings, superficially for Tewi but in reality for Morichika.  Morichika therefore got pissed and ended up working with the Lady In Black (Iku  :derp:) who presumably promised to get both Sakuya and Morichika's money back.

However, a timely intervention by Koishi and Sango meant that Iku's plan failed. Since Iku still wanted Morichika in her pocket, she decided to make up his monetary loss by simply paying him back in cold hard cash.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on October 03, 2012, 06:14:24 PM
Komachi had seen more than her fair share of anxious culprits in her line of work. Watching them tremble in the defendant?s chair was a difficult experience, like watching an ant squirm under a magnifying glass. If she thought about it too long, it made her job as a prosecutor almost unbearable, so she had learned to tune it out a little.

So seeing Keine?s sorry state had little effect on her, and she stepped forward to stand next to Sakuya as the second interrogator.

?The nurse? What?re you talking about??

Keine was still on her knees, sniffling and rubbing at her nose. Her eyes swiveled around the room, finding no angles of escape. She almost seemed to be shrinking, growing smaller to the point where Komachi might step on her if she wasn?t careful.

?I-It was Iku-san,? Keine stammered. ?She told me I had to do it.?

Mokou?s eyes widened. ?You mean Nagae-san? The disco nut??

Keine nodded, which only made Mokou?s eyes pop out wider. She murmured exclamations to herself while the rest of the Sirens continued the questioning.

?If I asked you to jump off a cliff, would you do it?? Sakuya?s voice was cold and humourless. ?Maybe you need to be told this, but most people wouldn?t commit arson simply because an acquaintance suggested it.?

Keine let out a squeak as Sakuya stepped forward again. Komachi made to hold her back, but she was beaten to the punch.

?Easy, Miyo,? Youmu said, taking Sakuya by the shoulder and nudging her backwards. ?She won?t co-operate if we push too hard.?

Sakuya complied, but only after a condescending ?hmph?. She stepped away, a few paces from Keine, but still standing clearly between her and the door.

?Answer the question, Keine-san,? Komachi said, trying to speak with a little more delicacy than her companion. It was an art she had left to rust for some time now. ?Why did you agree to this??

Keine looked up at Komachi, a glimmer of relief shimmering in her eyes. She must have seen Komachi as the good cop to Sakuya?s bad cop. Komachi couldn?t remember the last time she?d been on that side of the dynamic.

?She had the tape,? Keine said after a long silence. ?I did some...bad things to my other pupils, and she had evidence.?

?You mean what happened to Sango-san, right?? Mokou asked from the back of the room.

Keine nodded. ?She said she?d send it to the authorities if I didn?t co-operate. She would destroy my career. But...? She hung her head, her words vanishing into another sobbing fit. Her mouth hung open, but every attempt she made to speak devolved into a miserable howl. Sakuya made to push forward and press the issue, but again Youmu held her sister back.

It was a whole minute before Keine had calmed down enough to speak again, her voice barely above a whisper. ?She said she understood what I was. She wanted to help me, and she said that after I did a favour for her she would-?

?Wait, hold up,? Komachi said. ?She understood what you were? What does that mean??

Keine stopped abruptly, the colour flushing from her face. She looked up at Komachi, tears still hanging in her eyes.

?What do you think it means? I?m a freak, a monster. No-one wants anything to do with me. I can?t live here, I can?t live with the youkai, and I don?t know anyone else who?s as broken as I am.?

Every word was a lash on her own back, every syllable laced with self-hatred as she leaned further and further forward. Komachi almost wanted to slap the pity right out of her, but the situation was a touch too sensitive for that. She settled for taking on the role of stern matron.

?Keine-san, we can?t help if you aren?t gonna tell us everything. What are you??

Keine didn?t answer, hanging her head so low that Komachi couldn?t see her face. When she pulled it up again, her eyes were flickering with scorn.

?You want to know that badly? Fine. I?ll show you.?

She rose to her feet, and the Sirens spread out in case she tried anything dangerous. Keine steeled herself, closing her eyes and clenching her teeth. She made no attempt to move, taking slow deep breaths.

?Nnnngh...?

The first change Komachi noticed was in Keine?s shoulders. Her muscles grew outwards, filling out what had previously been a rather baggy dress. The teacher growled, shuddering as if desperately trying to hold something inside. Growls gave way to grunts as she dug her fingernails into her palms. Komachi felt the air in the room grow heavy, Keine?s growing presence pressing down on her shoulders. She pulled out the Titanic in case Keine got any ideas; at her sides, the other Sirens were drawing their weapons as well.

?Hnnnnh, gnnnnnh...?

Keine sounded like she was fighting with the urge to scream. Her body began to warp in shape, arms and legs pulling outwards, muscles twisting and contorting. She gained six inches of height in the space of five seconds, her teeth sharpening into fangs as her nails grew into claws. Her breaths were ragged pants now, and she finally let out a cry of anguish as she grabbed at her head.

?Uryaaaah!?

Two bull-like horns burst out of her scalp, droplets of blood on their tips. Her whole body tensed as her transformation came to its conclusion. She fell to her knees, covered in sweat, panting and gasping for dear life.

?Haaah...well...here I am.?

Komachi maintained her distance. She could feel the power emanating from Keine?s new form. Not just physical strength, but a hint of magic as well - whatever it was, it was enough to make Komachi uncomfortable.

?Disgraceful, isn?t it?? Keine looked away with a sad smile. ?I?m not a human, but I?m not a youkai either. No wonder neither side wants anything to do with me.?

?Then what does that make you?? Youmu asked, still holding up her blade as a precaution. ?A half-youkai??

Keine nodded. ?My father told me we happen once in a while when youkai try to live a human life. He ran off with me shortly after I was born so my mother wouldn?t find out the truth about him. He taught me about magic, kept me at home where I couldn?t hurt anyone. Even now I have to lock myself up when there?s a full moon, or I just lose control of myself.?

Komachi looked the half-youkai over. Those arms looked like they could break bones with a single punch, and the horns were unimaginably sharp. Small trails of blood seeped into her hair, but instead of going red it shifted into a pale green.

?He left me when I came of age. Said it was too dangerous for him to hang around in case anyone noticed he wasn?t really getting older.? She made no attempt to hide her disgust. ?So I?ve spent the last fifteen years in a world where I have to hide what I am to everyone I know. Even animals don?t want anything to do with me.? She hung her head again, trying to stare holes into her jagged nails. ?Do you have any idea what it feels like to live like that??

?Spare me the sob story.? Sakuya spat out the words, folding her arms in disgust. ?You?ve done some pretty wretched things in your time.?

?And what was the deal with Sango-san?? Mokou said, speaking up again. ?You knew she was a youkai, didn?t you??

Keine?s knees shook as the words hit her. ?I wanted to see how the humans reacted to her. I thought maybe if they were okay with her being a youkai, they?d be okay with me as well. But when it fell through, I had to...? She shook her head violently, as if to dislodge a thought from her head. ?Iku-san was going to ruin me if I didn?t go along with her. She told me you?d all use your magic to fix the fire before anyone got hurt. She said to run if it went wrong, but-? Now she nodded just as hard, biting into her lip with a fanged tooth. ?Why do I have to run away? This isn?t my fault, it?s Iku-san?s! She made me do it, she made me!?

Komachi snarled. This was another ugly habit of a criminal caught in the act - passing the buck to avoid responsibility. It wasn?t just an attempt to protest innocence - it was self-denial, where the culprit refused to accept their own part in the crime.

She?d seen plenty of that in her time in law as well. More than enough, in fact.

?Keine-san.? Komachi?s voice was powerful enough to make even the half-youkai freeze in place. ?Remind me again. How did the fire start??

Keine?s eyes widened. Komachi primed the Titanic again, ready to fire if she tried anything.

?You?re missing the point,? Keine said. ?It?s not about me, it?s about-?

?You didn?t answer my question.? Komachi felt her blood heat up. It wasn?t even the crime that disgusted her as much as Keine?s refusal to own up to it. ?Was it Nagae-san who started the fire? Did she light the match that burned down the orphanage??

Keine?s mouth bobbed open and shut in rapid succession. Her claws pulled back, looking ready to swing forwards, but with every Siren pointing her weapon at her Keine had little chance. The teacher stepped backwards, her back pinned against the wall.

?You didn?t have to burn that orphanage down, Keine-san. You could have let Nagae-san carry out her threat, and then you?d be paying for your old crimes rather than piling up more charges on top of ?em. It?s not a pleasant choice, but it?s there - and as long as you have a choice in the matter, a part of the blame is gonna rest with you.?

Keine slumped forwards, beginning to shrink. Her transformation receded along with her will, the horns receding and her muscles compressing to their original size. She still shook her head weakly, murmuring to herself incessantly.

?No, no, no...it?s not like that, it can?t be like that. I would never...?

She seemed lost to the world now, caught up in her own delusions. Komachi sighed to herself. This wasn?t something that people snapped out of instantly - unless it was Koishi doing the talking, but she seemed to have a special talent for fixing people. Mere mortals like Komachi could only hope that Keine would come to terms with her actions eventually.

?I think we?d better take her to Nitori-san,? Mokou said, every word chosen delicately. ?She?s probably not going to threaten anyone in this state, and the Claw might visit to tie up loose ends.?

?Good idea,? Youmu said. ?We?ll escort her so she doesn?t make an attempt to escape. Does that seem fair??

?Actually, you won?t be doing that.?

The voice from the front door caught everyone?s attention. The Sirens lowered themselves into battle stances, with Keine trying to burrow herself into the wall.

The voice?s owner stepped out into the doorway. Mokou was the first to react.

?Momiji-san??

Komachi only vaguely recalled the woman who entered the room. She was the one who had knocked her out in the alley, from what she remembered. Though the wolf-ears poking out of her hair were something she definitely didn?t recall.

?What?re you doing here?? Sakuya asked. ?I thought you were meant to be looking after that reporter woman.?

?I was. But it?s been a while now, so I can afford to leave Aya-san on her own for a day or two.? Momiji reached out, grabbing Keine by the arm. ?I?m here to bring our suspect to Kawashiro for questioning.?

?But we were about to do that.? Mokou pouted. ?Don?t tell me you still don?t trust us or-?

?You have somewhere else to be.? Momiji?s voice was unusually absent of snark. It left Komachi feeling uneasy. ?Something?s come up.?

Youmu?s hand clasped around her blade as she circled around the chair. ?What?s happened? Are the Black Claw attacking??

?Worse than that.? Momiji looked back towards the Sirens, the first signs of desperation rising in her eyes. ?They got to Koishi-san.?

-----

So cold...

Koishi was soaked through. She?d been struggling for an hour, maybe two. It was hard to keep track of time in this other world she?d been confined to. Black walls surrounded her on all sides, a cage that pulsed in time with her own heartbeat.

The mindcoil had a cruel sense of irony. It had locked her away in a glass tank, half-flooded, with its walls too high for Koishi to grab at. Her Ring of Breath had been snatched away by the weeds at the bottom of the tank, coiling around her legs and trying to pull her under. She could barely keep her head above water as she fought them, fighting simply to stay alive.

Her knee was in agony now. Every time she kicked it sent another jolt of pain into her system. The weeds had already picked it out as her weaker leg, pulling harder on it than the other. It made an already difficult struggle that little bit more difficult.

Even inside her own mind, she had her limits. Her muscles ached. Her lungs burned. The frigid water was draining away her heat. Her teeth chattered as she took short, shallow breaths, biting her lip to numb the pain a little.

?Familiar, isn?t it??

A voice echoed through the air. The throbbing wall split open, and a figure stepped out of it to examine the tank. Looking down on her, Koishi almost mistook her for herself - except, of course, for the holes where her eyes should have been.

?It wasn?t part of my duty to design a trap for you, but I couldn?t help but be creative about it.? She curtseyed, pulling at the edges of her long black dress. ?Your memories were delectable. I couldn?t turn down the chance to bring up an old trauma, could I??

Koishi had figured that out by now. The lake. The weeds. The pain. It was all like that incident back in cram school, only this time Satori wasn?t here to save her. Nobody was.

?What...? Koishi spoke between gasps for air, head bobbing beneath the surface now and again. ?What...are you??

?Oh?? The second Koishi tilted its head. ?You?re the first human to ever ask me that. Most of them are too busy with the begging and pleading to play 20 Questions.?

Its lips twisted into a wretched smile. ?You?re an interesting one. Well, I suppose you?d have to be if Leviathan wants me to play with you.?

?L...Leviathan??

?That?s what she calls herself when no-one?s looking,? the second Koishi said. ?You called her Iku Nagae, but that?s just a pseudonym.? It giggled, its voice shrill and painful to Koishi?s ears. ?Oh, I wasn?t supposed to tell you that. I can trust you not to tell anybody, right??

Koishi would have been offended if she could spare the energy. Right now she was too busy working to keep her head above water. The weeds tugged harder, dipping her under intermittently and forcing her to push back to the surface.

?You?ve seen my handiwork,? the clone continued, unperturbed by Koishi?s plight. ?My children, my masterpieces. I?m to understand that you are responsible for their deaths, as well.? It grinned slyly, running a finger down the outside of the tank. ?That?s why I decided to step away for a few minutes to watch you suffer first-hand.?

Koishi opened her mouth to respond, but the weeds pulled her under as she tried to speak. She kicked upwards, gasping and spluttering as she coughed up water.

?W...Why? Why would you...do this??

The creature shrugged. ?Why does a fire burn? I simply do what I was created to do.? It circled around the box, and Koishi craned her head around to follow it. ?You see, I was one of Leviathan?s first creations. A private work, so to speak, but she was very proud of me. I was the perfect weapon, she argued, tearing apart a soldier?s will to fight and turning him against his allies. You can imagine how much easier the war effort would have been if I was around.?

It threw its arms around as it began to growl. ?But that Yakumo bitch didn?t like me! She said that I was too easy to use outside of combat, that I could lead to all sorts of warfare between the youkai themselves.? It circled round faster, almost breaking into a jog as it pulled at its hair. ?And so that was it! She wanted me decommissioned, destroyed, before anyone ?misused? me. All that potential, all that power, thrown away for the sake of petty ethics. And yet this woman gave the OK to the Ravager Project!?

It closed its fist, and the weeds squeezed around Koishi?s legs. Her knee felt like it had been set alight. She let out a choked cry as she barely kept herself afloat.

?And then there are people like you,? the second Koishi hissed, pressing its face right against the glass. ?You destroyed everything we made together. Do you know how long it takes to create one of my children? Even with Leviathan as a host, it takes fifty years of toil and effort to create a Mindcoil. You?ve taken centuries of my life, and for what? Saving your wretched human brethren??

It spat on the glass, obscenities forming wordlessly on its lips. Dark grey tendrils seeped out of the holes in its face, each one jerking and slithering along its skin with sickening slurps. Koishi couldn?t bring herself to look at the creature, staring upwards instead.

?I could kill you if I wanted, but that would be too quick. I want to savour your struggling for as long as I can. I want to see the last glimpse of hope die in your eyes.? She giggled with a too-childish voice. ?You know what the best part is? It?s your fault this is happening to you. If you had just turned down this adventure back at the beginning, you would never have had to endure this. You could have been an ordinary girl, but instead you threw it all away by trying to play the hero.?

It wore a devil?s smile. ?And who knows? Maybe if you hadn?t been around, Shou-san would still be alive right now.?

Koishi gasped as she heard Shou?s name. Her eyes misted up, her kicks growing more violent as she fought back a scream. She barely had enough strength to stay above the water, and every muscle in her body was crying out in pain.

The second Koishi turned on its heels. ?Well, I have work to be doing. Don?t spoil my fun by drowning too early, will you?? It split apart the pulsing veil with a hand, stepping through to leave Koishi on her own again. Koishi couldn?t even hear its footsteps as it left.

She was cold. Tired. Numb. Alone. Only sheer instinct kept her kicking against the weeds. Dark thoughts began to swirl around inside her head; thoughts of despair, resignation, surrender.

She reached down to her chest, fingers circling the hole above her heart. She had thought it would drain away every emotion she had, but she had been wrong. It had taken out everything good in her, pulling down the facade of heroism she?d been wearing until now. All that was left was the useless sack of flesh she had been when all of this had started.

I knew it. I knew I didn?t have what it takes to be a hero.

?Help...someone, help...? she whispered. She looked down at the weeds trying to pull her into a watery grave. Their offer was becoming more alluring by the minute.

Maybe it would be better if I just gave in...

-----

Youmu had never visited the Gensouto aquarium before.

It was a small, easy-on-the-eye building with a smiling whale for a logo. Pictures and signs on the walls advertised the plethora of fish and animals that were housed there. Bright colours pulled her eyes in all directions at once, but she could feel a tiny glimmer of childish curiosity well up in her.

It was a shame that the place was surrounded by police officers and had a maniac storming the halls.

The aquarium was all but deserted by the time the Sirens arrived, a small group of armed officers covering the entrances. They helped the last few stragglers out of the building while keeping anyone else from gaining entrance. Their leader, a woman in a low-cut skirt and vest, flashed her badge about to scare off a nearby reporter hungry for a scoop.

Komachi waited for the news hound to disappear from view before approaching the head of the operation with a bow.

?You really pulled out all the stops on this, Kawashiro-san.?

Nitori sighed with sheer exertion. ?You have no idea. I had to call in about half a dozen sleeper agents to play along.? She motioned to the other officers, all wearing hats to hide what were presumably animal ears. ?I say we have about half an hour before the cops realise we aren?t the real deal. Then we need to start running, and fast.?

Youmu barely noticed her mouth was hanging open. This was her first time seeing the fabled Nitori Kawashiro in action, and already her sheer level of preparation was astounding. The ?officers? were in full uniform, and if they?d been placed against real cops she?d have never been able to tell the difference.

?So,? Mokou said, a hint of reluctance in her voice. ?What are we dealing with??

Nitori?s shoulders slumped on reaction to the question. ?It?s like Momiji said. The Black Claw have implanted Koishi-san with a Mindcoil. This one?s a little different from what we?re used to, though.?

?Different??

?She?s not behaving like Mindcoil victims are supposed to. Typically the Claw sends them out for the express purpose of murder, but...for some reason, Koishi-san targeted the aquarium instead. From what I?ve heard from the witnesses, she?s been babbling about ?liberating the animals? or something like that. Luckily she hasn?t hurt anyone too badly. Apparently humans are too beneath her to be worth fighting.?

?I see,? Sakuya said, nodding to herself. ?Perhaps they wanted her to be noticed.?

?Maybe. But with Shou-san?s Teardrop still unaccounted for, it seems too early for them to make a move like that.?

?So what can we do about it?? Youmu asked. ?Normally, we would have Koishi-san to deal with the Mindcoil, but-?

?I know.? Nitori grimaced. ?If it was an ordinary Mindcoil, I?d tell you that it was hopeless, but this is something I?ve never witnessed before. If it?s a different strain, maybe it has a weakness of some kind. All I can suggest is that you do everything you can to snap her out of it. There might be a little bit of Koishi-san still trapped in there.?

The Sirens nodded. There was no good reason to believe it, but they all wanted it to be true.

?It shouldn?t be hard for you to find her,? Nitori said as she stepped away from the entrance. ?Remember, you won?t have a lot of time in there. I?ll keep up the charade for as long as I can, but you?d better be done by the time the real police officers show up.?

She offered the Sirens a salute as they stepped around her into the aquarium. ?Good luck, girls. And...if you can, save her.?

Komachi, at the back of the pack, gave Nitori a wink. ?What made you think we were gonna do anything else??
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Esifex on October 03, 2012, 11:27:42 PM
THAT WAS NOT A SUKUSUKU HAKUTAKU TRANSFORMATION, KEINE, WHAT THE HELL


Hehehe
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Joveus Molai on October 03, 2012, 11:56:00 PM
Fascinating...

We know that Iku mindcoiled Koishi not just to get her out of the way, but also to keep Satori's morale up. Why, then, did the mindcoil force Koishi to do something as...brash as running to the nearest aquarium and demand the freedom of all the fishies therein? One would expect  the mindcoiled Koishi to come along with Iku to wherever her lair is, or otherwise lay low. But we also know that Iku is no fool; there must be some reason, therefore, that Koishi's mindcoil making her do these things instead of something seemingly more...sensible.  Was it for some sort of trap? If it is a trap, what is it about the aquarium that makes it such a compelling place to ambush the other Sirens (aside from the obvious :V)? Does Iku even have strict control over this particular mindcoil?

Tl;dr:  :ohdear:

Waiting eagerly for the next chapter!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on October 09, 2012, 07:13:04 PM
Oh hell yes.

Though, honestly, I was expecting a collective of "oh shit" reactions from the Sirens if Momiji's talk went on for a bit longer.

Tl;dr:  :ohdear:

But take this into consideration, if it takes years to get the mindcoil phlebotinum, think about what kinds of depths of hell they pull out to create the fishmen.

So, uh, yeah. Possibly-not-plot-related pun aside, I am really going to be at the edge of my seat by the end of this.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on October 10, 2012, 09:58:21 PM
As Nitori had said, Koishi had left an obvious trail. Torn signs and cracked floors lay in her wake, but the fishtanks themselves had been spared her wrath. Most of the fish were pressing against the glass in curiosity. Mokou wondered what the creatures were thinking as she pushed past them, gaining on Koishi with every step.

?Koishi-san really went to work, didn?t she?? Mokou said, examining the destruction that surrounded her. Entire walls had caved in, and the ceilings were riddled with holes. It really was a miracle that no-one had died during this wrecking spree.

?I can hardly believe she accomplished this all by herself,? Sakuya said, already shuffling her deck. ?Perhaps she has some fishman cohorts to accompany her.?

?I doubt it,? Mokou said. ?Those things are big and strong, but they?re not exactly smart. I?ve fought enough of ?em to know that.?

?But then who did help her?? Komachi asked. The question hung in the air for a few seconds, with none of the girls being able to offer an answer.

As the trail grew more and more recent, the sounds of crashes and bangs echoed through the corridors. Koishi?s destruction was far from over, and the sound just made her easier to find.

?Look at all of this! Doesn?t it disgust you?? There was something missing from Koishi?s voice that Mokou couldn?t place. Whatever it was, it sent a shiver down her spine. She thought she heard someone reply, but it was too quiet to make out at this distance.

At last they emerged in the central attraction of the aquarium. Fish-tanks ran along the walls, and in its centre was a massive stone fountain. It had four layers, each one almost as high as Mokou was tall. Massive chunks had been torn from the stone, and water gushed down through the gaps to cover the floor in puddles.

Standing on the top layer, Koishi Komeiji knocked off the tip of the fountain with a solid swing of her trident.

?Hahahahaha! Look how easy all of this is to break! Don?t you agree, girls??

The three figures standing on the layer below Koishi did not respond. Each of them wore a pale-grey business suit. None of them seemed to mind that they were knee-deep in water, standing at attention with their eyes on the Siren.

Mokou gasped. She had never seen two of the guards - the one with the cat ears, or the one with the wings. But the one in the middle was someone she knew very well.

?Sango-san?!?

Sango turned around at the sound of her name. There was no emotion left in her, her eyes pulsing a faint yellow.

?Koishi-sama,? she said, her voice lifeless. ?We have guests.?

Koishi turned away from her wanton destruction. She brushed at the frilly hems of her long black dress, still clinging to her trident with the other. Something red wriggled about in the pupils of her eyes. A wicked grin rose to her face.

?Well, if it isn?t the hero parade!? She applauded as she took a seat on the edge of the top layer. ?It took you long enough, didn?t it? I was scared you weren?t going to make it before the police arrived.?

Youmu unsheathed her blades. ?You were waiting on us??

?Oh, of course I was.? She kicked her feet about, looking ready to break into a whistle at any time. ?Taking apart this little prison of yours was fun, but it was only an appetiser. You four were always meant to serve as my main course.? She licked at her lips, examining the Sirens with care. ?Hmmm, I wonder who I should start with-?

Her sentence was cut short by Sakuya throwing a dagger at her. The blade flew true, set to lodge itself into Koishi?s arm - but with a deft swing, she caught it between the prongs of her trident and deflected it.

?Well, aren?t you rude?? Koishi pouted like a child. ?Don?t you know it?s bad manners to interrupt someone when they?re speaking??

Sakuya didn?t humor her with a response. ?Who are you, and what have you done with Koishi-san??

The red dots in Koishi?s eyes swirled about. She smiled again. ?You wouldn?t be interested in who I am. And I can assure you that your friend is having a wonderful time in here.? She looked down on herself. ?Should I give you an impression??

For an instant, her body jerked about, the red light flickering. Koishi?s neck pulled back, and she gasped for breath as her whole body trembled.

?H-Help...please, help me-? She only had time to murmur a few words before the red dots flashed back to life. ?Well? Adorable, isn?t she? She?s just been whispering that to herself for hours now. Time is slower inside the mind, but that just means I get to savour her struggle that little bit longer.?

Mokou felt her blood flare up in her veins as she looked up at Koishi. ?If you say one more word I am going fly up there and crack each and every one of your ribs.?

Koishi stepped backwards, every movement slathered in melodrama. ?Oh, no! The big scary phoenix girl wants to beat me up!? She held her arms out, beckoning Mokou in. ?Well, if you want to kill me, now?s your chance. Go wild, featherface!?

Mokou cursed. The Coil had called her bluff. After a few seconds without action, Koishi pulled her arms back with another smirk.

?See? I knew none of you had the guts to kill poor little Koishi-san. If it had been anyone, I thought it would have been Little Miss Cardsharp over there.?

?It?s tempting,? Sakuya said. ?But I owe Koishi-san my life, in more ways than one. Killing her would be a poor way to repay the favour.?

?Besides,? Komachi said, cracking her neck. ?Just ?cause we can?t kill you doesn?t mean we can?t rough you up a little.?

?Is that so?? Koishi let the last word dance around her lips as she rose to her feet. She pulled her trident forward, droplets of water falling from its prongs. ?Well, I hope you don?t mind if my friends and I are a bit more aggressive.?

She clicked her fingers with her free hand. ?Sango. Rin. Utsuho. Be good little pets and murder those girls for me, would you??

The three youkai turned to the Sirens and nodded in unison. ?Yes, Koishi-sama,? they said at once. They leaped forwards, each moving at inhuman speed. They landed on the bottom layer of the fountain, then jumped again to swing at the Sirens.

Sango stormed Mokou head on, forcing the phoenix to block with both arms. Rin charged Sakuya, taking momentum before the cardsharp could use her knives. Komachi found herself face-to-face with Utsuho, too close to use the Titanic as anything other than a blunt object.

?Youmu-san! Get up there!? Mokou yelled, looking at the top of the fountain. Youmu nodded, splitting into her two halves and jumping one layer of the fountain at a time to attack Koishi. The dolphin rider had already lifted her trident, looking for an opening to hurl it at a distracted Siren. When she saw Youmu approaching, she pouted and returned to her usual stance.

?So the lookalike wants to dance, does she??

She jumped off the top layer of the fountain, bringing herself down on top of Youmu. The swordsman trapped the trident?s middle prong between her blades, while her shadow caught one at the side. Combined, they were more than strong enough to push Koishi backwards.

Beneath them, three brawls had broken out. The two pets were not exemplary fighters - they were strong and swift, but they lacked in finesse and technique. Sakuya managed to bob and weave around Rin?s blows, and Komachi blocked with the barrel of her gun. Utsuho?s attempts to punch her did more damage to the raven than they did to the Siren.

Sango was more experienced in comparison, but so was Mokou. The two were at a standoff, Sango?s fluid swings trading with Mokou?s raw power. In a slugfest, the Siren would win out on sheer stamina. None of the three were in any danger, and as Youmu readied her swords again Mokou couldn?t imagine a single way for Koishi to defeat her in melee combat.

The swordsman hesitated. This turned out to be a mistake.

?Time to see what this body can really do,? Koishi murmured. She closed her eyes, focusing for an instant, and the air around her began to ripple.

?Ah-?!?

Mokou gasped, watching the ripple engulf Youmu and spread throughout the room. It struck her as she blocked another of Sango?s blows, but there was no pain, no numbness, no sign that it had done anything. She looked around - Komachi and Sakuya were fine, and even Youmu seemed unfazed even though she?d been at the centre of the attack.

A bluff? Mokou thought.

As Koishi came in with another swing, Youmu brought up her blades to parry again. It was a textbook block, one that she should have been able to perform in her sleep.

She was half a second too late.

?What the-?

The sword barely grazed the side of the trident, deflecting a blow meant for Youmu?s heart. It cut along her side instead, the prongs mercilessly sharp. Youmu growled to numb the pain as she stepped backwards a few paces.

Mokou was too busy with her own fight to see how Youmu?s ended. Sango grabbed her arm mid-swing, using the opening to send a palm into her chest. Mokou brought back her other arm to catch the strike, almost without thinking about it. It was only when she felt the breath leave her lungs that she realised she had missed.

The hell?! She saw her arm, only now finishing its journey backwards. At her sides, Sakuya?s dodges had become almost sluggish, and Komachi?s blocks barely capable of deflecting Utsuho?s strikes. They?d all slowed down - just the tiniest fraction, but it was all the difference in a fight.

?What?s going on?? Mokou began to lose ground, Sango pushing her back step by step. She could barely bring her hands back to block. ?What?s she done to us??

?She?s-? Sakuya winced as Rin?s kick smacked into her thigh. ?She?s in our heads!?

?What do you mean, in our heads?!?

?The kid jumps into your brain when she takes out a mindcoil, right?? Komachi yelled across the room. ?Well, maybe she?s fiddling around in there this time!? Komachi tried to swing in with the barrel of her gun, but Utsuho sidestepped it with little issue. The raven brought a fist straight into Komachi?s gut, and the lawyer coughed out a spray of blood.

At the top of the fountain, closest to Koishi, Youmu had it worst of all. Her body seemed to move in slow-motion compared to the rest of the world. She swung with one strike after another, her shadow?s blades dancing alongside hers. Koishi giggled as she skipped through the holes in Youmu?s attacks, making no effort to counter. After thirty seconds of evading, she grew tired of the game and kicked Youmu square in the chest. The swordsman fell backwards onto the layer below, her back smacking against the stone edge of the fountain. From the way she wretched backwards, the pain must have been unbearable.

Mokou couldn?t focus too much on that. She had her own problems. Sango?s eyes were empty, every move mechanical but perfectly calculated. She struck at Mokou?s wrists, her knuckles, her elbows, her knees. Each blow was comparatively weak, but they only served to slow down Mokou even more. She wouldn?t be able to hold out much longer, but if one of the other Sirens were to finish their fight-

?Gyaah!? Sakuya cried out as Rin?s foot slammed into the back of her head. The impact sent her flying backwards, spinning in the air before crashing into the wall behind her. She slumped against the wall, eyes closed as blood seeped down the side of her face.

?SAKUYA-SAN!? Mokou cried, looking to her right for an instant. She turned back just in time to see Sango thrusting a finger into her chest. ?Ah-? As she pressed on a nerve, Mokou felt every muscle in her body go tense before shutting down completely. She landed on her back, struggling simply to breathe as her body refused to follow her orders.

A pressure point, Mokou thought to herself. And I left myself wide open.

Seeing her companions finishing up, Utsuho grew tired of taking on Komachi hand-to-hand. She grabbed the Siren by the waist and took to the sky, lifting Komachi ten feet into the air.

?H-Hey! Get off, dammit!? Komachi brought her gun down on Utsuho?s head. The raven barely noticed her, bringing her slamming into the floor in a brutal piledriver. The ground cracked where Komachi landed, and Mokou could almost see the impact rocking her body. Utsuho dropped her, limp and defenseless, onto the floor.

The three youkai looked down on their work without any sort of pride. Mokou had been disabled, Sakuya seemed barely conscious, and Komachi would be lucky to walk in her current state. Youmu had yet to stand up after her crash landing, using her swords as crutches in an attempt to right herself. Koishi reached out and snatched one of the swords from her hands, throwing it into a distant corner of the room.

?Well, aren?t you useless?? Koishi kicked at the fallen swordsman, rolling her face-down and stepping on her back. ?The almighty Sirens, heroes of the White Pearl. Beaten by a high-schooler, a dolphin, a cat and a raven.? She grinned, pressing down on the spot where Youmu?s back had hit the ground. The swordsman howled in pain beneath the water.

Mokou?s eyes felt heavy. It was hard to breathe, to think, to stay functioning. Sango hung over her, ready to deliver the killing blow whenever Koishi gave the order. Sakuya and Komachi had yet to move, and Mokou wasn?t sure if they were even conscious anymore.

?In fact, it was almost too easy.? Koishi frowned as she examined the fallen Sirens at her feet. ?I was hoping to enjoy your suffering a little longer. Although...? She gasped, eyes glimmering as she put on a bright smile. ?Ah, that should make your deaths a little prettier.?

Mokou craned her neck back to watch Koishi. She was barely awake, the last embers of resistance flickering inside of her.

?You all came here to save Koishi, didn?t you? You wanted to rescue your saviour from the clutches of the Black Claw.? She clapped her hands together, looking on with wicked glee. ?Well, it saddens me to tell you that Koishi wasn?t the hero you thought she was.? She shrugged like she had just told a bad joke. ?In fact, from the very beginning, her only wish was to find someone who would look after her. She?s been pulling a brave face from the start, and all of you fell for it.?

Mokou managed a tiny gasp. The real Koishi had never told them about her wish before. Was it possible that the girl who had saved her, the girl she owed her life to, had really been so weak and dependent on the inside?

?Nnnh...?

Sakuya shuffled about, coming to at the sound of Koishi?s words. Mokou saw the same indecision flaring in her eyes that was plaguing her own mind. At her other side, Komachi was struggling to pull herself off of the floor.

Could Koishi have said that? Could she have been as weak as the Mindcoil was claiming she was?

?Your friend has been treading on eggshells for months now.? Koishi smiled again, kicking at Youmu while pressing her down further. The swordsman had all but given up on fighting back, growling and screaming as Koishi abused her broken body. ?There was something dark and black inside of her long before I showed up. She?s been trying to hide it while she played hero, and seeing Shou die just shattered her little soul like glass. Really, I?d be laughing if it wasn?t all so pathetic.?

After one last kick at Youmu, she yawned. ?But I?m bored of you now. I?ve taken everything I can get.? She clicked her fingers. ?Whenever you?re ready, girls.?

The youkai nodded, pulling back for the killing blow. Sango was the first to step forward, bringing a hand back for a final strike at Mokou?s heart. There was no remorse in her eyes as her punch whistled through the air.

Mokou grabbed it by the wrist.

??!?

Sango went rigid in bewilderment. For all intents and purposes, Mokou should have been unable to move. She struck again with her other arm, and again Mokou brought a hand up to catch it.

?You said...she was slowing us down, right?? Mokou rose to her feet, aching all over. She felt like her muscles had been set alight, hearing a hiss as her hands burned at Sango?s skin. ?Then all I?ve gotta do is get a little faster.?

She let go, bringing one violent straight punch in at Sango?s face. Her arm moved faster than it had any right to, powered by a dozen different emotions at once. Even as Koishi?s field played with her head, the punch was more than fast enough to reach its target. Sango tumbled backwards, her head smacking against the fountain and knocking her clean out.

Koishi?s eyes almost popped out of her head. ?W-What? How did you-?

?You made one mistake,? Mokou said, her eyes shining a bright red. ?You can beat me down until I?m a pile of dust if you want. But don?t you ever think you can get away with talking about my friends like that.?

Panic started to seep into Koishi?s expression. She looked down on the two pets, still lingering above their targets. ?What are you doing?! Kill them, already!? she screamed.

Rin nodded, turning back to Sakuya. The cat raised an eyebrow, noting a tiny difference in the fallen Siren from how she had been lying before. This time, her hand was clasped around her pocketwatch-

?Private Square!?

Time screeched to a halt. In the time it took Mokou to blink Sakuya had scrambled to her feet, burying her fist into the back of Rin?s skull. When the world started up again, Rin slumped forward onto the floor.

Utsuho flinched, turning away from Komachi to witness her partner?s defeat. She only turned fast enough to see a glimpse of Sakuya?s foot just before it collided with her face. The raven?s neck jerked backwards, and she spun full-circle in the air before crashing into the ground.

?We?re not as weak as you think we are,? Sakuya said, turning back to Koishi. She stumbled slightly, clutching at the bloody wound on one side of her head. ?We have faith in Koishi-san, and she has faith in us. She?s proven herself over and over again.?

Koishi looked set to cry for a moment, before looking down at the body beneath her. She raised her trident, ready to stab it into Youmu?s back. Before she could make it, a mighty roar flooded the room as a bullet hurtled towards her.

?Aaaah!? She jumped backwards, the bullet bursting past and slamming into the stone behind her. A chunk of the fountain collapsed completely, bringing up a wall of dust in front of Koishi.

Komachi managed a smirk as she blew the smoke from the barrel of her gun. She sat up to look at her target. ?Maybe Koishi-san really was that weak when she made her wish. So what? We were all weaker before we got involved in all this Siren stuff. Koishi-san isn?t gonna be any different.?

Koishi landed on her bad knee, and her balance gave way beneath her. She coughed and spluttered as the dust clouded her vision, rubbing the water into her face to clear her eyes. She was too distracted by it to see her own hostage rising to her feet, commanding her other self to take form behind Koishi. By the time the dust cleared, Koishi had one sword at her throat and the other at the back of her neck.

?You can break our bodies, but you will never break our spirits.? Every word from Youmu was strained, her legs wobbling as she struggled to stand. ?We came here to rescue Koishi-san, and that?s what we?re going to do.?

Koishi stood bug-eyed as she stared down Youmu. Tears began to slip down her cheeks, and she seemed ready to collapse.

?...I see. You humans really are an interesting lot.?

Then her panic passed, and she faced the swords at her neck with an almost disturbing calm. Even on the verge of defeat, she still wore a confident smile.

?Do what you want with me, then. But don?t expect me to give up your precious friend any time soon. You can kill me, but you can be damn sure I?ll be dragging her down along with me.? The corner of her lip twisted upwards. ?Your dear Koishi-san doesn?t have much left in her. I left her the option of ending her own life, and it?s getting very tempting. I?d say she only has a few minutes before-?

Youmu?s blade smacked into the side of Koishi?s head before she could finish the sentence. She fell backwards into the water, unconscious.

?That was for kicking me when I was down,? Youmu growled. ?Be glad you?re in Koishi-san?s body, or I?d have made that a lot more painful.?

Youmu picked up the fallen Siren, slowly carrying her down the many layers of the fountain. The rest of the Sirens pulled themselves over to the foot of the monument, tending to their respective injuries as best they could.

?So now what?? Mokou asked as Youmu laid the body on the floor. ?How are we supposed to help her when we?re stuck out here??

?We talk to her,? Komachi said. ?Kid?s fighting something inside her head. She?s gonna need some support if she?s gonna pull through.?

?And that?s it?? Mokou frowned. ?What if it doesn?t work??

?It?ll work,? Sakuya said with a cold glare. ?Don?t even think about the alternative.?

?Alright, alright.? Mokou gulped. Now, more than ever, she had to stay strong. ?I?ll start, then.?

Mokou leaned over the fallen Siren, putting her mouth right next to Koishi?s ear. If any sort of message was going to reach her, it would be this one.

?Koishi-san. Can you hear me??
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Amraphenson on October 11, 2012, 12:19:08 AM
It's on now.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: LaserTurtle on October 11, 2012, 01:42:12 AM
Power of friendship, don't fail the sirens now!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on October 11, 2012, 02:05:34 AM
Power of friendship, don't fail the sirens now!

l^ll^ll^l
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: elenchus on October 13, 2012, 05:03:59 AM
Between the red eyes, the trident and the black dress, I have to wonder if Koishi is Nue.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Hanzo K. on October 13, 2012, 07:25:16 AM
...That just got me to thinking. What if this Special Mindcoil is Nue?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Joveus Molai on October 15, 2012, 01:35:58 PM
It would be especially hilarious if Nue were also the new Siren  :V
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on October 17, 2012, 04:26:13 PM
Koishi?s arms hung limp at her sides, her legs barely squirming against the vines. Slowly but surely her will to fight had fallen away, and her struggling grew quieter and quieter. Her head was already half-submerged, her nose just barely poking above the surface.

She?d had all she could take.

Hurry up and pull me down already.

The vines obeyed her, tugging her to the bottom of the tank. She made no attempt to resist them, floating lifelessly in the water as her breath slowly trickled from her lips. It would only be a few minutes before she drowned, and the pain would finally stop.

Strangely, she wasn?t afraid. When she?d drowned as a child it had been terrifying, and she?d been desperate to stay alive. Now death seemed more like a relief than rescue would ever be. It would save her from the world, from the Mindcoil - but more than anything, it would save her from herself.

Yes, Koishi thought. Just a few minutes more-

Koishi-san. Can you hear me?

She trembled as a voice echoed through her mind. It pulled her out of the trance she?d fallen into.

M...Mokou-san?

Of course. The other Sirens wanted to help her. They didn?t understand that Koishi didn?t want to come back. She curled up into a ball, putting her hands over her ears to try and silence the sound.

Koishi-san, listen to me. I know it's hard for you in there, but you can't give up.

Mokou?s voice was too loud for Koishi to drown out. She growled, another stream of bubbles slipping out. Wasn?t a girl allowed to die in peace nowadays?

You?re thinking about Shou-san, aren?t you? Mokou managed a chuckle. Don?t ask how I know. Lucky guess, or something like that.

Koishi trembled. She didn?t want Shou to be her last thought before she died. She shook her head, silently begging for Mokou to stop. The voice in her head did not comply.

There was nothing you could have done, Koishi-san. You already went further than anyone else could have. Don't let it destroy you like this.

Shut up. Koishi tugged at her hair, her head shaking violently now. How could Mokou talk like that? She made it sound so simple, but she didn?t understand what Koishi was going through. She didn?t see the hole in Koishi?s chest, the one that had drained away every little ounce of her courage. They hadn?t seen how useless and cowardly she really was-

Koishi-san. Sakuya?s voice this time, cold and ruthlessly blunt. We know that you wished for someone to look after you.

Koishi went tense. How did they find out about that? Even Sango didn?t know what she had wished for.

And...if they know what I wished for, why are they still trying to help? Nothing made any sense. They knew she?d been running on false bravado the whole time, so what made her worth saving?

Koishi-san, you?re stronger than you think you are. The same heartlessness as ever hung in Sakuya?s voice, speaking as if she was reciting a simple fact. It doesn?t matter how you coped with it - you?ve done some amazing things over the last few months. All of us owe you our lives, and a whole lot more on top of that.

Something was seeping back into her, Koishi realised. The strength that had poured out of her was coming back through the hole in her chest. In primal panic, she grabbed at her heart to try and seal the gap. She didn?t want to be strong anymore. She didn?t want to doubt her decision. She just wanted to die.

Kid, we all have times when we wish we could have done more. Komachi now, with that eerie seriousness she rarely showed. But lingering in the past like that is only gonna work you into an early grave. You?ve gotta learn from it and get stronger for the next time.

Koishi wanted to scream. She knew her friends were trying to help her, but everything they had said to her felt so wrong. They didn?t understand. They couldn?t understand what she felt like. She wanted to let out what was left of her air and end it, but now she couldn?t find the nerve.

Koishi-san, death won?t solve anything. Youmu was the last to speak, her voice sombre and full of pity. Think of what will change if you die. The Black Claw will still be here. You?re leaving all of us behind, and Sango-san as well. And what would your sister think if she found out you?d died?

No. No no no no. Why did they have to mention Satori? Koishi had kept her sister out of her head until now. It would have been so much easier that way. Why wouldn?t they just let her die in peace?

You don?t get it! Koishi wanted to yell. I don?t have a choice in this! I had to save Shou-san, didn?t I?! That?s what I do! If I?m not a hero, I?m-

She caught herself mid-thought. I?m...what am I?

Without thinking, Koishi pulled her hand away from her chest. Something leaped through the hole, so quick that it almost knocked the last of her breath out of her lungs.

The world fell away again.

-----

?It?s a reflex, y?know?? Her own words echoed in her ears. ?I just do it without thinking. When I see someone in trouble, I kind of jump into action and do everything I can. Isn?t that what heroes do??

Her brain was on fire. Her whole adventure played in front of her eyes like a slideshow, locking onto tiny snippets as it went.

?Onee-chan went to a lot of effort to save me. I'm not about to throw that life away trying to be a hero.?

She thought she had hidden away that part of herself, painted over it for good. But as her fingers traced the edges of the hole in her chest, she realised it had always been there. There were stitches, childishly large sutures that had given way under the tiniest pressure. She had never come to terms with herself - she?d only learned how to cover it up.

I?m still broken, aren?t I? She shook her head, agreeing with herself. All this time, I?ve just been running away.

She closed her eyes, and for a moment she heard the current swirling about her. When she opened them again, the room around her had disappeared. Now she was caught in the murky depths of the lake by the school, weeds still tickling at her legs. Everything felt smaller than she remembered it - or rather, she was larger than she had been before.

Floating limply in front of her was a young girl in a school uniform, almost engulfed by the seaweed. She still held a treasure map in one hand, while the other grabbed at her neck. Her eyes had glazed over, and her lips were a lifeless blue.

Koishi felt understanding wash over her as she looked upon herself.

How long have you been down here?

She already knew the answer. This was the part of her that had never come back after the incident in the lake. Cobwebs ran between the girl?s fingers, and dust had shaded her hair an ancient grey. She had needed help for so long, and Koishi hadn?t given it to her. Now was as good a time as any to start.

Leaning forward, Koishi pressed her lips against the girl?s and blew.

?Hnnn...?

Almost immediately the girl murmured, her eyes fluttering open. Koishi wrapped her arms around her and squeezed her tight.

It?s okay. I?m here now.

The girl blushed, returning the hug and clinging to Koishi for support. They pulled away from each other, and Koishi felt her need to breathe fade away completely.

?You finally came,? the girl said, looking set to burst into tears at any moment. ?I?ve been waiting for you forever.?

?I know.? Koishi squeezed her harder, slowly kicking to the surface. The weeds pulled away almost by themselves. ?I?m sorry I took so long.?

The schoolgirl shook her head. ?It?s okay. Better late than never, right??

Koishi chuckled. ?I guess.?

The girl rested her head on Koishi?s chest, right above her heart. She began to shine, her whole body immersed in an orange light. Koishi kept hold of her as her body began to dissipate, breaking into a million glittering fragments.

?We?ll be together now, won?t we?? the girl asked, looking up at Koishi. She had the bright smile only a child could possess.

Koishi nodded, hugging closer. ?Yes. I?ll never let go of you again.?

The girl chuckled, her last words fading into the water as she came apart in Koishi?s hands.

?I always knew you would find me again someday.?

The glittering fragments surrounded Koishi, a thousand constellations drifting about the lake. They flew towards her, passing into her skin without resistance. Koishi could feel their warmth seep into her and renew her strength. The fears and doubts that had plagued her vanished into nothingness. The hole in her chest closed over, filled at last.

All this time, I only wanted to help people, Koishi thought. But the girl who needed my help more than anyone was in front of me all along.

-----

The glass shattered.

Koishi dropped to the floor as the tank burst apart. She gasped and panted for air as the water sprayed across the floor, the weeds flapping about for an instant before falling still.

?Haaah, haah, haaah...?

For a moment, she?d been somewhere else, somewhere even deeper in her mind. She felt like a door had been unlocked inside her, and a guest that had been locked away was free at last.

?What the hell was that?!?

A shrill voice cried out from the other side of the pulsing curtain. Koishi was still catching her breath as the wall split apart and her impostor walked in on her.

?You?re-? It jumped at the sight of Koishi, staring with its empty eye-sockets. The walls themselves shook in terror. ?You?re free? How is that even possible?!?

Koishi stared the monster down. She forgot her fatigue as she rose to her feet, raw courage flowing through her veins.

?You stole my body. You hurt my friends. Ever since you came into the world, you?ve done nothing but destroy.?

She raised an arm into the air. An orange gem took form between her fingers, brighter than it had ever been before. She closed her fingers around it, chanting as she was absorbed by its brilliance.

?Forged in light, a candid friend
On whom the people can depend
Answering the Siren?s call
The Ocean Princess fights for all!?


A long white dress formed along her body, with layers of scales building up underneath. Blue waves leaped and crashed along the fabric. Her gloves slipped onto her hands as before, but now instead of a dolphin they had the emblem of an ocean wave. White thighhigh boots clicked onto her feet to complete the getup.

Her trident took form in front of her. She plucked it from the air, pressing a new button on the side of the hilt. The weapon flashed, morphing into an ornate golden sword with a brilliant edge. She pointed it at her other self - no, at the woman claiming to be her.

?Your crimes end here. For the sake of Gensouto, I?ll banish you forever!?

The Mindcoil howled. A violet tentacle leaped from its eye-socket, jumping right for Koishi?s neck. Koishi?s sword cut through it with a golden flash, the tendril falling to the ground and collapsing into dust.

?What ARE you?!? it screamed. ?No-one?s ever - no-one?s ever managed to-?

Koishi didn?t give it the chance to speak. She charged forward, her third eye pulling open for an instant.

?Tides of Doubt!?

The air rippled around her, scattering and pulsing across the length of the room. The coil winced in slow-motion as the wave struck it. It waved one arm in an arc, and the wall split open to devour Koishi. Dozens of tendrils leaped in her direction, but each of them missed her by a comfortable distance.

The mindcoil?s face warped in despair. She leaped backwards as Koishi?s blade lunged at her. The sword dug in a few inches, an oily ooze soaking its tip for a moment before crumbling away. The monster squealed again, the walls themselves trembling at her voice.

?Why won?t you die like the rest of them?!? This time she swung both arms inwards. The walls creaked, snapped, then fell towards Koishi, squirming and pulsing all the while. In one fluid motion Koishi pressed the button on the hilt, reclaiming her trident, then stabbed its prongs into the ground beneath her.

?Cleansing Column!?

The ground flickered white for an instant. Then a brilliant pillar emerged around Koishi, dissolving every inch of Mindcoil that touched it. The walls collapsed, their throbbing slowing down before finally going silent. Koishi?s imposter went deathly white.

?N-No...this isn?t possible...? It fell to its knees, its pride long since discarded. It crawled along the ground, looking up with its empty eyes in desperation. ?Y-You don?t have to do this! W-We can share your body! I can take you to Leviathan, and she?ll make you the strongest Siren there is!?

Koishi didn?t hesitate for an instant. She held out one hand, focusing her energy on the ghostly figure in front of her. A magic circle opened up at the mindcoil?s feet, and with a blue flash a bubble emerged to encase her.

?The sea is the hand that cradles the earth,? Koishi chanted. ?From its darkest depths came the roots of life.? She lifted her hand upwards, the bubble rising along with it. Three circles spun around its axis like satellites.

?Now, rest forever in its frigid embrace!? Koishi closed her fist, and the bubble?s glow grew brighter. More magic circles emerged along its length, spinning faster and faster as the spell reached its climax.

?Marianas Blast!?

The entire structure caved in on itself in an instant, reduced to a single dot in the air. Then it exploded outward, flooding the room with a deafening roar and a blinding light. The Mindcoil?s final cries were barely audible in the spell?s aftermath, but when the flash faded away any trace of the monster had disappeared. A shower of rain fell across the room, a thousand ripples spreading along the soaked floor.

Did I do it?

The remnants of the pulsing walls began to melt, the water burning at them like acid. Koishi felt a weight lift from her mind as the last few tendrils crumbled into nothing. With the Mindcoil gone, Koishi saw the inside of her own mind for the first time.

?Oh. It?s...?

The walls were laced with pictures that had never been taken, little moments that Koishi had committed to memory. Her first day of school, where Satori had taught her to tie her laces. Her seventh birthday, when Satori had talked all of their friends into setting up a surprise birthday party. The day Satori brought home a crow and a raven to be their new pets.

The same face showed up over and over in every picture. Satori. Satori. Satori.

Right. I still have a lot of work to do, don?t I?

She nodded to herself, examining her own memories with a soothing nostalgia. She remembered simpler times, before the accident, before the Sirens, before everything. She reached out for one picture, sliding a finger down the golden frame, before turning her back to it.

I?d better wake up now. Everyone must be worried sick.

A familiar fatigue began to wash over Koishi. She let it take her in, falling on her back as her eyes slid shut.

-----

?Nnn??

Koishi?s first sensation was a throbbing at the back of her head. She winced, fidgeting about as she pulled her eyes open. Her field of vision was filled entirely by Mokou?s face.

?Holy-? Mokou leaped backwards, almost tripping up as she pulled away from Koishi. ?Guys, she?s awake!?

Before Koishi could pull herself to her feet, she was surrounded on all sides by her fellow Sirens. Sakuya grabbed her by the hands, while Youmu snatched at her ankles to keep her from standing up.

?H-Hey!? Koishi yelped. ?What are you-?

?Gimme a minute,? Komachi said, bending down to bring her face almost painfully close to Koishi?s. ?Let?s see if we need to knock you out again.?

So that was where the headache had come from, Koishi thought to herself. Youmu looked away, blushing and murmuring.

?Do I at least get a say in-?

?Nope,? Komachi interrupted before Koishi could finish. ?Sorry, but we?ve got a good reason to be cautious here.?

She pulled up one of Koishi?s eyelids, looking straight into her eye. Koishi saw the lawyer?s expression shift from serious to hopeful to relieved in the space of a second.

?I think we did it, girls.? She sounded like she was struggling to believe the words coming out of her own mouth.

?Really?!? As Komachi pulled away, Mokou came right back to take her place. ?Koishi-san, is that you? You?re not gonna break my neck or anything, right? Say something only the real Koishi-san would say!?

This was not what Koishi had been expecting in the first 30 seconds after waking up. She squirmed about, wishing that her lips were more than a few inches away from Mokou?s.

?Uh...you need to invest in breath mints? Because really, your breath is kind of overpowering.?

Mokou?s brow furrowed. ?I already said I was in a rush last night, didn?t I? I didn?t have time to-? She stopped mid-sentence, jaw dropping open. ?Koishi-san...it really is you, isn?t it??

The hands holding her down moved away. Koishi pulled herself up, sitting up and using the fountain behind her for support. Four pairs of eyes were staring at her, jumping between joy and disbelief.

?Of course it is,? she said with a smile. ?Who else would I be??

She was promptly engulfed in one of the largest hugs she?d ever experienced.

?You actually did it...? Mokou buried Koishi?s face in her chest, squeezing her for dear life. ?Koishi-san, don?t even think of scaring us like that again, you got it? I was worried you?d be gone for good, and we?d have to-?

?I hate to interrupt,? Sakuya said, ?but I?m pretty sure Koishi-san still needs to breathe.?

Koishi nodded rapidly in agreement, flapping her arms about at her sides. Mokou?s face went bright red as she pulled away, giving the Siren some breathing space.

?Oh, uh...sorry,? she murmured. ?It?s just that I wasn?t sure if it was gonna work, and I got really really worried for a bit when you didn?t respond right away.?

?I?ll be honest,? Youmu said with a sigh. ?I wasn?t expecting you to come back to us either. The Mindcoil seemed confident that it had broken you.?

Koishi nodded. She remembered the sorry state she?d been in before the Sirens spoke with her. No wonder the Mindcoil had been eager to boast.

?It came close,? she said. ?It was horrible in there. I was scared, and cold, and...I almost gave up.? She looked upwards, smiling again. ?But then I heard all of you cheering me on, and you made me realise something about myself.?

She dropped to her knees and bowed forward. ?Everyone, I can?t thank you enough. If you hadn?t been there to help me, I don?t think I?d be alive right now.?

The Sirens shared a chuckle at Koishi?s expense, the tension fading away in seconds. Komachi stepped forward, ruffling at Koishi?s hair.

?S?okay, kid. Just payin? back what we owe you.? She smirked. ?Though if you try to kill us again, I can?t make any promises.?

?Understood.? Koishi brought herself to her feet, a familiar throbbing in the base of her knee. If anything it was more painful than before. ?I didn?t do too much damage, did I??

That was apparently the wrong question. The Sirens bit their collective lips, taking a few cautious steps backwards. With some distance Koishi could notice the scrapes and injuries they?d each picked up.

?Koishi-san, a word of advice,? Sakuya said. ?We may not want to hang around for very long.?

Koishi tilted her head. She looked around for the first time since waking up, her attention finally pulling away from the Sirens. She found herself looking at a half-devastated fountain, spraying puddles all across the floor. More pressing were the three bodies lying unconscious around the room - Sango had smacked her head against the fountain, Rin was lying on her stomach with a bump on the head, and Utsuho was drooling as she slumped onto her side.

?Oh.? There was no word Koishi could find that adequately explained how she felt at that moment. It was a potent mixture of embarrassment and astonishment at how much damage she had managed to do.

?How are we getting them out of here?? she asked. She pointed at the blatantly obvious wings on Utsuho?s back. ?That would probably attract a lot of attention.?

?Would you believe I have a plan for that??

Nitori leaped out of the corridor, grabbing everyone?s attention at once. She?d changed into a nurse?s outfit, and she was carrying along a stretcher with another youkai carrying the rear end.

?Morning, Koishi-san. Good to see you back.? She winked. ?Now, could you girls help me out? We?ve got a van to get you out of here, but I?m gonna need some help with these bodies...?

-----

Koishi had seen plenty of hospital rooms in her time, but none of them had been quite so unwelcoming.

The walls were made of solid concrete, and there wasn?t a window in sight. A pillar lodged in the centre of the room had forced Koishi?s bed into the far corner. If it wasn?t for the patient?s gown she was wearing and the words GET WELL SOON drawn on the opposite wall, she?d have struggled to think it was any sort of medical facility.

Nitori had been quick to explain that making the ?hospital? anything more lavish would attract undue attention. It was only for use when members of the White Pearl needed medical attention without pesky officials pushing to find out how they got hurt in the first place. No-one was meant to be admitted for more than a few days, so aesthetics were something Nitori had never given much attention to.

It would have been alright if she had someone to talk to, but she?d been put into her own room until Nitori had given her the all-clear. She couldn?t even walk around the corridors - her knee was still in a sorry state, and walking more than a dozen steps was too painful for her. With nothing else to do, she spent her time thinking over the events of the last twenty-four hours.

She thought of Shou, of Keine, of Satori. The whole experience had bombarded her faster than she could take. Now that the danger had passed, her brain had the chance to recover and process the events one at a time. There was little else for her to do in a room that offered no distractions.

She could still picture the fluttering flames that had ravaged the Institute, the blood oozing onto the floor as Shou?s life leaked out of her body. She remembered Satori?s eyes, filled with cold conviction as she promised to fight her own sister to the death. And as she looked down the corridor, hearing the murmured banter of the other Sirens, she recalled just how close she had come to murdering her own friends.

It?s okay. It wasn?t your fault.

A young girl?s voice whispered into Koishi?s ear. The dim, ghost-like figure of her younger self stood at the side of the bed. She was soaked through, her uniform ruined and her hair hanging in messy coils around her face.

Yet Koishi had never seen a girl with such a radiant smile before.

We?re together now, remember? Koishi heard the girl speak, but her lips were motionless. We can make it through this as a team.

The girl spoke with a childish confidence that Koishi had forgotten. There was so much power in her words that Koishi couldn?t help but nod along with her.

?I understand,? she said. ?Thank you.?

The girl nodded back, her smile still as brilliant as before. Then, in the time it took Koishi to blink, she had disappeared.

?Are you talking to yourself??

Nitori?s voice called out to Koishi from the corridor. The Siren sat up, jerking back into reality.

?It?s not like I have anyone else to talk to.?

?Sorry about that.? Nitori slid through the open door, carrying a tray of curry rice and milk. ?Precautions and all. You don?t get anywhere in this line of work without being paranoid.?

Koishi?s stomach growled in thanks as Nitori laid the meal beside her bed. She opened her mouth to speak, but a dozen different questions mixed together and canceled each other out. She swallowed, shaking her head before starting again.

?How is everyone??

?Stable, as the experts would put it,? Nitori answered. ?The girls are getting along fine, and your pets will be alright, too. That said, you?ve all been roughed-up a bit, so I?m keeping you in for a couple of days. That?s an order, before you ask - I?ve already had to tell Youmu-san that she can?t leave early for good behaviour.?

Koishi chuckled. She appreciated the joke - now, more than usual.

?Was there any luck finding Nagae-san??

Nitori shrugged. ?There?s no sign of her in her apartment. I?m not sure if she ever lived there to begin with. We?ve got Keine under house arrest for now, but it doesn?t look like she has any useful information for us.?

?What about the aquarium? I didn?t really leave it in the best state.?

?I?m working on that. The cops are suspicious, obviously, but I gave the security cameras a quick wipe. And there should be an ?anonymous? donation to pay off the damages in the next few days.? Nitori made inverted commas with her fingers along with the word ?anonymous?. She smiled, patting Koishi on the shoulder. ?Don?t worry about it. Things?ll be fine.?

It was strange hearing Nitori say that, Koishi thought. That morning, Rin had said something similar to her, and she?d been unable to believe it. This time, though, she could make out the light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe things could work out after all.

?Anyway, right now what I?m most worried about is how you?re feeling.? Nitori leaned over, bringing out what looked like a penlight. ?Open your left eye for me, please.?

Koishi sighed, falling back into her bed and holding one eye open. She felt it begin to water as Nitori?s light pointed right into it. The kappa examined her for what felt like forever before finally pulling away. She nodded to herself, scribbling a few lines of text onto the chart at the foot of Koishi?s bed.

?Mokou-san told me you pulled out some new tricks in that fight.? Nitori raised an eyebrow as she wrote. ?Could you explain them to me??

Koishi nodded. Even though she had tapped into this power only a few hours ago, it felt as if she had known it all of her life.

?My third eye...it can do more than send me into someone?s mind. Now I can plant ideas into people?s heads. Sometimes it?s just white noise to make them hesitate in fights, but the Mindcoil used that power to take control of Sango-san and the others.?

Nitori flinched. ?You?re not going to-?

?Of course not,? Koishi answered before Nitori could finish. ?I can?t bend someone to my desires like the coil did. It was the Black Key that gave it that power. All I can do is distract people and make suggestions.?

Even after Koishi?s promise, the kappa seemed perturbed by the claim. She scribbled onto the chart a little faster, biting her lip.

?How did this power manifest, exactly? What happened to you in there??

Koishi opened her mouth to respond, then hesitated. It was difficult to find words for what she had found inside herself. The answer was slow and meticulous.

?I found...me, if that makes any sense.? Nitori tilted her head in confusion. Koishi stuttered as she began to clarify. ?What I mean is that being a Siren was my reason to live. I had to help people, or I was worthless. When Shou-san died, I couldn?t handle it. I came apart.?

She felt a young girl?s hand squeezing at her own. Strength trickled down her fingers, pouring into her heart as she found the will to continue.

?I was neglecting myself from the beginning. I spent so long helping other people that I never stopped to think about how much I needed help.?

Nitori?s eyes wavered with a glint of understanding. She nodded, her writing slowing down to a crawl.

?Do you think you?ll want some more time off?? she asked. ?When you?re walking again, I mean. It sounds like you have a lot to think about.?

This was the question Koishi had been trying to answer by herself while she was alone. She?d been thinking everything over just to prepare herself for this moment.

She clenched her hand into a fist as she shook her head. ?No. I can still fight.? She spoke with such force that Nitori almost stepped away from her. ?Satori was right. I was weak last night, and she proved it. But I can - no, I will get stronger. I made it this far because everyone had faith in me. I?m not going to let them down now.?

?And your sister?? Nitori said. ?What are you going to do about her? Sooner or later, you two will have to fight.?

Koishi clenched her teeth. ?I know. And that?s why I have to come back, Kawashiro-sensei. I think I?m the only one who can get through to her.?

She couldn?t believe Satori was going along with the Claw. Maybe they had lied to her, or maybe she was being blackmailed. Whatever it was, if anyone had the power to make her see sense and switch sides, it was going to be her sister.

?She?s not a bad person, Kawashiro-sensei. I have to talk to her, to try and understand what?s going on.? She bowed forward as far as she could in the hospital bed, pressing her face against the blanket. ?I promise I won?t let you down again. Just give me another chance.?

Nitori was silent for a few seconds. Koishi was afraid she?d be turned down until the professor gave her a pat on the head.

?You really have grown up, haven?t you??

Koishi sat up, eyes widening. Nitori smirked, giving the Siren an emphatic thumbs-up.

?I?m fine with it. I?m sure the rest of the girls will be glad to see you back on the team, too.?

Koishi almost wanted to cry. She nodded, wiping at her face as a precaution. ?Thank you, Kawashiro-sensei. I?ll be up and ready in no ti-aah!?

She made to stand up, taken in by her own speech, until a familiar jolt of pain sprung through her leg. She fell backwards onto the bed, wincing slightly. ?...Actually, I think I might need a couple of days.?

Nitori barely held back a laugh at Koishi?s expense. She batted the chart about, one hand over her mouth as she rose to her feet. She took a deep breath before bringing her hands back down to her sides again.

?Don?t push yourself too hard, alright? After all you?ve been through, you deserve a few days of R&R.? As she turned for the exit, she stopped again. ?And I?ll see about getting you moved into the main ward with the rest of the girls this evening. Sound good??

?Sure.? Koishi waved Nitori off, watching her wander down the corridor towards the other Sirens.

It was only when Nitori was halfway down the corridor that Koishi realised she had forgotten something.

?Ah, Kawashiro-sensei, there was something else.?

Nitori poked her head through the doorway. ?What?s up??

?The Mindcoil...? Koishi closed her eyes, trying to summon up the memory. ?It told me something about Nagae-san, another name she called herself. It was...Leviathan, I think.?

As Koishi opened her eyes again, she saw pain riddle Nitori?s face for an instant. The kappa grit her teeth, the chart almost splintering in her hands.

?Eh? Kawashiro-sensei, what?s wrong??

The professor didn?t answer. Koishi watched her swallow the bile rising in her throat, a line of sweat running across her brow.

?It?s nothing. I?ll explain later.? She looked to the tray. ?Shouldn?t you start on that? Your dinner?s getting cold.?

That was the end of the discussion, as Nitori bolted into the corridor before Koishi could find out what the name Leviathan meant.

She already knew that it was nothing good.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on October 17, 2012, 04:30:17 PM
So that's the end of another arc.

This was honestly a segment of the story I was really looking forward to writing, pretty much from the very start. Now that it's actually over I'm kinda amazed how far I've managed to get with this. As of this arc, DRK's word count has finally passed the monumental 250k word mark. o.o

Usual shoutouts to everyone who's been so supportive about my work, and especially to Iced for being my main sounding board and anti-psychotic medication. Seriously man I'd be in a loony bin by now if it wasn't for you. >.<

Can't give a date for arc 7, sadly - right now third year uni is taking up a lot of my time. I've done a lot of planning, but it's all about finding the time to actually put pen to paper. What matters is that I'm going to do everything in my power to make the last few arcs as high-quality as I can. This story's taken up 2 years of my life, so I may as well go out as large as possible.

Until next time.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Esifex on October 17, 2012, 04:47:32 PM
Broukan, you are better than Broseidon, King of the Brocean.

I will wait warmly until Arc 7 comes along. Gladly.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Kasu on October 17, 2012, 05:52:02 PM
Oh man, that was pretty awesome~

Can't wait to see what you do for Act 7! :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on October 17, 2012, 05:53:50 PM
Honestly, I have no words to say on what just happened. That is just how amazing you wrapped up this arc, Rou.

But now I'm wondering to myself as what is to happen this next arc.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Molten on October 17, 2012, 06:12:02 PM
Pretty much what everyone else has said so far, you're amazing and I'm looking forward to the next arc, whenever it's coming!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: KrackoCloud on October 17, 2012, 10:21:10 PM
ALAS! Arc ends, another hiatus! Come back soon Rou!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: LaserTurtle on October 17, 2012, 10:27:23 PM
I would like to say that your story is simply amazing. everything else's been said already. Hmph. I applaud your writing ability and dedication to continuing each part of the story, because if I was the one writing this, it wouldn't be nearly as good and would end up not even half-finished. Your skills are something you should be very proud of.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Felt95 on October 19, 2012, 04:46:29 PM
Don't know what to say...Everyone took all the good compliments already. :P Umm...Awesome work on this arc and all the others! Looking forward to the next one!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Prime32 on October 20, 2012, 11:55:51 PM
My only complaint about the last chapter is that it didn't have a Theme Music Power-up (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThemeMusicPowerup). :V
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: S1nZ_9001 on October 24, 2012, 02:02:54 PM
Oh ya, I recently re-read the story, and it is still as engaging, if not more, as the first time i read it. That must mean something right?
anyhoo, i got to wondering, can the teardrops be destroyed?

also, Rest well Rou, you earned it. and give us a another awesome arc when you return~.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: Joveus Molai on October 24, 2012, 05:20:22 PM
I know there's a version of DRK on fanfiction.net for people who want to more quickly go back to an older chapter, but in case anyone wanted to that here on the forums instead, I've compiled a table of contents of sorts for all DRK stuff up to and including Arc 6.

(Chapter names are included for those that have them--otherwise, they will simply be labled "Chapter X/Y/Z/etc")

ARC 1
Awakening (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg413447.html#msg413447)
Retreat (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg415779.html#msg415779)
Acceptance (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg416837.html#msg416837)
Acclimation (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg420812.html#msg420812)
Skirmish Part 1 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg423601.html#msg423601), Part 2 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg423709.html#msg423709)
Plan (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg426588.html#msg426588)
Defeat (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg431738.html#msg431738)

ARC 2
Rematch (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg434853.html#msg434853)
Vengeance (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg439461.html#msg439461)
Song (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg440655.html#msg440655)
Phoenix (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg441407.html#msg441407)
Strongest (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg444933.html#msg444933)
Debriefing Part 1 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg455662.html#msg455662), Part 2 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg462121.html#msg462121), Part 3 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg503095.html#msg503095)
Cataclysm Part 1 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg503214.html#msg503214), Part 2 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg503792.html#msg503792)

INTERMISSION
Reprieve Part 1 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg505627.html#msg505627), Part 2 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg507786.html#msg507786)

ARC 3
Recon (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg511253.html#msg511253)
Breakin (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg520062.html#msg520062)
Chapter 3 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg530008.html#msg530008)
Chapter 4 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg530900.html#msg530900)
Chapter 5 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg535331.html#msg535331)
Chapter 6 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg538696.html#msg538696)
Chapter 7 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg540286.html#msg540286)
Chapter 8 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg555122.html#msg555122)
Chapter 9 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg563596.html#msg563596)
Chapter 10 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg569847.html#msg569847)
Chapter 11 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg572078.html#msg572078)
Chapter 12 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg592191.html#msg592191)
Chapter 13 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg594907.html#msg594907)
Chapter 14 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg596533.html#msg596533)
Chapter 15 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg597346.html#msg597346)
Chapter 16 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg598116.html#msg598116)
Chapter 17 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg598933.html#msg598933)

ARC 4
Chapter 1 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg609134.html#msg609134)
Chapter 2 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg612340.html#msg612340)
Chapter 3 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg628401.html#msg628401)
Chapter 4 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg660935.html#msg660935)
Chapter 5 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg685365.html#msg685365)
Chapter 6 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg780577.html#msg780577)
Chapter 7 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg781611.html#msg781611)
Chapter 8 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg783581.html#msg783581)
Chapter 9 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg785550.html#msg785550)
Chapter 10 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg789482.html#msg789482)

INTERMISSION
~Intermission~ (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg793346.html#msg793346)

ARC 5
Chapter 1 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg829916.html#msg829916)
Chapter 2 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg830940.html#msg830940)
Chapter 3 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg832790.html#msg832790)
Chapter 4 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg833983.html#msg833983)
Chapter 5 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg835537.html#msg835537)
Chapter 6 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg836673.html#msg836673)
Chapter 7 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg838196.html#msg838196)
Chapter 8 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg839689.html#msg839689)

ARC 6
Chapter 1 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg872914.html#msg872914)
Chapter 2 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg875832.html#msg875832)
Chapter 3 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg877769.html#msg877769)
Chapter 4 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg881635.html#msg881635)
Chapter 5 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg884342.html#msg884342)
Chapter 6 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg888087.html#msg888087)
Chapter 7 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg891379.html#msg891379)
Chapter 8 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg894423.html#msg894423)
Chapter 9 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg898215.html#msg898215)
Chapter 10 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,6913.msg900456.html#msg900456)

I highly suggest you try and make the time to do a complete re-read of DRK. As I've posted before, you'll catch things you never noticed.  :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 6
Post by: OverlordChirei on December 16, 2012, 06:28:19 AM
Nothing I haven't already said to the author, but this take on Gensokyo is amazing as well as the OC's presented with the theme.

*Waits warmly for Arc 7*
Title: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on April 21, 2013, 10:22:52 PM
What's that? Six months since the last update? We'd better do something about that. :3

(You know the drill by now - updates should be landing every Sunday unless something catastrophic happens. I'm sitting on about 25k of finished work, so I should be good for about a month. Enjoy!)


-----

“I said I’m fine, dad.”

Mokou held the phone to her ear with her one good arm - the one that didn’t send a jolt of pain up her shoulder every time she moved it. Technically she should have taken a sizable dose of morphine to help with that, but she’d never been a fan of medicine she didn’t produce herself.

“You don’t sound fine,” answered a gruff voice on the other end of the line. “You haven’t been getting yourself into trouble again, have you?”

“No! No, of course not.” Mokou sat upright in her hospital bed and immediately regretted it as another dull ache rushed along her spine. She held back a growl of pain for fear it would give her lie away. “I’m just having a sleepover with some friends for a few days.”

“A sleepover?” Mokou could almost feel her father glaring at her over the phone line. The silence that followed was almost as painful as her injuries, carrying on for what felt like forever.

At last, a grunt of resignation echoed through the line. “Well, alright. You’re a young woman now, so I can hardly judge how you live your life. Just give your old man a warning once in a while, alright?”

Mokou nodded. She’d have sent him a message earlier, but she’d only recently recovered enough to hold a phone without half of her muscles complaining about it.

“Sure thing,” she answered. “And...well, sorry for worrying you.”

“It’s fine, Mokou.” For a moment the voice on the line grew softer. “I’m just glad you’re alright.”

The Siren stuck her tongue out. She considered poking fun at her old man, but giving him more reasons to be annoyed with her seemed like a bad move.

“Anyway, I’ve gotta run.” Mokou said. “Goodnight, greyhips.”

As she folded her phone over, Mokou could already feel another pair of eyes locked onto her.

“Greyhips?” Sango said. “What sort of nickname is that?”

“Oh, shut up. I’m sure you’ve got a silly name for your old man, too.”

Sango rolled her eyes. “I wish. The only name my dad answers to is ‘sir’.”

“...Seriously?”

“Imagine having a dad that’s also your boss.” Sango puckered her lips, staring up at the ceiling. “You can imagine how awkward family dinners were.”

Mokou pondered the idea for a moment. ’Pass the salt, sir’. ‘May I be excused, sir?’ ‘So how was work, sir?’ She began to wonder if Sango’s relaxed nature was a subtle act of defiance.

“He never even let me help out after I joined the Pearl. The only reason he let me come out here was because no-one else fit the job,” Sango continued. “Most of the White Pearl are old fogies now, and they figured the Sirens would get on best with a girl my age. If it wasn’t for that, I’d be out doing patrol work miles away from any real action.”

Mokou leaned over towards Sango, ignoring the stinging pain in her spine. “Well, if it’s any consolation, I think you’re the friendliest dolphin I’ve ever met.”

Sango frowned. “That’s pretty faint praise.”

“I make a habit of being honest.” Mokou’s smile faltered slightly. “For real, though, you shouldn’t be so harsh on your old man. He probably doesn’t want you to get hurt, even if he’s too proud to admit it.”

“You think so?”

“Trust me, I’ve got some experience in that department. It took a lot of pestering for me to pull old greyhips out of his shell.”

Sango giggled at the nickname as if it were a joke all on its own. The tension in her shoulders began to fade.

“I suppose family is like that, huh?” she said. “Even if they don’t see eye-to-eye, they’ll always look out for each other.”

Mokou nodded. “Yeah, something like that.” Without thinking, she turned her attention to the curtain that split the room in half. “Even those two.”

Sango followed Mokou’s gaze, her eyes twinkling with understanding. There was no need to name names; both of them had heard the bickering echo through the hallway.

“I don’t understand what happened,” Sango said, a hand on her chin. “They looked like they were getting on so well...”

“They were still high from finding each other,” Mokou answered as she fell back into bed. “Now they’ve had a chance to get to know each other, and they don’t like what they see.”

“Shouldn’t we get them to stop fighting?”

Mokou shrugged. “It’s not our place to interfere. Besides, I get the feeling a chance to vent their frustrations is exactly what those two need.”

Sango seemed tentative, but finally nodded in acceptance. “Right. You humans have a saying about that, don’t you? ‘Blood is slicker than water’ or something.”

“It’s ‘thicker’, Sango-san.”

“Ohhh. I was wondering why it didn’t make any sense.”

-----

“Sakuyaaaa, where are you?”

Remilia groaned on the other side of the line. It was rare for the young girl to act her age, Sakuya thought to herself. She made a note to disappear more often.

“Apologies, milady. I’ve been...preoccupied for the last few days.” She rubbed at the side of her head, at the still-raw mark where Rin’s kick had struck her. The danger had passed, but every few minutes she would be struck by a dizzy spell that made it difficult to stand. Coming back to work in that condition was not an option.

“Patchy says she’s got plans for you when you get back. Something about burning you at the stake.”

“I’m sure she does,” Sakuya said with a chuckle. “How’s Flandre?”

Another grumble. “I haven’t seen her all day. She’s been working with that Kirisame woman every waking moment. I’ve been passing the time trying to teach Meiling how to play chess, but she’s having trouble grasping how en passant works.”

In the background, Sakuya could hear the door guard murmuring about how Remilia was making up rules as she went along. The look on her face had to be priceless right now. It was a shame Sakuya wouldn’t get to see it.

“Anyway, make sure to come back to the mansion as soon as you’re available. I’ve been trying my hand at making tea in your absence, but I’ve yet to make a brew as well-balanced as yours. What’s your secret?”

“If I told you that, you wouldn’t have a reason to employ me, would you?.” Sakuya stuck her tongue out, forgetting herself for a moment. “Goodbye, milady. I’ll see you soon.” She hung up, flopping backwards onto her bed and sighing.

Youmu’s eyes hadn’t turned away from her for the entire phone call. The swordsman was staring straight at her, her expression heavy with disdain.

And now we’re back to this again, Sakuya thought. Youmu had been like this since they’d been ‘admitted’ into the hospital. Her glare carried an overpowering tone of holier-than-thou, like a schoolteacher punishing a misbehaving pupil. It wasn’t the first time Sakuya had been given that look, but she hadn’t expected it from her own sister.

Sakuya had learned from experience that there were two ways she could react to this. She could ignore Youmu entirely, or stir up the swordsman’s emotions and start a fight. She knew that arguing with Youmu would lead to nothing but trouble - but putting down the goody-two-shoes was too cathartic for her to resist.

“Oh, come on. You aren’t still mad, are you?” Sakuya rolled her eyes. Youmu’s glare only grew more intense as she sat up in the bed opposite Sakuya.

“How can you talk like that, Miyo?” Youmu sounded hurt, almost offended. “You broke into the Institute’s offices illegally. You were ready to kill a woman in cold blood.”

“A murderer, I’d like to clarify.” Sakuya raised a single finger to emphasise the point.

“It doesn’t matter. Murder is still murder.” Youmu growled, a flame flickering in her eyes. “You were so much kinder when you visited me. Was that all an act?”

“It was because I knew you’d overreact like this.” Sakuya tried to box her ears with her pillow. “Look, can we leave this discussion for later? I’m getting a headache.”

She couldn’t hear Youmu’s response, but the curled-up brows and wild hand gestures got the point across. Of course there was no headache, though Sakuya didn’t doubt that if she listened to her sister for long enough all the blood vessels in her brain would burst in unison.

All that training’s made her brain gone soft, Sakuya thought to herself. She’s so obsessed with honour that she can’t bring herself to make anything resembling a difficult choice.

It was a logical line of reasoning from where Sakuya was standing. She didn’t understand why Youmu couldn’t grasp the idea - there were no complex moral questions or difficult concepts to understand. There was simply what had to be done.

The world’s not as black-and-white as she thinks it is. Sakuya sighed. But how do I get her to understand that?

“Look, Youmu...” Reluctantly, she pulled her head back out of the pillow and faced forward again. “I’m not going to claim I’m some pariah of justice. But right now, I can’t afford to be. The Black Claw isn’t going to play fair, so neither can I.”

Youmu’s glare was as intense as before. “So you’re willing to stoop to their level, then.”

“That’s not what I said.”

“But it’s what you meant.”

And just like that, the argument was over. Sakuya grimaced. Their fights never seemed to end in one side admitting defeat. As usual, both girls looked away and stared intently at anything that wasn’t each other.

Sakuya buried her face in her pillow. These fights felt like a sugar rush to her - they gave her a brief euphoria, only to send her crashing down soon afterward. Youmu was her sister, the one she’d spent years hunting down. Was this honestly the right way to treat her?

She wrestled with the point in silence, refusing to let Youmu see her hesitate. Now her head really was starting to hurt.

Forget it. I’ll think this over when I’m not stuck in a hospital bed.

The world went hazy, and Sakuya felt her consciousness slip away again. It was a welcome reprieve.

In her dreams, everything was so much simpler.

-----

The hideaway was horribly cramped. Over the last few days he had undertaken some research, examining the length of the building to find a spot where he could stretch his arms out without hitting a wall.

No luck so far.

Rinnosuke Morichika cursed. He owned penthouses with attics larger than this. It was like the last decade of toil and struggle had never happened, and he was back at the bottom rung of the ladder of life.

And if the lack of space wasn’t enough, the tedium had been wearing away at his sanity. He considered himself an educated businessman, but there wasn’t room here to store even a fraction of his collection of books. He’d turned to television to cope, but the plights of the common man felt horribly beneath him.

At last he retreated onto the internet, that delicious miasma of anonymity. He poked at the sites of the CIA and MI6, going as far as he could while remaining on the right side of the law. The secret services fascinated him - in his opinion, the only difference between their business and his was that they had the gall to claim they were a force of good. Rinnosuke would never resort to such rhetoric - he was out for himself, and so was everybody else.

But prodding at the black suits could only offer so much fun. Rinnosuke was not a hacker, and with nothing but a monitor and a keyboard there was only so much he could accomplish. There was a barrier between him and the rest of the world, a plastic bubble that was slowly suffocating him. He’d had no visitors other than a daily delivery of fresh food, and he hadn’t stepped out of the house in weeks.

The worst part was knowing that he had done this to himself. He’d made sure to keep this hideout a secret from everyone beyond his upper echelon of associates. It was a last resort, only to be tended to when Rinnosuke couldn’t afford to be found by the authorities.

He had been scared - no, concerned. Fear was not an emotion Rinnosuke would allow himself to feel. Even in the knowledge that another agent of ‘justice’ was sniffing at his trail, and that she was coming dangerously close to a breakthrough.

Sumire Raikoji, he thought to himself. It’s her fault that I’ve been reduced to this.

He hadn’t even cared about her to begin with. She wasn’t the first young gun to try and bring the law down on him. If he had just fed her a little misdirection earlier, she wouldn’t have been a problem.

But Rinnosuke had underestimated the young lawyer. Her senses were sharp, and her instincts unnervingly accurate. She had picked on tiny details, following them as far as they would go. She had put together the skeleton of a case against him - and at the rate she was working, the police might be out to arrest him within the fortnight.

She wasn’t working alone. There was no way a newcomer like Sumire could be so observant. She had an accomplice, someone with a few years of experience under their belt. They’d been clever enough not to investigate the case for themselves, sending an underling to gather the facts in their stead. Sumire was merely a pawn, but the king controlling her was out of Rinnosuke’s reach.

The reasonable plan was to wait. He knew that. If he hid for long enough Sumire would assume he’d fled the country, and eventually he would be forgotten. But that could take months, even years, and he would have to endure it in what was effectively solitary confinement. Perhaps his body and mind would survive, but cowering like a rat for so long would be a grievous injury to his pride.

Rinnosuke made a choice he’d been pondering over for days now. He pulled up a window on the computer, logging into a private server. It was something one of the tech-heads had installed months ago, but until now he’d never had a good reason to use it. His fingers were slow and careful across the keys as he entered his password, signing in under the username Kourin.

It was a beautiful system, now that he saw it. The server was indirectly connected to the email accounts of dozens, maybe hundreds of operatives. The mail it sent would be passed through half a dozen proxies, making it nigh-untraceable. It was a fast yet covert way to send an order across the city, even if he couldn’t make it in person.

Yes, a wonderful setup. A shame the engineer had to start questioning his morals by the time payday rolled around. They still hadn’t pulled him out of the ocean, Rinnosuke thought to himself.

With a firm resolve, he started to write up a letter. He chose his words carefully - just vague enough that in a court it could be argued that they were harmless, but strong enough that no-one could possibly miss his actual intent.

Time to teach you a lesson, he thought to himself as he pressed the Enter key. Don’t push out a pawn if you aren’t willing to play a gambit.

The email went on its way, traversing Gensouto faster than Rinnosuke could blink. He leaned backwards into his chair - at least, as far back as there was room for. With any luck, this would bring the investigations against him to a definite halt. He reached into a minifridge at his side, pulling out a bottle of champagne he’d been saving for a special occasion.

It slipped out of his hand when he heard the door knock.

Rinnosuke’s body went rigid, animal instincts flaring up. It wasn’t time for his daily grocery delivery. Marketers had explicit orders not to stop here. He’d warned his associates to stay away on pain of death. So who did that leave?

“Morichika. It’s me.”

Oh. Of course. Her. In the heat of the moment, Rinnosuke had forgotten she existed. His pulse slowed to a brisk pace as he tip-toed towards the door, looking out the peephole to be safe. He saw a woman in a long black dress, her expression caught in that fine line between boredom and contempt. He took a quick peek behind her, making sure that she hadn’t been tailed before finally opening the door.

“It’s been a while, Levi.”

The woman’s face didn’t even falter as he spoke her name. At least, it was the only name she had given him. She brushed him aside as she entered, finding one of the few chairs and lodging herself in it. Her gait had an unusual haste to it, he realised, as if something had left her impatient. Perhaps she was as displeased with the current state of affairs as he was.

“How’d you find me?” he asked. He tried to drop the question subtly, but it was honestly a pressing issue for him. There were maybe half a dozen men in the city who knew about this hideout, and Levi shouldn’t have known how to find any of them.

As always, Levi answered with a glare. She was a woman of many questions and few answers, refusing even to show herself to his business associates, but that was what Rinnosuke had found strangely alluring about her. She was probably a spy of some sort, but she had been hard to place - CIA? KGB? Or some other society he’d never heard of?

He could tolerate a little mystery in return for the funds Levi had offered him. She’d donated billions of yen to his causes, and the business had exploded as a result. In return she had asked for practically nothing, merely requesting the right to use his hired help now and again. Perhaps her superior wanted to get on Rinnosuke’s good side now so they could call in a favour later.

“...Well.” After letting the question hang unanswered for a while, Rinnosuke was wise enough to move on. “I’m guessing you had to work for it, at least. Sorry I’ve been so hard to find recently. A little preoccupied, if you know what I mean.”

Levi nodded, her head barely shuffling. Everything she did felt strangely subdued, like there was some primal force she was holding back. It had unnerved Rinnosuke had first, but he’d gradually been desensitised to it.

“Do you need my help?” she asked.

“No. Definitely not.” Rinnosuke shook his head violently. “I’ve got this all taken care of, trust me. In a few days I’ll be-”

“Under suspicion for the murder of a young lawyer?” Levi interjected. Rinnosuke stopped, gulping without realising it. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise up.

“Don’t worry. I was prepared for this.” One side of Levi’s mouth rose half an inch. “I have a simple, foolproof plan that’ll make sure the police never bother you ever again. And since I’m feeling generous, I’ll even do it for free.”

Rinnosuke’s heart leaped. From anyone else that offer would have been impossible, but Levi was just enough of an enigma for him to buy into it. He tried to hide his surprise, coughing and straightening his collar.

“Well if you put it that way, I can’t refuse. What do I have to do?”

Levi’s lip twitched again. “Oh, it’s just one little thing. It’s very simple, actually.”

He had just enough time to see her pull something metallic from her pocket.

Then came the flash.

-----

“Too slow!”

Jozu yelled as her fist came crashing down. Satori brought up her saber, smacking the broad side against the shark’s wrist to send her punch off target. It bought her just enough room to crane her neck to the side. The wind ran cold along her skin as the strike flew by.

Her sword arm was still extended, so Satori couldn’t counter with it. She brought a knee forward, ramming it square into Jozu’s stomach. The shark growled, but didn’t fall backwards more than a step or two. By the time Satori had managed to pull her arm back, her opponent was already going in for another attack.

What’s she going for? Satori tried to follow the tiny movements of Jozu’s muscles. Sweat ran down her face in beads. Her reactions were shot, so all she could do was predict the move before it happened. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, but Jozu was a special case. The cacophony that was her mind left Satori nothing to take advantage of.

There wasn’t enough time. On instinct alone, Satori brought the blade up in front of her face. Time slowed to a crawl, giving her just enough time to see a smirk spread across Jozu’s lips. The fist curled downward, losing no momentum as it hurtled straight towards Satori’s chest.

It stopped less than an inch from her skin.

“If this was a real fight, you’d be dead by now.” Jozu smiled. She spoke of battle in the same way most people would discuss the weather. “Looks like I win again.”

Satori groaned. She pulled her helmet off, throwing it into the far corner of her cell before falling to her knees. They’d spent an hour sparring together, and for half of that she’d been surviving on sheer muscle memory. Initially she’d managed to take a bout or two from the shark, but the longer they fought the more dominant Jozu had become.

“What was the score again?” Jozu said, spinning her arm around in her shoulder. “Twenty-two to five?”

“Six.” Satori raised an extra finger, giving the shark a sharp glance. “And it’s hardly a fair comparison. How often am I going to fight someone with a defect like yours?”

“It’s a talent, not a defect.” Jozu stuck her nose up, arms folded as she sat down next to Satori. “It took years to get that much control of myself, and it’s the one thing stopping me from eating you right now.”

“Right, right.” Satori smirked. No matter how strong she was mentally, Jozu’s emotions were easy to toy with. There were times when she just couldn’t resist poking fun at the shark. A bit of relief now and again kept the edge off of her situation.

For a moment, they sat in silence. There was an unspoken bond between the two that made Satori feel comfortable simply by being close to Jozu. She wasn’t just a sparring partner, or even a bodyguard - she was a friend, the only one Satori felt she could rely on anymore. Especially now that her own family were out of the picture.

“Still, I’m surprised,” Jozu said, shattering the silence. “I wasn’t expecting you to ask for more sparring sessions after you heard the news. Hell, I was ready for you to just give up on the fight altogether.”

Satori nodded. It had been tempting to surrender, and she’d given it a lot of thought. She could still remember her superior’s words, the echoes of the tides as she spoke.

Your sister is lost, Komeiji. Her voice had been blunt and heartless. Perhaps that was what Satori had needed - a viewpoint unaffected by emotion. The Pearl has slipped tales of heroism into her mind, as they have with all of their recruits. They remain blind to the truth behind this war, and their master plants lies in their minds to keep them docile.

In all honesty, Satori had been ready for that answer. When she’d run into the Sirens at the orphanage, she’d glimpsed into their minds. All of them had bought into the belief that the White Pearl was the answer to the war, rather than what had started it in the first place. They’d passed the point of reason long ago.

“I almost gave in, I’ll admit.” Satori saw no need to act stronger than she was, leaning onto Jozu’s shoulder. “I said that I would kill her, but in the end I can’t turn my blade on my own sister. She doesn’t even know what she’s doing anymore.”

“So what are you going to do?” Jozu’s voice was pointed, almost more of a threat than a question. “You can’t stop fighting, but you can’t hide from her forever either. Sooner or later, you’re gonna meet her on the battlefield.”

Satori nodded. “I know. I’m not as naive as my sister is.” She looked down at the back of her right hand, where her violet Teardrop was lodged into the metal. “But I think I might have an idea. The Teardrop is the source of a Siren’s power, right?”

Jozu’s eyebrows rose. “So you’re thinking of disarming her. You realise that’ll be a lot harder than just sticking a sword in her chest, don’t you?”

The Siren winked. “That’s why I figured I could use some extra tutoring.”

The realisation washed over Jozu slowly but surely. Her lips formed into a tiny o, holding form for a few seconds before she let out a mighty sigh.

Moments later, she started to ruffle at Satori’s hair.

“Y’know, I’ve heard a lot of bad things about you humans. But you just might be alright after all.”

Now it was Satori’s turn to be embarrassed. She bowed her head down so the shark wouldn’t see her blush. “Says the woman whose race eats humans for lunch,” she countered.

“I told you, we don’t do it that often!” Jozu growled, her toying with Satori’s hair getting rougher. “You humans have just given us a really bad press, that’s all.”

Satori laughed so hard that it hurt to breathe. It felt inappropriate, but at the same time it was exactly what she needed. She looked over at the sword still resting in her hand, struggling to remember a moment when she hadn’t been training. Jozu had been her only source of relief, and even then she’d been careful not to fall too far from her stoicism.

To hell with it. Satori let her blade fall to the floor as her laughing spree continued. All work and no play makes me a dull girl.

Jozu flinched, letting go of Satori and stepping backwards. “Uh...are you alright?”

Satori felt tears welling in her eyes as she nodded. “I’m fine, Jozu. Better than I’ve been in a long time.”

-----

The morning came three hours too early for Nazrin’s taste.

It wasn’t the sunlight that woke her up - even in the brightest days her hiding spot was pitch black. It was the sound of the zoo coming to life that did the trick - employees running about, creatures calling out for food, and the first few visitors trickling in through the gates.

Nazrin didn’t want to move, but she didn’t have much of a choice. The familiar rumbling of her stomach forced her to rise up on all fours, her tail stretching and coiling around itself. A small yellow ribbon was wrapped around it, bouncing slightly as she stepped out of the darkness.

She looked out from underneath the cage. The usual stands were opening up across from her, selling junk food at obscene prices. They’d been easy picks on her first few days here, but the vendors were beginning to catch on. One of them was wielding his spatula as a weapon when he wasn’t flipping burgers with it, and his glare was permanently locked on the foot of the cage.

Nazrin growled, her throat almost as rough as her stomach. She slipped out under the side of the cage rather than opting for a head-on approach. A brick wall ran around the exhibit, and here there were enough holes in the structure for Nazrin to pull herself up. The cage’s inhabitant - a leopard slobbering on its breakfast - gave her little more than a bored glance before returning to its meal. One of the benefits of being so low on the food chain was that all of the real predators wouldn’t lower themselves to chasing mice.

The brick wall she was climbing looped around behind the stands. She found herself standing right behind her target as he gave his burgers another loving flip. The food on the grill was far too hot for her to handle, but he’d set aside some of it to cool down in the morning air. Stealing a whole patty was beyond her, but she could rip off a piece and run off with it.

She took a few careful steps backward. This was going to take a careful jump, and if she messed it up she’d either be a pancake or a mouse-kebab. She watched the human’s head bob about, waited for him to look down at his handiwork.

Then she leaped off the wall, landing neatly on the vendor’s head.

“The hell?!”

The man’s reaction was less than pleasant, as one hand reached up to grab at Nazrin. She slipped through its fingers, jumping down onto the stand itself. The human was too caught up with his headwear to see her move. By the time he’d caught on, she had already claimed her prize and started a dash back to her cage.

“You little piece of shit!”

For all the grease and warts clinging to his face, the human was much faster than Nazrin had anticipated. In three paces he’d covered the distance between her and the cage, blocking her with his spatula at the ready. She broke to the right, her tiny feet pattering across the stone as her heart raced in her chest.

The vendor chased after her with a new-found determination. She’d made a mistake in frequenting the same food stands - now the human considered her a personal enemy, and would follow her as far as he could. He swatted his weapon down at her, and the sound of it barely missing her sent another wave of adrenaline into her bloodstream.

Nazrin’s eyes bounced around her surroundings, looking for any sort of opening she could slip into. She checked for space beneath the passing cages, but unlike the leopard’s cage these ones were placed on the floor rather than propped up on wheels. The next building was a few hundred meters away, and there was only so long she could keep away from him for.

That left one option - jumping into an actual cage, but that would be escaping one predator to fall into the hands of another. She’d have to choose her living partner carefully.

Wolves, bobcats, mountain lions...why did I have to pick the meat-eating side of the zoo?!

Every option was worse than the one before it. Maybe hunters wouldn’t chase after Nazrin, but they wouldn’t turn down a free breakfast. All the while the vendor’s swings came closer, nipping at her tail more than once. Escape seemed all but impossible.

A foot popped up from behind one of the cages, and Nazrin ran straight into it.

“Whoa!” the foot’s owner cried. “What’s going on here?”

Nazrin’s head still spun from the impact. By the time she could see straight, she was already being picked off of the ground and lifted up by the human she’d run into. The chunk of burger fell from her mouth, uneaten.

“Hey, what’re ya doin’?” The vendor came to a stop, panting and gasping as the exertion caught up with him. “That little rat just tried to make off with my goddamn produce!”

Nazrin quickly looked over her saviour. A girl in her late teens, she wore a long-sleeved orange shirt to signify her place as a member of the zoo’s staff. Her short brown hair was ruffled about, as if she’d walked through a hedge on the way here. There was still a leaf caught in her hair, in fact.

“Hm. A stray animal, you say?” The employee reached down and stroked at Nazrin’s hand, her fingers surprisingly soft. The mouse nuzzled against them, the warmth alien and nostalgic all at once. “Don’t worry, sir. I’ll take care of this for you.”

“You’re gonna stick it in the incinerator, right?” The man spat as he spoke, eyes still locked on Nazrin. “That’ll stop the little rodent from pilfering my stand again.”

The employee closed her eyes for an instant, and when she opened them again they were filled with a newfound disdain. Her grip on Nazrin grew a little tighter.

“Sir, it’s our job to look after these animals, not execute them. If you’re willing to kill another living being that simply needed something to eat, I suggest you move your stand somewhere else.”

She turned on her feet before the man could answer, stomping away from the cages and towards the employee area. Her grip on Nazrin was tight enough to keep the mouse from slipping away, but all things considered Nazrin didn’t even want to escape.

She helped me, Nazrin thought to herself. This human just saved my life.

She had all but given up on humans after what had happened to her master. She’d thought that no-one would ever look out for her again.

Perhaps she had been wrong.

“You alright?” The girl ran her pinky along the length of Nazrin’s tail with a careful stroke. “Don’t worry. Mami-chan’s gonna take good care of you.”

And for what felt like the first time in forever, Nazrin believed that.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: KrackoCloud on April 22, 2013, 02:08:35 AM
I haven't read yet but aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: BT on April 22, 2013, 05:53:48 AM
Not Kyouko but I'll take it. I swear I thought it was Shizuha at first though!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: S1nZ_9001 on April 22, 2013, 06:57:13 AM
Woot, new DRK page~.
I think i should re-read the whole story again... i don't know who was Sakuya and Youmu are talking about....
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: LaserTurtle on April 22, 2013, 10:16:14 AM
heh heh heh...

hahahaha...

AHAHAHAHAHAHA!

sounds of choking and gasping for air

More magical girl hijinks and drama!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: OverlordChirei on April 24, 2013, 11:02:20 AM
Here we go again! /skipsclasstoread

In all seriousness though, the stage has been set once again, and the plot continues. Though, I wonder where our titular heroine is...?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: Yaersulf on April 24, 2013, 04:04:45 PM
Evil, evil I say, returning and not letting me know. Simply unforgivable.

Ok, I forgive you.

*Ahem* IT'S BACK! YAAAAAAAY!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: Joveus Molai on April 26, 2013, 11:16:50 AM
Mamizou as a new Siren? Interesting.... :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: Esifex on April 26, 2013, 10:58:04 PM
:D!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on April 28, 2013, 06:59:58 PM
?Whoa. That is one hell of a scar.? Mokou opened her mouth again, but nothing more fluent than that found its way out of her.

Koishi smiled, pulling her pants-leg back down. The mark on her leg had barely faded, but the crippling pain in her knee had been reduced to the occasional dull ache. Nitori had confirmed the mark would stay for life, but otherwise she was fully healed.

?They say every scar tells a story.? Youmu sat on the desk opposite Koishi, looking out the window of the deserted math class. ?I?ve never understood the claim, myself. All my scars ever told me was that my swordplay was lacking.?

?That?s just a lack of imagination.? Sakuya sat a full desk away from her sister. ?I?d have thought all those haikus would have rubbed off on you.? Youmu answered with an icy glare and an awkward silence.

At Koishi?s side, Sango slumped her shoulders. ?Aw, I don?t have any scars yet. Does that mean my rivalry isn?t cool enough, or something??

?It just means you have room to improve,? Koishi said, reaching up to stroke at the dolphin?s fin. Sango?s spirits were lifted almost instantly, and she let out a barely audible phwee in content.

The moment was cut short by the blackboard pulling open, giving them a view of the secrets of Room 495. Nitori stepped out from within, one hand still ruffling at her hair. In the other, she held a paper folder full to the brim with documents.

?Good morning, everyone. Thanks for coming in on such short-? She stopped mid-sentence as she looked around the room. ?Wait, where?s Komachi-san??

?She was preoccupied,? Mokou said, pointing a thumb out the window. ?Something about urgent police business. She didn?t hang around long enough to give any details.?

Nitori frowned. ?I see. I?ll have to bring her up to speed later, then. Thanks again for coming in on such short notice. I assume no-one?s broken anything since they checked out of the hospital??

No-one answered, mainly because no-one was sure whether it was supposed to be a joke. Nitori parsed the silence as a ?no?, starting up her briefing.

?So as I?m sure you?re all aware, all seven Teardrops are accounted for. Five of them, obviously, are ours. The sixth is with Satori-san. And the seventh...? She sighed, the folder flapping as her grip on it tightened. ?It wasn?t on Shou-san?s body when they brought her out from the fire.?

?So it?s missing?? Sakuya tilted her head. ?How can a Teardrop just disappear? Can?t we have Little Miss Dolphin over here do her usual work??

Sango puffed out her cheeks at the pronoun, but managed to maintain a professional air. ?We thought so, too, but the Teardrop?s gone quiet. I felt Shou-san making her wish just before the accident, but since then I haven?t been able to sense anything.?

?Is that normal?? Koishi asked. ?The Teardrop going silent, I mean.?

?Not in the slightest,? Nitori answered. ?The Teardrops may be hidden inside the Sirens, but they?re still artifacts in their own right. Even if the user dies, the Teardrop itself should remain at full power. The only theory I have right now is that it might have been damaged in the fire.?

She looked to Koishi, her expression cold and scientific. ?Koishi-san, you were the last person to see Shou-san. Did you notice any sign of the Teardrop??

Koishi peered upwards, trying to recall the scene of the blaze. It was still an unpleasant memory, but it was one she felt strong enough to examine on her own now. She?d never taken the time to look around Shou?s body, so the image in her head was blurry at best.

?...No, I can?t remember anything. Sorry.?

?Understandable,? Sakuya said. ?I imagine your mind was on other things at the time.?

Youmu folded her arms and grumbled. ?So now what?? she asked. ?We?ve lost our only lead, and now we know there?s no point in searching for the other Sirens.?

?Actually, you?re wrong there.? Nitori stepped behind the teacher?s desk, dropping her folder onto it and opening it up. ?We?ve still got one lead to chase up on.?

The Sirens peered over the desk, each looking at the array of papers that had slipped out of the folder. On top of them was a monochrome photograph of a dozen men and women in lab-coats. Rune-like symbols hung in the corner, words from a language no human could speak.

?This is from the Ravager project, isn?t it?? Koishi asked.

?That?s right.? Nitori?s voice grew solemn. She pointed at one of the shorter members of the group, her face almost entirely engulfed by a pair of wide-brimmed glasses. ?That?s me, right there. I was a slow bloomer, all things considered. I didn?t hit my growth spurt until I was well over seventy. But that?s not what matters.?

Her finger drifted slightly upwards, pointing at the scientist standing behind Nitori. ?This is what you should be looking at.?

The woman Nitori was pointing at was much less interested in the shot than her companions, staring off into the distance with a clipboard in her hand. Every curve and mark on her body was new to Koishi - every facial feature, every strand of hair, every little speck on her labcoat.

Yet in spite of that, Koishi couldn?t help but feel she had seen this woman before. At her side, Mokou?s face was twisted in a similar look of bewilderment, but the Konpaku sisters were simply staring blankly at the page.

Nitori looked out at the Sirens, waiting for one of them to speak on her behalf. When no-one did, she sighed and filled in the blanks herself.

?This was my work partner during the creation of Project 046. Her name was Leviathan.?

Koishi?s breath hung in her throat. Leviathan. The name the Mindcoil had used for its master.

?Levi was a strange one,? Nitori continued. ?She was a late addition to the project. It didn?t take us long to realise she was a bit...anti-social.? She slid the photograph away, and underneath it was another picture of the youkai. Again Leviathan stared away from the camera, with her hands in her pockets and an overwhelming air of wanting to be somewhere else.

?I imagine she was a wonder to work with,? Sakuya said, rolling her eyes.

?Actually, she was better than you would think.? Nitori pulled out a third picture, this time of Leviathan seated at a desk. A petri dish sat on top of a magic circle, and the researcher was examining it with intense care.

?When it came to the work itself, Levi was a genius. Better than me, in fact, and that?s something I don?t admit often. I heard she was juggling a bunch of personal projects along with her work on 046, but she never seemed tired for an instant.

?So I wondered - if Levi was so brilliant, why wasn?t she on the project to begin with? Why wasn?t she the first person Yukari Yakumo called on?? She bit her lip. ?So I did a little reading into her history. What I found was unpleasant.?

Another picture. This time it was a family photo, with a young Leviathan sitting in the arms of two elderly parents.

?Levi was a great scientist, but she was a daughter first and foremost. Her parents were in their twilight years, and working on the project would put her too far away from them. If she?d had her say, she would have never built the Ravager at all.?

Nitori clenched her teeth, adding the family photo to those she?d already discarded. ?Then the humans forced her hand.?

Koishi?s stomach dropped. The next picture was a battlefield, countless bodies strewn about. From this distance, it was impossible to tell one side of the conflict from the other.

?The War of Cataclysm struck her homeland around that time,? Nitori continued. ?The humans employed a scorched earth strategy, destroying the land as they swept through the country. While Leviathan?s family avoided the conflict, the lakes and rivers they called home were poisoned by the enemy forces. Her parents fell ill, and...?

Nitori didn?t need to finish the sentence. The following silence said everything for her. Koishi hung her head, holding back the urge to vomit.

?I think it took its toll on her,? Nitori said after a pause. ?Levi wasn?t just anti-social, she was verging on unhinged. She would snap at the slightest irritations and work for far longer than she should have. She would stay in the lab all night when the rest of us went to sleep. Her conviction was frightening, and there were rumours that some of her other products were even crueler than what we were designing.?

?So why didn?t you tell anyone?? Sakuya asked, her eyes quietly judging the kappa. ?Trusting someone like that with a weapon like the Ravager was just asking for a disaster.?

Nitori sighed, long and hard, as if some vital force was seeping out of her lungs. ?I ask myself that question every time I go to bed, Sakuya-san. But the fact is even if I had raised a complaint, no-one would have listened. Levi was the project?s star performer. The higher-ups would never risk losing her, no matter how unstable she was.?

Mokou scratched at her head. ?OK, I?m missing something here. You told us this was gonna be a lead, but how does this Leviathan chick connect to what?s happening right now??

Nitori managed a small grin. ?I was waiting for you to ask that.? She pulled away the picture of the battlefield, revealing the last of her papers. ?This should explain for you.?

The phoenix raised an eyebrow as she glanced over the last file, her face slowly engulfed by the revelation. There were a dozen pictures, starting with Leviathan in the top left corner and making gradual changes. They were simple shifts - a moved cheekbone or a tucked in lip - but as they piled up the face started to take on a very different look.

One that Koishi was much more familiar with.

?Nagae-san...!?

?Right.? Nitori nodded. ?Levi disappeared soon after the project was completed. I thought she had died during the conflict, but after what Koishi-san told me there?s no denying it.?

?That?s quite a jump, isn?t it?? Youmu said. ?The two don?t even look alike at a first glance. And I don?t know much about youkai culture, but I doubt Leviathan is the sort of name you only see once.?

?Maybe, but it?s not just the name I?m working from.? Nitori brought back the picture of Leviathan stooped over her research. ?This is the only woman I know who could have it in her to make something as dangerous as the Mindcoil. There?s no doubt in my mind, Youmu-san.?

Koishi gripped at her head. Their greatest enemy had been in front of her all this time, and she hadn?t even noticed. All those times the nurse had asked to talk with her, to discuss her problems - they?d all been lies, an excuse to get Koishi on her own. She felt betrayed at her very core.

?Kinda sucks that we didn?t figure it out sooner, though,? Sango said, one hand behind her head. ?I mean, she?s been missing since the fire at the orphanage. How else are we supposed to find her??

?I?ve been thinking about that,? Nitori said, cradling her fingers together. ?Levi?s been pretty thorough at covering her tracks, but there?s one loose end left for us to follow.?

Sakuya?s eyes lit up. ?Morichika.?

?Correct. The two of them have to be working together. There?s no other way to explain how Morichika?s business expanded so suddenly, or how the Claw managed to find you and Komachi-san so quickly.?

?So the plan is to find the gangster, and press him for what he knows?? Mokou smirked, smacking a fist into her palm. ?I like the sound of this.?

?Actually, I?d like to be the first to get my hands on him.? Sakuya smiled eerily. ?He did try to murder me, after all, so I think it?s only fair I get some sort of payback.?

?Sorry, but it?ll be none of you.?

A voice from outside the room silenced the Sirens instantly. The door slid to the side, and a disheveled Komachi lumbered into the room.

?Komachi-san?? Koishi reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. ?What ha-?

?It?s a long story. There?s no time for it.? Komachi?s eyes shone with desperate conviction as she turned towards the Konpaku sisters. ?I need you two to come down to the precinct with me.?

?What for?? Youmu asked. ?We have other things to worry about right now-?

?Not any more.? Nitori was the first one to put the pieces together. She gripped at her temples and growled. ?The Claw got to Morichika first, didn?t they??

Komachi nodded solemnly. ?The cops found him dead this morning. Took a bullet right between the eyes.?

For a few seconds, everyone stared at Komachi in shocked silence.

?Well,? Sakuya managed, scratching at the back of her neck. ?That changes everything, doesn?t it??

-----

By the time Komachi arrived on the scene, the officials had begun their departure. An unmarked van pulled out of the driveway, presumably containing the body of the deceased. Two cop cars covered it from both sides, accompanying it on the long journey to the city morgue.

Her eyes were locked on the van as it faded into a speck on the horizon. How many hours had she squandered trying to pin a crime to Rinnosuke Morichika? She had spent weeks working with Sumire, tirelessly investigating and planning their strategy - and someone had put all of their work to waste with a single bullet.

?Good riddance, I say.? Sakuya stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Komachi, her eyes following the lawyer?s. ?A poetic end for a man who made his fortune in blood money.?

Komachi?s blood boiled. Sometimes she struggled to believe that she and Sakuya were on the same side. She opened her mouth to argue, but to her surprise Youmu spoke up first.

?That isn?t how the law works, Miyo. He should have had a chance to repent for his crimes.?

?And do you think that?s what would happen?? Sakuya?s voice was harsh and cold. ?Morichika wasn?t the sort of man to be weighed down by guilt. Would prison really be a punishment for him??

Komachi growled. If there was one thing that bugged her, it was kids who thought they knew the law better than the lawmakers. Even if prison was less than Morichika deserved, once they started making exceptions it would be hard to stop.

The air hanging over the trio as they stepped onto the crime scene was painful. Komachi had assumed the sisters would have kissed and made up by now. If she known otherwise, she?d have asked Mokou to come along instead.

Here?s hoping they keep it to themselves, at least.

?Delivery boy called it in this morning,? she said, eager to focus on the task at hand rather than the morality of the deed. ?He showed up to bring Morichika his daily grocery supplies. There was no answer at the doorbell, and he saw the body from the window.?

?Does he have an alibi?? Sakuya asked.

?Airtight. His employers vouch for him. The neighbours are in the clear, too - most of them didn?t even realise the house was occupied. No-one with a motive or history with Morichika, either.?

The house itself was verging on claustrophobic. Komachi?s head nearly smacked into the ceiling as she moved into the doorway, and the corridors were too narrow for her to raise her arms. The lack of decoration verged on depressing, and she found nothing worth looking at until she reached the scene of the crime.

The air in the lounge was cold, as if something vital had ebbed out along with the death of its owner. Two chairs sat next to the door, facing each other. Blood had dried into the fabric of one of the seats, an ugly brown mark that no amount of scrubbing would remove. In the distance lay the shattered remnants of a champagne bottle.

?The killer was nice enough to leave the gun behind,? Komachi said. ?They?re checking it out at the precinct right now, but I wouldn?t keep my hopes up.?

Youmu furrowed her brow. ?Why?s that? Won?t there be prints on it??

?Of course not.? Sakuya answered. ?Unless we?re dealing with an absolute moron, they wouldn?t risk leaving behind something that incriminating.?

The swordsman growled. ?Then why would they leave it behind??

?To prove that they can.? Komachi buried her hands in her pockets. ?It?s a statement, Youmu-san. The killer wants us to know that we?re not gonna find ?em.?

That was enough to keep them quiet. Komachi basked in the sweet silence as she stepped across the broken glass, towards the back of the room.

?Anyway, onto the real reason we?re here.? She pointed at a low-tech computer was tucked away in the distant corner, the processor still chugging onwards.

?Morichika?s computer?? Youmu asked. ?Surely that?s the first thing the forensic team would have looked at.?

?Of course it was,? Komachi said. ?They?d have taken it down to the precinct if they could.? She reached under the desk, grabbing at where the tower should have been. Rather than grabbing the computer itself, she pulled out a wire that slipped into a hole in the wall. ?Problem is we?d have to take apart half the wall to do that.?

?Sounds philistine,? Sakuya said, pursing her lips. ?I expected something a little more refined.?

?Well it worked, didn?t it?? The lawyer tapped a button on the keyboard, and the screen flickered to life. A window popped up, demanding an ID and password from her. A counter on the bottom of the screen reminded her she had three attempts before the whole system locked itself down.

?And here?s the one thing keeping us from accessing Morichika?s files.? Komachi motioned to the computer with an almost dramatic flourish. ?We?ve got no clue about the ID or the password, and the precinct?s cracking technology is too hefty to haul all the way out here.?

Sakuya snorted. ?The entire Gensouto police force, outsmarted by a login screen and some drywall.?

?But why are we out here, then?? Youmu asked. She stared at the computer with a puzzled glance as she scratched her head. ?I doubt Miyo has any leads, and I...mother didn?t see the point in computers, so I?ve never even used one.?

Komachi reached into her pocket, pulling out a bright red pen drive. ?Let?s say I?ve got a little bit of extra help.?

She inserted the drive into a port on the side of the monitor. The pen lit up, and another humming noise echoed from inside the machine. A tinny rendition of God Save The Queen rang out from the speakers as a tiny figure walked onto the screen. Its long robe dragged behind it as it adjusted the crown on its head.

[WELCOME!] it declared, a bubble of text appearing above it. [THANK YOU FOR RUNNING PRINCESS KOTOHIME?S LOGIN-BUSTER.]

Sakuya?s lips curled upwards at the sight of the sprite. Youmu simply looked dumbfounded as the tiny Kotohime walked up to the login window, prodding and shaking at it. A progress bar ran along the bottom of the screen, building up gradually as the password began to fill itself in.

?It?s a little memento my hacker friend gave me a few months back,? Komachi said. ?A present for good behaviour, she called it. Really it just meant she was grateful I didn?t report her to the authorities for some of her more questionable deeds.?

?Impressive.? Sakuya folded her arms, smiling wryly. ?I imagine this little helper of yours is illegal??

?Absolutely,? Komachi answered, with brutal honesty. ?I?ll trust you two to keep quiet about it.?

Sakuya shrugged in acceptance, but Youmu looked conflicted at best. Her face flashed an angry red, but the swordsman clearly knew there was no point in objecting. She trudged across the room in a half-hearted search for evidence in order to put some distance between herself and her companions.

?Allow me to apologise on her behalf,? Sakuya murmured. ?It?s me she?s frustrated with, not you. Don?t worry, I?ll get her to listen to reason eventually.?

Komachi tensed herself. She hadn?t wanted to get involved in the sisters? dispute. She eyed the progress bar on the screen, silently willing it to move along faster.

?Don?t act like you?re comin? out of this smelling like roses, Sakuya-san. Maybe she?s stubborn, but she does have a point.?

?About what?? Sakuya stuck up her nose. ?That we should kindly ask Morichika?s corpse if it?s okay to look through his files??

Komachi looked back at the maid. ?You?re enjoying this, aren?t you??

Sakuya flinched. ?Excuse me??

?I saw the way you smiled when I pulled out my little gadget. You were going on about how all this snooping around was necessary back at the hospital, but when we actually do it you?re giddy about poking at other people?s shit.?

Sakuya?s brow dropped. ?Is it unusual for me to take pleasure in my work??

?If your doctor giggled every time he cut you open, how comfortable would you be around him??

That was enough to silence Sakuya on the matter. She sank into thought, eyes occasionally shifting backwards to the still-sulking Youmu.

?So what do you suggest?? she asked, looking genuinely puzzled. ?Should I try to keep my opinions on the matter to myself??

?Maybe try to remind yourself that even if he was a monster, Morichika was a person too,? Komachi answered. ?Getting that excited about meddlin? in someone?s affairs isn?t good, no matter how much they deserve it.?

Sakuya nodded, and Komachi could practically see her taking notes in her head. The girl was a little off in the head, Komachi thought to herself - if things had been slightly different, maybe Sakuya would have been an enemy rather than an accomplice.

Luckily, she didn?t have to dwell on that thought for long. Another painful beep emanated from the computer.

[CONGRATULATIONS!] the tiny Kotohime declared. [PASSWORD CRACKED. ACCESS GRANTED.] The princess bowed, waltzing off screen with a sultry step. Komachi couldn?t believe it was possible for a pile of pixels to look so smug. The login window disappeared, and half a dozen browser windows appeared in its wake.

?Eh?? Youmu approached the computer again now that it was usable. ?Why are there windows already open??

?He must have been using the computer just before he died,? Sakuya said. ?He didn?t get the chance to log off, I assume.?

?All the better for us, then,? Komachi said, as she started to skim through the windows. ?We?ll get a good idea of what he was doing in his last moments.?

The first few windows were nothing interesting: articles about secret services, government conspiracies and spy rings. Most likely they were what Morichika looked up as a pastime.

It was the final window that took the breath from Komachi?s lungs.

?Wha-?

Staring her in the face was a simple email applet, still logged in. One message sat inside Morichika?s outbox, already sent out to over a hundred users.

Sumire Raikoji is becoming a nuisance. I?d really appreciate it if someone took her aside for a little talk.

-Kourin


-----

Sumire took a deep breath, letting the smell of fresh coffee float into her nostrils. The one good thing this place had going for it was that the coffee machine knew how to do its job. She took a long sip at her drink as she lowered herself onto her seat, bringing her monitor back to life with the click of a mouse. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, letting the caffeine work its way into her bloodstream before she delved back into her work.

She?d spent the last hour putting together a clumsy spider map of Morichika and his associates. The man himself was in the center of the graph, with every other face connected to him by a long black tendril of a line. It was very similar to the map she?d been using for her earlier investigations on the man, in her attempts to bring him to justice.

As of this morning, though, she?d had to construct a map for a different purpose. The question wasn?t ?Who?ll be willing to testify?? anymore. It was ?Who?d be willing to kill the biggest kingpin in Gensouto??

Another long sip at the cup. It was difficult to even make headway on a case like this. Morichika was a man with many friends, but in his line of business trusting an ally simply meant he?d be willing to stab them in the front rather than the back. Any of his lackeys might have done the deed in the hopes of taking his place on top of the pile.

But could any of them have done the deed this precisely? From what she had seen of Morichika?s associates, most of them left the thinking to their superior. Could any of them have made it in and out of the safehouse without leaving a trace of evidence - and be so confident in the fact that they would leave behind the gun to taunt the authorities?

Sumire shook her head. This didn?t add up. There was a piece missing from the puzzle, a link to Morichika that she hadn?t managed to find. She quickly added a new cord to those already spreading from the victim, filling it with a giant question mark.

Yes. Keep going. A voice in the back of her head whispered in encouragement. She took a long swig at her coffee as she let her fingers fly across the keys.

Finances? This was another question Sumire had asked herself recently - Morichika?s operations had magnified considerably in the last few months, larger than he should have been able to handle. Had this new mystery figure been a new source of income for him? If so, had they killed him to put an end to the deal?

She scribbed down the word foreigner beneath that. She?d researched every big name in the Japanese underworld, but none of them had even acknowledged Gensouto of late. If there was a name she hadn?t considered, it had to be from outside of Japan. She wasn?t sure who?d be interested in such a backwater city, but whoever it was they?d been willing to invest heavily.

She pulled up a database of foreign entrants to the country. A recent law had enforced mandatory fingerprinting on all non-Japanese residents, so it would simply be a matter of checking recent visitors and their histories. It?d be slow and methodical, but if her suspicions were correct this would almost certainly lead her to her criminal.

Sumire?s brain felt like it was on fire. She was jumping from one link to the next without stopping for an instant. The coffee was partially responsible for that, but more than anything Morichika?s death had struck her hard and deep. The man she?d spent months of her life on catching, murdered seemingly out of nowhere? There was no way she would let that pass.

She was about to start on the search when her cell phone went off.

?What now?? she muttered. She?d already had enough bad news today. She picked up the phone and put it to her ear without bothering to check who was calling. ?Raikoji. Can this wait? I?m in the middle of-?

?Sumire. Where are you??

Komachi?s voice echoed with worry on the other end of the line. Sumire lost track of the rest of her sentence.

?Uh...I?m at work. Why do you ask??

?You might wanna take a trip down to the precinct. Right now. And stay off the main streets if you can.?

Sumire felt the bottom of her stomach fall out. ?Let me guess. There?s a price on my head??

The line went silent for a long while. That was as good as a yes.

?I?m sorry, kid,? Komachi said. ?I should have known you were getting a little too close for comfort.?

Sumire felt strangely numb. Even with all her prying into the lives of criminals, she had always felt disconnected from the grittier affairs. Now she was finally reaping what she had sown for months - an army of thugs who?d be all too willing to slaughter her.

?I figure the higher-ups are gonna play it quiet for a few weeks,? Komachi continued. ?They?ll try to cover up Morichika?s death for as long as they can. When word gets out, though, loyalty will probably start to falter. You shouldn?t need to hide for more than a month, two at the very most.?

Komachi?s voice was gruff from frustration. Sumire wasn?t quite sure who she was so angry at. Maybe their mystery hitman. Maybe Morichika. Maybe herself.

?What about the investigation?? Sumire asked, finding her voice. ?We?re still no closer to finding out who killed him-?

?I?ve got it under control.?

Five words were enough to shut Sumire up entirely. It was a big claim - almost impossible given the evidence they had to work with - but Komachi spoke it with such force that Sumire couldn?t help but buy into it. She nodded along, a weight falling from her chest as she did.

?Alright, then.? She gave her computer another glance, the massive question mark still taunting her. ?Whoever did it, make sure they get what they deserve, alright??

Komachi chuckled, low and dry. ?Trust me, Sumire, these people messed with the wrong woman. Now go hand yourself in before I have to figure out who killed you, too.?

?Yes, ma?am.?

Sumire hung up, the dialing tone feeling long and final. She heaved out a sigh as she slipped the phone back into her pocket, giving her computer one last glance before shutting it down.

?Good luck, Komachi. You?ll need it.?

She took the coffee cup with her, intent on getting her money?s worth as she made her way out of the court offices. By the time she?d arrived at the station, the drink was cold and rank.

?I?m really going to miss that coffee machine, aren?t I??
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: BT on April 28, 2013, 08:50:04 PM
Tch, that was an awfully nice update.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: Kasu on April 28, 2013, 10:28:38 PM
That was quite the interesting update~

Wonder where this'll end up heading next.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: Yaersulf on April 29, 2013, 02:24:21 AM
Damn Rou, I was wrong about Rinnosuke.

... Or was I?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on May 05, 2013, 04:24:19 PM
All things considered, Nazrin fell into the flow of her new life surprisingly easily. Mami had tried to get her added to the local rat exhibit, but apparently the odds of her passing some unpleasant street disease to the other animals was too high. Unfazed, the zookeeper had taken in Nazrin herself, keeping the mouse in a little cage on her desk.

Of course it wasn?t the same as what she was used to. The pellets Mami fed her were probably a lot better for her health, but they lacked the distinct flavour that the old ones did. Her cage was a little smaller than she remembered, and her new owner had a much more hectic schedule than her old one. If she?d simply been given over, these little differences would have had her longing for her old home.

But that wasn?t an option now, and knowing that made her appreciate this new safe haven even more.

Mami was also strangely similar to her old master. She approached life with an immense vigor, never seeming to lose heart in her work. She tended to even the most menial of duties with enthusiasm, from feeding the animals to cleaning up their messes.

Shou had held that same passion, too, but she had rarely been given the chance to make anything of it. It was only in tending to Nazrin that she?d been able to show her compassion for other living things, the compassion that had led her to charge into a burning building and-

No. Stop.

Nazrin cut the thought short before she found herself mired in its grip. The past was over. There was no use lamenting. All she could do was start again from here.

?You alright in there??

Mami knocked on the side of the cage, curiously eying its inhabitant. The girl had an almost precognitive sense for reading Nazrin?s emotions, more accurate than most humans could even manage with each other.

?Hmm...I think you could do with some fresh air. Being stuck in that cage all day probably isn?t good for you.?

Mami grabbed a belt from a nearby closet and buckled it around her waist. Slowly, carefully, she picked up the small cage Nazrin called home and clipped it to the belt, checking thrice over that there was no chance of it falling away.

?I?ll try not to rustle you about too much. Thank me later, ?kay??

Nazrin nodded without thinking about it. A chance to see the world beyond these four walls would never go amiss. She curled her tail up as Mami pulled on a long jacket, hiding the cage from view so they wouldn?t get the attention of passersby.

Nazrin had expected more opposition, but as Mami stepped out into the crowd no-one even stopped to question why she was weighing herself down with a coat that was far too heavy for the warm weather. It wasn?t like the cage was even that well hidden - one side pressed right against the coat, so there was a huge bulge in the jacket. Nevertheless, Mami walked out without anyone even giving her a second glance.

In almost no time at all they were outside, the sun?s brilliant light shining through to catch Nazrin in the eyes again. At least it was only coming from one direction - Nazrin could only see forwards, the rest of her vision blocked by the jacket. Considering the trouble they?d be in if she was seen, she figured it was a fair compromise.

?Hmm...I wonder how everyone is today.?

Mami pondered to herself, making long hums as she barged through the crowd of visitors. Was she talking to herself, to Nazrin, to someone else? It was hard to tell. And who was the ?everyone? she was referring to?

The answer to that question came soon afterward, when Mami stopped in front of the nearest exhibit.

?Morning, girls! How?re you today??

She poked her head between the bars of the lioness cage, immediately earning the attention of its two inhabitants. Nazrin squealed, her panic senses flaring up, but the creatures made no attempt to approach. Instead, one growled in apparent content while her partner lifted her front paws as if to shrug her shoulders.

?Don?t tell me they aren?t feeding you right?? Mami frowned, looking at the unhappier of the two. ?You?ve still got that bug from earlier, don?t you? I?ll have to ask the doctor to give that another look.?

The young tigress nodded. A low, soft purr began to rise from her throat as she rolled back onto the floor of her cage, falling quickly into a nap.

?See you tomorrow, then!? Her work apparently done, Mami pulled away from the cage and moved on to the next, repeating this process with every exhibit she came across.

Nazrin watched Mami?s work in awe. This ability to read the feelings of animals wasn?t just a talent, it was verging on superhuman. Maybe it was one of those innate magical traits? She?d heard of humans tapping into their latent powers without realising it. No other answer really made sense to her.

She wasn?t the only one paying attention, either. A crowd was starting to form around Mami, the audience applauding her as she moved from one cage to the next. Nazrin imagined an employee like that had to be a big selling point to the zoo; no wonder Mami?s workmates were willing to cut her some slack.

Then, in the midst of cheering, another voice spoke up.

?She?s here, right? The girl that talks to animals.?

Accompanying the voice was the sound of other members of the crowd being pushed aside. The oddly business-like voice came closer, a path quickly opening up to make way for its owner.

As Mami turned around to face the source, Nazrin swore she heard the human gasp.

Standing ahead of the rest was a slender young woman in a close-cut black suit. Her short blonde hair was carefully kept in place, and even her fingernails had been preened to a sharp edge. She pulled a badge from her pocket and flashed it at the crowd.

?Agent Indigo, from the FBI. I?m here to ask you a few questions, ma?am. Is there anywhere private we can speak??

The FBI? Wasn?t that one of those foreign human police agencies? What were they doing here, and what could they possibly want? She looked up at her new master, hoping Mami?s expression would give her some idea what was going on.

To her dismay, Mami was sweating bullets.

?Uh...I?m not sure what you want, but you?ve got the wrong girl.?

?Really?? Agent Indigo stepped forward, her eyes shifting from bored to suspicious. ?Perhaps I?m paranoid, but I?ve never seen an innocent woman get so anxious about a simple questioning.?

As the agent stepped forward, Mami stepped back. Nazrin was pulled along, the cage rocking about as the steps grew more frantic. Her mind shook about along with it, the new routine she had fallen into torn apart in an instant.

?Now, let?s not make an issue out of this...? Mami tried to shift to the side, but every move she made was matched by the agent. Eventually she found herself pinned against the wall of the cage with no way to run.

?You?re the one making an issue, ma?am.? Agent Indigo pulled a set of handcuffs from her belt. ?Now come with me before I have to arrest you.?

Mami looked about. She could retreat no further, and she wouldn?t be able to outrun her assailant. There was no way for her to evade capture.

Or so Nazrin had thought.

?Well, sorry, officer.? Mami smirked. ?I?ve got an urgent appointment to make, so I?ll be going now.?

She ran a hand down her own body, and in an instant she was gone, and Nazrin had vanished along with her. Or perhaps ?vanished? was too strong a word - they hadn?t moved an inch, but they had completely disappeared from view. As Nazrin looked down on herself, she couldn?t even make out her own nose.

Almost immediately the crowd erupted into gasps and murmurs. Indigo cursed, lunging forward and grabbing at the space that Mami had previously inhabited. She closed her fingers on empty air as Mami plunged headfirst into the crowd. Caught by surprise, the audience crumpled as if they were made of paper.

Even when they had cleared the mass of onlookers, Nazrin was still carried along by her unseen companion. The cage rocked wildly, pushing the mouse into both its front and back faces. Even if she couldn?t see the bars anymore, her face hurt enough to confirm they were definitely still there.

Her mind was racing on almost as quickly. A million questions came to her, and she had no clue where to begin with them. And even then, could she ask questions like that of a human?

No. That was wrong. Mami wasn?t human. She?d just pulled off a vanishing act that would make any conjurer green with envy. She looked human, she acted human - but she wasn?t.

Mami kept running until they?d made it all the way out of the zoo, coming to a stop in a back alley near the entrance. She ran a hand up her body, her form returning as it moved upwards. As it ran up her waist, Nazrin reappeared as well, as did the cage bars that surrounded her.

?Jeez, that was close. Didn?t think she was on to me.?

Mami unclipped the cage and laid it down on a pile of cardboard boxes in the corner of the alley. She wiped a layer of sweat from her brow and leaned against the opposite wall as she caught her breath.

It didn?t take her long to notice the two beady eyes locked on her.

?Oh, right. You saw all of that, didn?t you??

Nazrin nodded. If she weren?t stuck in this cage, she would have taken on her youkai form and demanded answers herself. Mami sighed.

?I?ve got a lot of explaining to do, don?t I??

Mami reached backwards, patting a hand against the small of her back. A large, furry tail began to grow from it, with alternating rings of brown and white. She did the same with her hair, and two animal ears poked out from underneath.

?Name?s Mamizou Futatsuiwa. Tanuki youkai. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.?

-----

Nazrin couldn?t remember the last time she?d had a conversation with another youkai. It had never concerned her: even before the master had taken her in she had never been particularly social, and spending most of the day in a cage limited her discussion partners considerably.

Now she felt like her mind was full to the brim with questions. She batted at the door of her cage in a silent demand.

?Ah, sorry.? Mamizou murmured an apology, kneeling down and undoing the latch on the cage. The door creaked open, and the mouse scuttered out onto the murky gravel.

Nazrin closed her eyes, willing herself into her youkai form. She had never felt comfortable in it - she wasn?t used to seeing the world from so high up, and she felt a horrible chill run along her body. She looked down on her naked form, already missing her familiar coat of hair.

?We?d better get you into something less revealing,? Mamizou said. She reached into a nearby trashcan, digging out an old dress and flinging it in Nazrin?s direction. It was far too large for her and covered in tears, but at least it was relatively clean. Nazrin slipped it on without complaint.

?Sorry for dumping all of this on you,? the tanuki continued. ?There?s a camera in my room, so I can?t really flaunt this at will.? She pulled her tail around, stroking at it as the hair bristled. ?I thought it?d be best to put you in along with the other mice, miss...uh, do you have a name??

?...Nazrin.? The word creaked out of her throat, her vocal chords feeling rusty from lack of use. ?Just Nazrin.?

?Nazrin. Right.? Mamizou took a seat on the pile of boxes. She pulled a pair of reading glasses from her pocket and slipped them on, for seemingly no reason other than to look more studious. ?Is that your first name??

?No.? Nazrin shook her head. She couldn?t even remember her first name anymore. She?d thrown it away the moment Shou had taken her in. ?My master gave it to me.?

?...Ah.? Mamizou bit her lip, her tail drooping. She was smart enough not to press the point, falling silent to give Nazrin time to ask her own questions.

?How did you do that?? She pointed to her own ears and tail. ?I thought youkai weren?t able to hide their features.?

?They can?t, normally.? Mamizou nodded to herself, a smug grin rising to her face. ?Took me a lot of practice - not gonna say how much, because I can?t think about my age without feeling old.?

She laughed it off, but Nazrin?s beady eyes saw past the facade. There was something about this woman the mouse still couldn?t place, even knowing that she was a youkai now.

?You alright, Nazzie?? Mamizou stepped forward and looked down on the mouse, still half a head taller than her. ?You look pretty miserable. Did I do something wrong when I was taking care of you??

?No, nothing like that.? Nazrin shook her head, resting her chin in her palm and sighing. She slumped back and sat in the corner of the alley. ?It just felt good to know a human still cared about me.?

It was only when she thought on it that Nazrin felt the hole forming in her gut. She?d used Mami as a stand-in for her old master, only to find that the zookeeper was anything but human. The wounds she had sewn shut were beginning to open again.

Mamizou frowned, sitting next to Nazrin and running a hand along the mouse?s tail. ?Nice ribbon.? She stroked at the silky yellow fabric that was an order of magnitude cleaner than the rest of Nazrin?s outfit. ?A present from your master??

?No.? Nazrin paused. ?I think.?

?You think??

?I don?t remember where it came from.? Nazrin grumbled, frustrated with her own answer. ?I just woke up one day and I was wearing it. But...it reminds me of her.?

She brought her knees up and buried her face in them. She had been able to forget when she had to struggle to survive. She?d even been able to forget when another human had taken her in. But now the memories were flooding back, wracking her brain like a cannonball.

The smoke still hung in her nostrils. The flames lashed at her arms. And for an instant, as she closed her eyes, she saw her master?s lifeless body on the floor.

She?d have drowned in her own rumination if Mamizou hadn?t embraced her.

?It?s alright. You?re not alone anymore.?

Somehow, the tanuki understood even though Nazrin hadn?t said a word. Nazrin leaned into her, sniffling for a moment until the feeling passed.

?Feeling better?? Mamizou patted her on the head. It was condescending, but the sentiment behind it made up for that.

?I?m fine.? The mouse rubbed at her face, refusing to be seen with tears on her cheeks. She broke away from Mamizou and rose back to her feet, feeling revitalised as she took a long, deep breath.

?Still, I think you should appreciate how lucky you?ve been,? Mamizou said. ?A lot of the animals at the zoo would be jealous of the life you?ve led.?

?Jealous?? Nazrin?s tail swung about behind her. ?Why would they be jealous? They spend their whole lives being looked after by humans without a care in the world.?

Mamizou sucked in air through her teeth. ?So you don?t know, then? Well, if you?ve had a good owner all your life, I understand why you?d be in the dark.?

Nazrin felt a chill of foreboding echo through her bones. When she?d lived on the streets, before she?d been taken in by her master, a life at the zoo seemed almost like paradise. She would never have to scavenge for scraps again, and there would be attendants and doctors to tend to every need. Perhaps that thought had been too idyllic.

?It?s not that simple, is it?? she whispered, not sure if she wanted to know the answer to her own question. Mamizou replied with a slow, solemn shake of her head.

?It?d be great if the humans did their job. The problem is that a lot of them are just in it for the money. They don?t really care about the animals they?re looking after, and they cut corners whenever they can. I?ve seen some of the youkai go for days without being fed, and the medical care is almost as bad.?

?...I see.? Nazrin kept her response simple and neutral, unsure how she was expected to react. Sympathy for the other youkai? Guilt over how easy her life had been in comparison? Anger over how her people had been mistreated by their supposed caretakers? All of these emotions swirled about inside her, but they mixed together into a murky goop that flooded her brain.

?So that?s why you?re here, then?? she said, choosing to ask questions rather than ponder answers. ?To look after the youkai, because the humans don?t.?

?Got it in one.? Mamizou winked. ?It?s a tough job, but it?s not like anyone else is going to do it. The youkai can?t even cry for help - not without giving away the whole ?magic? thing, anyway.?

Nazrin nodded. The story added up, except for the one factor that had torn their little field trip apart.

?So who was that woman who wanted to question you??

Mamizou went quiet and motionless for a moment. Nazrin saw something dark flash over her eyes behind the glasses.

?It?s a long story,? the tanuki said, her ears flopping downwards. ?The short version is that I did something she didn?t like, and she?s never quite forgiven me for it. Rest assured, it wasn?t an interrogation she wanted to pull me aside for.?

The answer was nowhere near satisfactory, but the dullness in Mamizou?s eyes showed she?d said all she would on the matter. Nazrin sighed, taking little relief in the knowledge she wasn?t the only one with problems to contend with.

?So what will you do now?? the mouse asked. ?You can?t go back.?

?I can?t, can I?? Mamizou rose to her feet again, pacing up and down the alley as she sank into thought. ?Maybe if I...no, that won?t work. What about-? She snapped her fingers as her face lit up in revelation. ?That?s it!?

?What?s it?? Nazrin asked.

Mamizou teetered over to Nazrin, giddy from nerves and excitement?. ?Right, so this is going to sound a little crazy, but hear me out before you say anything.? She clasped her hands together.

?How would you like to help me organise a breakout??
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: Kasu on May 05, 2013, 05:52:40 PM
Oh lord.

This can only turn out awesomely.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: Yaersulf on May 06, 2013, 06:11:53 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q26SkKa2JGA&list=PL8Vd-cvqk4GtPGk2K8yfiEcWxy6nt3VZY&index=10

FBI! FBI! FBI!

...Sorry
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on May 12, 2013, 11:44:34 AM
Ah, so that’s how it works.

Mokou looked up at the monitor in understanding, trying to commit everything she saw to memory. To her fellow Sirens it would have looked like an unintelligible batch of letters, but their true meaning called out to her alone.

“What’re you doing in there, Mokou-san?”

The wall shifted to the side as Nitori stepped into her own secret compartment. Mokou swirled around in the chair, making no attempt to conceal her deeds.

“Just studying, that’s all.” She pointed up at the symbols flashing on the computer screen. “Didn’t realise this computer of yours was so packed with info.”

“Most people would have asked for permission,” Nitori said.

“We’re teammates, aren’t we? What’s yours is mine.” Mokou shrugged. “Besides, be glad it’s me and not Sakuya-san. She’d have probably poked through your personal files in search of blackmail material.”

Nitori made no attempt to argue against that, instead looking up at the monitor. Mokou watched her face, noting that even the kappa needed a few seconds to comprehend what she was looking at.

“This is alchemy, isn’t it?”

“That’s what you call it?” Mokou said. “That doesn’t sound right to me. Gives me the mental image of an old guy in a stupid hat turning lead into gold.”

“That’s what they’re aiming to do, though,” Nitori answered, taking a seat on a nearby crate. “It’s the study of combining mundane chemistry with magical charms, and creating something greater than the sum of the two.”

Mokou nodded. She couldn’t deny that was exactly what she was trying to accomplish. The word still rubbed her the wrong way, though. It made it sound like she was cheating, as if alchemy was a shortcut used to skip all of the hard work. As she’d quickly learned from her study, it was a subject as complex as the two sciences that made up its base.

“Still, you’re already into some rather complex papers.” Nitori gave a small smile of approval. “You have a natural aptitude for this, Mokou-san.”

“It’s not an aptitude. I just did a lot of work. And when you’ve got your head around chemistry, the magical side of stuff looks a lot more reasonable.”

The discovery had surprised Mokou at first. She had figured that magic had no underlying foundation, that it was wild and unpredictable. The truth was the polar opposite of that - every charm, every spell, every incantation obeyed a long and strenuous line of laws and constants. She had only been able to take a quick primer in the time she’d had - to gain a full understanding of the subject, she’d need to put in years of study. Possibly longer than her measly human lifespan could handle.

“So what’s the news?” Mokou stood out of her chair and cracked her knuckles. “Any luck on Koishi-san’s side of things?”

Nitori shook her head. “She did a lap of the city with Sango-san. Still no sign of the seventh Teardrop.”

“And Komachi-san?”

“They drew a total blank. Not a scrap of evidence.”

Mokou let out a long, heaving sigh as she spun about in her chair. She’d been waiting in the wings, ready for deployment if anything arose, but ultimately nothing had.

“So we’re out of leads, then.”

Nitori nodded. “Sorry for keeping you around for nothing, Mokou-san.”

“S’fine.” The Siren twiddled her thumbs. “I’m not much of a detective, anyway. I’d prefer the forensics department.”

“I assumed that,” Nitori said, looking up at the jumbled mess that filled the screen. Mokou felt strangely empowered, watching the kappa struggle to follow what she had already learned.

“Anyway, I doubt you’ll have to wait around for long. The Claw will probably make a move soon.”

“Really?” Mokou brought the chair’s spinning to a halt. “What makes you think that?”

“They’re after the Teardrops, remember?” Now it was Nitori’s turn to act smug, waving a condescending finger in Mokou’s face. “Even if we’re stuck at a stalemate now, we have five Teardrops to their one. They’re on the back foot, and they’re going to have to do something drastic to reclaim them.”

“Drastic doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s not, but we’ll just have to be ready for whatever they throw at us.” Nitori stretched, a long yawn falling from her lips. “Still, it’s getting pretty late. You’d better head home before your family starts wondering why you’ve gone missing again.”

Mokou frowned. “But I’m just getting started. Can I at least get another half-hour?”

Nitori folded her arms and looked down on the Siren in disapproval. “And what exactly are you going to do with this knowledge?”

“What, you think I’m gonna start touting myself as some new-age alchemist?” Mokou laughed off the idea. “I’m not an idiot, Kawashiro-sensei. Even if I wanted to, I’m willing to bet the Pearl would clamp down on me in no time.”

Nitori didn’t reply, but the sharp glare she gave Mokou may as well have been a yes. Mokou pouted, taking offense at the accusation.

“Long story short, alchemy is still fifty percent chemistry. And you youkai have figured out a few fine details we humans are still pondering over.”

“So you’re going to plunder our work for your own benefit, basically.”

“Not quite.” Mokou smirked knowingly. “But let’s imagine some local laboratories receive an anonymous paper, listing recipes for a few new medicines. Stuff that’ll improve a lot of lives, and maybe even save a few. And so no-one can claim personal ownership, the recipes show up on the internet round about the same time.” She shrugged and leaned back in the chair. “Now, all things considered, would you really call that a bad thing?”

The question was enough to leave Nitori shaken, her disappointment shifting into uncertainty. Mokou stared straight onward, her expression never faltering.

After a long standoff, the kappa pinched the bridge of her nose and growled. “Alright, you win. But if I catch you taking the credit for any of these new discoveries-”

“You’ll pull my life force out of my butt?”

“We don’t do that!” Nitori snapped. “That’s just you humans being fanciful with your folklore.”

“Uh-huh. Sure.” Mokou turned back to the computer. “So am I getting that half-hour, or what?”

Nitori looked ready to vent steam from her ears. She put a hand on her hip, squeezing her side to vent her frustrations. “Just don’t break anything, understand?”

“Aye aye, cap’n.” Mokou gave the kappa a salute as she turned back to the computer, calling up the next set of equations with a few keystrokes. She didn’t even notice Nitori leave the room and close the door behind her; by then, she was already lost in her work.

“But how can-oh, wait. I see...”

-----

Sleep was not coming easily for Koishi tonight.

She had given time to every relaxation technique she knew. She’d counted sheep. She’d helped herself to a warm cup of milk. She even tried some cunning reverse psychology, lying in bed and doing everything she could to stay awake. None of it had helped her stay asleep for any longer than an hour.

She glanced over at her alarm clock. Five a.m. The first few glints of sunrise were creeping over the horizon. By now there was almost no point in trying any more. Conceding defeat at last, she pulled herself out of bed and shuffled over to her study desk.

“So where did I leave off last time...?”

She grabbed the closest textbook, turning to the page with the folded corner. Differential calculus equations flooded the paper, each as ugly and convoluted as its neighbours. Koishi picked up a pen and slowly worked through her backlog - if she wouldn’t be able to sleep, it only made sense to do something productive with her time.

A few minutes later, the door to her room creaked open.

“Koishi-san?” Sango said. “What’re you doing up this early?”

Koishi turned towards the dolphin, brushing away a strand of hair from her face. “Morning, Sango-san. Couldn’t stay asleep, so I’m trying to catch up on all the work I’ve missed.”

Sango eyed the sizable pile of jotters and notebooks strewn across the desk. “Looks like you might be there for a while.”

“Well, the work does sort of pile up when you disappear for a week at a time.” Koishi tapped the end of her pen against the desk as she wracked her brain for an answer. “Even with Kawashiro-sensei vouching for me, the other teachers think I’m some kind of truant now. Cirno-san’s the one giving me study sessions now so I can make up for lost time.”

Sango took a seat next to Koishi and looked on the textbook. “Let me see if I can-” The excitement dropped out of her voice the moment she saw the problems. “Uhhh, actually, that might be a beyond me.” She scratched her head. “I guess I can be your moral support, or something? Like a cheerleader.”

Koishi smiled. “Thanks, Sango-san. I appreciate it.” She turned back to the work, shuffling through the problems at a gradual pace. She gained speed after Sango brought her a cup of cocoa - even if the dolphin had used a little too much milk for her liking.

The two sat together in peaceful silence for a few minutes before Koishi spoke up. “Sango-san, what are you planning to do when this is all over?”

“Eh?” The question caught Sango off guard. “Uh...I guess I’d go home and live with my old pod again.”

“But what are you going to do with yourself?” Koishi turned to face Sango, her expression growing more serious. “You’ve spent your whole life training to be with the White Pearl, to take part in this war. What’ll you do after we win?”

“Well, I’ll...” Sango hesitated, staring at the wall as her mouth hung agape. “Actually, I never really thought of that. Everything else seemed like it didn’t matter, y’know? I mean, the whole world’s at stake here.”

Koishi nodded. Sango’s thoughts mirrored her own unnervingly closely. Her duties as a Siren had given her a new reason to live and act, but that couldn’t last forever. Beyond that her future felt distant and blank, and she had no idea what she planned to make of it.

“I guess it won’t help anyone if I get stuck moping about the future now,” Sango continued. “All we can really do is be as ready for it as possible. You’ve gotta focus on living today before you worry about tomorrow.”

“Hmmm...I guess that makes sense.” Koishi straightened her back, sitting a little taller than she had before. “It’ll just be strange going back to the way I used to be. Will I just have to take the whole thing to the grave with me?”

“...Probably, yeah.” Sango sighed. “Sorry, Koishi-san, but you know what’s at stake here. If humans ever became aware of magic again, it’d end badly for everyone.”

The same claim again. She’d heard Nitori say it a hundred times now. Humans couldn’t be trusted with the destructive power of magic. They’d already brought the world to ruin once before, after all.

Something about that belief made Koishi’s heart tremble. Were humans really as brutal and foolish as that? She thought of all the people she had met and helped in her time as a Siren. Many had seemed ill-willed at first, but had any of them been outright malicious in their intent?

Before she could come up with an answer to her own question, she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Does Koishi Komeiji live here?”

Koishi gasped. The voice was unfamiliar, and already it reminded her of the last time she’d let a stranger in. She turned to Sango with a silent nod, grabbing her Teardrop from the cabinet and tip-toeing towards the entrance. It was a good thing the pets were asleep at this hour - keeping them quiet was a complication Koishi didn’t want to handle right now.

The knocking continued, louder this time. “I need to ask you some questions.” The voice was feminine but deep, and it boomed with the authority of command. “I’m authorised to use force if I have to, Komeiji-san. Let me in.”

Koishi didn’t need to be a mind reader to catch the violent intent in her visitor’s voice. Sango pointed her into the living room, standing between her and the entrance.

What’s going on? The Claw’s never been this upfront before...

The frantic knocking fell suddenly silent. The atmosphere in the room was so heavy that Koishi struggled to breathe. It was as if all the air had been sucked from the room. Seconds felt like hours, and minutes felt like days.

The silence was shattered as the front door flew open, a mighty impact almost knocking it off its hinges.

“I warned you.”

The woman stepped into the hallway, her immaculate suit a stark contrast to her aggressive nature. As she appeared in the doorway, Sango leaped forward to swing at her.

“Hyaaa-”

The woman waved her hand once in Sango’s direction, and the dolphin froze in place. A small grey circle emerged around her feet, quickly forming a cylinder that encased her. Sango’s eyes glazed over, hanging in place without even breathing.

“Sango-san!”

Koishi’s brain fired on all cylinders as she lifted her Teardrop to the air. Before she could finish the incantation, a gust of wind blew the gem from her hand and sent it crashing to the floor.

“Ah-”

She leaped forward to grab it, only for a well-polished shoe to step on the source of her power. The visitor stared down on her with something resembling disappointment.

“I’d have thought the Sirens of legend would have been more capable of defending themselves.”

Her eyes shot into the back of Koishi’s head. The Siren’s brain was still churning, trying to come up with some sort of plan to turn the situation about.

The last thing she expected was for the woman to lift her foot and give Koishi all the time in the world to reclaim the Teardrop.

“Calm yourself,” the woman said. “I didn’t come here to fight you.”

“Then what did you do to Sango-san?” Koishi grabbed the Teardrop and jumped backwards, keeping a closer grip on it this time. The dolphin still hung in place, utterly motionless.

The woman looked back on Sango with a snarl. “I think you’ll find that your friend attacked me first. I simply acted in self defense. Don’t worry, it’s a simple stasis field. She’ll be fine as soon as it’s dispelled.”

Apparently considering that a suitable introduction, the woman lowered herself onto the couch and made herself comfortable. Even when she was at rest, she let off a pressure more intense than anything Koishi had ever witnessed.

“Nyaah!”

A cry rang out from the hallway as Rin dashed into the room, Utsuho flapping in right behind her. The commotion must have woken them up. It didn’t take them long to decide their opinion on the newcomer - Rin hissed and glared in her direction, while Utsuho perched herself on Koishi’s lap and held her wings outwards.

“Cute,” the woman said, smiling derisively. “Though I have to question why it took them so long to come to your rescue.”

Koishi wasn’t sure if that insult was aimed at her or her pets. Maybe it was both. She lowered herself onto the chair opposite her new guest, Rin jumping up onto her lap as soon as the chance arose. Their open hostility made an already tense atmosphere outright aggressive.

“Who are you?” she asked. “I assume you’re some sort of youkai.”

“Oh? Whatever gave you that idea?” The woman couldn’t have fit more sarcasm into her words if she had tried. “It’s good to see that Kawashiro remembered to teach her apprentices a thing or two.”

“You know Kawashiro-sensei?”

“Not personally, no. But I know of her, and I need a lackey to deliver a message for me.”

Already Koishi had been written off as a slave for menial labour. She considered complaining, then took one look at the statuesque Sango and thought better of it.

“You didn’t answer my question,” she said. “Who are you?”

The youkai smiled. “Stubborn, aren’t we? I suppose it is only polite to introduce myself.”

Seemingly satisfied, the woman stood up from her spot on the chair. She spread her arms outward, vanishing for a moment in a flash of light.

When she reappeared, nine golden fox tails swirled about behind her, and a pair of matching ears protruded from her head. The raw power that oozed from her was stronger than ever.

“I am Ran Yakumo, ruler of the beastfolk and successor to the legacy of Yukari Yakumo. It was my master who created the gem that you rely on to fend for yourself.”

Koishi felt like she had shrunk a foot. It wasn’t just a matter of strength - she was in the presence of a ruler, and Ran Yakumo acted every ounce as powerful as she claimed to be. Even the pets seemed frightened by the claim, Rin sinking a little deeper into Koishi’s lap and Utsuho hiding behind her master’s head. Koishi gulped down her fear, keeping her voice calm and even.

“So what’s your message?”

“A warning, if you will.” A brutal glimmer shone in the fox’s eyes. “Today, I plan to murder the youkai Mamizou Futatsuiwa.”

It took a few seconds for the initial bewilderment to pass. “And...why are you telling me this?”

“Is it not the White Pearl’s duty to keep magic from being discovered?” Ran frowned, as if her motives were blatantly obvious. “I want you and your companions on the scene, ready to handle the fallout when it happens. Do I make myself clear?”

Her words were blunt, leaving no room for objection. Ran took that silence as consent, and wore the confident smile of a woman who knew she was in charge.

“Good. Futatsuiwa is in hiding at the Gensouto Zoo. I will give you an hour to assemble the rest of your companions. Not a second more, do you understand?”

Koishi nodded. Ran’s smile grew wider, and with a wave of a hand she dismissed her ears and tails. She made a long and arduous motion of preening her suit, flattening out the creases her transformation had created.

It was only when Ran looked towards the door that Koishi found her voice again.

“Wait, Yakumo-san. I have a question.”

Ran turned back, her face as welcoming as a thunderstorm. “Make it quick.”

“This Futatsuiwa...” Koishi’s hands balled into fists. “Why do you want to kill her?”

“That is none of your concern,” Ran answered. “It is an affair between two youkai, and you’d do well to stay out of it.”

“No.” Koishi’s hand squeezed at her Teardrop, the gem letting off a faint orange light. “I can’t sit back and let you murder another living creature. Especially if you won’t tell me why.”

Ran’s eyebrows lifted. “Did I mishear you, or did you just threaten me?”

Every nerve in Koishi’s body told her to pull back, but her heart roared out in defiance. “I don’t care who you are. If I have to, I’ll stop you myself.”

The fox youkai flinched. For an instant, a vile scowl came across her, and Koishi tensed herself for the fox to lash out.

Instead, Ran let out a hearty laugh.

“My, aren’t we courageous? Perhaps my master had a reason for choosing you after all.”

She turned back to the exit, giving her tie one final straightening. “Speak with Kawashiro. She’ll tell you everything you want to know.” With those as her parting words, Ran Yakumo strode out the way she had entered, another gust of wind slamming the front door shut behind her.

The cylinder surrounding Sango vanished, and the dolphin finished the motion she had started five minutes earlier. “-aaah!” Her hand swung at nothing, and she stumbled forward into the wall. “What the-where’d she go?” She twirled about in search of the intruder, turning back to Koishi when her search turned up nothing. “Koishi-san, what just happened?”

Koishi had no idea where to even begin with answering that. In the space of five minutes an avalanche of facts had just come crashing down on her. All she could think to do was act.

“Sango-san. Call everyone. Right now.”

“Eh?” Sango’s eyes widened. “What for? What’s going on?”

“Does it matter?” Rin had already taken on her youkai form, pushing Sango along. “All that matters is that it’s a job for you professionals.” Utsuho was slightly less insistent than her fellow pet, staying in crow form and flying away to collect the phone.

“There’s no time.” Koishi was already headed for her room to change out of her nightgown. “I’ll explain on the way.”

As she darted towards the closet, she took one small glance at the math booklets lying unfinished on the desk. It was amazing how minor everything else seemed when lives were on the line.

-----

“You don’t need to sit that far away from me, you know.”

The hawk eyed up Nazrin tentatively from a distance. Her pale red eyes were full of childish curiosity, and her wings flapped eagerly behind her.

“I’m fine, thanks,” Nazrin replied, with her back on the opposite side of the cage. “Sorry if I’m feeling a bit uncomfortable around my natural predator.”

“Hey, don’t be like that.” The girl pouted. She seemed to be one of the youngest members of the flock, but she’d already said more than her fellow youkai put together. Maybe that was why she’d been chosen to speak on their behalf. “I’ve never even seen a live mouse before, never mind eaten one.”

“That’s no guarantee you won’t start now.”

The girl had no answer to that. She scratched at her forehead, her fingernails extending like talons. She bent her knees, staying firmly on the tree branch she’d picked out for herself.

“Anyway, name’s Tsukasa. I’m guessing you’re that mouse that’s been running ragged around the place all night?”

“I see my reputation precedes me.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not like we’ve got much to talk about in here. We were all taking bets on what all the fuss was about.” Tsukasa turned back to the hawks on higher branches. “Isn’t that right, everyone?”

There was no response. Tsukasa took the silence in her stride, turning back with another flap of her wings. “Don’t mind ‘em, they’re just anxious around visitors. So, what’s the big story you’re passing round?”

Nazrin’s jaw ached as she started to speak. She’d recited this plan so many times now she would probably be muttering it in her sleep. She wondered how the birds would react to it - she’d seen a variety of reactions from the various animals here. The larger animals had been anxious about how they would escape, while the smaller ones had been all too happy to go along with the plan.

“A breakout?” Tsukasa’s eyes twinkled. “As in, we all get to leave?”

Nazrin nodded. “Mamizou said she’s been planning this for a while. All the cages are sealed with an electronic lock, so she’s going to sneak into the security office and open them all at once.”

“And then we can escape?” Tsukasa looked up at the morning sky in wonder. She had probably never traveled far from her cage before. Her wings were flapping madly as she turned back to the flock. “Hey, everyone! Did you hear that? We’re going to get out of here!”

Again, none of the hawks paid the slightest bit of attention. This time Tsukasa let her emotions show, her toe-talons digging into the wood.

“Seems like your friends aren’t the most social folk,” Nazrin said. She wasn’t sure if it was meant as a simple observation or a snide comment, and came out as a fusion of the two.

“Yeah, well.” Tsukasa’s expression grew suddenly solemn. “They’ve not had the best of times here.”

Nazrin tensed. “How so?”

“Can’t say I know much. I’ve only been here a few weeks - got brought in from another zoo pretty recently. But the visitors...well, they’re not the nicest folk.” She pulled out one wing, revealing some missing feathers. “There’s always a group of kids that comes along and throws pebbles into the cage. They’ve got some good aim, that’s for sure.”

Nazrin stared for too long at the wounds. She looked up at the other hawks hidden away on higher perches. They had the same injuries Tsukasa was sporting, only worse.

“Shouldn’t the zookeepers be doing something about that?” Nazrin asked.

Tsukasa rolled her eyes. “They should, but they don’t. They’ll shove these kids out, but a week later they’ll be back and it’ll be the same all over again. And there’s like half a dozen of these little crowds who think it’s fun to play target practice with the birdies.”

Nazrin winced. She couldn’t imagine going through what these youkai had suffered. Yet from the dark look on Tsukasa’s face, the worst was yet to come.

“And then...well, there’s the reason I’m here.” The hawk looked up at the higher branches, at an unfilled gap where talons had left their mark. “There was another hawk here. Sora, I think her name was. One time, the kids threw a stone hard enough to break her wing.”

Nazrin gulped. She could already sense where this was going, and she braced herself for it.

“Of course, it was nothing a few weeks of medical care couldn’t fix. The problem was that sort of care cost a lot of time and money. And Sora was old - they didn’t want to waste all that effort on a bird that was going to die soon anyway.”

Tsukasa hung her head, as if to hide from her fellow youkai. “So they put her down and brought me in to replace her. You might have noticed the rest of the youkai aren’t too fond of me. That’s why.”

Already Nazrin regretted the question. This wasn’t the first horror story she’d heard on her trip across the zoo. Every visit led her to another story of abuse and neglect. The guilt hung ever-present in the back of her mind - why had she been spared, while her fellow youkai suffered? Had her master been one of the few exceptions to the rule?

She’d heard stories and legends of how the humans’ greed and jealousy had started a war that nearly ended the world. Only now did she start believing them.

“Hey...” Tsukasa filled the silence that followed, biting her lip and looking upwards again. “When this breakout happens, there aren’t going to be any humans around, right? I’ll probably just run for it, but my friends...they might want to get some payback.”

Nazrin shook her head. “Mamizou planned for that. She’s going to set off a fire alarm before releasing the locks so the visitors won’t be in any danger.”

“That’s good to hear.” Tsukasa brushed at her wing. “Even if it’d be good to fling a pebble back at one of those little jerks for a change.”

Nazrin nodded in understanding. This wasn’t the first time she’d been asked that question - bigger animals like the elephants had been afraid they’d lose control amidst the panic and crush innocent visitors as they fled. Others, like the wolves, simply wanted fewer obstacles between them and the exit.

Where would they go after they escaped? Nazrin didn’t know. But for most of them, anywhere had to be better than here.

“Well, I have a few more visits to make. It’s almost opening time.” Nazrin gave Tsukasa a small salute. “Keep on the lookout for when the doors unlock.”

“Understood.” Tsukasa saluted as well, but she used her wing instead of her arm. “Tell Mamizou-san that we’re in her debt.”

“You’re not the first person to tell me that tonight,” Nazrin said. She shifted back into her mouse form, slipping through the fence and out of the bird enclosure.

And I have a feeling you won’t be the last.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: S1nZ_9001 on May 12, 2013, 12:30:25 PM
Man, i sure hope Mami doesn't end up like Shou.... rest her soul....
also, seems Naz is an omen of death, everyone she paired up with so far marked for death or dead.... or she could just be unfortunate....
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: BT on May 12, 2013, 12:33:11 PM
What I do think is that the seventh teardrop is going to make an unexpected appearance soon.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: Esifex on May 12, 2013, 07:22:14 PM
SPOILERS

SEVENTH TEARDROP IS SANGO

SHE MADE A WISH TO BE A DOLPHIN GIRL WAY LONG AGO

erm, I mean

Damn, Ran is bad-ass.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: OverlordChirei on May 13, 2013, 12:07:43 PM
Ahh, I feel that my questions regarding Mami are about to be answered.

and then later on we see Nitori has an insta-kill technique where she rips the opponent's soul out of their butt in a FATALITY-style.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on May 19, 2013, 02:46:01 PM
The spew of expletives flowing from Nitori’s mouth was actually quite impressive.

Koishi didn’t know what any of them meant, of course. The kappa was using one of those archaic youkai tongues so as not to offend her companions. But swearing was almost a universal language, and Nitori’s flushed face and angry grunts were enough to Koishi to get a vague grasp of the content.

“Of all the fucking times,” the kappa blurted, slipping back into a human language. She smacked a hand into her desk. “Why’d she have to show up now?

Her outburst continued unabated for another thirty seconds, none of the Sirens finding the nerve to interrupt her. Sango stepped in from the corridor, placing a glass of water on the table.

“Thank you, Sango.” Nitori snatched up the glass immediately, downing its contents in one swig. The blush faded from her face as she did, and by the time she’d laid the empty glass down again her fervor had mostly faded.

“Finished?” Sakuya said.

“Just about.” Nitori wiped a layer of sweat from her brow and took a deep breath to regain the last of her composure. “Sorry for the tantrum. It’s not every day one of the most powerful youkai in history shows up to ruin all of your work.”

“You said her name was Ran Yakumo, right?” Komachi asked. “So does that make her Yukari’s daughter or something?”

Nitori shook her head. “Ran wasn’t Yukari’s daughter. She was an apprentice, the only one Yukari ever took on. She was given the Yakumo name as a badge of honour.”

“So she’s strong, then?” Youmu said.

“Oh, undoubtedly. Maybe not quite at her prime, though. You can’t do much training if you’ve spent the last few millennia in hiding.”

Koishi still struggled to grasp the time frames that youkai functioned in. She’d be lucky to live for a century, but even Nitori was thousands of years older than that. To her credit, the kappa didn’t look a day of her actual age.

“OK, you lost me.” Mokou raised her hand to ask a question, the classroom environment making its mark on her. “If she’s so incredibly strong, why is she being so secretive? Are the Claw out to get her?”

Again Nitori shook her head. “Ran barely cares for either side anymore. We should be thankful she was at least courteous enough to warn us, but now she’s just waltzing off to kill Futatsuiwa in broad daylight.” The kappa gripped her temples. “I swear, if I ever hunt her down, I’m going to pluck every hair off of those goddamn tails as punishment.”

Futatsuiwa. That name again. Nitori recognised it, just like Ran had promised. Maybe there were answers to be found here after all.

“Kawashiro-sensei.” She stood up, staring straight into the kappa’s eyes. “Who is Mamizou Futatsuiwa?”

“She’s Ran’s prey, of course,” Nitori answered. “The two of them have been playing cat and mouse across the planet for centuries, now. Normally they’re not quite this upfront about it, but I guess Ran’s bored of the game now and wants to skip the pleasantries.”

“But why?” Mokou asked. “What did this Mamizou girl do that was enough to get one of the deadliest youkai on the planet on her tail?”

Nitori sighed. She picked up the glass, motioning towards Sango with it. The dolphin quickly picked it up and darted out for a refill.

“It all started back in the war,” the kappa started. “At that time there were distinct kingdoms for various youkai races. Ran was the ruler of the foxes, and Mamizou ruled the tanuki. They were close comrades for the first phase of the war, when it had simply been a matter of humans fighting youkai.

“But when the Ravager got involved, their relationship became a lot dicier. The creature made an offer to Mamizou, you see - it would spare her kingdom if she made a surprise attack on the foxes. If she refused, the Claw would burn her country to the ground.”

“Sounds like a fun choice to make,” Sakuya said. “I assume Mamizou opted for saving her own skin?”

Nitori nodded. “They attacked at night, when most of the recruits were sleeping. Ran herself barely escaped with her life...but most of her followers weren’t as lucky.”

An image flashed into Koishi’s mind. A battlefield strewn with corpses, former friends fighting to the death. A general watching in horror as her forces were ripped to shreds in front of her. A nation burning at the torch of its supposed ally.

She felt sick at the thought of it.

“Of course, the Claw ended up losing the war in the end,” Nitori continued. “Mamizou was placed on trial as a war criminal, and a council of all the great youkai leaders was brought together to decide her fate.”

“So what was her sentence?” Komachi asked. “Death? Imprisonment? Exile?”

“Actually...” Nitori bit her lip. “The council acquitted her of all charges.”

“What?!” Mokou leaped out of her seat. “She stabbed her best friend in the back, and they let her go? That’s ridiculous!”

“Is it?” Sakuya held up a finger as she took on the role of devil’s advocate. “A ruler’s duty is to act in the best interests of her people. If she hadn’t attacked, the Ravager would have destroyed her nation rather than Yakumo’s.”

“That doesn’t excuse the fact she killed thousands.” Youmu almost instantly took the opposite stance from her sister. “Surely there should be some form of punishment for that.”

“And it’s not a dichotomy, Sakuya-san.” Koishi found her voice as she chimed in. “It wasn’t as if there were only two options. She could have found another solution, something that helped both her and Ran-san, but she just gave up right away.”

Sakuya scrunched up her nose. “True. Not even trying to find an alternative is rather telling of her character. I suppose she wasn’t that good a friend after all.”

“That’s not how the council saw it, though.” Nitori sat upright as Sango entered with a fresh glass of water and placed it in front of her. She took sips between sentences as if the very act of telling the story was an exertion. “They wrote off her duties as unpleasant but necessary to look after her people. This was after a war that had nearly destroyed the world as we know it, remember, so the last thing anyone wanted was to start another dispute. The vote was almost unanimous, with only one dissenter.”

“Ran,” Koishi whispered.

“Of course. She demanded justice for what had happened to her people, speaking about how under Yukari all youkai had joined forces for the greater good. Thing was, Yukari was dead by then, and any camaraderie between the nations died with her. Everyone was too busy putting their own country back together to offer support to anyone else.”

Nitori finished the last of her water in another hasty swig. “So she took matters into her own hands. She abandoned her post and hunted down Mamizou herself. They’ve been playing their little game of hide-and-seek ever since.”

She placed the empty glass on the desk, as if to punctuate the end of her story. “And it isn’t going to stop until one of them is dead.”

No-one was sure how to respond at first. It was Sango who brought the conversation back to life, looking up at the clock.

“Uh, guys...she said she was giving us an hour, right? Well, she said that about forty minutes ago.”

Koishi jolted. Of course. She’d been so caught up in the story that she’d forgotten about the matter at hand. There was no point thinking about tragedies long since past when there was another disaster she could do something about.

“She said she’d be at the zoo, right?” Komachi said. “We’re gonna need a lift if we want to make it in time.”

“Leave that to me,” Nitori said. “There’s a van out in the car park big enough to fit all of us.”

“And what do we do when we get there?” Youmu already looked set for a fight - if she’d brought her swords, Koishi would have sworn the girl was already on a battlefield.

“The first priority is stopping their little clash before it can start. An ounce of prevention, or something like that. Failing that...” The kappa winced. “Well, there’s no way we’ll be able to contain it without people noticing, so just don’t let that happen.”

Koishi nodded. There was no time for any plan more thorough than ‘get there and do something’. Time was of the essence, and they’d already squandered enough of it.

But there was one thing that still worried her. “Kawashiro-sensei, one more question-”

“Make it quick, Koishi-san. We need to run.”

“These youkai...they won’t hurt the humans, will they?”

Nitori paled at the thought. She eyed the empty glass on the desk.

“Ran, probably not. Mamizou...well, let’s not wait around to find out.”

-----

There. Done.

Nazrin slipped out of the last cage with a yawn. The mission had taken her all night to accomplish, but at last every youkai in the zoo had been warned of the coming breakout. She’d gone without sleep for it, but she barely felt the fatigue as she started the journey back to Mamizou’s office.

She’d spent a lot of time thinking over what she had heard, the stories of what the youkai had suffered through. The story of the hawks had been among the worst, but it was far from the only tale of woe this place had to offer. There was a new form of neglect around every corner, fresh abuse waiting at every turn.

The entire experience had been eye-opening, in the worst possible way. Even on the streets she had never been this exposed to the cruelty humans were capable of. Her master would never have dreamed of any of the horrors she had witnessed here, but with every story she grew more convinced that Shou had been a miraculous occurrence among a race that seemed almost pre-programmed to hurt others.

Youkai were better than that, Nazrin thought to herself. She would never do something as cruel as what had been inflicted on these creatures, and neither would Mamizou. There was a standard they maintained that the humans ignored entirely. As she wandered across the zoo, she watched the first swarm of humans drifting in to gawk at the cute little animals in their cages.

A tiny part of her didn’t want the humans to escape. They’d get what they deserved when the breakout started. But her conscience cried out against that idea; it would be stooping to their level. Better to prove their higher morals than dirty their hands.

Still, she had to admit it’d be fun to watch these bullies’ hard work go to waste. She wasn’t just ready to set the plan in motion, she was looking forward to it.

That enthusiasm vanished when she saw the body on the floor.

What...?

A human was lying face down a few feet from the entrance, his body cold and his lips blue. Nazrin darted over to him, nuzzling at his cheek in a desperate attempt to wake him.

She saw scratch marks on his neck where his killer had choked the life out of him.

No. No, no, no. Not again.

All Nazrin could hear was her heart pulsing into overdrive. They had already taken one master from her. Now the self-proclaimed FBI agent was here to take a second. The mouse flew into a panic, shifting to youkai form and running down the corridors as quickly as her legs would carry her.

The corpse she had found was only the first of many. Other employees were strewn across the halls in similar states. Some had been choked, others stabbed and lying in their own blood. All of them were beyond any sort of medical help. But there was no sign of Mamizou, living or dead.

By the time she finally found the security room, her feet were covered in dried blood. Her eyes were bloodshot, her heart ready to explode. If she stopped to think for an instant her lungs would realise they were starved for air.

And there, in the midst of the chaos, sat Mamizou Futatsuiwa.

“Morning, Nazzie.” Mamizou offered the mouse youkai a playful salute. “Glad you could make it.”

The first, instinctual emotion that came to Nazrin was relief. She ran a few paces into the room, arms outstretched and ready to embrace the tanuki.

It was a few seconds before her higher brain functions kicked in and made the connection.

Wait. She couldn’t have-

Nazrin had assumed this was the work of the youkai who’d been after Mamizou, but she was nowhere to be seen. The only people still breathing in the whole complex were her and her master.

Another jolt of fear ran through her body, but this was fear of a different sort.

“M-Mamizou...you didn’t...” She pointed at one of the bodies, no more than five paces away from the chair Mamizou now inhabited.

“What, them?” Mamizou looked down at the body and offered a noncommittal shrug. “How else did you think I was going to override the lock? By asking nicely?”

She smiled, her tail rustling behind her, as if the bloody corpses at her sides didn’t exist. That was more terrifying than anything Nazrin could think of.

“Besides, this is nothing.” She pointed to the row of screens showing visitors flowing along the zoo’s pathways. “There are gonna be a lot more casualties when the breakout starts.”

Nazrin’s jaw dropped. “B-But you said you were going to evacuate the humans before you let the youkai out!”

“And turn down a golden opportunity for a distraction?” Mamizou rolled her eyes. “What kind of moron do you think I am, Nazzie? I said that because it was what you wanted to hear.”

No. This wasn’t happening. This wasn’t what she’d asked for. She was meant to bring about a righteous rebellion against the oppressive human race, not help a murderer pave the streets with corpses. She grasped at her head, the chasm between her expectation and the reality too great for her mind to traverse.

“...Why?” The word barely croaked out of her. “Why would you do this?”

Mamizou raised an eyebrow. “I thought that’d be obvious by now.” She stood up, stepping over a body without paying it any notice. “I need to disappear, and Ran needs to stay busy long enough for me to make my escape. How better to do that than throw the whole place into disarray?”

This wasn’t Mamizou. This wasn’t the master that had taken her in when all seemed lost. Nazrin couldn’t believe it, wouldn’t believe it, but there was only so long she could hide from the truth.

In an instant, her wretched fear transformed into simmering hatred.

“I...I trusted you.” Nazrin clenched her teeth together, her whole body burning with anger. “I thought you cared.”

“And that was your first mistake.” Mamizou seemed entirely unperturbed by the mouse’s anger, reaching out to pat her on the head again. Nazrin batted the hand away, smacking the tanuki’s wrist as hard as she could. Mamizou tensed, but only for an instant.

“See? Now you’re learning.” A cruel grin spread across Mamizou’s face. “In the end, everyone’s looking after number one. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar.”

In all her life, Nazrin had never wished pain on anyone as much as she wished it on Mamizou right now. She’d been duped, manipulated in her darkest hour. Right when she’d needed a friend more than ever, she’d been exploited by a monster.

She didn’t realise she was screaming until she saw her own fist flying for Mamizou’s face.

“See?”

In a single, lightning-quick motion, Mamizou’s hand was wrapped around Nazrin’s wrist. She squeezed, and Nazrin felt the bones creak all the way down her arm. She howled in pain, unable to escape the tanuki’s vice-like grip.

“I was hoping we could come to an agreement, Nazzie.” Mamizou frowned. “But I can’t have you telling the Pearl about my plans, so I’m afraid this is where we part ways.”

Her eyes shone, and Nazrin felt her hand grow numb. At first she had thought it was from the pain, but as she looked down she saw her skin slowly turning a deathly grey.

“Don’t you think you’ll make a nice statue?” Mamizou smiled again, that wretched grin that made Nazrin want to tear her apart. “You were at your prettiest when you weren’t talking, in my opinion.”

The curse moved along her body at an alarming rate. Already it had passed her elbow, and her shoulder wasn’t far behind. Nazrin put all of her strength into escaping the hold, refusing to give Mamizou the pleasure of her screams. But even with all her might behind it, the tanuki was too strong for her to overcome.

By the time the petrification had reached her neck, she had all but accepted her defeat. The only thing left she could salvage was her pride. She refused to let this monster see her cry, staring defiantly back at Mamizou until the very end.

Master...I’m sorry. I didn’t know-

Then the stone engulfed her entirely, and her thoughts died out with it.

-----

“’Scuse me. Step aside. Coming through.”

Mokou shoved aside the twelfth family in a row, ignoring the grumbles and complaints she left in her wake. The Sirens kept closely behind her, passing through the holes she left in the crowd as they pressed through the zoo.

Koishi was a bit more attentive of the glares their group was getting. “We look pretty terrible, don’t we?”

“They’ll thank us when this place doesn’t get leveled by a fox with a score to settle,” Komachi answered. “On that note, how are we even supposed to find this woman? Aren’t foxes meant to be tricksters or something?”

“That they are. Tanuki, too.” Nitori’s eyes bounced around the crowd, her brain chugging so rapid that Koishi could almost hear the cogs grinding together. “We’ll figure something out, okay?”

It was hardly the best way to instill faith in her followers, but at least Nitori was being honest. They’d rushed out here without any clue how to solve the problem in front of them. They knew they had to do something, but the sticky matter of what was something they’d never managed to pin down.

Just look around. There’s got to be a clue somewhere...

Koishi joined in the inspections, eying over every passer-by and giving the cages a glance as she walked past. She’d never visited before, but the impressions she got from a small taste were far from positive. The visitors looked like they were enjoying themselves, but the animals seemed to be in a dismal mood at all times. She could even make out poorly-hidden scratches and cuts on some of them, small marks made by something no larger than a pebble.

She didn’t have to wait long to figure out the source.

“Yeah! Look at ‘em squirm!”

A small group of high-schoolers was gathered outside the hawk enclosure, throwing rocks inside to ruffle up its inhabitants. The creatures let off an infernal screech, one flying right up to the edge of the cage to try and scare them off. It got a rock in the eye for its trouble.

Koishi grimaced. She looked in both directions for zookeepers to warn, but there wasn’t a staff member in sight. The crowd was keeping their distance, too - no-one wanted to be the one guy causing trouble.

Koishi had no such inhibition. She broke away from the Sirens and approached the teenagers, her duty momentarily on hold.

“Eh? Koishi-san?”

Sango was the first to notice Koishi slipping away, reaching out to grab her and missing. Koishi looked back at her with a wink.

“Don’t worry, Sango-san. I’ll catch up.”

Sango didn’t get a chance to answer before she was whisked away by the crowd. In seconds Koishi was alone, stepping forward until the teenagers finally noticed her.

“Eh?” The first one to talk was taller than his companions and had the look of a leader. He was slim, pale, and covered in acne. He tossed a pebble up and down in one hand as an unspoken threat. “What’re you lookin’ at?”

Koishi stepped forward, snatching the pebble out of the air and pulling it away. The act was brazen enough to leave the leader stunned, his followers gasping in surprise.

“Leave those birds alone.” Koishi threw the pebble to the floor. “What makes you think it’s okay to bully them? They never did anything to you.”

Even the birds seemed surprised by Koishi coming to their defense, flying over to the front of the cage to watch the drama unfold. Acne-Face clenched his now empty hand into a fist.

“A real goody-two-shoes, aren’t we?” He motioned towards his gang, who quickly circled around Koishi. “You wanna see what happens when you get on our bad side?”

Koishi soon regretted taking these thugs on by herself. Maybe Mokou could handle them, but outside of Siren form she still wasn’t much of a fighter. She pulled up her fists, ready to give as good as she got from these creeps.

She was interrupted by what could only be described as hysteria.

“HYAAAAAAAH!”

A cry burst out from a woman standing in front of the vulture enclosure. As she leaped back, the doorway opened in front of her, and almost immediately the birds swooped out and descended on her.

The crowd reacted in the same way all crowds reacted in situations like this - complete and utter pandemonium. Screaming and yelling echoed out in every direction. More doors opened up, letting the animals loose upon the unwitting public. Some of the animals took the chance to make a break for freedom. Others, like the hawks, made the most of the opportunity to hand out some payback.

“W-What the hell?!” The tallest of the thugs got the worst of it, a bird falling from the sky and slamming him to the floor. His friends didn’t hang around to help him, quickly vanishing into the panicking crowd.

“H-Hey, guys! Don’t just leave me here!” Soon the acne-riddled boy was as surrounded as Koishi had been. Every time he tried to get to his feet, a hawk swung at his face with a talon. With no way to defend himself, he curled into a ball and let the hawks have their way with him.

For a moment Koishi was paralysed with shock. In less than a minute the world had fallen into complete chaos. The animals that stayed behind were attacking with intent to kill - and if nothing was done soon, they’d succeed in that. The hawks were baring their claws, drawing bloody marks along their victim’s skin.

This wasn’t the plan. This was everything she wasn’t meant to do. But she knew she had to do it. Reaching into her pocket, Koishi raised her Teardrop to the sky.

“Forged in light, a candid friend
On whom the people can depend
Answering the Siren’s call
The Ocean Princess fights for all!”

The flash of light that burst out of her stopped the fighting for an instant. Every eye, human or youkai, was focused on her as she emerged in Siren form. She held her sword in both hands, light shimmering along its golden edge as she pointed it forward.

She swung only once, the hawks splitting apart as she cut through the air they’d inhabited. The boy was still trembling, only now finding the nerve to open his eyes and look up.

“You-you’re...” He was struck dumb by shock, unable to look away from Koishi. “How are you-”

“This isn’t the time.” She stepped in front of him, swinging again to keep the hawks back. “Run!”

That was enough to get him to understand. Koishi had never seen a man run so quickly before. He was lost in the crowd within minutes.

But he wasn’t the only one in need of help. Just from where she was standing Koishi could count half a dozen visitors pinned down or under attack. And if the rest of the zoo had been affected, the number would only grow.

She couldn’t be everywhere at once. The only way to save these people was to talk the youkai out of their attack.

“Youkai of Gensouto, leave these people be! Fighting will do nothing to solve this!”

Koishi thought she was ready for anything. As the youkai moved towards her, leaving room for their former prey to flee, she was set for them to crash down on her all at once.

She wasn’t ready for someone to speak out against her.

“You’re wrong, Koishi.”

As the crowds dispersed, a single figure stepped towards Koishi. She wore a long blue jacket, but underneath it Koishi could make out a dark purple bodysuit.

And a violet Teardrop hanging from her chest.

“Satori...”

Koishi’s mouth went dry. She’d thought she would be ready for this confrontation, but she hadn’t expected it to be now. Satori made the most of that hesitation, stepping forward as the flock of birds split apart around her.

“Fighting is the only way these creatures can make their voices heard.” She spoke with power and fervour, the sort that could win crowds and sway hearts. “You’ve seen it, haven’t you? The suffering these youkai have endured. How would you expect them to respond?”

Koishi felt a cold sweat building. She couldn’t believe these words were coming from her Satori. It was like someone had pulled away her sister’s skin and worn it themselves.

“...I can’t believe that.” Koishi pulled her blade around again, pointing it at Satori this time. “I won’t accept that fighting is the only way to help them.”

“And you say that while you point a sword at me?” Satori smiled. “You’re still so naive, Koishi. That’s why I told you to stay out of this.”

She grabbed at the Teardrop on her chest. “Now you’ve left me with no choice.”

Immediately the seventh Siren was engulfed in her own violet light. She chanted her own incantation, the antithesis of her sister’s.

“The wheels of change are crimson red
Rebellion rears its ugly head
I’ll pay no mind to evil’s plea
For I’m the Violet Valkyrie!”

As the light faded, Satori reappeared in the dark purple dress that Koishi had become familiar with by now. The domino mask was gone, but the winged helmet of the valkyrie was as intimidating as ever. She drew her saber, placing the blades flat-to-flat.

“I’m sorry, Koishi.”

The valkyrie’s eyes faltered, flashing with regret rather than scorn. For a moment, Koishi swore she saw a flicker of her old sister in those eyes. By the time she blinked it was gone again, but it just added to Koishi’s conviction that there was still a fragment of Satori left to save.

“Me too.”

There were no more words to be shared. Only the sound of clashing steel.

-----

“OK, so what in the love of Pete is going on out there?”

Komachi smacked her hand into the table, the other hand tugging at her hair. The food court was all but deserted now, though they’d heard a few nervous whimpers from people hiding in the bathrooms. When everything had gone to hell, this was the first building they’d seen to take cover in.

“I assumed that would be obvious,” Sakuya answered, her gasps for breath betraying her otherwise relaxed demeanour. “Did you not see the animals strolling around as if they owned the place?”

“Not the time, Sakuya-san,” Nitori said. “We’ve got a huge situation on our hands here. Futatsuiwa must have set this up to cover her escape.”

“You don’t have another one of those crazy contingency plans for this, do you?” Mokou strolled up and down the length of the table, refusing to stay still for more than a second. “Because we are gonna need a miracle to pull this off without someone finding out.”

“I’m a strategist, not a mind-reader. If I had a plan like that, I’d have set it off already.” She gripped at her temples. “I wasn’t set for her to let the whole zoo loose. There are going to be people in danger all over the place.”

“What about the authorities?” Youmu asked. “Won’t the police be in on this?”

“Sure, in about twenty minutes. And for a lot of people that might be too late.”

The table went deathly quiet. Everyone became painfully aware of the empty space at the table. The space Koishi should have been sitting in. They’d only lost her for a second - but by the time they’d noticed her absence, the chaos had already begun.

“...OK, I have another question.”

Komachi swallowed as she stood up. She’d seen it in Mokou’s anxious pacing, Sakuya’s forced calmness, Youmu’s deathly silence. She knew the question hanging in all their minds. From the grave look on Nitori’s face, she knew what was coming even before Komachi finished asking.

“What is it, Komachi-san?”

Komachi pointed out the window. “Why aren’t we out there helping people right now?”

The other Sirens turned to look at Nitori, silently redoubling Komachi’s question. The kappa blanched.

“I’ve said it before. We can’t let anyone know about the Sirens.”

“So you’re saying it’s okay for people to die to keep that secret?” Mokou’s strolling brought her around behind Nitori, eyes piercing the kappa from above.

The disconnect taking place in Nitori’s mind was almost painfully visible. Saying yes meant she was willing to let innocents die for the greater good. Saying no meant she was risking millions of lives to save a mere few.

Komachi saw her teetering between the options. Time to give her a little push.

“Nitori-san, I’m no general, and I know you want to say that it’s in our best interests to stay out.” She pointed at the window again. “But those people out there...they’ve got friends, families, loved ones. If one of them came up to you and asked why you let those people die, would you be able to live with your answer?”

Youmu and Mokou nodded in agreement almost instantly. Sakuya paused for half a second, but even she concurred with Komachi’s judgement. That left only the dolphin sitting in the corner.

“Phwee...” Sango pouted, nodding her head rapidly along with the rest. “Sorry, boss, but they’ve got a point. And there’s the youkai to worry about, too - if we don’t stop them first, the police are probably going to put a lot of them down to stop the fighting.”

Nitori’s body went rigid as all these claims struck her at once. For a moment Komachi thought the kappa would burst open, the pressure snapping her like a twig.

Instead, with a large puff of air, Nitori managed to smile.

“Good. I was hoping you’d say that.” Reinvigorated, she managed to pull her head up and face her subordinates once again. “Alright, then. You all have full clearance to intervene wherever necessary. But whatever you do, keep casualties to an absolute minimum - most of these youkai are lashing out, but given the chance they’ll come to their senses.”

“Understood.” Youmu’s eyes glazed over into the hardened look of a warrior. “So, what’s our battle plan?”

Committing to a course of action had seemingly freed Nitori from her constraints, and she approached the challenge with a newfound fortitude.

“The zoo’s too big for us to move about in a group. We’ll have to split up and focus on the most dangerous exhibits first. We lost Koishi-san somewhere near the bird enclosures, so we’ll have to assume she’s dealing with that. Sango, Mokou-san, you two deal with all the herbivores large enough to step on someone. Sakuya-san, Youmu-san, you handle the carnivores.”

“Lions and tigers and bears?” Sakuya smiled. “Oh my.”

“Very funny. I’ll pull back to the entrance and try to organise the relief team when it arrives. Any questions?”

“Uh, yeah, I’ve got one.” Komachi raised her hand. “Where do I fit in this plan?”

Nitori beamed. “You can fiddle with distance, right? That makes you the fastest of all of us. Your job is to find Ran and Mamizou before they can start blowing each other up.”

“And you’re sending me out to do this on my own?” Komachi glowered. “Against two of the strongest youkai in the business?”

“Don’t worry,” Mokou said, patting Komachi on the back. “They’ll probably be so busy trying to kill each other that they’ll barely notice you.”

“I’m not sure if that’s meant to be a compliment.”

“Don’t think it over too much, then.” Nitori rose to her feet, her commanding aura revived in full. “Alright, everyone. Let’s go save some lives.”
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: S1nZ_9001 on May 19, 2013, 03:35:54 PM
well, that was not what i expected in the slightest... though in hindsight it should have been obvious... darn, i hope them sirens know anti petrification spells or something....
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: BT on May 19, 2013, 04:21:12 PM
...Meh, I liked it better when Mami wasn't Objectively Bad. Still interesting, but in a different way.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: Kasu on May 19, 2013, 04:59:43 PM
Well! That was quite the twist.

That caught me completely by surprise.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: LaserTurtle on May 19, 2013, 07:01:50 PM
Oh, this is gonna be great. I love "2 people fighting and a third party interfering" situations!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: Yaersulf on May 20, 2013, 01:31:52 AM
Wow, twisty, this is turning out really cool. :D
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - no update this week for Reitaisai)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on May 26, 2013, 05:34:17 PM
Hey, people. Just giving a heads up that I won't be updating this week since obviously it'd clash with the release of 13.5 and 14. Hopefully by next Sunday the hype will have died down enough that I can get back on schedule.

Sorry for not giving enough of a warning for this. >_<
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on June 02, 2013, 06:25:49 PM
Mokou wondered how many people could claim they had punched a giraffe.

The creature toppled over unceremoniously, whining as it landed on its side. The blow wasn?t fatal - in fact, it wasn?t even enough to knock the creature out. It kicked about on the ground for a moment as it tried to get back to its feet.

?Now, Sango-san!?

On the other side of the pathway, Sango took her opening to charge forward, drawing her vial of salt and sweeping its contents across the youkai?s face. The giraffe continued to squirm up until the sleeping salt kicked in, and its struggling stopped as it fell into a deep slumber in the middle of the path.

?Nice work.? Mokou held a fist out in front of Sango. ?I think we might make a pretty awesome tag team some day.?

?No problem.? The dolphin smiled as she tapped her own fist against the Siren?s. ?Thanks for bringing him down for me. That neck was way too long for me to deal with.?

?Yeah, well.? Mokou turned away from Sango, towards the third person present. ?Anyway, you alright??

A young girl was huddled against the wall, her face still wet from crying. She?d tripped and fallen trying to run away, but she hadn?t suffered any serious injuries.

?U-Um...? The girl looked up at Mokou with glimmering eyes. ?Are you a superhero??

Mokou went as red as her own flames. ?Uhh. I, well, I guess I am??

That answer only served to make the girl even more excited. ?Oh wow oh wow oh wow! You?re one of those magical girls from the early-morning anime, right? When?s your show? I?ll watch it every day!?

This sudden assault of admiration left Mokou stunned until she remembered the gravity of the situation. She cleared her throat and helped the girl stand up. ?Now?s not the time for that, kid. It?s still dangerous out here. You?d better go home and let your parents know you?re alright.?

?Awww, but I wanna watch you fight more bad guys!? The girl stamped her feet and sulked with the expertise only a child could possess. Mokou did her best not to let her frustration surface as she responded.

?You?ll see me on TV, alright? I?ll be all over the internet, too.?

?Really?? The girl?s mouth hung open.

?Sure!? The Siren pulled her best smile as she patted the girl on the head. ?So you can watch me as much as you want.?

The sale couldn?t have been easier. The girl rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Mokou?s hips, prompting another flare of colour from the phoenix.

?Thank you lots and lots. I?ll tell my mommy to buy your series on DVD, alright?!? With that as her final promise, the girl tottered off in the direction of the entrance, away from the chaos that was still unfolding.

Mokou looked down on herself, at the vest and shorts that made up her attire. ?How do I look like a magical girl to her??

?Hey, be grateful she even noticed you.? Sango pouted. ?And I was even the one to land the finishing blow. Why don?t I get to be a magical girl??

?Because you?re our mascot, Sango-san.? Mokou stroked at the dolphin?s fin, forcing a small ?phwee? out of her. ?Don?t worry, there?s still a lot more for us to get through. Let?s go.?

Sango couldn?t stay angry for long; she knew her complaints were petty in the face of what they were going through. Her cheer returned as they continued down the pathway, past the empty cages and shattered fences. It had only been twenty minutes since the outbreak had begun, but the zoo was verging on empty now. Most of the people left were the ones in dire need of rescuing.

?Did you mean what you said there?? Sango asked as they scouted the area for survivors. ?About being all over the TV, I mean.?

?Of course. Look over there.? Mokou pointed at a passer-by as they ran past. The civilian turned to face them, a phone ever present in his hand. ?He was standing there for the whole fight. That video?s going up on Niconico tonight, no doubt.?

Sango looked back as the would-be cameraman turned into a speck in the distance. ?Why didn?t he run like the rest of them??

?Human nature, Sango-san. Maybe he wanted to help, or maybe he just wanted footage to show the world what happened here. Either way, time we spend stopping him is time we could spend saving people-?

?HEEEEELP!?

A howl sounded from one of the nearby grottoes. ?People like that, for instance,? Mokou said, altering her course to run straight for the target. Sango couldn?t keep up with the Siren?s raw speed, falling away and leaving Mokou to herself. A fence stood between her and ger goal, but with all the momentum she?d gathered jumping over it was almost pedestrian.

Mokou landed on muddy ground, her boots sinking an inch into the dirt. She gave her new surroundings a cursory glance. A lot of water and a lot of grass, not too dissimilar from most of the exhibits here. In the distance, in the direction of the screaming, three hippos were circling the sole tree in the enclosure.

Hanging on one of the branches was a salaryman in his thirties, a look of primal fear was drawn across his face. ?Y-You there!? he cried at the sight of Mokou. ?Please, get these things away from me!?

The hippos, as if in response to his cry for help, began to ram the tree in an attempt to knock it over. The man clung tighter to the branch as its leaves were shaken off.

Mokou sized up the creatures in front of her. They weren?t as tall as the giraffe, but they had a lot more muscle on them. One in particular was larger than the rest, the bull of the herd. It turned towards Mokou as she approached, walking with slow, plodding steps.

To her surprise, rather than charging in headfirst the hippo vanished in front of her eyes, reappearing soon after in his youkai form. He was every bit as large and intimidating as before, his bare chest covered in well-toned muscle. A thick red substance similar to blood ran along his arms, and a loosely-tied pair of pants protected his modesty.

?What are you?? he asked, his voice unbelievably loud. ?You are human, yet you wield powers beyond your ken.?

Mokou braced herself, replying with equal audacity. ?What I am doesn?t matter. You?re gonna let that guy go, or I?m gonna have to make you co-operate.?

?This human stepped into my territory. He is subject to my law, and I have decided his punishment shall be death. This is not your place to intervene.?

?Well, personally, I?m not a fan of the death penalty.? Mokou raised her fists and beckoned him in with a finger. ?But there?s nothing wrong with a good scrap now and then.?

The hippo youkai snorted, the sound somewhere between a growl and a laugh. ?You would challenge me to a brawl?? He smiled. ?You interest me, human. Normally I would fight in my original form, but I wish to see how your fists fare against mine. Defeat me, and I?ll let this man leave with his life.?

?That?s all?? Mokou gave the youkai a small bow. ?You?re too kind, sir.?

?Oh, this is not kindness.? He cracked his knuckles, each one snapping loud enough to make Mokou wince. ?You?ll understand when I?m picking shards of your face out of my teeth-!?

He dashed forwards with impressive speed for a man of his stature. He roared as he raised a fist upwards, set to punch a hole right through Mokou?s chest. Mokou rolled to the side, using the momentum to spin around on the floor and kick at the back of her opponent?s heel.

She struck as hard as she could, but the youkai didn?t even flinch.

?Uh-oh.?

The youkai smiled wickedly, lifting his foot to trample Mokou where she stood. She rolled to the side, coating herself in mud as she scrambled back to her feet. She felt a new appreciation for just how sturdy hippos actually were.

Her opponent?s blows were sluggish, but as she swerved around them Mokou could hear the air whistling past her ears. One hit would be enough to leave her dazzled for a week. Two would be fatal. She ducked and weaved around her foe?s assault, exploiting every opening to counterattack with a fist in the gut. She felt her punches stop short against her opponent?s body, unable to make any lasting impact.

I?m not hurting him, she thought to herself. Time to up the ante.

Mokou stepped backwards, shuffling her gloves about. ?Inferno Gauntlet, Immolate!? The red jewels drawn across her knuckles came to life, letting off steam as they began to sizzle.

?Fire magic?? Another smirk from the youkai, as he lifted his hands into a more defensive stance. ?You become more interesting by the minute, human!?

He started to push forward again, his punches weaker but more controlled. Every swing was aimed straight for Mokou?s stomach, forcing her to give up ground as she stepped back to dodge. Her reach was shorter than his, and she had to settle for passing shots to his arms as he pulled back.

Mokou was puzzled. He was pressing her back, but the fence was still a long way off. He?d never make any progress fighting like this. What was his plan?

She only figured it out when she stepped backwards into the watering hole.

?Ah-?

That moment of realisation was enough for her opponent to capitalise on. The hippo youkai charged forward again, snatching out at Mokou?s hand and pulling the Ring of Breath from her finger.

?Never fight a youkai in his own element!?

He grabbed Mokou by the shoulders and pushed her under the surface. Muddy water clouded her vision as she found herself pressed into the mud, the youkai falling onto her and pinning her with his full weight.

?Mmmhhmm!?

Mokou tried to punch at the hippo again, only for him to grab her by the wrists. She kicked about in vain, unable to even bend her knees under the mass that was slowly crushing her. Already her lungs started to ache, an errant stream of bubbles escaping her lips.

The Siren?s brain kicked into overdrive. She had maybe half a minute before she drowned. Her hands were useless. Her feet were useless. She couldn?t even get enough momentum for a proper headbutt. She was out of options.

...No. The idea struck her like lightning. No, I?m not!

The hippo smirked, and even through the murky water Mokou could see him savouring his victory. He stayed firmly in place, waiting for the last few bubbles to slip out of his opponent.

He wasn?t prepared for Mokou to reveal her wings.

?Grrbl?!?

He had just enough time to register shock before Mokou folded her wings around his back. She could hear the sizzling as the golden feathers burned at his skin. He howled out in pain, spewing bubbles as he lifted himself off of her in an attempt to escape.

From there, momentum did the rest. Mokou flapped her wings once, with enough force to pull her out of the water and fly past the hippo on the way out. As she passed him by, she arranged an immediate appointment between her boot and his face. The kick landed clean, smacking the youkai straight out of the watering hole and sending him flying a good twenty feet.

Needless to say, he didn?t get back up.

?Haaaah.? Mokou gasped for air, dismissing her wings as she walked out of the water. She pulled her ring out from the dirt where the hippo had discarded it. It was in a sorry state, but it still worked.

?Mokou-san!? Sango?s head popped over the fence as she heaved herself over. ?I?m here to-whoa, what did I miss??

The dolphin?s eyes bounced between the fallen hippo and the soaked-through Mokou. In the distance, the other two hippos had huddled themselves in a distant corner, honouring their leader?s vow. The salaryman lowered himself out of the tree, shivering like it was the middle of winter. He ran right past the Siren, saying nothing but the word ?thank you? over and over as he ran to safety.

?No worries, Sango-san. Everything?s fine over here.? Mokou stuck out her chest, looking as dominant as she could while covered in mud and water. ?Though if know where I could find a towel, that would be pretty great.?

-----

It wasn?t until she?d started running that Komachi realised she had no idea what she was looking for.

Her job was simple enough - find Ran Yakumo and her target, and make sure they didn?t blow anyone up. The issue was that her description of Ran began and ended with ?fox tails?, and Mamizou was a mystery to her entirely. How was she supposed to stop a fight when she had no idea who would be doing the fighting?

The answer was simpler than she thought. A crowd charged past her - not humans, as she?d expected, but youkai fleeing for their lives. It couldn?t be the other Sirens - they were in whole different sections of the zoo. So they had to be running from another youkai - something bigger and deadlier than any of them.

The first explosion reached her soon afterward, the sound overpowering even from this distance. Komachi clutched an ear with one hand, cocking the Titanic in the other. She ran in the direction of the noise, towards the billow of smoke it had left in its wake.

It wasn?t difficult to find the source. She almost fell into the crater the explosion had left behind, a gaping hole in the pathway almost three feet deep. The ground was still smouldering around the edges, and the tree next to it still swayed from the impact.

Komachi had the sinking feeling she was in over her head with this.

?Missed again!?

A voice caught Komachi?s attention. Looking up, she saw a woman standing on the branch above the crater, a massive ringed tail emerging from behind her. Across from her, on the other side of the pathway, stood a sharply-dressed youkai with nine golden tails. She grunted, her palm still outstretched from where the last attack must have emerged.

?You can?t run forever,? Ran growled, looking up at her target. Komachi couldn?t help but notice that the fox hadn?t even reacted to a human?s presence.

?Really?? Mamizou tilted her head and smirked. ?You?ve been trying to catch me for a few centuries now. Haven?t had much luck, have you??

The fox?s face contorted into a grimace. Her palm shone gold as another fireball came into existence, larger than her hand and growling with a horrible crackle. She thrusted forward, the ball of flame aimed right at the tanuki.

Whoa!

Komachi leaped to the side to keep herself from being caught in the crossfire. Within instants the whole tree was alight, brilliant orange flames glistening from every branch.

Yup, Komachi thought to herself. Really should?ve brought some backup.

Yet there was no sign of the spell?s target. Komachi looked up at the branch Mamizou had been perched on, but she couldn?t even see a silhouette of the tanuki. Had she been torn apart by the explosion, or-

?Ooh, nice gun.?

Komachi nearly jumped out of her skin. Mamizou was right behind her, the tanuki?s head resting on her shoulder and eying up her weapon. The Siren went deathly still, growing less confident in her chances by the second.

?I?m guessing you called the White Pearl here?? Mamizou looked up at Ran, paying no mind to the human she was currently using as a headrest. ?You know, just in case you couldn?t catch me on your own. Again.?

Ran?s eyes smouldered. Her hand let off a pale light as she debated whether to let off another shot. Komachi tensed herself, ready for a desperate break to the side if Ran gave in to the temptation.

?Still, it took you a while to find me this time.? Mamizou yawned, her chin digging into Komachi?s shoulder. The Siren squirmed, trying to pull herself away. An arm around her waist put an end to that plan, and snatched at the wrist of her gun-hand for good measure.

?Aren?t you tired of this whole cat and mouse thing by now?? Mamizou continued. ?Just go home and live out your golden years like any woman your age would.?

Ran?s hand grew brighter, the flame reforming along her palm. For a moment, it looked like she?d take the shot, and Komachi winced in preparation for it. But in the end the fox held back, her expression grim and frustrated.

?Leave the human out of this,? she said. ?Face your punishment with some degree of honour.?

?Honour?? Now it was Mamizou?s turn to sound offended. The arm around Komachi?s waist grew tighter. ?This whole affair started because you couldn?t accept that I did what I had to do.?

Komachi struggled again, still unable to overpower the tanuki. She tried to smack at Mamizou?s hand with the butt of her gun, but she couldn?t put any force into the strike. Still, Mamizou was paying almost no attention to her. If she found an opening, maybe she could break free, but for now she?d have no choice but to wait.

?You slaughtered my people, Mamizou.? Ran stared right past Komachi, looking straight at her target. Komachi wondered if they?d have acted any differently if Mamizou was hiding behind a statue rather than a Siren. Probably not.

?What else did you want me to do? Let the Ravager walk over my own country??

Their words flowed almost too naturally, like they were reciting from a script. Komachi recalled that these two had been playing the roles of predator and prey for centuries now. They must have had this discussion hundreds of times before.

?...Actually, forget it.? Mamizou sighed, a thousand years of pent-up frustration bursting out at once. ?You aren?t going to listen to a word I say. I thought you?d come to your senses eventually, but you?re even crazier than I thought.?

?Says the woman hiding behind a human hostage.?

?That?s called strategy.? Mamizou squeezed Komachi for effect. The youkai was stronger than she looked, and physical strength was hardly Komachi?s strong point. ?Anyway, I hate to say it, but I?m giving up on you.?

Ran raised an eyebrow. Komachi could only assume this wasn?t part of the script. ?What?s that meant to mean?? the fox asked

?You only kept finding me because I wanted to be found. I figured with enough time you?d understand what I did.? The tanuki shrugged. ?But it turns out you?re just cuckoo, so I?m not gonna hang around and sit through your little tantrums.? With her free hand, she waved farewell to Ran. ?So good riddance. I hope you find someone else to-?

Komachi caught the one instant where Ran allowed fear to slip onto her face. Then the fox?s hand shone gold, a pillar of flame flying through the air straight towards Komachi?s chest. The Siren made to move out of the way - and succeeded, falling to her side as the hands holding her in place disappeared.

As the Siren turned around, she saw no sign of her captor. Mamizou had disappeared again, and Komachi couldn?t even feel her presence anymore. Ran turned on the spot, desperately searching for any sign of her prey.

She found nothing, and howled out a curse in a language Komachi would never learn.

?No! Fight me, you coward!?

The suit seemed alien on Ran?s body now, her expression feral and beastlike. Her eyes were flooded with rage, her breaths ragged, her whole body hunched over. She fired on everything that resembled a hiding spot, igniting bushes and cages with equal prejudice. Komachi had to move out of the way of a few shots, the youkai not even acknowledging her existence.

?Haaah, haaah...?

As the last few shelters fell apart, Ran stood alone in the midst of her own inferno. The fox?s shadow was long and dark in the face of the flames, flickering as if it had a life of its own. Komachi looked behind her to see the fire cutting off her escape route. There was no way for her to move other than forward, towards the youkai. Ran jerked around to look at her, as if she had only just acknowledged the human?s presence.

?Why didn?t you do anything?? the fox yelled, spitting the words out like they were poisonous. ?You just sat there and let her escape!?

?Well, I?m sorry I don?t have a few extra centuries of practice like you do,? Komachi answered, keeping her fears locked away as she stared the youkai right in the eyes. ?Now are you done blowing things up, or do I have to put you on a leash??

Again Komachi saw the temptation flash across Ran?s face. It would only take a wave of her hand to reduce Komachi to a pile of dust. The Siren held her composure, waiting for Ran?s fury to pass, watching as the youkai returned to something resembling sanity.

?...A leash.? She gasped. ?That?s it! Gods, why did I never think of this?!?

She dug into her pocket, pulling out a small vial filled with a dark red liquid. Komachi didn?t need three guesses to figure out what its contents were.

?A memento from before the war,? Ran said. ?We offered blood to one another as a symbol of our kinship.? She pulled the stopper off of the vial with her teeth. ?Let?s see her run away from this.?

The vial?s contents were poured onto the ground, seeping into the pathway as a crimson blotch. She drew a small knife, ran it along her arm, and allowed her own blood to mix with Mamizou?s. Komachi swallowed hard as she watched - she?d seen plenty of magic before, but this was more visceral than her usual fare.

?Two souls, joined as one.? She chanted, her voice low and monotonic. ?Let this ritual be proof of our union.?

Ran put her hand to the earth, her palm shining brighter as a magic circle forward around her. Komachi stepped back as the enchantment grew more complex, rings forming within rings as Ran continued to chant.

?Let us be bound together, side by side, until death shatters the chain that joins us.?

The fox winced, grabbing at her chest with her other hand. Komachi moved forward to tend to her, but the circle flashed again as it pushed the Siren back. Whatever this ritual was, it didn?t want a human to interfere with it.

?HaaaaAAAAAAAAH!?

The proud queen of the foxes couldn?t help but cry out as the spell reached its finale. A golden thread burst out of her chest, still coated in her own blood. She fell to her knees, gasping for breath as the circle began to fade. Her face was flushed of life entirely.

The sheer conviction frightened Komachi. The amount of pain Ran was willing to inflict on herself in the name of vengeance was obscene. How much pain would she be willing to inflict on the rest of the world?

?What the hell was that?? Komachi stepped forward again, trying to pull the fox back to her feet. Ran pushed her away with a hand, her grip weak and shaky.

?I?m fine.? Ran brushed herself off, rubbing ash and gravel off of her now blood-soaked suit. ?Just give me a few minutes to recover.?

She didn?t look alright, Komachi thought. It?d be a few minutes before the exertion passed. Still, the last thing Komachi wanted to do was make an enemy of one of the strongest youkai in the world, so she decided not to press the point.

?What matters is this little thing.? Ran eyed the golden thread, still hanging in the air in front of her. ?It should pull Mamizou in if she tries to get too far away from me.?

Komachi nodded. That seemed like a reasonable plan of attack to keep Mamizou from fleeing. But the thread itself seemed strangely silent, not even trying to find its target. ?So why isn?t it doing anything?? Komachi asked.

Ran frowned. ?That?s an excellent question. I didn?t make a mistake, did I? That was the only sample I had, so-?

The sentence never finished. The colour flushed from Ran?s face. ?She never left.? She turned about. ?But then where could she-?

Everything played out in slow motion for Komachi. Ran looking to the floor, sweat dripping down her face. Her eyes popping open when she saw the silhouette on the ground wasn?t hers.

And Mamizou leaping out from her hiding spot in Ran?s shadow.

Ran didn?t have time to react. Mamizou?s fist caught her square in the chest, knocking her backwards into the air. Before she?d even hit the ground Mamizou had started a charm of her own, a dark grey chain bursting from her palm and engulfing the fox.

?Ran!? Komachi was too slow to react as the chain wrapped itself around the youkai. Ran squirmed and shuffled, unable to escape her bonds. She could barely breathe as the charm did its best to squeeze the life out of her.

?Kyaahahaha!? Mamizou laughed uncontrollably, her glasses falling away to reveal almost soulless eyes. ?You actually fell for it! I can?t believe you were stupid enough to leave yourself open like that!?

Komachi?s brain gradually caught up with what was going on. The ?disappearance? had been a trick. It had left Ran distracted long enough for Mamizou to strike decisively. And there was no questioning what Mamizou planned to do with this opportunity.

?What was that you said just there? ?Until death shatters the chain that binds us??? She reached into Ran?s pocket, pulling out the knife she?d used for the ritual. She put it to the fox?s neck, pressing it against her skin. ?Well, I think that can be arranged-?

Before she could do the deed, the cocking of a gun caught her attention. She looked up to the sight of the Titanic?s barrel a few feet from her face.

?Actually,? Komachi said, ?I might have a problem with that.?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: Kasu on June 02, 2013, 09:11:58 PM
Badass Komachi is best Komachi.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: Metaflare on June 02, 2013, 09:31:03 PM
mokou just kicked a hippo in the face

 :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on June 09, 2013, 09:29:28 AM
Nazrin had always wondered what death felt like.

Even after thousands of years of study, youkai had never managed to glimpse into the machinations of the afterlife. There were many theories and trains of thought, all of them equally impossible to test without leaving the subject unable to report their findings.

Nazrin had been a staunch believer in what she called the Whole Lot Of Nothing theory. She?d considered the very concept of an afterlife to be wishful thinking, and subscribed to the thought that once you were dead, all your senses died with you. You saw nothing, heard nothing, felt nothing, thought nothing. In short, you basically ceased to exist.

So she had to admit that she was mildly frustrated when she found herself lying in what may as well have been the Elysian fields.

Where am I...?

She was lying at the foot of a massive oak tree, its branches shielding her from the sunlight. Grassy fields stretched out in every direction. The sky was a perfect blue, speckled with the occasional cloud.

And of course, her master was lying right next to her, full of life and vigour.

?Morning, sleepyhead.?

Shou promptly ruffled at the youkai?s hair. If Nazrin?s mind wasn?t spiraling around inside her head right now, she might even have been embarrassed by the gesture.

This wasn?t happening. A little slice of heaven, just for her? That was ridiculous. Maybe her brain was shutting down, and this was all a hallucination. That made a lot more sense.

?I expected my imagination to make you look a lot holier than this,? she said to her master.

?Eh?? Shou tilted her head. ?What?s that supposed to mean??

?I dunno. I figured I?d have given you wings or a halo or something. Given you?re, well...?

Even knowing that this was all a dream, Nazrin found it difficult to tell Shou she was dead right to her face. Luckily the Siren filled in the blank for her, running a finger across her own neck.

?Some friendly advice for you, Nazrin.? She smiled. ?Don?t get smacked in the back of the head with a wooden beam. It hurts like hell.?

?I guessed as much.?

By now the initial shock had subsided, and Nazrin allowed herself to grow comfortable in her master?s arms as Shou embraced her. She was still slightly peeved that she?d been wrong, but it wasn?t as if this was a bad way to go. She decided to make the most of it before her brain gave up completely.

?You weren?t watching me, were you?? Nazrin said, hanging her head low.

?Of course I was,? Shou answered, with unconquerable cheer. ?What, is that a bad thing??

?Well, it was sort of embarrassing.? The mouse scratched behind her own ear. ?I didn?t even get to fight, really. I threw one punch, and then I was just a statue.? She heaved out a sigh. ?Guess that?s what happens when you?re just a mouse, though.?

Shou frowned. ?What?s so bad about being a mouse??

?Besides the fact that you?re a meal for about eight thousand percent of the predators on the planet?? She smiled wryly, a sadness hidden behind her thin layer of nonchalance. ?All mice are really good at is running away. We?re just not strong enough to do much beyond that.?

She leaned further into her master, the human?s body even warmer than she remembered. Nazrin felt frigid and lifeless in comparison, as if she was still a statue.

?I dunno,? Shou whispered, one hand playing with Nazrin?s ruffled hair. ?I know at least one thing mice are pretty good at.?

?If you say ?eating cheese?, I?m going to just stand up and walk away.?

?Nothing like that.? Shou?s expression grew sedated, hugging the mouse harder. ?I mean, I know a little mouse that saved my life.?

The coolness flooding Nazrin?s body washed away with her master?s words. She felt warm again, and a beam of light slipped through the tree branches to strike her.

?You?ve been my best friend for as long as I can remember, Nazrin. Even though you never talked back, I always knew you were listening to me.? Shou pressed her cheek right against Nazrin?s, so warm it almost burned. ?I never got to say thanks before, so...well, thanks. I don?t know where I?d be without you.?

Nazrin frowned. ?You?d still be alive, for one.?

?Maybe.? Shou squeezed tighter. ?But life without you would probably suck, anyway.?

The words were more earnest than Nazrin expected. She?d expected her own subconscious to be more critical, or at least a bit snider. Maybe it was going easy on her given the whole ?dying? thing.

?As much as I appreciate your compliment,? she said, pulling away a little, ?I reserve the right to be upset about being dead.?

?And so you should.? Shou gave her a pat on the head before she could get too far away. ?But what would you do if you were still alive??

Nazrin paused. Her plans hadn?t extended far beyond ?be alive again?. If she?d had that sort of opportunity, what would she do with it?

It took a few seconds of thought before she could give an answer.

?What I saw today...what the humans did to all of those youkai. I?d never known humans were capable of something like that.?

She looked up to gauge Shou?s response. The human?s expression was tentative at best. Nazrin wondered if she had said something wrong.

?But they?re not the only ones,? she continued. ?Mamizou tried to tell me that youkai were better than humans, but she was just as willing to kill for her own ends. Maybe even more so.?

That brightened Shou?s face a little. Nazrin felt more at ease as she finished her line of thought.

?My plans haven?t changed. I still want to stop people like that from hurting anyone. But there?s got to be a better way of doing it.?

Her own eagerness surprised her as her soliloquy came to an end. She couldn?t remember being this enthused about anything. Maybe something positive had come from this after all.

?But it?s not like any of that matters, is it?? She flopped forwards onto the grass, lying on her back. ?After all, it?s not like I can do much if I?m made of limestone.?

Shou knelt down beside her, her expression mischievous. ?I?m...not so sure about that.?

?What do you propose, then? Eroding my way to victory??

The human crawled along the floor, putting her face a few inches in front of Nazrin?s. Nazrin felt her master?s warm breath on her cheek, and it sent a tingle down her spine and along her tail.

?What if I told you that you weren?t quite dead?? Shou said.

Wonderful, Nazrin thought. Now her brain was in denial. How could she be so accepting of her own death when her subconscious wasn?t?

?That?d be great, but I don?t-?

The kiss was too sudden for Nazrin to react to. One moment she was speaking, and the next Shou?s lips were pressed right against hers.

Nazrin was on fire. A million emotions wrestled one another in her head - anger, confusion, embarrassment, adoration, disgust, and everything else under the sun. Her whole body felt lighter, as if she was fading away into nothingness.

It took a while for her to realise that wasn?t just a clever metaphor.

What the-

As she looked down on herself, Nazrin saw her fingers fading away into a fine mist. The fog ran along her arms, painlessly. She could already feel the same thing happening to her legs, the sensation at her waist and still climbing.

It felt like being petrified in reverse. Before, the feeling had drained her body and left her numb. Now her senses felt sharper and stronger, even for the parts of her body that didn?t seem to exist anymore. For lack of a better word, she felt awake.

Her mind raced with questions, but she couldn?t find words for what was happening. The fog was up to her neck, moments away from engulfing her completely. The last thing she saw was Shou hanging over her, smiling playfully as she wiped at her lips.

?And that?s what I like to call the kiss of life.?

-----

?...Nnh??

Nazrin awoke in a puddle of her own drool. Her entire body was numb, responding only with hesitation to her attempts to move. Every muscle felt slow and sluggish, like she had been lying on it in her sleep.

Her brain was in a similar condition. For almost half a minute, she focused solely on recovering her basic motor functions. With gargantuan effort, she rose to her feet and wiped her face clean.

It was only then that she realised all of her previous actions were entirely impossible.

?Eh??

She looked around, finding herself in the security office again. She was still surrounded by the bodies of the guards, but their killer had fled the scene. Everything was just as she remembered it before the curse had taken hold.

The curse that should have killed her.

Her brain was already overclocked, but now she only had more questions to pile on top of what was already there. Was this another trick? A fantasy? Or was she - no, she couldn?t be. She couldn?t have escaped a curse that powerful. She was no scholar, but a spell of that magnitude would take something equally mighty to counter it.

Yet here she was, and she could hardly doubt that she was back. If this was an illusion, she wouldn?t have felt like she?d been ripped apart and sewn back together. Either that, her imagination was crueler than she thought.

-n?

Nazrin flinched. A voice echoed through her head, but it was drowned out by a flood of static. She tried to focus her thoughts on it, but no amount of effort made its words any clearer.

So now I have voices in my head, Nazrin thought to herself. Maybe I am going crazy.

The more she tried to listen, the less she could make out. Her tail began to swish with impatience, the voice too loud for her to simply ignore.

-rin? ...-ere?

To her surprise, moving her tail seemed to help. The closer it was to Nazrin?s body, the clearer the voice became. She brought it around, bringing the tip right in front of her face.

The ribbon on her tail was glowing.

-Nazrin? You there?

No. That voice. It couldn?t be.

?...Master??

Nazrin wondered what she must have looked like at that moment, talking to a room filled with nothing but corpses. She was grateful that no-one was around to watch her ranting.

Finally! The ribbon flashed in time with Shou?s voice. Took you long enough to hear me. I swear, the reception on this thing is garbage.

For once in her life, Nazrin didn?t have a snide comment to offer. She stared blankly at the ribbon, her mind still struggling to process everything that was going on. The fact that she was alive again was enough to stump her; everything else was just making the problem worse.

Come to think of it, when HAD she picked up the ribbon? She had just woken up with it the day after the fire. She didn?t remember picking it up or putting it on, but it had never occurred to her to get rid of it-

So, uh, you?re welcome? Shou?s voice started up again before Nazrin could dwell too long on the dilemma. You know, for getting rid of that curse you were under.

?That was you?? Nazrin blinked, trying not to think too hard about how she had started up a discussion with a talking ribbon.

You think I kissed you for the hell of it? Shou chuckled, the ribbon slithering up and down Nazrin?s tail in time with her hearty laugh. Don?t get me wrong, Nazrin. You?re sweet and all, but our relationship is fine the way it is.

Nazrin blushed from the recollection. She had been hoping that little sequence had just been a hallucination. Apparently not.

?OK, master. Ribbon. Whatever you are.? She pointed one finger at the accessory, trying to convert all her confusion into anger. ?I have no idea what?s going on here, so either you?re going to explain yourself or I?m going to throw you in the garbage.?

The voice tried to respond, but it was still struggling to be heard over the static. It stopped mid-word, growling in frustration.

First thing?s first. We need to deal with this lousy signal.

?And how are we supposed to-?

Before she could finish, a light erupted inside Nazrin?s brain.

?Gyaaaahh!?

She gripped at her face, teeth clenched and eyes rolling back. She felt like a layer was being stripped from her mind, synapses and nodes torn away to expose its centre.

Oh yeah. I should probably mention that this is going to hurt.

?I noticed!? Nazrin growled. If Shou were alive right now, she?d have wrapped her hands around the human?s neck. This was more painful than anything she?d ever experienced, and it felt like it would never let up.

Then, in an instant, it was over. The light faded, and Nazrin?s eyes re-focused on the world around her.

There! Shou?s voice was crystal clear now, the static vanquished completely. The ribbon no longer pulsed in time with her words. Sorry about that. Couldn?t sync with you without removing a few of your mental blocks.

Nazrin wanted to ask what on earth a mental block was, but there were other things on her mind. Her vision felt...she wanted to say ?sharper?, but that felt like an understatement. She could make out the tiniest details on objects on the other side of the room. She stared at a poster on the nearest wall, then gasped when she found herself looking at the corridor behind it.

?Shou,? she said, her words laced with accusation, ?what did you to do my brain??

Nothing. I just had to make some space so I could move in.

?Move in?? Nazrin grabbed at the side of her head. ?So I?m going to have your voice bugging me all the time from now on??

Pretty much. Another chuckle. Don?t worry, Nazrin, I missed you too.

Two conflicting desires came over Nazrin. The first was to confess that having her master back was one of the best things she could have wished for. The second was to punch herself in the face until Shou stopped being so smug about it.

In the end, she opted for neither. A third option came to her, one that wouldn?t stay open for long. She didn?t know much about these new powers, but she knew just how she wanted to test them.

?Let?s leave the reunion for later. I?ve got some business to take care of.?

Eh? What are you planning, Nazrin?

The mouse smirked as she turned to the doorway, her eyes drifting out of focus. ?Let?s just say I need to dish out some payback.?

Somehow, she already knew how her eyes worked. It was like this was a power she had always had, but only now found a way to tap into. She scanned the horizon, her eyes flashing red as she slowly looked around. Kilometers felt like inches to her now; she could see through walls, buildings, and even other youkai.

At last she found Mamizou in a distant clearing, standing over another youkai wrapped in chains. Nazrin grinned, locking onto her target with a blink as she started to run.

But how am I going to get there?

A map of the zoo unfolded in Nazrin?s mind. She knew where she had to go, but it would take a roundabout path to get there. Every straight route had been blocked off by debris during the outbreak. She struggled to construct a plan as she pulled out of the security office and back into the open air.

The sound of flapping wings above caught her attention. Looking up, she found a hawk youkai descending upon her.

?Hey, you?re the mouse girl from last night!? Tsukasa seemed unfazed by the chaos unfolding around her, speaking with her usual cheer. ?Good to see you?re still okay. I figured you?d be in somebody?s stomach by now.?

Nazrin could almost hear the lightbulb clicking on over her own head.

?Perfect timing, Tsukasa. Think you could give me a lift??

-----

?Private Square!?

Sakuya was not a fan of running, but she liked dying even less. The world faded to grey as her pursuers froze to a halt; a trio of bloodthirsty wolves, salivating at the thought of fresh meat.

She turned on her heels and ran, intent on losing her pursuers before she lost a limb to them. There was no path she could take that the wolves couldn?t follow, now they had her scent there was no point in hiding. She needed some sort of weapon to even the odds, but there was nothing in sight.

Tick. Tock.

Sakuya?s throat went dry. A pendulum danced in front of her eyes, in the throes of its final swings. She looked down at her pocketwatch, seeing the second hand slip perilously close to twelve.

Dammit, not now!

Right now she was willing to settle for anything that was long and blunt. With only a few seconds to go, she happened upon a tree branch that had fallen to the ground. It was about the length of her forearm, and horribly unwieldly to lift.

As the clock struck midnight, she decided it would have to do.

Time jerked back into existence, the shift spinning Sakuya?s gut upside down. The wolves began to howl, louder with every step as they charged towards her. And all she had to defend herself was a piece of wood.

This would have been much easier if she hadn?t been alone, she thought to herself. I had to be stubborn, didn?t I? She cursed beneath her breath. I had to insist on splitting up.

One wolf pulled away from the pack, tongue hanging out as it leaped at her. Sakuya swung the branch at her attacker, but it was too heavy for her to deliver any real force.

Not that it mattered. The wolf caught the branch in its mouth, ripping it apart in a single bite. The wood snapped clean in two, leaving Sakuya with a weapon about the size of a toothpick.

That could have gone much better.

Sakuya stepped backwards, discarding what remained of her weapon. The wolf took a moment to get the splinters out of its teeth before it pounced again. This time Sakuya could only roll out of the way, looking around for a weapon that wasn?t likely to fall apart.

She found one quickly. Two, in fact. The problem was that they were both being used by someone else, someone who was quickly racing to her aid.

?Youmu?!?

Sakuya was not the sort to make her emotions well-known, but she couldn?t hide her surprise here. She looked up at the unexpected backup, her innards churning with a potent mixture of relief and shame.

?You?re hopeless, Miyo.? Youmu stepped in front of her sister, drawing a cross with her blades as she stood her ground. ?I hope this teaches you some humility, if nothing else.?

A tense stalemate arose, neither side willing to commit to an attack. Sakuya took the chance to rise to her feet and step backwards. She brushed the dust off of her outfit in a vain attempt to save face.

?You aren?t going to help?? Youmu asked, never looking away from her opponents.

?Can?t.? Sakuya drew one of her knives, motioning to the razor-sharp edge. ?We had orders not to cause casualties, and I?m not really cut out for non-lethal combat.?

Youmu?s eyes widened. Her lips curled into a pleasant smile. ?So you?ve been holding back on them??

Sakuya sighed. ?You almost make me sound like a hero when you put it like that.?

Even with the wolves starting to draw closer, Sakuya felt strangely at ease. The tense atmosphere Youmu usually carried with her had dispersed. If anything, the aura the swordsman gave off now was almost friendly.

Not that it would stop Sakuya from stealing the last word. ?And what made you come back for me? You weren?t worried, were you??

Youmu coughed profusely. ?I, ah, felt like you were being too stubborn. It was only reasonable for me to check up on you.?

Sakuya smirked cruelly. ?Riiiight-? Before she could finish basking in her victory, Youmu threw a sword in her direction. ?Eh??

?Stop talking and start helping me.? Youmu held her remaining sword in both hands, her ghost form taking shape at her side. The three wolves each started to approach a single target - their leader, the one who had jumped Sakuya earlier, decided it wanted a second shot at her.

Sakuya?s calm fell away again. ?You?re kidding, surely? I?ve never used a sword in my life.?

?Yes, you have.? Youmu?s voice was deadpan. ?You just don?t remember it.?

Had she? Now that Sakuya thought about it, she could feel fuzzy memories starting to crawl to the surface. They?d traveled to tournaments together, trained with each other as partners. She had never been her sister?s equal, but she?d done fairly well for herself.

Let?s hope I haven?t forgotten anything important...

Sakuya slowed her breath, weighing the sword in her hand. It was Hakurouken, the shorter of Youmu?s two blades. Still, it was longer than her knives, and definitely much better for use in close combat.

She tried to take a stance as the wounded wolf lumbered towards her. She held the blade low in case the creature pounced at her legs. Her heart raced, but she did her best not to let her fear show on the outside.

Life and death are a thread?s width apart. A lesson from a master whose name she would never remember. A moment?s hesitation can be the difference between them.

The wolf snarled again, as furious as it was hungry. Sakuya could tell what its plan was - break to the side and chomp on her thigh. But would it go left or right? She wouldn?t be able to react to it. She would have to guess.

But uninformed guesses had never been her style.

C?mon, you ball of hair. Sakuya peered into the wolf?s eyes. Give me a tell, already.

Years of gambling had taught Sakuya to pick up on the slightest motion from her opponents. She had never tried to read the expression of a wolf before, but now was as good a time as any.

The wolf seemed perplexed at first, wondering what Sakuya was looking for. Its mouth coiled into a crescent when it figured it out. It peered to the right, so blatantly it had to be deliberate.

Sakuya hissed. Was it a bluff? She couldn?t afford to be wrong. A poor guess would cost her a leg, maybe more. She took a deep breath, her mind tossing and turning over a fifty-fifty chance.

She saw the wolf begin to pounce. Decision time. Left or right? Life or death? Four limbs or three?

In an instant, she made her choice. She?d seen something else in the wolf?s eyes - sheer, unadulterated pride. She gambled everything on that observation.

She swung to the right. Surely it was too proud to lie.

The sound of steel whacking into skull was massively cathartic. The wolf crumpled, the strike enough to put it down for good.

?Hauu-!?

To her side, the other wolves let out pitiful yelps. They flew across the pathway, landing on top of each other in a mess of legs and hair. Youmu and her ghost half were perfectly in sync, both of them wielding the sword as if it were a baseball bat.

Sakuya barely fought back the urge to laugh. ?Isn?t that a little unorthodox??

?Perhaps.? Youmu smiled. ?But a good friend taught me that the element of surprise is the best advantage you can ask for.?

Sakuya smiled back. It had been a while since she had felt this comfortable around her sister. The bickering back at the hospital felt distant, almost forgotten. The little differences between them had fallen away - in the end, they were sisters after all.

?That said, you?ve clearly forgotten almost everything you learned.? Youmu pouted, putting on the furrowed brow of a disappointed mentor. ?Your shoulders were rigid, and your form? I?ve never seen you move so shoddily before.?

Sakuya pinched her nose. OK, most of the little differences.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: BT on June 09, 2013, 11:26:26 AM
I didn't think I'd like the inevitable succession of Shou but you've proven me wrong.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: OverlordChirei on June 10, 2013, 07:42:00 AM
Return of the master and Sakuya with a sword? I like where this is going.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on June 16, 2013, 09:54:27 AM
There were many ways to react to being held at gunpoint. The most common response Komachi had witnessed was paralysing fear, the victim simply freezing on the spot as they pictured their own brains being ejected from their skull. Other criminals had snapped under the pressure, making for their own gun and inevitably getting shot down.

She had never seen anyone stare down the barrel quite as calmly as Mamizou was.

?Well, isn?t this cute?? The tanuki smirked, looking down at the captive Ran. ?I don?t think this girl has any clue who she?s dealing with. That, or she?s just braindead.?

Ran couldn?t answer, of course - a chain was pressed right against her lips to stop her. But her eyes were practically leaking venom. Mamizou gave the fox a condescending pat on the head as she rose to her feet, hiding her knife in a pocket.

?I?m feeling generous today, human.? Mamizou folded her arms, glaring at Komachi as if she was the one holding the gun. ?You don?t even register as a threat to me, so if you put down your little peashooter and walk away I might just let you live.?

?Sorry, ma?am, but I can?t do that.? Komachi?s finger began to squeeze at the trigger. ?After all, it?s my job to make sure murderers like you get the sentence they deserve.?

The tanuki snorted. ?Oh, look who thinks she can preach the moral high ground now! You?ve got no clue what I had to do, girl. You couldn?t possibly comprehend what I had to endure. And you think you can pass judgement on me??

Komachi was unsure whether this outburst was genuine or an attempt to bait her into reacting. Either way, she subdued her response, keeping her aim steady and true.

?I may not be as old as you, grandma, but I know a good bit about right and wrong.? She leered at Mamizou, her disgust for the tanuki shining through. ?And sinking a knife right into your best friend?s back is pretty damn low, whatever your excuse is.?

Komachi prepared for Mamizou to erupt in anger, but instead the tanuki went deathly silent. She pursed her lips, looking away in recollection.

She sighed. ?Well, you can?t say I didn?t try.?

She clicked her fingers, bringing up a wall of smoke. Komachi winced as it struck her eyes, her finger squeezing the trigger an instant too late. The bullet crashed into the back wall, but there was no sign of the woman it was meant for.

Without thinking Komachi spun around, swinging the barrel of the Titanic as she went. She heard the sound of metal clanging against metal as the smoke began to clear. Mamizou yelped, the knife flying out of her hand into a distant corner of the clearing.

?Nice reflexes,? she said, grinning.

?Wasn?t reflexes.? Komachi stepped backwards, priming her gun for another shot. ?I figured you?d try to stab me in the back for irony?s sake.?

Something jumped across Mamizou?s eyes for a second. Respect? Fear? Concern? It was too fast for Komachi to tell.

?Looks like I?ll have to step it up, then.? Mamizou made a cross with her fingers, vanishing in another puff of smoke. A few seconds later, she emerged - along with three identical copies.

?Tell me, human,? the four Mamizous said in unison. ?How good are you at multiple choice??

They broke off in four separate directions, charging Komachi at different angles and speeds. None of them were armed, but Komachi knew a brawler?s stance when she saw it. She turned to the fastest of the four, firing at the biggest threat first.

The bullet passed right through the tanuki, her body flickering like a wave of TV static. An illusion, as Komachi had expected. Not worth worrying about. She turned her attention to the other three, hoping to find the real Mamizou before Mamizou found her.

She was not ready for the completely false Mamizou to punch her square in the chin. The blow sent her spinning, landing face first on the cold, unforgiving ground. The tanuki stopped her assault, stepping back to give her opponent room. Komachi wondered if it was out of respect or simply because Mamizou wanted to play with her prey.

?So your clones can?t be hurt, but they can hurt me?? Komachi craned her head to the side, spitting saliva laced with blood. ?That really isn?t very fair.?

?It?s not about being fair,? the Mamizous chimed, like a perfect choir. ?It?s about winning. And I never lose!?

They charged again, this time crossing along each others? paths to make sure Komachi lost track of the copy. The Siren pulled herself up to her feet, still reeling from the first blow. At least now she knew Mamizou?s trick; the only question was how she would beat it.

There wasn?t enough time to fire on all four targets before one of them closed in. Either she had to guess, or she had to figure out which of the Mamizous was the real one. But how? From where she was standing, they all looked identical.

Unless...

Komachi had just enough time to give the ground a cursory glance. It was all she needed to confirm her suspicion. She pulled the gun around and fired at her target, ignoring the clone about to strike her in the eye.

?Whoa!? Mamizou rolled to the side as the bullet whizzed past her. Her clones faded into nothing, the fist vanishing a few inches short of Komachi?s face.

?Not bad.? The tanuki brushed at her grazed knees as she stood up again, bouncing on her toes from excitement. ?I?m assuming that wasn?t just a lucky guess??

?Of course not.? Komachi motioned to the pathway right in front of Mamizou. ?You?re the only Mamizou that bears a shadow.?

Mamizou?s tail stood on end. She looked down on her own shadow as if to confirm Komachi?s statement. The youkai put a hand to her mouth to stifle a giggle.

?You?re really something, y?know that? The last person to figure that out was - well, she?s a bit tied up at the moment.? She motioned to Ran, who by now had gone completely silent. ?Still, as fun as you are to toy with, I?m afraid I?ll have to stop playing around now.?

Mamizou put a hand on the floor and blew on it. A fine mist rose up as if from the earth, quickly spreading to cover the entire battlefield. It wasn?t as harsh on Komachi?s eyes as the smoke, but it did just as good a job at obscuring her view.

 ?Time for round three.? Six voices rather than four now - Mamizou was stepping up her game. ?This one?s for all the marbles.?

Komachi pulled her arms in. She could hear footsteps circling around her, but her hearing was nowhere near as sharp as her sight. It was all she could do to keep her distance and avoid getting swarmed. There was no way she would be able to make a straight shot in these conditions.

But maybe I don?t have to.

The Siren ran her hand along the barrel of her gun, listening as the metal began to hum. She had never tried firing a homing shot before, but there?d never be a better time to test it.

She saw a flicker of movement in the distance. Maybe Mamizou. Maybe an illusion. Only one way to know. She fired on it, the shot taking more power and effort than an ordinary bullet.

A pale red light emerged from her gun, drifting gradually towards her target. She saw its trajectory curve as the youkai vanished back into the mist.

She was about to start congratulating herself when she heard the voices cry out.

?A homing shot? Not bad.?

The figure she had fired on appeared again, the bullet still following her. She was charging straight into Komachi with no care for her own safety.

?But not good enough!?

Immediately, Komachi knew she had made a mistake. She tried to step backwards, only to find her back pressed against a wall. The clone leaped at her, wrapping its arms around Komachi in a painful embrace.

The bullet passed right through it, striking Komachi square in the chest. The Siren could almost hear her skin sizzling from the impact, pain flooding every ounce of her system. It knocked her straight through the wall, sending her skidding along the ground for almost twenty feet.

She had never been shot before. She decided that she had preferred it that way.

?Well, well, well.? All six Mamizous strolled towards her, arms crossed and chests sticking out as they looked down on their victim. ?Looks like I win again.?

Komachi?s coat lay in tatters, and blood was soaking through her undershirt. She made to right herself, but one of the Mamizous stepped forward and planted her foot squarely on Komachi?s forehead.

?You did well. I guess.? Mamizou?s face scrunched up as she waved her hand about. ?But there?s no way I?ll lose to a measly human. Even with your fancy Teardrop to help you out.?

Komachi grunted as the back of her head dug into the ground. Her mind raced, searching for an exit strategy that didn?t exist. She was out of options, out of chances, out of time. Mamizou lifted her foot, preparing for the strike that would shatter Komachi?s skull.

She stopped halfway when she heard the scream of a hawk overhead.

?What the hell-?

-----

?Now!?

Nazrin pointed into the cloud of mist that had formed in the midst of the zoo. Her eyes glinted, her target shining red amongst the blockade.

Tsukasa nodded, tilting forward and sending herself into a death-defying plummet. She cried out from the sheer exhilaration as Nazin clung to her back for dear life.

You?re a maniac, you know that?!

Even Shou sounded frightened, which was impressive for a voice in Nazrin?s head. ?I?ll take that as a compliment,? the mouse muttered under her breath.

As they descended into the mist, Nazrin started to make out the situation she was throwing herself into. Mamizou stood on top of a human, accompanied by five perfectly-formed clones. The woman on the floor caught her eye immediately; it was the ?mother? from the group who had visited Shou on the day of the fire. It couldn?t be coincidence, but explanation would have to wait.

?What the hell-? Mamizou looked up just in time to see the hawk dive-bombing into her face. The tanuki fell backwards, too overextended to step to the side. The clones fell apart as she lost her focus, giving the human enough time to stumble back to her feet.

Tsukasa came within inches of the ground, and as she righted herself Nazrin leaped off of the hawk?s back. The landing was far from pleasant, but Nazrin escaped it with all of her limbs still intact. The mist faded around her, bringing the whole clearing back into view.

?You-? Mamizou?s face jumped from fury to sheer bewilderment. ?How did you even-?

?That doesn?t matter,? Nazrin shut her up before she could finish. Honestly the mouse wasn?t very sure of that herself, but now wasn?t the time to admit that. ?What matters is that we?ve got some unfinished business to take care of.?

Any semblance of composure Mamizou had possessed was gone now. She stared at Nazrin as if the mouse was made of dirt, fury brimming in her eyes.

?I tried to be nice to you, Naz. All things considered, I made your death pretty painless. Now I?m going to have to get rough.?

She clicked her fingers, summoning three more clones. ?Take care of her,? she ordered, pointing at the human. ?The mouse is mine.?

?Oh, so you?re ditching me now?? The human seemed badly beaten, but she faced the oncoming clones with a playful grin. ?I thought we were an item now, Mamizou-?

The three Mamizous jumped her before she could finish - only the human wasn?t where she had been standing before. She?d slipped across the walkway with blistering pace, beckoning them in with a finger. It was all the clones could do to keep her occupied, forcing her to move away before she could commit to a shot.

Not bad, Shou murmured. Good thing she?s on our side. Enemy of my enemy, or however that saying goes.

?Yeah, about that...? Nazrin began to fidget as Mamizou approached her with slow, powerful steps. ?I assume you have a plan to keep me from getting petrified again??

Oh, that?s easy. Just transform.

?Transform? What does that even-?

The question answered itself, as the ribbon on Nazrin?s tail came to life. It unfolded itself, floating in front of Nazrin?s face until she put a hand to it. With a flash, it transformed into a bright yellow jewel.

The human gasped. ?Oh, you are kidding me.?

Mamizou?s response was much less nonchalant. ?A Teardrop?! But I thought the Sirens were meant to be human!?

They are, Shou roared, her voice echoing as Nazrin?s hand closed around the gem. But rules like that are made to be broken.

A sweltering sensation raced up Nazrin?s arm, quickly spreading across her slender frame. It was both alien and familiar at once: it was not her own strength, but it flowed through her so naturally that it may as well have been. Her master?s power was hers now, and she offered no resistance as she fell into its sway.

?All systems green,? Shou said. ?Engaging GHOST-RAT protocol.?

Metal rings ran along the lengths of her arms and legs, tiny needles barely pricking into her skin. The whirring of cogs and pistons whistled through her ears, and she felt something jab into the back of her neck.

?Neural link established. Commencing upload.?

A mesh of green light appeared at Nazrin?s feet, slowly moving up her body. A new outfit formed in its wake - ragged denim pants smeared in machine oil, and a worn leather jacket pulled down just enough to reveal the mechanisms underneath. Thick wires ran along both of her arms, ending in bulky circuitboards on the back of her jet-black gloves. Errant sparks flew from them, and they chugged as if they were ready to explode at any moment.

Nazrin?s whole body surged with power as the transformation entered its final stages. A golden visor formed over her eyes, the screen spewing numbers at her as it booted up.

?Upload complete,? Shou said, her voice now coming from Nazrin?s ear rather than her head. ?Initialising TigerOS.?

The screen went blank, and a small window popped up in the corner of Nazrin?s vision. It showed static at first, then cleared to reveal a smiling Shou offering Nazrin a salute.

?Aaaaand done!? Shou leaned her head back, eyebrows lifted in self-congratulation. ?How?re you feeling, Naz??

Nazrin spun her wrist about to test her flexibility. As hefty as they looked, the circuitboards were practically weightless. ?Like someone just shoved my tail into a mains socket,? she answered.

?Well, it was that or you twirling around for a bit spewing glitter and magic words.? Shou?s hand reached out of her window, pointing off into the distance. ?And she was even nice enough to wait for you! How generous.?

A targeting reticule zeroed in on Mamizou. The tanuki?s face had gone sheer white, only to turn a bright red moments later. Behind her, the other clones were still leading the human on a merry dance to nowhere.

?...And here I was, thinking it?d be thorough enough to kill you once.? Mamizou?s eyes were cold and dead as the mist reformed around her, and one set of footsteps turned into four. ?Looks like I?ll have to finish the job this time!?

The clones quickly surrounded Nazrin, using the fog to conceal their movements before leaping out at her. On any other target they?d have been too fast to react to, and their blows would have torn their opponent to shreds.

But not Nazrin.

?Four hostiles marked.? Shou?s voice was cold and calculated as a radar emerged in a window beneath her. The four Mamizous attacking her were marked as dots, with the genuine article bigger and brighter than the others. Naturally that was the only one that held back, letting the clones move in and take their swings.

Nazrin danced around their barrage, dodging them as if they were in plain sight. She paid no attention to the illusions, holding herself low as she moved in on their master.

She clicked the two rods together into a single four-pointed weapon. She focused on the real Mamizou, the reticule reappearing on her visor.

?Cardinal Rods, release!?

She flung her weapon forward, the rods spiraling through the air as they closed in on their target. Her eyes pierced the fog, and she had a perfect view of the rods flying towards Mamizou-

?No dice!?

-only for the tanuki to grab her weapon, spin around with it, and fling it right back twice as fast. Nazrin jerked backwards, the projectile barely passing over her head before crashing into a wall and crumbling apart.

?You think you can get the jump on me?? Mamizou leaped backwards, well out of Nazrin?s range. ?Of course I can see through my own illusions!?

Nazrin cursed. That was as big an opening as she could have hoped for, and it had led to nothing. They were at a stalemate, one that Nazrin would lose when the exertion finally caught up to her.

?Reboot,? she muttered, the rods reforming in her hands. She cut a path around the clones, making distance as she start to think her options over. She could run faster than her pursuers, if nothing else.

?Shou, there aren?t any other fancy weapons in this thing, are there? Rockets or mines or anything like that.?

?Uh...not really?? Shou rubbed at the back of her head. ?Most of your tech is for support purposes, not out-and-out combat.?

?And you didn?t bother to mention that earlier??

?I thought we?d get away with it, okay? I?m new at this.?

Nazrin grabbed at her visor, fighting the temptation to fling it away. ?Well, if you don?t think of something fast, you won?t be the only one of us that?s-?

?Hey, mouse girl!? The human from earlier popped out of the fog, waving cheerfully in Nazrin?s direction. ?You really oughta stop talking to yourself. First sign of madness and all that.?

Nazrin flinched, suddenly remembering that no-one other than her could make out Shou?s voice. She fiddled with the collar of her jacket, gulping and taking a deep breath to save face.

?I?ll take your opinion into account, miss...?

?Komachi. Just Komachi.? The human pulled close, then looked about. ?How long?ve we got before Mamizou?s party tricks catch up with us?? she whispered.

Nazrin gave her radar another glance. The clones were fumbling about in an attempt to find them. It seemed that even if Mamizou could see through the fog, her illusions couldn?t.

?Long enough,? Nazrin answered. ?You have a plan??

?Yeah, but you?re not gonna like it.? Komachi formed a steeple with her fingers, wearing a smile that could only mean trouble. ?See, I could end this fight with one good charged shot from Titanic here, but I can?t really prep when I?m running away from the Ghostly Trio.?

Nazrin rolled her eyes. ?So you need me to be your distraction??

?Good. Now that you?ve said it, I don?t have to.? Komachi smacked a hand on Nazrin?s shoulder, hard enough that the mouse felt her skeleton shake. ?You seem to know her better than I do. Piss her off, get right in her face so she forgets I exist.?

Nazrin pinched her lips together. The idea made her tail curl up, but it wasn?t like she had anything better to offer. ?Fine. How long do you need??

?Five minutes, tops.? Komachi gave Nazrin a thumbs up. ?Thanks. Try not to die, okay?? She winked, disappearing a moment later. Nazrin?s radar reported the human as re-emerging on the edge of the bank, well away from any sort of danger.

Easy for you to say. Nazrin stared off in Komachi?s direction for only a moment before throwing herself right into the fray. The clones had finally found their bearings, closing in on her as she charged towards their master.

?So I?ve got to know,? she said, letting snark drip from every word. ?Do you always murder the people who trust you, or was I an exception??

The reaction was almost immediate, as Mamizou jerked her head around to face the mouse. ?Typically, the people I trust don?t turn against me the moment things get rough.?

She pointed in Nazrin?s direction, and immediately all six clones began to approach. There were too many for her to track at once; luckily, she didn?t have to.

?Shou, run 3Blind.exe.?

?Roger!? Shou?s hands ran over an unseen keyboard, and another set of sparks burst from the machinery. A bright gold line appeared in the visor, marking the optimal route for Nazrin to take.

Three Blind Mice, Nazrin thought to herself. See how they run.

She followed the path to the letter, twisting and turning around the oncoming mirages, striking when she could to give the impression she wasn?t just buying time. She kept as close to the real Mamizou as she could, intent on holding the tanuki?s attention for as long as possible. Whenever she came too close, Mamizou pulled a clone back to act as a barricade.

?You could have joined me.? Mamizou said, bearing her teeth as she seethed. ?I would have given you anything you asked for. Anything you needed-?

?Until you needed another ?diversion??? Nazrin slid between a clone?s feet, and for an instant she locked eyes with the tanuki. ?Sorry, I prefer friends who won?t stab me in the back the moment it suits them.?

Mamizou handled the insult with an utter lack of equanimity. With a swoop of her hand all six clones lunged forward at once, covering every escape angle.

Except for up.

Nazrin jammed one of her Cardinal Rods into the ground, using it as a makeshift pole and vaulting over her attackers. Through the fog, she had a wonderful view of Mamizou?s face contorting with anger.

But only for a moment.

?Ugh-? Nazrin felt something ram into her gut, knocking the breath from her lungs. Looking down, she found that the clone she had vaulted over had jumped, ramming its head right into Nazrin?s stomach. She lost all control over her landing, falling face-first onto the ground.

?Naz!? Shou yelled into her ear as alarms began to drone in her face. ?Get up before she-? Before she could even finish the sentence, a foot slammed into the ground inches from Nazrin?s head.

?Caught you.? Mamizou squinted at her prey with a hard smile. ?You?re not bad for a rat, I?ll admit.?

The clones quickly circled around, looming over Nazrin so she couldn?t vault away again. One stepped on her tail, pinning it to the ground.

?I?m gonna take my time on this one.? Mamizou rubbed her hands together, looking down on Nazrin like she meant to eat the mouse. ?I?ll give you one last request - should I break your arms or your legs first??

Nazrin?s heart pounded in time with the alarms in her visor. She had Mamizou?s attention, alright. The only question was if she?d held it for long enough.

The answer to that question came in the form of a distant humming.

?Hm?? Mamizou looked away, and the moment she saw the source of the sound her jaw dropped. Nazrin could make it out from her spot on the ground - Komachi was stepping forward, both hands on the hilt of her gun as a brilliant green light shone forth.

?Time?s up, Mamizou!? Komachi held her chin high as she squeezed the trigger. ?LAST RITES!?

A sheer pillar of energy burst out from the gun, deafening Nazrin in an instant. The clones vanished as if they were made of dust, and Mamizou herself disappeared as it engulfed her. Komachi wore the comfortable grin of a warrior confident in her victory.

Holy crap. Nazrin stared at the spot Mamizou had formerly inhabited as the light began to fade. Surely she couldn?t have-

Her visor began to beep. ?Wha-? As the light dispersed, Nazrin?s eyes popped open. Mamizou had rolled to the side at the last moment, her power signature as strong as ever. She?d suffered a variety of scrapes and burns, but nothing worse than a minor injury.

?Phew...that was close.? Mamizou looked back at Komachi, laughing as she wiped a layer of sweat from her brow. ?Next time, don?t let your target know that you?re trying to hit them.?

Nazrin?s heart fell out of her chest. They?d just lost their trump card, their only chance to catch Mamizou off guard. So how was Komachi so calm about it?

?Oh, Mamizou, you?re so vain.? Komachi waved the accusation off, the corner of her lip curling up. ?Who said I was aiming for you??

Mamizou?s brow furrowed. She turned around, Nazrin looking backwards at the same time. Lying in the remains of the blast was a pile of dark-grey chains. Nazrin had seen them earlier, but she?d written them off as part of the scenery.

The tanuki?s shoulder?s tensed. ?You didn?t. You couldn?t have.?

Before Nazrin could ask what was going on, an aura of power struck the side of her head. A massive mark appeared on her radar, the ground itself shaking with power. The chains fell away, slowly at first but speeding up as their captive struggled for freedom.

The first thing to emerge from beneath them was a set of golden tails.

?Took a lot of charging to break the seal,? Komachi said, resting the gun on her shoulder. ?Now, I think someone wants a word with you...?

A hand emerged from under the chains, followed by another. With a final war cry, Agent Indigo pulled herself out into the open air.

Mamizou could only manage a whisper. ?Well, fuck.?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: Esifex on June 16, 2013, 04:32:38 PM
I love a man who grins when he fights!

Wait, whoops, wrong gender

You know you need to get a drawing of ShouNaz Mk. II Teardrop Config A.S.A.P., right? :derp:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: Kasu on June 16, 2013, 07:20:27 PM
Ahahaha yes!

This is turning out to be even better than I'd thought~
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: Yaersulf on June 17, 2013, 02:05:08 AM
(http://di1-2.shoppingshadow.com/images/pi/17/56/9e/103189522-260x260-0-0_Neca+Disney+Robots+5+Mickey+Mouse.jpg)

Beep boop.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: KrackoCloud on June 17, 2013, 03:55:56 AM
I return to three updates and NAZRIN IRON MAN
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: BT on June 17, 2013, 02:09:02 PM
?Five minutes, tops.? Komachi gave Nazrin a thumbs up. ?Thanks. Try not to die, okay??

(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gUTP3GTIvwA/Tdnqx-i_XOI/AAAAAAAACng/-Pz75AxafLU/s1600/GokuSpiritBombFrieza.png)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on June 17, 2013, 06:01:48 PM
Good to see people are enjoying the new direction :3

Just putting out a heads-up that I might be a bit late on the next update. My computer's getting sent off for repairs tomorrow and probably won't be back in time. I've got the story backed up elsewhere so I will try to find another computer to put it up on. Just mentioning now so there isn't an array of questions if I can't make it. Sorry. >.<

EDIT: Crisis averted(?) My old laptop has come back from the dead but I'm not sure if it'll work consistently. We'll see what happens.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: OverlordChirei on June 18, 2013, 04:26:59 AM
TigerOS - It's GRRRRRRRRREAT!

No seriously, this is getting better.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on June 18, 2013, 05:34:18 AM
Nazrinbot, an essentially back-to-life Shou, and what may certainly be a Mamizou sandwich by next update.

The PSL dream, ladies and gentleman.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on June 23, 2013, 08:07:32 AM
Koishi had never felt so in sync with her weapon before. The blade danced in the air, an extension of her fingers, drawing golden arcs with every swing. Her body was primed, every nerve and muscle focused solely on the fight.

Her opponent was just as prepared. Satori was matching her blow for blow, deflecting everything Koishi had to offer and answering with clean ripostes. Everything Koishi tried, Satori was already prepared to answer.

This was how their last fight had gone, Koishi thought. Satori was in her head, reading her moves before they even happened. There was no way for her to start any sort of offense.

Time to get serious.

Koishi brought down a mighty swing, knocking Satori off balance for long enough to disengage. She stepped backwards, thrusting a  hand forward as her third eye pulled open.

?Tides of Doubt!?

The air rippled with a pale white light, catching Satori in its embrace. Before Satori could figure out what was happening, Koishi rushed forward with another strike.

Satori?s eyes widened as she figured it out. Her reactions were slower as Koishi?s subconscious leaked into her mind, wiping out her biggest advantage in a single move. ?Ngh-!? She grunted, her saber barely coming up in time to deflect Koishi?s swing. ?Clever. Who taught you that??

?I did,? Koishi answered, punctuating the sentence with another slash. She forced Satori onto the defensive, slowly leading her backwards, searching for the opening that would end the fight.

A smile wavered across Satori?s face. ?You?re all grown up now, aren?t you?? Her eyes wavered, and for a moment Koishi wondered if her sister was ready to listen to reason.

Then it was gone again, replaced with stubborn determination. ?But you?re not the only one who?s been holding back.? She drew her saber back, and a purple bolt ran along the metal as she went in with another thrust. ?Mjollnir!?

Koishi brought up her blade to block Satori?s, the blow hitting with astounding force. The lightning jumped from Satori?s blade along Koishi?s own, knocking her back a few vital inches.

Satori pushed forward again, her strikes slower but carefully placed. The lightning gave her attacks an extra edge, knocking Koishi away whenever she tried to close in. Neither side could feel comfortable - one mistake was all their opponent would need to claim victory.

?You can?t beat me, Koishi,? Satori growled between thrusts. ?You?re making this harder for both of us.?

Her words rang hollow, her brow teeming with sweat as she began to pant from exertion. Koishi called the bluff, pushing forward harder to spite her sister?s attempt to fool her.

Their blades crossed, catching each other in deadlock. Mjollnir gave Satori the power she needed to match Koishi?s strength, their blades pressed flat to flat. Now Satori let her frustration begin to show, clenching her teeth as desperation sank in.

?What do I have to do to make you understand?? she said. ?The Pearl?s been lying to you. You?re not some hero vanquishing an ancient evil.?

?You?ve got it all backwards,? Koishi answered, the stoutness in her tone surprising even herself. ?Do you have any idea what sort of horrible things the Black Claw has done??

There was silence. Koishi could feel Satori?s eyes piercing her own, combing through her mind for thoughts and memories. She could only hope that what Satori found would be enough for her to realise her mistake.

Satori gave her a firm nod. ?I know all about it, Koishi. The crime. The violence. The death.?

Koishi gasped. ?Then you-?

?But it?s not that simple.? Satori?s grip on her sword grew tighter, her knuckles pulsing white. ?The Claw has done terrible things, I won?t deny that. But sometimes progress can?t be made without resorting to force.?

?Progress?? Koishi blinked, dumbfounded. ?How can what you?re doing benefit anyone??

?Don?t play dumb, Koishi.? Satori?s eyes narrowed as she took one step forward. ?You have to know the damage mankind has already done. The damage it?s still doing.?

Koishi gasped. She remembered Momiji reminiscing about fortresses lost to human explorers. Pictures flashed in front of her eyes - oil spills, pillars of smoke, mushroom clouds. Satori nodded as she saw the understanding surface in her sister?s eyes.

?The human race is a danger to itself and the rest of the world.? The conviction in Satori?s voice was almost frightening. ?If we?re to save humanity from itself, we have to take that power away from them, whatever it takes.?

Koishi could feel her blade being pushed back. Her conviction was wavering. She tried to shake the thought off as she blurted out an answer.

?But you don?t need to resort to this! If it?s that desperate, surely people will understand and-?

Satori snorted derisively. ?Don?t be an idiot. If history has shown us anything, it?s that people would rather die than be proven wrong.? Her expression flickered into somberness. ?We can?t save the world with words, Koishi. Only with blood.?

Koishi?s knees were buckling. She was losing ground in both the argument and the fight. Mjollnir?s lightning danced along her arms, sapping her strength even further. At this rate, defeat was all but inevitable.

She looked her sister in the eye, struggling to believe what she was seeing. She hadn?t been ready for Satori to be so resolute. She really did seem convinced that violence was the only answer. She was ready to kill in the name of change, something that went against everything Koishi had thought of her sister.

But Koishi had still seen those glimpses of the girl she remembered. They?d been brief and fleeting, but Satori was still somewhere under that heartless shell. It was just a matter of pulling her out.

?You?re wrong.?

Satori tensed. ?What??

Koishi took the opening to withdraw, knocking Satori?s blade aside and stepping backwards. She dropped her sword to her side, making no attempt to defend herself.

?Humans aren?t evil by nature,? she continued. ?Everyone just wants to be happy. It?s just that sometimes people go about it the wrong way.?

She nodded to herself, remembering the people she had met in her time as a Siren. Cirno, who?d only wanted acceptance. Tewi, who wanted love. Eiki, who wanted justice. Yuyuko, who wanted her son. They?d committed atrocities, but deep down none of them had been truly wicked.

Satori was unmoved by Koishi?s plea. The valkyrie raised her saber, holding its tip inches from Koishi?s chest. A single stab would be enough to pierce her heart.

?Is that what you really believe, Koishi?? Satori?s voice was carefully leveled, keeping any stray emotion from seeping out. ?Or is that just what you want to believe??

Koishi?s entire body wanted to cave in on itself. It took all her composure to keep her fear from showing, her eyes meeting Satori?s and matching their temerity.

?I don?t care if you think I?m naive. I won?t give up on the human race, no matter what.?

?Then why won?t you defend yourself?? Satori pressed her saber into Koishi?s chest, just deep enough to poke at a rib. ?There?s nothing stopping me from killing you right now.?

Koishi gulped. She was well aware of that. This plan had been a gamble from the beginning. But the alternative was to give up on her beliefs, and that was never an option.

?But you won?t,? she said, smiling weakly. ?Don?t you see, Satori? I don?t just believe in people. I believe in you.?

Satori?s eyes widened as she caught Koishi?s meaning. She looked down at the tip of her blade, drawing the first trickle of blood from Koishi?s chest. For a few seconds, the sisters stood in silence, the moment frozen in time.

Finally, with a resentful sigh, Satori pulled her sword away and returned it to its sheath. Koishi smiled, the pounding in her chest dying down as the danger passed.

?If you weren?t my sister, I?d have killed you on the spot,? Satori grumbled. Koishi wondered who she was trying to convince with that statement.

?Then I guess this worked out for both of us.? Koishi extended a hand towards her sister. ?Please, Satori. We don?t have to fight.?

Satori stared at the offering in disbelief. Maybe she hadn?t expected to be forgiven so soon, or even at all. Koishi saw the temptation run through her, her fingers shuffling about anxiously.

But instead of accepting the offer, Satori shook her head. ?I?m sorry, Koishi. I can?t turn my back on the Black Claw now. You have your beliefs, and I have mine.?

Koishi frowned, disappointed but not surprised. Satori had spoken with genuine passion about her beliefs. Before Koishi had thought Satori was simply being manipulated, but her sister was just as adamant in her ideals as she was. They were unnervingly alike, the two extremes on a single spectrum.

?My work here is done,? Satori continued. She motioned towards the empty cages, their inhabitants long gone. ?I have no reason to stay here any longer.?

She clasped her hands together and murmured something beneath her breath. A black vortex emerged beneath her feet, slowly pulling her in. Even as she sank through the portal, her eyes never moved away from Koishi.

?Next time, there won?t be any distractions. If you want to change my mind, you?ll have to fight me with everything you have.?

Koishi made no attempt to stop Satori from retreating. She understood her sister now, saw the hunger for change that drove her on. She wouldn?t be able to talk Satori into cooperating; she?d have to win her sister over by force.

?Understood,? she answered with a nod. ?Just don?t complain when I beat you.?

As Satori vanished into the portal, Koishi swore she saw her sister smile.

-----

The world felt larger as Ran burst out from her chains. It was the same clearing as before, with the same flea-bitten tanuki hiding in the corner, but having room to move her arms about made it all feel that bit more meaningful.

She kicked away the last remnant of the seal, cracking her neck.

?Now, where were we??

Ran rolled her arm about in its socket as she began strolling towards her target. She was a little stiff from her brief imprisonment, but it had given her all the time she needed to recover from her earlier injuries. Mamizou, in comparison, had spent the last of her energy fighting off the Sirens.

?Now, uh, Ran...? Mamizou stepped backwards, eyes darting about for an escape route. ?Let?s not do anything rash, shall we??

She was doing a poor job of sounding brave. Ran could see the tanuki?s tail folding in on itself, her whole body quivering in terror. In contrast, Ran felt more powerful than she ever had. She was moments away from destroying the woman who had taken everything from her.

?Hey, Ran...? the human with the gun spoke up, still panting slightly from exertion. ?You?re not gonna kill her, are you??

Ran had already been prepared for that question. She nodded in the Siren?s direction, never straying from her path towards Mamizou.

?Yeah, see, that?s a problem.? The human drew her gun again. ?It?s my job to make sure both of you come out of this alive. Right, mousey??

The other youkai nodded in agreement, priming both of her rods for another round of battle. Ran could see the sweat oozing down their faces from their last battle. They would have no chance against her in that state.

Not that Ran intended to fight them at all.

For an instant, Ran looked away in the human?s direction. Immediately she heard the patter of footsteps from Mamizou making a dash for freedom. The golden thread wouldn?t let her stray more than fifty paces from Ran, but the fox wouldn?t even give her that.

?Charming Siege From All Sides.?

Ran swung through the air with both arms, and a magic circle emerged at her feet in response. A green wall rose up from the earth to block Mamizou?s path, running along the length of the circle. The walls caved in as they grew higher, meeting in the center to form the roof of a dome.

?Hey, what do you think you?re doing?!? The human growled as she found herself on the wrong side of the dome, smacking at the wall with the hilt of her gun. The mouse followed suit, hammering at the surface with both rods to try and crack it open.

Ran paid them no mind. They?d break through eventually, but the field had bought her more than enough time. She turned back to Mamizou, her stance almost casual as she strolled towards the tanuki.

She?d spent a lot of time deciding how she was going to kill Mamizou. Strangulation was too long and clumsy, and simply pummeling her wouldn?t be nearly bloody enough. She?d decided on the simple option - tearing the tanuki open with her claws, and letting her innards spill out onto the ground. There was something visceral about the mental image that made it satisfying just to think about.

She drew her claws, only half a dozen steps from Mamizou now. The tanuki had made a weak attempt to escape her prison, but she had to know the situation was hopeless. She looked back at Ran, primal desperation flashing across her eyes.

She looked down, finding the knife Ran had drawn her own blood with earlier. Inspiration flew onto her face as she snatched it up.

?Stay back, Ran!? she said, suddenly filled with absurd confidence. ?You really don?t wanna make any rash moves here.?

Ran stared at the weapon and fought back the urge to chuckle. She had centuries of experience with the world?s deadliest magic, and Mamizou planned to fight her with a dagger? She may as well have been throwing rocks at a hurricane.

?Forgive me if your toothpick doesn?t concern me,? Ran said, continuing her approach. ?And stop being so desperate. We both know you?re backed into a corner here.?

The tanuki grinned. ?Am I?? She twirled the dagger about in her hand, suddenly unnervingly casual. The transformation was unnerving, to say the least. ?You underestimate me, Ran. I?ve got everything I need to ruin all of your fun.?

Ran paused for a moment. When Mamizou made an accusation like that, there was usually something of value to it. She took the opportunity to gauge the situation, searching for any route of escape Mamizou might have had.

She found nothing, and concluded that the tanuki had to be bluffing. She was acting brave as death stared her in the face.

?Really, now?? Ran took the last few steps, no more than a foot away from Mamizou now. ?Then I hope you won?t mind showing me.?

Mamizou smirked, looking smug even with only moments left to live. ?Well, don?t say I didn?t warn you-!? She grinned maniacally as she grabbed the dagger?s hilt with both hands.

And turned it on herself.

Wha-

Ran?s brain overloaded in an instant. Was she seeing things? Had Mamizou just - to herself - right in her-

?...Ah.? Mamizou looked down on herself, just as surprised as her opponent was. Ran could only see the hilt of the dagger now - the rest of it was lodged firmly inside the tanuki. A bloody patch began to grow on her shirt.

Her brain caught up with what she had done to herself.

?Shit.? She pawed at the wound, heaving as she tried to force air into her system. Her hands trembled, refusing to stay still or follow orders. Ran charged up to her on instinct, tearing away her shirt to inspect the injury.

Her stomach curled up as she saw the extent of the damage. The knife had barely missed Mamizou?s heart, but it had pierced two major arteries right next to it. The flow of blood from the wound was immense, too strong for pressure to stop. At this rate, she?d bleed out in a matter or minutes.

?Shit, shit, shit!? Mamizou was still trying to tend to herself, the colour fading from her face. ?It was meant to be quicker than this! Now I?m...I?m...?

Her legs buckled as she fell into Ran?s arms. It was only when Ran felt her fingers soak in the tanuki?s blood that the fact truly hit her.

Mamizou was dying.

Ran felt her whole body catch on fire. Every cell, every bone, every muscle was filled to the brim with unbridled hatred. She grabbed Mamizou by the hair, tugging as hard as she could to keep the tanuki from passing out.

?You...? Ran foamed at the mouth, unable to form a coherent sentence. This was a trick. It had to be.

Mamizou was still trying to grab at the knife, with a look of almost rabid frustration. ?Dammit, what was I thinking? How did I end up in a position where stabbing myself seemed like a good idea??

Her self-centeredness only fueled Ran?s anger. This wasn?t just about Mamizou anymore. This was about the one thing Ran had left to care about, and Mamizou was snatching it away from her. Centuries of chasing and searching and fighting, all for nothing.

She wasn?t sure whether to scream or cry.

?You...you coward,? she said through her teeth. ?Don?t you dare think you?ve won, you understand? You?re just running away again!?

There was a long silence. Mamizou?s eyes glazed over, and she took a long hard breath. Her hands fell to her sides, finally resigned to defeat. All the stress vanished from her face, leaving an almost peaceful look in their wake.

?A coward, huh?? She stared up at the sky, her brain struggling to compute a response. Eventually, she nodded. ?Don?t think I can deny that one.?

Ran gasped. Was Mamizou...agreeing with her?

?You remember the first time we met?? Mamizou continued, grabbing at Ran?s wrist with frigid fingers. ?Well, first time we were meant to meet, just after my coronation. You challenged me to a friendly duel, but I never showed up.?

And now she was spouting anecdotes. Ran was totally lost now, nodding her head mechanically in agreement.

?I guess that should?ve clued you in on what sort of person I was.? Mamizou sighed, finding exhaling much easier than inhaling. ?It?d be bad PR if I lost, and since I?d only just come into power I didn?t want to set a bad impression right away. So I ditched it.?

Her hand squeezed at Ran?s wrist. ?I was always jealous of you, y?know? You made being a ruler look so easy. You made all the right choices, and the people loved you for it. Nothing ever fazed you.?

Ran couldn?t believe what she was hearing. She wanted to tell Mamizou that she was wrong, that Ran had been through more than her share of dark times as a ruler. But a voice in the back of her head reminded her that Mamizou was an enemy, that showing compassion was the last thing she should do.

And yet, the woman dying in her arms didn?t look like the monster she?d been hunting down all these years. She looked like an old friend she?d long since forgotten, like the knife had cut away her outer shell to reveal the hollow individual inside.

?...I was never like that.? Mamizou paused between sentences, struggling to find the breath to speak. ?I was nervous. Frightened. Every time I had to make a choice, I worried about what the people would think. Would they agree with me? Would they understand why I?d made the call I did??

There was a long pause as Mamizou closed her eyes. Ran thought for a minute that the tanuki was gone, but she could barely make out a pulse as she touched Mamizou?s wrist. Her heartbeat was weak and erratic.

?That?s why...I didn?t take the risk.? She coughed again, blood dribbling onto her lips. ?If I didn?t go along with the Ravager?s plan, I thought my people might judge me as a poor ruler. I?d be putting the lives of others ahead of my own country. I was too scared of that to resist the temptation.?

She managed to curl one side of her lips into a smile. ?Maybe that?s why they went to me and not you. They knew I was the weaker one.?

Was Mamizou looking for repentance on her deathbed? Did she expect an angel to swoop down from the sky and haul her off to heaven? The thought of it made Ran sick to her stomach, but she still found herself cradling Mamizou, trying to pass on what little warmth she could.

?...I?m sorry, Ran.? She said it almost too quietly to be heard, taking a deep breath as she repeated herself. ?I?m sorry. I tried to justify what I did as rational. I said I was just looking out for myself. But...you?re right. In the end, I?m just a coward.?

Ran didn?t realise how long she?d been silent until she tried to speak. Her throat felt tight, and her eyes were growing misty. Every word felt like an ordeal.

?You...you think that?ll be enough? You think saying sorry will make up for everything you?ve done??

Mamizou laughed, every chuckle more painful than the last. ?Of course not. Nothing can make up for what I took from you.? She looked down at the knife, and the pool of blood forming around her. ?But I can?t do much else when I?m like this, can I??

Ran could barely feel Mamizou?s pulse now. The tanuki?s breaths grew slower, quieter. She was on the verge of slipping away.

And in spite of everything, Ran didn?t want her to go.

?Mamizou, you can?t die.? She shook the tanuki as if it would somehow mend her wounds. ?You took everything I had. I threw away my throne, my kingdom for you. You...? An awful sob squeezed its way out of her throat. ?You owe me.?

The realisation was a sledgehammer to her skull. She?d been so focused on revenge that she?d never thought about what would come afterward. She had no friends, no family, no country left to rule. For centuries she had drifted across the planet, never staying for long enough to learn names or faces.

She?d only had one companion all this time, and it was the woman who she had sworn to kill. The only person who knew her, who truly understood her, was bleeding out in her arms.

A finger ran across her cheek, wiping away her tears.

?Don?t cry, Ran,? Mamizou wheezed. ?You?re...prettier...when you?re angry.?

Ran felt the finger drawing a line of blood across her face. She was paralysed, staring down as Mamizou?s eyes began to close again.

?Now go find...something else...to be angry about...?

The finger fell away as Mamizou went limp, letting out a final sigh. The flow of blood from her chest trickled to a stop, and the last hint of colour vanished from her face.

?M...Mamizou??

Ran was caught in the throes of denial, pressing her fingers against Mamizou?s neck. There was no sign of a pulse, and her chest was still.

?...No.?

Ran felt her very core tearing itself apart. Mamizou had robbed her of everything. The desire for revenge had been the only semblance of meaning she had left. Now she didn?t even have that.

And of all things, she?d died with a smile on her face. How was that fair? She got to die happy and leave Ran behind with nothing. Where was her payback? When did she get the justice she deserved?

?No, no, no...? She smacked her hand against the floor, her knuckles digging into the earth. She punched again, harder, over and over, feeling the rocks cut her fingers open. She had never wanted to die as much as she did now.

In the distance, she heard the dome shatter. The two Sirens broke into her safe haven, but neither of them made an attempt to approach. They already knew they were far too late.

Ran didn?t care. They didn?t matter to her. Nothing did anymore. She kept smacking her hand into the ground, the pain numbing the feeling that was tearing her apart from the inside. Her knuckles were a bloody mess, and the only sound she could make was a pathetic howl.

For the first time, she was well and truly alone.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (In progress - updates weekly!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on June 23, 2013, 08:07:46 AM
The food court was silent beyond the low whirring of the ceiling fan. The air was tense and heavy, and in spite of their ?victory? nobody seemed particularly keen to celebrate. The Sirens sat together around one table, awkward stares passing from one side to the other. Nitori stood at one end of the table, with Sango at attention to her side.

?Alright, let?s start with the good news.? Nitori raised fingers as she listed off the positives of their operation. ?First off, you?re all still alive. Normally I wouldn?t consider that a plus, but this was a pretty dangerous operation. Most of the animals have been taken care of, so the trouble has passed.?

She turned to the newest member of the group, hidden away at the distant corner of the table. ?Secondly, we?ve happened on our lost Teardrop. Seems like our murine friend over here happened upon it by accident.?

The mouse raised a hand anxiously. ?Uh, hi. I?m Nazrin, and apparently we?re all going to be fighting evil together-?

The name rang a bell in the back of Koishi?s head. ?Nazrin? You mean you?re Shou-san?s pet??

?Yeah, that?s-? Nazrin looked over at Koishi for the first time, and her eyes flashed with remembrance. ?You. You were there at the fire, weren?t you??

Koishi could only reply with a grave nod. There was so much she wanted to say, but she knew now wasn?t the time or place for it. She swallowed down her fretfulness for now, letting the kappa continue with her debriefing.

?Now, the bad news.? Nitori put her hands in her pockets and sighed. ?You guys did a good job of cutting down the number of casualties, but there?s still a lot of cleaning up to do. The police are putting estimates at about seventy wounded, and half a dozen of them are in intensive care. It would have been a lot worse without us, though, so keep that in mind.

?Second...? Nitori sighed, staring up at the barely-running fan. ?Futatsuiwa?s dead. From what I?ve heard, she killed herself before Ran could get the chance.?

Nazrin and Komachi nodded along. They?d watched it happen, from what Koishi had heard. She didn?t want to imagine how hard that was.

?Morichika yesterday, and now this.? Komachi pressed her palm against her cheek. ?I really need to work on my arrest rate, don?t I??

?Don?t let it get to you,? Mokou said, patting Komachi on the back. ?You did the best you could.?

That didn?t seem much comfort for the lawyer, but she nodded along in agreement. At the very least, she seemed aware there were much bigger things to worry about.

?Thirdly, it looks like all our fears about Satori-san were accurate.? Nitori turned to Koishi, looking pained just by the thought of what the Siren had been through. ?I?m sorry, Koishi-san. I know this must be hard on you.?

To everyone?s surprise, Koishi shook her head. ?It?s fine, Kawashiro-sensei. She?s fighting for what she believes in, just like we are.?

Nitori pursed her lips. ?You aren?t letting her get to you, right? Leviathan?s a charismatic woman. If she earned your sister?s trust, she might be trying to win you over by proxy.?

Koishi didn?t have an answer to that. Did she think Satori had a point? Possibly. She was definitely right that something had to be done about the world as it was - not just for the sake of youkai, but for the sake of mankind as well. The White Pearl had no plans for that - they were content with keeping the status quo as it was.

But she didn?t believe Satori?s claim that violence was the only answer. There was a way to peace other than force. She wasn?t sure what that method was yet, but nothing was going to stop her from looking for it.

?Don?t worry about me, Kawashiro-sensei,? she answered, offering a thumbs up. ?Just let me deal with Satori myself, alright??

?I wouldn?t dream of anything else.? Nitori smiled, but only for a moment. ?And now, the biggest problem we?re going to be dealing with...?

?The fact that we?re internet superstars?? Sakuya interrupted the kappa before she could finish, looking unfazed as ever. Youmu sat at her side, closer than she?d been to her sister in days. Maybe the two of them had managed to put their differences aside.

?That?s...not how I?d have put it, but you?ve got the idea.? Nitori nodded. ?I took care of the surveillance cameras, but a lot of the visitors probably caught footage on things like smartphones. If we?re lucky, none of it will be very clear. If not, there?s going to be video footage of you girls all over the internet.?

Youmu raised her hand. ?How exactly is that a problem? The Black Claw already know who most of us are.?

?It?s not the Claw we need to worry about,? Sango said. ?These people have footage of you girls using magic. They?re going to want to know how you did it - there?ll be paparazzi at your door, maybe even government agencies trying to figure you out.? She scratched at her head. ?Long story short? It?s going to make all the covert ops stuff a lot harder.?

Silence. The Sirens shared glances with each other across the table. Koishi could see the question in her companions? eyes - had they been wrong to intervene? Had they only made the problem worse in the long run?

Even without a word, Koishi could tell that the Sirens? answer was ?no?. They?d saved plenty of lives today, and that was worth a little trouble with the authorities.

?For now, we?re going to play a waiting game,? Nitori said. ?I don?t have enough resources to put all of you in safe houses, so we?re going to wait and see how many of you are incriminated by this footage. If we?re lucky it?ll only be one or two of you, and I can arrange a place to hide until the hype dies down. Until then, you?d better go home and lay low.?

The Sirens nodded along in agreement; all except for the quiet one in the corner. She raised her tail in the same manner Youmu had raised her hand.

?So where does that leave me?? Nazrin asked. ?Mamizou-san was looking after me, so I?m a little...under-accommodated at the moment.?

?You?ll be staying with Koishi-san,? Nitori said, pointing at the Siren opposite Nazrin. ?She?s already got a few pets of her own, so I figure you?ll fit in well with her.?

Nazrin frowned at the word ?pet?, then promptly turned her attention to Koishi. ?These other youkai aren?t anything to worry about, are they? There?s no chance I?ll end up in somebody?s stomach or anything.?

Koishi was puzzled by the question initially, until she understood what Nazrin was getting at. ?Well, I do have a cat, but she hasn?t eaten a mouse in years. And Utsuho wouldn?t hurt a fly unless Rin told her to. So you should be fine.?

Nazrin?s tail swished about uncertainly. She seemed anything but fine about the proposition. Koishi could only hope the mouse would calm down once she actually met her new housemates.

?So what about you, Nitori-san?? Mokou asked. ?What?ll you be doing while we?re locked up at home and praying we don?t become the latest Niconico craze??

Nitori smiled. ?I?ve got some persuading to do.?

-----

It was a nice little clearing, Ran decided. As it turned out, the zoo had been built on the edge of a country park, and behind the zoo itself was a expansive wood. She?d wandered through the trees, finally coming upon a neat little outpost that was perfect for her needs.

The body was so light on her shoulders, she thought. It scared her to think that the pile of lifeless flesh had been a person no more than an hour ago. She wondered if someday, someone would carry her body away to be put to rest as well.

Somehow, she doubted it.

The sun was beginning to set as Ran laid Mamizou?s body down on the ground. She stepped a few paces away, digging a hole in the earth with her bare hands. She didn?t have a shovel, and the ground wasn?t quite soft enough for a proper burial, but her claws did a good job of making up for that. After twenty minutes of work, she had constructed a grave large enough to contain the body.

She looked down at Mamizou again. The tanuki?s ears and tail were fading away, leaving only her human features behind. Ironically, the appendages youkai had the most trouble hiding in life were the first to decay in death. Within a day, Mamizou?s body would be indistinguishable from that of a normal human.

She looked so happy now, Ran thought to herself. Maybe the tanuki had been so light to carry because a weight had finally been lifted from her shoulders. The fox was careful as she lowered Mamizou into the grave, as if she expected the body to shatter from the force.

?You picked a good spot for it.?

A voice from behind. Kawashiro. Ran hadn?t been planning to hear that voice again for a long time.

?She was a queen,? Ran said. ?She deserves a proper burial.? Her voice was cold and stable, the rest of her emotion already spent. She turned back towards the kappa. ?I suppose you?re here to pass justice on me??

Nitori shook her head. ?Technically I don?t even have a crime to judge you for. After all, it wasn?t you who killed her.?

Ran forced a smile. Perhaps that had been part of Mamizou?s plan as well - killing herself so that Ran wouldn?t have blood on her hands. Ran doubted it, but it was a nice idea.

?She seemed guilty, at the very end.? Ran looked down into the grave, already feeling a world away from its inhabitant. ?I?d always wondered if there was any trace left of the Mamizou I called my friend.?

?I can think of better ways to find out.? Nitori spoke with the voice of a woman who?d been through a similar ordeal. That sort of betrayal had to be common in a secret society like the White Pearl. There was a common ground between the pair that made Ran feel strangely at ease.

?Then what are you here for?? Ran asked. ?I doubt you came all this way to pay your tributes to the fallen.?

Nitori bowed her head forward. ?We need your help, Ran.?

Short and to the point. That was how Ran liked it.

?Are you sure you want me?? she asked. ?I abandoned the last post of authority I was trusted with.?

?You?re also one of the strongest youkai the world?s ever seen,? Nitori answered, her eyes dark and unyielding. ?And you owe it to your master, remember??

Her master. How many years had it been since Ran had thought of her? The woman had been dead for thousands of years, and Ran had thrown away her duties to chase after her own vendetta. She?d kept the name, but she really hadn?t done much to deserve it of late.

She sighed. She had several centuries of downtime to make up for. She might as well start working it off now.

?It?s the Ravager?s fault this whole mess happened,? she said, straightening her collar. ?Please tell me the brains behind that monster is still around.?

?Sure is,? Nitori said, winking as she offered Ran a handshake. ?And she?s the head of the Black Claw, too.?

?Then count me in.? Ran grabbed at the hand, shaking almost painfully hard. ?Those bastards are going to regret getting my attention.?

Go find something else to be angry about. Mamizou?s last words echoed in her head. Maybe this was what Mamizou wanted Ran to do with herself. She?d never know for sure, but it was another nice thought to soothe herself with.

?Just let me say my goodbyes first,? Ran said, breaking off from the handshake and grabbing a handful of dirt. Slowly, carefully, she let it fall into the grave, scattering across the tanuki?s broken body. She followed up with a second, a third, until the grave was almost completely full.

?Here?s to Mamizou Futatsuiwa, long-lost ruler of the tanuki.? Ran sniffed, feeling her eyes welling up again. ?Traitor, murderer, all-around monster...?

She dropped the last wad of dirt over Mamizou?s face. ?And the best friend I?ve ever had.?

-----

The van that brought Koishi home was the sort that was distinct in its lack of distinction.  It blended into the road almost too neatly, and she suspected she would forget every little detail about the vehicle the moment she stepped out.

The driver, presumably another youkai, made no attempt to talk to his passengers for the duration of the journey. Nor did he react to anything they said, even when Sango (from her limited experience with human transport) said the trip wasn?t nearly dangerous enough. Koishi wasn?t sure if the man was blessed with limitless patience or if he was simply deaf.

Her attention wasn?t focused on him for long. There was another passenger in the car who deserved her attention. Nazrin was pressed right against the window, staring out at the world that was passing her by.

?Why are human buildings all so tall?? she asked as they passed a multi-storey apartment complex. ?Seems like it would just give you a lot more stairs to climb.?

?It?s so you can put more people in them,? Sango answered. ?Though they?re all squeezed together real close. Like sardines.? She licked her lips, distracted by her own analogy.

They spent another minute or so trying to make small talk, along with Sango introducing the mouse to the game of I Spy. It ended shortly after Nazrin guessed something that began with D and ended with ?olphin?.

An awkward silence hung in the van after that, with Sango shuffling into the corner and complaining that Nazrin wasn?t any fun. The two Sirens were left with each other, and Koishi felt her throat dry up as she tried to fill the space.

?Look, Nazrin-san...?

How was she supposed to say this? She paused for a moment, trying to find the right words and failing. Eventually she just blurted out whatever felt best.

?I?m...I?m sorry I wasn?t there for your master. I did my best, but in the end I couldn?t stop her.?

Nazrin flinched slightly as Koishi spoke, like she hadn?t been expecting the apology. Her ears wiggled about on the sides of her head.

?It?s okay, Koishi-san. Master explained everything to me during the debriefing.? She smirked. ?That?s why I wasn?t talking much, you see.?

?Eh?? Koishi furrowed her brow. ?Your master...but how did-?

Nazrin sighed. ?It?s a long story, and I get the feeling I?ll sound crazy if I tell it to you. But, well...? She poked a finger against her forehead. ?I?ve got master Shou locked up in here.?

That explanation did nothing to clear up the matter for Koishi. Sango seemed similarly perturbed, twirling a finger around her ear when she thought Nazrin wasn?t looking.

The mouse frowned. ?See? I told you it?d sound stupid. Who?s gonna believe that I?ve got a ghost lodged in my brai-?

Hey, Koishi-san! Is that you?

Koishi flinched. The voice echoing in her head was unmistakable. ?Shou-san?!?

Nazrin?s ears wiggled again, and Koishi swore she saw a wisp of smoke sift out of one of them. The cloud rose up into the air, slowly forming into a much more recognisable form.

?Hey, she CAN hear me!? Shou clapped to herself - or at least she tried to, but her hands ended up passing through each other. She patted her mouse friend on the shoulder. ?See, Naz? I told you it was worth a try.?

Nazrin shivered where Shou?s hand touched her, grumbling out a response beneath her breath. Koishi was still taken aback - this wasn?t her first time seeing a ghost, but it was the first time the ghost had been someone she knew. And Youki had never been this...she wanted to say ?lively?, but that seemed like the worst word possible to describe a ghost.

?Uh, Koishi-san, who?re you talking to?? Sango stared in the same direction Koishi was, but there was no sign of comprehension in her eyes. Once again, it seemed like Koishi was the only one who could actually see the spirit. At least she had Nazrin to vouch for her this time.

?It seems like Shou-san isn?t as gone as we thought she was.? Koishi shuffled about in her seat, unsure of how she was supposed to start up a conversation with someone no longer among the living. ?Shou-san, how did you make it out of the orphanage??

?Simple,? Shou answered. She nodded at Nazrin, and the mouse pulled her tail around to reveal a bright yellow ribbon. ?Turns out the Teardrop had its own backup plan. It hitched a ride with Nazrin, and the rest is history.?

Koishi nodded. She?d never considered that the Teardrop could have a mind of its own. She began to appreciate just how powerful these artifacts really were.

?That reminds me,? Nazrin said. ?How long are you going to be sticking around??

Koishi could hear the hope in her voice, the desire for Shou to say something like ?forever?. The ghost could only frown in response, her form fading a little in front of Koishi?s eyes.

?Sorry, Naz. I?m only around to deal with unfinished business. Once we deal with the Black Claw...well, I?m gone.?

Koishi practically heard Nazrin?s heart breaking at the sound of that.

?Oh. I see.? She drooped her head forward, the life draining out of her with lightning speed. It took a deep breath for her to compose herself again, looking up at Shou with a sad smile. ?I?m being ungrateful, aren?t I? I mean, having you back at all is enough of a miracle.?

?You bet it is.? Shou reached down to ruffle at the mouse?s hair. She didn?t make contact, but Nazrin?s hair waved about as if it was being stirred by the wind. ?So no more complaining, got it? Or else I?ll let Koishi-san in on all those secrets you?ve got locked up in your head.?

Nazrin blushed for an instant, then began to fume. ?I swear, if you weren?t dead already...?

Koishi couldn?t help but giggle. The two of them were perfect for each other - Nazrin was the straight man to Shou?s inner klutz. She imagined them as stand-up comedians, bouncing off each other with ease.

She spent a little too long wondering how to advertise a double act of a mouse and her dead owner. By the time she?d given up on the idea, the van had scraped to a stop.

?We?re here,? the driver muttered. ?Get out.?

Koishi nodded, trying not to take offense at his lack of politeness. As she stood up to reach the door, she noticed that the man had earplugs stuffed tightly into both ears.

That explained a lot, she thought to herself.

She took point, letting Sango and Nazrin hang behind her as she came up to the front door. Now came the difficult task of introducing a new face to the household.

?OK, Nazrin-san. There?s really nothing to worry about, but I?ll let Rin know that you?re a VIP and definitely not a midnight snack.?

Nazrin frowned. ?I?m pretty sure you could have found a better way to phrase that.?

?Maybe, but I?ve had a long day. All I want right now is to get some sleep.?

She fumbled with her keys, finally managing to shuffle the door open. A familiar trail of footsteps began to echo from the living room.

?Evening, everyone,? she said, waving preemptively. ?This here?s Nazrin, and she?ll be staying-?

?Koishi-sama, Koishi-sama!? Utsuho cut her off before she could finish. The raven came to a stop in the hallway, stamping about with a rabid enthusiasm. ?I?m sorry I tried to record it but then the scary
man came on and-?

?Whoa, there.? Koishi put her hands on Utsuho?s shoulders to keep her from taking off. ?Deep breaths, Utsuho. In and out, okay??

The raven?s wings flapped about behind her as her eyes rolled about in her head. She looked just about ready to faint, and she might have lost it completely if Rin hadn?t emerged from behind her.

?Sorry, Koishi-sama. Okuu?s a little out of it.? She carefully led Utsuho back into the hallway towards the kitchen. ?OK, Okuu, it?s time for you to take a nap...?

She led Utsuho off, leading her to the birdcage in the same way she?d have led a drunk man to bed. Koishi tiptoed into the house proper, feeling Nazrin?s eyes burning into her.

?This isn?t a normal occurrence in your house, is it?? the mouse asked.

?Not that common, no.?

It was a few minutes before Rin returned from her duties. She seemed far from relaxed herself, but at the very least she was handling her nerves much more handily than Utsuho was.

?Thanks for that, Rin,? Koishi said. ?Any idea what was up with her??

Rin sighed, like a doctor trying to find the best way to give bad news. ?She was trying to record that magical girl show you?ve been following, but it got interrupted by a news bulletin.?

Koishi blinked. ?That?s all? It?s not that big a deal. There?s a repeat showing on tomorrow night, anyway.?

?That?s not the point. The bulletin...? Rin frowned, her tail swishing about. ?Actually, it?s best if you see it for yourself.?

She vanished into the living room, twiddling her fingers as she went. Koishi followed on behind her, the duty of introducing Nazrin to the household suddenly forgotten.

As her eyes fell on the television, her heart exploded in her chest.

Playing live was a video of her in the middle of combat with her sister.

-----

And now, an update on today?s breaking news.

Details are beginning to emerge on the catastrophic breakout at Gensouto Zoo. The incident, which has left dozens injured and several dead, is believed to have been initiated by a disgruntled employee.

Within the last hour, the authorities have declared the area safe. Specialist squads were deployed to deal with the outbreak, but initial reports suggest that many animals were already incapacitated by the time police arrived on the scene. The zoo itself, however, is in a state of disrepair, both in terms of property damage and loss of personnel. It is believed that the surviving animals will be taken in by another facility once the last of the outbreak is contained.

Further fueling the confusion is footage such as this, captured by a passing civilian as they escaped the zoo. The facility?s internal cameras were destroyed during the attack, but already dozens of separate video clips have been uploaded to the internet showing young girls fighting off these animals singlehandedly. These girls - already folk heroes on the internet - are shown to subdue the raging beasts through methods which should be physically impossible.

Although Commissioner Ishihara has written off the footage as ?an elaborate prank?, it?s believed that several departments have pooled their resources into identifying the individuals captured within these pictures. Whether they will be rewarded, questioned or arrested is a question that no-one has made an attempt to answer.

One thing is certain, however - this incident is unlikely to disappear fast. With an ever-growing pile of questions regarding the culprit and motive behind the attack, this is a problem much of Gensouto will want to see solved.

I?m Hatate Himekaidou, and you?re watching the Gensouto Evening News. More info as it develops...
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (Complete!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on June 23, 2013, 08:11:42 AM
-----

Author's Note:

So here we are again. Up to 300k words now. No small feat.

I've made a decent start on arc 8, but for the next month or so I'm going to have a full-time job to focus on, so I can't make any promises. Thanks to everyone who's been willing to bear with me up until now.

Special thanks again to Iced for being the shining beacon of sanity that keeps me from dwindling into madness. If I had to dedicate this story to anyone, it'd be you.

Anyway, I guess I'll see you all when arc 8 starts. Till next time. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xqsnsrk4U4)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (Complete!)
Post by: BT on June 23, 2013, 12:43:20 PM
Good job on another fine arc.

Is an 'ending' in sight? Do you have one in mind? (yes/no)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (Complete!)
Post by: Esifex on June 23, 2013, 04:06:39 PM
Did Okuu just call Hatate a 'scary man' for the news bulletin? :v
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (Complete!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on June 23, 2013, 05:41:46 PM
Is an 'ending' in sight? Do you have one in mind? (yes/no)
We've got one more arc to go, but there's going to be a lot to resolve in it so it should be fairly sizable. And I have a good idea where I'm going to go with the finale :P

Did Okuu just call Hatate a 'scary man' for the news bulletin? :v
Hatate is fugly Probably a co-anchor. :V
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (Complete!)
Post by: Kasu on June 23, 2013, 06:03:58 PM
Oh man, things are gonna get even crazier soon aren't they?

Even if we have to wait it's going to be totally worth it, so take as much time as you need.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (Complete!)
Post by: OverlordChirei on June 23, 2013, 10:23:09 PM
I told you I had no doubts about starting the day with this, and I certainly was not wrong.

Though, the next arc is gonna be the last one? Dang. It feels like it was meant to go on longer, but it's been one heck of a ride.

But I'll be there, waiting at the final stop.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (Complete!)
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on June 24, 2013, 01:33:09 AM
Wow.

I have seen you put your emotional drive into full force many times, each being more melancholy, yet resolving than the last, but this kind of moment can top anything like it so far by a landslide.

A shame it's going to come to an end, though. Granted, I have a feeling it's going to be the equivalent of a ticking timebomb of awesome waiting to shower us with the plot twists and resolutions you will have in store for
us in the future.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (Complete!)
Post by: TresserT on August 17, 2013, 03:51:15 AM
Excuse me for relying to nothing new, but THAT WAS FLIPPIN AWESOME. Read the entire story in the last week, and that was probably the best fanfiction I've ever read. I can't wait for the last arc. Great job, really!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (Complete!)
Post by: flamingaxe7 on August 25, 2013, 10:02:37 PM
The last comment almost convinced me there was an update. Oh well. Either way, Arc 7 was awesome and can't wait for Arc 8!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (Complete!)
Post by: Burcaresti on August 28, 2013, 05:11:28 AM
Everything's already been said, but I'll try to say something new.
First off... where do I start? This is the only story that has hooked me like a fish on a fishing line and dragged me into the city of Gensouto. I know that you spend so many hours, toiling over your work, and what's come out of that effort?
A masterpiece.
I've frantically nagged my friends to read your wonderful fanfiction. I've laughed at the silly parts, held my breath at the tense areas, and bawled my eyes out when Shou died. This will be the only story that ever made me cry over something that seemed so small to others, but they don't know how emotionally grabbing this story can be. I giggled like a lunatic when I saw the ghost of Shou playing the operator for Nazrin.
This story is a very silly one, and I like that- it really gives a mood for the whole thing, but the underlying seriousness and beauty is easy to see. You've set a deep, beautiful personality for characters, even the minor ones, and I can't even comprehend how many hours of toiling that took. The characters are fleshed out like true people, and it's so wonderful to see them interact with each other. You've taken me by surprise with characters like Flandre, but the personality still works amazingly well for her, and adds depth to the plot.
I like the 'underwater' theme- it really sets a cutesy theme for the whole story in itself.
Like I've mentioned, everything's already been said. I will wait quietly and warmly for Arc 8 of this gem of a story while nagging my friends to read it. Take your time, Roukanken.
-Kyouko
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (Complete!)
Post by: Jq1790 on August 31, 2013, 04:23:15 AM
stuff
Not to be nitpicky, but for those of the audience(not me, but still) who haven't read the whole thing, maybe put major events
like Shou's death
in spoilertags?

(Alternatively, Rou could put some sort of spoiler warning, but still.)

Anyway, Rou, any ETA on the (persumably)Final Arc?  Not  trying to rush, just curious.
Title: DRK: NOT AN UPDATE DON'T GET EXCITED
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on August 31, 2013, 09:30:14 AM
Not to be nitpicky, but for those of the audience(not me, but still) who haven't read the whole thing, maybe put major events
like Shou's death
in spoilertags?

(Alternatively, Rou could put some sort of spoiler warning, but still.)

Anyway, Rou, any ETA on the (persumably)Final Arc?  Not  trying to rush, just curious.
I'm afraid I don't have any power to edit other people's posts. That got taken away from me a few years back. :V

As for progress on arc 8, I'm sitting on about 34k words right now. I'm hoping to get this one finished and start posting it before uni restarts, which gives me about three weeks. That said, every time I set some sort of deadline for DRK's production I tend to miss it pretty catastrophically, so don't get your hopes up. V:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (Complete!)
Post by: Jq1790 on September 01, 2013, 12:21:11 AM
I'm afraid I don't have any power to edit other people's posts. That got taken away from me a few years back. :V

As for progress on arc 8, I'm sitting on about 34k words right now. I'm hoping to get this one finished and start posting it before uni restarts, which gives me about three weeks. That said, every time I set some sort of deadline for DRK's production I tend to miss it pretty catastrophically, so don't get your hopes up. V:
I didn't mean to edit a post, but to add something to the main topic tile by editing the first post.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 7 (Complete!)
Post by: Polaris on September 01, 2013, 02:08:33 AM
I don't think there's any need for a spoiler warning if the story itself is in the thread :V Sounds kind of redundant.
Title: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on September 24, 2013, 10:19:36 PM
So it's been pretty much three months to the day. Sorry for the wait, folks.

I'll be going back to my usual schedule for this - updates every Sunday of a length similar to what's posted here.

Buckle down. Let's tango.


-----

So this is how celebrity feels, Koishi thought to herself. I don?t think I?m cut out for it.

She had been all over the footage from the zoo, but so far she hadn?t been formally identified. Nitori had told her to stay indoors wherever possible as a precaution. In actuality, she felt as if she?d been placed under house arrest.

Every curtain in the house had been drawn to stop prying eyes from looking in. Every day a member of the Pearl would drop by and deliver some necessities so that Koishi didn?t have to venture outside. School was out of the question - if she was around hundreds of people who?d seen the video, someone would make the connection eventually.

?Phwee...? Sango lay along the length of the couch, rolling about in an attempt to entertain herself. ?If I don?t get some sunlight soon, I?m gonna die of scurvy.?

?Wrong vitamin, Sango-san.? Koishi gave the dolphin a light pat on the head. ?But I know what you mean. Being locked up in my own home wasn?t what I had in mind when we started this whole Siren business.?

The TV blared on in front of them, neither girl paying much attention. It was yet another news report on the mysterious happenings at the Gensouto zoo, and the brave yet enigmatic girls who?d been filmed in the midst of saving the day. They showed the same thirty seconds of footage, cut and pasted from a dozen videos on the internet. Koishi had seen the sequence often enough to recite it in her sleep.

The story was everywhere, but nowhere had it been more prevalent than online. She was a meme, a character that 2chan had adopted as their own. They knew her as the Ocean Princess - someone must have overheard her incantation at some point. It was a good thing the witnesses had fled before Satori arrived, or they?d have known exactly what her name was.

Out of curiosity, she sat herself down at her computer and searched the tag ?Ocean Princess? on Pixiv. There were a dozen pictures of her already, a fact that she found both amazing and embarrassing. Many of them were tributes, with artists expressing their thanks towards their unknown hero. Others had made the obvious connection, pairing her up with famous magical girls from the modern media. She was examining one of these when Sango rose from the couch.

?Hey, Koishi-san, who?s that?? she said. She pointed at the other girl in the illustration, the one with pink-haired twintails and an always-smiling sidekick.

?That?s Madoka,? Koishi answered. ?She?s the main character in a big anime from a couple of years ago.?

?You don?t have this show on DVD, do you? Looks kinda neat.?

?...Yes, but I don?t think you should watch it.?

?Eh?? The dolphin pouted. ?Why not??

?It?s...well, it?s not a very happy show,? Koishi answered. ?I know you, Sango-san. You?d be blubbering before we even made it halfway through the series.?

?I?d what?!? Sango puffed up her cheeks, her arms waving about as her face flushed red. ?Koishi-san, what kind of wuss do you think I am? I can handle a little tragedy, no problem!?

Koishi sighed. That was the exact opposite of the response she?d been hoping for. Now she?d made a point of it, there was no way Sango would back down.

It?s not like I have anything else to do, is it?

?Alright,? she said, stepping away from the computer. ?I think I left the boxset somewhere in the back room. Give me a minute to dig it up.?

Sango nodded, returning to her spot on the couch. There was now a dolphin-shaped imprint on the leather which she fit into quite comfortably. Koishi left her to vegetate, slipping into the back room and rummaging through a stack of old DVDs she hadn?t watched in years.

She?d just managed to unearth the Madoka boxset when she heard the debate start up in the kitchen.

?OK, how about an ear? Just a nibble, I promise.?

Another sigh. Koishi couldn?t leave anyone alone in this house, could she? She brought the DVD with her as she stepped in to defuse the situation.

The scene she stepped in on could have been misinterpreted in a dozen different ways. Rin was pressing Nazrin into a corner, licking at her lips as she looked the mouse over. Nazrin herself looked unfazed by the predator staring her down, though her glance did occasionally swerve towards the door. Utsuho sat on the counter kicking her legs about, seemingly unaware of what was going on right in front of her.

?For the last time, I?m not going to let you eat me,? Nazrin growled. Her tail slapped at Rin?s thigh as she tried to shuffle past the cat. ?How many times have you asked me this question, again??

?Clearly not enough if you still won?t agree.? Rin?s tail was larger and stronger than Nazrin?s, wrapping around it to hold it in place. ?C?mon, Nazzie, just this once-?

?Rin, what are you doing?? Koishi said, folding her arms. The cat flinched, stumbling backwards and almost braining herself on a cabinet behind her.

?Nyaa?! K-Koishi-sama, I can explain-?

?Nazrin-san is our guest, Rin. Last time I checked, eating a guest isn?t very polite.?

Rin?s eyes began to grow misty. ?But Koishi-sama, this is really hard for me. I tried to swear off of eating mice, but when I see Nazzie walking around the house I feel like I?m going feral again. It?s like an alcoholic being roommates with a bottle of vodka!?

Her soliloquy almost made Koishi feel bad, but she botched the whole thing in an instant as she pointed back at the mouse. ?So can I eat just a little bit of her ear? Look at the size of those things. It?s not like she needs all of it, surely-?

Koishi stomped her foot, pointing out into the corridor. ?Rin. Litter tray. Now.?

The stomp shut Rin up in an instant, and her ears hung low in defeat. She slumped out of the room, still shooting Nazrin the odd look as she vanished into the corridor. The air grew lighter with her passing as Nazrin let out a long breath.

?And you told me she wasn?t going to be a problem.?

Koishi rubbed at the back of her head. ?Sorry. I?ve seen her walk around on two legs so much that I sort of forgot that she was a cat.? She turned to the raven on the counter, still staring off into the distance. ?Utsuho, why didn?t you do something??

Utsuho blinked, her eyes losing their glaze as she dropped back into reality. ?Oh? Well, they seemed to be talking it over, so I didn?t think it was right to interrupt.?

The Siren groaned. One of these days she?d have to explain to Utsuho that civil discussions didn?t involve cornering the opponent. She turned back to Nazrin, seeing the mouse?s eyes scout about the room for a safe haven.

?You alright?? she asked. The mouse clearly wasn?t alright, but this was a chance to get her to talk.

Nazrin scratched behind one of her ears. ?About as good as I can feel sharing a household with a natural predator.?

?It?s because she doesn?t know you,? Koishi said, mentally berating herself for not dealing with this problem earlier. ?Right now you just look like a pile of meat to her. If you start doing things together, she?ll stop thinking you?re food and start thinking you?re a person.?

The mouse seemed unmoved by the suggestion until a voice echoed in her ear. ?She?s got a point, Naz.? Shou took form beside her, hanging just over Nazrin?s shoulder. ?No offense, but you?ve spent most of your time here hiding in the attic.?

?Because someone is trying to eat me,? Nazrin said, pressing down on her temples with one hand. ?I really don?t know how to make this any clearer to you. You clearly don?t understand what I?m saying.?

Koishi opened her mouth to object, but as she made to start she realised that Nazrin was absolutely right. Koishi had never been hunted as food or lived on the streets. She?d never been asked to live alongside a creature that had every intention to eat her. Shou was coming to the same realisation, her form flickering slightly as her face darkened with doubt.

?...You?re right,? Koishi said reluctantly. ?I?m not you, and there?s no way I could relate to what you?ve been through.?

Nazrin?s eyes widened. Perhaps she hadn?t expected Koishi to be upfront about her shortcomings. Koishi took that as a cue to continue.

?But I?m not alone in that, Nazrin-san. This whole scenario, humans and youkai living together...? She pulled her arms out to signify the entire household. ?We?re all a little out of our comfort zone here. We?re all a little responsible for the problem right now - Rin, you, me, all of us. In the same way I can?t understand what you?re going through, you can?t understand how Rin feels when she?s around you. Don?t get me wrong, she?s totally out of order, but you?ve got to understand why she acts like she does.?

Nazrin?s tail coiled around her thigh and squeezed. ?So what?re you proposing? Do you want me to make up with the furball and act like everything?s okay??

?No, it?s not like that,? Shou said, picking up where Koishi left off. ?What Koishi-san is trying to say is that we?re all gonna have to put in a little work if we wanna get along. It?s not just about getting the cat off your back. You?ve got to be willing to try and get on with her as well.?

Hearing it from her master seemed to soften the blow, and Nazrin?s tail uncoiled to its full length. Koishi saw the stiffness fade from the mouse as she let out a deep sigh.

?So how am I expected to break the ice? Politely request that she keeps her teeth to herself??

?Actually, I?ve got an idea for that.? Koishi pulled up the DVD and waved it in front of Nazrin?s face. ?Want to watch some Madoka? We can make a big night-in out of it.?

?Eh? Madoka?? Utsuho spoke up from nowhere, tilting her head. ?Isn?t that the show where one girl loses her-?

?Hush, Utsuho.? Koishi cupped a hand over the raven?s mouth before she could finish. ?No spoilers.?

Nazrin examined the cover, her lips puckering up. ?Don?t think this?d be my thing. Too much pink going around for my liking.?

?Awww, but it looks really cool.? Shou peered over Nazrin?s shoulder to give the box a closer look. ?And this little bit down here says it?s a healing anime. Doesn?t that sound neat??

Either Nazrin caved in to her master?s request, or the thought of having a voice nagging at her for the rest of the day about it was too much to bear. Either way, she shrugged her shoulders in defeat.

?Alright, I?ll watch it. But if they all band together and wax poetic about love and friendship, I may need to borrow a bucket.?

Koishi smirked. ?Nazrin-san, I think you?re in for a surprise...?

-----

Mokou?s legs felt rusty as she walked through the crowded Gensouto streets. She hung her head low as she cut across the alleyways, hiding among groups and staying as unremarkable as possible. As an extra precaution she?d pulled the ribbon from her hair, letting her long black locks fall wherever they pleased.

She?d spent the last few days trapped in her own home, unable to show her face in public. The whole process had been akin to pulling out her own teeth - if there was anything Mokou hated, it was staying still. She had vented her stress with situps and pushups, but nothing could really replace her morning jog around the neighbourhood.

Luckily her father had been supportive from the beginning, which had surprised her. Of course he wanted answers when he saw the video - he obviously recognised his own daughter, after all. She?d tried to answer the question without really answering it, saying that it was all secret and she would explain later but it was important that he didn?t tell anyone.

That would have been a hard sell for most parents, but her dad was willing to give her the space that she?d asked for. She?d never been one for secrets, so now that there was something she had to keep to herself he must have known it was something important. When all of this was over, she was going to give the old man the biggest hug her arms could manage.

Still, she hadn?t told him she?d be slipping out today. He?d insist it was too risky or that someone might identify her in the streets. Nitori would have probably said the same thing, too. Hell, everyone she knew would have told her that leaving the house was a bad idea.

Mokou wouldn?t have listened to any of that. There was something she had to do, and this was her only chance. She looked down at her cell, at the one-line text she?d received this morning.

Eientei at noon. Now or never. -K

She hadn?t hesitated for an instant. Her duty as a Siren was one thing, but this was something she owed to herself. She?d let her history with Kaguya hang over her for far too long; now was her only chance to put an end to the whole mess.

It was 11:55 when she made it to Eientei. The store itself was empty, and Mokou stepped into the building with strong, confident steps. She could barely remember the time where she?d struggled just to put a foot in the door.

?Ah, it?s you.? Reisen was at the counter, bowing her head forward at the sight of Mokou. ?So you?ve finally got your appointment, then??

?Yeah.? Mokou gave the shopkeeper a small nod. She knew Reisen?s name, but that was more or less it. They?d met several times, but they?d never exchanged more than small talk.

?She?s upstairs. Take the elevator.? Reisen pointed to a doorway at the back of the store. ?So what are you two going to talk about-?

Mokou was already walking before Reisen could finish the question. The Siren offered nothing in the way of response as she stepped through the elevator doors, pressing the button for the top floor.

It had been rude. She knew that. But she?d never get away with telling the truth, and she didn?t want to lie either. Silence had really been the only option.

She took the thirty-second ride on the lift as a chance to collect her thoughts. Mokou hadn?t prepared a speech or thought over the specifics of what to say. The whole idea seemed too artificial and fake to her. Her plan was to just say what came naturally to her and let the whole affair sort itself out.

When the door opened, she stepped out onto a painfully white corridor. She had forgotten how aggressive the interior decor was up here, a stark contrast to the pleasing blues and purples on the shop floor. A few paces in, she found a door hanging slightly ajar on her right.

?Come in,? murmured a voice from inside.

Mokou obeyed.

The office was much less extravagant than the Siren had been expecting. There were no gaudy accessories or useless gadgets, but the walls were lined with pictures. They all seemed to share a similar subject - either Kaguya herself, or more commonly her in the presence of her father. All the photos had the same forced smile pasted over them, both from the father and the daughter.

And in the midst of it all, sitting in her chair with perfect posture, was Kaguya.

?Hello, Mokou.? Her words were slow, as if she was just remembering how to speak. ?It?s been a while.?

Mokou could do nothing but stare for a few seconds. Nothing had changed about Kaguya since the last time they?d met. Her hair, still perfectly preened, ran in lively flows down her back. Her skin was vibrant, without so much as a blemish. She?d changed into a smart office look - a light blue suit along with a long skirt - but Kaguya herself hadn?t aged a day.

Except for her eyes. The youthful brilliance that used to radiate from them had faded, leaving an anxiety that seemed to contradict the rest of her character. She was trying to give off the look of a professional executive, but that one detail was enough to shatter the illusion completely.

In that moment, Mokou knew her suspicions had been correct. Kaguya was not the monster she?d tried to make her out to be. She was just another person, trying to survive in the only way she could.

?Take a seat,? Kaguya said, after a long silence. She motioned to a small chair at the back wall of the office. Mokou lowered herself into it, feeling seven pay-grades too poor to belong there.

?You?ve done well for yourself,? she said, meaning every word. ?I could never get my head around the business side of things.?

Kaguya blushed. Another flaw in her demeanour - as strong as she tried to look, it was easy to faze her with anything she didn?t expect. It was one of those human characteristics that Mokou had forgotten about after the fallout.

?Mokou, I...? Kaguya clasped one hand over the other and squeezed. Mokou could see the fear lingering in her eyes. The Siren could understand why - for weeks after the incident, Mokou had sent Kaguya furious texts and emails, with more threats and insults than she wanted to admit. It must have taken a lot of courage for Kaguya to arrange a meeting with her after all of that.

?It?s okay.? Mokou reached out, placing her hand on top of Kaguya?s. ?I?m not going to do anything to you.?

Kaguya let out a little gasp. Moments later, she was already crying.

?I?m sorry...? She rubbed at her nose, practically shrinking in her seat. Her suit looked a size too large for her now, barely hanging to her slender frame. ?I betrayed you right when you needed me the most. I?ve been trying to act strong about it, but every night when I lie in bed I think about what I did to you, and how much you trusted me, and...god, I?m a monster, aren?t I??

Her sniffling evolved into full-blown sobs. It was almost too pitiful for Mokou to watch. She had come to terms with what had happened, but Kaguya had been carrying the guilt with her all this time.

Mokou clenched her fists, redoubling her resolve. This wasn?t just for her anymore; it was for Kaguya too.

?That?s right, Kaguya.? Mokou nodded. ?You stabbed me in the back and robbed me of my life?s work. There?s no way to sugar-coat that fact.?

Every word was a haymaker right into Kaguya?s gut. She looked ready to fold in on herself, the sobs only getting louder and louder.

?But,? Mokou yelled, to be heard over Kaguya?s cries, ?I know why you did it.?

The crying stopped. Kaguya pulled her hands away from her face, looking up at Mokou with curiosity. Maybe she didn?t realise the depths of her own neurosis.

Or maybe she still didn?t want to admit it.

?I heard about your father,? Mokou continued. ?What he did to you. Hell, what he probably still does to you. You did what you felt you had to do.?

?What?? Kaguya?s eyes widened, her jaw trembling. ?No, you?ve got it all wrong. He?s not-?

?Dammit, Kaguya!? Mokou?s emotions flared up for an instant, adrenaline pumping through her as she rose to her feet again. ?I am trying. I am trying so hard to treat you like a person right now. It?d be so easy to make you a caricature and blame you for everything that?s gone wrong in my life, but I don?t wanna do that.?

She was losing it, she thought to herself. The anger was overtaking her again. Kaguya looked frightened just from the sight of her. But she could hardly stop now.

?So I did everything I could to understand you. I know that your father?s a goddamn slave driver and you?re scared shitless of him. I want to believe there?s something good deep down there, and you didn?t destroy everything I worked for just so you could have all the success for yourself.?

She took one step forward, feeling her own eyes start to mist up. ?But you?ve got to help me, Kaguya. You think he?s going to stop just because you made one good product? Now any time you make something that isn?t the next Hourai Elixir, he?s going to give you seven shades of hell for it.? Her voice was breaking, the sheer mass of fear and fury too much for her to handle. ?Is that what you want, Kaguya? Is it??

As the feeling passed, Mokou regretted every word she?d said. She?d pushed too hard, let her emotions get the better of her. Kaguya seemed to have blanked out, sitting frozen in her chair, barely breathing or blinking.

Slowly, almost too gradually to notice, Kaguya?s expression began to harden. Mokou was already set to let herself out, but she stopped dead as Kaguya rolled up her sleeve.

Underneath her elbow was a deep purple bruise.

?I mixed up some files this morning,? she said, her voice almost lifeless. ?It took five minutes to fix the mistake. Five whole minutes, and that was enough to deserve this.?

Her perfect appearance seemed uncanny now, almost doll-like. This was the real Kaguya, Mokou thought to herself. Beneath the thin layer of beauty was a blazing mantle of pain and abuse.

?He said he did it because he loved me.? She smiled, but her eyes were brimming with tears. ?I even believed him for a while. When I started figuring it out, he told me that Eientei would be ruined if the truth came out. I had to stay quiet, or we would all suffer.?

Mokou listened in quietly, faithfully offering Kaguya a channel to let out what she?d been holding in for years. The Siren reached out, grabbing Kaguya?s hand and squeezing it in solidarity. Kaguya squeezed back with more strength than Mokou thought she had.

?I just...I had to give him something, or he?d hurt me again. I know that doesn?t justify what I did, but...? She hung her head forward, ready to fall forward into Mokou?s arms. ?You?ve got to understand, Mokou. If he ever found out about the Elixir, he?d tear me to shreds. I can?t take it back now.?

It was impossible for Mokou to hold any anger towards the withered husk of a woman sitting in front of her. All she could manage was pity, her hand grasping at Kaguya?s to try and pass on some warmth.

?It?s okay, Kaguya. I understand.? Mokou pulled her other arm around Kaguya, engulfing her in a hug. ?You don?t have to hide it anymore. I?m here for-?

?Kaguya??

Mokou froze. A low, gruff voice called out from the corridor. Kaguya?s whole body trembled. ?Y-Yes, father??

?Who are you talking to in there? I thought you were balancing our accounts right now.? There was a veiled threat in his voice, a warning that any answer other than the one he wanted would have dire consequences.

?I am!? A layer of sweat rose on Kaguya?s face. Mokou had never seen her sweat before. ?I was just, um...ah...?

She hesitated for too long, and footsteps echoed through the open doorway. Mokou cursed herself for forgetting to close the door behind her.

?Don?t bother lying to me, Ka-? As the man appeared in the doorway, he stopped midsentence to look at Mokou. ?And who exactly are you supposed to be??

Mokou had a few seconds to size him up. The perfectly preened navy-blue suit. The bowl cut without a hair out of place. The thick glasses that covered his eyes from view. He had all the defining traits of a pencil-pusher, the kind who sorted their socks based on the colour spectrum.

But more than anything, she noticed the scuff marks on his fists.

?You.?

Mokou pulled away from Kaguya, standing at her full height as she stared down the newcomer. Kaguya?s father was a few inches shorter than her, but gave her the same respect he would offer a flea.

?Papa, it?s not what it looks like!? Kaguya?s face flushed as her eyes jumped between Mokou and her father. ?I swear, I can explain all of-?

?Be quiet, Kaguya.? He held out a hand, silencing his daughter in an instant, never looking away from Mokou. ?Now I?m going to ask you one more time - who the hell are you, and what are you doing in my daughter?s office??

Mokou?s whole body felt full to the brim with hatred. This man was responsible for everything. He was the one who?d pushed Kaguya to such desperate measures, who?d abused her in private whenever she made the slightest mistakes. The Siren had never felt such brutal, unbridled scorn for another human being in her life.

She answered him with a fist in the face.

?PAPA!?

Kaguya screamed as the blow knocked her father straight to the ground. His glasses fell off of his broken nose, blood beginning to seep from one nostril. He looked up at Mokou with eyes like saucers, completely paralysed with disbelief.

?You?re a real son-of-a-bitch, you know that?? Mokou loomed over Kaguya?s father, hand raised to strike down on him again. ?People like you make me fucking sick. If I could do whatever I wanted, I?d break every bone in your goddamn body.?

She looked back into the office, at the horrified Kaguya. The girl would never have condoned this, but that was why Mokou hadn?t asked her for permission.

?But your daughter deserves better than that.? The Siren smacked her fist into her palm. ?So I?m going to let you off with a warning now. If you ever so much as lay a finger on her again, I?m going to hunt you down and make you pay. Understand??

Mr. Houraisan simply stared at her for a few seconds, still frozen in shock. When he moved at last, it was to weakly nod in understanding.

?Good to hear.? Mokou turned to the doorway again. ?Sorry, Kaguya, but I figure we?re even now.?

Then, without waiting for anyone to react, she stepped back into the elevator. Kaguya was picking her father off the ground as the doors closed shut. Mokou caught a glimpse of her eyes for a moment, picking up a confused mixture of gratitude and horror.

She?d understand in time. Hopefully.

The trip downwards gave Mokou a chance to let the red mist clear. She felt better than she had any right to, like she?d just banished a demon with her bare hands. She was beaming as the doors opened again and she stepped out onto the shop floor.

?Hey, you?re back.? Reisen turned to her with a curious look. ?So how did the talk go??

Mokou looked down at her hand. There were still specks of blood caught on her knuckles.

?Yeah, I think it went pretty well.?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: Blue on September 24, 2013, 10:44:15 PM
Yay, it's back!

...Hold on, I need to reread Arcs 1-7. Again.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: Jq1790 on September 24, 2013, 11:00:06 PM
I've been hoping for something like this to happen.  I just hope things don't go south as a result, for several reasons.

Anyway,glad to see it getting updated again!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: Yaersulf on September 24, 2013, 11:03:28 PM
Praise Poseidon! It returns!

I hope we get to see the result of this Madoka Marathon, because it sounds hilarious.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on September 24, 2013, 11:18:29 PM
What the fucking DAMN! That was... quite the sharp turn in what I expected the long-awaited Kaguya moment to be. Holy shit man, this is just amazing.

inb4 sango & shou's IVE SEEN SOME SHIT reactions
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: Metaflare on September 25, 2013, 12:35:04 AM
Hooray it's back!

And Mokou is the infinite badass
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: OverlordChirei on September 25, 2013, 01:19:19 PM
This.

This is the break between school weeks I have been waiting for.

Moreover, I'm worried for Mokou in that assaulting a company executive would have more legal consequences, but in a world of magical phweeing dolphins, I'm not surprised that a good 'ol punch to the face would be enough.

I'll be back next Sunday.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: Burcaresti on September 25, 2013, 03:02:15 PM
Hey, it's started again~
Excellent beginning chapter, Rou!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: Kasu on September 25, 2013, 06:59:30 PM
Ahahaha yes!

I've been waiting for this and I got Madoka and Mokou being a badass.

Today is definitely a good day.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on September 29, 2013, 11:41:21 AM
?So, how do I look??

Flandre twirled around on the spot to show off every inch of her apparel. She was dressed in a bright scarlet robe, with golden stars running along both of her sides. Her witch?s hat was almost as large as her head, threatening to fall down over her eyes at any moment. In one hand she held a leather tome, carefully bound and preserved to look as archaic as possible. In the other she twirled around her wand, a small metal stick with a sparkling star at the end.

If Sakuya hadn?t know better, she might have mistaken it for a real Siren uniform. This Kirisame woman had done some impressive work.

?Very dashing,? she answered. ?How much did this cost your sister, again??

?Don?t remember,? Flan answered, putting a finger to her chin. ?I only saw the receipt once, but it had a lot of zeroes in it.?

Sakuya smirked. Of course the price was extortionate. Remi made an effort to spend as much as possible on every luxury - after all, money was hardly an issue for the Scarlet family.

?You seem satisfied. Everything you were hoping for??

?Are you kidding?? Flandre twirled her wand around again. ?I?m Cutie Crusher Flan-chan now. How much cooler can things possibly get??

She smiled with a look of childish bliss. Sakuya?s heart felt warmer at the sight of it. How long had she seen Flandre slump around the mansion in perpetual misery?

?Actually, there?s one thing I?d add if I could,? Flandre said. She pointed to the laptop on her bed, playing the same five second clip on endless repeat. It showed Sakuya and Youmu standing back-to-back, a pack of wolves surrounding them on all sides. ?Maybe next time, you could-?

?No.? Sakuya shut the question down before she could even finish. Flan pouted.

?Aw, c?mon! How come you and your sister get to have all the fun??

?It?s not fun, Flan.? She pointed at one of the wolves in the video. ?That one nearly bit my leg off. Does that sound fun to you??

?Well, uh...? Flandre pouted. ?Not really. But that never happens to anybody on TV, does it??

Sakuya sighed. She sat Flandre down on the bed, taking care not to make a crease in her outfit. The fabric was silky soft in her fingers, the sort she?d stroke at for hours if someone wasn?t already wearing it.

?Look, Flan. If it was really as carefree and fun as shows nowadays make it look, I?d take you along right away.? She tried to find a gentle way to word the facts, but decided that Flandre deserved the truth. ?But it?s far too dangerous, Flan. I?ve nearly died more times than I care to count. And I know one person who wasn?t as lucky as I was.?

She thought for a moment about the orphanage, burning down with Shou still trapped inside. There was no way she could expose Flandre to that. Especially after she?d almost lost her once already.

?Then why do you have to do it?? Flandre asked, kicking her legs about as she hunched forward slightly. The brim of her hat blocked her eyes from view, but the rest of her body language was glum at best. ?If it?s that dangerous, why can?t you let someone else deal with it? It?s not fair that you?ve got to take all of those risks, Sakuya.?

Sakuya forced a smile, patting Flandre on the head. ?You?re right, Flan. It?s not fair at all. I didn?t ask for any of this, but I can?t turn my back on it now. All the other Sirens are depending on me.? She leaned forward and whispered in her mistress? ear. ?Besides, the Claw tried to kill my favourite Cutie Crusher. Now they?ve gone and made it personal.?

Flandre blushed, letting off a little giggle. ?Heheh...yeah, that was really mean of ?em.? She looked back to the laptop again, at the other girl in the picture. ?You?re looking out for your sister too, aren?t you??

?What, Youmu?? Sakuya straightened her back abruptly, fingers wiggling about. ?I?m not worried about her at all. She can look after herself.?

?Liii~ar.? Flandre tapped Sakuya in the side of the head with her wand. ?C?mon, don?t act so stuck-up about it. There?s nothing wrong with being protective of your little sister. I mean, Remi does it with me all the time.?

Sakuya bit her lip, taking a deep breath to try and cool herself down. She couldn?t believe a child was drawing such a reaction from her.

?It?s...the rules are different when you?re older, Flan.? She rubbed her palms together hard enough that she could practically feel the sparks forming between them. ?When you?re a grown-up, you?re not meant to be so emotional about your family.?

?Eh?? Flandre tilted her head. ?Why?s that??

?Just because.? The Siren rushed to her feet. ?Now go do your homework.?

?Aw, but Sakuyaaaa...? Flandre whined. ?All the stuff Patchy makes me read is boring! And Sailor Moon never does any studying.?

?That?s because she?s an idiot.? Sakuya said. ?Do you want to be an idiot??

?...No.?

?Good girl.? She gave Flandre another pat on the head, a little harder this time. ?Now study hard, okay??

She hurried out of the door at a rapid pace, trying not to slam it too hard as she left. The moment she was clear, she leaned against the wall and caught her breath.

Stupid Cutie Crusher, she thought. The only thing she?s crushing right now is my dignity-

?I assume Flan?s being a handful again??

Sakuya nearly smacked her head into the wall as she flinched. ?M-Milady??

Remilia?s smirk widened at the sight of her servant?s nerves. ?It?s rare to see you so flustered, Sakuya. Perhaps I should take a picture for posterity.?

Wonderful, Sakuya thought. I?ve escaped one sister only to walk into the other. She took a moment to adjust her collar, purging her short-term memory as she cleared her throat.

?I wouldn?t advise that, milady. After all, what would people think of the Scarlet family if their maid was revealed to be an emotional wreck??

?...True.? The young mistress put a hand to her chin, eyes closing as she sank deep into thought. ?I can?t have you disgracing the family name, after all. Just try to get your act together, please.?

?Understood.? Sakuya bowed forward with well-practiced grace. She felt Remilia much more comfortable to be around than Flandre. They shared a script, a pre-defined relationship of master and servant, something predictable and easy to follow. In comparison, Flandre was...well, a girl on the verge of adolescence, and that spoke for itself.

?So when can I expect an explanation for all this publicity you?ve been garnering?? Even when Remilia had a question to ask, she did her best to remain in character. ?I?m fine with you walking the streets as a force of justice, but you could at least keep me informed on such matters.?

It was tempting to just let Remilia in on the secret. She didn?t have anyone to tell, and Flandre already knew the truth. In that regard, letting her know would have been relatively harmless.

It would, however, be much less entertaining.

?I?m afraid my lips are sealed, milady,? Sakuya said with a playful wink. ?I have more than one superior to answer to now.?

For a fraction of a second, Remilia?s face scrunched up. It was rare for her to drop the charade, but that just made it all the more entertaining for Sakuya to toy with her.

?...I see.? Remilia recovered quickly, brushing one hand through her hair. ?Then I shall take you on your word. You?ve been a good servant to me, Sakuya, and it?s only fair that I offer you something in return.?

?Well for now, all I need is somewhere to hide,? Sakuya said. ?You might have guessed that I can?t really show my face in public at the moment.?

?Then I will house you for as long as you need.? The self-proclaimed vampire smiled again, a single sharp tooth slipping over her bottom lip. ?Assuming you?ll be doing your usual chores, that is.?

For most people, that would have been an unpleasant offer. Hours of dusting, cleaning, cooking, all the duties that rich folk hired other people to do. But for Sakuya, it was another chance to repay the people who?d saved her life.

Maybe, for just a little while, life could be normal again.

?Trust me, milady. After what I?ve been through, wasting my days on menial labour sounds delightful.?

-----

Komachi was exhausted. Over the last half hour she?d produced an avalanche of evidence, each file or witness backed up with a thorough line of thought connecting it to her culprit. She?d been lucky to not be part of the footage flying around the internet - if she?d had to go into hiding like the other Sirens, she?d have had to leave this job to someone else. She took a deep breath as she moved in for the last stretch.

?Allow me to summarise my case, Your Honour.? She pointed one damning finger at the defendant?s bench. ?This man, Satoshi Miike, allowed the animals of his zoo to be routinely abused and neglected. He forced his employees to work extensive hours for minimal pay, violating a dozen fair-work laws in the process. And most damningly-? she smacked her hand against the file for effect- ?he employed the illegal immigrant Mami Tatsui without any sort of background check, putting her in the perfect position to cause the tragedy that befell the zoo last week.?

Mamizou - or ?Mami?, as she had called herself - only showed up by proxy in the zoo?s records. She had no passport, no ID, not even a birth certificate. None of this came as a surprise to Komachi, but it made the prosecution a lot easier.

?In short, he has committed a variety of atrocities against both humans and animals. The blood of the victims is on his hands, and it?s only fit that he should be punished for it.? Komachi folded her arms and tilted her head back. ?The prosecution rests its case, Your Honour.?

She looked up to face the judge, smiling to hide her exertion. A familiar face looked down upon her, that beacon of authority she had always respected.

?Thank you, Miss Onozuka.? Eiki Shiki looked like she?d never left the judge?s chair, as calm and collected as ever. Her eyes drifted across to the other side of the courtroom. ?Would the defense like to make any counterpoints??

Komachi clenched her teeth. This was the real challenge. She?d done everything she could to make her case airtight, but she was up against one of the best. Satoshi grabbed at the edge of the bench, looking towards the one woman who could get him out of his sentence.

Reimu Hakurei leaned forward on her bench, one finger playing with her hair. She looked more like a spectator to the case than an actual participant.

?Your Honour, the defense...?

She looked over at her client, still trembling in the wake of his crimes. One side of her mouth curled downwards in disapproval. She soon turned her attention across the room, staring off against Komachi.

For a moment, the two lawyers saw into each other. Komachi could see the reluctance hanging in every inch of Reimu?s frame. At the same time, Reimu could see the passion and drive that powered Komachi, that hunger for justice that had finally lured her back to the courthouse.

The look only lasted a moment, but it was more than enough. Reimu looked up to the judge and shrugged.

?The defense has shown everything it considers necessary. We trust the judge will consider this evidence appropriate to find my our client innocent.?

The whole room gasped in unison. Even Komachi was taken aback by this sudden lack of effort. The evidence as it stood was blatantly in the prosecution?s favour - where were the loopholes, the dirty plays that would have let the criminal walk free? This went against everything Reimu was known for.

?...Very well.? Eiki was the first to recover, gripping her gavel tightly to stave off her nerves. ?If that is the case, I see no reason to prolong this trial. I have reached my final verdict.?

She stared down at the defendant?s bench. ?Satoshi Miike, your selfishness and greed were indirectly responsible for the deaths of many. You are a despicable businessman, and the damage you have done to Gensouto can never be fully healed. I find you guilty of all charges presented by the prosecution.?

When the verdict struck him, all the fear and anxiety flushed out of Satoshi?s body. It was soon replaced with an almost serene calm, as if he?d expected this outcome from the very beginning.

?I sentence you to five years in jail, and two billion yen in damages,? Eiki continued. ?In the event that you are unable to pay the fine, your zoo and all the exhibits contained therein shall be transferred to more reputable owners.?

Satoshi nodded again. Two billion yen was far more than he could hope to pay, but perhaps that had been Eiki?s plan to begin with. He made no attempt to fight as an officer took him by the shoulder and began to lead him away.

?That is all.? Eiki brought her gavel down for one final smack. ?Court is dismissed.?

The whole thing happened so quickly that Komachi had barely noticed. She?d been ready to take on Reimu in a slugfest, but instead the defense attorney had just curled up and died. She shuffled zombie-like out of the courtroom, barely hearing her companions offering her their congratulations.

It took a few minutes for the swarm of officers and lawyers to clear out of the courthouse. Reimu was trailing at the back of the pack, keeping herself as far out of view as possible. Komachi blocked her path with an arm, holding her back as the hall emptied out. ?What the hell were you doing in there??

?What do you think?? Reimu rolled her eyes. ?I gave you the win. Miike deserved exactly what was coming to him. And it?s not like he could have afforded to pay anyone off to begin with.?

?Don?t play dumb with me,? Komachi growled. ?Since when did you grow a conscience??

The defense attorney went quiet. Her whole stance shifted - now rather than slumping out of reluctance, she was hanging her head in shame.

?I?ve been thinking about what you said to me last time we talked,? she said. ?When you got me to spill the beans on Morichika, it felt...right. Like I was actually doing my job for once rather than spitting in its face.?

Komachi nodded. Ultimately the goal of a lawyer was to enact the law, and Reimu had only done so in the barest possible terms. Perhaps there was something decent inside her after all.

?What about your shrine?? Komachi asked. ?I thought you took these jobs to keep the feds from taking it.?

?Yeah, well, a lot of my clients have gone awfully quiet lately.? Reimu turned away, looking back towards the courtroom doorway. ?After Morichika bit the dust, a lot of his underlings turned themselves in. My services aren?t really in demand anymore, so I couldn?t keep it up even if I wanted to.?

She smiled, but her eyes were flooded with sadness. ?I?ll figure something out. And if I can?t...well, I guess it?s the will of the gods, or something like that.? She walked right past Komachi, giving her one pat on the back. ?Congrats on your victory, Komachi-san. You deserved it.?

By the time Komachi turned around, Reimu was already part of the crowd again. The door to the entrance hall slid shut behind her, the sound echoing through the room as she left Komachi in her wake.

The prosecutor stared on for a few seconds longer, then let out a long sigh. It was a shame, but she wouldn?t let it take away from what she?d accomplished today. For the first time in a long while, she felt like justice had been served.

She had a spring in her step as she made her way to the judge?s chambers, knocking at Eiki?s door and waiting for a response. ?Come in,? came a response from inside. Komachi complied, turning the doorknob and letting herself in.

Eiki had added a bit of life to her quarters since her reinstatement with a couple of props from Z-list action flicks. A tacky ray-gun was hung between two pictures of stern-looking gentlemen, and a photo of the cast from Magical Enforcers adorned the back wall above her desk. Komachi suspected that exposing her to the worst that Hollywood had to offer had done more harm than good.

?I can?t believe they let you put that up,? the prosecutor said, motioning at the ray-gun and wincing. ?Still feel a little sick every time I look at it.?

?Yeah, the prop team only had a budget of fifty dollars. You get used to it.? Eiki reached into a drawer beneath her desk, pulling out a bottle of bourbon. ?Good work today.?

?You weren?t so bad yourself.? Komachi took a seat at the desk across from the judge, resting snugly in the soft leather. ?How?d it feel to be sitting on the big chair again??

Eiki smiled as she started to pour herself a glass. ?Pretty damn good, Komachi. Pretty damn good.?

Komachi couldn?t help but smile back. With the aftertaste of the Morichika affair still hanging in the back of her mind, a victory like this was just what she needed. And after so long out of the practice, Eiki needed a case where she could feel comfortable with her verdict. In the end, they?d both managed to get what they were asking for.

?What?s the news on Sumire?? Eiki asked. ?She?s still safe, right??

?From what I?ve heard, yeah.? Komachi offered up a glass of her own, and Eiki started to fill it up. ?They?re saying it?ll still be a couple of weeks before the hitmen give up, though, so she?ll have to hang tight a little longer.?

?She?ll be fine. We both know she?s strong enough to make it out of this.? Eiki raised her glass. ?But let?s focus on us for now.?

?Sounds like a plan.? Komachi smirked, knocking her glass against the judge?s. ?Here?s to the two of the best damn heroes the law?s ever seen.?

Eiki blushed a little at the compliment, but Komachi could see the light that had returned to her eyes. The burning urge for justice that had gone out in her heart had been rekindled at last. The judge was back, and this time she meant business.

And Komachi wanted nothing more than to serve at her side.

-----

?Aaaah~...I think you could make a living out of this, Youmu.?

Yuyuko stretched as Youmu?s fingers ran across her back, kneading at her aching muscles with precision and care. The elderly woman squealed like a child at every touch, seemingly from a mix of pain and relief.

?Perhaps,? Youmu answered. ?But I suspect you?d give me all the work I?d ever need.?

The swordsman sighed as she continued her massage. In normal families, it was the mother who talked the daughter into looking after her; with Yuyuko, it was the exact opposite. She was a stubborn woman, always putting on a brave face and refusing help whenever it was offered.

Her body told a different story. As Youmu stroked and pressed at her mother?s muscles, she could feel the knots formed by an onslaught of stress and exertion. Yuyuko had been thrown left and right after Youmu?s secret came out, struggling to keep the family reputation from coming apart entirely. Even now, as the controversy finally started to die down, she hadn?t given herself a moment?s rest.

At last Youmu had offered an ultimatum: either her mother had to take a few days off to recover, or she would never take part in another kendo tournament again. With those stakes, there was no way Yuyuko could refuse.

?It?s a shame you?ll have to start again at the bottom, though,? Yuyuko said, wincing as Youmu?s thumbs stabbed at her shoulder blades. ?I don?t care what they say, stripping you of all your titles is unfair on you.?

Youmu didn?t respond. In her opinion, the ruling had been reasonable. All her victories had been under the name of Youki Saigyouji, a man who?d been dead for years now. She was grateful the authorities hadn?t banned her from competition entirely - she was back at the bottom rung, true, but it was better than nothing.

?You?ll have to enter all the womens? tournaments now,? Yuyuko groaned. ?No offense, but you could beat any woman Japan has to offer - and probably all of the men, as well.?

?One step at a time, mother.? Youmu reached out and gave her mother a playful pat on the head. Their relationship had become much less strict of late, a change that had turned out well for both of them.

?Right, right.? Yuyuko?s expression quickly brightened into a playful smirk. ?You?re still busy, aren?t you? With all your world-saving business.?

Youmu flinched on instinct. She still wasn?t used to her mother being in on the whole ?magic? thing. The news report had jogged her mother?s memory in full - and while Youmu had sworn her to secrecy, Yuyuko still saw no harm in talking about it in private.

?You might want to wrap this up soon, then,? Yuyuko said. ?I?ve got an interview with this Shameimaru woman in a few minutes.?

?Shameimaru?? Youmu raised an eyebrow as she finished up her treatment. ?The journalist? I thought she went in hiding after that court scandal a few months back.?

?You know her??

?Not personally. But my companions had a part in getting her to safety, from what I?ve heard.?

Yuyuko nodded. She?d taken to the whole concept of magic fairly comfortably, like a casual hobby that would entertain her in her retirement. With any luck, Youmu would be able to keep her mother from getting wrapped up in that world?s clutches again.

?She?s here to ask me about, well, you.? Yuyuko rolled her head about as she rose to her feet, rubbing at one shoulder. ?About the kendo, that is, not the zoo incident, though I think it?d be best for you to stay out of her way.?

Youmu pouted. ?But then I?d have to leave you alone with her.?

Her mother chuckled lightly, looking more alive than she?d been in a while. ?Don?t worry about me, Youmu. I know how to handle the paparazzi.? She batted away Youmu?s concerns, pulling open the door and stepping into the hallway. ?Why don?t you tend to the backyard while I?m busy??

Before Youmu could argue her case, her mother was already gone. She sighed to herself, wondering how anyone could stand to do business with someone so immature. She pondered the question for the whole trip through the manor, until she finally stepped out into the back garden.

She was not expecting someone to be waiting for her.

The figure on the stairs looked down on Youmu, her arms folded and her face locked in a perpetual frown. Her eyes ran across the swordsman?s body, quietly noting and tracing every curve. With one hand she ruffled through her hair - an ugly shade of brown with a plastic sheen.

?You?re Konpaku-san, then?? she said, beginning to climb down the staircase. ?My name is Momiji Inubashiri. I?m here with Shameimaru.?

Youmu?s heart sank. Another journalist. How had this woman even made it back here? There was a wall around the garden too large to climb. She?d have to figure that out once she was alone again.

?I?m afraid I?ve been advised not to comment,? she said, turning around towards the door. ?Now, I?d like you to leave the premises before I have to call the-?

?I?m not here for an interview.? Momiji pulled the wig away, revealing a head of snow-white hair underneath. Two wolf-like ears poked out from the sides, wiggling about freely now that they weren?t being hidden. ?Don?t worry. I?m on your side.?

Youmu blinked. The other Sirens had mentioned a wolf youkai working undercover, now that she thought about it. The pressure building in her chest began to fade.

?Well, you could have found a more polite way to say hello,? Youmu said. ?Jumping someone in their own backyard isn?t exactly the epitome of manners.?

Momiji shrugged. ?Just seemed reasonable. I figured you would hide back here when Aya came knocking. Besides, I wanted to make sure I had you alone.?

?Alone for what, exactly??

Momiji grinned, one sharp fang hanging over her lip. ?I?m sure you can figure that out on your own.?

She was right. Youmu knew exactly what Momiji was looking for. She could see it in the slight hunch in her back, the impatient wriggling of her fingers, the anticipation hanging in her eyes. It was the look of a warrior in the moments before a fight.

Youmu looked to her side. A pair of swords hung on the wall beside the doorway. She kept them there for easy access whenever she felt the need to train. They were practice blades, but they were still sharp enough to do some serious damage.

?And what if I refuse?? Youmu said, carefully watching Momiji to gauge her reaction.

?Then I?ll never bother you again.? Momiji held her hands above her head and cracked her knuckles. ?But that?s not going to happen, is it??

The wolf?s whole body oozed with confidence. She was selfish, proud, and desperate for a brawl. And the worst part was that she was absolutely right.

Youmu could feel the same adrenaline channeling through her own body. Her honour as a warrior stopped her from turning the offer down, no matter how unreasonable it may have been. Refusing the fight was as bad as admitting defeat.

Sighing, she pulled the blades from the wall and clipped them to her waist. They were heavier than her usual apparel, but not enough to weigh her down significantly. In short, they would do.

?We fight to first blood,? she said. ?I assume I?m not allowed to use my Teardrop??

?Of course not. I won?t have you beat me with borrowed power, after all.?

Momiji extended her arms, muttering beneath her breath. A sword and shield took form in her hands, the metal shimmering in the afternoon sun. Pulling the shield to her chest, she lowered herself into a fighting stance. ?Whenever you?re ready, human.?

Youmu felt the old instincts washing over her. She hadn?t fought another swordsman for months now, and with all the controversy it would be a while before she could show her face in public again. She?d have to make the most of this.

With a deep breath, she pointed one sword straight at her opponent. ?I?m always ready.?

Then she was a blur as she came down on Momiji like a crash of thunder.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: Burcaresti on September 29, 2013, 03:46:03 PM
yyyyyeeeeeees cutie-crusher flan-chan

:3

this is like the best thing I've seen all week :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: Metaflare on September 29, 2013, 05:12:44 PM
d'aww flan :3
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on October 06, 2013, 10:19:47 AM
So Futatsuiwa is dead?

The voice in the waves was as implacable as ever. Satori had often wondered what sort of person a voice like that could belong to: she envisioned a giant of a woman, swathed in a billowing robe, the pinnacle of power and authority. Perhaps her master stayed in hiding because her actual form couldn?t possibly match the image her voice produced.

?Yes, ma?am,? the Siren answered, floating a few inches off the floor of the throne room. ?They found her body a few hours after the fighting stopped. A single stab wound in the chest.?

The silence that followed was careful, almost deliberate. That is...unfortunate. Futatsuiwa was a rogue agent, but ultimately our interests were shared. She deserved a better death than this.

Satori nodded along in agreement. She didn?t know much about Futatsuiwa or her history, only that she was a former ally of the Claw who?d fallen astray. They had kept tabs on the tanuki ever since, which was how Satori had arrived on the scene of the breakout so rapidly.

Your performance was adequate, the voice continued. Our operation would have been a success had the Pearl not arrived so soon. Even then, it?s unlikely they?ll resume activity until their media frenzy has died down.

Satori hesitated. Another question flashed across her mind - one she wanted to ask, but knew she shouldn?t. Ultimately, her curiosity got the better of her.

?Ma?am, permission to speak??

Satori could almost hear the tides rumbling around her. Go on.

?Well, if the White Pearl is in hiding, then Koishi will be holed up in-?

No. The waters swirled violently in Satori?s ears, stopping her before she could finish. You will not engage your sister unless absolutely necessary.

Indignation pulsed through Satori?s veins. ?But this is our best chance! She?ll be alone, without the other Sirens to defend her-?

Silence!

The room roared, her master?s voice echoing from every direction. All the courage flushed out of Satori?s body, leaving her in stunned silence.

Did you stop to consider our enemy may have considered that option as well? There could well be an ambush waiting for you if you act so rashly.

Satori clenched her teeth, bowing her head in shame. ?Apologies, ma?am. I didn?t think that far ahead.?

Of course not. Now the voice was snide, almost chastising. Besides, I haven?t forgotten your earlier fears about fighting your sister. I don?t intend to give you another chance to give in to that weakness. Do you understand?

The Siren tensed for a few moments, every muscle coiled like a spring, until at last she went limp in the water. ?...Yes, ma?am.?

Good. Now return to your quarters and await instructions.

The swirling of the currents weakened, subsiding into nothing. Satori hung in place, staring at the ceiling as she tried to pull her thoughts together. She wished her boss had a face solely so she could daydream about punching it.

Eventually she began to swim lazily towards the exit, paying little attention to her surroundings, mumbling to herself as she drifted into the doorway. She only came to a stop when her head bumped into somebody?s stomach.

?Hey, eyes forward down there.? Jozu looked down on Satori, her face upside-down from where the Siren was. ?Other fish are using these corridors too, y?know.?

Satori gasped, quickly righting herself in the water. ?Ah, sorry, Jozu. I was just thinking about-?

?I know. I heard the whole thing.? Jozu put a hand on Satori?s shoulder and pulled her close. ?You want a little venting session? Promise I won?t tell.?

The Siren felt her face flash red. Her head felt comfortable against Jozu?s chest - more comfortable than it had any right to be. She hadn?t imagined Jozu to be the emotional type.

She smiled. Maybe sharks weren?t all ravenous hunters after all.

?I think I?d like that,? she said.

?Good to hear.? Jozu started to carry Satori back to her room, never moving beyond a leisurely pace. ?Well, then, Dr. Manou?s in the house. Let it all out.?

It took a few seconds for Satori to start. The words all clogged up her throat, making it hard to breathe. When at last she started to speak, it all ended up flowing out at once.

?I know she?s right, Jozu. It?s a dumb idea for me to go after Koishi myself. But...I still worry about her, even though she?s my enemy now. She?s just a girl, for crying out loud. She shouldn?t be out here risking her life like this.?

Jozu kept silent, patiently listening and nodding to everything Satori said. There was no questioning, no judgement, just a vehicle for Satori to let out all the thoughts that had been weighing her down.

?They?ve got her thinking she?s some kind of saviour,? Satori muttered. ?Like she?s a hero, protecting the world from monsters like us. The longer she spends wrapped up in this nonsense, the better the chance she gets herself hurt. I don?t care how dangerous it is, I want to get her out of this mess before it?s too late.?

It was only when the ranting came to an end that Jozu spoke up. ?Sounds pretty rough. Mind if I ask you something, though??

Satori looked up at the shark. ?Sure. What is it??

?What got you so sold on the Black Claw, anyway??

The question came entirely out of left field, striking Satori dumb. Jozu took the opening to clarify the question.

?I already told you I?m neutral here. I just wanna get some blood on my knuckles. But you must be really convinced by the Claw?s beliefs if you won?t even let your sister change your mind. What gives??

The Siren bit her lip. She hadn?t thought about that for a while. It wasn?t a story she wanted to linger on for too long. Still, Jozu had done so much to look after her in her time here. It was only fair to give her an answer.

?I told you my father was a vet, didn?t I?? she started.

?Yeah, you mentioned it once or twice.?

?Did I ever mention that he brought me in for training to take up the practice??

Jozu sucked in a breath, as if she?d already figured out where this story was going. ?Yeah, this is the first I?ve heard of that.?

Satori nodded. ?I don?t talk about it much. It was only for a couple of weeks before he...well, before he died. I insisted on it - he inspired me, and I wanted to learn how to be like him.?

She looked down at the floor, pressing her head closer against the shark. ?At that time, I didn?t really understand what my father did. I knew he helped look after animals, but I never realised what sort of help they needed. What sort of suffering they could be subjected to.

?I only found out then that my father specialised in treating animals who had been abused. He had to deal with some of the most brutal things - pets who?d been fed broken glass, or left to starve in empty houses, or beaten by drunken owners. He worked with the worst of the worst, and that was my chance to see all of it for myself.?

The memories flashed in front of her eyes again, thoughts she kept safely under lock and key. Letting them resurface was as inspiring as it was frightening.

?I was still only a girl. I couldn?t understand why people would be so cruel to their pets. My father didn?t have an answer either; he said that all that mattered is that we helped the animals recover. I think the question got to him, though - he acted strong in front of Koishi and I, but I know he was hurting on the inside. It probably contributed a lot to...well, his death.?

Satori took Jozu?s hand and squeezed. ?My father spent his life treating the symptoms, but not the disease. For every animal he managed to save, there were two more that died on the operating table. He couldn?t do anything to stop these creatures from being hurt - and with the masquerade in full force, the youkai couldn?t even protect themselves.?

She took a deep breath, feeling determination overwrite her earlier chagrin. ?But I can, Jozu. I can save all the youkai who?ve had to suffer in silence. I can achieve something my father never could. And the Black Claw is the only way I can do that.?

Jozu?s eyes widened. It was difficult to read the expression on her face - surprise? Awe? Confusion? Maybe it was a combination of all three. It soon gave way to a small, subdued smile.

?Damn, you sound like some sort of fairytale hero when you put it like that.?

?I?ll take that as a compliment,? Satori said. ?Still, there isn?t much I can do unless the higher-ups give the order, is there??

Jozu paused, hanging in spot in the water for a moment. A rare chill crossed over her expression, and she squeezed at Satori?s hand in return.

?Look, Satori. I just wanna let you know that whatever happens, I?ve got your back.?

?Oh?? Satori tilted her head. ?That?s good to hear, but I?d figured that was part of the job description. You are meant to be my guardian, after all.?

?I don?t mean in a fight.? Jozu scratched at the back of her head. ?I mean, well, if you ever need to talk or something...actually, y?know what? Never mind. This is sounding icky and sentimental.?

The Siren raised an eyebrow. Jozu?s thoughts were flickering and flailing about in her head, an indecipherable mish-mash of emotions. It was unusual to see the shark so offset, but within seconds she was back to normal.

The rest of the journey took place in an awkward silence. Jozu looked away, seemingly distracted by some distant thought as they arrived at Satori?s room.

?Here?s my stop,? the Siren said, pulling away from Jozu and floating in the doorway. ?Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. Want some sparring to make up for it??

?Uh, actually...? Jozu looked down the corridor, eyes clouded over. ?Maybe another time. I?ve got somewhere to be.?

Satori furrowed her brow. ?Since when do you have other arrangements??

?Since about two minutes ago.? The shark looked back, giving Satori a cheeky wink. ?Can?t go into specifics for now. Just gimme some time, alright??

There was something almost pleading in Jozu?s eyes, quietly asking for Satori?s permission. The Siren could hardly refuse after all Jozu had done for her today, could she?

?Sure,? she said. ?Just don?t get yourself killed.?

?Can?t make any promises,? Jozu answered, saluting as she spun about in the water. ?Later, then!?

Within seconds, the shark was a blip in Satori?s vision, and soon she wasn?t even that. The Siren wondered what sort of scheme was forming in Jozu?s mind. She could only hope it wasn?t something too dangerous.

Well, may as well get in some practice, Satori thought to herself as she stepped into the airlock. I need to work on my thrusts...

-----

Sango had never been a fan of meetings.

She didn?t mind them on paper. There was nothing wrong with getting together to discuss strategies or prepare battle plans. The problem was that wasn?t just any meeting - it was a meeting being run by Nitori Kawashiro, and that was a whole different story.

Today the kappa had hastily turned her math class into a conference room, shoving half a dozen desks together and doing her best to clean off the graffiti. Today?s lesson had been half-wiped from the blackboard, numbers and variables left hanging without context. Calling it haphazard may have been too polite - not that Sango would ever say that to her boss?s face.

Ran, on the other hand, had no such inhibitions.

?Is this what you call a briefing room?? The fox youkai shuffled about in her seat, staring at a piece of chewing gum stuck to her desk. ?I thought you had a laboratory hidden around here somewhere.?

?Yeah, but there aren?t any seats in there.? Nitori spun about in the teacher?s chair, legs crossed as she leaned forward. ?Didn?t want to make you all stand, y?see.?

Ran growled. Nitori was the perfect antithesis to the fox?s immaculate stature, a picture of everything a good student wasn?t supposed to do. If Sango had acted half as casually as the kappa was, she?d be reprimanded in an instant.

?Don?t worry,? the dolphin said, stretching a hand across the makeshift table. ?You get used to her.?

?I?m not sure if I want to,? the fox answered, one hand tapping anxiously at the bottom of her desk. ?So who are we waiting on??

?Just one operative,? Nitori answered. ?Should be here any mo-?

As if in response, the door to the classroom slid open. Momiji Inubashiri stomped through, pulling off her wig as she closed the door behind her.

?Sorry I?m late,? she murmured. ?Aya had another one of her detours.?

No-one responded to the wolf. Instead, everyone present had their attention locked entirely on her face - more specifically, the still-fresh cut that had been drawn along her cheek.

?Momiji, you alright?? Nitori asked.

?Oh, this?? The wolf put a hand over the wound, and her expression softened. ?Let?s just say I didn?t give one of our companions the respect she deserved.?

Sango raised an eyebrow. That had sounded almost like humility. What the hell had she missed while she?d been in hiding?

?And you must be Lady Yakumo.? Momiji turned to Ran, bowing as far down as her back would allow. ?It?s a great honour to be in your presence, madam. I?ve studied your works on the art of warfare extensively.?

Ran brushed off the compliment with a wry smile. ?No need for the formality, white wolf. I haven?t been a ruler for a long time now.?

?I...I see.? Momiji visibly hesitated, Ran?s sudden coolness disrupting her train of thought. She managed a rough nod before sinking into the seat beside the fox.

Sango gave the wolf a little wave. She didn?t get a response. She?s just as friendly as I remember, she thought to herself.

?Alright, the gang?s all here.? Nitori pulled a pair of glasses from her pocket, slipping them on to look slightly more like an authority. Her slack shoulders and casual dress did nothing to aid that image. ?So, first thing?s first. Anything to report??

Momiji nodded. ?I?ve had a few of my agents prowling the city on basic reconnaissance. The stories about the zoo incident are still going strong. Every time the rumour looks set to die, someone steps in with a new theory or piece of evidence that sets the whole thing alight again.?

?That can?t be an accident,? Ran said, steepling her fingers. ?Should we assume the Claw is responsible??

Momiji shrugged. ?Wouldn?t surprise me. They?ve got everything to gain from it, after all. But it might just be humans being curious about it. I mean, Aya won?t go for five minutes without throwing one of her conspiracy theories at me.?

?Conspiracy theories?? Sango asked, her voice laden with morbid curiosity.

?I dunno how, but she finds a way to link everything to the government.? Momiji rolled her eyes. ?Right now she thinks it?s a distraction so people will forget about some new anti-terrorist law getting passed.?

Sango?s mouth slackened. ?...Huh. Forget I asked.?

?Either way,? Nitori said, ?we?re probably going to have to act fast. The bigger this story gets, the harder it?ll be for us to make a move. I suggest we stage one grand assault on the Black Claw?s base of operations. Once they?re out of the picture, we can focus on damage control regarding the publicity.?

?A good idea, but one with a glaring flaw.? Ran folded her arms and sighed. ?Where exactly is this fortress you want us to siege??

?What a coincidence, Ran.? Nitori smirked. ?Figuring that out happens to be the next item of interest for today?s meeting.?

The fox?s ears stood on end as she shot a glare at the kappa. She wasn?t taking well to Nitori?s ?playful? idea of authority. Sango shimmied backwards in her chair as a precaution.

?So! As it happens, I?ve got a little map of the city with me.? Nitori withdrew a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket. Unfolding it, the map turned out to be almost the size of the table, marking the geography of Gensouto in impressive detail. ?I?ve marked in red the areas we?ve already searched through. Any thoughts??

Sango gave the map a quick lookover. It wasn?t difficult to find the most prominent feature of their surroundings, assuming you weren?t colourblind.

?Uh, boss, this thing is pretty much all red.?

?Precisely.? Nitori planted a finger in the center of the map. ?We?ve hunted through every nook and cranny of this city, and we haven?t found a damn thing.?

Momiji frowned. ?So we?re out of ideas, then??

?Not quite.? Nitori?s finger began to drift along the map, out from the center, onto the coast - and beyond. ?We?ve still got this whole area to check out.?

Ran slowly nodded in contemplation. ?The ocean...of course. We?re dealing with an oarfish youkai, so it?s a natural base of operations for her.?

?You mean we could have had our base out at sea without risking discovery any time someone scribbled on the blackboard?? Momiji?s jaw hung open. ?Why the hell didn?t we think of that??

?I figured you wouldn?t want to get your fur wet.? Nitori stuck her tongue out, giving the wolf a playful wink. ?Jokes aside, though, it?s pretty obvious that the Black Claw?s hideaway is somewhere on the seabed. Unfortunately, that?s still not very useful to us - I mean, there?s a lot of seabed out there. We need to find some way of cutting that down. Any suggestions??

There was silence for a few moments as everyone present pondered the question. The first person to speak was Ran, with a voice that offered little in the way of confidence.

?It?s probably safe to assume that Leviathan?s using some form of illusion magic to conceal her fortress. I could probably dispel it a spell of my own, but an enchantment that powerful would be very short-ranged.?

?Any chance you could rapid fire it?? Nitori asked.

?In my prime, maybe.? Ran hung her head, her expression solemn. ?But I?m awfully rusty nowadays. I don?t think I?d have it in me to do it more than once or twice a day.?

?So we?d need to know where we?re going...in order to figure out where to go.? Momiji?s tail swished about impatiently. ?So that?s Plan A out of the window. Anyone got a Plan B they want to share with us??

Nitori put a finger to her lips, looking down at the map as if trying to decipher some unseen code. ?Sango-san, what about you? Do you have any ideas??

Sango pouted. ?Dunno what you?re expecting from me, boss.? She craned her neck around, looking out the window towards the setting sun. ?I?m just a dolphin who punches thi-?

Her heart skipped a beat, the words dying on her lips. Something flickered in the shadows of a nearby alleyway, immediately grabbing her attention.

Staring up at her was the unmistakeable form of Jozu Manou.

?Yo, Sango-san.? Nitori walked around the table, waving a hand in front of Sango?s face. ?You still with us??

Sango didn?t respond. She watched Jozu vanish back into the alleyway - not to flee, but to hide. Sango already knew the shark would be waiting for her.

?Helloooo. Earth to Sango, please come in...?

It would be easy to tell everyone that there was a Black Claw agent literally on their doorstep. But Jozu was more than an enemy - she was a rival, and in a twisted way she was almost a friend. She?d helped out Sango once before, during the Saigyouji incident. Maybe she could help them with this problem, too.

?Sorry, just remembered something.? Sango raced to her feet, stumbling past Nitori on her way to the door. ?Gotta go. Lemme know if you come up with anything!?

She could feel her allies? stares following her as she slipped out into the hallway. She did her best to ignore them, focusing on the task at hand.

?Shouldn?t we stop her?? Ran asked. Sango heard her rise to her feet and held her breath.

?Let her be. She?s more of a hands-on operative, anyway.? Momiji?s voice was neutral, leaving Sango unsure if it was a compliment or an insult. ?Now, how hard would it be to pick up some depth charges? Surely an illusion can?t work its way around that.?

Sango never heard the rest of the discussion. She had other, more pressing matters to attend to.

A hands-on operative? she thought to herself. Momiji, you have no idea how right you are.

-----

Sango took one last look behind her as she emerged from the school entrance. There was still no sign of anyone tailing her; the higher-ups were probably too busy planning to wonder where she had gone. She wasn?t sure whether or not to be proud of that.

?Jozu, you there?? she whispered in the direction of the alleyway. There was no answer. She was sure she?d seen the shark hide in here, but it was too dark to make anything out. After a few seconds without a reply she tip-toed into the backstreet, blindly feeling around the walls as she walked.

OK, this was a bad idea. Sango brought one hand in front of her, channeling a basic light charm. If she?s not here, I?m just gonna go home and take a bath.

After a few seconds of focus, a small shining sphere emerged in Sango?s palm. It illuminated the alleyway around her, giving her a chance to see it in all its wretched glory.

It also revealed Jozu, standing no more than a few inches away from her.

?Boo.?

?Phweee?!?? Sango jumped backwards, almost falling into another puddle. The ball of light hung in the air, unperturbed. ?What the hell was that for? Jeez, I just about had a heart attack...?

Jozu smirked, leaning against the wall. She was just as covered in dirt as Sango, but she didn?t seem to care.

?You?ve got no clue how lucky you are,? the shark said. ?I could have killed you a dozen times over while you were fumbling about in the dark.?

?Then why didn?t you?? Sango said, trying and failing to clean off her sleeves. ?And on that note, how did you even find me??

Jozu placed a finger on the tip of her nose. ?You?ve got a very distinct smell, Sango. It wasn?t hard to follow your trail. And as for your other question...? Her eyes glinted with feral eagerness. ?I promised you a fair fight, didn?t I??

Just the sound of those words was enough to make Sango forget about the state of her outfit. This was a fight she?d been waiting on for a long time. Now they didn?t have any interruptions to worry about, they could slug it out until one of them had nothing left to give.

?So where are we doing this?? Sango asked. ?No offense, but it?s a bit cramped in here.?

?No worries,? Jozu said. ?I already figured that out.?

The shark leaned forward, putting a hand on Sango?s shoulder and whispering in her ear.

?The Claw descends on Sango Tororetsu.?

Sango?s whole body tingled. The world took on a dull blue tinge, and she began to float upwards as if she was underwater.

A magic duel, huh? The dolphin smiled. She hadn?t seen one of these since Mokou?s awakening. She took a moment to pull away, stretching her legs as she continued to ascend towards the sky. The sunset was gone - in fact the sun itself was nowhere to be seen, the whole world illuminated by a single ambient light.

?Man, that?s better.? Jozu performed a slow, graceful backflip as she rose above the skyline of Gensouto. ?Sometimes I really get sick of that whole ?walking? thing the humans love so much.?

?You get used to it. Besides, my fins really needed the break.?

Sango took a moment to warm up, stretching her limbs and taking a few practice swings. The worst thing she could do now was come into this fight unprepared. Jozu did likewise, making sure every muscle in her body was primed for battle.

?So how?s the Koishi girl holding up?? Jozu asked.

?Eh?? Sango flinched. That wasn?t a question she?d been expecting. ?Uh...fine, I guess? Kinda bored now that she?s stuck in the house all day, but she?s fine.?

?That makes two of ?em, then.? Jozu rolled her neck around, her bones making distinctive cracking sounds. ?Satori just got grounded by the boss. Too much of a liability, or something.?

?Oh.? Sango pouted. ?That?s a shame.?

?I know, right? Satori?s a damn good girl. She deserves better than that.? Jozu stretched her arms one last time, then reached for her belt. ?Anyway, this isn?t about them. Should we skip the pleasantries??

?Go ahead.? Sango smiled, lowering herself into the stance of Flowing Tide. ?We both know I?d beat you senseless if you don?t get your fix.?

?Heh. Looks like someone?s feeling cocky.? Jozu pulled a vial of blood from her belt, two fingers grabbing at the cork. ?Let?s hope you live long enough to regret it.?

In one smooth motion, she pulled the cork and brought the vial to her nose, letting its contents seep into her system. Her whole body bucked forwards, her eyes fading to black as her muscles grew in size and power. She let her mouth hang open, giving Sango another chance to see her razor-sharp teeth.

?Saa...Saaan...gooo...?

With her last shred of coherence, Jozu reached out to the dolphin with a hand. For a second, Sango swore she saw a smile flicker onto her opponent?s face.

Then Jozu charged, and she had much bigger problems to worry about.

?SangoooooOOO-!?

-----

Next Week's BGM: Control Crisis (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZWB7qn5N0A)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: elenchus on October 06, 2013, 09:02:25 PM
Quote
?I dunno how, but she finds a way to link everything to the government.? Momiji rolled her eyes. ?Right now she thinks it?s a distraction so people will forget about some new anti-terrorist law getting passed.?

Chekhov's gun detected.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on October 13, 2013, 09:42:50 AM
So a funny thing happened to me earlier this week... (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,15701.0.html)

-----

The first blow was a claw aimed straight at Sango?s eye. She brought up an arm to block it, the impact hard enough to make her bones shake. Jozu?s arm jerked backwards, too quick for Sango to capitalise on the opening.

The shark brought down a furious barrage that rocked Sango from head to toe. Sango dodged what she could, blocking anything she couldn?t swerve away from. Even parrying the blows was painful - Jozu?s strikes were so powerful that one stray punch could easily end the whole fight.

I?ve got to slow her down!

Sango weaved around the wild swings, scoring counter-punches where she could. She dotted Jozu?s body with jabs and hooks, hoping that the shark was still conscious enough to have some concept of fatigue.

To her dismay the shark barely registered any of Sango?s attacks, seemingly unaware she was injured at all. She continued her brutal offense, punishing Sango any time she tried to make a move.

For a brief moment, Sango regretted not being born a shark.

OK. Punches don?t work.

The dolphin?s brain kicked into overdrive, chugging out a battle plan as she tried to fight off her assailant. Every block sent a new wave of pain charging through her system, disrupting her focus.

Pressure points? She ducked under a blow meant for her head. No. Her body?s pain receptors are disabled. A kick slammed into her leg, and she swore she heard something shatter. And I already tried targeting her nervous system.

Years of training flashed before her eyes. What was there left to try? Was there anything in her arsenal that could possibly faze this kind of opponent?

?Graaaaaaaaah!?

Jozu roared, swooping down to sink her teeth into Sango?s shoulder. Sango caught it in both hands, needing all her strength to hold the shark?s head in place. That only served to leave her body open, and Jozu sent a fist pounding into her stomach.

?Guhuuu-!?

Sango felt the wind being knocked out of her lungs. Her fingers dug deeper into Jozu?s cheeks on instinct.

Eh?

Beneath Jozu?s skin, Sango could feel the faint pulsing of energy. The channels here were still functioning, but there wasn?t enough power in them for her to manipulate.

That left her one option.

My guts are really gonna hate me for this-!

Sango strengthened her grip on Jozu?s head, her fingers pressing further into the pressure points. Her heart pounded in her ears, her strength flowing through her in time with her pulse. Slowly she felt it seeping into her opponent, slowly and gradually working its way through her body.

?Graaah-?!?

Jozu made no attempt to move Sango?s fingers. She simply made the most of the opening, sending punch after punch straight into Sango?s stomach. With her hands locked in place, the dolphin couldn?t even try to defend herself.

?Aaah, haaah-...?

Sango felt like her internal organs had been reduced to paste, but she forced herself to endure. This was the only chance to do any sort of damage, even if she?d have to hurt like hell for it.

C?mon, c?mon, c?mon!

Her power was beginning to trickle through Jozu?s body, but her own stamina was running low. A few more good punches and Jozu would put a hole in her stomach. There was no way she?d finish before then.

To hell with it. Sango took one deep breath, listening to her heart reach a fever pitch. All or nothing!

She closed her eyes, listening to the flow of power through her. She mustered every ounce of energy she had left, willing it to rise up her body and through her arms.

Then, all at once, she sent her power pulsing into Jozu.

?Grraaaauuu?!?

Jozu howled, the sheer burst of energy charging through her body at once. Sango could almost hear the crackling of lightning through Jozu?s bones, overpowering her from the inside out. On sheer instinct, the shark sent another wave of blows charging into Sango?s stomach.

Just...a little...more...!

Sango?s body felt like it was made of lead. She focused the last of her energy on maintaining her grip, trying to finish Jozu before the shark could finish her.

?Graauu...uuu...?

Jozu?s punches finally started to weaken, the power from the pressure points too much for her to handle. Her eyes began to fade, the pure-black giving way to the usual white as her pupils rolled upwards.

One more punch would do it. And Sango had just enough power left in her.

?And...and...? Sango heard her arm creak as she pulled it backwards. ?And STAY DOWN!?

The strike caught Jozu square in the cheek, shutting her down like an off switch. The shark managed a tiny yelp before she went limp, drifting aimlessly in the water.

?Aaah, haah...?

The moment Sango saw her opponent was incapacitated, she took the opportunity to collapse entirely. She was relatively sure she?d broken something, but everything hurt so much she couldn?t be sure what. For a few minutes, she simply laid in place and gave herself a chance to recover.

?...I did it.? Staring up at the sky, she muttered absently to herself. ?I won.?

If she had any strength left in her, she would have taken the chance to cheer in victory. As she was, she had to settle for a contented sigh.

?...Mmmh...?

A few minutes later, the fallen shark began to stir. Any sign of the bloodlust had disappeared from her eyes, and she groaned every time she tried to move an inch.

?...Cheater.? She managed to tilt her neck around to look at Sango. ?Screwing with my head like that is totally not fair.?

?Don?t remember any rules saying I couldn?t,? Sango said, winking as her chest heaved. ?Besides, the alternative was letting you eat me alive. No offense, but that really didn?t sound very appealing.?

Jozu pouted, looking away and folding her arms. ?Why does everyone assume I?m gonna eat them? Seriously, you people are so racist sometimes...?

Sango drifted lazily through the water, reaching out and patting Jozu on the head. ?C?mon, don?t be so bitter. It was a good fight, wasn?t it??

The shark?s stubbornness began to crumble, until finally she managed to nod. ?...Yeah. You were pretty impressive, I admit.?

For a few seconds they simply floated there, comfortable in each others? presence. That was how long it took for Sango?s common sense to kick in.

?Oh, right.? She scratched at her head, pulling her arm away from Jozu. ?I should probably take you in for questioning now. Since you?re a member of the Black Claw and all.?

?Yeah, but you should have probably told your bosses that you were following me.? The shark grinned, showing Sango another flash of those brilliant teeth. ?Besides, there?s no way my awesome plan will work out if you arrest me here.?

?Phwee?? Sango tilted her head. ?Awesome plan??

The shark let out a deep breath. ?Trust me, you?re gonna want in on this. It?s about...well, the Komeijis.? She pulled herself upright, her expression growing stern again. ?But before I let you in on it, you?ve got to promise you won?t rat me out to the White Pearl. I?m already putting my ass on the line just telling you this, so please tell me I can trust you on this one.?

Sango?s stomach caved in, and it wasn?t just from the beating. Meeting a Black Claw agent was bad enough - conspiring with one would qualify as treason. If the boss ever found out about this, she?d probably have her remains scattered across the seven seas as a warning.

But at the same time, she could see a glimmer of something in Jozu?s eyes. It was concern - powerful, genuine, definite concern. She never seen an emotion so deep from the shark before. In that moment, she knew exactly where Jozu?s loyalties stood.

What the hell, Sango thought. In for a quarter, or however it is those humans put it.

?Alright.? She placed a hand on her chest and bowed her head. ?You have my word, Jozu.?

?Excellent.? Jozu?s melancholy expression quickly shifted back into happiness. She swam over to Sango, whispering in her ear like a student sharing a dirty secret. ?Alright, my accomplice, here?s what we?re gonna do...?

-----

?Aw, come on! That is totally not fair!?

The voice on the other end of the line was so loud that Koishi expected the phone to erupt in her hand. She moved it a few inches away from her ear.

?Calm down, Cirno-san. Deep breaths.?

?I don?t wanna be calm!? Cirno yelled. ?Why didn?t you tell me about the whole magical thingy? It?s awesome!?

Koishi sighed, falling backwards onto her bed. Youmu had warned her there was a chance Cirno?s memories could relapse after seeing footage of the zoo incident. She?d called up the Ex-Fairy as a precaution, a chance to let Cirno get some sort of explanation.

The phone call had quickly turned into an interrogation.

?So do you have a secret base?? Cirno asked, so giddy she was on the verge of flying. ?Or a mascot? It?s Sango-san, right? I knew she showed up at a really weird time!?

Koishi?s brain was on fire. She couldn?t keep up with the barrage of questions - and she suspected it was a bad idea to answer to begin with. Even if Cirno could keep things under wraps, she had no way of knowing who was listening in.

?Look, Cirno-san...? The Siren rubbed at her temples. ?I?m sorry I haven?t been in school lately. It?s a long story, but basically we can?t let the whole ?magic? thing get too far into the public eye.?

?Eh? Why not??

?Because-? Koishi hesitated. Nitori would have said humans couldn?t be trusted with that power, but she wasn?t so convinced. She sighed. ?Just because. You?re going to have to trust me on this one, Cirno-san.?

?Laaame.? Cirno?s groan was accompanied by the scrawling of a pencil. She must have been studying when Koishi had called. ?Well...you and Mokou-san did save my life, so I?ll let this one slide. But I?d better get a full explanation next time you?re in school, got it??

?Sure, of course. I?ll tell you everything once all the media stuff dies down.?

?Damn right you will.? Cirno giggled. ?My best friend, the magical girl. That?s awesome.?

?You?re welcome,? Koishi said with a smile. ?But let?s keep it our little secret for now.?

?Sure thing. Later.?

Koishi hung up the phone and buried her face in a pillow. That was the first time she?d made contact with the outside world for days now. Even with her pets to keep her company, the solitude was starting to get to her. She only had so many DVDs to distract herself with, and there was no sign of when the media frenzy would end.

She wanted to sleep, but she didn?t feel tired at all. For fifteen minutes, she did everything in her power to slow the constant flow of thoughts running through her mind. She would have been there for longer if she hadn?t been distracted by the footsteps.

?Koishi-san!?

Sango threw open the door to Koishi?s room, so hard the door almost snapped off its hinges. The Siren rolled about in her bed to face her guest.

?Sango-san, you could have knocked-huh??

She stopped mid-sentence when she saw the state Sango was in. The dolphin?s clothes were caked with dirt and muck, her hair frayed in every direction. Her sleeves were pulled up, revealing dark-blue bruises dotted along her arms.

?Sango-san, what happened to you?? Koishi jumped off the bed, forgetting her earlier fatigue. ?You got caught up in a fight, didn?t you??

?That?s not important right now.? Sango gasped for breath, leaning on the doorway for support. ?We?ve gotta go. Tonight. You and me, to the beach.?

Koishi raised an eyebrow. ?Sango-san, I know you?re probably homesick too, but-?

?It?s your sister,? Sango blurted. ?You?ll see her.?

Koishi felt the cogs in her brain lock in place. ?Satori? What?re you talking about??

?I made a deal with Jozu,? the dolphin continued. ?She?s bringing Satori out to the beach on the edge of town. We?re meant to meet them at midnight tonight.?

?Jozu?? The initial wave of hope flowing through Koishi began to die down. ?You mean the shark girl from the Black Claw??

?Yeah, but we can trust her. She?s only given us one condition - we aren?t allowed to let the White Pearl know about it.?

?Sango-san, this woman tried to kill you,? Koishi said, with a pout. ?Several times.?

?And that?s why I believe her,? Sango said, folding her arms adamantly. ?We haven?t been able to say a lot to her, but you learn a lot about people in a fight. And from what I can tell, Jozu is more loyal to your sister than she?ll ever be to the Claw.?

Koishi?s chest felt numb. This all reeked of a setup - after Iku had tricked her, she?d been on her guard for anything else the Claw tried to throw her way. But she?d never seen Sango so convinced about something before - and if Satori was involved, she was willing to take a risk or two.

?...Okay.? Koishi took a deep gulp, swallowing down her fears as she steeled herself. ?So we meet Satori on the beach. Then what??

?What else?? Sango grinned. ?You two have your own fight to finish, right??

-----

98...99...100.

Satori sheathed her sword, wiping the sweat from her brow. With nothing to distract herself, most of her spare time was devoted to self-improvement. Her stance could always use a little work, no matter how much practice she put in.

She had been uncomfortable at first. They hadn?t given her anything to pass the time with - no books, no music, nothing. She?d spend days lying around the room, bored out of her skull.

When she?d agreed to help the Claw, that had all changed. Now whenever she had nothing else to do, she trained whatever aspect of her form she was most concerned about. Today, that happened to be her thrusts - they were too slow, leaving far too much room for a counter attack.

I?d better take a break, though. Satori took a seat in the corner. My arm feels awfully stiff.

She opened and closed her fist to get the blood flowing. Looking through the glass wall, she had just enough light to make out her immediate surroundings. Dark grey weeds bobbed about with the currents, and a stream of bubbles rose in the distance - but there was no sign of life to be found.

Satori sighed. She did her best not to let the loneliness get to her. This was how the youkai felt, after all - lost and alone, with their old world stolen from under their feet. The best way to understand their plight was to experience it.

Still, she couldn?t shake the feeling that this wasn?t where she belonged. She should have been out on the field, bringing about a revolution; not locked up in some holding cell on the bottom of the sea. There was no good reason to hold her back - she?d already fought Koishi once before, and nothing had happened. What was her master thinking?

She was so caught up in her pondering she barely noticed the mass of thoughts forming behind her.

?Satori??

Jozu?s voice shocked Satori back to consciousness. She turned around to see the shark stepping out of the airlock, wetsuit torn and scuffed in half a dozen different places. In spite of her injuries, she wore the proud grin of a victor.

?I?m back. Kept myself alive, just like you asked.?

?How thoughtful.? Satori smiled. Jozu?s company was her only reprieve from utter solitude. Still, the shark had never been the sort to keep secrets - well, there was one secret, but Satori had decided not to press that for now. ?So, I take it your plan worked??

Jozu saluted. ?Phase one was a complete success. Now comes step two.?

?Which is??

?Breaking you out of here.?

Satori was too stunned to answer for a few seconds. When she did find her voice, it was monosyllabic. ?What??

?Made a deal with the Porpoise Princess,? Jozu said, a sly grin sliding onto her face. ?She?s bringing your sister out for a secret rendezvous on the beach. Midnight tonight.?

Satori?s jaw hung open. ?How on earth did you get the master agree to that??

?I didn?t.? Jozu winked. ?It?s our little secret. Honestly, if the boss finds out, she?s probably gonna make a jacket out of my skin. So keep it to yourself for now.?

Satori felt faint, leaning against the wall for support. She hadn?t imagined Jozu to be the rule-breaking sort, and definitely not to this extent. If the leader of the Claw was as harsh as she thought, Jozu?s estimate for her punishment might not have been far off.

?You?re an idiot,? Satori said, caught between surprise and disappointment. ?Why would you take that kind of risk??

?Why?? Jozu frowned, folding her arms. ?I figured that was obvious. You wanted to settle the score with Koishi, didn?t you? So I pulled some strings to make sure that?d happen.?

?But our master said-?

?Screw her!? Jozu snapped, spitting out the words like they were poison.

Satori gasped. Jozu had never been this angry at her, not even when they?d first met. The shark?s face was locked in a brutal scowl, and she looked more ready to tear Satori apart than look after her. The Siren was beginning to understand how she could be such a dangerous opponent.

?It?s a stupid order, Satori. We both know that. So why are you so willing to just go along with it??

?Because I have to,? Satori countered, a hand jumping to her neck. ?You can?t throw a tantrum because of one order you don?t agree with-?

?Goddammit, stop trying to argue and just thank me already!?

The room was soundproof, but Jozu?s scream bounced across the walls and reached Satori from every direction. The rest of her objection crumbled beneath the sheer volume of the shark?s voice.

?Look at you, for crying out loud. You?d probably obey the boss if she told you to slit your own goddamn throat.? Jozu?s eyes blazed with a passion Satori didn?t know existed. ?Where?s your backbone? Are you just gonna blindly follow orders, or are you gonna draw the line before it?s too late??

Her raw audacity left Satori paralysed, unable to offer any sort of counterpoint. Had she really become so subservient? Was she nothing more than a pawn in someone else?s game? She didn?t want to believe it, but now she thought about it she fit the description all too cleanly.

?Maybe we can explain it afterward. Hell, if you beat your sister and talk her into working with us, you might even get a commendation.? Jozu let out another sigh, the anger wheezing out of her body. Now she looked almost solemn as she reached out, offering a hand to the fallen Siren. ?But right now, it doesn?t matter what the boss wants. This is about you. Are you with me??

Satori wasn?t sure how to feel anymore. Half a dozen emotions wrestled around inside her. She wanted to be disgusted by Jozu betraying the Claw, but all she could find deep down was gratitude. She wanted to be firm and authoritative, but more than that she wanted Koishi out of this war once and for all. She knew giving in to this temptation was childish - but in truth, she wanted to be a child more than anything right now.

The internal conflict lasted only a few seconds, but it left Satori exhausted. Wearily she looked up at Jozu, and for a moment she swore she saw something glimmer in the shark?s eyes.

?...Alright.? She grabbed at Jozu?s hand and pulled herself up. ?But if we get caught, this was definitely your idea.?

?Understood, ma?am.? Jozu smirked, ruffling at Satori?s hair before pushing her towards the doorway. ?Anywho, we?d better start moving. We haven?t got long until the guards change shifts, and that?s our only way out.?

Satori wasn?t really listening. Most of her attention was devoted to introspection. Here she was, about to break out from the institute she?d promised to aid for the rest of her life. She was breaking every oath and promise she had ever made to the Claw.

And yet she felt no shame or guilt for what she was doing. With every step she took she felt more confident with her decision, more certain that this was a stand she had to take.

?...Thanks, Jozu.? She placed her head on Jozu?s shoulder as the airlock began to flood. ?I needed that.?

?No worries,? Jozu said. She grinned as the room filled with water, and their path to freedom slid open. ?Now stick close, understand??

-----

Koishi had never taken the time to just watch the sea.

She could see the waves bouncing to and fro, from the coast all the way to the distant horizon. The sounds of the city had faded to nothing, leaving only the relentless rush of the tides. Water skipped along her feet, then dipped backward in an unrelenting cycle.

?It?s beautiful,? she said, to no-one in particular.

?Not really.? Sango shuffled a little closer to the Siren. ?I mean, it?s a nice view, but there?s a lot better out there.?

?Like what?? Koishi asked.

?Oh, I could be here all night with that.? Sango spread her arms out as far as they could go. ?Coral reefs in a million colours. Trenches so dark and deep you?re the only living thing for miles. Living, breathing volcanoes buried on the bottom of the sea.?

?...Huh. That is a lot more impressive, actually.? Koishi drew a line in the sand with her heel. ?I guess I have some exploring to do when all of this is over.?

?Sure thing.? Sango gave the Siren a pat on the head. ?Just make sure to invite your favourite tour guide. I?ll show you all the best spots.?

Koishi smiled, leaning slightly into Sango?s hand. She wasn?t sure how much the dolphin meant what she was saying - after all, when all of this was over, the White Pearl was planning to vanish without a trace. Still, if nothing else, she appreciated the sentiment behind it.

?This was where I found you, isn?t it?? she asked. ?Out here on the beach, before all of this began.?

?Sure was.? Sango looked off into the distance, eyes cloudy from nostalgia. ?Seems so long ago now. Never figured things would turn out like this, though. Don?t think anyone did.?

Koishi nodded. She had already transformed, her sword lying flat on the sand by her side. Though she did her best to hide it, she could hear her heart racing in both fear and anticipation.

?...One question, though.? Sango frowned. ?What are you gonna do if you lose??

Koishi didn?t even stop to consider it. She rose to her feet as she saw something moving under the surface.

?Don?t worry,? she said, picking her sword from the ground. ?I won?t.?

In the distance, a clock tower chimed twelve.

Two figures emerged from the water, walking out of the ocean and onto the beach. Satori took the lead, droplets running down the length of her saber. Jozu was a safe distance behind, making it clear that she would play no part in what was to come.

?Guess that?s my cue.? Sango stood up, then moved away to clear space for the two Sirens. ?Good luck, Koishi-san.?

Koishi nodded. With any luck, she wouldn?t need it. She began walking forward, matching her sister?s pace. When they came to a halt, they were only inches apart.

?Koishi.? Satori?s hand tightened around the hilt of her blade, her eyes as full of conviction as her sister?s. ?Should I even try to reason with you any more??

Koishi shook her head. ?We passed that point a long time ago, Satori. There?s only one way we can settle this.?

?That?s what I thought you?d say.? Satori took a long step backwards, bringing her blade forward and assuming her battle stance. ?Promise me, Koishi. Promise you?ll never fight again if I win here.?

Koishi hesitated for a moment, taking a deep breath. Then she matched her sister?s movements, stepping backwards and brandishing her own sword. ?Alright, Satori. I promise.?

The valkyrie smiled for the briefest of moments. Though she looked at ease, Koishi could almost feel the adrenaline pumping through her sister?s veins. Neither of them would hold anything back.

?Good luck,? Satori said.

?Yeah. Same to you.?

There was no triumphant exchange, no dramatic soliloquy. Just a few small words between two sisters that fate had pitted against each other.

Without so much as a fanfare, their battle began.

-----

Next Week's BGM: Meaning Of Birth (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SHM-7qMiDs)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: Esifex on October 13, 2013, 12:31:23 PM
Bum bum BUMMMMM

..Heaven or hell, lets rock? :o
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: Yaersulf on October 13, 2013, 04:08:15 PM
Epic battle of ultimate destiny, two of them even! Hype get!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on October 20, 2013, 09:47:46 AM
?Tides of Doubt!?

Koishi went on the offense immediately, charging forward with wild swings. Her third eye hummed, catching Satori in its ghostly aura. The valkyrie matched her sister blow for blow, the Tides of Doubt nullifying her speed advantage.

For a few minutes, they almost seemed to be taking turns. Koishi would strike, and Satori would slide out of the way. Satori would go in with a thrust, and Koishi would parry it at the last moment. On the sidelines Sango and Jozu watched on, silent but enraptured.

Now Koishi could hear nothing but the racing of her blood. Every swing, every stab was filled with everything she had. She could feel her sister?s determination carrying through Mjollnir, matching hers almost to a tee. The rest of the world was a blur - she saw Satori and nothing else.

There!

One clean swing forced Satori to stumble. The valkyrie stepped backwards, one hand falling to the ground for support. Koishi pressed her advantage, bringing her sword down towards Satori?s head.

The valkyrie smirked. ?Bad move.? She rolled to the side, and Koishi?s blade swung through empty air. In the same motion, she grabbed a handful of sand from the ground and sent it flying into Koishi?s face.

?Hyaah!? Koishi cried out as the sand struck her eyes, leaving Satori a fuzzy silhouette in her vision. She turned towards the water, but Satori stepped around to block her passage.

?I?m sorry, Koishi.? Satori came in with another thrust. ?But I can?t lose here, either!?

Koishi barely smacked the sword away, stumbling backwards under the valkyrie?s assault. Satori refused to give her a moment of reprieve, hammering down one stab after another. Any of them would have ended the fight if they had landed; Koishi could only manage clumsy, weak parries to keep herself alive.

Her brain was melting down. Satori had caught her off guard, and she couldn?t think of any way to reverse the momentum of the duel. She was holding Satori off, but there was no way this luck could last forever. Her vision was fading further, and her eyes were in almost unbearable pain.

What do I do? The question echoed through her mind, but there was no answer to be found. At last she lost her footing, tumbling backwards and landing sprawled on her back in the sand. She could barely see the shape of her sister standing over her, pulling the blade back for one final strike.

?This is it, Koishi.? A bolt of lightning danced along Mjolnir?s edge. ?It?s time for you to grow up-!?

No. Not like this. She couldn?t lose here. Koishi?s whole body cried out in dread. She forced her eyes shut, wildly flailing her sword in a desperate arc. Even if the odds were one in a million-

?Eh??

The blade hit clean, knocking Satori back before she could land the killing blow. Koishi pulled herself up, eyes still closed as she primed her sword again.

?Koishi, what are you doing?? She could hear Satori step backwards in the sand, her voice as bewildered as it was furious. ?Open your eyes and fight me!?

Koishi didn?t answer. She felt something strange humming through her system - voices whispering in her ear, telling her every little move she had to make. The part of her brain responsible for strategy had shut down - she felt feral, acting on sheer instinct alone.

She acted on the guiding words of her subconscious, her blade dancing through the air in a graceful arc. There was no need for her eyes anymore - with her sight gone, the rest of her senses had sharpened. She could hear every shuffle of Satori?s feet, every gasp for breath, even the whistling of wind as her saber flew forward.

?What the-?

Satori gasped, suddenly shifting to the defensive. Koishi?s strikes became almost surgical in their accuracy, striking just where they needed to stop Satori from mounting a counterattack. In blindness, she had become more powerful than she?d ever been with her eyes open.

Every one of Koishi?s senses felt primed. She knew Satori would slip eventually. When that chance came, no matter how slim it was, she had to take it. Only a decisive blow could reach her sister?s heart and prove her convictions.

All the while, the valkyrie?s nerves were starting to falter. She was bewildered by what she was witnessing, her mind-reading powers unable to react to Koishi?s raw instinct. The tide of battle had turned decisively, and now it was Satori on the verge of defeat.

?Why?? Satori?s voice was on the verge of cracking. ?Why won?t you give up?!?

Faces flashed in front of Koishi?s eyes. Cirno. Tewi. Eiki. Yuyuko. The people she had saved in her time as a Siren. Their smiles were a catalyst, bolstering Koishi?s spirit even further.

?Because too many people are counting on me,? Koishi said. ?If winning is what I need to do to make my world come true-?

She heard Satori?s blade fall slightly. The valkyrie?s grip had weakened. Instantly, Koishi swung at the base of Satori?s saber.

?-I?ll never lose!?

A final, brutal clash of steel rang across the beach. Satori?s sword flew from her hand, landing in the sand several feet away from her.

For a moment, there was no sound other than the shifting of the tide.

?I...? Satori?s voice was utterly monotone. ?No. This isn?t happening.?

Koishi finally wiped the sand from her face. When her vision cleared she saw Satori on her knees, staring down at the ground with tears forming in her eyes. The valkyrie was engulfed in a faint violet light, re-appearing in her human form.

?...Of all the people to beat me, it had to be you.? Satori?s face glowered with hatred, and she slammed a fist into the sand. ?Dammit, dammit, dammit!?

It was almost pitiful to look at. Satori?s eyes streamed with tears, her whole body rocking with heaving sobs. In the distance, Jozu looked almost as distraught, taking the first steps towards comforting her companion.

Before she could come close, Koishi wrapped her arms around her sister.

?It?s okay, Satori. It?s over now.?

Her body flashed with light as she dismissed her Siren form, hugging Satori with all her might. She could feel her sister?s warmth against her skin, a feeling she?d almost forgotten after months of separation.

?Koishi...? Satori went limp in Koishi?s arms, burying her face in Koishi?s shoulder. ?I?m sorry, I?m sorry, I can?t-?

?I know.? She patted her sister on the back. ?You can?t give up either, can you??

She had felt it in her sister?s blows during the fight. Satori?s conviction was too strong to be snuffed out in an instant.  But Koishi had managed to get through to her, even if it was just to sow the first seeds of change.

?It?s...it?s not fair.? Satori sniffled, trying to pull herself together. ?You want to save the humans, and I want to save the youkai. But we can?t do both, can we...??

?Why not??

Satori tensed. ?B-Because-?

?Satori.? Koishi squeezed her sister tighter. ?I?ll take on your dream, too.?

?What...??

Koishi smiled. ?You?re right. It?s not fair for one side to benefit while the other suffers. So I?ll find a way to save both of them.?

She didn?t know how she?d do it, but she knew nothing would stop her from trying. That was the only way to truly save her sister, she realised.

Satori was silent for a while. When she did find her voice, some of her warmth had returned along with it. ?When was the last time we hugged like this??

?Too long ago,? Koishi said. ?Far, far too long ago.?

Satori managed a sad smile, finally returning the embrace. ?Koishi...I?m home.?

Koishi grinned. ?Better late than ne-?

The breath died in her throat. Her face was locked in horror as a figure burst out of the water, pointing a single finger at Satori?s back.

?LOOK OUT!? On raw impulse, Koishi shoved her sister to the side.

Her body exploded in pain as a bolt of energy stabbed through her chest.

-----

Sango could only watch as Koishi fell to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut. Satori was over her sister in a flash, propping her up in the sand and trying to tend to her wound.

?Oh, dear. It seems I missed.?

Leviathan stood knee-deep in the water, hand still outstretched from firing the bolt. Her face was twisted into a cruel smile.

?That voice...? Satori?s eyes popped open. ?Master? Why would you-?

?Don?t call me that,? the youkai hissed, with an animosity that hurt just to hear. ?I gave you everything you could have wanted, and all I asked for in return was your loyalty.? She spat at the Siren. ?I knew you humans couldn?t be trusted.?

Sango?s body heaved with disgust. She broke into a run, ready to charge Leviathan where she stood.

She wasn?t as fast as Jozu.

?You little piece of-? The shark had a head start, and her fury gave her an extra burst of speed. She closed her hand into a fist as she descended on Leviathan.

?And you!? Leviathan growled, swiping a hand in Jozu?s direction. Lightning leaped from her fingers, catching the shark in the chest and dropping her in an instant. ?You thought I wouldn?t notice you slipping out of the palace? You?re even more of an moron than I thought you were.?

Jozu didn?t respond. Her whole body twitched and flailed under the force of the lightning, but she clenched her teeth and refused to show her pain. Behind her, Sango had managed to catch up at last.

?You let her go right-kyah!? A second stream of lightning burst from Leviathan?s other hand, dropping Sango in a similar fashion. Her body jerked about against her will, but compared to the ordeal Jozu was going through it was nothing.

?Oh?? Leviathan?s voice was carefree, almost playful. ?And how do you plan to stop me, exactly? You?re just a pair of lackeys.?

Sango didn?t even have enough control of herself to speak. In the distance she could see Satori still trying to rouse her sister, hands covered in Koishi?s blood. The dolphin cursed beneath her breath, powerless to do anything but watch.

When a new voice spoke up, she swore she was hallucinating.

?Maybe they can?t. But we can!?

Something jumped from the pathway running alongside the beach. For an instant it hung in the air, and Sango could make out a pair of beautiful golden wings. Then it descended, plunging towards Leviathan with the speed of a bullet.

?Hm.? Leviathan frowned. ?The cavalry.?

The lightning from her fingers faded, and a hole opened up beneath her feet. She was gone before the impact, her aggressor slamming into the ground with a futile splash.

?Phwee!? Sango got a face full of sand and water, but it was still better than a face full of lightning. She hauled herself back to her feet as she looked up at her saviour. ?Mokou-san??

Mokou scowled. ?Damn. Should?ve figured she had an escape plan.? She looked down at the dolphin. ?You alright, Sango-san??

Sango stared up in awe for a moment before nodded. ?I-I?m fine, but Jozu-?

?No.? Jozu?s body was riddled with burns, but she still had enough strength to point further up the beach. ?I?ll be fine. Help...Koishi...?

The shark went limp, and for a moment Sango feared the worst, but she could still see tiny movements in Jozu?s chest. She pulled herself to her feet, the numbness fading along her muscles as she rose.

?Mokou-san, how did you-?

?No time,? Mokou muttered. ?Looks like we?ve got a bigger problem.?

By the time they had reached Koishi, the other Sirens were already circled around her. In their midst, Nitori barked orders at Satori, who was struggling to wrap a bandage around Koishi?s wound.

?C?mon, Koishi. Stay with me, please...?

Koishi couldn?t answer. She tried, but all that came out of her mouth was a painful wheeze. The wound on her chest began to froth, bubbles forming within the blood. Her face was turning a foreboding shade of blue.

?Dammit, it?s deeper than I thought.? Nitori swore in her mother tongue. ?And it?s punctured the lung, too.?

?Then what?re we waiting for?!? Satori yelled. ?We?ve got to get her to a hospital before she-?

Nitori?s response was a frosty glare. She looked down at Koishi, fresh blood already seeping from the bandage. ?The hospital?s half an hour away. There?s no way she?s going to last that long.?

Sango caught the moment everyone present processed that statement. A light sparked out in Satori?s eyes, and Mokou?s hands balled into fists. Sakuya and Youmu clasped hands, both squeezing for dear life. Komachi?s face darkened, and Nazrin?s expression went entirely blank.

That moment dragged on for what felt like eternity, until Nitori picked up Koishi and cradled her in her arms.

?Eh?? Youmu furrowed her brow. ?What are you doing??

?What do you think?? Nitori said, incredulous. ?I?m going to save her.?

?But you just said-?

?I said the hospital was too far away.? Nitori waved a finger in the Sirens? direction. ?I didn?t say she was going to die.?

As quickly as it had vanished, the hope among the Sirens had returned. Now every eye was on Nitori, listening up for whatever miracle would save their leader?s life.

Sango?s eyes widened. ?Boss, are you talking about the-?

?Of course I am,? Nitori said, the words flying out of her mouth at machine-gun pace. ?This is exactly the sort of scenario we had it stocked up for.?

?It?? Sakuya folded her arms. ?What is it, exactly??

?I?ll explain later.? Nitori looked down at Koishi, the blood already running onto her hands. ?Right now we need every moment we can get. Sango, help me bring Koishi into the van. The rest of you, bring the shark youkai over there to the school - she?s not critical, but she?s still in pretty bad shape.?

Dismay flew across the faces of the Sirens. Sango knew what they wanted to ask - why the school? But the question would cost them vital seconds, and that was time they couldn?t afford to lose.

?Right.? Nazrin nodded her head, tail swishing furiously even as she tried to keep her expression neutral. ?You?d better save her, got it??

?Sure thing.? Nitori winked. ?OK, Sirens, move out!?

The girls moved in unison, dashing along the beach to tend to Jozu. Nitori and Sango darted in the opposite direction, carrying Koishi back onto land and laying her down on the back seat of the van. Sango buckled herself in, resting Koishi?s head on her lap.

It wasn?t until then she realised Satori had followed them.

?I?m coming too,? the Siren said, so bluntly it left no room for argument. ?There?s no way you?re taking my sister away from me now.?

Nitori scowled at the valkyrie for an instant. Sango rarely saw that sort of anger from her boss, and when it did emerge it was something truly frightening. Satori repaid in kind, matching the kappa?s intensity and redoubling it.

In the end it was Nitori who flinched. ?Fine. But you?d better not leave my sight, understand??

Satori nodded, then shifted into the seat beside Sango. By now Koishi?s eyes had glazed over, and her breaths were small and rapid. Sango could see the fear in the valkyrie?s eyes, the unease she was trying so hard to conceal.

?Alright, we?re good to go.? Nitori jammed the key into the ignition, and the van?s engine roared to life. ?Keep hold of Koishi-san - this is gonna be a bumpy ride.?

Sango nodded, her grip on Koishi?s head growing tighter. Her fingers pressed against the Siren?s neck, feeling Koishi?s pulse weaken with every beat. She clenched her jaw, refusing to let the fear overwhelm her.

?It?s a good thing no-one?s out at this hour,? Nitori yelled over the sound of the engine, ?because I?m about to break every rule in the book.?

Then they were off, bursting through the streets of Gensouto in quiet desperation.

-----

Falling.

Koishi?s world was a blur. An unintelligible mesh of greys and blacks. She reached out and grabbed nothing. In the distance something rumbled, loud at first, but slowly softening.

There was no pain any more. Only a vague regret about the things she?d left unfinished. She thought of Satori, how they had reunited only to be torn apart again. She thought of the Sirens, the friends she was leaving behind to finish the fight. She thought of her pets, who would gain one master and lose another.

The rumbling was quiet now, a hum in Koishi?s ear. Her eyes began to close, and she felt her mind shutting down. There was no use in wasting her final moments with bitterness. She had managed to save Satori, and she could hardly ask for more than that.

She fell. And fell. And fell.












And landed.

?Ah-??

The sudden landing jolted Koishi back to her senses. She had fallen neatly onto an ornate wooden chair, finding herself seated at a pristine dining table. There were no walls, no ceiling, no floor - in every direction, the world expanded forever in a pale shade of violet.

?Where am I...??

Koishi ran a hand along the table, letting the wood brush along her fingers. At the same time it was utterly alien and faintly nostalgic, like a fragment of a forgotten dream. Come to think of it, how had she known it was a dining table? There were no dishes, no cutlery, no meals. The thought had simply jumped into her mind - for reasons she couldn?t place, it just felt right.

Why?

?Good evening.?

Koishi gasped. In the time it had taken her to blink, another figure had appeared on the other side of the table. A long purple dress hung over her slender body, and she casually sipped from a cup of tea that had likewise emerged from the ether. She carried an aura of almost supernatural calmness that dulled Koishi?s sense of danger.

The woman?s dark blue eyes ran across Koishi?s body, noting every scuff and mark. She smiled, brushing back her long blonde hair as she placed her cup on the table.

?You really have grown, my dear. Just as I?d hoped you would.?

Her words were the key that unlocked a memory in the deepest depths of Koishi?s mind. The Siren gasped, the truth slowly dawning on her.

?I...I?ve been here before, haven?t I??

The thoughts were foggy, but she could just about put them together. She remembered that day in the lake, when she had been on the brink of death - and the place she?d found herself afterward.

?Very good,? the woman said, with the tone of a proud mother. ?I wasn?t certain you?d remember, but it seems I?ve managed to jog your memory.?

Koishi gripped at her head. ?It?s still sort of hazy, honestly. I?m not even sure where we are.?

?Oh, that?s a simple question to answer.? The woman smiled. ?We?re on the Boundary.?

?The Boundary??

?Well, a Boundary, to be more precise.? The woman swooped a hand down at the table, picking up a cookie that hadn?t been there a second earlier. She munched at it as she began her explanation. ?It?s basically a border between one plane of existence and another. Normally you fit very neatly on one side or the other, but occasionally souls can find themselves caught inbetween, like a butterfly trapped in a net.?

She pushed the plate of cookies towards Koishi. ?Want one??

Koishi looked down at the plate, its silver sheen catching in her eyes. Shrugging, she took the smallest snack she could see and nibbled at a corner. It tasted of nothing, yet the texture was strangely pleasing to Koishi?s palate.

?Then...this is a Boundary between life and death??

?You catch on quick, I see.? The woman smirked, wiping some stray crumbs from her cheek. ?You?re having what human scientists would call a near-death experience. With any luck, your friends will save you before you pass over completely. In the meantime, I?m afraid you?ll have to bear with my company.?

?Yeah, about that...? Koishi gulped, worried her question would come across as an offense. ?Who are you??

The woman paused for a moment, eyes widening. A few seconds later, she burst into laughter.

?Oh, you have no idea how long it?s been since someone asked me that!? Her giggles were almost childlike, a stark contrast from her normal coolness. It was a few minutes before she regained her composure, clearing her throat and straightening her back. ?Ah, my apologies. It?s just that normally, my reputation tends to precede me. I haven?t had the chance to introduce myself in a while, so forgive me if I make the most of it.?

She rose from her chair, hanging in empty space as she curtseyed towards Koishi. ?I am Yukari Yakumo. It?s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.?

Koishi almost choked on her food. ?Yakumo? The Yukari Yakumo??

?Is there another?? The youkai winked. ?But no, I am the woman you?re thinking of. Ruler of all the earth?s youkai...or at least, I was at one point.?

Yukari fell back into her seat, arms flapping around in an attempted flourish. She watched Koishi intently for a few seconds, gauging her reaction closely. The only response Koishi offered was a blank, bewildered expression.

?Hmm.? The youkai put a hand to her chin. ?You are an unusual one.?

?Eh? Why??

?Whenever people find out who I am, they usually jump to one of two responses.? She raised two fingers for emphasis. ?Either they praise me endlessly for being some almighty ruler, or they curse my name for unleashing the greatest evil the world has ever known.? She grabbed another cookie from the table, biting down hard on it this time. ?Yet you don?t seem to have fallen to either extreme. Why is that??

Koishi tilted her head. ?Well, I barely know you. All I have are second-hand stories I?ve heard from other youkai. It doesn?t seem right to judge you based on that alone.?

Yukari chuckled again, but this time her laugh was more refined. ?It?s rare to see someone so...open-minded. I knew I chose well when I selected you.?

?Thanks,? Koishi said, a light blush rising to her cheeks. ?Actually, is it okay if I ask you something about that??

?Oh??

?Well...? A million questions rose to Koishi?s mind, but they all stemmed from a single root. ?This might sound like a silly question, but why this? Why the Sirens, the Teardrops, everything? Wasn?t there a better way to hold the Ravager back??

When the subject changed to the Sirens, Yukari?s entire demeanour shifted. There was a new solemnity in her stance, her shoulders slumped, letting out a little sigh with every exhale. She stared down at the table as she began to speak.

?I suspect you know much of the story already. I gave my life to seal the Ravager away, but even then the spell wasn?t strong enough to destroy it. I had to make plans for the future, so that when the threat re-emerged there would be a force ready to stop it.

?The problem was...well, look around you.? Yukari motioned to the void. ?It took a good deal of my power just to make it to the boundary, but there?s no way for me to return to the world of the living. If I was to prepare any sort of defense, it would be through using other people as a proxy.?

?Then how did you choose?? Koishi asked. ?If you couldn?t get past the Boundary, how did you pick the Sirens??

?That?s another story.? Yukari let out another sigh. ?I can?t affect the living world, but I can see the occasional glimpse of its future. I saw fragments of who you girls were and what you would become, and did what I could based on the information I had. The only Siren I had a chance to meet in person was...well, you.?

?Ah.? Koishi pursed her lips, unsure how to parse that information. ?So you chose me based on that??

?Indeed.? Yukari nodded. ?I already had your sister picked out, but until you arrived I didn?t even know she had a sibling. When I saw your future, it was clearer than any I?d witnessed before - I could see exactly what life would put you through, what you would experience, how it would shape you.? She smiled. ?And most importantly, that you would return here to speak with me again.?

Koishi felt like she was drowning in air. Yukari casually spoke of precognition, seeing years or even centuries into the future as if it was nothing. She truly was as powerful as Koishi had been told. She was so caught up in awe that she almost missed Yukari?s next statement.

?Now, I can entrust you with the truth.?

Koishi froze. A sense of foreboding pressing on her shoulders. ?What truth??

Yukari paused for a moment, choosing her words carefully. ?I intended for the Sirens to serve two purposes. They would stop the Black Claw from coming into power, but there was another role for them to accomplish, a choice they had to make. That was why the Sirens all had to be human - they needed to see the world with open eyes, without any of the pre-formed prejudices youkai would bring to the table. I chose girls from all walks of life, so the conclusions they drew wouldn?t be tainted by bias.?

Every word made Koishi feel more and more cautious, trepidation hanging in her voice as she spoke. ?What choice??

?What else?? Yukari smiled, but there was a sadness in her grin now. ?I chose you to decide the fate of the world.?

The youkai ran a hand along the top panel of the table, revealing a small dagger hidden underneath. Its blade glinted with all the colours of the rainbow, humming with a quiet but brilliant aura.

?This is Aptera,? she said. ?I?ve spent centuries crafting it, and it?s my greatest work. It draws from the power of the masquerade itself, a power stronger than anything I ever had in my time. It should be strong enough to vanquish any enemy you come across.?

Koishi stared at the knife in awe, picking it up and examining it. At every angle it took on a new colour, like a brilliant kaleidoscope. She could hardly believe that something so beautiful could also be so powerful.

?...Regrettably, that power will come at a cost.? Yukari slumped forward onto the table, the teacup shaking as her hands struck the wood. ?This is not a weapon you can fuel with your own might, or even the power of the Sirens as a collective. It must draw its power from the magical powers of an entire race.?

Koishi gasped. She dropped the knife, as if it had just caught alight.

?The Sirens as a whole have to decide whether its power should come from. Whichever race you choose will never be able to use magic again - no charms, no spells, nothing. They won?t even be able to use magical items like the Teardrops. The process will be instant and irreversible.?

Koishi blinked. ?But I thought the whole point of the masquerade was that humans didn?t even know magic existed. What would change if they lost a power they didn?t know they had??

?Oh, Koishi, it would change everything.? Yukari sighed, her eyes losing focus. ?Because the magic of humanity is the only thing stopping the youkai from going to war.?

The Siren felt her stomach give way.

?The youkai populace still bears a lot of hatred toward humanity. If the humans had no magic to defend themselves, there?s nothing that would stop the youkai from flattening them in full-blown war.? Yukari drew her shoulders in, trying to take up as little space as possible. ?Even a nuclear bomb could be nullified with a simple charm. It could take months or even years, but eventually humanity would be worn down to nothing.?

Koishi felt sick. What sort of choice was that? Either way, she would be crippling an entire race for the rest of time. She pulled her chair backwards, shaking her head as her eyes were locked on the knife.

?No...I can?t do that. I can?t make that sort of call.?

?I know.? Yukari nodded, eyes glistening with guilt. ?It?s an awful responsibility to place on someone, and I?d have done anything to avoid it. But it?s not your responsibility alone, Koishi - you have your friends to talk to. Maybe together you can make a decision that all of you can live with.?

She pushed Aptera forward, right to the edge of the table. ?Please, Koishi. I need the Sirens to finish what I couldn?t.?

Koishi wanted to run, but the empty space around gave her nowhere to go but down. She glared at the knife, as if looking at it hard enough would make it disappear.

This was her duty, she thought to herself. This was the choice she had been chosen to make. But she wanted no part of it.

?I?m sorry.? She shook her head. ?I can?t, Yukari-san. I just can?t.?

Hurt flashed across Yukari?s face for a moment, like Koishi had just slapped her across the face. ?I?m...sorry to hear that, Koishi.? She grabbed a cookie from the plate, letting it crumble between her fingers. ?I only hope you change your mind before it?s too late.?

Before Koishi could protest, a sudden shaking rocked the chair. Koishi fell forward, grabbing at the table for support. Her hand grabbed on instinct at the knife.

?Ah, looks like your time is up.? Yukari looked upwards with a smile. ?Say hello to Ran for me, will you? Tell her I send my regards.?

Koishi felt an invisible hand grab at her collar, tugging her upwards through the air. She flopped around, unable to stop her ascent, quickly flying into the empty sky. Yukari waved at her as she went, quickly becoming nothing but a speck in the Siren?s vision.

The rumbling from before returned - faint at first, but growing stronger. With each cycle it became louder and clearer, until finally Koishi recognised it as a heartbeat. Her heartbeat.

As her world faded to white, she realised she was still holding onto the knife.

-----

?Pu-haaaaaaaa!?

Koishi gasped, her lungs ravenously taking in all the air they could. All her nerves felt like they?d been turned on at once, the physical opposite of numbness. She flailed about, only to find herself squirming in something heavy and viscous.

?Hey, she?s waking up!?

A voice echoed from a receiver to Koishi?s right. As her eyes came into focus, she saw she was floating in a pale green liquid, still wearing the bloody uniform she?d passed out in. A small mask hung over her face, sending up a stream of bubbles every time she exhaled. She reached forward, her hand pressing against a sheet of solid glass.

A few seconds later, her vision was clear enough to see what was on the other side - the humble abode of Room 495.

?Morning, Koishi-san.? Nitori tipped her cap in Koishi?s direction. At her side, Sango was standing with her back to the wall, trying to look unremarkable and failing. ?How?s it feel being alive again??

Koishi?s eyes popped open. Standing on the other side of the glass were the other Sirens, all of them looking in at her. She could make out varying expressions of relief and excitement, though Nazrin was doing her best to look unfazed.

?Eh?? She spoke through the mask, assuming the communication was two-way. ?Where?s Satori??

?She?s in the nurse?s office with her shark friend,? Komachi answered. ?She was hangin? around here for a bit, but I think it mighta been too much for her to watch you hurtin? like that.?

Hurting? Koishi tilted her head. She didn?t feel any pain. In fact, looking down on herself, she couldn?t find so much as a scratch. She could have sworn she?d been shot, but there wasn?t even a trace of her injury.

?Surprised?? Mokou smirked. ?Yeah, we were, too. The boss hauled you in here double-time and shoved you into that tank. Seriously, that thing is a miracle-worker. You?ve gotta let me in on the recipe.?

?I?m afraid it?s not very viable, Mokou-san.? Nitori shrugged, shoulders slumping now the danger had finally passed. ?It took us decades to store enough energy to power the tank, and even then it?s only good for one use.?

As if on cue, the machine?s faint humming began to die down. The green liquid lost its light, darkening and growing lighter around Koishi. Slits opened in the floor beneath her, draining away the spent gel over the course of a minute. Koishi pulled the mask off the moment her head was above the surface, savouring a breath of real air.

?You should be fine now, Koishi-san.? Nitori swirled her chair around to face Sango and frowned. ?But first, I think the two of you owe us an apology.?

?Phwee-? Sango managed a little squeak before her face went bright red. She hung her head forward, almost genuflecting at her master?s feet. ?I?m sorry, I?m sorry, I?m sorry!?

?You should be,? Sakuya said with a frown. ?I never put you down as the type to converse with the enemy, Sango-san.?

?And not telling your own companions about it?? For once Youmu was in agreement with Sakuya, the two sisters moving together as one to confront the dolphin. ?Immature isn?t nearly strong enough a word for it.?

Sango grew teary-eyed as the Sirens started to surround her. She raised her hands in surrender, ready to accept whatever punishment they forced on her.

Mokou gave her a playful bonk on the head. ?We?re a team, remember?? There was no anger in her voice, only a minor disappointment. ?You?re really lucky that we were there when the whole thing went to hell, or Koishi-san wouldn?t have survived.?

?Wait, you knew?? Koishi opened the hatch to the tank as the last traces of gel drained away. ?But we didn?t tell anybody else-?

?Actually, you did.?

Nazrin raised a hand, a smug grin rising to her face. ?Come on, Koishi-san. You really think you two could just sneak out of the house and not expect anyone to notice??

?Wasn?t all us, though!? Shou?s form popped out from the mouse?s side, pulling a thumbs-up with both hands. ?We had some help when it came to getting the word out.?

Nazrin growled. ?Quit stealing my thunder, master.?

?Help?? Koishi tried to brush the gel out of her hair as she stepped out of the tank. ?What sort of help-?

?KOISHI-SAMA~!?

Before she could finish the sentence, Koishi was charged from both sides in a massive embrace. Rin and Utsuho both clung to her like glue, paying no mind to the fact she was soaked through.

?Koishi-sama, you?re such an idiot!? Rin yelled, on the verge of tears. ?What kind of master runs off like that and leaves her pets to worry about her??

Utsuho cooed furiously, her wings flapping around to dry Koishi off. ?We were really scared, Koishi-sama. Never ever ever do that again, okay? Pretty please??

Even with her outfit drenched, Koishi couldn?t help but feel warm as her pets hugged her. The Sirens were gathered around, all looking at her with bright smiles. They were right - the Sirens were a team, and she?d forgotten that.

?I?m sorry, everyone,? she said. ?I won?t go off by myself like that again.?

?Here?s hoping,? Komachi said. ?Just to be clear - you don?t have a second sister you never mentioned, right??

A long hard laugh echoed through the room. It was a laugh they all desperately needed to let out. The crisis was over, the battle was won, the day was saved.

Yet Koishi couldn?t help but think about what she?d experienced while she was unconscious. Had it been a hallucination? Surely it must have been. After all, Yukari had made all that fuss about the knife, and it was nowhere to be seen.

...Right?

She wanted to believe that, but she couldn?t shake the feeling something was wrong. She dug a hand into her pocket on a paranoid instinct.

Her fingers closed around cold steel. Cold, and raw, and wicked.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: BT on October 20, 2013, 08:42:31 PM
like, okay, I saw this coming but I didn't expect
Yukari

good shit
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on October 27, 2013, 08:01:51 AM
“I’m not hurting you, am I?”

Satori’s hands ran carefully along Jozu’s body, the sponge numbing the pain from her burns. The question was so rhetorical that Jozu almost wanted to laugh at it.

“No, not at all.” She infused every syllable with as much sarcasm as she could muster. “Actually, I’ve never felt better. Think I might go for a walk, actually.”

“Very funny.” Satori’s expression grew suddenly stern. “Seriously, though, let me know if I’m pushing too hard. It won’t help anyone if I make your injuries worse.”

Jozu rolled her eyes. “Yes, mom.”

Their discussions were interspersed with long silences, where Satori would do nothing but tend to Jozu’s wounds. The shark looked worse than she was - the burns were thorough, but a well-kept youkai would be back on their feet in a matter of hours. All Satori could do to help was make the recovery process a little less painful - but she was doing everything she could on that count.

There was something unnerving about her proximity, Jozu thought. Personal space wasn’t a concept that youkai usually cared for, but having Satori this close made her feel strangely embarrassed. Maybe it was an aftereffect from the burns? Yes, surely it had to be that.

“So how’s your sister doing?” she asked, eager to distract herself. “Is she gonna pull through?”

“Koishi’s fine.” Satori let out a little sigh of relief. “Apparently they cut it pretty close. Another minute or two and she would have been beyond saving.”

“Jeez. That must’ve been awful for you.”

The Siren looked down with a sad smile. “Don’t worry. It’s not the first time.”

The look on Satori’s face struck a chord in the depths of Jozu’s heart. Even with her whole body wracked with pain, all the shark could think about was how much Satori had been through. She wanted to reach out and rip the sadness from that expression, to give the girl something to smile about for a change.

Holy shit, that was sappy. Jozu smacked herself in the forehead. What had happened to her? She’d been a ruthless killer before this whole Siren business, and now she was more worried about a human than she was about herself. The change had been so gradual that she’d made no attempt to resist it.

And the frightening thing was that even now, she didn’t mind what she had become.

Dammit, Satori. What have you done to me?

Jozu looked up at the Siren. Satori was the closest thing she had to a friend nowadays. No, friend was the wrong word - friends didn’t make your insides turn to jelly when you thought about them for too long. But even then, it was too late for anything to happen between them, not after what Jozu had done...

“Hello?” Satori clicked her fingers in front of Jozu’s face. “Don’t tell me you’ve passed out again.”

Jozu flinched. “Ah, uh, sorry. I was, uh...distracted.”

Satori sighed and shook her head. She reached down, tenderly putting Jozu’s hand in hers. “Is there something you want to say?”

Dammit. Stupid mindreaders, always knowing when you had something to hide. Jozu cleared her throat, but it only managed to make her chest feel heavier.

“Look, Satori...I’m sorry about everything.”

Satori tilted her head. “Eh? What are you sorry for?”

“What else?” Jozu squeezed at the Siren’s hand. “I nearly got your sister killed, and now the Black Claw is gonna be out for your blood. I tried to help you out, and all I managed to do was make shit worse.”

She couldn’t look. She knew she’d let Satori down in the worst way possible. She’d wanted to play dumb and act like the whole thing never happened, in the hope that maybe they could pretend everything was okay. But there was only so long she could run from what she’d done.

Satori squeezed back.

“What do you mean, Jozu?” Satori’s face brightened. “It’s thanks to you that I can speak with my sister without us coming to blows. It was dicey, maybe, but it all worked out in the end.” Her eyes glistened with a brand new joy. “And I can’t exaggerate just how grateful I am for that.”

Jozu felt numb, the pain in her body falling away. All the fear and dread she’d been bottling up disappeared in an instant. Satori wasn’t just alright with what had happened, she appreciated it. The sudden release of tension made Jozu feel like she was flying.

“Heh heh...that’s good to hear.” She was still blushing, and now she knew it wasn’t thanks to the burns. “I wanted to cheer you up, Satori. It really sucked seeing you wallowing around the fortress like that. Because I, well...”

Jozu had exactly one chance to let it out. If she waited for the moment to pass, it would never feel as right as it felt now. Even if she was wrong - even if Satori didn’t understand - she had to say it now before her heart exploded.

“I...I like you, Satori. I mean, really really like you.” The first words were the hardest, but Jozu sped up from there. “Not at first, I admit. I thought you were gonna be a hassle, but you ended up growing on me. Now when I think about you too much I start feeling really anxious and I worry that maybe I’m being stupid about this and how would it even work I mean you’re a human and I’m a youkai and we can’t-”

Her soliloquy was interrupted by Satori leaning forward and kissing her on the lips.

It was a short kiss, but it was enough to make the shark feel like she was on fire.  By the time Satori pulled back, Jozu swore she could feel steam hissing from her ears.

“Congratulations,” Satori said with a smile. “I was wondering when you’d finally find the courage to say it.”

“Then-then you knew?” Jozu stammered, any sense of composure scattered in the wind. “But I worked really hard not to think about it when I was around you. I didn’t wanna - I thought it’d be really awkward if you didn’t feel the same.”

“Well, you didn’t try hard enough.” Satori ran a playful hand through Jozu’s hair. “But you’ve got nothing to worry about, Jozu. You’re a very special person to me, too. I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable with how you felt before I told you.”

Jozu nuzzled at Satori’s hand, letting her hair rustle between the human’s fingers. It was so subservient she would have died on her feet if anyone else saw it - but with Satori, it just felt so right.

“...But how are we gonna make this work?” She pouted. “I mean, either way this war ends, we’re probably gonna go our separate ways.”

Satori’s eyes quickly hardened with resolve. “Don’t worry. I’ll find a way to make it work. Either I’ll hide you at home, or I’ll come live with you on the bottom of the ocean. Whatever it takes.”

She spoke with such power that Jozu had no choice but to believe her. The pair lost themselves in each others’ eyes, sharing a long but comfortable silence.

“...I should probably go.” Satori broke away first, standing to her full height over the bed. “They’re holding a debriefing for the Sirens, so I should probably attend. Don’t go walking off, understand?”

Jozu’s arm creaked as she saluted. “Roger that, boss. Take care.”

Satori nodded, her face erupting into another grin. Just seeing that smile brought a warmth to Jozu’s heart. Her eyes followed Satori up until she was a distant speck in the corridor.

It took a while for her body to remember how much it was hurting.

“Ah, jeez...” Jozu winced as she pulled the covers back over herself. “Would it kill these guys to give me a painkiller or two?”

-----

“So, that’s that.” Nitori fumbled with her papers, clearing her throat in an attempt to quell the growing murmurs. “Assuming there are no objections, we’ll move straight on-”

“Of course I have an objection!” Momiji stood up from her chair, slamming her hands into the desk. She swung an arm around with a flourish as she pointed it towards the dolphin sitting across from her. “Ma’am, Agent Tororetsu violated every rule the White Pearl has. She made deals with the enemy, kept vital information from her superiors, and led one of the Sirens into a goddamn deathtrap. And you’re going to pardon her?”

Sango bowed her head forward, sweat dripping from her brow as her fingers tapped at her lap. “I-I said I’m sorry, okay? It was stupid and I should have told you guys, but I didn’t mean for things to turn out like they did!”

“The humans say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions,” Momiji growled. “Maybe you should have kept that in mind.”

Nitori sighed, leaning backwards into her chair. She’d hoped that if she glossed over the matter quickly no-one would question it. Why couldn’t anything be simple anymore?

“You’re right, Momiji. What Sango-san did was all sorts of illegal, and normally I’d have made a pretty public example of her.”  The kappa shrugged. “But the progress she managed to make with it was pretty damn invaluable, so we can write it off as a learning experience. And the girls are willing to forgive her - right, girls?”

She motioned to the far end of the table, where another half-dozen desks had been added to accommodate the Sirens. Satori was at the very end of the table, as far away from the ‘official’ members of the Pearl as was physically possible.

“Right.” Koishi nodded, speaking on her allies’ behalf. “Sango-san was never planning to hurt anyone, and it’s thanks to her that I got the chance to make up with my sister. She deserves a second chance.”

“Yes, but-” Momiji stayed standing, mouth bobbing open and shut as she tried to come up with a counterargument. Nitori pondered how best to defuse the wolf - it was difficult to reason with someone so in love with the rules.

Luckily, Ran intervened before Nitori had to step in.

“Easy, girl.” The fox reached up, putting a hand on Momiji’s shoulder and lowering her back into her seat. “Now isn’t the time to get caught up in petty disputes. We have much larger issues to deal with than a stray dolphin.”

Momiji continued to grumble and glare at Sango, but she eventually gave up on her attack. Her respect for Ran was stronger than her loyalty to the law, it seemed. Nitori eased her shoulders, relieved that the problem had managed to solve itself.

Now she could focus on the difficult part.

“Right, then. With that out of the way, let’s continue the debriefing.” Nitori looked right across the table towards the newest member of the group. “Satori-san, I hope you appreciate the risk we’re taking in allowing you to listen in on this. For all we know, you could just walk out right now and tell Leviathan exactly where we’re hiding.”

“And why exactly would I do that?” Satori took the accusation poorly, folding her arms and rolling her eyes. “I’m not sure if you missed the part where Leviathan tried to kill my sister and my partner in rapid succession.”

The air cooled to freezing point. Every eye at the table had fallen onto Satori - one or two looking on with concern, but most examining her with suspicion. Nitori growled, already knowing she’d started on the wrong foot.

“To be fair, we are dealing with a genius.” Sakuya twirled one of her braids around with a finger. “I wouldn’t put it past Leviathan to set up a plan like that.”

“But she shot Satori-san first, didn’t she?” Mokou scratched her head. “Koishi-san only got hit because she got in the way. Seems like a big risk to take.”

“I’m with Mokou-san on this one,” Komachi said, nodding thoughtfully. “Leviathan’s smart, but she’s not crazy. That plan sounds like too much of a gamble.”

A short silence followed, which was the closest they were likely to come to an agreement. Again, Nitori opened her mouth to try and move the discussion along; again, someone else beat her to the punch.

“Still, I’m rather skeptical,” Ran said, her tails standing on end behind her. “No matter how badly Leviathan may have angered you, it’s hard to believe you’ve changed sides so suddenly.”

Satori frowned. “That’s because I haven’t. I still believe in what my master told me; I’ve just found out that she doesn’t. We’re not allies, Yakumo-san. We simply share a common enemy.”

A collective gasp ran across the table. Nitori mentally smacked herself across the face - she’d expected Satori to be confrontational, but she never thought the Siren would be this blatant about it. The only person who seemed to have been expecting her outburst was Koishi, nodding along in understanding.

“Eeeh?” Sango blinked rapidly, rubbing at her eyes in disbelief. “But you said you’d give up if you lost to Koishi-san!”

“I said no such thing,” Satori retorted, raising a finger in dispute. “Koishi agreed she’d stop fighting for the Pearl if she lost. You assumed the agreement was mutual.”

“But that’s-” Youmu’s hands balled into fists, as if the claim had been a personal offense. “That’s just dishonourable! The odds were stacked from the very beginning!”

The valkyrie smirked. “It’s not my fault Koishi didn’t use her head, is it?”

That was the spark that started a wave of dispute, a dozen voices merging into one another. All of them were aimed at Satori, either stating their disbelief or simply telling her exactly where she could stick her double-crossing tactics.

Nitori grabbed at her temples. This had spiraled out of control with absurd speed, and she had no clue how to stop it. If it was as simple as kicking Satori out, she’d have already done that - but the fact was, the valkyrie was the only way they’d have a chance of finding Leviathan’s hideout. They needed her help - the only problem was getting everyone to play along nicely.

“Everyone, stop it!” Koishi’s voice rose above the rest, silencing the table in a surprising display of force. She reached over and took her sister’s hand in support. “Satori isn’t a bad person. Maybe we don’t agree on everything, but that doesn’t mean we can’t work together.”

“Wait, why are you sticking up for her?” Nazrin’s tail whipped against the floor. “I thought you were the one she just admitted to double-crossing.”

Koishi’s face hardened, seeming to age by almost a decade. “Does that even matter? So what if Satori disagrees with us? It’s like she said - we’ve got a common enemy, and we’re only going to beat the Black Claw if we team up.”

“Koishi-san, with all due respect,” Momiji said, in a tone that implied no respect at all, “I don’t think you’re in a position to make a judgement here. Your relation to Satori compromises your viewpoint.”

“Maybe it does,” Koishi said. “But we need her right now, and nothing’s going to change that.”

The bickering voices stayed silent, unable to offer a response - not because Koishi’s argument was foolproof, but because it was anything but. There was no logic to it, and without that there was no way to offer a meaningful retort.

“...As unpleasant as it is, Koishi-san has a point.” Nitori made the most of the silence, stepping in before anyone could restart the debate. “We need Satori-san’s assistance if we’re going to find where Leviathan’s hiding. It’s not going to be pleasant for any of us, but we’ll have to grin and bear it.”

She turned to Satori. “Until further notice, you are under my direct command. You don’t move, think, eat or breathe until I say so. Understood?”

The valkyrie frowned, but as she turned towards her sister her expression softened. Finally she managed a shrug. “Alright. I’ll play nice.”

“Good.” Nitori wiped a layer of sweat from her brow. “Now, I’ve already asked Jozu about the specifics of the Black Claw stronghold. I’ll be discussing it in more detail with her shortly; Momiji, Ran, Sango-san, you’re to come along with me for that. The rest of you, hang tight for an hour or two while we figure out where to go from here.”

Nitori put down her papers and shuffled her collar. “Now, unless anyone has something they want to add-”

“Actually,” Koishi said, raising her hand, “While I’m at it, there’s something else I need to say.”

Oh no. Nitori did her best to hide her concern. “What is it, Koishi-san?”

Koishi bit her lip, seemingly unsure where to start. “This is going to sound pretty crazy, but while I was unconscious, I...” She paused, visibly struggling for the words.

“What is it?” Ran said sharply. “We don’t have all day, girl-”

“I met Yakumo-san.” Koishi blurted the sentence out all at once. “Yukari Yakumo-san.”

Ran’s look of dismay was quickly replaced with utter shock. “Wha-What sort of joke do you think that is? My master’s been dead for centuries.”

“Exactly,” Koishi said. “I only met her because I nearly died myself. This isn’t the first time, either - I met her once before when I was a little girl.”

Satori’s eyes widened at that one. Nitori saw her mutter “the lake” beneath her breath. No-one else seemed sure how to approach the claim, looking on with varying expressions of shock.

“...Boss, there wasn’t anything in that healing gel, was there?” Sango said. “You didn’t put her on an acid trip or something.”

“What sort of scientist do you think I am?” Nitori pouted, insulted by the accusation. “Still, what Koishi-san is claiming is...not unheard of, but it’s immensely rare.” She turned back to Koishi. “Did Yakumo-san happen give you anything to prove you were there? When a soul visits the Boundary, anything they’re given should be brought back with them.”

“Yeah, she-” Koishi reached for her pocket, then stopped abruptly. “...Wait, never mind. I made a mistake.”

Nitori furrowed her brow. It was a clumsy lie, and everyone at the table could tell. It wasn’t hard to tell where she was hiding the evidence, either.

“...Alright,” she said, with a shrug of her shoulders.

“What?” Momiji jerked her neck around. “Ma’am, she’s clearly hiding something-”

“I know,” Nitori said, her voice slow and steady. “But I also know Koishi-san isn’t the type to lie. If she’s keeping something from us, it’s because Yukari told her to. That means it may as well be an order for the rest of us.”

Koishi managed a small nod of confirmation. “Sorry.” She bowed forward before slipping back into her seat. “You’ll just have to trust me on this one.”

“Sure thing,” Komachi said. “Not like this is the strangest thing that’s happened to us, is it?”

The Sirens murmured their agreements, and even Momiji sighed as she gave up on arguing. Only Ran stood her ground, eyes wide open as she stared straight towards Koishi. The fox clutched her chest with one hand, like she’d been struck in the heart.

“Human, tell me.” Ran cleared her throat as she regained her composure. “My master. Did she seem happy?”

Koishi nodded, looking towards the fox with a sad smile. “Yakumo-san...yes, she looked peaceful. She asked for you by name, actually. You must have meant a lot to her, Ran-san.”

Ran’s tails fluttered about behind her back. For a moment, Nitori could see tears forming in her eyes, but the fox promptly covered her face with a sleeve.

“I see.” Ran’s mouth was still visible, locked in the widest smile the kappa had ever seen from her. “That’s good news. I’ve always wondered where she went after...after things went wrong.”

The fox rose to her feet, still rubbing at her eyes. “I’m sorry, I need a few minutes. I’ll catch up with the rest of you.” She shuffled out of the classroom, closing the door behind her as she walked down the corridor.

“OK, then.” The kappa cracked her neck, trying to regain her focus. “Anyone else got a near-death experience they’d like to report?” She was ready for someone else to raise a hand in dispute, but thankfully the crowd was silent this time around.

Thank god.

“Excellent. Then you’re dismissed for now.” Nitori cracked her neck as she rose to her feet. “Sango, Momiji, I’ll meet you in the nurse’s office. Just let me grab a stiff drink first. I get the feeling today’s gonna be a long day...”

-----

“Unyuuu~”

Utsuho let out a little squeal of joy as Satori ruffled her hair, her fluffy wings flapping about behind her. Rin was slightly more conservative in her display of emotion, but she still let out a long, deep purr.

“It’s good to see you again.” Satori took care to divide her attention equally between her two pets. “I hope I didn’t worry you too much.”

“Of course we were worried, Satori-sama.” Rin’s ears bounced around on the top of her head as she spoke. “You just disappeared without a word. I mean for ages I thought you’d never come back!” She looked away. “...Not that I didn’t believe in you or anything.”

Utsuho nodded along. “It was scary at first,” she said, with a pout that quickly turned into a smile. “But Koishi-sama was a really nice master, so everything turned out okay.”

Koishi looked away, sitting next to her sister on the stairway. “Honestly, you two, it’s not that big a deal.”

Satori frowned, turning towards Koishi while she tended to the pets with both hands. “Koishi, you shouldn’t be so humble about it. If the world was full of people like you, we wouldn’t be having this war to begin with.”

Koishi shook her head. “Maybe, but that’s a silly thing to ask for. The world’s never going to be perfect; there are always going to be people who get misled or lose track of who they are. We should be trying to help those people, but it’s a fight we can’t really win outright.”

Satori leaned back, mouth hanging open. Her expression warmed into a proud grin. “You really have grown up, haven’t you?”

“I had to, didn’t I?” Koishi wrapped her arms around her sister. “Someone had to stand in for you while you were gone.”

The valkyrie leaned into the hug. She’d forgotten how good company like this had felt - a sister and pets who loved her with all their hearts. Her feelings for Jozu were different - romantic, she wanted to say - while this camaraderie was much more familial. She wondered how she had ever managed to cope without them.

Then she put those thoughts aside as a more serious matter came to her.

“Utsuho, Rin, could you run along for a bit?” she asked. “Koishi and I need to talk about something serious.”

“Nyaah?” Rin stuck up her nose. “No fair. You’ve only been petting me for five minutes now.”

“And my hand’s about to fall off. I think that’s long enough.”

“Muuuuu.” The cat grumbled as she shuffled away, pouting at her master as she rose to her feet. “C’mon, Okuu. Let’s go scribble on some of the chalkboards.”

“Unyu?” Utsuho tilted her head. “But Orin, isn’t that something bad people do?”

“Maybe.” Rin smirked as she started running down the corridor. “But that’s why it’s so fun.”

As she darted into the distance, Utsuho scrambled to her feet and gave chase. “W-Wait for me, Rin! I can’t run that fast!”

Satori giggled beneath her breath as she watched her two pets dive into a classroom. This was her first time seeing them in youkai form, but somehow she’d always known exactly what sort of people they were.

“Rin’s a bad influence,” Koishi said. “I’ve been trying to work her out of it, but Utsuho keeps coming to her defense.”

The valkyrie shrugged. “It’s harmless enough. Let them be.” She turned towards her sister, expression hardening. “More importantly, why did you lie about the knife?”

Koishi almost smacked her head against the stair behind her. “How did you-”

“I’m a mind reader, remember?” Satori wore a wry smile. “You can’t hide anything from me, Koishi.”

Koishi sighed, reaching into her pocket. She pulled out a glittering dagger, its blade running the spectrum as it hummed with raw energy. “It’s called Aptera,” she said. “Yakumo-san said it was our duty as Sirens to decide how to use it, so I didn’t want anyone else to know. If we’re meant to make this choice, we shouldn’t let people like Kawashiro-sensei colour our judgement.”

Satori blinked, and a stream of thoughts poured from Koishi’s mind. She parsed them one at a time, needing a few seconds to process the raw data in full. When she was done, she placed a hand on her chin and lost herself in thought.

“...I see. That’s quite a dilemma she’s laid on us.” Satori leaned backwards on the stairway, staring intently at the ceiling. “Forcing one race or the other to lose their powers forever.”

Koishi nodded. “I don’t know how we’re meant to choose. Whatever we pick, it feels like we’d be changing the world for the worse.”

“True. It’s not a decision we can make lightly.”

They sat in silence together for a while, crunching the problem in their heads. Satori could see little in the way of progress coming from her sister - her mind was a jumbled mess, unable to stop on one side or the other. It would take a long, thought-out debate for her to come to a decision.

Then again, that was why there were seven Sirens.

“You might want to gather everyone here,” Satori said. “This is our chance to talk it over while all the youkai are distracted.”

“Right.” Koishi pulled herself upright, looking down the corridors for any sign of the other Sirens. “Wait here for me, alright?”

“Sure. And Koishi?”

“What?”

Satori’s face darkened. “Don’t expect an easy answer.”

-----

“So let me make sure I understand this.” Mokou paced the length of the corridor, hands fumbling around in her pockets. “If we want to use this super-weapon Yukari gave you, we have to decide which race will never be able to use magic again?”

Koishi nodded. She looked down at the dagger on her lap, running a finger along its edge. It was hard to believe a weapon so small could demand such a hefty price for its use. A small part of her still wanted to throw the thing out the window and be rid of it, but that wasn’t her decision to make.

“Awful rude of her, I say.” Komachi rubbed at the back of her neck, her brows knitted and her expression clouded. “I sure as hell didn’t sign up for a choice like that.”

“I don’t think any of us did,” Youmu said, sighing with every breath. “There’s no way to go half and half, is there? Rather than draining all the power from one group, we take some energy from both of them?”

Koishi shook her head. “Yakumo-san said it had to be one or the other. I’m guessing the two energy sources aren’t compatible or something like that.”

“Hm.” The swordsman frowned. “Well, there goes that idea.”

“Right, let’s judge our options.” Mokou raised her hands upwards, as if trying to balance them. “Nazrin-san, what would happen to the youkai if they couldn’t use magic any more?”

Nazrin grimaced. “That’s a tough question to answer. Magic is the only upper hand the youkai have left, and they’ve built their society entirely around it. Taking that away would be ripping away the foundations of their entire civilisation.”

“But could they cope without it?” Youmu said, pushing the question. “Would the youkai survive even if their magic was gone?”

The mouse coiled her tail around her leg. “I really have no idea. Best case scenario, the races come together and make do with what’s left; worst case scenario, they all blame each other for letting this happen and their squabbling leads to bloodshed. There’s no way we can really tell how the youkai would react before it actually happens.”

“Basically,” Satori interjected, “consider what would happen if the human race suddenly lost the power of electricity. All the little gadgets we’ve built our civilisation on - phones, appliances, computers, the internet - just turn off and stay off. Of course we could survive. After all, we lived fine without all those conveniences centuries ago. But that feeling of loss would make us sensitive, even vengeful against whoever we thought was responsible. We might be fine, or we might raze our own cities to the ground.” She shrugged. “That’s what we would be putting the youkai race through if we took their magic away.”

Instinctively, half the Sirens reached into their pockets for their cell phones. “OK, so that’s really not a good idea,” Komachi said. “Now, if we drain the power from the humans instead-”

“Then the youkai will go to war.” Sakuya leaned on the back wall, absent-mindedly shuffling a deck of cards. “Maybe I’m crazy, but I’m not fond of the option that leads to our whole species getting wiped out.”

“They won’t kill the humans.” Nazrin said. “It’s not like we’re a bloodthirsty army of-”

“But Naz, what about the whole incident at the zoo?” Shou emerged at Nazrin’s side, folding her arms and shaking her head. “Those youkai would have killed plenty of humans if we hadn’t stepped in.”

Nazrin sighed. “Okay, most of them won’t kill the humans. Is that better?”

“Sorry, Naz.” The ghost pouted at her pet. “I know you’re seeing this from a different angle, but we aren’t going to get anywhere by sugar-coating our options.”

“I know, I know.” The mouse pulled her ears back. To her peers she seemed to be talking to herself, but they knew better than to interrupt. “It’s just such a big change, and magic is all the youkai have left going for them. Is it that weird to want to defend it?”

“Not at all.” Satori stepped forward, placing a hand on Nazrin’s shoulder. “The youkai have been on the receiving end of a lot these last few millennia. It’s only natural to look for some sort of payback.”

“OK, then, another question.” Mokou raised her hand to get the crowd’s attention. “If the youkai aren’t going to kill the humans, what are they going to do?”

“Well, first off, they’re gonna take their land back,” Komachi said. “We built over a lot of their monuments and ruins and whatever, and I’m guessing they’re slightly mad about that.”

“Can you blame them?” Satori said, stepping in when she saw a moment to push the initiative. “Imagine if a foreign country walked in and knocked down half of Tokyo. There’d be an uproar, and rightfully so.”

“As for us...” Komachi looked at her shoes, her lips a tangled mess. “Well, we’ll get some credit for being decent masters, so they’ll probably take us in as pets. They’ll look after us and treat us well - as long as we behave, that is.”

“And if we don’t behave?” Sakuya asked, the question so pointed she could have cut her tongue on it.

Komachi let out a long, hard sigh. “Well, what would you do to a rabid dog?”

The silence that followed was deafening.

“That’s...” Mokou almost fell over as she sat on the floor, grabbing at her head. “Man, I didn’t realise how shitty the youkai had it until you put it like that. They’ve got to do what we say, or we put them down...shit, that’s brutal.”

“Isn’t it?” Satori said, standing over Mokou and making the most of the height difference. “The youkai have been suffering in silence for too long. It’s only fair that they get to claim some sort of recompense.”

“And where does that get us?”

Koishi’s voice caught Satori by surprise, forcing her to jerk her head around. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Let’s say this all happens like we’re assuming it will,” Koishi continued. “That means that generations of humans - generations that had nothing to do with the incident that started this whole mess - are going to be in the same position the youkai are in now. They’ll be powerless and unable to stand up for themselves.” She met her sister’s eyes, refusing to budge an inch. “Nothing will change, Satori. It’ll be the same problem as before, just in reverse.”

The valkyrie furrowed her brow. “And what’s your point? The alternative is taking away the youkai’s only chance of doing something about it. Better to offer them some reprieve than to kill off their one chance for rebellion.”

“Yeah, and it’s not like being a pet’s all that bad.” Nazrin bounced up and down on the spot. “I mean, you get all your meals for free, you don’t have to work a day in your life, and you’ve got a master who loves you. What’s not to like?”

“Exactly.” Satori nodded. “For the most part, the youkai hold themselves to a higher moral code - we’d be better under their command than they’d ever be under ours.”

“Higher moral code?” Sakuya scrunched up her nose. “Did you miss the part where Leviathan nearly murdered you?”

“No, but she was an exception. Most of the youkai aren’t as wretched as-”

“Stop it, Satori.” Koishi stamped a foot against the floor to get her sister’s attention. “There are wicked humans, maybe, but there are wicked youkai too. In the end, there’s no point in favouring one or the other.”

Satori’s eyes were wild now, almost desperate. “But Koishi, we can’t just watch this happen-”

“And what about the casualties?” Youmu said, her voice stern but carefully pitched. “Even if the humans are outgunned, they won’t give up without a fight. If the races go to war, thousands are going to die. Maybe millions.”

“I know!” Satori yelled, her voice echoing through the corridors. It took her a few seconds to recover her composure. “I know that. I know this change would do more damage than it could ever fix. But I’ve got to do something, Koishi. I can’t just sit back and let the youkai suffer.”

Koishi took a deep breath as she rose to her feet. “No-one’s disagreeing with you, Satori. We all want to help the youkai. We just feel like there’s got to be a better way than this.”

Slowly, the valkyrie let her shoulders drop as she heaved out a sigh. “OK, then, fine. Let’s try and play it your way. First of all, did Yukari tell you how the knife actually worked?”

“She said it channels the power of the masquerade,” Koishi said. “It’s probably become a lot stronger since there are a lot more humans now than there were in her time.”

“But what matters is we’re going to need a lot of power to make it work.” Sakuya folded her arms and tapped at her shoulders. “Is there any sort of other source we can use as an equivalent? One that doesn’t involve neutering an entire race.”

“Given the magnitude we’re talking about?” Satori shook her head. “It seems unlikely we’ll find one at such short notice.”

In her peripheral vision Koishi realised that everyone - herself included - was looking directly at the knife. The weapon had an almost hypnotic aura to it, the sheer power locked within making it difficult to look away from. What sort of atrocities could the Black Claw commit if they got their hands on it?

“There’s one thing I don’t get here.” Komachi closed her eyes as she lost herself in thought. “What’s the point? Why would she give us such a kickass weapon if it came with such massive drawbacks?”

“Maybe it’s a precaution,” Youmu said. “Just in case we’re desperate.”

“No, that doesn’t sound right.” Koishi heard Yukari’s words echoing in her ears. “Yakumo-san said it was a choice we’d have to make. It’s not a precaution - she thinks we’re going to have no choice but to use it.”

“But why?” Mokou asked. “Leviathan’s on her own now. She’s not that strong, is she?”

Unheeded, everyone turned their attention to Satori. The valkyrie’s lips shrank into a small line.

“I’m afraid I never met Leviathan myself until today, so even I don’t know the extent of her power. But if she’s got sole control over a group as violent as the Black Claw, we have to assume she’s extremely dangerous.”

An eerie silence hung over the Sirens. They looked down at Aptera, watching the light dance across its edge. Koishi felt amazement and disgust flow through her body in equal measure.

“...We can’t use this.” Koishi picked the knife up and placed it back in her pocket. “It isn’t worth the price, whatever we choose.”

“And if we have no choice?” Sakuya tapped a foot against the floor. “What if that knife is the only thing that’ll keep us all from getting killed?”

“I know where I’d stand on that,” Satori said. “The rest of you are another matter though.”

“If it comes down to that, we’ll figure something out.” Koishi sighed, the knife feeling heavier now than it had five minutes ago. “Until then, we’re not even going to consider-”

In the distance, a door clicked open. Koishi stopped mid-sentence, looking in the direction of the sound. A set of footsteps started to travel along the corridor, accompanied by another flurry of profanity.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Nitori flailed her arms about, almost manic as she came into view. “It’s not like I’ve had enough to deal with today. Oh no, now she goes and ups the ante and-” She stopped dead, frozen mid-rant as she saw the Sirens gathered in the stairway. “Eh? What’re you girls talking about?”

Koishi tensed. “Uh, we were...that is, we-”

“We were discussing battle strategies,” Youmu said, bowing towards the kappa. “Since there are seven of us now, we need to work coherently as a team.”

Nitori raised an eyebrow, but her suspicion quickly gave way to exasperation. “Well, at least this makes my job a lot easier. I need you guys back in the briefing room, right now.”

Nazrin’s tail whipped at the ground. “That doesn’t sound like good news.”

“Believe me, it isn’t.” Nitori stormed past the Sirens, cutting a straight path towards the classroom. “We just got ourselves one hell of a deadline.”

-----

Next Week's BGM: Second Strike (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeVp0qWA2JM)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on November 03, 2013, 09:19:33 AM
?OK, I?m sorry.? Komachi rubbed at her eyes before looking at the screen again. ?What the hell am I even looking at here??

Everyone present at the table was focused on the TV Nitori had placed on her desk. It showed a grainy video of what appeared to be the seabed, with weeds flapping about in every direction and fish darting for cover. No-one cared about the weeds, though; everyone?s attention was on the massive structure in the distance, a crystalline palace that almost shone in the dim light that reached those frigid depths.

?That?s her stronghold,? Satori said, blinking rapidly. ?But Leviathan said it wouldn?t show up on human cameras.?

?It didn?t, until a few hours ago.? Nitori stood behind the TV, the remote trembling in her hand as she paced about. ?Whatever enchantments she?d been using to keep it hidden were dispersed, so now the thing?s in plain sight.?

Momiji peered at the screen intently, tail swishing about as she examined every little detail. Ran was calmer, elbows on the desk as she rested her chin on her hands. In contrast, Sango?s jaw dropped on the other side of the table, like she was watching a magic trick.

?Well, that?s a questionable strategy.? Shou?s head poked out from behind Nazrin, tilting sideways as she examined the video.

?Damn right,? the mouse said, chiming in with her master. ?Why would the Claw choose now to lower their defenses??

?There?s a very simple reason for that,? Nitori said, her hand squeezing at the remote. ?See, they couldn?t do very much to hide this.?

She pressed a button, and the TV switched to another camera. This one was closer to the fortress, offering a view of the land beneath it. A circle had been drawn along the ground, arcane symbols scrawled along its length as it hummed with a pale red light.

The Sirens sucked in a collective breath.

?What the hell is that thing?? Mokou gasped.

?...My god.? Ran?s eyes almost popped out. ?It?s a Grand Conflagration Ritual.?

Sango jerked her neck back. ?Conflu-what now??

?Conflagration,? Momiji said. ?In layman?s terms, a really really big fire.?

?I took the liberty of examining the symbols more intently.? Nitori pulled up a sheet of paper, covering in scrawlings and calculations. ?More specifically, the ritual is going to set off an explosion large enough to wipe Gensouto off the map. And this school?s been designated as the epicenter.?

Mokou?s hand flew to her chest. ?You mean-?

?Exactly.? Nitori smacked the document against the desk. ?In less than two hours, this city and everyone in it is going to be blown to kingdom come.?

It was like the air had been sucked out of the room. Koishi could almost hear her brain folding in on itself. They?d dealt with dangerous scenarios before, but this blew everything they?d ever faced clear out of the water.

?I?m guessing evacuation is out of the question,? Momiji said, remarkably calm even in the face of the news. ?Both in terms of the scale and the timeframe.?

?Of course,? Nitori answered. ?Even if we did have the time, what sort of reason could we come up with to validate a city-wide exodus? There?s no way the humans would believe us.?

?And how exactly would the government respond?? Youmu looked down, her eyes frozen-over as she sank into thought. ?The youkai would never own up to it, so they?d assume it was some sort of terrorist attack...or worse, an act of war.?

?And then the humans will finish each other off.? Sakuya let out a low chuckle. ?I have to admit, it?s a pretty clever play.?

Nitori nodded reluctantly. ?We?ve got her cornered, so she?s pulling out all the stops. Our secret weapon was the healing gel. Hers is a goddamn bomb.?

The kappa had discarded her usual joviality. Her posture was rigid, her face revealing nothing of her inner thoughts. With all her fluster already flushed out, she handled the situation with unprecedented cool.

?I shouldn?t need to say this, but there is no way we can allow that spell to go off. We need to go in hard, and we need to do it right now.?

She reached for a piece of chalk, drawing another arcane symbol on the chalkboard. This time the board itself flipped about, revealing a projector on the other side. Firing into the center of the table, it brought up a 3D hologram of the palace from the picture - blocky and hastily-crafted, but still identifiable. The magic circle ran along all sides of the fortress, even its holographic counterpart giving off an unpleasant glow.

?Jozu was nice enough to fill me in on the specifics of what we?ll be up against.? Nitori clicked her fingers, and several blue dots began to circle around the palace. ?For the most part we?ve reduced Leviathan?s personal guard to just the ordinary fishmen. They?re as slow and stupid as ever, but they?ve got us seriously outnumbered. I?d wager we?d have to go through hundreds of these things before we saw any sign of Levi herself.?

?What about the circle?? Satori asked. ?How do we dispel it??

?That?ll be my job, I assume.? Ran rose to her feet. ?You want me to defuse the circle from the inside.?

?Right.? Nitori pointed at a distant corner of the circle, finger hovering over a specific symbol. ?This is where the ritual?s power is focused. You?re the only one strong enough to counter a spell of this magnitude.?

The fox sighed, spinning her arm about in its socket. ?Understood. You are aware I?ll be completely defenseless while I?m working on this, right??

?Of course. Momiji and I will be covering you.? Nitori turned back towards the Sirens. ?The rest of you will be charging the palace itself. Levi?s going to focus most of her forces on stopping us from defusing the bomb, so you should be able to break through without much trouble.? She pointed to the central tower of the palace, right in the middle of the magic circle. ?Levi herself will be somewhere around here. She can?t leave the circle while it?s being cast, so she won?t be able to run away this time.?

?So you and Momiji-san will be taking on all those guards by yourself?? Koishi said, eyes heavy with anxiety. ?Are you sure you?ll be okay??

?Now, what?s that supposed to mean?? For a moment Nitori?s brevity returned, and she answered Koishi with a wink. ?Don?t worry, Koishi-san. I?ve got a few tricks of my own, too.? She cleared her throat. ?Alright, girls. Any questions??

The Sirens, as a collective, shook their heads. The kappa smiled.

?That?s what I like to hear. This is the moment we?ve been working for all this time - the best chance we?ll ever have at putting the Black Claw to rest for good. Everything we?ve done for the last few months has all built up to this, so we?d better make damn sure we make the most of it.?

She stamped her foot, and the chalkboard flipped around again. ?Now let?s move out, girls. We?ve got a city to save.?

-----

?Hup, two, three, four...?

Sango bent all the way backwards, almost forming a U with her body as she squirmed about. She could hear her joints popping and her muscles stretching in time with each other.

?Sango-san, what are you doing?? Koishi stared in wonder from behind, upside-down from the dolphin?s perspective. Sango smiled until she realised that would look like a frown from Koishi?s point of view; then she switched to the saddest pout she could manage.

?What does it look like, Koishi-san? I?m doing my warm-up stretches.?

?Uh...I think you?re getting too into it.?

?Nonsense! If this is our last push, I need to do every stretch I can think of-? Before she could finish, Sango was interrupted by Koishi poking her in the side with a finger. ?Phwee-!? The dolphin tumbled over, falling into a heap on the sand.

?It?s good to see you?re enthusiastic, but there?s no point if you get yourself hurt.? Koishi reached down, pulling Sango back to her feet. ?Just stick to your normal stretches, okay??

?Muuuu.? Sango pouted again, this time with her head the right way up. ?Fine. But if I get killed because I sprained something, it?s totally your fault.?

Koishi chuckled at that. Seeing her smile always brought a little warmth to Sango?s heart. ?We?re just about finished with the preparations,? Koishi said, motioning to the Sirens gathered further down the coast. ?Kawashiro-sensei is priming her...I?m not sure what they are, but she told Mokou-san not to touch them.?

?Probably a good idea, knowing the boss,? Sango said. ?I?ll be over there in a minute.?

Koishi nodded before turning around and joining the crowd in the distance. The Sirens had all transformed by now, and were taking all the necessary precautions before heading into battle. Mokou practiced her combos, moving from jabs to straights to haymakers in fluid motions; Sakuya practiced her shuffling, the cards moving too fast for Sango to follow; Komachi brushed off the Titanic, letting her massive firearm gleam in the rising sun; Youmu sparred with herself, her ghostly copy matching her move for move, and Nazrin was enraptured by her visor, reading off battle tactics or whatever it was Shou told her. All of them looked utterly focused and ready for the battle ahead.

Wait a minute. Sango did a headcount. Along with Koishi rejoining them, she could only see six of the Sirens. Where was the seventh?

?...nothing worth worrying about, Satori.?

Sango?s ears perked up. As a dolphin, her hearing was much more sensitive than a human?s, and she caught a trace of a discussion on the other side of the beach. Curiosity got the better of her, and she moved closer to listen in as she hid behind a rock.

?You really didn?t have to come, Jozu,? Satori said, one hand behind the shark?s back, ready to catch her if she fell over. ?There?s no way you could have recovered this quickly.?

?Is that so? Well, my body begs to differ.? Jozu flexed her arms about, hastily dressed in a school uniform that didn't come close to fitting her. She threw out a few quick punches and kicks to demonstrate. ?See? Good as new.?

To an uneducated viewer those strikes would have looked flawless, but even from this distance Sango could tell that the shark had lost some of her speed. Judging from her expression, it seemed Satori was aware of that as well.

?Don?t act tough,? Satori said, starting stern but quickly falling into worry. ?I know what you?re trying to do here, but-?

?Then you know I can?t back down now, right?? Jozu reached up and stroked at Satori?s cheek. ?C?mon, Satori. You?re the mind reader here.?

The valkyrie smiled softly, pressing her hand against Jozu?s. ?I know. I just feel like I should at least be trying to stop you, even if I know you aren?t going to listen.?

Watching from afar, Sango felt her face heating up. She started to suspect she was spying on something she wasn?t meant to see. The two girls hugged each other close, immensely comfortable in each other?s presence.

?Relationships are hard, aren?t they?? Jozu said.

?Yeah. They don?t make a lot of sense sometimes.? Satori looked up at Jozu, eyes beaming. ?But I?d gladly go through hell for what I have with you.?

They pulled their heads closer, giving up on any attempt at stopping at friendliness. Their lips were inches apart, drawing closer and closer, until finally-

Phweeeeeee?!

Sango could hear the steam pouring out of her ears as she finally looked away. Her brain was rapidly turning into mush, that one moment locked into her memory forever.

?But she?s a...? She muttered to herself, trying to gain some sort of grasp on what she?d just witnessed. ?And she?s a...and they...but how? Why? When??

The whole thing had taken her totally by surprise. She?d known Satori and Jozu were close, but not that they were that close. Their relationship had seemed just like the one Sango had with Koishi - really good friends. Really, really good friends, actually, friends who would do anything to keep each other safe-

Aah, no, that?s too far! Sango buried her face in her hands, her skin burning from the shame. She?d never stopped to think about it like that - there had been moments where they?d been close, but they always petered out into nothing. She felt comfortable around Koishi, but was it that comfortable? She wasn?t sure.

?Do I like her?? Sango asked herself. ?Or do I like her, like her? Is this even a question I should be asking? I mean, she?s a human, I?m a youkai, it?d never work out-?

?Hey, Sango-san! We?re all set!?

Koishi called out for her across the beach, waving Sango over with a hand. Sango scrambled back to her feet, dashing across the sand as she tried to fight down the blush.

?...Uh, Sango-san?? Koishi frowned again as the dolphin pulled closer. ?Are you okay. You look like you?re coming down with a fever.?

?Fever? What? No, that?s silly. I?m fine.? Sango spat out words like a machine gun spat bullets. ?The water?s cooler. Nothing to worry about. Move along.?

Koishi paused for just long enough to make Sango uneasy before letting out a small sigh. ?Alright. But don?t push yourself, okay?? She turned around, pacing back towards her comrades and giving the dolphin some space.

Sango let out a breath she hadn?t known she was holding in. Her brain was firing on fumes, summoning up neurons she?d never had the need to use before. She?d never thought of Koishi as more than a friend. The other possibility had never been on the table before - and now it was, she wasn?t sure which side of the fence she fell on.

I don?t have long to figure it out, she thought to herself. When all this is over, I?ll probably never see her again.

The dolphin took a deep breath, feeling the heat flush from her face. She had to think this over before it was too late, or she?d regret it for the rest of her life. Not right now, though - they?d be heading off into the water any minute now. Maybe she?d have time on the way to the fortress - after all, there was a lot of ground to cover.

?Are you all ready over here?? Satori marched back towards the group with Jozu in tow. There was no sign of their earlier affection - like before, they just seemed to be close friends. Perhaps that was how they wanted to be seen in public.

?As ready as we?ll ever be.? Nitori rummaged about in a small purse, its contents hidden from the rest of the crowd. Finally satisfied with it, she clipped it shut and slipped it into a pocket. ?Everyone got their rings ready??

There was a murmur of agreement. They?d had just enough Rings of Breath to cover the whole group; the last two had gone to Momiji and Nazrin. Ran didn?t need one - for a mage of her caliber, a water-breathing charm was child?s play.

?Alright, then.? The kappa pointed forward, out into the ocean depths. ?Time?s a wastin?. Let?s show Leviathan what happens when you mess with Gensouto.?

She stepped forward into the water, quickly vanishing below the waves. The Sirens followed, walking out until they were waist deep before diving under the water.

As the sun rose over Gensouto, the White Pearl left only ripples in their wake.

-----

?There?s gonna be water in my ears for weeks after this.?

Nazrin flopped about, her movements clumsy and uncoordinated. No-one had told her there was any water involved in all this Siren stuff. She swam with all the fluidity and grace of a boulder, watching as her teammates pulled further and further away.

?Uh, Naz?? Shou?s face popped up on her visor. ?You might want to straighten your legs a bit.?

?Easy for you to say,? the mouse muttered. ?This is my first time stepping in anything deeper than a puddle. I?ve only just got my head around the whole ?breathing water? thing, alright??

She flailed around some more, trying and failing to match the movements of her fellow Sirens. It didn?t help that her outfit happened to be about ninety percent machinery - even with Shou?s insistence everything was waterproof, she still felt like a toaster that?d been dropped in the bathtub.

?C?mon, master, help me out here,? Nazrin said. ?I know you?ve got a function for this, and I?d like to arrive at the fortress sometime before I die.?

?But Naz, that means you get to sit back and I have to do all the work.?

Nazrin grinned. ?Isn?t that your job, master??

Shou folded her arms, pulling the most pitiful look she could. When Nazrin refused to budge, she finally raised her arms in surrender.

?Alright. Executing DrownedRat.exe.?

There was a whirring as a pair of engines whirred up in Nazrin?s shoes. The water swirled around her feet as the jets pushed her forward, increasing her speed tenfold.

?Many thanks.?

?Yeah, you?d better be grateful.? Shou looked away, doing a poor job of pretending to be offended. ?Seriously, I do everything around here.?

Nazrin smiled. Her master was surprisingly cute when she was frustrated. The mouse hung back from the main pack, matching their pace but keeping far enough away that no-one would be able to hear her.

?So this is it, then,? she said. ?When we beat Leviathan, you?ll disappear.?

Shou tensed. Nazrin didn?t even know ghosts could tense. The picture on her visor flickered again.

?Yeah.? Shou rubbed at the back of her neck. ?I?m sorry, Naz. I?d stay with you forever if I could, but-?

?It?s fine.? Nazrin took a long, deep breath, finally acclimating to her surroundings. ?I know it hasn?t been that long, but even this time we?ve spent together is a miracle. I can?t afford to be greedy.?

She went loose in the water, allowing the jets to carry her while she focused on her words. ?To be honest, master...I always wanted to talk to you. For years I?d just sit and listen to what you had to say, but no matter how much I wanted to I couldn?t reply.?

Shou?s hand reached out of the visor, and for a moment Nazrin swore she felt something poking at her forehead. ?Naz, I-?

?I wanted to say thank you,? Nazrin continued, before Shou could slow her momentum. ?You took care of me for so long without ever asking for anything back. No matter how much trouble I got you into, you always stood up for me. So...thanks, master.?

The image flickered again, more wildly this time. When Shou reappeared, she was wiping at her eyes and sniffling. ?You?re gonna be just fine, aren?t you??

?Oh, I?m gonna feel like shit when you?re gone.? Nazrin smiled in spite of the gravity of her statement. ?I?ll probably cry about it for a few days. There?ll be a lot of choking and sobbing and all that stuff you?re not supposed to do in front of other people.? Another deep breath, this one to still the trembling feeling in her chest. ?But when that?s done? Yeah, I?m pretty sure I?ll make it through.?

Shou nodded. ?Thanks, Naz. I think I needed to hear that.? Her hand reached out, tiny fingers rubbing at the mouse?s nose. ?I?m glad to see I?ve got nothing to worry about.?

Nazrin nuzzled at the hand, nostalgic memories of her days in the cage coming back to her. For an instant, everything was back to normal - she was a loyal pet with a loving master, and everything would be just fine.

She would have let that moment play out forever if the rest of the Sirens didn?t slow to a halt in front of her.

?Last stop.? Shou pulled back into her screen and offered another salute. ?Good luck, Naz.?

As Nazrin caught up with her allies, she saw a structure forming on the horizon. It was larger and more threatening than it had seemed on the projection - every crystalline edge was sharpened to a perfect sheen, as if the entire palace was made of swords. Surrounding it, the magic circle pulsed with a malicious aura.

?Yeah,? Nazrin whispered beneath her breath, gulping. ?I think I?m going to need it.?

-----

Nitori pressed her back against the rock, poking her head over the top to take a glance at the fortress. The circle?s light was almost blinding now as the spell neared its climax. Dozens of guard squads circled around the palace, each consisting of at least twenty youkai. They swam in a never-changing path, eyes locked forward, waiting for a motion or sound to set them off.

Nitori gave the circle another look-over. The key symbol was on the leftmost edge, but there was no sort of cover they could use. They?d have to sneak past a blind spot in the enemy guard - a moment too fleeting for Nitori to pick out. Luckily, she?d brought along someone who could.

?Their patrol looks pretty solid.? She looked to her left. ?Momiji, see any openings??

?Give me a second.? Momiji?s eyes let off a faint glow, moving from point to point with unerring speed. The wolf?s vision was sharp even among her people, picking up on the most minute of details. She examined her surroundings with the coolness and precision of a machine.

After almost a minute of examination, her ears perked up. ?Think I?ve got a route we can take. It?s pretty tight, but it should be possible.?

?Good. We have to get Ran in position before any fighting starts.? Nitori turned back to the Sirens, most of whom were eying the structure in awe and concern. ?Girls, hang back here for now. When you get my signal, make a break for the entrance and take down Levi before she knows what hit her.?

?And what is your signal?? Satori asked.

?Trust me.? The kappa winked. ?You?ll know it when you see it.?

She pulled away from the main group, Momiji and Ran following behind her. They came to a stop at the edge of the rock formation, ready to jump out of cover when the moment arrived.

?Kawashiro-sensei...? Koishi gulped. ?You?re planning to come out of this alive, right??

?Eh?? Nitori raised an eyebrow, then broke into laughter. ?Of course I am, Koishi-san. Like I?d let someone else mess up all the work I?ve put into the White Pearl.?

?Yeah, but those odds...? Mokou furrowed her brow. ?The three of you against all of those guards? Are you really sure you can pull that off??

Nitori put on a cocky smile. ?You have no idea who you?re dealing with, do you?? She turned back to Momiji. ?When?s our opening??

?Five seconds from now.?

?Alright.? Nitori gave the Sirens a final thumbs-up. ?You girls had better win, got it??

She didn?t hang around to see their response. At Momiji?s signal, she popped out from her hiding spot and made a break for the target. The wolf led the way, marking the pace and direction for her allies to follow; Nitori and Ran matched her to a tee, swimming in parallel with one of the passing squadrons.

?Good to see you?re confident,? Ran said once they?d moved out of earshot. ?I thought they?d have trusted in you a little more, though.?

?Well, I?ve kinda been holding back until now.? The kappa shrugged. ?I like to consider myself the ace up my own sleeve.?

?Then why are you playing the distraction?? Momiji said. ?If you?re that strong, why are you leaving the humans to deal with Leviathan??

Nitori sighed. She?d been tempted, true. Her personal business with Leviathan had made it hard to turn down the opportunity. In the end, though, she?d decided against it.

?It?s their fight, isn?t it?? Even as she said it, Nitori felt more confident in her decision. ?They?re the Sirens, after all. It?s what they were chosen to do.?

The three youkai touched down on the edge of the circle, a seven pointed star drawn on the ground at their feet. The fish still swam past, unaware, but in a few seconds the patrols would cycle around and catch on. Those seconds were the opening Nitori was counting on.

?Alright, let?s get to business. Ran, if you would??

The fox nodded, stepping into the center of the star. She pressed her hands together, a golden glow seeping out from between her fingers as she caught her breath. In one swift motion she brought both her hands down to the ground, her golden light beginning to spread out across the star.

The circle roared in defiance, as if out of a survival instinct. Its screech was too shrill to have come from the mouth of any living thing, and Nitori winced at the sound of it. The fishmen were instantly roused from their slumber, all of them turning in the direction of the three youkai.

Simultaneously, the entire mass of soldiers charged forward at once.

?Well, here they come.? Momiji stretched her arms out, standing in front of Ran as her sword and shield took form in her hands. ?You?d better have a damn good plan ready.?

?Oh, I do.? Nitori casually stepped forward, pulling out her purse and rummaging through it. ?But I need them to get a little closer first.?

?What??

As the horde grew ever closer, Nitori finally pulled a small silver box from the purse. She shook it, and a few white pellets tilted out onto her palm.

?Breath mint?? she said, offering them to Momiji. The wolf was speechless, staring at Nitori in utter bewilderment.

?This is not the time for refreshment!? Ran yelled, pinned to her spot in the middle of the star. ?Kawashiro, for the love of Yukari, DO SOMETHING!?

The kappa sighed as the fishmen descended upon her. ?Fine. You two are no fun, you know that??

She threw the pellets forward at the crowd.

Seconds later, there was a blinding flash.

?Gyaah!? Momiji shielded her eyes, the explosion almost knocking her off her feet. Her ears flapped down in an attempt to protect themselves from the roar, her shirt flapping around in the water. Even Ran seemed overwhelmed by the sheer firepower Nitori was carrying, gripping the ground to keep her spell from faltering.

In contrast, Nitori?s eyes were locked upon our own work. As the flash began to fade, an entire wave of fishmen had been dispersed, splitting into smaller fish and scattering to the four winds. Another wave moved forward to replace them, charging in the same manner as the first.

As she threw forward another wave of pills, Nitori began to bask in her confidence. Each wave was just as eager to throw themselves into the fray, none of them having the common sense to flank her. The ones that did make it through were easy picking for Momiji, the wolf slicing them in half with one clean swipe.

It would come down to what ran out first - Nitori?s supplies, or the fishmen?s reserves. Neither looked set to give out any time soon; either way, she was buying Ran the time she needed, and giving the Sirens the chance to finish the job. From here, she could see them making a break for the palace itself; she could only hope they?d be able to finish the job without her.

But now wasn?t the time to think about that. Now was the time to watch things blow up. Nitori had spent this whole operation holding back, and now she got to let out everything at once. She grinned maniacally as she drew out another set of explosives.

?C?mon, you lousy sacks of scales. I?ve got plenty more where that came from!?

-----

Next Week's BGM: Doom Castle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y10SmoJoh3A)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: TresserT on November 03, 2013, 06:22:18 PM
NITORI brand exlosives. I'm half expecting a certain fish princess to appear, but I won't get my hopes up. Great story, keep it up!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on November 10, 2013, 09:11:03 AM
The only easy part was the front door.

Jozu shoulder-barged through the entrance, the door banging against the back hinges. The Sirens raced through the opening, Satori taking point as they emerged into the first hallway.

?Leviathan will be in the throne room,? the valkyrie said, her sword already primed. ?Keep close. These corridors are quite elaborate.?

She lowered herself to the ground, deep enough that buoyancy was no longer an issue. She was faster running than she was swimming, and the rest of her allies soon followed suit. They matched Satori move-for-move, darting at breakneck speed through the palace?s hallways.

?I didn?t expect...all this exertion.? Sakuya began to trail behind, lacking in stamina compared to her allies. ?I think I need a minute to-?

Before she could fall away, Youmu grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her along. ?No complaining, Miyo. The real fight hasn?t even started yet.?

Sakuya frowned. ?No rest for the wicked, I suppose.?

?Damn right.? Jozu scouted the side corridors as she passed by them, searching for any sign of an ambush. ?Your boss might be dealing with most of the guards outside, but there are still gonna be plenty around here to-gyaah!?

As she looked to her left a fishman leaped out from the other side, bringing a claw down towards her head. The blow never landed - Satori?s blade cut cleanly through the water, slicing the beast in two and forcing it to dissipate.

?You?re getting careless,? the valkyrie said.

Jozu pouted. ?I can be fast or I can be thorough. I can?t be both.?

?And that?s why you need me around.? For a moment, Satori?s frown gave way to a private smile. ?Now, we?d better get going before the rest of his teammates find out-?

?Uh, about that...? Sango pointed down the corridor. ?They already did.?

Jozu turned back to the hallway. Her blood froze over as she saw an entire legion of fishmen barging down towards them, shoving and bashing each other in an attempt to be the first to strike the Sirens down.

?Shit.? Jozu broke to the right, running in the direction her attacker had come from. ?Detour! Now!?

The rest of the Sirens followed her lead, the fishmen trailing behind them every step of the way. In spite of their bickering, their aquatic nature made them faster in the water than the Sirens could hope for, and they slowly gained on their targets.

?Titanic!?

Komachi hung at the rear of the pack, firing round after round into the oncoming horde. For every creature she shot down, another two appeared in its wake. She was doing just enough to keep them from being overrun.

Jozu cursed. Yesterday she?d taken pride in how impenetrable this fortress was. Now she hated every ounce of it.

?Heads up, guys!? Nazrin yelled as her visor began to beep. ?Hostiles coming in down both those side corridors!?

?Roukanken!? Youmu drew her swords, pressing down on their hilts as the blades grew to impossible lengths. As she stepped out into the crossroads, both weapons swung through the air, cutting down everything that had dared to come close to her. Even then, the swipe only bought them enough time to make it past the corridors unharmed.

?Another squad, dead ahead!? the mouse yelled. ?There?s no room to get around them!?

?Well, that?s a no-brainer.? Mokou pulled ahead of the Sirens, flames licking at her fingers. ?We?ve gotta go through them!?

The phoenix extended her golden wings as she descended on the enemy formation. She pushed past them without losing her momentum, scattering the horde with well placed punches and kicks. Jozu made sure to stomp on as many as possible as she ran past, just to make sure they didn?t get up again.

?Almost there, everyone,? the shark yelled. ?Just a few more turns, and-?

As she twisted herself around a corner, she heard something click beneath her feet. On instinct alone, her neck jerked around to the ceiling.

?Oh goddammit.?

The roof gave way, revealing a metal plate laced with spikes. The trap flew downward, set to crush the girls where they stood.

?Private Square!?

Sakuya shouted. Jozu blinked. The next thing she remembered was being in another corridor, looking back on the trap that should have impaled her. Dozens of knifes littered the walls, taking out the fishmen that hadn?t been flattened by their own trap.

?You?re welcome,? the maid said, tipping her hat forward.

Jozu didn?t have time to offer her thanks. Her heart was hanging in her throat as she burst out of the corridor into a larger hallway. On the other end of the hall a giant door loomed over her, almost three times as large as she was with a golden trim running along its edges. There was no sign of a handle, or even a hinge.

?This is it,? she gasped. ?Levi?s behind here.? She swam over to a handcrank beside the door, grabbing at it and tugging. ?Hhnnngh...dammit, this thing?s stiff. Sango, mind giving me some help??

?Only if you need it.? Sango placed her hands over Jozu?s, the two youkai cranking in unison. The door began to shuffle to the side, slowly opening the way to the throne room.

?Uh, guys...? Nazrin stared at her visor, speckled with dozens of red dots. She never finished her warning, but the frantic visor-beeping got the message across.

Koishi moved towards the handcrank, set to join in. ?Sango-san, let me-?

?Don?t!? Before she could grip it, Jozu snapped at her. ?There?s no crank on the other side, and if we let go the whole thing?s gonna slam shut.?

The colour drained from Koishi?s face. ?You mean-?

Jozu nodded. ?Yeah. You?re gonna have to leave us behind.?

The room went painfully silent. Clattering feet and inhuman growls began to approach from every direction. Sango stared at Jozu in horror, her hands trembling as she gripped at the crank.

?I?m sorry, Sango,? the shark said. ?But Leviathan?s out of our league. This is all we can do to help.?

?But that?s insane!? Koishi said, arms waving about in exclamation. ?If we leave the two of you against that sort of army, then-?

?No.? Sango gulped down her fear, her expression unreadable as she pulled her head up. ?Don?t worry about us, Koishi-san. We?ll be fine.?

Koishi shook her head. ?Sango-san, you can?t be-?

?I said go!? The dolphin yelled, with an anger that Jozu had never seen from her before. She recognised it too well - it was the anger she spared for a person that meant everything to her, when she had to step in for Satori?s sake.

Koishi winced at Sango?s words. She took one look back into the hallway as the approaching crowds grew ever louder. When she turned back to Sango, her eyes were quivering.

?I swear...if you even THINK of dying, I?ll never forgive you!?

Koishi practically pushed herself through the doorway, the rest of the Sirens following behind. Many of them shot glances at the two youkai, looks of fear or pity; only Satori seemed at peace, giving Jozu one final nod before vanishing into the throne room.

As the last Siren passed through, Jozu?s strength reached her limits. She lost her grip on the crank, and immediately the doorway slid shut again. It slammed closed with a horrendous thump.

?Phew.? Jozu brushed her hands together. ?Man, that thing was heavy.?

Sango didn?t answer. She still seemed unsettled, hands opening and closing as she looked out at the hallway. The first few fishmen were arriving now, approaching tentatively, puzzled as to where their bounty had escaped to.

Jozu sighed. ?You two are an item, aren?t you??

Sango practically exploded. ?How did you- I mean, is this even the time for-?

?You mean a lot to her, right?? The shark lowered herself into a fighting stance. ?She?d really hate it if you died here.?

The dolphin?s eyes lost focus as Jozu?s statement washed over her. Slowly, confidence began to return to her, her posture straightening as she matched Jozu?s stance. She was channeling the same passion that drove Jozu - the desire to survive not for her own sake, but for someone else?s. That power would carry her further than any selfish goal ever could.

Good thing, too, Jozu thought. I could use some dependable backup.

The room filled up with fishmen, all searching for Sirens that weren?t there. With their prey nowhere to be seen, they soon descended on the two leftovers, a hundred of them charging at once.

?Bet I can take out more of them than you,? Sango said.

?You?re on.?

In unison, the two youkai hurled themselves into battle.

-----

As the door slammed shut behind her, Koishi felt as if she had crossed a point of no return. There was no handle on the other side of the door, and the wood was thick enough to stop any outside noise from getting in. From where she was standing, Sango and Jozu may as well have been on the other side of the planet.

She placed one hand on the door. Half of her wanted to draw her sword and rip it to shreds; the other half knew all that would do was make Sango?s efforts meaningless. She stared into the solid wood, as if it would somehow allow her to look through it.

For the first time, the other Sirens allowed themselves to stop. They gathered in a semicircle around Koishi, too far to reach her, but close enough that she could feel their sentiments. Satori stepped forward, placing a hand on Koishi?s shoulder. No-one said so much as a word.

At last Koishi exhaled, letting all her doubts and fear ooze out of her. There would be a time to fear for them, but not now. She still had one last duty to fulfill. She turned neatly on the spot and began slowly walking down the corridor, her fellow Sirens following on behind her.

The throne room was ornate and elegant, silken rugs running across the floor and precious gems ingrained in the walls. Fish-shaped mosaics watched her from every side as she approached the room?s main attraction - a golden throne, at the top of a small staircase, crowned with a shimmering stone. Seven Teardrop-shaped indents were carved into the rock, and it hummed as the Sirens drew closer.

Leviathan sat calmly in her chair, back straight as she looked down on her enemies. She wore a black dress that billowed freely in the water like an extra set of appendages. Even from here, she radiated an aura of immense power.

?So you?ve arrived.? Leviathan looked towards Koishi as she stroked her chin. ?I admit, seeing you here is something of a surprise. I was sure that blow should have killed you.?

?I?m tougher than you think.? Koishi drew a golden line in the water, her sword flashing into existence as she clutched at its hilt. ?We?re here to finish what you started, Leviathan.?

?Are you now?? The youkai smirked, leaning forward in her chair. ?Forgive me if I?m not that frightened. I?m older than all seven of you put together, and you think you can-?

Before she could finish the sentence, Sakuya stepped forward and flung a card towards the throne. It burst into a dozen knives, each of them aimed at one of Leviathan?s vital spots. Leviathan?s face didn?t even falter - she waved her hand, and an arc of lightning burst out of her body. The knives flew off in random directions, none of them even coming close to their target.

?How rude.? Leviathan frowned. ?Didn?t your mother teach you not to interrupt??

?Sorry.? Sakuya stuck her nose up. ?It?s just that my ears hurt whenever you open your mouth.?

The youkai didn?t even respect that with an answer. ?And what about you, Satori? Yesterday you were my loyal subject, and today you?ve come to kill me in my own home. I had no clue you humans could be so quick to change their allegiance.?

?I still hold true to my beliefs, Leviathan.? Satori shook her head, stepping beside Koishi and brandishing her saber. ?But I?ve found out you?re not the woman I thought you were. If the youkai are to live in peace, maniacs like you need to be put in their place.?

?Me? A maniac?? Leviathan?s laugh brought the currents roaring around her. ?Oh, human, you couldn?t be more wrong. I?ve just been trying to end the war no youkai was brave enough to fight - the war to put you wretched humans in your place.?

?No-one?s fighting it because it isn?t worth fighting.? Mokou was the next to step forward, her hands curled into fists. ?We know why you?re mad, but vengeance isn?t gonna solve anything. All it?ll do is put other people through the same crap you?ve had to suffer.?

??Sides, no matter what your reasoning is, a crime?s a crime.? Komachi rested the barrel of the Titanic on her shoulder. ?All your talk of saving the youkai means nothing if you?re gonna kill people for it.?

Leviathan?s humour quickly left her, replace with dry sarcasm. ?Surely this is a joke. You?re not actually trying to reason with me now, are you? After you?ve destroyed the Mindcoil, one of my finest creations, and torn my private army to shreds??

?It?s never too late to make a change.? Youmu?s ghostly form moved alongside her, nodding in sync. ?If you know you?re in the wrong but you press on anyway, you may as well have given up.?

?And you owe it to the people that have died,? Nazrin added, the last of the Sirens to advance. ?All your allies and enemies - you owe it to them to put an end to this.?

Koishi could feel her friends? conviction echoing in her mind. Deep down, she knew there was little hope of reaching Leviathan with their words - but they owed it to themselves to try.

?Please, Leviathan,? she said. ?Come with us peacefully. We don?t have to fight.?

The youkai stared at Koishi in disbelief, the offer of peace the first thing to leave her lost for words. She slumped back onto her throne, sinking into thought for a few seconds.

?...You?re right,? she said quietly. ?We don?t have to fight.?

Koishi?s eyes brightened. ?Then you?ll-?

?You?ve already given me everything I need.?

Leviathan?s mouth curled into a twisted smile. She clicked her fingers, and a magic circle shone to life underneath the rug. Koishi felt unseen hands grabbing at her feet, pinning her against her will to the floor.

?What the-?

Before she could finish, another hand burst out from the ground and snatched at her neck. Koishi leaned backwards, but the hand followed her movements precisely. Its cold, dead fingers ripped away her Teardrop, carrying it towards the throne in victory.

Moments later, six more hands emerged from the circle to rob the other Sirens. Mokou and Youmu made to strike the spirits, only for their blows to pass through harmlessly. Within seconds, all seven Teardrops had been stolen from their owners.

?Master!? Nazrin cried out as she watched her Teardrop drift away, taking Shou along with it. Leviathan let out a wicked cackle, her voice echoing endlessly through the water.

?Many thanks, girls. I don?t know why I even bothered searching for the Teardrops - you?ve saved me the trouble by bringing them right here.?

The seven stones hung above the throne, the hands that carried them fading into nothing. Leviathan casually rose from her seat, picking up the first Teardrop and slotting it into place.

?Oh, you are kiddin? me!? Komachi fired the Titanic straight at Leviathan?s chest - like Sakuya?s attempt, a bolt of lightning casually deflected it. The two Sirens did their best to stop the youkai, but nothing they did so much as fazed her.

?Impressive, aren?t they?? Leviathan drew out the entire process, savouring every moment the Sirens struggled in vain. ?So much power contained in seven tiny stones. But have you ever wondered why the Teardrops exist??

?Why else?? Mokou grabbed at the rug, tearing away a scrap and trying to rub away the engravings underneath. ?So we could wipe the floor with scumbags like you!?

Beside her Youmu was cutting up the carpet in a similar manner, with a nigh-identical lack of success. Nazrin was frozen to the spot, the absence of her master catching her entirely by surprise. Satori examined her surroundings, looking for anything she could use as a prop to pull herself away.

?You humans are so unimaginative.? Leviathan sighed, shaking her head as she twirled a Teardrop between her fingers. ?You think artifacts like this exist solely so you could play about as heroes? No, there?s a much more meaningful purpose to the Teardrops, one even your masters were hopelessly unaware of.?

She clicked the fourth Teardrop into place, still bearing the weight of the barrage Sakuya and Komachi were forcing onto her. Koishi tried to dig her sword into the ground and pull herself up with it, only for her sword to become jammed for her trouble. The circle?s light was starting to fade, but it would still take far too long for it to die out completely.

?What are you talking about?? Satori?s eyes lit up with scorn. ?You told me the Teardrops would help the youkai win the war!?

?Oh, they will, Satori,? Leviathan said, slipping in the fifth Teardrop. ?You see, the Teardrops serve as a seal of sorts. On their own they?re already powerful, but with all seven combined they can tap into a dimension separate from ours.?

?And why the hell would anyone wanna do that?? Komachi asked, rapidly reloading her gun. ?Fiddling with other dimensions generally isn?t a good idea.?

The youkai smirked. ?This dimension in particular has only a single resident. An old work of mine that I?ve been quite desperate to get back. The higher-ups locked it up just because it was too good at its job. Ridiculous, isn?t it??

Koishi felt a rock forming on the bottom of her stomach. Yukari?s words echoed in her head again, this time with clarity.

Please, Koishi. I need the Sirens to finish what I couldn?t.

She felt the pieces clicking into place. At the time she had thought Yukari was talking about the war, but the truth was something much simpler than that. Something much, much more dangerous.

?You mean...? her throat felt dry, barely able to get the words out. ?You mean the Ravager, don?t you??

The name alone struck a chord in the hearts of her allies; Mokou, Youmu and Komachi visibly tensed, and Sakuya and Nazrin went pale. Satori raised an eyebrow, the only person in the room unfamiliar with the term.

?I hate when you humans call it that,? Leviathan said. She made a deliberate point of forcing the sixth Teardrop in, practically stabbing it into place. ?Its name is 46. Always has been, always will be. I won?t demean my work with that slur of a name.?

?...You?re serious, aren?t you?? For once, Sakuya had nothing to offer in the way of quips, simply looking at Leviathan in awe. ?That creature nearly destroyed every living thing on earth, and you want to bring it back??

?Yukari couldn?t handle its power.? She snarled out the name as if it had burned her mouth. ?She couldn?t commit to her decision. She told it to kill the humans, then stopped it before its work was done. But me?? She jabbed a thumb into her chest. ?I?m different. I won?t rest until the human race has been wiped from the face of the earth.?

Slowly, dramatically, she picked the seventh Teardrop from its spot in front of her. She twirled around on the spot, ready to insert the final seal at any moment. ?And now, the moment of truth. I?ve waited centuries for this...?

Koishi wanted to scream. She couldn?t let this happen, but she had no way of stopping it. She reached out as far as she could, yelling at the top of her lungs. ?It?s not worth it, Levi! It won?t bring your family back!?

The room fell horribly silent. Leviathan lowered her hand, letting go of the Teardrop. As she turned back towards the Siren, her face had lost all expression.

?I thought I told you not to play psychoanalyst, human.?

Koishi shook her head. ?What happened to you was horrible, but killing won?t do anything to put your parents? souls at peace.? Her whole body was trembling, but she did all she could to hide it. ?You?re making a terrible mistake, Leviathan. Please, for all of our sakes-?

?Shut up!?

The youkai?s face warped into a look of fury, swinging a bolt of lightning in the Siren?s direction. Koishi barely jerked her head to the side to dodge the attack. She felt the hairs on her cheek begin to sizzle.

?You think you?re so much better than me, don?t you?? Now Leviathan was making no attempt to hide her anger, teeth clenched as she squeezed her hands into fists. ?You think that after I?ve put thousands of years of my life into bringing back my masterpiece, you can win me over with a few wise words? God, that?s just the sort of ego I hate in you humans!?

She snatched up the Teardrop again. ?I?m going to enjoy watching 46 tear you apart, human. More than you can imagine.?

Koishi?s composure crumbled, and as she reached out again she fell into full-fledged panic. ?Levi, no! I?m begging you, don?t do it!?

Leviathan smiled cruelly. ?Beg all you like, human. I?m not listening.? With a grand flourish, she brought the final Teardrop up to the stone-

Click.

And put it in its proper place.

-----

Waiting.

All It could remember was waiting. The passage of time was relentless and untrackable. It may have been here for decades, centuries, even more. There was no way to tell. All It could do was wait.

There were no walls, no ceiling. In the infinite distance, a thousand bloodshot eyes continued to peer at their prisoner. They screamed with new voices every time, the voices of Its countless victims. Perhaps this prison had been designed to bring about some sort of guilt. In that regard, the plan had failed entirely.

It paid no mind to its surroundings. Once they had seemed new, fresh, even interesting to It. Yet even the most bizarre environments could grow routine given enough time. A weaker mind would have been broken by the ordeal, but the only weakness It struggled with was boredom.

It had been created with a single purpose; to bring the kingdom of man to its knees. It had achieved that duty admirably until Its former masters had lost the will to follow through. Now It had been imprisoned for nothing more than doing Its job, in a jail that would have driven any other creature utterly insane.

Fantasy had been Its escape. For eons It had imagined Its vengeance, envisioning the traitors being torn apart limb by limb. It had reveled in Its retribution, playing out every killing method It could come up with. Every possibility had been considered and serialised - It had even made a list of which ones It wanted to test first.

But for what felt like forever those plans had only been a distant daydream, something It would focus on simply to pass the time. There was nothing else for It to do or think about.

Just waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

Until today.

The shaking was like nothing It had witnessed before. The world itself was trembling, the eyes looking at each other in horror. The screams grew louder, thousands of them interlapping into a cacophonous dirge. A single crack formed in the purple horizon, splintering out gradually to encompass the entirety of the prison.

The world It had been trapped in was dying.

At first, It could only feel disbelief. How could this be? It had thought this prison was eternal; if It could not have defeated these bonds, who could have? But those thoughts soon gave way once It realised the scale of what was happening.

It would be free. Free to complete Its duty. Free to do what It pleased. Free to kill however It saw fit.

As the world shattered around It, all It could do was laugh.


-----

The earth rumbled beneath the Sirens. Koishi jerked upwards as the magic circle dissipated, its energy spent. The stone containing the Teardrops began to tremble, shuffling through the seven colours of the rainbow in time with the gems. Debris fell from the ceiling, the whole room threatening to collapse under the sheer power of the spell.

?Congratulations, humans!? Leviathan seemed unaware of any of this, her arms outstretched in wonder as she watched the stone rise from the throne. ?You are the first to witness the rebirth of the greatest killing machine the world has ever known!?

From within the stone came a bloodcurdling shriek, a million souls crying out at once. Koishi grabbed her ears, her heart set to explode in her chest. She watched on as the rock jerked about in the air, kicked around by an unseen force.

As the screaming reached its peak, the stone ruptured. A black ooze seeped out from within, dripping down the surface and onto the floor. The voices died out, and the sealing stone started to crumble as its contents were spewed onto the rug.

The ooze stirred, moving as a collective as it reshaped itself into a more concrete form. A sleek humanoid frame composed itself from the slime, ten feet tall and half as wide. Its body was encased in an insect-like carapace, two razor-sharp blades attached to its forearms. Every inch of its body was perfectly formed, designed for a single murderous purpose.

But most frightening of all was its face. Four red lights served as its eyes, none of them showing any hint of emotion. Three rows of teeth ran along both of its jaws, perpetually locked in a crippled smile. There were no other features to distract Koishi?s gaze, making its twisted expression stand out even more.

?What is that thing?? Satori put a hand to her mouth, looking ready to vomit.

?Two words,? Komachi said, already priming the Titanic. ?Big trouble.? She fired off a shot into the creature?s chest. The Ravager made no attempt to stop the attack - in fact, it ignored the oncoming bullet entirely. The shot struck it clean, only to bounce off with a pathetic plink.

?That...? Youmu and her ghost half looked at each other in concern. ?That doesn?t bode well.?

Even after the attack the creature made no attempt to approach the Sirens; it glowered at Komachi for a moment, but seemed to lose interest as it dismissed her as harmless. Its head twisted around its neck with a horrible crack, spinning a full circle as it took in its surroundings.

...Where am I?

Koishi grabbed at her head, a voice echoing within her ears. No, not just any voice, her voice. The Sirens around her reacted similarly, the Ravager?s thoughts shoved straight into their brains.

?46...? Leviathan slowly stepped forward, arms held out as if she was set to embrace the creature. ?I've done it...I've done it!?

The Ravager looked down on the youkai, its expression unchanging. Koishi wasn?t sure if it could change at all, or if the only reaction it could convey was that broken smirk. Neither possibility seemed very comforting.

You. The Ravager?s eyes flickered. I remember you. You were the scientist.

Leviathan?s eyes lit up. ?Oh, I don?t believe it! You still remember me after all this time.? She wrapped her arms around the creature?s waist, reaching up to get a proper grip. ?My dear little 46, you?re just like I remember you!?

Koishi coiled backwards at the sight of their embrace. She couldn?t believe that anyone could treat something so cruel with such affection. The Ravager itself made no attempt to respond, standing motionless and staring into space.

?Don?t worry, dear, everything?s going to be fine.? Leviathan nuzzled her face against the creature?s stomach. ?I?ll bet you?ve been looking forward to this as much as I have, haven?t you??

Reluctantly, the Ravager nodded. ...Indeed. It?s been a long time since I had a chance to do my duty.

?Well, you won?t have to worry about that any more.? Leviathan was speaking affectionately now, like the Ravager was her own child. ?Together, the two of us will wipe out the rest of those filthy humans-?

Her speech was interrupted by the Ravager thrusting its hand through her chest.

?Hhhk-?!?

Leviathan?s eyes jumped open, the colour rapidly fading from her skin. Koishi could see the Ravager?s hand emerge from out of the youkai?s back, tearing through bone and muscle with ease.

?46...? As the initial shock dissipated, Leviathan grabbed at her creation?s arm, staring up at it in hysteria. ?Why...?? Her eyes rolled backwards, her body letting out one final breath before finally going limp in the water.

The water around her turned an ominous shade of red.

?It...? Nazrin raised an incredulous finger, tail swishing wildly. ?It just...?

Koishi lurched backwards, the moment locked into her mind. Her heartbeat rose to a fever pitch, ready to give out at any moment. Without thinking, she reached out to grab at Satori?s hand.

...Hm. Disappointing. The Ravager pulled its arm back, giving the Sirens a clear view of the hole it had left in Leviathan?s chest. These creatures are much more frail than I remember. It nudged the body aside, the youkai drifting off to a distant corner of the room. There was no question as to whether she was still alive.

?You...? Koishi grabbed at her neck, her whole body heavy with disgust. When she found her voice, she was screaming at the top of her lungs. ?How could you?! ?

The Ravager twisted its neck around to face the Siren, its bulbous eyes burning into her. You puzzle me, human. What is so bewildering about a creature serving its purpose?

?But she wasn?t even going to hurt you! She was your master, wasn?t she? And you...? Koishi wanted to scream and cry all at once, looking towards the broken body of Leviathan. ?You murdered her!?

The Ravager closed its eyes, casually wiping the blood off of its hand. Last time, I was thwarted because my former allies turned against me. I will not allow that mistake to happen again.

?What?s that supposed to mean?? Satori stomped forward, her anger a perfect facsimile of her sister?s. ?So you?re going to kill the youkai too, just in case they get in your way??

Precisely. The creature brought up one of its blades, its edge glinting in the dying light. I can trust nothing other than myself, and nowhere in my programming was I told to preserve youkai life. It is the only logical option.

Koishi turned towards her sister, the same flames flickering in both their eyes. They couldn?t let this creature loose.

?You leave us no choice, then,? Satori said, pointing her saber at the beast. ?For the sake of the youkai - no, for the sake of everyone, we can?t let you leave.?

Oh? The Ravager laughed, its voice echoing in the darkest recesses of Koishi?s head. You are aware I could kill all of you without any effort, aren?t you?

?He sort of has a point there,? Sakuya said, anxiously twirling a knife in one hand. ?We really aren?t equipped to fight this thing, and there?s no point in throwing our lives away.?

?But if we don?t fight it, who will?? Youmu was the first to berate her sister. ?We can?t run away and let this thing wreak havoc. This is what the Sirens were made for, Miyo.?

The maid winced, then finally let out a long sigh. ?You?re all insane. I?d just like to get that out there.? She primed her knife, holding her deck in her other hand. ?But if you?re going down, I guess I?m going down with you.?

?Good answer.? Komachi pointed the Titanic right at the Ravager?s head. ?As for me - well, you just killed a woman right in front of me, so I kinda have to make sure you get what you deserve. No hard feelings or anything.?

The Ravager tilted its head at the show of bravery. So you admit you?re likely to perish, and yet you still choose to face me? You humans truly are bizarre.

?There?s nothing bizarre about it,? Mokou said, raising her fists. ?We?re just doing our job, same as you. It?s just that our job is making sure that you can?t do yours.?

Six of the seven Sirens had stepped forward. Only Nazrin hung behind, still seemingly in shock over Shou?s sudden disappearance. Steam hissed out of the pistons at her neck in time with her breathing.

?...You?re the reason all of this happened,? she whispered. ?Everything - the Sirens, the fire, master?s death - it was all to bring you back. I lost everything just so you could tear the planet apart.?

The Cardinal Rods formed in her hands, and she held them in a rigid cross. ?I?ve had it with this goddamn war. You?re not taking anything else from me, you understand??

Koishi nodded along with Nazrin?s sentiment. Her words echoed the thoughts of her allies - this war had pushed all of them to their limits and beyond. Now they would either end it, or they would die trying.

?Ravager. 46. Whatever you call yourself.? Koishi moved forward to lead the Siren formation. ?We?re here to end what Yukari Yakumo started in the War of Cataclysm.? She brandished her blade, ready to charge at a moment?s notice. ?Prepare yourself!?

The Ravager?s eyes stopped on the tip of Koishi?s sword, showing a faint glow of curiosity. Interesting. I suppose you?ll make a good warmup, if nothing else.

It stomped one foot into the ground, and the earth trembled beneath its might. It opened its mouth, a guttural roar echoing through the water.

Come then, humans! The voice screamed in Koishi?s head, as if her own subconscious was goading her on. Let?s see which of you will be the first to die!

-----

Next Week's BGM: Calling That Detestable Name (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_0TeykT5NA)
Title: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The Final Battle (Part 1)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on November 17, 2013, 09:34:58 AM
Koishi charged into the fray, sword held high above her head. Before she could make it into range, she saw a red bullet fly past her shoulder.

?Eat this!? Mokou?s wings fluttered behind her as she broke ahead of her companions. She landed right at the Ravager?s feet, using her momentum to fuel a deadly uppercut at the beast?s chin.

Well, well. The Ravager brought an arm up to block the incoming punch. It looks like we have a volunteer.

The youkai quickly focused its attention on the phoenix, taking her on in a bare-knuckle fight. Both sides threw reckless hooks at the other, with Mokou swerving around everything thrown at her.

Koishi had no choice but to hang back. The pair were moving around too much for her to join in - if she attacked, she was as likely to hit Mokou as she was to hit the enemy. Youmu and Satori faced a similar dilemma, stepping around the monster in case an opening appeared. Komachi took the odd shot at the creature?s head, but it weaved away without any visible effort.

I can?t just sit back, Koishi thought. I?ve got to help her!

?Tides of Doubt!? Stretching an arm forward, Koishi willed her third eye open and caught the Ravager in its embrace. She let her thoughts pour into its mind, bogging the creature down to slow its movements.

...Eh?

Koishi blinked. She could feel her thoughts digging into the Ravager?s subconscious, but they seemed to have no effect. Its reactions were as sharp as ever, still keeping up with Mokou?s break-neck pace.

?Satori, what?s going on?? Koishi stepped backwards, twirling the blade in her hand. ?My powers aren?t doing anything.?

?Me neither.? The valkyrie clenched her jaw. ?I?m trying to read its mind, but it?s thinking too fast for me to follow.?

?Too fast??

Satori?s brow furrowed. ?It?s not like a human brain - it?s too quick and efficient for that. It?s more like a computer, juggling millions of calculations in a matter of seconds. There?s no way we can keep up with it.?

?Thanks for the good news, Satori-san!? Mokou growled through clenched teeth, blocking a haymaker meant for her head. ?You?re giving me real great moral support here!?

Koishi bit her lip. Mokou?s punches hit their target, but most of them seemed to have little effect. Occasionally the Ravager would stumble or falter, but Mokou had barely managed to make a dent in the creature?s armour. She?d tire herself out long before winning the fight at that rate.

?Nazrin-san!? Koishi yelled. ?See if you can figure out how to hurt this thing!?

?On it!? Nazrin nodded, her visor flashing green as it began its analysis. A progress bar began to slide along it at a gradual rate. All they needed now was to buy some time for her to finish her work, and-

Fun, The Ravager said. But primitive.

It sent in another jab for Mokou?s face. Like every one before, Mokou weaved forward to respond with her own counterattack.

Before she could strike, the Ravager?s foot slammed into her knee.

?Ghaaah-!? Mokou lurched backwards, the low blow taking the fist-fighter entirely off guard. Her leg flopped about, bending in a manner human bones weren?t designed for.

The setup. The Ravager raised an arm, aiming its blade for Mokou?s neck. And now, the execution-

?Stop right there!?

Youmu rode to the rescue, her ghost half helping her to attack the Ravager from both sides. The creature was pulled away before it could finish the job, devoting one hand to each of Youmu?s forms.

Mokou pulled herself away, desperately flailing through the water with her arms. Her leg still hung limp behind her, agony locked on her face.

?Mokou-san!? Koishi swam up to Mokou, carrying her to the rear of the group. ?Are you alright??

?Fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK!? Mokou grabbed at her shattered leg, only to promptly jerk her hands back with a grimace. ?Jesus, no-one told me we were fighting fucking Superman!?

?Not exactly a poet, is she?? Komachi bit her lip as she looked down at the phoenix. ?That leg looks pretty busted. I get the feeling she won?t be walking for a while.?

Koishi gulped. One strike had been enough to put Mokou completely out of contention. They?d have to be careful if they wanted any chance of getting out of this alive.

Luckily, caution was something Youmu knew her way around. She held the Ravager at bay with an airtight flurry of blows, her ghost half stopping it from retreating. The creature?s fighting style changed to match hers, its strikes much more quiet and subdued than when it was fighting Mokou.

?Can she take it?? Satori asked, still lingering near the battle, searching for a way in.

?Let?s not take the time to find out,? Sakuya answered. She broke into a dash, coming to a stop behind Youmu?s ghost half. Four cards hung between her fingers, and she threw them at the beast in a tightly-cut arc. With a flash they turned into a dozen knives, passing straight through the spirit and reaching their target.

Nngh-! The Ravager tensed as the daggers struck it, but none of them were powerful enough to puncture its armour. It let out a small chuckle as it fended off both Youmu and her spectre. Not bad. I see you humans can think outside the box.

?So it?s working?? Sakuya smiled, drawing another hand of cards. ?Then you won?t mind if I do it again-?

Unlike your companion here.

The Ravager stomped a foot into the ground, causing the floor itself to quake. Koishi stumbled forward, grabbing at the rug for support, but Youmu got the worst of it - her stance was completely offset, leaving her wide open for an attack.

Your style is graceful, but textbook. The creature swung. You bore me, human.

Youmu haphazardly pulled her swords around to block the attack, but her blades were caught in an awkward angle. The Ravager?s slash caught one just below the hilt, slicing the steel clean off the handle.

?Ah-? Youmu stared at the broken sword in dismay. Her eyes popped open, torn between dismay and disgust. That hesitation was long enough for the Ravager to slash again - this time, aiming straight at the Siren?s neck.

?YOUMU!?

Time crawled to a halt as Sakuya threw her arms out. She ran across the length of the hall, grabbing her sister by the waist and dragging her away. Koishi could only watch, the ticking of a clock echoing in her mind as Youmu was dragged out of the fray.

With a click of Sakuya?s fingers, time resumed its normal course. She knelt down beside her sister, one arm around her shoulder. ?You alright??

Youmu still had her eyes locked on her shattered sword. Koishi could see the doubt lingering in her expression, the gradual slackening of her shoulders. She shook it off, dropping the broken blade and tightening her grip on the other one.

?I?m fine, Miyo,? she said. ?Thanks for the save.?

?No problem. Just try not to do it again-? Halfway through her sentence, Sakuya clutched at her chest and fell forward. ?Nnngaaah!?

?Sakuya-san!? Koishi grabbed Sakuya by the shoulders, pulling her upright. ?What just happened? Are you okay??

Sakuya?s face had turned completely white, her breaths short and ragged. ?Pushed myself past my limit.? She pulled open her pocket watch, revealing that it had gone a few seconds past midnight. ?Heart stopped for a while. Body isn?t taking it very well.?

Youmu took her sister by the shoulders, their roles reversing in an instant. ?Miyo, you idiot! Stay with me!?

Koishi clenched her teeth, her eyes falling on Sakuya and Mokou in quick succession. She jerked her head around to look at Nazrin. ?Please tell me you?ve got somewhere with that analysis.?

?Just a second...? Nazrin watched as the last shard of the progress bar filled up. ?Alright, my readings are saying that the carapace is the primary form of protection. It?s much more vulnerable under that, so if we can just pierce through-?

A black bullet flew across the room, striking her in the face before she could finish. ?Kyaa!? The momentum sent her spiralling into the wall behind her in a cloud of dust.

?Nazrin-san!? Koishi quickly pulled the mouse out from the crater she?d left in her wake. Her visor had taken the brunt of the impact, but it had been shattered to pieces as a result. A single drop of blood ran down her forehead where a shard had lodged itself into her skin.

That?s enough out of you. The Ravager?s arm was outstreched, a hole in its palm still seeping with smoke. This time your precious visor won?t save you.

A second bullet fired from its hand, as quick and deadly as the first. Like the first, it was aimed squarely at Nazrin?s forehead.

Moments from impact, the bullet curved away from its target, lodging itself in the wall beside her.

?Hey, wise guy!? Komachi pulled her hand back, priming the Titanic in a firm grip. ?I?ll have you know I?m the sharpshooter around these parts.?

She fired another round at the Ravager?s chest, forcing the creature to dodge to the side. It fired back, and Komachi?s form flickered as she shifted a few feet to the side. By now she had attracted the creature?s full attention, pulling it away from the main group as she locked it in a high-speed gunfight.

Koishi could barely keep up with their pace. Komachi was moving at impossible speeds, but in spite of that the Ravager was keeping up with her. Intervening would only cause her to get in the way.

?We need a plan,? Koishi said, turning back to the group. ?Komachi-san?s buying us time, but if we want to get through that armour we need a strategy.?

?Like what?? Mokou growled, still seething from the pain in her leg. ?And why didn?t you ask this before the thing broke my fucking kneecap??

?She has a point,? Satori said, anxiously squeezing at the hilt of her blade. ?We?re already hurting pretty bad. If the Ravager catches Komachi-san, it?ll just be the two of us.?

?Then that?ll have to do.? Koishi nodded to herself. ?Satori, we?ve got to double-team it. I know it?s risky, but there?s no way either of us can take it alone.?

?What about...the knife?? Sakuya asked, still struggling to breathe. ?It?ll be strong enough to-?

?We can?t, Sakuya-san.? Koishi rubbed at her thigh, feeling Aptera hidden beneath her dress. ?If we use it, billions of people will-?

?And if we don?t, the Ravager kills every living thing on the planet.? Nazrin covered her face with one hand to stem the flow of blood. ?Whatever choice we make, it?s better than the alternative.?

?Then how are we meant to choose?? Koishi?s voice was stern, almost rock-solid. ?How are we meant to pick which race has to suffer??

That was enough to quell the argument. The other Sirens looked conflicted, but the dilemma clearly weighed just as heavily on their minds as it did on Koishi?s. There was no way they?d reach a consensus, no matter how much time Komachi bought them.

?You can start trying any time, y?know!? Komachi yelled, still working on making herself the focus of the Ravager?s attention. Occasionally one of her bullets would glance the creature, but its carapace remained unpierced.

Hm. Seems like typical ordinance won?t do the job. The Ravager grabbed at its wrist, eying Komachi with frutstration. If you want to see my best, I?ll be happy to deliver.

Komachi grimaced as the creature?s whole hand gave way, revealing a larger cannon hidden within its wrist. It took only a moment to charge up, a pale purple light the only sign of its activation.

You call that a gun? The Ravager?s eyes shone red. THIS is a gun!

Komachi was already dodging, but it didn?t matter. As the bullet struck the ground she had stood on, a massive explosion rocked the entire area. Even at her blazing speed Komachi couldn?t escape its blast radius, the fireball blowing her clean off her feet. She landed in a far corner of the room, steam still rising from her body, the Titanic falling from her hands and landing a dozen paces away.

Hm. You should be a pile of dust by now. The Ravager shook its head as it clicked its hand back into place. I?ll finish you later. For now, I have other business to attend to.

As it turned around, the Ravager faced Koishi with a manic glint in its eyes. That leaves you two. I felt you poking around in my mind earlier. It brought a hand up, stroking at its blade with a finger. Let?s see how well you fight without your cheap tricks.

Koishi?s blood felt like ice. She?d never seen an opponent so lacking in humanity, so full to the brim with killing intent. There was no doubt that given half a chance it would bring the world to its knees. This was their one chance to stop it.

Her hand fluttered over Aptera again. The temptation fluttered across her mind, a butterfly in an empty room. She would save everyone in one fell swoop.

No. She shook the thought away. That?s not saving anyone. It?s just changing the world for the worse.

She turned to Satori. The valkyrie looked toward her expectantly, as if waiting for a decision on the matter. Slowly, Koishi managed a nod, wielding her blade in both hands.

?This is it, Satori. Now or never.?

?Right.? Satori raised her saber, stepping to Koishi?s side. ?Let?s hope your faith isn?t misplaced.?

The sisters pushed forward in unison. Even without speaking, their actions were perfectly in sync. Not only were they siblings, but they?d fought each other before as enemies. Koishi knew everything Satori would do, and Satori knew everything Koishi would do. They made up for each others? weaknesses, leaving the Ravager no room for a counterattack.

Stab. Parry. Thrust. Koishi let herself fall into a trance, focusing on nothing but the battle. Thinking of the stakes would only unnerve her. Her senses felt razor sharp as she watched for cheap strikes like the one that had disabled Mokou. She had seen everything the Ravager had in its arsenal. Nothing could surprise her now.

This is more like it. The Ravager?s manic smile grew brighter. When was the last time humans pushed me this far?

Koishi ignored the thoughts lingering in her head. It was trying to distract her. She kept her mind on the fight, landing small hits to the Ravager?s side. Satori kept it busy on its other side, their blades passing by each other but never crossing. In a way their moves were as machine-like as their opponent?s.

I?m getting there. Koishi felt her hopes rising. Just a little more-

The Ravager moved abruptly, raising its arm upwards. It left itself entirely open to attack, as if to goad Koishi in.

The Siren only had a few instants to think it over. This was just the opening she needed, and it might never come again. Taking the risk was the only option. She brought her blade back, focusing all her strength on her next strike.

This is it. It all comes down to this-!

She swung with more strength than she?d ever had in her life. Channeled within that blow was every ounce of will and effort that Koishi had. She screamed as the blade crashed into the Ravager?s chest, forcing the creature to coil backwards.

As it fell away, she could see a line drawn along the carapace where she?d struck it. But there was no sign of a piercing.

What?! That wasn?t enough to-

The Ravager?s outstretched arm reached down, grabbing Koishi by the hair and tugging her in. The creature wrapped its other arm around her neck, spinning around to face Satori. The valkyrie froze mid-thrust, her sword stopping inches from Koishi?s eye.

Don?t even think about it, human. The creature squeezed at Koishi?s neck with gargantuan force, slowly choking the life out of her. Surely you wouldn?t sacrifice your own ally, would you?

Satori?s whole body quivered with fear. Koishi could see the conflict taking place behind her eyes, the cold ruthlessness clashing with her raw humanity. Gradually, her resolve began to drain away.

No, Satori! Koishi shook her head, unable to speak with the Ravager throttling her. Do it! Don?t worry about me!

The valkyrie continued to tremble, her eyes welling up with tears. ?D...Damn you...? She lowered her saber, cursing at herself as she gave in.

Good girl. The Ravager let go of Koishi?s hair, extending its palm and firing another black bullet. It caught Satori square in the chest, and the valkyrie howled in pain before crumpling to her knees.

Satori!!

Koishi flailed about in the Ravager?s grip, both hands tugging at its arm. The Ring of Breath was no use to her if she couldn?t breathe at all. Her chest ached, her body demanding oxygen that would never come.

It seems I?m done here. As Koishi?s world began to fade, all she could see clearly was the Ravager?s brilliant eyes. Fear not, humans; you are but the first of many. Know that I will not rest until the rivers run red with the blood of your kind!

Its laugh was a venom that slowly killed Koishi?s mind. She saw the vague outlines of her allies in the distance, their cries muffled as her senses began to dull. Once the Ravager was done with her, it would kill the rest of the Sirens. Then Sango and Jozu. Then Nitori, Momiji and Ran.

Then Gensouto. Japan. The world.

I?m sorry, everyone...

Her arm went limp, her hand resting just above her thigh. She could feel the shape of the metal hidden underneath, Aptera hanging just above the knee on her scar. Maybe if she?d been stronger, she?d have used the weapon as Yukari intended. But even with death staring her in the face, she couldn?t find it within herself to make that decision.

Darkness fell over Koishi. Then, silence.
Title: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The Final Battle (Part 2)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on November 17, 2013, 09:35:20 AM
?This is Aptera.?

A memory drifted into Koishi?s head, her life flashing before her eyes. Yukari looked up at her with heavy eyes, motioning at the dagger on the table.

?I?ve spent centuries crafting it, and it?s my greatest work. It draws from the power of the masquerade itself, a power stronger than anything I ever had in my time. It should be strong enough to vanquish any enemy you come across.?

There had been a hint of pride in her voice, Koishi recalled. She?d taken hundreds of years to craft a weapon that could correct her mistakes. And Koishi had squandered it.

...Wait.

The memory played in her mind over and over. With every repetition, the idea forming in Koishi?s dying brain grew ever clearer. She fumbled around in the darkness, grabbing at the handle of the knife.

As she felt it humming in her hand, she knew she had found her answer. The blade knew her intentions. It understood. And there was nothing to stop her.

That?s it!

Aptera?s blade began to shine, its light crossing through all the colours of the rainbow. With the last of her energy, she drew the dagger and stabbed it right into the Ravager?s torso.

The roar that followed brought all of her senses back to life.

NgraAAAAAAAAH!

The Ravager stumbled backwards, clutching its wound as it let go of Koishi. A black ooze seeped out from where Aptera had pierced the carapace, faintly pulsing with magical light. It froze in horror, looking at the injury as if it had never bled before.

?Haa, haa...? Koishi took a moment to catch her breath, then reached down to help Satori to her feet. ?You alright??

?Koishi, you...? Satori?s mouth hung open as she stood up. ?I thought you said we weren?t going to-?

?I did it, Satori.? Koishi?s chest puffed out as a second wind pumped through her. ?I found a way.?

?What?re you talking about?? Sakuya rose out of Youmu?s hands, still pale but strong enough to stand. "You can't produce that sort of power out of thin air."

?Remember what Yukari-san said?? Koishi answered. ?It channels the power of the masquerade. A worldwide enchantment that?s only become larger over time - how much power do you think there is in a spell like that??

Sakuya jerked her neck back in a rare display of shock. ?So...we?re fueling it with the masquerade itself??

Koishi nodded. ?It?s not very stable, but I?m pretty sure it?ll work. We just need to wear the Ravager down a little more, and-?

?Wait a minute.? Nazrin tugged the glass shard from her forehead, covering the wound with her palm. ?If you use the masquerade, doesn?t that mean the humans will remember magic??

Koishi nodded again, her expression unflinching.

?Isn?t that what we?re trying to avoid?? Mokou pulled herself upright with a flap of her wings. ?Kawashiro-sensei kept saying that we?d-.?

?She?s wrong.? Koishi stabbed her sword into the ground, Aptera still twinkling in her other hand. ?We?re better than that, Mokou-san. Maybe we made our mistakes once, but we?ve moved on since then-?

?And is that a risk you?re sure you wanna take?? Komachi stumbled across the room, the Ravager too obsessed with its injury to even notice her. ?I mean, if you?re wrong, we?d be doing just as much damage to the world as the Ravager would.?

Koishi took a long, deep breath. She could feel her companions? eyes boring into her, searching for the conviction to go along with her claims. They wanted proof she had thought this through, that it wasn?t another whimsical show of naivety.

Well, if they wanted conviction, Koishi was happy to deliver.

?Kawashiro-sensei thinks we?re evil by nature. That without some guiding hand to keep us in check, we?d rip ourselves apart and take everyone else down with us.? She looked across the crowd, eyes stopping on everyone in order. ?But how many of you really think that? How many people have we seen who?ve just been lost or misled? Are we really as cruel as she thinks we are??

The Sirens fell silent. Koishi could see the first hints of understanding rising to their faces - a nod here, a smile there.

?Maybe I?m being optimistic. Maybe we really will ruin everything if we get our magic back. But what are our other options?? She smacked her sword into the ground again to punctuate her point. ?Either the humans suffer, or the youkai suffer. But with the masquerade gone, both sides will be on even ground. It?ll be a chance to start again and build together as equals.?

She held Aptera out to the other Sirens. ?But I can?t make that world alone. Please, just this once - I need all of you to believe in me.?

Everyone?s eyes turned down to the knife. Koishi kept her face straight, but her insides felt like they were on fire. If she couldn?t convince her allies, who could she convince?

?...So you?re truly willing to stake the world on your beliefs?? Satori said, her voice careful and neutral. ?Even knowing that billions could die if your faith is unfounded??

Koishi looked up at her sister, meeting the valkyrie?s eyes. Slowly, powerfully, she nodded. Almost instantly, Satori?s expression melted into something more serene.

?You really are something, Koishi.? She shook her head, as if chastising herself, then placed her hand over Koishi?s. ?Well, if it means the youkai won?t have to hide anymore, I?ll gladly go along with it.?

Koishi?s heart felt like it was floating in her chest. She opened her mouth to thank Satori, but she never got the chance.

?Count me in, too,? Mokou said, placing her hand on top of Satori?s. ?I always had a feeling the kappa was full of crap, anyway.?

?Make that three,? Sakuya said, adding her hand to the center. ?I know I?ll regret this later, but let?s just run with it.?

?Wherever Miyo goes, I?ll follow.? Youmu squeezed at her sister?s hand. ?You have my support, Koishi-san.?

Komachi chuckled as she added her hand to the mix. ?Freedom and justice for humans and youkai...think it?s got a nice ring to it.?

Nazrin was the last to offer her hand, looking up to the distance as she did. ?Master...this is what you?d want, right? Wherever you are, I hope this makes you proud.?

Koishi felt like she was flying. She could feel the wills of her friends seeping through their hands and into Aptera. The dagger crackled, summoning up a magical force unlike anything she?d ever felt before.

?Everyone... thank you.? Her eyes misted up as she bobbed her head up and down. She couldn?t have asked for better allies.

You...

The voice in her head was quiet, almost trembling in Koishi?s head. She turned around to see the Ravager taking its first steps forward, finally pulling its eyes away from the injury.

How DARE you!? Its voice split into two, one side murmuring in horror while the other fumed with rage. A human, of all things, is the first creature to harm me? How is this even possible?!

Koishi raised her sword upwards, the Sirens fanning around her. ?Listen up, Ravager! As long as we?re here, you?re not going to lay a finger on our world! We?re going to finish what Yukari Yakumo started all those years ago, and wipe you from the face of the earth!?

Yakumo? The creature spasmed, almost retching at the sound of the name. The human who mocked me is one of Yakumo?s lackeys? It screamed, terrifying and pitiable all at once. I will not stand for this disgrace! I?ll cut you to ribbons and bathe in your blood!

The Ravager raced forward like a bull seeing red. It raised a bloodstained hand, its sword?s edge already primed for Koishi?s neck.

?This is it, everyone.? Koishi brought up her own blade, Aptera hanging ready in her off-hand. ?Get ready!?

As the Ravager swung forward, Koishi parried the strike with ease. She spun around to the creature?s side, Aptera raised for another stab. The creature had to knock her away with an ungraceful side kick, treating the dagger as the largest threat.

It?s not going to let me close, Koishi thought. We need to whittle it down first.

She brought her hand forward, her third eye popping open. ?Tides of Doubt!? Again, the aura drifted over her opponent. This time, though, its subconscious had been drastically altered, murmurings of indignation keeping it from thinking straight. Leviathan had built her monster with one fatal flaw - she?d given it a personality, and now they?d hurt its pride it had given up on acting rational.

That was a weakness Koishi could exploit.

You won?t stand for this, she thought to herself, the words passing through into the Ravager?s mind. She humiliated you. You have to kill her now.

Before, her suggestions were too weak to have an effect on the monster. Now they piled on top of the thoughts already there, tipping the Ravager into outright madness.

You can?t run! Its voice was manic, almost delusional as it charged her again. I?ll chase you to the ends of the earth if I have to!

Before it could reach its goal, Mokou flew in to block the Ravager?s path. ?Sorry, bud. Road?s closed.?

The Ravager snarled, swatting at Mokou as if she were a fly. Out of my way, pest!

Mokou bobbed and weaved through the air, dodging each attack with a flap of her wings. She made no attempt to fight back, but with each failed swing the Ravager?s frustration only grew. For a moment, Koishi wondered what the phoenix was planning.

Her question was answered when she saw Komachi circling around the Ravager, priming the Titanic as she aimed for the chink in its armour.

?Mokou-san! Now!? The lawyer yelled, sending a bullet flying towards the monster?s weak point. The Ravager jerked its head about, and Koishi swore she heard it gasp. With precise reflexes, it leaped backwards to dodge out of the way of the bullet.

At the same time, Mokou threw herself into the projectile?s path. ?Inferno Gauntlet!? The jewels on her glove shone brilliantly, and as the bullet flew towards her she deflected it with a well-timed punch. The bullet?s velocity doubled, and its new trajectory sent it right back at its intended target. This time it was too fast for the Ravager to dodge, a sphere of raw energy slamming into its exposed abdomen.

NgrAAAAAAH! The Ravager howled, its armour splintering further under the impact. Beneath the jet black shell was a pulsing grey ooze, purple sigils floating about within. Droplets seeped out into the water, and the creature visibly shrank a few inches.

That?s it! We can do this!

Koishi continued her job of leading the Ravager away, making it focus solely on her. Even then it had enough awareness to avoid any straightforward attacks, forcing the other Sirens to show some creativity.

In Sakuya?s case, that involved throwing a few more knives than usual.

?Killing Doll!?

The maid threw her entire deck in one swing, hundreds of knives forming from them mid-flight. Mokou hung over the Ravager to keep it from escaping upwards, leaving it no choice but to take the barrage head-on.

This alone would have been little trouble. Where the problem occured was in the ghost that emerged in the midst of the wall of knives, her sword shining with a pale blue light.

?Konpaku Secret Technique - Hakurouken!?

With its attention focused on the knives, the Ravager didn?t notice Youmu?s ghost half until it was too late. The specter passed straight through, its blade digging into the Ravager?s side and drawing a bloody line across its waist.

GYAAAAAH! With its focus shattered, the Ravager was left wide open for Sakuya?s entire arsenal. Only a few knives managed to strike the exposed ooze, but the others left dents and cracks across its battle-bruised carapace. More of the ooze poured out from its wounds, and it shrank a whole head in size. Koishi saw the creature?s legs buckle - only for an instant, but it was the first sign of weakness the Ravager had shown.

This is impossible! The monster screamed, both to its enemies and to itself. No-one can defeat me! NO-ONE!

For an instant, Koishi?s heart shrank with pity. What a pathetic creature, only able to find joy in killing. It was a tragic relic of a bygone age - one that she had to put away for good.

?Everyone, keep it up! We?re almost there!? Koishi kept herself in close combat with the Ravager, waiting for a chance to land the killing blow. Her whole body begged for rest, but she swallowed down the pain as far as it would go.

You wretched human scum! The Ravager swung with both hands, smacking just above the hilt of Koishi?s sword. It flew out of her grip, lodging itself in the wall beside her. The creature raised its arm again, paying no mind to its defense as it brought down a blow that would break Koishi?s skull.

?Cardinal Rods!? Nazrin threw her weapons forward, spinning through the air like a shuriken. The projectile smacked into the Ravager?s wrist, causing its attack to break to the side. Koishi felt the blade tearing at the fabric of her dress, but it failed to strike anything vital.

?Satori-san!? The mouse yelled. ?You?re clear!?

?Got it!? The valkyrie rushed to her sister?s aid, Mjolnir?s edge crackling with lightning. Before the Ravager could pull its arm back, she lodged her sword right into the creature, burying it all the way up to the hilt.

Her eyes were solemn as she drew a rune along the handle. ?Rest in peace.?

Mjolnir?s lightning shot through the Ravager, burning it from the inside out. The creature screamed, swatting Satori away with its free hand. The valkyrie pulled back, but her sword remained buried within it. The armour crumbled away entirely, revealing a red jewel hidden within the monster?s chest.

?I?ve done all I can.? Satori pulled back, her only weapon out of her hands. ?It?s up to you now.?

Koishi nodded, knowing exactly what she had to do. She pulled her sword from the wall, readying herself as the Ravager shambled towards her.

tHiS...cAN?t...bE...HApPeNinG! The creature?s voice drifted in and out of focus, torn between hatred and horror. I...aM...iNVinCiBLe!

It raised both arms, bringing them down on Koishi with a mighty blow. Koishi stepped backwards, letting the Ravager?s blades dig into the ground beneath her.

This had better work!

Without hesitation, Koishi stepped forward onto the Ravager?s outstretched arm. She ran along to its elbow, bringing herself to the height of its exposed heart. Then she leaped forward, letting momentum do the rest.

?Hyaaaaaaaah!?

She dropped her sword mid-flight, wielding Aptera in both hands. The Ravager?s eyes darkened, realising its mistake an instant too late.

The dagger plunged straight into the heart of the beast, piercing clean through the jewel that held it together. Aptera flashed every colour of the rainbow, the whole palace shaking under its raw power.

Then came the pain.

?Hnnggk-!?

Koishi?s body was on fire. Aptera?s magic was melting through her nerves, ripping her open from the inside. It was drawing power from a source it hadn?t been built for, and Aptera had no way of containing it. The excess power flowed into the closest vessel it could find - Koishi herself.

?Koishi!? Satori cried out to her, the raw energy too strong for her to approach. The other Sirens gathered around, powerless to do anything but watch. Even their voices were tiny compared to the roaring inside Koishi?s skull.

nnOOoooOOO!! The Ravager?s body spasmed wildly, hands flailing to try and remove the knife from its chest. noT LIkE ThIS! i CaN?T dIE LikE tHIs!!

The rest of the Ravager?s armour crumbled apart, leaving only the grey goo hidden within. The ooze?s form caved in on itself, amassing in the ruby heart, trying to fill the crack Aptera had made in the jewel. Koishi felt the dagger slide backwards as the Ravager tried to push it away.

No! Koishi pushed back, putting all her remaining energy into keeping the dagger in place. You?re not coming back from this!

Koishi?s whole body felt like it was made of stone. Aptera itself was starting to fall apart, and the power surging from it only intensified. Her muscles screamed, the raw force of the masquerade flaying her from head to toe. It would be all too easy to give up now, to drop the knife and leave the job undone.

Koishi fought off the temptation, forcing herself to stay conscious. She was taking no chances with this. She watched as the Ravager?s last remnants began to quiver, the ruby?s cracks deepening as its push for freedom became truly desperate.

The pain was impossible, immeasurable, unbearable. But she endured.

This is our world! The thought echoed through her head, keeping her focus from faltering. And you?re not welcome here!

For a moment, the world flashed white. Koishi heard the faint sound of the ruby cracking open.

Then the light faded away, taking with it the Ravager?s dying screams.

The room was silent.

...It?s gone. Koishi was barely conscious enough to comprehend her victory. We did it.

Aptera turned into a fine dust in her hands, the weapon itself unable to withstand the force it had unleashed. The last trace of the Ravager was blown away by the currents, leaving no sign it had ever existed.

...I?m tired. With the enemy vanquished, Koishi?s exhaustion caught up with her at last. She flopped forwards in the water, her entire body hanging limp as her eyes slid shut.

?Koishi!? Satori?s voice pulled closer, and Koishi was vaguely aware of someone grabbing her shoulder. ?Wake up, dammit, wake up!?

Koishi?s brain chugged along at glacial speed as her body began to shut down. What was Satori so upset about? They had won, hadn?t they? Surely she could afford to take a little nap now that they had finished the job.

Yes, that was a good idea. She?d help herself to a nice, long sleep...

-----

?Koishi! Speak to me!?

Satori shook Koishi by the shoulders to no response. The Siren?s eyes were hazed over, unresponsive to Satori?s pleas.

?No good. She?s out cold.? Satori made a quick check of Koishi?s pulse, watching the slow but constant movements of her chest. Her body was bruised and battered, but nothing life-threatening jumped out at Satori.

The valkyrie let out a breath she didn?t realise she was holding in. Thank goodness. The last thing I need right now is for her to die on me.

The other Sirens pulled around her, looking in on their fallen comrade. They glanced at Koishi for a few seconds, momentary concern giving way to sighs of relief.

?What the hell was that?? Komachi clicked her fingers in front of Koishi?s eyes to no avail. ?What sort of lousy knife hurts the person using it??

?She did say it was unstable,? Youmu said, frowning. ?We?re probably lucky that she?s still breathing. The amount of energy that got pushed into her body must have been absurd.?

?And she still held on until the end?? Mokou managed a weak chuckle. ?Man, now I feel like a wuss for whining about a broken leg.?

Satori nodded. She could barely imagine how much pain Koishi had put herself through. It was hard not to be inspired by determination like that.

?Coming through!?

The door to the throne room flew open from the outside, a blast of wind almost knocking it off its hinges. Nitori was the first one to slip through, with Momiji and Ran close behind.

?The circle?s been taken care of,? Nitori said, still on edge as she looked around for a potential ambush. ?Where?s Leviathan??

Satori pursed her lips, looking to a far corner of the room. Leviathan?s body still hung in place, the water around her a murky shade of crimson.

?...I see.? Nitori stopped her scan, shaking her head as she looked in the corpse?s direction. ?A shame. She deserved a chance to repent for her crimes.?

?The fishmen are retreating,? Momiji said, poking her head out from the back. ?Sango-san and her shark friend are taking care of the stragglers right now. With their leader eliminated, they?re unlikely to be any sort of threat.?

So Jozu was alright after all. Satori had been expecting as much, but it was still good to know.

?So...? Nazrin fidgeted with her rods, voice rising in anticipation. ?Does that mean we won??

Nitori smiled. ?That?s right, Nazrin-san. It?s all over.? She turned to the crowd of Sirens. ?What about you? What?s up with Koishi-san? Is she-?

?Unconscious,? Sakuya said, before Nitori could draw the wrong conclusion. ?We?re not quite sure why or for how long.?

?Let me take a look.? Ran swam over to the fallen Siren, placing a hand over her forehead for a few seconds. The fox?s palm shone with a golden light as she nodded to herself.

?Hmmm...? Ran sucked in a breath. ?She?s fine physically, but her magic circuit has been quite thoroughly abused.?

?Magic circuit?? Satori asked.

?It?s like a bloodstream for magical energy,? Nitori said. ?Every living thing has one, but obviously human circuits don?t see a lot of use.?

?And your friend?s circuit has been put through a lot of punishment,? Ran continued. ?It?s only capable of the most basic functionality right now, and the rest of her body has shut down to cope with it. She?s unlikely to regain consciousness until the circuit repairs itself.?

?So how long will that take?? Sakuya asked. Ran could only shrug in response.

?It?s difficult to tell. It?ll depend on the level of treatment she gets, but this level of damage will definitely take at least a year or two to fix.?

Satori tensed. ?A year? Surely it can?t really be-?

Ran sighed. ?I?m sorry, human. There?s nothing I can do.?

The valkyrie felt tears forming in her eyes. She looked down at Koishi again, stroking her hair into place. Her sister looked like she was asleep, her eyes ready to snap open at any moment. It was bizarre to think that she would be trapped in that state for months on end.

?But still, I have to wonder.? Ran scratched at one of her fox ears. ?I?ve never seen a magic circuit this badly damaged. What did she do to herself to end up in this state??

As Satori opened her mouth to answer, she suddenly realised the gravity of Koishi?s actions. Aptera?s power had been enough to devastate Koishi?s body, but it had also changed the world at its very core. When they made it back to Gensouto, everything would have changed.

?That?s, uh...? Komachi rubbed at the small of her neck. ?That?s a long story. Anyone else wanna fill them in??

?Count me out,? Sakuya said, taking a step backwards. ?I?m still busy trying to get my head around it myself.?

The rest of the Sirens chimed in with similar shocked responses. The weight of what they had done was finally starting to dawn on them. Satori had to murmur the fact to herself under her breath before it really kicked in.

The masquerade is gone. Humanity remembers.

All at once, a thousand emotions welled up in her. Surprise that the world had changed so drastically in an instant. Curiosity over how the humans would react to this discovery. Fear that maybe Koishi?s optimism for the future had been misplaced. She felt paralysed, unable to move for the thoughts that weighed her down.

No. She shook her indecision away, forcing herself to stay strong. This is the world we all fought for. Now it?s our job to look after it.

?I?ll explain on the way,? she said, stepping forward and raising a hand. ?But first of all, we should get out of here. We have wounded to attend to.?

?I second that motion,? Mokou said, pointing at her broken leg. ?Not to be a damper or anything, but this still really hurts.?

Nitori?s eyes narrowed, but eventually she raised her hands in defeat. ?Fine. But why do I get the feeling I won?t like what you?re going to tell me??

?Trust me,? Satori said, grinning slyly as she carried Koishi towards the exit. ?You won?t.?

She went through the story from the beginning, explaining every detail in full. She made no attempt to sugar-coat the facts or dodge the blame. The Sirens had fundamentally changed how the world worked - before anything else, they had to claim responsibility for what they had done. After that - well, she wasn?t sure what came after that, but she would tackle it head-on.

After all, that was what Koishi would have done in her place.

?...And that?s what happened,? she said in conclusion. Nitori?s expression was blank, as it had been for the entirety of the story. The colour had faded from her face.

?Let me make sure I get this straight,? the kappa said, mouth hanging agape. Then, in an instant, she let out a savage roar. ?You did WHAT?!?

Satori rolled her eyes. This was going to be an interesting discussion...
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Arc 8 (In progress - Sunday updates!)
Post by: Esifex on November 18, 2013, 04:07:30 AM
Y'know, I had a dream about a week ago that I was DRK Komachi, using her distance magic to lock targets in place/course-correct the trajectory of her bullets.

...I was shooting cans, so it was sad that I had to cheat like that.
Title: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Epilogue (Part 1)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on November 24, 2013, 10:19:55 AM
?Nnh...?

Koishi stirred, slowly at first. Her body felt heavy and weak from lack of use. She rubbed at her eyes, waiting for the fog within her mind to clear.

Where am I? There was an unpleasant hole residing in her memory. She remembered the battle, the Ravager, the knife - then nothing. The thoughts felt distant, even though she swore it had only been a few minutes since the fight.

When her vision cleared, she found herself seated at a familiar table in the middle of nowhere.

?Good morning, Koishi-san.? Yukari Yakumo offered a round of applause, her clapping quiet but heartfelt. The youkai had made an effort to welcome in her guest, adding a tablecloth to her otherwise drab corner of the Boundary. ?It has been a while, hasn?t it??

Koishi blinked rapidly. ?Uh...has it?? She stuck her head with her palm, hoping the impact would knock a neuron or two to life. ?Sorry, my brain is feeling sort of fuzzy. I thought I was talking with you earlier today??

The youkai giggled, her laugh twenty years younger than the rest of her. ?Ah, right. I suppose that?s how it would have looked to you.? She reached forward, putting her hand on top of Koishi?s. ?I assume you?re rather lost right now.?

Koishi nodded. She couldn?t have summarised her thoughts any more succinctly than that.

?Well, first of all, you...hmm, how do I put this?? Yukari?s face scrunched up. ?Should I ease you into it, or would you prefer brutal honesty??

?The latter, please,? Koishi said. The sooner she had answers, the better.

?Oh, good. That?s much easier.? Yukari took a deep breath, her expression hardening. ?You?ve been in a coma for the last two years.?

Koishi blinked. ?Ah.?

?Honestly, you?re quite lucky it?s only been that,? Yukari continued, trying to excavate some sort of silver lining. ?The amount of raw energy you took in should have been enough to kill you three times over. I can only attribute your survival to sheer force of will.?

Koishi nodded along, but she still felt painfully numb. Two whole years of her life, gone in an instant. How much had changed while she was gone? What had happened to Satori, or the other Sirens? What about Sango, or Nitori, or -

?Wait.? Koishi?s mouth pulled open. ?The masquerade. Is it...gone??

Yukari slowly nodded, her smile fading to become something more solemn. ?I admit, I never considered using the masquerade itself to fuel Aptera. If nothing else, I have to compliment your creativity.?

The smile came apart entirely, giving way to a deep frown. ?However, I?m not sure if you truly grasp the consequences of your decision. You gave the knowledge of magic back to humanity, a race that had nearly destroyed the world with it centuries before. Nitori warned you dozens of times about the danger, and yet you decided to ignore her advice entirely.?

Yukari rose to her feet, her dress billowing about in an unseen wind. She let off an unimaginable aura of pressure, pinning Koishi to her seat. ?Explain yourself, Koishi-san. Why were you willing to risk the lives of every living thing on the planet? What gave you such undying confidence in the human race??

Koishi?s blood was flowing backwards. She understood now why Yukari had become the undisputed ruler of the youkai. It was hard simply to blink in her presence, let alone speak.

She only managed one word, but it was the only word she needed. ?Change.?

?Change??

Koishi nodded, her neck feeling stiff and rusted. Her speech grew louder and stronger as she managed to find her momentum.

?You?re right, Yukari-san. Human history is an ugly sight. We?ve done a lot of things we?re going to regret as a species. We?ve inflicted unimaginable damage to our world, to the youkai, and even to our fellow humans.?

She shook her head. ?But I don?t think those mistakes were out of cruel intentions. They were out of not knowing any better. And it?s only by making those mistakes that we can grow to become something more.?

Koishi felt herself coming to life as she spoke, Yukari?s power over her diminishing as she tapped into an inner reservoir of confidence.

?We?re not perfect, Yakumo-san. But we?re doing our best. And I think we?ve learned enough now that the disasters from before won?t happen again.? She rose out of her chair, hanging in the air as she met Yukari?s eyes. ?That?s my answer. I hope it?s good enough for you.?

Yukari was silent, taking another second to watch Koishi?s reactions. Koishi wondered what Yukari was looking for, what traits and thoughts the youkai meant to decipher from her eyes.

Whatever she was searching for, she found it.

?I see.? Yukari smiled again, leaning backwards into her chair. ?You are an interesting human, Koishi-san. You are idealistic, but your thoughts have a thorough grounding in reality.?

Koishi bowed forward. ?Thank you. I?ve been trying not to get carried away with optimism as much as I used to.? When she rose again, her expression was uncertain. ?Was I right??

Yukari?s lips twisted into a cryptic grin. ?Hard to say. Much has changed, but much has stayed the same. I suspect it?d be easiest for you to just see it yourself.?

Koishi paused, unsure if the question on her mind was worth asking. ?And, well...when will that be, exactly??

Yukari tapped at her wrist. ?By my reckoning, it should be any second now.?

?What-?

Before Koishi could finish the sentence, a wave of fatigue washed over her. She slumped backwards in her chair, eyes heaving shut as she crashed back into unconsciousness.

?It?s your world now, Koishi-san.? Yukari?s words were the last thing she heard. ?Take good care of it.?

-----

White.

Koishi?s eyes were assaulted by the colour the moment they opened. The faint smell of disinfectant hung in her nose, clinging to the back of her throat like a bitter aftertaste. It was not the best way to wake up, all things considered.

Where am I?

It took a few seconds for her senses to properly acclimate to their surroundings. The white mass deflated into pale grey walls, floors and ceilings, scrubbed sterile and featureless. A small window offered a paltry view of the city outside, and a box-like television was hidden away in the corner. The door hung slightly ajar, and she could hear the slow beeping of a heart monitor from another room.

It wasn?t hard for Koishi to answer her question after that. She lifted an arm out from under the thick, baggy sheets of her bed. A plastic tube dug into the back of her elbow, sending a constant flow of nutrients into her body.

Yakumo-san was right, Koishi thought. I was in a coma.

Her first instinct was a demand for answers. There were a million questions to ask - what had happened to Satori? To the other Sirens? To the Pearl? She didn?t know where to start, but any answers were better than nothing.

?Hello?? She called out into the corridor, but no-one responded. Unsurprising - coma wards were hardly known for their activity. She would have walked around to find someone, but the IV tube in her arm shot down that idea decisively.

She looked to her right. Wedged between her and the wall was a small counter, seated on which was a handheld remote. A vase of flowers loomed over it - freshly picked carnations, from the look and smell of them. She wondered if they were part of the hospital decoration or a gift from a visitor.

It was probably the latter, now that she thought about it. Satori had gone through a similar regimen when their father died, visiting regularly to offer another bunch of flowers. Koishi smiled, running a finger along the petals before she snatched up the remote.

The television was both ugly and barely functioning. Most of the channels were unintelligible walls of static, and the others had a habit of cutting out every second or two. Eventually she came across the only channel on the service with a half-decent reception.

?Good afternoon. I?m Hatate Himekaidou, and you?re watching the Kakashi Report.?

Koishi narrowed her eyes. The newscaster seemed vaguely familiar, though she had risen in the ranks from the last time Koishi had seen her. She wore a respectable purple suit, and her vibrant energy had been exchanged for determined professionalism.

?On today?s headlines - fears for the Yen as national exports continue to decline; Prime Minister Miyahara retreats from the public eye after his recent affair scandals, and construction work begins on eight new stadiums as Japan prepares for the upcoming Olympics.?

The newscaster read off a series of headlines that could have come from any paper in the last twenty years. Koishi scratched her head as she watched, sitting up in her bed for a better look. Had she made a mistake? Was the masquerade still around after all?

?But first, today?s top story.? Hatate fiddled with her papers. ?The Interspecies Study for Environmental Conservation has released reports claiming that a fully renewable energy source could be functional worldwide within fifteen years.?

The camera panned out, revealing a second person sitting next to Himekaidou at the table. He had all the trademarks of the stereotypical television scientist - stick-like figure, thick glasses, and a suit that had seemingly been pulled through a bush. What was out of the ordinary, though, was that his hair was a dark shade of blue.

?With me now is Tsutomu Kisara, head researcher for ISEC.? Hatate spun around in her seat to face her guest. ?Kisara-san, could you explain your findings in a way our viewers would understand??

?Certainly.? The researcher fiddled with his tie. There was an unquestionable confidence about him that reminded Koishi of a certain kappa. ?Our team of physicists and mages have designed a hybrid engine that should serve as a self-sustaining source of electricity. Prototypes are currently under construction, and should be ready for presentation within the next eighteen months.?

He went on to drone about a variety of technologies and spells that Koishi wasn?t well-educated enough to understand in full. She managed to catch that it was half technology, half magic - the magical components kept the system renewable, while the mechanical components allowed it to run without a caster?s intervention.

?Interesting,? Hatate said, nodding with a well-trained look of interest. In truth she was probably just as lost as Koishi was. ?So what consequences would an engine like this have on the current energy crisis??

?Consequences?? The kappa fiddled with his glasses, almost taking the question as an insult. ?It?s a solution, that?s what it is. We can scale the system up to fill a power plant or shrink it down for a watch battery. You name a situation where you?d need electricity, and our engine can-?

Before he finished, the picture gave way to static again, refusing to come back on. Koishi growled at it, flicking through the other channels to see if they were any more use. After a few seconds, she determined that she was now totally televisionless.

It didn?t really matter that much, though. She had seen everything she needed to. The world had changed to the point where a kappa could waltz onto national television and talk about magic to the general public. That could only be a sign things had changed for the better.

Koishi?s legs wiggled about under the covers. Now she wanted to see the city for herself. She could barely imagine the changes Gensouto had undergone while she was asleep. If only there was some way to call for a nurse-

?...put the marker pen away, Rin.?

Koishi froze. A voice carried through into her room from the hallway, along with several sets of footsteps. There was no way she could mistake who the voice belonged to.

Satori!

She opened her mouth to call out, but a thousand words came to her at once, canceling each other out. How had Satori changed? How was Koishi meant to say hello? She felt utterly lost for words, stunned in silence as the footsteps became louder.

?Aw, come on, Satori-sama!? Rin spoke up next, and Koishi could imagine her tails wrapping around each other in annoyance. ?It?s not like she?s going to notice, is it??

?She has a point, Satori-sama.? Utsuho added her voice to the fray. ?I mean, she draws on my face all the time when I?m asleep. So why is Koishi-sama any different??

?That?s...? Satori struggled for words, stumped by Utsuho?s very special brand of logic. ?Just put it away, please.?

Rin growled. ?Fiiine.?

The footsteps drew closer to Koishi?s room, until finally she made out her sister?s hand grabbing at the door handle. Satori didn?t even look forward as she pulled the door open, her attention focused on the pets following behind. Another bouquet of carnations hung in her other arm.

?Be on your best behaviour, you two,? she said. ?I?ll just be a few minutes while I switch up the-?

When Satori looked into the room, the sentence died in her throat.

?K...Koishi??

The two sisters stared at each other with looks of awe. Satori had changed so much over two years - she?d gained six, maybe seven inches in height, and her pink hair now ran down to her shoulders. There was a pleasant weariness in her eyes that came from a job that demanded everything from her, but paid it back fully with fulfillment.

?Eh?? Rin poked her head through the doorway. ?Satori-sama, what?s up-? The cat?s ears stood on end. ?Holy mackerel, she?s awake!?

Satori remained dumbstruck, backing away from Koishi as if she were a ghost.  A little part of her still seemed to be in denial over what she was seeing. Koishi drummed her brain for something clever to say, something memorable to put an end to Satori?s two years of waiting.

?Hi, sis.?

In her defense, she?d just stepped out of a coma. She wasn?t exactly at her most verbose.

?Koishi...? Satori?s eyes welled up with tears. She dropped the flowers, forgetting them entirely as she wrapped her arms around her sister. ?You?re back...you?re really back!?

She fell into choked sobs, burying her head in Koishi?s shoulder. Koishi made no effort to resist, returning the hug as she let Satori work through all her tears in one long outburst. She shed a few tears herself, though she did her best to make sure Satori didn?t notice.

?Heh. Good to see you too.?

Rin and Utsuho piled into the room, struggling to find space between their reunited masters. Rin rubbed at her face with the hem of her dress, while Utsuho responded with a simple, honest smile. They placed their hands over each others? shoulders, neither one saying anything that could shatter the moment.

It was a few minutes before Satori?s crying stopped. She pulled away, wiping at her eyes with her palm as she caught her breath.

?I-I?m sorry. I think I got a little carried away there.?

?Don?t worry about it.? Koishi sat up, feeling like she?d never need to sleep again. ?So, what have I missed? What happened to Gensouto while I was away??

Satori?s eyes widened for a moment. ?Ah. Right. You weren?t around when all the shuffling around happened.? She rested a hand on her chin. ?Hmm...how do I word this? There?s so much to explain. It's probably best if I start from the top.?

She stepped backwards, pulling her arms out as far as they could go. ?Koishi, let me be the first to welcome you to the independent nation of Gensokyo.?

-----

?As you can probably imagine, things were quite hectic when we got home.? Satori chuckled lightly. It had probably been much more stressful at the time, but now she could look back on it with ease. ?Your boss yelled my ear off about how we?d deliberately kept her out of the loop.?

?Sounds like Kawashiro-sensei,? Koishi said. ?I guess she saw reason in the end??

?She didn?t have much of a choice.? Satori shrugged. ?I mean, it wasn?t like the masquerade was coming back any time soon. She tried to play dumb for a few weeks, but there was really no going back from there.?

?It was awesome, though.? Rin broke into the conversation, ears twitching about on her head. ?I mean, I ran into a buncha old friends I hadn?t seen in ages. We?d all switch into youkai form walking down the street, then change back a few seconds later. Really, you shoulda seen the looks the humans pulled when we-?

Satori looked back at Rin with a stern glare. The cat?s enthusiasm faded away, and she pulled back behind her master.

?Joking aside, Gensouto was more or less a focal point for the change to come,? Satori continued. ?There was a massive influx of youkai into the city after the masquerade vanished. Everyone was confused then, and apparently they?d decided Gensouto was the best place to go.?

?But why?? Koishi asked. ?I thought the whole Siren thing was meant to be a secret.?

?It was, but what wasn?t a secret was the footage all over the internet of our run-in at the zoo. When the youkai saw humans using magic before the masquerade went down, they figured this was the place to go for answers.?

?I remember when that happened,? Utsuho said, her wings closing around her. ?The streets were really full, and there were men with guns yelling at people.?

Satori sighed. ?It was a difficult transition. Youkai were suddenly popping up in cities all over the world. The government had a hard enough time keeping the rest of Japan in check, but Gensouto was practically overrun with youkai. The government tried to impose a lockdown, but that only made matters worse.?

Koishi gulped. From the sounds of things, she?d picked a good time to lose consciousness. ?So what happened??

?Your boss took matters into her own hands,? Satori said. ?Kawashiro personally visited the Prime Minister himself, and she brought most of Gensouto?s politicians with her. They spent a few days discussing the matter, but the gist of her argument was that if keeping Gensouto in check was going to be such a hassle, it?d be easier for everyone if it just dealt with itself.

?A few months later, the Japanese government officially recognised Gensokyo as its own nation. The Pearl made a point of tending to the surge of youkai, setting up shelters and homes while working to integrate them into society. It?s been a rough road, but we?re getting to the point where a large chunk of the youkai population lives relatively comfortably.?

?I see,? Koishi said, nodding along. ?So how did the races get on? Was there any conflict, or...?

?Actually? Surprisingly well.? Satori shrugged. ?It wasn?t the best start, obviously, but when the lockdown happened the two races ended up finding common ground. Some of the youkai were pets as well, and their owners wanted to keep them around. Other humans felt guilty over the ordeal we?d put the youkai through and helped out of their own volition. That forced camaraderie carried over when the lockdown ended, and now humans and youkai are generally on good terms.?

?Though now some of the youkai don?t like each other much,? Rin added, one hand anxiously tapping at the side of the bed. ?Now that humans aren?t the big bad guys, all the little grudges are coming back. Cats and dogs, lions and tigers, things like that. It didn?t help that when they set up youkai residences they split them up by race. It?s nothing dangerous right now, but you get the odd fistfight after hours.?

?And there?s the scary lady who keeps putting posters up on our door,? Utsuho said. ?Toyosapopipi-something.?

?Toyosatomimi,? Satori corrected, before turning back to Koishi. ?A human rights activist, in her own words. She?s blamed the youkai for everything from taxes to terrorism. She isn?t a very popular figure, but she does have a small following behind her.?

Koishi sucked in a breath. She?d expected teething problems, but they hadn?t been as vibrant in her head as they were in person. Satori saw through her sister?s concerns, reaching forward and placing a hand on top of Koishi?s.

?It?s alright, Koishi. The hard part is already over. All we have to do now is work through the aftermath.?

?Right.? Koishi tensed then relaxed, letting the stress ooze out of her. Maybe relations were still tentative, but overall the change had clearly been for the better. ?So what happened to the White Pearl?? she asked. ?Where?s Sango-san??

?She?s out doing recon on the coast,? Satori answered with a frown. ?There?s a patrol of aquatic youkai traveling about to make sure no-one tries to impede on our waters. I have no idea when she?ll be off duty - sometimes she?s out at sea for weeks on end.?

?Oh.? Koishi frowned. It was good to hear that Sango had survived, but she really wanted to give the dolphin a nice long hug. Hopefully she?d have the time to hunt her down later. ?What about the others? The Sirens, Yakumo-san, everyone??

?One step at a time, okay?? Satori ruffled lightly at her sister?s hair. ?Everyone?s fine, but I don?t want to dump any more on you now. You?ve already had to take in a lot of info today.?

?Yeah, seriously.? Rin rolled her eyes. ?If I got told all that stuff in one day, my brain would probably melt.?

?Unyu?? Utsuho gulped. ?Orin, does that really happen??

?You mean you didn?t know?? Rin wore a catlike smile. ?Too much new info, and your brain starts leaking out your ears. Then you turn into a zombie who lies in front of the TV all day watching documentaries about how grass grows.?

Utsuho looked ready to cry. ?T-That sounds terrible! Learning is scary!?

Rin?s mischief earned her a quick tug on the ear. ?That?s enough out of you, Rin,? Satori said. ?You know Utsuho is enrolling at the local school in a few months, right??

?Ow ow owww~!? Rin winced as her master pulled her along. ?But Satori-sama, she?ll be no fun to mess with once she knows stuff. I?ve gotta make the most of her now while she?s still a bird brain.?

Satori glared at Rin for a few seconds before sighing in defeat. She let the cat go, turning her attention back to Koishi. ?Anyway, I?ll show you around the city once you?ve got a clean bill of health. For now, you should focus on getting better. I?m figuring two years as a vegetable hasn?t done your body much good.?

Koishi nodded. Now that Satori mentioned it, she was feeling awfully tired. This was the first exertion she?d had in months, after all - it was only natural for it to leave her fatigued.

?Okay.? Koishi reached out and wrapped her arms around her sister. ?It?s good to see you again, sis.?

Satori returned the gesture, wearing the warmest smile Koishi had ever seen from her. ?Reunited at last,? she murmured to herself. ?And we only had to change the world to do it.?
Title: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Epilogue (Part 2)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on November 24, 2013, 10:20:13 AM
Koishi had expected her recovery period to be measurable in months, but in actuality she regained her muscle strength with incredible speed. She received a potent combination of rigorous physiotherapy and magical stimulants that knocked her body back into shape. The whole process must have been massively expensive, Koishi thought to herself. She wondered just what strings Satori had pulled to afford it.

Her physician for the rehab was a slender fox youkai who spent more time talking about himself than the treatment. After a few days of therapy, she?d probably heard more about his thesis than all of his workmates put together. The concept was intriguing - using magical agents as a replacement for chemotherapy - but the raw jargon he spewed made Koishi?s head spin. It pushed her to get out of bed faster, though, so perhaps it was deliberate.

The moment she could walk again, Koishi made her way to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. It was a surreal experience, the woman in the reflection so familiar and yet so alien. She recognised her eyes, her nose, her lips, but it felt like they?d all been pulled off of her and stitched onto someone older. Two years of her childhood - time she would have used to learn, laugh, play - were lost to her forever.

That night, she allowed herself to have a good long cry. It was utterly selfish, and she knew it - in exchange for those two years, she?d saved countless lives and changed the world for the better. But she was only human, and there was nothing to gain from denying her emotions. She let out all her grief in one long burst, crying until her eyes had nothing left to give.

When the sun rose the next day, she felt like she?d been reborn. Strength flowed into the parts of her that had been clogged up with self-pity. All the fear and doubt had been washed out of her, and she had no regrets about her decision - if she had to, she?d gladly do the same all over again.

The last few days were nothing but exercise to get her muscles back to their former state. The stimulants left her too tired for visitors, but Satori dropped Koishi a text every night wishing her well in her recovery. Those little encouragements drove Koishi on, adding a spring to her step as she made laps around her room, then the ward, then the whole wing. When the exertion finally got to her, Rin and Utsuho were waiting for her at the window, waving as she fell into a peaceful sleep. Sometimes she thought she saw other friendly faces, but by then she was too tired to be sure.

Seven days after she had woken up, her doctor strolled into her room with a puffed out chest and a prideful grin. He gave her a routine check-up, but she could already see the satisfaction in his eyes.

?Congratulations, Komeiji-san. You?re fit as a fiddle.? His tail wiggled about behind him as he placed a bag at the foot of Koishi?s bed. ?Your sister left these for you. Hopefully they fit, or you might have to hang around for a few more days.?

Koishi reached down to pull the bag closer. She pulled out a bright yellow shirt and green skirt, along with the rest of her old outfit. Everything was a size or two larger to compensate for how she?d grown, but from first glance everything looked like it would fit.

?Thanks,? she said, stretching as she stepped out of the bed. ?So am I free to go??

?Of course.? The fox?s ears stood on end. ?Unless you want to hear about my latest study on thurmacarcinogens, that is.?

?I?ll pass, thanks.?

The doctor shrugged. ?Your loss.? There was a playful glint in his eyes as he left the room, closing the door behind him to offer his patient privacy.

Koishi picked her phone up off the counter and fired off a message to Satori. Just got discharged. Where are you? She left it on the bed as she changed into her outfit, glad to finally be rid of the same old hospital gown.

By the time she was changed, Satori had sent her a reply. Wait at the entrance. I?ll send someone to pick you up.

Koishi furrowed her brow. Satori wouldn?t be coming herself? That was awfully unlike her. She wondered what had left her sister preoccupied as she made her way out of the hospital room.

The paperwork was already done by the time Koishi reached the reception desk. All she had to do was sign a few forms and she was free to go. She took a long, deep breath as she stepped out of the entrance to get her first view of the nation of Gensokyo.

The first thing that struck her was the colour. Vibrant buildings made of shining brick, tending to every taste and interest. Signs and logos jumped along the walls, beckoning in customers to spend their hard earned money. She needed a few seconds to acclimate to the sheer energy of the bustling street.

Then came the people. The sidewalks were packed with men and women of all shapes and sizes. Most were humanoid, but she saw the odd tail or wing poke out from the swarm. Overhead, bird youkai swooped through from the side alleys, ignoring the flow of traffic entirely.

She was so caught up in watching them that she barely noticed one land beside her.

?You! You?re Koishi Komeiji, right??

Koishi went stiff, jerking around to face her questioner. ?Uh, yes? Who are-?

She didn?t need to finish the question. She recognised the woman who?d fallen from the skies to pin her down. Her heart sank in defeat.

?I knew it!? Aya Shameimaru pumped her fist, pulling out a notebook and pen. Her wings were artificial, folding in with a metallic clank as she began to scribble. ?You were spying on me during the whole Red Lily business, weren?t you? Knew I saw your face somewhere before.?

She talked to herself in a monologue too fast for Koishi to follow. The Siren stumbled backwards, but there was no room for her to slip into the crowd. She didn?t know what Aya was asking for, but she could tell it was nothing good.

?You, uh...? She grabbed at her collar, trying to make some kind of small talk. ?Your wings are...nice.?

?I know, right?? Aya patted at the contraption on her back, and it let out a pleasant hiss of steam. ?Way easier than shoving my way through crowds. All it takes is a bit of wind manipulation, and I can go anywhere I want.?

She stepped forward, right into Koishi?s personal space. ?But let?s not talk about me. I wanna hear about you, Koishi-san. Is it true your sister pulled your medical funds straight from the taxpayer?s wallet??

?I, uh...? Koishi?s brain froze. She couldn?t even understand what Aya was asking, never mind how to answer it. ?Why would-?

?What about the rumours that she?s taking bribes from a hawk-run real estate firm? Surely a minister shouldn?t be getting involved in business like that, right??

With every question Aya took another step forward, finally pushing Koishi into a wall. The Siren had barely managed to comprehend one question when the journalist hit her with another. She could almost hear her brain sizzling in her skull - maybe Rin hadn?t been lying after all.

?Well, um...that is to say...?

?Hold it right there, Shameimaru!?

A figure emerged from the crowd, stomping towards Aya with violent intent. It was a woman in a close-cut black business suit, a pair of expensive sunglasses covering her eyes. Her skin was well tanned, and Koishi saw a set of gills hidden just above her collar.

?M-Manou-san!? Aya jumped back, looking around for an escape route. ?I?ve got to say, you look wonderful today-?

?Don?t try to sweet talk me,? Jozu hissed, stepping between Koishi and the journalist. ?Komeiji-san is under no obligation to answer any of your questions.?

?Aw, come on!? Aya waved her arms about, notebook fluttering around in her hand. ?I worked my ass off getting this scoop! You can?t just scare me off by-?

Jozu smacked her fist into her palm, gazing darkly into Aya?s eyes. The colour drained from the journalist?s face.

?Point taken.? Her wings pulled open, and she hastily took to the air again. Within seconds, she was nothing more than a dot in Koishi?s vision.

?Dammit, I hate it when they run,? Jozu grumbled. ?I?m never gonna get to fight someone, am I?? She turned around to face the Siren. ?You alright, Koishi-san??

?Yeah. I think.? Koishi?s brain was still trying to catch up with the events that had just transpired. Life in Gensokyo was apparently much faster than what she was used to. ?You?re here to pick me up, right??

?Got it in one,? Jozu said. ?Sorry I wasn?t here earlier. Didn?t realise Shameimaru had a lead on you getting discharged. Seriously, I?ve got no clue how the woman does it.? She thumbed at the sidewalk. ?Follow me. And stay close.?

She stepped forward, slipping into the crowd almost seamlessly. Koishi rushed to follow on behind, struggling not to step on anyone?s toes as she took the shark?s hand.

?Sorry about all the commotion,? Jozu said, yelling to be heard above the crowd. ?Satori?s got her hands tied with business right now, so I?ve gotta bring you to her.?

?What business?? Koishi yelled back. ?Shameimaru said something about a minister.?

?You mean she didn?t tell you?? Jozu smirked. ?Oh, man, are you in for a surprise. It?d be best if you heard it from her own mouth, though.?

?Heard what?? Koishi wasn?t in the mood for this sort of evasiveness. ?And where are we going, exactly??

?Where else?? Jozu pointed off into the horizon. ?We?re headed to the best damn restaurant in Gensokyo.?

-----

Lorelei?s may as well have been a metaphor for Gensouto?s transformation in general. Human and youkai alike dined on lamprey freshly fished from the coastal waters, while the owner?s ?soothing? melody echoed out from the kitchen. The reserved tables, naturally, were the ones as far away from the music as possible. For those who hadn?t been smart enough to book beforehand, earplugs were available for diners at an extra cost.

Koishi felt more at ease as she stepped into the restaurant. It was nowhere near as crowded as the streets outside, and for the most part it was as she remembered it. The only magical features she noticed were the candles, burning in colours no flame should have been able to attain.

?Moodwax,? Jozu said, noting the question in Koishi?s eyes. ?They?re meant to change colour to go along with the emotions of the customer.?

Koishi nodded. She saw two lovers at one table, making small talk as a bright pink flame hung between them. On the other side of the room, two middle-workers grumbled over a fire that was a murky brown.

As she looked around the room, Koishi?s eyes fell on a familiar face. Satori was hidden in a distant corner of the restaurant, dining with a pair of stiff-backed gentlemen in suits. One was human, while the other appeared to be some sort of dog youkai. Over all the commotion Koishi couldn?t hear what they were discussing, but the candle at the table sparked a violent red.

?Looks like we got here early,? Jozu said, leaning on the wall and keeping her distance. ?I figured they?d be done squabbling by now.?

Koishi watched on from where she stood. Satori kept her voice level, as did her two acquaintances, but even from here Koishi could feel the animosity. After another few minutes of polite bickering, the two men bowed towards Satori and made their way out, leaving their meals totally untouched.

?Geez.? Jozu rubbed at the back of her head. ?What a bunch of manchildren.?

Satori leaned forward on the table, sighing as she grabbed at her temples. The candle flickered from red to blue as she stared absent-mindedly into space. Koishi took that as her cue to step in, lowering herself into the seat across from her sister.

?Long day?? she asked.

Satori jerked back to life. ?Oh. You saw that, didn?t you?? Koishi frowned and nodded.  Satori sighed again, hissing through her teeth in frustration. ?Sorry. I didn't want your first day back to be ruined by grown men squabbling.?

?It?s fine, really.? Koishi looked to the door, making sure the two men were nowhere to be seen. ?So was that a business meeting, or something??

Satori opened her mouth to answer, but before she could Jozu stepped in with a mighty flourish. ?Good madam, it is my humble pleasure to introduce you to Satori Komeiji, Gensokyo?s Minister for Interracial Affairs.?

Satori?s face scrunched up. ?Do you have to do that every time??

?Aw, c?mon. I do it ?cause I love you.? Jozu leaned forward, giving Satori a quick peck on the cheek. Koishi felt her face heating up.

?Wait, are you two a-?

?A couple, yes.? Satori tried to bat Jozu away. ?Though some of us try not to be so open about it.?

?Muu. You?re no fun.? Jozu pouted, slipping into the seat beside Satori. ?Is it okay if we help ourselves to their food??

?Go ahead,? Satori said. ?It?s not like I can get a refund.?

Koishi looked down at her plate, eying it up before she dug in. The lamprey was going cold, but the taste was more than enough to make up for it. It was her first non-hospital meal in years, and it was a welcome change.

?But yes, what Jozu said was accurate.? Satori recovered admirably, straightening her back and regaining her formal stature. ?I?m serving as an overseer for human-youkai relations in Gensokyo. Jozu here is my bodyguard, though thankfully I haven?t had any need for her yet. For the most part business is good, but sometimes...well, you get incidents like what you just walked in on.?

?Then who were those two?? Koishi asked, absently looking at the door again. ?And what were you talking about??

?They?re CEOs for a pair of large blue-collar companies,? Satori said, fiddling with the hem of her dress. ?A few months ago, they pledged a large fund towards development of a new interracial charity. Unfortunately they haven?t performed well this financial quarter, so they?ve decided to take back all of their promises.?

Koishi raised an eyebrow. ?Is...is that even legal??

?Of course not, but they have a very selective memory when it comes to the law.? Satori rolled her eyes. ?You were right, Koishi. Humans and youkai aren?t that different after all.?

The mood-candle?s flame faded to a barely visible grey. Satori glared at it for a second before finally putting it out with her fingers. ?Sorry. Never been a fan of those things.?

?I can guess why,? Koishi said. She understood now why Satori had looked so tired during her hospital visits. ?So how did you end up in a position like this? You never struck me as the political sort.?

Satori?s expression was dark, complicated. ?When Kawashiro made Gensokyo its own country, she nominated me for the position. I think she knew I wanted a chance to atone for what I did before. What I...? She gulped. ?What I almost did.?

The shadows lifted from her face, and she looked up at Koishi with a smile. ?But that?s all in the past now. After you took down the masquerade, I did what I could to make up for it. I figured while you were unconscious, I had to stand in for you.? She held her head high. ?And if you don?t mind me saying, I think I?ve done a decent job of it.?

?Oh, really?? Jozu smirked. ?Then what about that whole incident with the American government and the bald eagle youkai??

Satori?s eyes narrowed. ?I thought we agreed not to talk about that, Jozu.?

?Prove it.? Jozu leaned back in her chair with her hands behind her head. ?I didn?t sign anything, did I??

Satori tensed for a second, but eventually she couldn?t help but force out a laugh. ?See what you?ve left me to work with, Koishi??

?It looks awful,? Koishi said with a smile. ?There?s no way you?re being paid enough for this.?

?Sure she is!? Jozu said. ?My company is worth more than all the money in the world.?

The atmosphere around the table lightened considerably. Even in spite of the severity of their discussion, Koishi felt remarkably at ease in the presence of her sister. She started to think she could get used to this new world of hers.

?So what are you going to do?? she asked, wiping the last crumbs of her meal from her cheek. ?About the CEOs, I mean.?

?Well, I can?t let them off the hook,? Satori answered, brushing at her dress as she rose to her feet. ?We?ve got to make an example of them if Gensokyo?s legal system is to have any sort of reputation.?

?City Hall, then?? Jozu asked.

Satori nodded. ?Koishi, do you mind tagging along??

?Is that okay?? Koishi asked, raising an eyebrow. ?Just poking my head into serious affairs like that.?

?It?s fine. I?ll vouch for you.? Satori winked. ?Besides, I can think of at least one person who?ll want to hear the good news...?

-----

The sun hung high over Koishi?s head as she reached her destination, trailing behind her sister and their bodyguard. Now that the rush hour had passed the crowds had diminished to a bearable level, letting her see where she was going rather than stumbling blindly along with the flock. It was comforting to be able to put one foot ahead of the other without worrying about stepping on someone?s toes.

City Hall ended up being a thoroughly-renovated version of Gensouto?s courthouse. The changes had been mostly for the better, turning a tired-looking structure into a respectable seat of power. The slightly-worn walls had been tended to, the whole building giving off an almost marble-like sheen. It had the aura of a ruin, an ancient relic that was full to the brim with power. Koishi felt humbled simply by approaching it.

A pair of lion statues stood at both sides of the entrance, and above the doorway a new creed had been carved into the stone: IN LAW, THERE IS POWER. IN JUSTICE, STRENGTH. IN TRUTH, FREEDOM. It was just forceful enough to put Koishi on edge as she stepped into the building, hiding in Satori?s shadow.

The court?s inner workings had seen little change - at least, from what few details Koishi could remember. She?d only been here once for a quick visit during the Red Lily incident, but much of what she saw wouldn?t have seemed out of place in the old Gensouto. She saw the odd youkai among the lawyers making their way around the building, but no-one who seemed to be in more than a junior position. It was too soon for that, she supposed.

?Can I help you?? A passing lawyer broke out of her step to look up at the group for a moment. It only took a second for recognition to flicker on her face, and she carefully adjusted the shako cap sitting on her head. ?Ah, Komeiji-san. Here on business, I assume??

?Good day, Raikoji-san.? Satori bowed forward towards the lawyer, as if their positions had been reversed. ?Business is all I seem to have time for nowadays. How is the district holding up??

?Fine enough,? Sumire answered. ?There was some murmuring of a new smuggling ring starting up at the docks, but we have You-Know-Who scouting the place out right now. It?ll be dealt with before the day is through.? She looked over Satori?s shoulder, only now seeing the girl behind her. ?Ah, and you must be Komeiji-san?s sister. She?s told me a lot about you, you know.?

Koishi raised an eyebrow. ?She has? What exactly has she-? Before she could finish, she saw Jozu shake her head out of the corner of her eye. That was her hint that the question wasn?t worth finishing. ?Never mind. How?s Komachi-san been??

?Oh, Komachi?? Sumire pointed towards the judge?s office with her thumb. ?She got kicked upstairs when the whole youkai thing took off. The mayor needed someone who knew her way around magic, you see.?

Koishi narrowed her eyes. ?I don?t remember Gensouto having a mayor.?

?Add that to the list of things you missed out on, then,? Satori said, pulling the discussion back on track. ?I?d like to talk with the mayor, please.?

?You do know she?s having lunch right now, I assume.?

Satori grinned. ?Since when has that stopped her from talking business??

Sumire hesitated for a moment, then sighed. ?You have a point. Go right ahead.?

?Thanks.? Satori bowed again before heading in the direction of the office. Koishi hung close behind, and Jozu crept forward as if she was her charge?s shadow. The shark was perfectly built for the role physically, but there was a childishness in her expression that seemed inappropriate for a bodyguard. Not that Koishi would ever say so out loud - it seemed like a good way to get her arm chomped off.

The judge?s office was like Koishi had remembered; small, and relatively unassuming. A few details had been added to make the room a bit more memorable - a picture here, a film prop there. It still seemed awfully plain to house the ruler of an entire nation.

?Who?s there??

Seated at the bench was a familiar face. It was hard to recognise her beneath her newer, much more ornate robes, but the head judge of Gensouto looked the same as she had two years ago. The outfit fit her well - authoritative without falling into gaudiness.

?Ah, Komeiji-san.? Eiki let out a little sigh and nodded. ?Who else would interrupt me at this hour? She edged to the side of her chair, leaving her lunch unfinished to take a look at Satori?s companions. ?And this is...?

?That?ll be Koishi Komeiji, ma?am.? Another old acquaintance spoke up, the woman standing at Eiki?s side. She was just as difficult to recognise as her superior, dressed in a well-measured suit with a perfect posture. But as she rushed forward to embrace the Siren, her old eagerness began to shine through.

?Komachi-san!?

Komachi smiled, squeezing Koishi almost hard enough to break a bone. ?Congrats on rejoining the living. I tried to say hi while you were recovering, but you were too drugged up to notice me.?

?You did?? Koishi tried to summon up her memory, but her recollection of the last week was fuzzy at best. She vaguely recalled a Komachi-shaped silhouette in her window, along with all the other Sirens she had traveled with. ?Sorry,? she said with a shrug. ?I guess I have a lot of catching up to do, don?t I??

?You bet.? Komachi looked back at her superior. ?Boss, you mind if I talk with her for a bit??

?Go ahead,? Eiki said, focusing her attention on Satori. ?I suspect I have my own business to take care of, anyway.?

Satori nodded, stepping forward to the desk with Jozu hanging beside her. Koishi stood a few feet away, too focused on Komachi to catch much of their conversation.

?So what are you doing here?? Koishi asked. ?I thought you?d gone back to being a lawyer.?

?That was the plan, yeah, but things came up.? Komachi laughed, the chuckle just awkward enough to give her emotions away. ?Seriously, though, when Gensokyo split off there was no real government holding it together. We had a couple of politicians, but there wasn?t anyone that could actually take charge of the country.?

Koishi looked back toward the desk. ?So Eiki-san ended up as mayor??

?She had a good reputation around the court. Even after the truth came out about the Morichika incident, her power was enough to make up for it.?

Komachi turned to her superior, watching Eiki listen intently to Satori?s explanation. The judge nodded to herself every few seconds, finally closing her eyes in thought. When her eyes opened again, her pupils flickered black in judgement.

?Understood,? she said. ?I?ll track down these CEOs and have them pay their dues.?

?Are you sure?? Satori folded her arms, but a satisfied grin sat on her face. ?They?ve got some very rich friends. Gensokyo could lose a lot of business if we step on the wrong toes.?

?Then it?s not the sort of business we want anything to do with.? Eiki fiddled with her collar, looking perfectly attuned with her position. ?The money isn?t everything, Komeiji-san. We need to let the people know that this sort of corporate dishonesty won?t stand in our country.?

The conviction in her eyes was so powerful that Koishi could barely face her head on. That was just the sort of ruler a small, developing nation like Gensokyo needed - the sort that left an impact and refused to be ignored.

?She was anxious when she started,? Komachi said, chest puffed out. ?Didn?t know nearly enough about youkai to get anything done. Luckily she had a good friend who was willing to get her up to speed. In fact, the friend was even willing to run as her deputy just to make sure she got the job done.?

Koishi looked up at Komachi?s expression. There was no sign of regret, only a faint nostalgia for what had once been. It hung only for an instant, replaced by her typical lazy grin.

?So how much do people know about the Sirens, then?? Koishi asked. ?Do people know about the Teardrops? Or that we were responsible for the masquerade coming down??

?Most people know the general story about the Pearl and the Claw,? Komachi answered. ?They know that a bunch of humans saved the world from the Ravager and had to take down the masquerade to do it. But most people don?t know who the Sirens actually are - and now that everyone?s got magic powers, it?s pretty hard to tell. A few higher-ups in the White Pearl still know, but they?ve been pretty good at keeping quiet.?

Koishi nodded. She?d assumed as much, given that there wasn?t a massive fanfare when she?d recovered from her coma. Admittedly, she was grateful for the anonymity - she had dabbled with being an internet icon for a while, and decided it definitely didn?t suit her.

?Still, we?re through the hard part now.? Komachi gave Koishi?s hair another ruffle. ?Good to see you?re back. I?m figuring there are a bunch of other folks who?d be happy to see you too.?

?Yeah,? Koishi said. She had two years? worth of catching up to do, and no idea where to start. ?Any idea where I can find anyone??

Komachi grinned. ?As a matter of fact, I do.? She turned back to the mayor. ?Hey, boss, I?m taking Koishi-san down to the academy. You okay with that??

Eiki didn?t even acknowledge the question. She and Satori were locked in discussion, fervently discussing a strategy for taking down the CEOs that had wronged them. Jozu looked towards the two Sirens, offering an apologetic shrug.

?Well, that?s pretty much a yes,? Komachi said, taking Koishi?s hand. ?Now, if you?ll just follow me...?
Title: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Epilogue (Part 3)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on November 24, 2013, 10:20:36 AM
The Arcane Academy clung to the side of City Hall like the training wheels of a bicycle. There was no synergy in the architecture of the buildings - where City Hall had carried a proud and stubborn demeanour, the academy was bright and inviting. Signs on the windows promised to ?unlock your latent potential? to help ?craft a brighter future for Gensokyo?. It was so excited about itself that Koishi?s eyes stung a little looking at it.

?You get used to it,? Komachi said, patting Koishi on the back as she led her in. ?Imagine how hard it?s gotta be for the people who work here.?

I don?t think I want to, Koishi thought to herself.

The inside of the building was considerably more down-to-earth. The main hall had the same merry feel to it, but as they slipped into the deeper corridors the decor became much more generic and pedestrian. Anyone who came this far, Koishi thought, wouldn?t need any more convincing.

?So what do they do here?? she asked. ?Is it some sort of police academy??

?Close enough,? Komachi said. ?There?s a whole new dimension of crime now that magic?s outta the bag. This place is meant to teach humans and youkai how to combat it - training their own powers, and learning how to deal with troublemakers.?

?What sort of crime are we talking about??

Komachi rolled her eyes. ?A few months ago, a band of activists called the Merry Men tried to magically wipe out every financial record on Wall Street. They dubbed it the Robin Hood Incident - stealing from the rich and all that.?

?Incident?? Koishi asked, the peculiar word choice throwing her off slightly.

?We try not to use words like ?terrorism? anymore. Gets people scared and angry. So if the crime is stopped before anyone is hurt, we just call it an incident.? Komachi sighed. ?Trust me, Eiki had to ram that idea into my head before it stuck.?

Koishi nodded, looking into the rooms they passed as they walked down the corridor. Many of them had been styled after conventional classrooms, though they had been built with adults in mind. From a cursory glance the youkai and humans seemed to be evenly represented, though youkai made up a vast majority of the instructors.

After a minute?s walk, they stepped out into an open courtyard. Four trees stood in the corners, none of them matching in shape, size or colour. Perhaps it was a symbol for the celebration of diversity, Koishi thought. Then again, it could just have been lazy planning on the part of the architect.

?Not like that, kid. Follow through on your punches.?

A voice rang out from the middle of the courtyard. Stepping closer, Koishi found two distant figures locked in a brawl, the taller one bobbing and weaving around her opponent. They were both dressed in light blue tracksuits - the academy uniform, most likely.

?I would, if you?d just stay still!? The smaller girl reached out, grabbing her adversary?s forearm. Her eyes shone blue, and tendrils of ice began to creep out from her fingers.

The ice was dispeled in an instant, a flame running down the longer woman?s arm. That was all Koishi had to see to identify the two.

?I told you, kid,? Mokou said with a sigh. ?No cheating.?

Cirno pouted. ?It?s not my fault you?re so fast. And since when is using magic cheating??

?The point is so you can brush up on the basics.? Mokou stepped backwards, disengaging from the fight. She looked just like Koishi had remembered her, which could only be a testament to the phoenix?s intense regimen. ?If you use your powers as a crutch like that, you?re gonna fall apart without them.?

She craned her neck back towards the entrance, eyes falling over Koishi for a moment. ?Besides, you?ve got plenty of other students for-? When her brain caught up with her senses, she pulled a dramatic double take. ?Wait, Koishi-san? Is that you?!?

?Oh, nice try.? Cirno folded her arms and grinned smugly. ?I?m not falling for that one again. There?s no way that Koishi-san is-?

Before she could finish Mokou was already running up to Koishi, at a speed so absurd that Koishi swore she was about to be run over. The phoenix stopped abruptly a few inches from the Siren, mouth bobbing open and shut.

?You?re up already?? The revelation seemed to have caused her more exertion than her sparring. ?I figured you?d be bedridden for at least a month.?

?You and me both,? Komachi said, placing a hand on Koishi?s shoulder. ?But I reckon we should?ve given her a bit more credit than that.?

Koishi?s cheeks warmed up. ?It was all the doctors, really. I didn?t realise medical science had advanced so far.? She looked up at Mokou. ?So what?re you up to? Are you a student here??

?Not quite.? Mokou grinned. ?I?m working as a part-time instructor in hand-to-hand combat. You?d be surprised how many of these youkai have no idea how to throw a punch. I was just giving a little tutoring session to-?

?Koishi-san!? Cirno vaulted over Mokou, landing on her shoulders so perfectly it seemed almost scripted. ?Oh man, you have no idea how many cool things have happened while you were gone. As soon as they built this place I was first in line, and I studied real hard like you said to, and-? Mokou reached up, cupping her hand around Cirno?s mouth to silence her. ?Mmmhh!?

?So you know each other?? Komachi looked at Koishi, then at Cirno. ?I guess I?m the only one who?s out of the loop, then.?

?Well, uh...? Mokou paused, struggling for the right word. ?This bundle of fun is Cirno. She?s the academy?s top student, and there?s talk of her getting her own squad when she graduates. I?m just here to make sure she doesn?t cut any corners.?

As she pulled her hand away, Cirno pulled a massive frown. ?No fair, boss. I wanted to tell her that.?

?Then you should?ve waited your turn like a good girl.?

Cirno slumped forward. Even as Mokou moved away she hung in the air, crystalline wings fading in behind her back. Fortunately, Koishi knew the look of a girl who was desperately seeking a compliment.

?So you?re the top student here? That?s amazing, Cirno-san.?

?Really?? Cirno pulled her head up. ?You think so??

Koishi nodded. ?I always knew you had it in you, Cirno-san. Congrats!?

For about a second, a look of pure glee hung on Cirno?s face. Then she remembered herself, clearing her throat and lowering herself to the ground. ?W-Well, uh, of course I had it in me. You?re talking about the strongest fairy Gensokyo?s ever seen.?

?Fairy?? Koishi furrowed her brow. ?But I thought fairies were-?

?Actually, fairies aren?t their own race at all,? Komachi said. ?Turns out what we call ?fairies? are just a certain branch of human bloodlines.? She pointed at Cirno?s wings. ?Which your frigid friend here seems to be a member of.?

?Ah,? Koishi said. Her own ignorance both amazed and intrigued her. There was so much of this new world she had no idea about, but she couldn?t help but feel a charge in her blood at the thought of it. ?What about you, Mokou-san?? she asked, turning back to her fellow Siren. ?Did you ever manage to make amends with Kaguya-san??

?Uh, well...? Mokou looked away, one hand unconsciously clenching into a fist. ?In a way, yes. But we?re not exactly on speaking terms.?

?...I see.? Koishi could tell that pressing further was a poor move. There was a distance in Mokou?s eyes that said she was done with the matter. It had been two years, after all.

?Why?d you decide to be an instructor, anyway?? Komachi asked. ?I figured you were more the type to go out and actually stop bad guys.?

Mokou rubbed at the back of her neck. ?So did I, for a while. I tried that for a couple of weeks, but it just didn?t feel right. But here, I can help out people who need me and help to make something rather than break it. Rather than taking bad things out of the world, I can put good things into it.? She gave Cirno a pat on the back. ?Like my little prodigy here. It just feels a lot more rewarding, I guess.?

Cirno blushed and looked away. ?J-Jeez, it?s not that great, boss...?

?Anyway, let?s not dwell on the past.? Mokou stretched her arms to expel the dark mood. ?The kid and I were about to break for lunch. You two feel like joining us??

?I?ve gotta pass, thanks.? Komachi waved it off with a frown. ?My lunch break?s just about over, and Eiki is crazy strict about punctuality.? She looked down at Koishi. ?I figure your sister will be talking with her for quite a bit, so if you wanna go look around I can pass on the message.?

Koishi needed a second longer to decide. The offer was tempting, and her stomach rumbled in contemplation, but she wanted to see everything she could before the end of the day. After some thought, she found a way to solve both problems at once.

?About that. Is the Scarlet Bakery still around??

Mokou?s eyebrow lifted as she caught Koishi?s intent. ?I see. Checking up on the old gang, are you?? She nodded. ?Yeah, last I checked, they were still in business. Same place as before.?

?Thanks.? Koishi bowed towards Mokou before turning towards the exit. ?And it?s good to see you again, Mokou-san.?

Mokou wore a weary smile. ?Same here, Koishi-san. It?s been way too long.?

As Koishi made her way out, she heard Cirno muttering to the phoenix. ?What old gang? What?s so important about some bakery??

Spinning around, she saw Mokou wrap her arm around the fairy. ?Kid, there?s a loooong story behind that...?

-----

Koishi found her bearings faster than she had expected. Though the buildings and the people had changed the streets of Gensokyo were just as she remembered, the same canvas under a new layer of paint. She found herself taking shortcuts, slipping around corners to beat the hustle and bustle of the crowd. At least some things haven?t changed, she thought to herself.

The trip would have taken her half an hour normally, but Koishi managed to cut the time down to twenty minutes. She knew immediately when she had found her destination - a building covered in the gaudy red paint that had imprinted itself on her retinas. Magic circles clung to the walls, pulsing like neon signs. An extension at the side of the bakery offered a caf? for customers to sit in while they ate. Looking through the window, Koishi saw that the room was full to bursting. Had the bakery ever been this popular before?

Eh? On closer inspection, Koishi saw two young waitresses walking between the tables, handing out meals to waiting customers. The two girls were polar opposites, one treading gracefully and oozing charisma, the other skipping around the room like it was a playground. One opted for a simple, formal dress, while the other was dressed in full-blown magical girl garb.

If she hadn?t known better, Koishi would have never guessed they were sisters.

Remilia? Flandre? What are they doing out here? She looked up at the sun, remembering Patchouli?s story about xerodernum pigmentosa. Even this should have been enough exposure to do some serious damage. What had changed?

?It?s rude to peek, you know.?

Koishi almost dropped dead where she stood. Adrenaline screamed through her as she jerked around. Sakuya had silently slipped behind her, as if she had emerged from the ether. She wore the maid costume from the night of Flandre?s kidnapping, fitting it to a tee.

?H-How did you-? Koishi got halfway through the sentence before realising the answer to her own question. ?Oh. Right. Time stop.?

?Clever girl.? Sakuya drew her pocketwatch for effect, one finger running across the engravings. ?I saw you out the window, and I couldn?t resist a quick scare. Consider it my way of saying welcome back.?

?Could I at least get a warning next time?? Koishi said, trying to calm her stuttering heart. ?You?re going to put me back in the hospital at this rate.?

Sakuya sighed. ?You haven?t been up for a day, and you?re already spoiling my fun. You?re just like I remember, Koishi-san.?

Koishi?s body relaxed, her pulse dropping to a dull roar. She?d been caught totally unprepared by the assault. Here she was, barely able to walk, and already people were trying to scare her senseless. With friends like this, who needs the Black Claw?

?But still, you can?t blame me for wondering,? she said, looking through the window at the waitresses again. ?I thought those two weren?t allowed to be out during daylight hours.?

?They still aren?t,? Sakuya answered. ?But there are enchantments across the building that filter the sunlight coming in. So as long as they stay inside the bakery, they?ll be perfectly fine.?

Koishi?s mouth hung open. ?Wow. You can do that??

?Oh, it wasn?t my work.? Sakuya pointed into the corner. ?You have Patchouli to thank for that.?

Koishi followed Sakuya?s finger, her eyes falling on a slumbering librarian in the corner. Her face was buried in a book, her long purple hair falling all over the desk. Papers and research were strewn about in no obvious order. A sign above her read ?WAKE IN EVENT OF EMERGENCY?, as if she was some sort of fire alarm.

?She?s been researching magical countermeasures to XP for two years straight.? Sakuya?s words carried a rare tone of respect. ?She?s become a leader in the field. Not that she would settle for anything less, of course.?

Koishi nodded. She could envision Patchouli immersed in her work, studying and practicing to the point where she collapsed. She imagined the researcher had to be content with the new hand life had dealt her.

?And what about you?? Koishi said. ?What have you been up to while I was asleep??

?Hm...difficult question.? Sakuya pursed her lips, looking off into the distance. ?I suppose I?m living two lives now. I?ve got two families to look after, and I?m trying my best not to neglect one for the sake of the other. Besides that, well, not much has changed.?

?Really? I never put you down as the stay-at-home type.?

?I?m not. Given the chance I?d be out breaking the bank, but nowadays casinos have rules against magical intervention.? Sakuya frowned. ?It takes all the fun out of it if I have to play fair.?

Koishi held back a laugh. Sakuya had mellowed a little, but deep down she was essentially unchanged. She seemed content with her lot despite her complaints, a lazy smile rising to her face when she thought Koishi wasn?t looking.

?Speaking of your second family, how?s Youmu-san?? Koishi asked. ?I haven?t managed to catch up with her yet.?

?She?s been busy with her own enterprises,? Sakuya said. ?I was about to head over there myself, actually. You?re welcome to come along if you like.?

?Is that okay? I mean, aren?t you meant to be working right now??

?My shift ended a few minutes ago. Besides, Meiling is on kitchen duty, so she can probably pick up the slack-?

Seconds later, as if on cue, a pillar of smoke began to rise from the kitchen door. The diners shuffled to their feet in panic as Flandre and Remilia tried to maintain some semblance of order. The noise caused Patchouli to stir, pulling her head off the desk to reveal bloodshot eyes and a furious scowl.

?Or not.? Sakuya took Koishi by the hand, leading her away. ?Come on. Let?s get out of here before we get roped into cleanup duty.?

?Eh? But what about Meiling-san??

As Patchouli stomped into the kitchen, Sakuya wore a wry smile. ?Now, now, Koishi-san. Let?s give her a chance to learn from her mistakes.?

The squeal of horror that followed would haunt Koishi?s nightmares for weeks.

-----

After a few minutes, Sakuya judged herself far away enough from the bakery to slow to a walking pace. She caught her breath, brushing off the frills of her outfit as they stepped back into the main street.

?Is that okay?? Koishi asked, looking over Sakuya?s maid uniform. ?I mean, no offense, but that?s not exactly a normal outfit.?

?Maybe not in the Gensouto you remember,? Sakuya answered. ?But Gensokyo doesn?t have much of a dress code. Take Hakurei-san, for instance-?

?Hakurei-san??

Sakuya bit her lip, doing a poor job of hiding her annoyance. ?Reimu Hakurei. The sleazy lawyer who got Morichika off on all charges??

Now the name rang a faint bell in the back of Koishi?s head. ?I think I know who you?re talking about. What about her??

?Her fortunes took an...interesting turn.? The maid grumbled and folded her arms. ?Turns out having twenty generations of shrine maidens in your blood gives you an obscene amount of magic power. She?s the most powerful human in Gensokyo, and only the strongest of youkai would pose her any sort of threat.?

?...Really?? Koishi hesitated, looking for some sign of dishonesty in Sakuya?s eyes. For once, there was nothing to be found; besides, the story was too bizarre for Sakuya to have pulled out of thin air.

?Believe it or not, yes,? Sakuya continued. ?Anyway, she insists on dressing as a shrine maiden whenever she?s on duty. Something about honouring her ancestors.? She raised an arm into the air. ?And she never, ever changes outfits. Even when it?s raining or snowing, she dresses just the same.?

Again, Koishi looked Sakuya over for some sign she was lying. For the second time, every hint pointed towards the maid telling the truth. She remembered a cryptic conversation with Sumire about ?You-Know-Who? heading out to shut down a smuggling ring. It made sense - or at least the new, twisted sense that Gensokyo now seemed to function on.

?Point taken,? Koishi said. ?I guess dressing like a maid isn?t that unusual in comparison.?

?Your acceptance means a lot to me,? Sakuya said flatly. ?Anyway, we?re here.?

The maid came to a stop in front of a rustic-looking dojo. Koishi looked it over and felt as if she?d walked into a museum, a perfect replica of the samurai era hidden between a drug store and a delicatessen. She could hear wooden swords clashing against each other from within. The blows carried enough force that Koishi couldn?t help but feel intimidated.

?Sounds like the recruits are sparring. She?ll be available, then.? Sakuya had no such concerns, pulling the sliding door open for Koishi. ?You first.?

Koishi stepped through after a deep breath. The interior was as faithful a facsimile as the outside, all wooden floors and tatami mats. Scrolls on the walls offered Zen-like teachings in haiku form. A single open window let a dim light into the room.

She counted about a dozen students present, a mixture of humans and youkai. They had split into pairs, sparring with their partners, but with a passion and focus that wouldn?t have looked out of place in a real fight. Koishi saw two fighting styles split between the class, with some fighters dual-wielding their blades, and others fighting with sword and shield.

At the end of the dojo were two chairs, upon which sat the masters. Youmu?s expression was unreadable as she watched the students battle, her ceremonial robe making her look twice as old as she was. Momiji was more willing to show her disdain, shaking her head and muttering beneath her breath. Neither of them seemed to have noticed the two visitors popping through the entrance.

?Watch this,? Sakuya whispered. The maid stepped away, pulling out her pocketwatch and tapping at the face with two fingers. She disappeared, and in an instant she was on the other side of the room, yelling right into Youmu?s ear.

?Boo!?

The yell brought all the sparring students to a halt. Koishi saw Youmu flinch, but only barely. Within instants she was looking at her sister in disappointment. ?That was frightening the first time, Miyo. The fiftieth, not so much.?

?Hm. Good point.? Sakuya pulled back, stroking at her chin. ?I suppose I should come up with something more original next time. Maybe I could crack an egg over your head??

Momiji looked over from her seat and sighed. ?Izayoi-san. I?m not sure if you?ve noticed, but we?re trying to work here.?

?So am I. It?s my job to look after Youmu, remember?? The maid ruffled at Youmu?s hair, utterly shattering the tense atmosphere of the dojo. To her credit, Youmu didn?t even acknowledge Sakuya?s shenanigans with a response. The self-control that demanded was more than a little impressive, Koishi thought to herself.

?Besides,? Sakuya continued, ?I brought a special guest with me today. Someone you haven?t seen for a while.?

That was enough to get Youmu to raise an eyebrow. She nodded towards her students, who split apart and stood with their backs pressed against the walls. Now the swordsman had a clear view of the Siren in the doorway.

?Um...? Koishi awkwardly raised a hand. ?Hey, Youmu-san. Sorry for interrupting.?

The sight of Koishi brought about a transformation in Youmu. For lack of a better word she became more human, her emotions finally floating to the surface. The calm demeanour fell away as she put on a warm smile.

?Well, if it isn?t the prodigal daughter herself,? Momiji said, her tone a difficult mixture of surprise and relief. ?I thought you were supposed to be a vegetable nowadays.?

?I was.? Koishi stepped forward, shrugging the claim off. ?You?d be surprised what a person can recover from.?

For a moment, Youmu looked ready to jump out of the seat and embrace the Siren. She decided otherwise at the last minute, standing up but refusing to budge.

?Students!? she yelled, her voice booming through the dojo. ?Our guest is a woman to whom I owe a mighty debt. I trust that you will treat her with the respect that she deserves.?

That seemed to be all the convincing the students needed. Like components of a well oiled machine, they all moved in unison to bow in Koishi?s direction. Koishi blushed, unsure how to feel about youkai ten times her age deferring to her. She made the rest of the journey to the seats to remove herself from that awkward position. Youmu nodded again, and the students returned to their sparring.

?So this is what you?ve been up to,? she said, looking back at the pupils. ?Is this a joint venture? Between you and Momiji-san, I mean.?

?Correct,? Youmu said with a nod. ?With Gensokyo?s rapid expansion, we felt it was necessary to build a shrine of sorts to the art of swordplay. Perhaps it?s defunct in this era of magic and machines, but its beauty continues to thrive thanks to our efforts.?

?More importantly, we?re doing what we can to keep the competitive spirit alive,? Momiji continued. ?Our school teaches two wildly different styles - mine and hers. Each month we put our best students against each other to see which of our styles is strongest. The urge to win that clash convinces us both to put everything we have into our teaching.?

?The score is ten to four in Youmu?s favour,? Sakuya said without a hint of restraint. ?Don?t worry, Momiji-san, there?s always next month.?

The wolf glared at Sakuya, growling beneath her breath. Perhaps now that Youmu wasn?t reacting, Momiji was the next best target for Sakuya?s pranks. Koishi tried not to think the idea over too hard.

?What about your mother, Youmu-san?? she asked. ?How is she doing??

?She?s fine now,? Youmu answered, loosening her back as she let her emotions show again. ?She?s been training quite hard herself, actually. I think she might be planning to come out of retirement.?

?And you?ll beat her handily, I assume?? Sakuya?s voice was a little colder than usual when she spoke about Yuyuko. It seemed some grudges remained unsettled, Koishi thought to herself.

?I?d hope so,? Momiji said. ?If my rival lost in a duel with a grandmother, I don?t think my pride could take it.?

Youmu clenched her teeth, silently withstanding all the attacks on her authority. With workmates like Momiji and sisters like Sakuya, Koishi imagined this had to be part of Youmu?s daily routine by now. Perhaps that was how she?d grown such a thick skin.

?But enough about us,? Youmu said. ?What about you, Koishi-san? What are you planning to do with yourself??

Koishi hesitated before answering. She really had no clue how to answer the question. She?d assumed it would be something simple like going back to school, but now that she thought about it the idea seemed almost too pedestrian. After all her experiences as a Siren, going back to an ?ordinary? life just didn?t feel right.

?I?m not sure,? she said at last. ?Right now I?m just trying to catch up with everyone. I still haven?t managed to get hold of Nazrin-san.?

?The mouse?? Sakuya?s eyes glinted with recollection. ?I?m pretty sure she?s off in the outskirts helping the youkai get by. Shouldn?t be too hard to find her.?

Koishi nodded. ?Right. In that case, I?ll let you get back to work.?

?Already?? Youmu frowned slightly. ?But you?ve only just arrived.?

?I know, but I?m just trying to catch up with everyone. Besides, you?re busy right now, aren?t you? We can try to get the whole gang together another time.?

The swordsman let out a long hard sigh before accepting defeat. ?I?ll hold you to that promise, you know.? She made another gesture, and the fighters split apart again. The discipline she commanded was nothing short of impressive.

?You?re welcome to study here any time,? Momiji said. ?I?ll even give you a position as my star pupil, if you want.?

?I?ll consider it.? Koishi made it halfway to the exit before another question hit her. ?Ah, Youmu-san, one more thing.?

?What is it??

?You and Momiji-san...do you ever fight each other??

The two swordsmen looked each other over, sharing a private smile. ?We fight every day,? Youmu said. ?But not until after closing time.?
Title: Dolphin Rider Koishi - Epilogue (Part 4)
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on November 24, 2013, 10:20:59 AM
Sure enough, a little bit of questioning was enough to lead Koishi in the direction she wanted. Most people had trouble putting a name to Nazrin’s face, but they knew enough about ‘the charity mouse’ to help Koishi along.

By the time Koishi had arrived, the sun was beginning to set in the distance. The city grew progressively simpler the further Koishi moved from the center, multicoloured skyscrapers giving way to ordinary apartments. By the time she hit the city’s edge, she was passing by rickety flats and overcrowded apartment complexes in what could only be the lower-class district.

A quick head count showed that the youkai here outnumbered the humans about four to one. The air was tense, every pedestrian viewing their neighbours with quiet suspicion. They were dressed plainly in ragged shirts, well-worn denim and hole-ridden shoes, the sort of hand-me-downs that humans would throw away without a second thought. Above all, they seemed extremely poor compared to the rest of the city - Koishi passed by half a dozen beggars going down one street, all of them looking up at her with pleading eyes. She fumbled in her pockets, but there wasn’t a penny on her. All she could do was shake her head in apology as she walked past.

“Hm?”

Looking ahead, Koishi saw a single building that was bustling with life. People flowed in and out of it with impressive pace, squeezing through a set of rickety double doors. A hand-painted sign hung over the entrance, declaring it to be the NazRan Soup Kitchen.

Direct hit, Koishi thought to herself. She joined in with the crowd, letting the current of society guide her through the doors. A large cafeteria stood before her, dozens of tables at each side. Here the desolate atmosphere of the district seemed to fade away, and she could hear friendly banter flow freely between humans and youkai. The warm smell of food flooded her nostrils, though she struggled to identify a distinct flavour in the aroma.

“Alright, people, gather round! Dinner’s ready!”

One voice rose above all the muttering from the far end of the room. The crowd formed an orderly line without being asked, with Koishi caught somewhere in the middle. One by one they stepped forward to the counter, receiving a bowl of soup from the server before taking a seat at one of the tables. Koishi never saw money changing hands through the entire process - every bowl was completely free of charge.

After a few minutes, Koishi was at the front of the queue. The server was hidden under the counter, dumping the contents of her ladle into another bowl. Only her long grey tail poked out from below, but that was more than enough for Koishi to identify her.

“Alright, be careful with this one.” Nazrin rose up, a bowl of steaming hot soup in her hand. “This stuff is pretty hot, so give it a minute before-” She dropped the bowl when she saw who she was talking to. “W-Whoa! Koishi-san?!”

Koishi reached forward on instinct, grabbing the bowl before it could hit the ground. In the same gesture she spun around, handed the meal to the youkai behind her, and turned to face Nazrin again.

“Hi, Nazrin-san.” She paused for a moment, looking back at the growing line. “I guess now is a bad time?”

“...Slightly.” Nazrin’s ears drooped as she recovered from the initial shock. “Give me a few minutes to work through the dinner rush, okay?”

Koishi nodded, stepping out of the queue and finding herself a seat. She took the opportunity to look over her surroundings. The building was bland and featureless - perhaps because its owners couldn’t afford to furnish it - but it held a certain charm that Koishi couldn’t put words to. It felt friendly, especially in contrast to the harsh world outside. Koishi imagined that some of the poorest residents used the kitchen as a shelter, sleeping here when they had no home to return to.

Eventually the flow of diners subsided, and the counter slid shut for the day. Nazrin emerged from the back of the kitchen, almost buried in an apron three sizes too large for her. Another youkai followed behind her - another familiar face, this one in a much more sensible business attire.

“So it is you, Komeiji-san.” Ran Yakumo let her mouth hang open, one hand gripping at the hem of her skirt. “When Nazrin told me you were visiting, I was convinced she was making some sort of euphemism.”

“Thanks for your trust in me,” Nazrin said, rolling her eyes. The two youkai sank into the seats across from Koishi, the fox easily towering above the mouse. “Go ahead. Pinch her if you think I’m lying.”

“Hmm. An interesting suggestion.” A mischievous glint rose to Ran’s eyes. “Komeiji-san, do you mind if I determine your authenticity?”

“I’ll pass, thanks.” Koishi spat out the answer. Ran’s fingers extended into razor sharp nails; getting pinched by those seemed distinctly unpleasant.

“A wise decision.” The fox smiled. “Don’t worry, Komeiji-san. Yours is not a face I plan to forget any time soon.”

“If you’re done threatening our visitor...” Nazrin’s tail poked Ran in the thigh, prompting her to stop her antics. “What’re you doing out here, Koishi-san? This isn’t exactly a nice part of town.”

“I know, but I wanted to check up on you.” Koishi looked around the building again, rubbing at the side of her head. “I wasn’t expecting this though, Nazrin-san. You didn’t come across as the charity worker type.”

“Well, I guess someone’s got to do it.” Nazrin looked away, tail swishing about behind her. “Even with all the changes the city’s seen, there are still plenty of poor people who need to be helped. Besides, we need to make up for all the damage that the grandma did around here.”

Koishi tilted her head. “Grandma?”

“She means Byakuren Hijiri,” Ran said. “Former director of the Myouren Institute. She’s now the head of a pro-youkai charity who are trying to make Gensokyo some sort of holy city for youkai. And by holy city, I mean she wants to kick out all of the ‘wicked, sinful humans’. She protests around the district frequently, and she has a small but vocal following.”

“She’s a pro-youkai supporter?” Koishi furrowed her brow. “But isn’t she-”

“Human?” Ran nodded. “Correct. She says that she is aware enough of her own failings to realise the flaws of humanity, or some similar nonsense. If you ask me, the woman is utterly deluded.”

“I think the fire left its mark on her,” Nazrin said. “This is probably what she thinks qualifies as repentance for not being able to ‘save’ my master. But all she’s doing is giving the district a bad name, so even less money comes our direction.”

“Technically, we aren’t even making enough money to stay afloat,” Ran said. “Even with Nazrin running all over the city collecting donations, we’re still in the red.” The fox fiddled with her collar. “Fortunately, my talent with numbers means I can play a trick or two with our finances. We’re surviving - for now, at least.”

Koishi nodded along solemnly. It seemed that even after the transformation of Gensokyo, there were some inequalities that still needed to be ironed out. She imagined the Mayor and her Siren accomplice would solve the problem in time. Until then, it was thanks to these two youkai that the district was holding together.

“What about you, Nazrin-san?” Koishi asked.

Nazrin’s ears twitched. “What about what?”

“Shou-san. How do you feel about...you know.”

Nazrin sucked in a deep breath, her tail wrapping around itself. “That’s a pretty upfront question, Koishi-san.”

Koishi immediately regretted her choice of words. “Sorry. I just...I was worried. Shou-san got pulled away so suddenly, so I don’t know how well you took it.”

The mouse stared down at the table, one hand rubbing at the flat surface. “It was...hard. I felt like garbage when I got back and realised I was alone again. I didn’t even get to say goodbye, not in the way I wanted to. If I hadn’t found something else to focus my attention on, I’d have probably broken down entirely.” She smacked her fist down hard enough to make the table shake. “But I can’t do that. I’ve gotta keep going for master’s sake. She’d feel awful if she saw me moping about her. And, well...” She shrugged, smiling sadly. “I know she’d do the same in my position. So it’s only fair I give it my all.”

Ran nodded, her fox tails bristling behind her. “A good answer, Nazrin.” She gave the mouse a firm pat on the back. “I’m sure your master is looking down on you with pride.”

Nazrin let out a little chuckle. “Same to you. I bet Yakumo is thrilled that her most powerful apprentice has been reduced to charity work.”

“Ah, but what would you do without me?” The fox smirked. “Imagine how this place would function without my guiding hand. The city would collapse faster than you could say ‘proletariat’.”

“Is that a challenge, Ran?”

“No, it’s a fact.”

Koishi couldn’t help but break into a smile at the sight of them and their playful bickering. With these two looking over the district, she knew things would turn out alright.

“So what’s your plan, Koishi-san?” Nazrin asked, once she’d finished messing with her partner-in-crime. “The world’s changed a lot while you were gone. What are you looking to do with yourself?”

Koishi sighed. “Honestly, I don’t think I’m ready to answer that question right now. I need a few days to get comfortable before I make any rash decisions. Just sitting around the house and acclimating to how different everything is.”

Ran nodded. “Understandable. And after all the work you’ve done for the White Pearl, you deserve a chance to rest.”

The Siren nodded back. She’d have taken the chance to relax whether it had been offered to her or not. For the first time in months, she didn’t have to worry about the Claw hiding around every corner. It had been a long and difficult fight, but at last she and her friends had emerged victorious.

An idea struck her then. They’d managed a great victory, so what was the harm with celebrating it?

“Say, Nazrin-san. How available are you over the next few days?”

“Uh...” Nazrin pulled back, taken off guard by the question. “I can probably get some time off with enough of a warning. Why do you ask?”

Koishi smiled. “Well, I promised Youmu-san I’d arrange a little get-together...”

-----

“Alright, people! Let the festivities commence!”

Nitori twirled around two soda bottles in her hands, demonstrating grace and dexterity Koishi hadn’t seen since their visit to the Rabbit’s Foot. She flipped off the bottlecaps with her thumbs, sending two streams of foam across the room in brilliant arcs. The foam flew cleanly over the entire table, without leaving so much as a drop on the gathered Sirens.

“You are going to clean up after yourself, I assume?” Sakuya said, the only one not taken in by the spectacle. “I’m not getting paid to look after this place, you know.”

“Aww, don’t be such a spoilsport.” The kappa stuck out her tongue. “This is our big victory parade. Let’s leave the worrying for later.”

Sakuya continued to scowl, but Youmu’s glare was enough to convince her to drop the point. The maid took a few deep breaths, falling gradually into the party spirit. A single table ran the length of the Scarlet Bakery’s cafe, more than large enough to seat the seven Sirens and their leader. In the corner a television displayed a music channel, pop songs adding a lively vibe to the room.

There was also one additional guest at the proceedings. A guest who was making short work of the buffet.

“Mmmnn, nnfffh...” Jozu took in another mouthful of food moments after swallowing the one before. Her plate was three times as tall as anyone else’s, full to the brim with all the meat she could find. Koishi took a glance at the shark’s lean figure, wondering how Jozu ate so much without putting on a pound. She wrote it off as a peculiarity of youkai metabolism.

“How did you even find out about our arrangements, Kawashiro-san?” Satori was much more restrained, with only a few morsels which she intermittently nibbled on. Perhaps she was trying to compensate for her bodyguard’s overindulgence. “None of us could get in contact with you.”

Nitori tutted the minister, waving a finger about. “I’ll have to keep you in the dark on that one, Satori-chan. Mine is an existence of mystery and intrigue, and anything I tell you is a secret my adversaries could overhear.”

She spoke with sing-song melodrama, but her expression was so earnest that Koishi was honestly unsure whether the kappa was being serious. Then again, that was a state of affairs she’d had plenty of time to become used to.

“Who cares how she got here?” Komachi leaned back in her chair, looking immensely pleased with herself. “This isn’t a day for questions. Let’s eat, drink and be merry, alright?”

“I’ll second that,” Mokou said, having taken her fair share of the salad. “This is Koishi-san’s welcome-back party. That means all silly bickering is banned. Understood?”

“That sounds troublesome,” Youmu said. “After all, sarcasm is the only language Miyo knows how to speak.”

“Ouch.” Nazrin sucked in a breath, looking at Sakuya with poorly hidden pity. “Looks like you’ve been rubbing off on your sister.”

Sakuya shrugged. “I’d be offended if it wasn’t true.”

Koishi giggled. Mokou’s warning had gone unheeded, but there was a playfulness to the jibes that took out all the animosity they could have carried. They’d had to struggle against tight schedules to find the time, but they’d all managed to come together for her. It was Koishi’s first chance to truly appreciate the friends she had made in her time as a Siren.

But that made the one empty chair all the more obvious. Koishi looked at the seat to her right, sighing too quietly for anyone to hear.

“Thinking about Sango-san, I assume?” Satori was the only one to catch it, the other Sirens either chattering with each other or focused on dinner. Either she caught on to Koishi’s ticks, or she saw the thoughts flowing through her sister’s mind.

“...Yeah.” Koishi nodded. The dolphin was still off doing her recon on the coast. Even Nitori couldn’t get in touch with her, and the date of her return was a mystery to everyone.

“If it means anything, she visited you just as much as I did.” Satori put a hand on Koishi’s shoulder. “If it wasn’t for work, she’d have been by your side 24/7.”

Honestly, Koishi had expected as much. She and Sango had been particularly close, and near the end their friendship had reached that peculiar level where it probably didn’t qualify as friendship anymore. Koishi had always been meaning to have a talk with Sango, to figure out where they stood with each other. Now she had no idea when that chance would come.

Dammit. What am I doing? Koishi shook off the thought, puffing her chest up. This was a celebration, not a pity party. She could leave her navel gazing for another day. Her eagerness renewed, she filled up a glassful of soda and gave it a hearty chug.

“That’s the spirit, Koishi-chan.” Nitori offered her a round of applause as she raised her own glass. “Everyone, a toast to the return of our favourite Ocean Princess!”

The Sirens heeded the call, each raising a cup in Koishi’s honour. “To Koishi-san!” They clinked glasses together before downing their drinks - alcohol for Komachi and Nitori, soda for everyone else. Nitori picked up the remote, raising the volume of the television. Cheerful j-pop hung in the background of the party as everyone present exchanged small talk.

When the music abruptly stopped, everyone turned in the direction of the television.

“We interrupt this broadcast to give you a breaking news bulletin.” Hatate Himekaidou sat with her back straight, her expression grave. “Mass rioting has broken out in the island of Okinawa, with dozens already confirmed injured.”

Koishi gulped. She could almost hear the mood of the party shattering into a thousand pieces.

“The riots follow controversial protests by youkai-rights activists, who accuse the Okinawan people of illegal whaling. Though the practice was officially outlawed two years ago after the fall of the Masquerade, protestors claim that small whaling operations are still functioning. Prime Minister Miyahara has urged the protestors to appeal to common sense, as police -”

The television flickered off halfway through the bulletin. “Blech. I’ve had enough of that, thanks.” Nitori turned the television off, throwing the remote across the room. An awkward silence hung in the air for a few seconds afterward, no-one sure exactly how to react.

“It’s a real shame,” Komachi said, leaning forward with her elbows on the table. “I heard things were pretty rough over there, but I didn’t think things would go that far south.”

“Is it true, though?” Sakuya cradled her fingers, still looking at the blank screen. “About the whaling, I mean.”

“Who knows?” Nazrin shrugged. “I don’t have time for the news anymore. That soup isn’t gonna serve itself.”

“I’ll make sure to bring it up with Eiki some time tomorrow,” Satori said, fiddling with the collar of her dress. “I’m not sure if there’s much we can do, though. We have our own business to deal with, after all.”

A sad nod passed across the table. Koishi was the only one not to join in, catching onto a truth her companions must have realised two years prior. They weren’t superheroes anymore - they still had all their powers, but the rest of the world had caught up with them. They’d done their part to keep Gensokyo from coming apart, but their influence hadn’t expanded far beyond their own city.

As the other guests recovered their brevity, Koishi felt her thoughts drifting away. She nodded along and did a good job of feigning interest, but the news report had planted itself in her mind. She’d forgotten that there was still a whole world beyond Gensokyo, a world that had its own share of problems to solve.

But what am I supposed to do? Koishi dipped a finger in her drink, swirling it around. I’m not a hero anymore. She looked around the table, at the other Sirens. They’d been magical girls once, heroes who kept Gensouto safe. Now they were teachers, lawyers, charity workers, ordinary occupations she would see from anyone on the street. The White Pearl seemed nonexistent - perhaps with the war over, it simply lost its reason to exist.

For months, her work as a Siren had defined her. She took pride in fighting evil, in doing what she could to make the world a better place. Now she was just an ordinary girl, her talents unremarkable in a world of youkai and magic. The same question echoed in her ears, growing louder and louder until it deafened out everything else.

Where am I supposed to go from here?

-----

“Phweeeeeeeeeee~!”

Sango charged through the streets of Gensokyo with blatant disregard for other pedestrians. Her heart was lodged somewhere in her throat and refused to budge. Every muscle in her body felt set to snap, but she continued to dash on regardless.

“Koishi-san, what the heck are you thinking?!”

She’d returned from her time on duty to two different surprises. First was the good news, that Koishi had regained consciousness and that she was up and walking. The moment she heard that, Sango had gone straight to the Komeiji residence to give Koishi the biggest hug she could manage.

When she had arrived, she found Satori consoling the two pets. Rin and Utsuho were unusually quiet, burying their faces in their owner’s chest. It was Jozu who ended up letting Sango in on what had happened.

“Koishi-san is leaving the country,” she said. “All she told us was that she wanted to see the world for herself.”

The news had left Sango numb, and for a moment she just stood in place as if she’d been paralyzed. Satori looked her over, and Sango saw a telltale glint in her eyes. It was a sign the valkyrie had looked into the depths of her heart, seeing the feelings the dolphin had held back for two whole years.

“She only left half an hour ago,” the Siren said, one hand on the heads of each of her pets. “If you hurry, you might be able to catch her.”

In an instant, Sango’s frigid blood turned red hot. She offered Satori a small nod of thanks before running in the direction of the city’s entrance. She hadn’t slowed down since, hitting speeds that would have made a swordfish jealous.

Please be there, Koishi-san! Her brain could barely function, the same thoughts playing over and over again. There’s so much I have to tell you!

At the edge of the city was a small checkpoint, a gate that separated Gensokyo from the rest of the world. Two youkai in uniforms were present - one stood at the gate to watch for new arrivals, while the other was examining a person on her way out.

Sango would have recognised the Siren anywhere.

“Koishi-san!”

Sango yelled at the top of her voice, two years of waiting reaching an explosive climax. Koishi flinched at the sound, turning around to face her. Her expression had changed, Sango thought to herself; it was a little older, a little wiser, but still unquestionably the Koishi she knew.

“Sango-san?” Koishi’s eyes widened. “What are you-”

Before she could finish, Sango leaped forward and wrapped her arms around the Siren. Koishi went still, stiff at first but gradually melting into the dolphin’s embrace.

“What do you think, stupid?” Sango squeezed harder, holding back the urge to slap Koishi across the face. “You think I was gonna let you run off into the sunset without saying goodbye?”

Koishi returned the hug, her warm hands wrapping around Sango. The dolphin had never forgotten the softness of Koishi’s touch, the tenderness of her fingers, the earnestness of her smile.

“I’m sorry, Sango-san,” Koishi said. “I tried to get hold of you, but no-one had any idea where you were.”

“Sorry about that.” Sango pouted, pulling back from the hug. “I’m not allowed to make any contact with other people on duty.” She looked over at the border guard, who nodded as he finished his check of Koishi’s bag. “But what’re you doing? You’re barely walking and already you’re trying to leave.”

Koishi shrugged. “I know, but well...there’s a big wide world out there. Even with all the work we did as Sirens, there’s still a lot of problems that need solving. It just doesn’t feel right to sit back when I could be out there making a difference.”

Sango’s jaw dropped. Koishi had already saved the world, and millions of youkai were in her debt. Most people would have rested on their laurels at that point, but Koishi still wanted to push herself to do everything she could.

“You sure about this?” Sango said, scratching at her forehead. “I mean, you’re not a Siren anymore. If you’re going out to fight evil, everyone else is gonna be just as powerful as you.”

Koishi sighed, body tensing for a moment. “That’s true, Sango-san. I spent a lot of time thinking about that. I’m just your average girl now. There are plenty of people more qualified to make a change in the world than I am. All things considered, I’m probably pretty powerless.”

She let out a sharp breath, as if to expel her uncertainty. “But ‘probably’ isn’t the same as ‘definitely’. As long as there’s a chance I can make a difference somewhere in the world, I’ll do everything I can to pursue it.”

“And if it’s too big for you to handle on your own?” Sango asked.

“Then I’ll find somebody to help me.” The Siren smiled. “After all, I didn’t beat the Ravager on my own, did I?”

Sango had no way to hide her amazement. This was the determination that she’d come to know from Koishi, the raw passion and commitment that made her so memorable. Two years in a coma had done nothing to change her - a fact Sango was deeply grateful for.

At the same time, she knew there was no way she’d be able to hold Koishi back. Sango had come here hoping to talk Koishi out of it, but having seen her in person she knew nothing she said would make any difference. And even if it could, she felt like she didn’t have the right to tell Koishi how to live her life.

“You’re really sold on this, aren’t you?”

Koishi nodded, her posture stalwart and strong. “You know me, Sango-san. I can’t leave a good deed undone.”

The dolphin sighed. This was no time to say what she’d planned to tell her. Coming out with it now would just feel wrong. With that in mind, she only had one real option left.

“Seriously, Koishi-san. You’re a bona fide maniac.” She stepped forward, stretching her arms out to get the guard’s attention. “Someone needs to make sure you don’t get yourself hurt.”

“Wait, you don’t mean-” Koishi gasped. “Don’t you have your own job here?”

“Eh, they can survive losing one pair of hands.” The dolphin looked back with a smile as the guard patted her down. She’d brought nothing with her, so the job only took him a few seconds. “Besides, I’ve always wanted to go sightseeing,” she added, wrapping an arm around her companion’s shoulder. ”May as well have a good excuse for it, am I right?”

Koishi went bright red at Sango’s touch, but she showed no sign of discomfort. She nuzzled at Sango’s chest, looking up at her with a smile. “Thanks, Sango-san. Really.”

“Don’t mention it.” Sango would have hugged her forever if she could, but now wasn’t the time. Maybe later she’d have a chance to tell Koishi how she felt. But for now, there were other things to worry about. “Well, then. Shall we?”

Koishi nodded. She reached out, taking Sango’s hand and squeezing. Sango returned the gesture, her hand feeling more comfortable in Koishi’s than anywhere else. They looked in unison towards the gate as it rose upwards, both the guards bowing as they motioned towards the exit.

“Not gonna lie, I’m real excited.” Sango felt electricity channel through her blood. “It’s like a whole new adventure, isn’t it?”

“Yup,” Koishi said, with a brilliant smile. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Hand in hand, the pair stepped out into the open world beyond.

-----

DOLPHIN RIDER KOISHI
END
Title: Dolphin Rider Koishi - A Post-Mortem
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on November 24, 2013, 11:52:35 AM
In the year 2010, the world seemed like a very different place. BP managed to screw up royally and wreck the Gulf of Mexico. WikiLeaks was the website on everyone's lips. And the world watched anxiously to determine the fate of a caved-in team of Chilean miners.

And it was also in 2010, on August 18th, that I began what quickly became a very personal endeavour.

Dolphin Rider Koishi started as a joke, based on the insane ramblings of Koishi from another story of mine. But it ended up expanding as I took it more seriously than it probably deserved, until I had an entirely multi-arc story sprawling around in my head. It was easily the largest and most ambitious story idea I'd ever had - my biggest story at the time was Rising Star (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,4895.0.html), which clocked in at about 63000 words. DRK, in its final incarnation, is at least five times as long as that. Hell, there are probably entire trilogies with fewer words than what I put together here.

So now, 1194 days later, I have to look back on the whole thing and ask 'was it worth it? was this story about magical girls and dolphins worth putting three years of my life into?' And as corny as it'll sound, I feel like the answer to that question is yes.

Let me preface this with one important point - I don't like my writing from three years ago. They say you are your own worst critic, and when it comes to the early days of DRK that definitely holds true for me. The whole thing was bogged down in melodrama and exposition, and worst of all Koishi herself was a character that got on my nerves the more I tried to write her. All this frustration ultimately came to a head halfway through arc 4, where I got completely stumped during the protest scene and ended up writing absolutely nothing for about six months.

That hiatus taught me something very important about writing in general - characters grow, sometimes without you being aware of it. Much of the reason I struggled with the protest scene was that I was still imagining Koishi to be the coward she was at the beginning of the story, hiding beneath her bedsheets and trying desperately to refuse the call. I never realised that she'd done her own bit of growing up in the time between, and she was actually much more equipped to handle the scenario than I thought she was.

That realisation was what convinced me the story had to be finished. Never mind how much I learned from writing it, how much prouder I am of my writing as a consequence. I felt like after going that far into the story, I owed it to everyone to finish - not just the readers who'd stuck with the story after so long, but the characters whose arcs never made it to an end. John Green put it best when he said your responsibility is not to the people you're making the gift for, but to the gift itself. (http://zenpencils.com/comic/119-john-green-make-gifts-for-people/)

There was also a feeling that I had to tell the story for its overall theme. There seems to be a big wave nowadays for shows where the bad guys win and everything goes wrong - shows like Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead, for example. I've never been able to get into shows like that - I feel like if I want to engage in some fictional escapism, I'd want to read something that wouldn't make me feel even more downbeat. That's why I wanted to write something that would buck the trend - there would be trouble, strife and sadness, but in the end the efforts of the heroes pay off and they manage to change the world for the better. Call it a metaphor for my world view, if you want.

Anyway, I'm glad to have finished DRK, and I feel like I've learned a lot from the experience, but one thing I really want to make clear is that this is 100% the end of the series. I get really mad when people say 'this is the end of the show/series/whatever' and then go back on it to make another one, so I decided I really don't want that to happen to DRK. So this is the end of DRK as a series unless I receive a healthy donation in the mail. Cash is preferred.

One more question I've received a lot from people is 'what are you going to do after DRK is finished?' At the time I wasn't very sure, but having thought about it there's only one way I can go from here - I'm currently trying my hand at writing my own original novel. I'm about 10k words into the first draft right now and doing my best to maintain momentum. It's got dolphins and magic in it, so you could argue that I'm writing what I know. :P

Right, I've let this drag on for long enough. I just want to finish by offering a few acknowledgements for people who helped me along the way to finish this:
-Iced: Obviously. You've been my proofreader for years and have generally helped to keep me in check when I freak out. I couldn't have done this without you.
-Esi: You were the guy who picked me up whenever I felt down. You were the one who had something good to say when I got disheartened, the one who convinced me I could make the story work. When things got rough I would just read over your comments to get myself back into the mood.
-Amra: Bro beyond bros. No particular reason, you're just awesome.
-Moerin: You're probably never going to read this, but you're the person who convinced me to write DRK in the first place. Thank you.
-Kracko: Holy crap that art you did for the Sirens was amazing. It was great seeing ideas I'd had locked up in my head for so long come to life on paper.
-Ruro: The other author writing a monumental epic revolving around the Komeijis. :P Seriously, though, your success was the challenge I was trying to match. Best of luck with White Rose when you get back to it. Hope I didn't mess up Sumire's character too badly!
-The TVTropers responsible for DRK's Trope pages. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanFic/DolphinRiderKoishi) When I found out this page existed I felt absolutely amazing, knowing what I'd produced was good enough for people to put work into building a page like that. Have fun trying to summarise the last arc, though! :V
-And just generally, everyone who's stuck with this story since day 1. I wouldn't have been able to finish without all the support I've had over the last three years.

Thanks, everyone. Hope you enjoyed. See you whenever.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: S1nZ_9001 on November 24, 2013, 12:40:16 PM
Awesome finale to an awesome story, Rou. Many thanks for writing this heartfelt tale~. I'm kinda of sad that it has to end... but everything must eventually.
Thanks once again, Rou. And I'll be sure to spread the awesome that is Dolphin Rider Koishi for time to come~.
I wish you the best of luck with your next project, and look forward to more awesome stories from you~.
*is actually a bit teary eyed right now*
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: Joveus Molai on November 24, 2013, 02:37:02 PM
It's over. 3 years running, and it's over.

It's like watching a beloved long-running TV show end; you feel sad that there won't be any more of it, but glad that everything wrapped up so neatly. All stories must end, after all.

I think Rou deserves a great big round of applause for not only embarking on, or continuing, but finishing this monster of a project.

Congratulations, Rou.  :)

*Standing Ovation*
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: Yaersulf on November 24, 2013, 02:49:51 PM
The end has come!

Wow. You're awesome Rou and what you've made is awesome. A satisfying conclusion to an amazing story, I'm proud to have watched it come together so well for the years I've been following this. You've managed to go from high point to high point, always kept me guessing, and defied so many of my expectations. It may have started as a joke but it's turned out as anything but. Also very impressive that you've managed to see such a mammoth undertaking through to it's end, I've seen smaller projects left on the wayside. Can't wait to see what delicious literary morsel you come up with next. :)

Congratulations good job happy end!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: Kasu on November 24, 2013, 05:50:29 PM
Great ending to a great story. Couldn't have asked for anything better!

Congratulations Rou! Can't wait to see some more stuff from you!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: BT on November 24, 2013, 07:46:47 PM
You kind of said it yourself, but one of the best results of doing something like this is the fact that you've done it. Congrats and thanks.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: Burcaresti on November 24, 2013, 08:13:02 PM
That was FANTASTIC.
Honestly, I don't even know what to say... everything tied up so well in the last chapter. I'll have to read this all the way through again to really get my head around the story.
As I've said before, you're a fantastic writer, Roukanken. Just follow your passion to the end~
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: Tamer Anode/Cathode on November 24, 2013, 08:52:02 PM
I feel... a bit emotional now that this story's over. A bit sad that it's over, for one, but at the same time, happy for you and the cast that things have ended as well as they have. Congratulations on completing this, Rou, and looking forward to your future work, whatever that may be.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: Esifex on November 24, 2013, 09:04:18 PM
Out.
Fucking.
Standing.

Roukan, you have no idea how happy I am for you that you managed to drag this story, kicking and screaming, to the conclusion you wanted it to end up at.

This, by the way, is how I'm planning on easing Jen into Touhou - you've managed to be mindful of canonical powers while still putting an incredible personal twist on everything.

You've done brilliantly. Treat yourself to a drink, on behalf of all your loyal fans, and especially me.

(PS You know Ruro did a lot of work on the character page for the Tropes page, right?)
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: KaiserKnuckle on November 24, 2013, 09:56:30 PM
Three years, eh?

I must say, this whole journey though the experiences of a place in the world called Gensouto was quite the treat for me this whole time.

You did manage to keep me on my toes for about two of them, since I found out about this (and the forum!!!) when (iirc) Mindcoil!Tewi happened. It was very hilarious, melancholic, satisfying and fleshed out the whole ride through.

Certainly, you are ascending the hierarchy of stories here.

We will root for you in the next story you will spin out for us, and who knows what after that.

Congratulations, Roukanken.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: KrackoCloud on November 24, 2013, 10:46:25 PM
It's over.

I don't even know how to respond to this being done. It was a great read, and one of the only reasons I ever visit PSL. I'm super glad I came across this story, and I'm happy I could at least support you with some art. Now that it's over, I only regret not putting more effort into some of those drawings. <:U

Anyway, congrats, Rou. You stuck to it until the end - it's not every writer who gets to claim that!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: OverlordChirei on November 25, 2013, 06:26:08 AM
Man, so many thoughts and feels going through my mind right now, so I'll try to unclutter them and say what I want to say.

Well... that's it. I didn't think I'd see the day where I'd scroll down to the end of this thread, and see the words "THE END" in bold, black letters, but here we are.

I'd been reading since Third Eye in Pure Waters, and I honestly didn't know what'd come of this AU fic, but I am glad to have stayed from Point A all the way up till Point B. This fic is what made me come out of lurking and tell you to keep going myself in IRC, even if a hundred more were telling you the same thing.

In the end, it seems it was worth it. The ending really wrapped everything up, and nothing was left undone, and was a fulfilling conclusion overall. Even though this is the absolute end, Koishi and Sango will always be out there, stomping out evil wherever it may arise, and the readers can rest knowing that they're out there keeping us safe.

As a writer myself, I have mad respect for the amount of determination you've showed to this story, and being able to survive all your problems on the side. Since I can't magically appear in front of you in person and give you a hug on this accomplishment, there's not much more praise I can give you at this point besides, "Congratulations, and well done."

May your future works be met with as much success, if not more. Even though I sort of came to the party late, I'll try to be there to help if you in future endeavors, if you require it.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: Hanzo K. on November 25, 2013, 07:30:01 PM
So, it's finally been completed...It was a good ride. Shame it's over, but as they say; "All good things must come to an end."
One does wonder what sort of shenanigans Koishi and Sango will get up to though.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: Joveus Molai on November 25, 2013, 10:46:34 PM
One does wonder what sort of shenanigans Koishi and Sango will get up to though.

Maybe Rou will write those Koishi x Sango yuri fics he's kept promising
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: Jomeiji on December 17, 2013, 11:58:06 PM
Started reading apparently about 2 weeks before the very end.

Hah, Jozu beat Sango in one regard :V

I was kind of hoping that the BC leader and ravager were Kanako and Hisu but ah well. Dat Komeiji and world portrayal.

These played during (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNzXLOIavIk) and after (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD3WAariEw0) the epilogue. The melancholy... it's too strong...

PS Sorry for necro but had to catch up qq
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: Mеа on January 10, 2014, 01:48:46 AM
Shameless necro-ing, but what a damned amazing job you've done here, it was such a great adventure from beginning to end. There were great moments all over, whether it was the humor, emotional scenes, battles, etc. There were some places that felt fanfic-y, and maybe that was the effect you were going for, but there was so much growth over the entirety of the story and characters that I can look back on the experience and know that it was an amazing ride.  Thank you, and I wish you great luck on your personal novel.

I'd hate to end on a technical aspect, but there was one discrepancy that I found near the very end:
Quote
Sango charged through the streets of Gensouto with blatant disregard for other pedestrians
Shouldn't this be Gensokyo instead?
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: KrackoCloud on January 10, 2014, 04:56:04 AM
Shouldn't this be Gensokyo instead?
It's always been Gensouto!
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: Mеа on January 10, 2014, 09:45:27 AM
It's always been Gensouto!
Until they changed it into the nation of Gensokyo
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on January 19, 2014, 09:52:25 AM
Just popping in to say thanks to everyone for all the support. I love you all. <3

Nia - thanks for the find. I've fiddled with the text accordingly.
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: Moerin on January 19, 2014, 05:08:21 PM
I have no idea why I popped in today after my self-imposed exile, but I'm glad that I did.  It's great to see that you actually stuck by this and got it finished, Rou.  I'm really proud of you.  8)

Now I just need to binge on it at some point, ahah. :yukkuri:
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: Gpop on January 20, 2014, 05:04:37 AM
Now I just need to binge on it at some point, ahah. :yukkuri:
Man it's been a while since I last saw you.

But I need to do this as well at some point when I'm not busy as fuck with school and life and all
Title: Re: Dolphin Rider Koishi - The End
Post by: qMyon on March 27, 2014, 08:51:18 AM
I just finished marathoning the whole thing, and it was amazing. Definitely one of the best fanworks I've had the chance to read. Seriously, I was so absorbed that I felt as though some part of me was oddly missing after I had finished.  :D