BrokenPromise

NHTD:ARPWAEHTD (Tower of Eternity)

The blood witch might not have been a legitimate queen, but she looked the part.

Hair as dark as crimson tumbled down her shoulders. Her skin was as pale as snow, and lips as red as wine. A crown adorned with a ruby sat on her head, but it was mostly shrouded by the gilded cloak she wore. The cloak might have been the only thing she wore. It was parted just enough to expose her cleavage, but a silver chainat her neck kept it from opening further. Farther down her stomach the cloak was held closed with a series of brooches, and her arms and legs were totally obscured. Her body was wreathed in flames, and she was mounted on top of an infernal creature that was larger than most castles. The blood beast was what her mount was called. It had the body of an ape, but in place of hands and feet it had massive hooves that could crush a battle tank, and in place of fur and flesh was bone and blood. The queen’s saddle was a silver throne, which was held securely between two massive antlers and propped up on a massive deer skull. The ground trembled with every step, and her army walked behind her. They were merely for show. Every battle they entered was swiftly ended with a snap of the queen’s fingers. Entire armies would have their blood ripped right out of them and added to the abomination she rode around on. Their bones would join the creature not much later.

No one stood a chance against her. There was no defence against her magic, nor could a group of any size get close to her. Any archer or magus would be reduced to a pile of skin before they could do anything. There is no beating her in direct combat.

There is, however, a way to weaken her.

On the other side of the world it is nightfall, and the largest siege in Gillia’s history has commenced. The target of this siege is the modest sized Silver Myth Keep. The battlements are filled with troops, and they are firing on the sieging party. The ring of machine gun fire cuts through the night. Flashes from the mussels light up the battlements, and archers rush in to make up for the lack of machine gun nests. The rebels couldn’t get close though. There was a twenty foot wide moat that dropped straight into shark infested waters. The drawbridge was up and there was no way anyone was getting through.

“Wie!” A short man with a funny hat called from the battlements. “Your mothers are pigs, and your fathers are farmers!”

Chase was responsible for night watch. It wasn’t often that the rebels would attack Silver Myth Keep, but he relished it every time it happened. Because he always won. No one had ever gotten inside, and at this hour it was impossible to hit anything on the battlements. Even if someone had night vision goggles, the muzzle flashes from the machine gun nests would keep anyone from singling him out. He felt very powerful at times like this. He liked to point at the invaders and pretend the machine gun fire and arrows that killed them were his own divine will. His laughter, while quite loud to him, was drowned out by all the screaming and gunfire.

The guards had never seen so many people. It’s already been a minute and they already had to have killed a hundred of them. But they kept coming. It wasn’t anything to worry about, they told themselves. Morale was high, as they were doing the queen’s bidding. Even if they were expending a lot of resources in their defence, Silver Myth Keep was restocked twice daily by sea, and they knew the rebels had no power out on open waters. This siege would be over in a few minutes, and any expended supplies would be replenished before the sun greeted them tomorrow.

Only they were wrong.

If they could see beyond the treeline some hundred feet away, they would know that this wasn’t even the tip of the assaulting force. The siege would not end until every last civilian had met their end. The attacking forces went as far back as two towns from their current position, each one more eager to fight than the last.

But while near limitless, the rebellion was not limitless. They couldn’t just keep feeding themselves into this meat grinder. Something had to be done to allow them to enter the keep.

NHTD:ARPWAEHTD (Tower of Eternity)

Tower of Eternity

^{Alternate Title: Nobody has to die: an RP where almost everyone has to die}

”She might be a witch, but she’s our queen.”

That was everyone’s sentiment when the blood witch first took power. Surely she can’t be as bad as the rumors say. Surely we will still live fulfilling lives. Surely we can still be happy. Surely we can still live with ourselves.

But dictators are seldom content with their station. More and more wealth was directed away from the common people and into her coffers for greater conquests. Her power grows, as do the number of oceans and continents under her control, but life for the masses never gets better. No one is happy. Life for the common man is a cycle of work, broken only long enough to eat and sleep, and occasionally produce more civilians for the blood witch’s expanding empire. The young are fortunate if they can afford food after they pay their taxes, and the old hope their weary bodies won't give out. All crime is punishable by death, so long as it interferes with the witch queen’s ultimate design.

As you sit there with barely enough food to survive the day, you wonder out loud: “Why do we work so hard to support someone who does so little for us?”

You are overheard.

They know exactly who you are talking about.

But rather than rushing off to get you executed, they join in your pondering, and aren’t able to come up with a good answer themselves.

The Basics

NHTD:ARPWAEHTD, or Tower of Eternity (ToE) is a roleplay based around an uprising against a tyrannical witch queen. Rather than playing a small group of plucky heroes that fight her directly, you will play as the Silver Myth Rebellion. They are a nation-sized faction of rebels made up of everymen and woman. They are not particularly skilled fighters, what few magus among them only know basic incantations, but they are numerous. They would rather face certain death than spend another day serving their greedy queen.

The queen may not oppose the rebels directly, but the forces she’s left behind have been the death of any foolish enough to oppose them. And they will kill many more over the course of the RP. That said, they aren’t used to fighting such overwhelming odds. Can a nigh unlimited number of civilians overwhelm a castle keep’s fortifications? This RP attempts to answer that question.

The Plan

The blood witch queen is much too strong to be faced directly in battle. Armies stronger and bigger than yours have fallen before her spells, often while staring at her apathetic face. Instead you are attacking the source of her power, which is locked deep inside Silver Myth Keep.

The queen’s terrifying powers come from a sleeping goddess she captured. Or rather, the goddess has been locked in an eternal slumber by a curse, and the witch derives her power from the despair created by her nightmares. Said nightmares are visions of the word, which creates a feedback loop. The worse the witch makes things, the more upset the goddess gets, and the stronger her powers become.

The goal is to break into the keep and locate the goddess. An altruistic soul might try to wake her up so that the nightmare can end, but a curse this strong won’t be easy to lift. The pragmatic option would be to kill her, which would be unfortunate, but might be the only way to end the nightmares. Goddesses are surprisingly vulnerable when they are asleep, which is why this one is so well protected. Either way, her fate will be in the hands of those that find her.

The Gimmick

You may have noticed this is a jump-in RP. That’s not because this is a pseudo-free RP.

Your characters are very likely going to die on their first post.

You can make more of course, and they too are probably going to die on their first post. As is the next character you make, and the one after that, and the one after that….

Your characters are civilians. Maybe they have access to a weapon or a basic spell, but you aren’t nuthin’ compared to the royal guards who are tasked with protecting the source of their evil queen's powers. They have eaten the best food, received the best training, have been amplified with all kinds of magic, and you’re just a malnourished peasant with a death wish. They are not invincible, they can be defeated, but not with the ease that your character can be. They are dug into a fortified position and will fight tooth and nail to keep you out. They are intelligent and devious, strong and swift. But with each sacrifice, the rebellion will learn something about their enemy. And gradually, they will make their way inside the keep and towards their goal.

However, that is only the most likely scenario. very likely does not mean they will die for sure. To make things interesting, I will be rolling a dice on RPG to see if your characters survive the post rotation. They have a five out of six chance to die, which is to say they will survive if I roll a six and not a point lower. It is possible to increase (and decrease!) your character’s odds of survival through actions taken by you and other players. I will present hints as to how to do that as the RP moves on, but barring special circumstances, no character will ever have more than a fifty percent chance to survive a post rotation. Your character will likely not survive the RP, so it’s best to play with the mindset that surviving an extra round should be treated as a pleasant surprise rather than an outcome to fish for. It’s just some uncertainty to make things interesting.

The Setting

Diesel Punk meets Medieval Fantasy. Most nations have World War II level tech, but it’s expensive. City folk get around using automobiles for short distance transport and trains for long distance transport. Country folk use horses and make due with very little technology. Country folk live like medieval serfs and do lots of physical labor. City folk don’t have it much better, as they work for corporations that are run directly by the witch queen. They often have to make choices between starving or freezing come wintertime. The only upside to this is that everyone has access to really good vanity products. Everyone looks as hot, cool, or cute as they want. This is largely due to glamor magic that can make those touched by it look like whatever they want.

The nation where our story starts and ends is called Gilla. It is known for its mountain ranges, exotic monsters, and for being the birthplace of the blood witch who became an illegitimate queen. Other than it’s world renown cosmetic effects/magic, it’s also a goldmine of, well, minerals. Almost everyone has a job that pertains to mining and manufacturing, before the rebellion of course.

Tech level is WWII but the rebellion doesn’t have access to military grade equipment. Pistols and bolt-action rifles are fair game, but no automatic weapons. The serfs have made lots of weapons for the queen, and most common medieval era weaponry is available to the rebellion. Improvised weapons like molotov cocktails are also allowed. Cars, trucks, and horses are allowed, but they won’t fit in all areas of the keep.

The world has a lot of magic in it, but the really cool stuff is off limits to the rebellion. Nothing more potent than a standard D&D 5E cantrip, as listed here. Magic takes a lot of time to practice and get right, and very few have mastered anything stronger than a cantrip. If someone wishes to play a mage, they may cast a level one spell instead, with the tradeoff being that they have no weapons or at least nothing impressive.

Fantasy races do not exist in the traditional sense. With magical glamors, your characters can look like any humanoid fantasy race you can think of. But it’s purely cosmetic and doesn’t give them access to any special powers. A human, elf, oni, and lizard man are all going to function the same.

The Rules

Metagaming, godmodding, and the like are prohibited. The GM determines your success and the Dice determine your survival.

Keep OOC drama as low as possible. If you have an issue, try to settle it in PMs. Should you need me, I frequently log into discord and check my PMs daily. You’ll have a response within twenty-four hours most of the time.

If it's been a week since your last IC post without any word from you, I may take control of your character. They may not be there for you to take back if/when you return. But that’s kind of a given in this RP huh?

You get two named characters at a time. You can make more once they die, which shouldn’t take long.

ToE deals with dark themes, but does so tastefully and with a tongue firmly tucked in cheek. Posts are expected to follow Guild guidelines and not get overly edgy.

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

“Me be a worstest from their everything.”

— Rei Ishiko

Rei was not the sort of boss that did more than give a few vague instructions. There would be a hunt tonight, but when and where were left open. They only knew it would be a time and place of Rei’s choosing.

Though a certain many-eyed magical girl would pick up on her appearance quickly. A floating eye tracked the one-eyed girl as she nonchalantly strode through town. It was late. The lights in the homes were out, but the street lights continued to shine. Rumor had it that the lights warded away evil spirits. But all magical girls knew miseria were attracted to the light. They wanted to snuff it out with their own slimy fingers, regardless if it lingered in a light bulb or a soul.

Just like old times, Rei used some parkour to scale up a lamp post and stand on top of it. After last time, it had to be bravery or stupidity that compelled her to do so. She had nearly been shot by a light girl, but that hadn’t bothered her it seemed. It wouldn’t be long before everyone assembled.

While the rest of the Detention club poured out of the woodwork, the ground moved. Some of the magical girls may have felt like they were standing on a boat, or were slightly drunk. But the shaking became more violent over time. Objects fell off shelves, the elderly couldn’t stand, and anyone who was asleep was awakened with a start. Who knew how much fine china this quake would claim?

The buildings would be safe, as would most of the magical girls. Rei was able to keep her balance, but was swaying side to side like she was walking down a catwalk. The lamp, and many lights elsewhere in Hibusa town, went out. Rei smirked when she looked at the dark abyss below her. Even as the quake subsided, it didn’t come back on. Seemed people were going to be without power for the time being. The earthquake had to have hit much harder outside of town.

“What are you all waiting for? Go on and feast.”

Earthquakes weren’t uncommon in Japan, but Hibusa town hadn’t felt one for a few years. This was sure to have an effect on the miseria.

It was also sure to be interesting.

"I live to feel pain! Unless it’s related to my hair!”

— Suki Oyama

What an enjoyable day of school. Ever since her lunch break, Suki felt like she was walking on clouds. It was rare for her to feel as good in her own skin as she did when she was Oros the Joyful, but here we were. Even now in her bloody bridal gown, it felt like she was riding on the high she elt earlier today. It reminded her of the first time she met Kate, or Nyxia, or Homura, or Roche, or Kiyo, or Lada, or…

But did it really last this long with any of them? Haruna felt special, and not in the way Suki usually thought about special people. All of those other girls weren’t open minded enough to accept someone like herself. But Haruna was. It was naive as her partner pointed out, but wasn’t a willingness to make oneself vulnerable the essence of love? She was perfect. Suki knew that she could make an amazing girlfriend, and she wouldn’t even need to be Oros the Joyful to do it! Finally! A relationship!

But this wasn’t Suki’s first rodeo. She understood the situation was more complicated than it first looked. If Haruna was going to join the club, then it was only a matter of time before Roach greedily swept her up into her harem. That didn’t give Suki a lot of time to work with. There was another complication with Tsubomi’s involvement. It would be easy to just start dating Haruna and guide her away from the club, but that ran counter to Tsubomi’s desires. It was rare for her only true friend to want anything, so directly interfering with something like that was off the table. Why did Tsubomi want that anyway? Would it be weird to ask? Did she want a super cutie for a girlfriend? Even though thinking about Haruna set every part of Suki on fire, maybe such feelings could transcend Tsubomi’s numbed mind and make her feel something. That was a horrible thing to get in the way of. But did that mean that she could end up losing Tsubomi and Haruna both if things continued?

Huh.

Suki didn’t feel like she was walking on clouds any more.

But that was largely because the earthquake had caused Oros to stumble forward. As the rumbling subsided, Oros extended her hands and cartwheeled onto her feet before looking back at the others. Without the street lights, there was just the pale light of the moon to illuminate the way. It would be romantic if she didn’t feel so isolated. Then Rei called everyone to action.

"You got it, Boss Baby!”

Oros’s thoughts about Rei were sometimes conflicted, but it felt good to have her back. Rei was no super cutie, but she somehow managed to be really cool yet approachable. No one had worked harder to make her feel like she was part of the club, and boy did it feel good to see her at night again.

With a hop, Suki jumped onto her blood skates and zipped over to Acid Drop’s side. She scooped her partner up and placed her feet on top of hers. This time, she wasn’t going to be separated.

"We gotta do something impressive for Boss Baby! It’s gotta be interesting or something.” The miseria were starting to bubble out of the ground. Just regular old, shapeless miseria. Even with the heightened dread of an intensity V earthquake, it didn’t seem like this was enough to cause a metamorphosis in the miseria. "Oh I got an idea, I’ll give you a toss, and you can do a thing!” After this instruction, Suki whinged Acid Drop into the air. Suki twirled a bit, dicing up a few miseria and scattering their remains on some nearby buildings. She put on a giant, open mouthed smile as she turned to catch her partner.

Battle Toyale — Christmas Rumble!

I've been wrong before.

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

It was difficult to see what was going on inside the dining room, but Nyxia’s superb hearing could pick up on a few things. She could hear her mother conversing with a servant, followed by some prepared laughter and her stabbing some salad onto her fork. It was not long before she could pick up on her father’s footsteps, and the much heavier footsteps of the stranger.

”Hisui! Our guest would like some curry bread. Heat it up for him please, as well as the saki.” He chuckled, obviously amused at the basic palette of the stranger. ”I appreciate you being so discreet about this matter. I don’t want anyone to know we’ve been robbed.”

”I can see that.”

”Even with those shades on?” The stranger did not dignify Mister Tsukishima’s bad joke with a laugh. And if her father’s groan was anything to go by, he didn’t dignify it with any sort of reaction. ”Let’s sit here.” They were close to the windows, far away from Misus Tsukishima’s chattering or anyone else in the room. ”So you finally found something out?”

”Finally?” The irritation was evident in the stranger’s voice. ”Mister Tsukishima, you must understand that I am not one of your servants. I’m a freelancer, and when you initially requested my help I was working for other people. You are very out of the way for me, and I thought we understood it would be some time before I could arrive.”

”I also paid you a lot of money.”

”All of my clients pay me a lot of money. And I think you’re about to get your money’s worth.”

Nyxia could feel the smile spreading across Mister Tsukishima’s lips. ”Yes. You implied that the serial numbers for the yen banknotes were useful.”

”It was.” The stranger’s seat creaked when he leaned back in it. ”The stolen money was gradually deposited in a bank account belonging to ‘Strong Arms,’ which is a construction supply company. At first I thought this was an attempt to ‘wash’ the yen, but the quantities were too small and inconsistent. Building materials are very expensive in Japan, and it would not be hard to wash significantly more money using Strong Arms. I considered the possibility that funds were simply used to buy building supplies.”

”Well that’s not very helpful.” Tsukishima groaned. ”There must be lots of construction going on. Strong Arms is in the city, isn’t it?”

”True, but that’s not where the money was stolen from. While there is lots of construction in the city, Hibusa town only has its flower shop. Apparently the flower shop burned down months ago when the funds were initially stolen. Shortly afterwards, they began a gradual reconstruction effort.”

”The Takahashi…” He practically growled the name. ”The gods dealt them a bad hand, as they did with my family. They don’t have a ton of money, but their daughter, Misoka, is a real gem. If my daughter was even a quarter as focused as she was…”

”It explained everything, from the timing of the robbery to when funds started to get transferred to Strong Arms. While preserving your confidentiality, I informed the owners that I was investigating a robbery and that I thought they were going to show up here. They agreed to let me check the bank notes once a customer had paid. I didn’t even have to wait a day before Mister Takahashi showed up. He paid for the goods and left, I requested to look at the yen notes, and the serial numbers matched.”

”Ho ho! And then you came here?”

”Not quite. You were adamant that you wanted your money back as soon as possible, so I stopped by their home in Hibusa town. I told them that I believed that they had money that didn’t belong to them. They were disappointed, but very forthcoming about it. I didn’t even have to prove to them that I had the serial numbers on the notes they were spending. They claimed that they found the money and had no idea where it came from and offered to give it to me. I’m a little surprised how easily they offered it up. But I figured it would be better if you or someone you deeply trust recovered the funds. We hadn’t discussed it, and I didn’t feel it was my place to recover them without consulting you.”

”Well that’s very good news. I’ll get in contact with them shortly. It’s unfortunate that I’m going to have to also tell them I’m pressing charges against them.”

”It’s too early to do that. We have no proof that they stole anything. They were up front about finding the stolen money and couldn’t have committed the crime themselves. Misoka was preparing for a charity bake off with several friends the night of the crime. Mister Takahashi would have been at work and with the family car, and Missus Takahashi would have still been recovering. Even if she had a bike, this is a very long distance to travel with a lame leg. Then there’s getting past your security… More than likely this was an inside job.”

”Couldn’t they have hired someone, or forbid, bribed one of my servants?”

”It could also be someone working out of spite, or a genuine interest in the Takahashi’s well being. They are something of local celebrities, as you’ve already alluded to with Misoka.”

”Either way, I’m pleased we’ll have our money back. How much will it cost to find out who caused the crime?”

”Let’s discuss that later. I don’t talk price on an empty stomach.”

Nyxia’s focus broke when she heard something knock against the side of the column she was hiding behind.

A familiar face…

“Come here often?”

— Rei Ishiko

Rei allowed Nyxia to acknowledge her presence before speaking. “It’s a good day to be outside, Nyxia. But I think I saw your dinner maid heading towards your room.” She pushed herself away from the wall. “See you tonight.”

BBC code questions

I probably could have just sent a PM to @LegendBegins but I thought it might be good to get it answered out in the open.

Legend my guy, I was giving unsolicited advice to @Exit for a problem I didn't fully understand. He wanted to put a table inside another table and not have it be all bolded, but then this happened. I told him to get a hold of you, but he's made it apparent he's too shy to talk to someone about his nerdy hobby on a forum based around talking to people about nerdy hobbies. But this brought two questions to my mind.

- Is it possible to change the functionality of tables on your end? It feels like tables would be a lot more useful if they just let us decide when a block was bolded or not with bbc code. Additionally...

- You were collecting code for something a while back. Did anything come of it? I do not remember seeing an announcement or anything.

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

"No super sexy combo banner, no thoughts, no vibes.“

— Suki Oyama

"Eh?“ Suki looked back across the room table at Tsubomi. "Jealous? I don’t think so.“ Suki didn’t remove the box from her head. From the side, she kind of looked like she was wearing a habit. Though if Kiyo was paying attention, she'd notice Suki's arm twitch as she typed something on her phone. It didn't matter if Kiyo noticed or not, or even if she was interested. Because she would get a message on her phone not much later. Unlike most of Suki's hastily written messages, it was very clear and lacked the usual barrage of emojis.

She's with a nine-out-of-ten babe and can't even manage a smile. She told me she thinks she likes being this way, or at least that she believes that she’s better off. I don’t think she really knows what she’s missing. I kinda want to make her feel something, but I don’t know how to go about doing it. But because she told me she wants to be this way it almost feels like I’m going against her wishes to even attempt it.



That bowl kind of looks like your hair. You should keep it.

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

”Now that I’ve hijacked the GM post, I can have cool text under my banner.”

"Don’t you mean our banner?"

”Don’t you mean memetastic text?”

— The Triplets

”Am I seeing the whole picture?”

This was Ember’s sole focus for the day. She had been thinking on what happened a while ago with Tsubomi, on how it shifted their dynamic and why. If she were honest with herself, there were very few days she did not ask this question of herself. It seemed significant, somehow, that they now possessed bodies in Shuuko’s mental scape; perhaps they were becoming different people? No, they still shared their links.

It puzzled the schemer, for while the red-haired woman had many areas of expertise, magic and its strange, seemingly non-sensical interaction was not one of them. But who could she ask about it, when her best avenue of investigation might be the biggest threat to the Detention Club as a whole, not to mention completely untrustworthy? No, she would have to try getting to the bottom of it on her own. First, however, she needed to figure out what to do about the recent incident with Sylvia so she coul-

Shuuko’s body reeled from the impact. Ember could barely keep her reaction in check as the protector almost seized control by instinct, followed by a foul feeling bubbling up from the bottom of her consciousness. She should have paid more attention to her surroundings. Bumping into another classmate just because Shuuko had some troubles that were visible even to those without a keen eye did not suit a member of the detention club. Fortunately, Ember knew what to reply.

Frowning her brows, she had Shuuko’s eyes examine Misoka from top to bottom before she opened her mouth.

”Thank you very much for asking, however, there is nothing that troubles me.” She bowed her head at precisely polite incline,then she looked up and frowned her brows. ”What about yourself, though? Forgive me if I overstep, but you look like you have been dragged through mud.” Worry coloured her voice, the implied question clear in the undertones of her question: Did someone do this to you?

”Wha-” Misoka looked at herself over. ”Dragged through the mud? That’s hyperbole I take it?” It had to be. Her uniform was dry, if just a bit dirty. Though this was uncommon for a girl with Misoka’s qualities to look like a tomboy. She pinched the bridge of her nose. ”I see how it is. Very well.” Misoka turned around to depart when Roche greeted both of them. ”O-oh!” She fixed a smile on her face before answering the track captain. ”We’ve just met, actually.” She glanced over her shoulder at Shuuko before looking back ahead. ”And you’re the second person to comment on my appearance since my run-in here. I must really look horrible… If you think stretching can help me, I’m all for learning more about it. We can eat too, right? Or are you sustained by your training?”

---

"Maybe I’ll save the chadette thing for later…”

— Suki Oyama

Suki continued to watch the transfer student and Tsubomi interact. She had her head propped up on her fist and her eyebrows were high on her head. Not a lot had happened yet, but it felt like something was going to happen. A normal girl would have gotten bored or irritated with Tsubomi’s Tsubominess by now. Yet she seemed determined to help the strange student no matter what. It would be fruitless, of course. No normal girl could help Tsubomi with her problems, but seeing her work so hard with Tsubomi did give Suki some hope that maybe, when they finally met, she’d be just as patient.

The delinquent was a little too absorbed in the display and hadn’t noticed Kiyo’s arrival. She continued to stare off until Kiyo dropped her fist into the table. She did not hit the table hard, but that hardly mattered. From Suki’s perspective, someone teleported into the seat across from her, and was now filling her vision.

With a yelp, she swatted her lunch box towards Kiyo. But halfway through the action she realized who was seated with her, and promptly attempted to smack it off course. She clipped the bottom of it, and the lunch box spun in the air.Suki continued to frantically bat the thing, juggling it to and fro without letting it hit Kiyo. Eventually, she was able to catch her lunch box and set it down in front of herself. She closed her eyes. A sigh escaped Suki’s lips. Though when her eyes opened up again, she looked inside her empty lunch box and realized that something was amiss. She had brought Endless Eclipse in a black and red plastic bowl, which was no longer inside the box. When she looked up, Suki saw that the empty bowl had landed on Kiyo’s head.

She stared at Kiyo for a moment.

Then, Suki took her lunchbox and placed it over her own head. One corner of the box rested on her forehead while her pigtails came out at either side.

"Now nobody can read our thoughts.”

This was untrue though. The metal lunchbox on Suki’s head was far better at repelling mind reading than Kiyo’s plastic bowl.

---

”...Hello?”

The man called out, but Norika didn’t answer. She had the advantage of being up a floor and not in a place anyone could reach without a ladder or some extreme parkour skills. He wouldn’t be able to tell if she was even there as long as she stayed silent. She could hear him sigh, but he hadn’t left. If he had, she would have heard that truck of his start up again. Instead, he rang the doorbell. Again.

Before long, a servant came to the door. Norika couldn’t place the name, but it was one of the voices that belittled her every time she heard it. ”Who are you?”

”I was told by mister Tsukishima to get in touch with him directly.”

”Who are you?” The servant repeated.

”Mister Tsukishima told me not to say. I’m to get in touch with him directly.”

”When I go fetch Mister Tsukishima for you, and he asks me who’s bothering him, what should I tell him?”

The man hummed in thought. ”Tell Mister Tsukishima that a man wishes to see him, and that he says the numbers were very helpful.” The servant excused themselves with a grunt, and the front door swung shut. ”Fuck your mother.” He said it loud enough to be heard through the door. Things were quiet for a time, but the truck didn’t start back up.

The door opened again, this time the voice was far more familiar. It was Norika’s father. ”Apologies for that. Good help is hard to come by.” He laughed. Norika knew it was fake. ”I trust you bring good tidings?”

”I know who has your money.”

”...Ah, that is most fortunate.” He laughed. Norika knew it was genuine. ”The front step is no place to talk about such things. My wife and I are enjoying a meal, perhaps you’d like to join us?”

”Sure, but one thing. There was a girl by the-”

”Oh! Put her out of your mind…” He clicked his tongue. ”She knows the sun is bad for her, but she’ll stare at strangers instead of tending to her homework.”

”Whatever you say. What’s for lunch?”

”What would you like?”

They continued to talk as they passed the threshold of the door, but it was getting harder to hear them from her room.

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

"Survey says...”

— Suki Oyama

Suki might have made a mistake.

While she had been the first person to get to the cafeteria, that didn’t mean she was going to be able to check everyone else who came in. There were a few more early birds, and then a flood of students entered. It was like watching a zombie hoard, only they all packed their own lunch and just wanted a place to sit down. Suki pivoted her head side to side to try and look around everyone, but there was a limit to what she could see from the “VIP” table. She scanned all the faces she could see, but none of them stood out as someone new. This was made all the more disappointing because Tsubomi was not the sort of girl who ever arrived first. Five minutes into her wait and Suki had finished eating the gelatinous blob of despair she made for herself. She spent the next few minutes licking her fingers, just to give herself something to do. Roche wasn’t here yet, so that was a silver lining.

Eventually Tsubomi appeared. Suki dried her fingers on her uniform and folded her hands in her lap. She went over the topics of discussion she wanted to have in her head. A lot of questions that she had never asked Tsubomi that needed to be answered now. Even if her partner had no emotions, she couldn’t help but wonder if there could be negative consequences to broaching certain topics with her. With foresight, she could see that after the thing with Kate she had stopped visiting the Detention club meetings for a time.

But none of it would matter, because Suki wasn’t going to have that one on one with Tsubomi.

Was that a transfer student? They looked new. Even if Suki knew a few names she could have, she hadn’t seen pictures of any of them. In fact, Suki found herself analyzing the girl’s shape and missed the first few words she said. She had a similar body shape to Suki it seemed. It was hard to tell, but that ill-fitting school uniform was definitely resting on a thinner than normal frame. Like rickety scaffolding wrapped in a tarp. Normally that would be a negative, as nothing that looked like Suki could ever approach cute. But her face made up for that and then some. Her hair was long and unkempt, she looked like she didn’t get enough sleep, and she had the most pinchable cheeks. Then Suki took in her mannerisms and how she held her body. Her cautious movements around Tsubomi, the less-than-confident tone she took with her, the position of her headphones, the prey coded behavior.

Suki’s body twitched, like a robot trying to process too much information. She carried the one from the lowest decimal place, added the girl’s merits, contrasted the shade of her hair and flesh against others she had seen. The proverbial gears were turning cherry red, the circuit board was arcing, but a verdict had been returned.

This was a super cutie.

It had been some time since Suki had beheld one, sans Kate. Tsubomi looked the part, but she didn’t really act the part. She was oblivious to how cute she was because she couldn’t feel romantic attraction. But maybe this girl would be different.

Though as Suki’s focus opened up, she realized that the girl seemed to be interested in helping Tsubomi. This caused Suki to sit up a bit straighter and reconsider her options. Yes, there was nothing to be gained by rushing over there now. Tsubomi and this new girl would be available later, but it was rare for anyone to willingly talk to her partner. It was rarer still for them to offer help. This was not something she could just interrupt.

Afterwards was another story…

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

Mr Banana was an obedient little monkey. He just sat there, unmoving as Haruna chided him. With unflinching eyes, he watched as his new companion flopped into her bed with dramatic flair. But nothing Haruna did would get the monkey to move. Not her squeezing another stuffed animal right in front of him, not her movements to and fro, not even eating a nightly snack in his presence caused him to move at all. It wasn’t until she dove off the balcony and the doors swung shut that the little stuffed monkey did anything. The doors caused a small vibration, and it caused the precariously perched monkey to roll off the side of the bag and land on his back. Mr Banana was looking straight at the ceiling. He would not move again without Haruna’s assistance.

…

…

…

"I’m too much of a chadette for my own good.”

— Suki Oyama

Why were so many teen romance novels based around school life?

As the years ticked by, school was starting to feel less and less important. Nothing interesting ever happened, her teachers wanted her to drop out already, even the detention club meetings were starting to feel increasingly tedious and pointless. At least she could look forward to going on a hunt with Rei later, even if some of the others were going to be there.

Speaking of, what the hell was up with the meeting yesterday? Seeing everyone show compassion for someone who absolutely didn’t deserve it was going to confound Suki for a while. After a good night’s rest, she decided that Tsubomi deserved a pass. She had learned that Tsubomi could be a little weird sometimes and couldn’t fault her for wanting to eat some emotions. The emotionless girl was still her partner and treated her the best out of everyone else present. Speaking of which, she needed to meet with her later today for various reasons.

Additionally, she needed to take a look at all the new transfer students today. She had no idea what any of them were like, but when you had already burnt bridges with nearly everyone outside of the detention club, you needed to keep your options open for new prospects. Even if school life sucked, there was always a chance it would turn around. Probably. Maybe. Not likely.

This created a bit of a dilemma. It was lunch time, and of course Suki was first to the food court. She could stay here and see if some new face showed up, or she could try to visit their classroom. It wasn’t unheard of for students to eat their lunches in their classrooms. The roof was also a possibility, but not for normal girls. Going to the roof level was forbidden in most schools, and it was crazy how many school dramas featured scenes in such a location. Of course that hadn’t stopped Suki from eating up there in the past, but she always had to do so alone. Tangent aside, it would be her luck to visit the classroom of said girls and miss them because they decided to go to the cafeteria to eat with their new friends. and she could miss Tsubomi. Not a great plan.

With a groan, Suki sunk into a chair and started to unbox her lunch. At the very least, she could be sure that Roche and Shuuko would be eating with each other and wouldn’t harass her too much. But ideally, Roche would eat out by the track or something without gracing the cafeteria.

---

It was lunchtime, and Shuuko had just left her classroom.

Her selves had not been feeling at peace since that happened, but she had to do her best to seem normal in front of the rest of the students. Her personal imbalance would rob her of her focus at the strangest times, such as now when her selves could scarcely decide what to do next. It was in this confusion that Shuuko ran into someone. It was nothing serious. A student had suddenly stopped and Shuuko hadn’t put on the breaks fast enough. Both of them had managed to keep their balance, but it felt horrible that it happened at all. Because it shouldn’t have happened.

”Um…” Shuuko took a look at the student she had collided with. It was Misoka. It was easy to recognize the popular girl. They had never spoken, but it was hard not to remember someone with so many accolades. ”I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cut you off! I’m glad you’re alright.” She looked to the ground, but nothing had been dropped. Though there was something off in her appearance. Someone who was revered for their abilities and beauty usually had a glamor about them, but this girl looked tarnished. Her uniform was less than tidy, and there was dirt under her long, slender nails. ”Ah, I don’t mean to pry, but Takeko mentioned that you looked a little agitated recently. I think she’s worried about you.” Takeko was someone from Shuuko’s homeroom classes. They spoke infrequently, and were an acquaintance at best. She couldn’t even remember what she looked like. ”Is something bothering you?”

---

As much as Nyxia would love to be shooting up miseria,there was nothing to shoot. Not only that, but Norika couldn’t leave her home at this hour. There were too many servants that could enter her room, and her parents would notice she wasn’t there.

If only the view from her window could have been better. It faced the road and was lined with the cars of every servant who worked at the household. But the cars weren’t even that interesting. They were all new cars with the exact same model with the exact same white paint job. Her parents were obsessed with the color white, so they were likely gifts or Christmas bonuses for their hard work. But it looked so ugly and redundant from her room, and they were always there, every day, without fail.

Which was what made the black truck coming down the driveway so unusual. It was old, worn out, and had a diesel engine that rumbled unapologetically. It was a gigantic middle finger to prissy electric cars that were parked nearby. Norika’s home was too far out of the way to reach on foot, but most guests would arrive in a white car or by bicycle. It was rare for someone to bring their own vehicle.

Who stepped out of the truck was just as unexpected as the truck itself. The man’s outfit was probably more expensive than his truck, which was not saying much. His suit had just come out of a heat press this morning, and his shoes had been freshly waxed. His tie wasn’t tucked under his dress shirt, and his shades were trying to keep his hair out of his eyes. His right thumb was looped inside his pocket, and his left hand swung at his side as her approached the door.

After ringing the doorbell, he took a step back and waited. He reached inside his suit to grab a pack of cigarettes and popped one out with his thumb. He was about to chomp down on it when he noticed Norika through the window. He slid the cigarette back into the carton and looked back at her. It was difficult to read anyone’s thoughts, but harder still when they wore shades.