This took a turn for the ominous. We may be about to lose Shinigami.
Part of the contract. You're not her partner. Number One is.
She can't. That's part of the contract too. She can't talk to you about Number One.
Makoto's identity means that she isn't your reliable ally anymore. He's here to repossess your shinigami.
Just like she said: This is about to get really bad.
No. That's not. He isn't. He couldn't be. There's no way. There is absolutely no way.
WHAT THE FUCK.
WHAT THE FUCK.
How. What. How. Why. When. How. What.
We're Number One? Then who the hell is the old man with the chin dick? Why is Yuma so young? Did the contract do that? He isn't a homunculus; We know he has red blood.
What the fuck.
What the fuck.
What the fuck.
That's how we were able to check out the Book of Death from the library. We just. Used our clearance. To do it. Holy shit, that's easy.
But how? Who the hell was the old man? A body double?
Okay but when and where, tho. Yuma gets the Solution Blade direct from Shinigami. When did you meet up with Shinigami in secret to get a Solution Blade from her, and why wouldn't she have noticed that happening?
Don't look so chipper with Yuma's face, it's creepy.
Well our double sucked and I hated him. He's lucky he's dead or I would have him fired for being an heartless asshole. I still can't believe that shit he said about Yakou.
Yes, I do adapt quickly. Fuck you, I'm the boss man.
Option 1: As Number One, it would be trivially easy to falsify that information.
Option 2: There really is a detective-in-training Yuma Kokohead. We konked him out and took his pants.
Come on crackpot theory. Let's roll for a 20!
YES! WE MUGGED YUMA AND STOLE HIS PANTS! I WIN FOREVER!!!
Are you talking about REAL YUMA!? Yeah, I know exactly the guy. Real Yuma is the real Yuma! I am so happy right now.
XD There was no trick to it. Real Yuma's entirely sincere about wanting to sell ramen instead of put up with our bullshit.
You know what? Fair. I did knock him out and steal his pants, after all. That was pretty rude of me. I'm Number One of the entire WDO. I can buy my own pants.
Because we knocked him out and left him lying in the inaccessible back area of the storage room after we took his pants.
OH MY GOD
Yuma Kokohead's background check said he was a good cook. That's what instigated the arsenic and battery acid stew we nearly killed Yakou with.
Oh my god. Of course he became a ramen salesman and makes pretty good ramen.
We need to hire him. Maybe he can help us with the "only human flesh can properly feed homunculi" problem with his brilliant culinary expertise. Yuma Kokohead may be the key to this city's salvation.
Finally, the crux of Makoto's identity mystery: Why did he go to so much trouble to enter here?
Oh! Out of spite! Great. Load off my mind. Yuma, cut his head off and put it in a box.
If Yuma dies then he leaves evidence behind that could reveal Makoto's true nature. But if Yuma drops off the face of the universe then that's that. Only one version of Number One exists.
Of course, that's a double-edged sword. We can just as well leave Makoto in here, solving the problem of his perfect immortality.
Yeah. See. That's what I'm talking about when I say your problem is capitalist thinking. Rather than asking, "What can I do to help the people of my city?" you're instead thinking, "What business can I acquire to consolidate further wealth and power?"
You were never going to save this city with that attitude, my guy.
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[BSTS] 4th Anniversary Eve ‘Prestorm’ Event Story
all chapters so long post
Chapter 1
-starless lobby-
kei: Saki, was Starless able to entertain you once again tonight?
saki: Of course, I had a lovely time.
kei: Thank you. There is no greater honour than getting to hear those words from you. I would love to be able to escort you home myself, however... Regrettably there are still some matters that I must attend to.
saki: You still have work?
kei: We are having a brief meeting regarding the preparations for our fourth anniversary.
saki: It's already that time of year huh, I'm looking forward to seeing what the fourth anniversary show will be like.
kei: I promise it will be a show worthy of your expectations.
-lico walks up-
lico: Oh, Kotori-chan's here. Are you heading home?
kei: Good timing, escort Saki to the station, Lico.
lico: Excuse me? Don't go ordering me around, I was planning to do that already. I'll walk you to the station, Kotori-chan.
saki: Sorry for the trouble, Lico-san. Thank you.
lico: No worries, getting to walk with you is a treat. C'mon, let's go.
saki: See you tomorrow, Kei-san.
kei: Yes, please take care on your way home.
-starless office-
kei: You're all here already, good. Then let us begin our preparatory meeting for our fourth anniversary performance.
kasumi: Man, where does the time go~ To think it's already been four years since our renewal.
takami: It feels as though our third anniversary was only yesterday. We had all star performances for it didn't we?
yakou: Before that, for our second anniversary each team performed a show based on the same source material. Each script and song allowed each respective team to shine.
unei: And way back during our first anniversary we had the cast members and shows chosen through random tune!
kei: They were all shows that lived up to the title of being called anniversary performances. In order for this years to be another grand success, we must focus on planning. It's already September so we don't have many days left before the performance, first—
unei: Ah-!
yakou: Uwah, what's gotten into you!?
unei: I just remembered I have a package I had to open once September came around! Uhh, where did I put it again, it should be around here somewhere…
kasumi: Um, what do you mean by package exactly?
unei: It was sent to us around Christmas time last year. There were instructions with it saying not to open it until September. I was at a bit of a loss since there wasn't any sender name, but I figured I should just wait to open it and see.
kei: .......
unei: Huh!? Wait, should I not have done that?
yakou: Obviously... Why would you naively keep such a suspicious box for so long.
unei: I-I'm sorry~! I had honestly forgotten all about it...
kei: Let's see what it contains at once.
unei: Y-yes! On it!
-unei opens the package-
yakou: A bunch of papers...? No nevermind, these are scripts, there's three of them in here.
kasumi: And these are song demos, there's three of them as well.
kei: Three scripts and three songs then... Hm…
—end
-
Chapter 2
-rehearsal room-
ginsei: Kei, these are... No matter how you look at it Akito-san wrote this script! And there's three of them! Where did you get these...!
kei: It appears they were sent to us along with these songs around Christmas last year. It is most likely they were prepared for us to use them for our fourth anniversary performance.
ginsei: I thought so! I expect no less from Akito-san. To think that even whilst they've been away, they must've still been keeping an eye on the store...
kei: I do not think they were sent with such pure intentions. Those scripts were sent in order to judge our current abilities.
ginsei: Judge? What do you mean by that... Wait, huh? The last part of this script is...?
-Team B walk in-
ran: Oh? Kei n' Ginsei are here!
mizuki: Geh, why are you here.
kei: What business do you have here?
lico: Nothing to do with you. We just came here to rehearse.
ginsei: Rehearse? There's still time before you're scheduled in for the room.
kongou: My bad, I thought there was no one in here.
mizuki: If you're just in here to stand around then get out.
ginsei: Don't accuse us of slacking off, we're in the middle of discussing our fourth anniversary performance.
ran: Oh! Did ya just say fourth anniversary!? Is that the script for it? Tell me what it's like~
ginsei: To sum it up, it's about survival. Each script depicts characters in a life or death situation. Three songs have also been prepared, one for each script. However, these scripts... None of them have a conclusion written.
lico: What's that about? So they're incomplete then?
kei: No, these scripts are fully complete. It simply means the conclusions are intended to be decided via improvisation.
heath: By improvising…
kongou: You said they were about survival right? Meaning you won't know who will remain alive by the end of the story, something like that?
mizuki: Ooh? That sounds interesting, let's make it a massacre!
ran: Great idea!
kei: Not only the cast members, but the atmosphere in the hall will also have to change in accordance with the stage. In order to grasp the intensity of the stage and lead the story to a conclusion, each cast member's individual abilities will be brought into question.
ginsei: This is what you meant by 'judge' us then... Kei, what are you going to do?
kei: .......
kei: For our fourth anniversary performance, we shall use these scripts. This too will prove as good nourishment in order for Starless to continue onwards.
—end
-
Chapter 3
-rehearsal room-
kei: That's enough.
sotestu: Just dancing without there being any acting really is difficult huh.
yoshino: That's because the song still isn't ready yet.
yakou: I can tell from the instrumental that it'll be a great song though.
kei: We're out of time, we'll stop today's training he—
gui: Someone's approaching.
-hinata walks in-
hinata: Nice work in here, could I borrow you a moment, Kei?
kei: Whatever for?
hinata: I need you to check the order notes for the new costumes. Here it is.
-hands kei the receipt-
ginsei: Hm? Is that the guy who joined recently?
hinata: The name's Hinata, nice to meet you~
ginsei: Ah, sure... I'm Ginsei.
sotetsu: I'm Sotetsu, nice to meet you too. These two are Gui and Yoshino.
hinata: Oh so you're Yoshino! I had something I wanted to ask you once I met you.
yoshino: You did...?
hinata: You're an understudy like me right? Then how come you're going to be on stage this performance?
yoshino: ......
kei: This performance won't be in our teams, but instead a mixture of all the cast members.
hinata: Oh is that so! Then does that mean I get to be on stage too? You're just doing dance routines now right? If there's no acting then I can handle it no problem.
kei: Inconceivable.
hinata: How come you've decided that already? You haven't even seen me perform before.
kei: I don't need to have seen it to know. I've finished checking the document, I’ll take it back.
hinata: Wait a sec! Look I'll copy the dance you guys were just practicing!
-hinata dances-
hinata: See, impressed yet? This much is easy.
kei: Are you done playing make believe? That was a conceited and childish performance. It is nowhere near the level necessary to stand on our stage.
hinata: Uwah, how rude!
kei: It is pointless to discuss it if you yourself are not even aware of what you are lacking. Commit yourself to studying.
-kei leaves-
hinata: He's so high and mighty about it... What can I do to stand on the stage…
yoshino: The stage isn't something to be taken lightly.
hinata: Huh? How come you're telling me that, you're an understudy like me.
yoshino: ...Yeah, I am.
-yoshino leaves-
hinata: Ah wait... He's gone.
hinata: Hey, isn't Kei so mean? Is he always like that?
kei: That's because Kei is someone who takes the stage very seriously.
hinata: Ginsei, was it? What did you think of my performance?
ginsei: Huh? You're asking me? Uhh, well, your sense of movement wasn't that bad…
hinata: Really!? Woohoo!
sotetsu: True, he did pretty well for a guy that's just joined, right Yakou?
yakou: Hm? Oh yeah, for someone who is inexperienced I guess so.
hinata: See! You think so too right, Gui? Like what the heck did Kei mean by 'childish performance' am I right?
gui: Childish. I don't know what he meant by that either.
hinata: What? Oh... Is that so…
—end
-
Chapter 4
-starless office-
kei: During the fourth anniversary Team C's shifts will proceed as previously planned.
kasumi: Roger~
-mokuren walks in-
mokuren: Is everyone here?
kasumi: Ah you're finally here Mokuren. We just started the meeting a little while ago.
hari: You went off to find Qu, did you see him around?
mokuren: No idea. More importantly, I have someone I want to introduce to you. Get in here.
aogiri: Um... Hello, nice to meet you all.
mokuren: This is Aogiri, he's joining as Team C's understudy.
hari: Huh?
zakuro: My this is quite... How certainly shocking.
kasumi: Yet another curveball huh~ Does Qu know already?
mokuren: Nope, I'll tell him later.
kei: Aogiri... He is the one looking to be a designer for us, correct? When did the conversion become about him being a cast member?
mokuren: After testing him I concluded that with some training he'd easily get to the level needed to stand on the stage. He can sing too.
zakuro: My my, well isn't that something.
mokuren: We need an understudy, let Aogiri join.
kei: That may be your opinion as a leader, but I do not plan to frivolously increase our cast members.
mokuren: Are you doubting my judgement? He has an aptitude for the stage.
kei: First we will accept him on a trial period. Whether or not he joins officially shall be decided afterwards.
mokuren: Tch.
hari: Wait a moment. Setting aside Mokuren's wishes, what does Aogiri himself think about this? He came here to be a designer, does he have any interest in working as a cast member as well?
aogiri: ...That is true, I applied here to be a costume designer. However I'd be lying if I said the prospect of becoming a cast member didn't sound appealing. If it means I have a chance of standing on the stage, then, I see no reason to refuse.
mokuren: See, he's willing. There should be no more issues.
zakuro: Couldn't this be described as pushing your ideals onto another?
aogiri: ......
kasumi: By the way, are you working anywhere else at the moment, Aogiri?
aogiri: Ah, yes I am. It's enough for me to make a living at least.
kasumi: If you're planning to work here and there at the same time, it can be quite taxing if you're not used to it~
aogiri: Depending on how the situation pans out, I'm not against working here full time.
kei: Aogiri, you will be a trial member until the end of the fourth anniversary show. Whether you're accepted as an official member or not will depend on how you manage during this period. Keep that in mind.
aogiri: Understood, thank you.
mokuren: Ok with that settled, let's go and train. Aogiri, you're coming too.
aogiri: Huh? But I haven't even gotten everyone's names yet…
mokuren: You can work that out later, we're going.
-they leave-
zakuro: Ah... The pure hearted victim is being dragged away... I feel as though I can hear him shrieking.
hari: I'm looking forward to seeing him perform since he was able to live up to Mokuren's standards.
kasumi: I'll go and inform Qu~
-they leave-
kei: ..... (sighs)
—end
-
Chapter 5
-starless lobby-
hinata: Hey hey, are you the new guy who joined as Team C's understudy? I'm Team B's understudy, Hinata! I only very recently joined as well, so that makes us like classmates!
aogiri: Is that so? I'm Aogiri, nice to meet you.
hinata: Having someone else that's a new understudy like me is kinda reassuring~
aogiri: It has yet to be decided if I'll be an understudy though...
hinata: What, really?
aogiri: Originally I applied here to be in charge of costume design. However when I took the recruitment test I was also approached with the prospect of being an understudy. I guess you could say I accept both tests at once.
hinata: Your performance got acknowledged then? I envy you~ Y'see in my case I'm still nowhere near a high enough level to stand on the stage. I was told that I suck even.
aogiri: I'm also a novice when it comes to performing. I'm in no position to take the stage yet. I think we both have lots of room for growth, so let's do our best.
hinata: Yeah, you know it! You say some nice things, Aogiri!
aogiri: Then, let's get on with the preparations for opening the store.
-time pass-
hinata: All done with restocking the flyers~
aogiri: I'm pretty much done cleaning up over here too.
-nekome walks up-
nekome: Hm~? There's two youngsters here I've never seen before.
maica: Who are you two?
aogiri: Hello, nice to meet you. I'm called Aogiri.
rindou: Yes, so I've heard. Nice to meet you.
hinata: I'm Hinata! I'm B's understudy, at least for now.
nekome: Hinata... Ooh.
maica: What do you mean 'at least for now'?
hinata: It means I plan to be up on the stage sooner rather than later. Nice to meet you~
nekome: Oo you're brimming with confidence there. I'm Nekome, let's get along. Sorry for being late to my shift~
hinata: It's perfectly fine! Me and Aogiri here are suuper capable y'see.
maica: You got ready for opening all by yourselves? It looks like you're almost done too.
aogiri: We'd like you all to be able to focus on your shows after all.
nekome: That's very helpful~
maica: True. We're still fine for now cause it's only the eve event. But the anniversary show is special, we'll need to rehearse as much as we can. Menou's already getting restless, I wonder if we'll be ok.
rindou: We'll manage, let's give it our all.
nekome: In that case maybe I'll take you up on your offer and leave all the background work to our super capable hall staff~
maica: Don't slack off. There's still things we need to do besides preparations.
rindou: We'll leave you two to it.
aogiri: Sure.
-P leave-
hinata: What I want them to see me as being capable of is my performing though~
—end
-
Chapter 6
-locker rooms-
akira: Ahh I wanna sing already~ Shows that are just dancing are boring.
taiga: I don't mind staying like this. Just thinking about the fourth anni show makes my stomach hurt. Having a show that ends in inprov every day is the peak of insanity.
kokuyou: Don't get all mopey right before the show. Are you askin' to be thrown out?
-hinata walks in-
hinata: Fuah~ All done all done. Is it ok for me to use the showers?
aogiri: I would suppose so. I'll be passing though.
akira: Hm? There's another new face.
takami: Oh have you not met him yet, Akira? His name's Aogiri. He's aspiring to be our designer and is also a cast candidate.
akira: Huuh, means you found someone with strange enough tastes to come to this store then huh?
hinata: What do you mean? Starless is the best!
taiga: Now that's a new opinion.
sin: If one is willing to listen to the creaking of their soul, then they will come to learn the shape of their shadow which sinks into the culvert.
hinata: Hahah what?
aogiri: ...Thank you. I think?
hinata: Wait did you understand him just now?
aogiri: No, not at all. I just had a hunch he didn't mean anything bad by it.
akira: Ah, when it comes to Sin's language understanding at least that much is a passing mark.
takami: This is Sin, Akira and Taiga. And this is our leader Kokuyou. My name's Takami, nice to meet you.
aogiri: You're all Team W right? It's nice to meet you.
hinata: Oh, hey Kokuyou, you're Mizuki's senior right? Tell me some stories from when Mizuki first came to Starless—
kokuyou: I've got no time to talk nonsense with you. Stick to your own damn responsibilities.
-kokuyou leaves-
hinata: Huh? Did I make him mad?
taiga: Well, it's cause we're about to perform.
takami: We should be going too.
-backstage-
saki: Good evening, everyone.
akira: Ah, Saki-chan! You're here~
saki: I'm looking forward to W's performance tonight.
akira: Yeah just leave it to me~ I'll impress you in no time.
taiga: For the guy who was just complaining about being bored you look pretty fired up.
akira: Shush you.
takami: The dance performances appear to be doing well for our publicity. Since the guests are growing more curious as to what kind of lyrics and acting will be added to such a song.
kokuyou: Heh, interesting. Kei said those scripts were gonna judge us, but he's already been putting us to the test during this eve event hasn’t he?
sin: It's time.
kokuyou: Let's show em all our performance, you too, don’t go taking your eyes off us.
—end
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