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There's... really not a lot happening on the second floor yet. All we can really DO is talk to Kohran and/or Ayame, so let's kick this off with the former.

Oh, sure, we're supposed to be assembling in the salon pretty soon, but damned if Ogami's going to miss his usual quality time with everyone. The very world revolves around him, don'cha know.



...

You sure are, champ. You sure are.



Knock knock.

[Kohran]

Who is it? ... I got... my hands full right now, so... you jes'... wait a bit, 'kay? ...


For once, someone ISN'T welcoming Ogami into their room with open arms and a blunt hammering object.



And since this is KOHRAN who's telling him to wait...



... I have a hunch that we'd damn well better listen to her just this once.

[Kohran]

... whew. Right, the wirin' for this part is jes' about done. A'right! Y'all can come on in now.


[Ogami]

Okay, I'm coming in.



----


[Kohran]

Shh! ... right now, I'm in th' middle of buildin' a new type o' robot...
I'm connectin' a cruical part of th' wirin' right now... I ain't able t' concentrate, so don't talk t' me f'r a bit...


----
[Ogami]

If you were busy building something that's capable of blowing the theater to hell and back yet again, then, uh, why did you let me in in the first place?


[Kohran]

You're a pretty useful guy t' have around, Ogami-han.


[Ogami]

Really?


[Kohran]

'Course! You're always willin' to lend me a hand and a few organs, an' if my Mr. Air-Conditioner goes on th' fritz again, you're big enough fer me t' gut you like a fish an' burrow into your carcass so that I can keep warm.


[Ogami]

...


[Ogami]

I kind of liked it better when you were just shoving things up my colon.


[Kohran]

Well, ya gotta move with th' times, Ogami-han, ya never know what might be chasin' ya!


[Ogami]

Oh, no, the scary part is that I know who's usually chasing me.

----



That said...



[Ogami]

........


I think we can sacrifice a few moments of dialogue for the well-being of everyone in a twenty-mile radius of the theater.

[Kohran]

... thanks a lot, Ogami-han.
If I start talkin' while I'm doin' these kindsa minute operations, my attention'll slip jes' like that.
So you're really helpin' me out by-- er--


[Kohran]

... ah.


Fuck.



[Kohran]

I-it's done for...




KABOOM!



The smoke clears! And... Kohran is all soot-covered and completely unharmed, save for a few tantalizingly burned-off scraps of her clothes.

Such are the laws of anime, naturally. Fuck third degree burns and reality; giving the viewers a little fanservice always takes precedence.



[Ogami]

Are... are you alright, Kohran?


----
[Kohran]

Yeah, but... how th' hell did y'all not die?


[Ogami]

My time at the theater has honed my danger sense to a fine razor edge, giving me the reaction speed of an ebony stiletto slamming against a darkened floor in a pitch-black room of darkness.


[Kohran]

In other words, y'all only get hurt when it's funny due to comedic timing an' all.


[Ogami]

Well, okay, yeah, but my explanation's way cooler.

----



[Kohran]

Th' glass bead/bamboo screen arm equipment... the festival-dancin' body, with th' morality function built in...




[Ogami]

Wh-what? You mean, that "Mr. Party" is...


----
[Ogami]

... the biggest load of hard-to-translate semitechnobabble ever known to mankind?


[Kohran]

Hey now, I'm tryin' to fit as much exposition as I can in a few sentences. Let's see YOU try t' do better.


[Ogami]

"My robot fall down and it go boom?"


[Kohran]

... where's th' angst in THAT?


[Ogami]

C'mooooon, we already did like a trillion emo chapters in a row, can't we just have our happy wai wai fun time?

----

[Kohran]

Th' summer performances ended today, right? An' we'd promised that we'd hold a party afterwards ...
Over th' past month, I'd been skimpin' on sleep t' build this party robot, jes' for this occasion...
That... that was "Mr. Party"...
... aah! An' it woulda been complete after jes' a bit more work. I'm an idiot! A great big idiot!


[Ogami]

Kohran... sure, Mr. Party is broken, but what's important is that you weren't harmed at all...
If you'd gotten injured, we definitely wouldn't be holding that party. I'm really relieved.





----
[Ogami]

Oh, don't misunderstand, I'm just relieved that we'll get to hold the party.


[Kohran]

What 'bout me gettin' injured?


[Ogami]

Good god, you're seriously trying to tell me that you girls can get INJURED?


[Kohran]

But--


[Ogami]

Maria got beaten up and semi-crucified by Setsuna, and she was able to hop into her Koubu and fight like no one's business...


[Kohran]

Okay, b--


[Ogami]

Kanna destroyed a mob of Wakiji with her bare hands, and SHE was able to hop right into a Koubu...


[Kohran]

Um--


[Ogami]

YOU went for an entire night without sleep, food, water, or a toilet, and you--


[Kohran]

A'right, I get the point already! Why--


[Ogami]

I... I really have to stop reminding myself how frighteningly superhuman you girls are, it's not good for my mental health.

----

[Kohran]

Er, y'know, I... I'm goin' to where everyone else is. They're gonna be gatherin' in th' salon.


Man, way to hit on Kohran right during those split-seconds when she's emotionally vulnerable.



[Ogami]

It's not like that at all. But... I kinda wanted to see Mr. Party's performance...




You hear that? That's the sound of something breaking in Kohran's brain.

Following that sound is the a tense, timeless moment before she'll either laugh it off or shatter like a mirror of madness...



Kohran goes for the former, thankfully.





Personally, I'd be more worried by "special performance," but who am I to plumb the scarred depths of Ogami's reasoning capabilities?



Sure, she's an old hag by this era's standards (i.e. she's over twenty), but there's just something about Ayame that just can't keep Ogami away.


----


I dunno, but LET'S FIND OUT!

[Ogami]

It's Ogami... can I come in?


OH, THE EXCITEMENT! OH, THE SUSPENSE!! OH, THE--

[Ayame]

Oh, Ogami-kun? Please do, the door's unlocked.


[Ogami]

Please excuse me.




-- complete and utter predictability of most knock-knock-who's-there scenes.

Just watch as the only variation in the knock-knock scenes is the previous thing with Kohran.



Ogami cuts right to the heart of the matter, as he's wont to do.



[Ayame]

I'm happy for the invitation, but I still have some reports left to write. I'm sorry.
So you young ones just have fun by yourselves.


... and Ayame cuts right to the heart of the cockblocking, as she's wont to do.

Some things will just never change, huh.

[Ogami]

I-It's not like that at all! I mean, Ayame-san, you're still...


[Ayame]

Hmhm... Ogami-kun. You've truly come of age if you've become capable of flattery.


Oh, she knows full well that it's not flattery.

... if she DOESN'T, then she's probably as dense as Ogami when it comes to these sorts of things, which would... well, it'd just figure, really.

[Ayame]

Now then, Ogami-kun. Is there anything you would like to ask me--


----
[Ogami]

Hey babycakes would you totally like to go catch lunch somet--

----

[Ayame]

-- as the Captain of the Flower Division?


----
[Ogami]

Dammit, I KNEW there was a catch.

----

[Ogami]

Eh... let's see...




[Ogami]

In that case, I'd like to hear your opinion about how the last battle went, Ayame-san.


[Ayame]

Aren't you diligent, Ogami-kun. Hmm... alright. Let's see...




[Ayame]

Might there have been... a more efficient way of fighting?
There was a lot of damage to the Koubu and to the surrounding area... please fight with more caution from here on out.


[Ogami]

... understood.


Yeah, it kind of IS embarrassing when you do more damage to your surroundings than the enemies who're actually attacking the area.



[Ayame]

The damage to the Flower Division was not particularly problematic. You did well, Ogami-kun.


----
[Ogami]

Wait, didn't you just say--


[Ayame]

Whenever I say "damage to the Flower Division," just assume that I always mean mental, spiritual, and/or psychological damage, Ogami-kun.

----

[Ayame]

That means that your considerations and judgements regarding each of your brigade members were correct.


I, uh, okay whatever yaaaaaaay


----


Yup, cue the bad jazz, Ogami's totally going to get shut down by Ayame before he can even make his seduction ch--

[Ogami]

If it'd be possible, uh... would you like to go and have lunch with me or something?


What I that HOLY SHIT HE'S ACTUALLY GOING FOR IT


----


... and she's just cut-and-pasting her excuses now.

[Ogami]

Eh...? U-um...




[Ogami]

Could it be that you have someone else whom you like?




... Bingo?



Or just the sort of bemused surprise you get when a household pet suddenly starts talking to you in English?

[Ogami]

Eh...? S-so, that means...


[Ayame]

Hmhmhm... no~w then, whatever could it mean? I shall leave it up to your imagination.


[Ogami]

Ayame-saaaaan...


----
[Ogami]

Shouldn't I get SOMETHING for finally making you blush?


[Ayame]

Oh my, you thought I was actually blushing? You're ten years too early to pull off something like THAT.


[Ogami]

Then what--


[Ayame]

I was trying to suppress my laughter, Ogami-kun.


[Ogami]

Ow. Ow, god, my slowly-recovering self-confidence.

----

After your usual "well I'll be going now 'cause everyone's waiting," the poor bastard trails out of the room with his tail tucked between his legs.

There's really not much left to do at this point, so I might as well just go and--



Ambush! AMBUSH!!



----
[Ogami]

OH GOD OH--


[Ogami]

O-oh alright, it's just you, Sakura-kun. Sorry, it's just that it's been a while since you were important.


[Sakura]

That's alright, I've simply been biding my time, Ogami-san.

----

[Ogami]

Hey, Sakura-kun. It was really tough-- there were so many guests today!


I can't shake the mental image of Ogami sounding exactly like the announcer in the greatest commercial ever made.

SO MANY GUESTS



[Sakura]

Right now... everyone's gathering in the salon.


I'll just chalk that up as "information that I knew from the outset that the game won't stop hammering into my brain."

[Sakura]

If you'd like, Ogami-san... would you like to go there with me?




Eh, why not? It's been a while since we've gotten any stalker-ish vibes from her, so I suppose that it won't hurt just this once.

[Ogami]

That sounds good. In that case, shall we get going?




[Ogami]

Eh? Sakura-kun... you went to the trouble of coming to find me?




[Ogami]

... thanks, Sakura-kun.




72 0 Hours Since We've Been Creeped Out By Sakura!

There are a myriad of potentially disturbing reasons for Sakura to be nervous, but I'll just assume that she's being all blushy and shy because she's being adorable and thoughtful (rather than tsundere and psychotically obsessed).



Not pictured: Sakura dragging the five-yard walk out over fifteen minutes in order to make the experience last as long as possible.

Pictured: Ogami dragging Sakura by the arm because they're in spitting range of the salon for chrissakes.



Kanna greets us when we--



Sumire also greets u--



And they--



Er, guys, y--



Wh--



AND WE'RE GREETED BY THE USUAL VERBAL SPARRING.

[Kohran]

Oh! This's great! It's "Journey to the West"'s side story!


[Ogami]

(They're really in high spirits due to that feeling of freedom from the performances ending, huh?)


----
[Ogami]

(It even looks like the post-production Sumire vs. Kanna bloodletting won't take place for another fifteen minutes! What a nice day this is shaping up to be.)

----



Now, it's freedom time. Ogami can talk to everyone!

Theoretically, he could just walk away and piss everyone off by talking to NO one, but I'm avoiding that path because I'd rather not aggro every woman in a twenty mile radius.


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