#I'm sorry they didn't do anything particularly flashy on their first day

[patibato]

[Bitter Sweet Sixteen] 002-A11 - Future Era Africa

Nanaki: Can I look inside? I want to check its condition.

Muneuji: Of course.

Momiji: (What is it… they're huddled up and whispering…)

(They took something out of that pouch…?)

Muneuji: -… Who's there!

Nanaki: Shit…!

Momiji: (Ah… they hid it. No helping it I guess…)

Sorry! I didn't mean to watch you.

Muneuji: A-aah. Right, you aren't the type of person who'd do that. I know that.

Nanaki: Y-yeah, yeah. It's just by chance. Really… by chance. Right, Kaguya-kun?

Muneuji: Right. It's… by chance.

Momiji: What on earth were you looking at? That's a surprisingly cute pouch.

Nanaki: Ah, no, this is… haha…

Muneuji: It's… nothing particularly worth explaining.

Momiji: (…This situation seems weird somehow. They're being unusually flustered-)

(Huh!?)

(Aa~h! So it's that! They are going through puberty… they must have brought something a bit indecent with them.)

Nanaki: …

Muneuji: …

Momiji: (Of course, they wouldn't want someone of the opposite sex to meddle in it. It's embarrassing.)*

(This is one of those times I have to be an understanding adult…)

Sorry. It's fine if you don't want to say. Every boy has a secret or two.

Nanaki: Huh? What do you-

Momiji: A~h, it's fine! I get it! Y'know?

Muneuji: I see. I appreciate your understanding.

Nanaki: No, I don't think they understand at all…

Momiji: I'll go throw out the trash and head back to my room now! Don't worry, I won't interrupt! See you tomorrow!

*footsteps*

Nanaki: Aa~ah… they definitely misunderstood something. They were weirdly considerate.

Muneuji: How do you suppose?

Nanaki: Aah, it's nothing. Don't worry about it.

…Adults are annoying in a lot of ways, basically.

Gannosuke: Good morning, everyone! Today is your first day of hospitality training. And so-

Getting right to it, I'd first like to ascertain your spirit!

Momiji: …What does that mean, exactly?

Gannosuke: You students are still new to hospitality… I know that. The only weapon you have are the Eyelashes of God…

Akuta: What're the eyelashes of god?

Muneuji: It would take too long to explain, but apparently they're a sacred treasure I possess.

Gannosuke: The anguish of the have-nots… that's where "spirit" is important! We must have the backbone! To perform hospitality! The courage!

Show me that feeling first! Depending on the outcome, the contents of your training may change at any time!

Momiji: Alright, everyone, let's do our best…!

*omotenashi battle*

Gannosuke: Stop there!

Momiji: Haa, haa… thank you for your guidance!

Gannosuke: There's no time to rest. Next is training on-site! Now, go!

Momiji: (Th-this is more spartan than I thought…!)

Gannosuke: Now, break time!

Ushio: Haa, haa… tired…

Akuta: I'm sOOOOoo beat! Wanna eat something sweet… need some white sugar or brown sugar or banana sugar or something…

Nanaki: I could go for a cafe au lait. Lots of sugar, and… maybe a light roast today.

Muneuji: My favourite food is chocolate.

Kiroku: …Some… flashy and pretty… sweets, or something.

Akuta: Aaugh, anything would be fine. As long as it's sweet.

Gannosuke: I thought you'd be saying that, so I arranged a brunch for us - crepes and coffee!

Momiji: Wow, it looks delicious! Thank you! Okay, let's have a strategy meeting while we eat!

All Five: Thanks for the food!

Ushio: … …

Akuta: So good! I can feel my tiredness melting away~! The delicious ingredients are spreading through my organs~!

Momiji: I feel that! The crepes also have a slightly different taste to usual…

Ushio: … It's the olives.

Momiji: Huh?

Gannosuke: Familiar with it, are you? That's right. These are my personal recommendation, crepes with lemon olive oil.

Momiji: I see… so using olives accentuates the flavour!

Gannosuke: Correct. Olives are a local specialty of Shodoshima. A rare taste you won't find anywhere else - delicious, aren't they?

Ushio: …

Gannosuke: You're the only one who noticed the olives. Are they good?

Ushio: … …

Gannosuke: … Good grief, not an honest one are you.

Momiji: (He's chowing down more than anyone else, so it's pretty clear.)

---

After that, we discussed all kinds of things, and ultimately decided how to split the work for the Summer Festival.

Kiroku-kun is painting paper lanterns to decorate the venue. Nanaki-kun is operating the music to match the two thousand fireworks being set off.

Ushio-kun will set up a food stall in an area where there aren't many, Akuta-kun's in charge of taking videos, and Muneuji-kun will be helping out with general management.

And like that-

---

Momiji: Good work on your first day of training. This afternoon, I think you should choose your activities yourselves.

I want each of you to deepen your own understanding of Shodoshima, have a proper look around and expand your viewpoints.

We've already got GPS set up. Make sure you don't forget to submit your activity schedule and keep in touch regularly.

And with that- let's disperse for now!

Akuta: Yeah, free reign!! We're freeee!! So~ What movie do you guys wanna watch tonight?

Nanaki: Oi oi, are you thinking of coming over again today?

Momiji: Akuta-kun, did you stay in Nanaki-kun and Kiroku-kun's room yesterday?

Nanaki: Yeah. He suddenly barged in saying "let's watch a movie~"

Kiroku: …

Nanaki: We ended up sleeping in a pile together. I'm a bit short on sleep thanks to that. …Right?

Kiroku: Mhm…

Muneuji: Even though he managed to win the single room for himself. Isotake's an odd one.

Ushio: I think it's less that he's odd, and more that he got lonely by himself.

There's plenty of people like that. Guys who ultimately sustain their own existence through being around others.

Or maybe he's simply the type who can't sleep by himself. Needs his mama to sleep with him. Ahahaha.

Momiji: C-come on now, Ushio-kun…!

Akuta: Too bad! I can sleep like a baby by myself. But doing stuff like normal is boooriiing, so I went to sleep over!

Buuut if we're talking about it, ever since Oden Class, Nanaki needs his goat plushie to-

Nanaki: Ah! You! Isotake-ku- Akutaaa!

Akuta: Ugh…… gh……! H… hurtsh…!

Momiji: What a magnificent rear naked choke… By the way, what's Oden Class?

Nanaki: It's nothing. I met Akuta in kindergarten… we were both in the Oden Class. …Though we went our separate ways from part-way through elementary to middle school.

Akuta: Gibugibu…! Gonna die…!

Nanaki: Anyway, that's why. Nothing more worth talking about, just a trifling story.

Momiji: I-I see. Um… Akuta-kun's face is starting to turn purple…

Nanaki: … Right, I'll release him.

Akuta: Cough… cough cough… cough! What was that for, hey~! Swear I saw a flower field for a moment. My first near death experience!

Momiji: He's smiling…

Kiroku: ……He's sturdy… huh.

Akuta: Well, it's fine! Getting back on track~ As friends of the Oden Class, let's watch a movie together today.

Nanaki: Sigh… no helping it. What are you up for?

Akuta: How about "Future Era Africa"!?

Nanaki: … That won't do.

Momiji: (Ah, Nanaki-kun seems…)

Akuta: Whaaat. Why~?

Nanaki: Because I promised to watch that one with someone else.

Right… it was already shown, huh.

Akuta: Yes it was~ So like, if the screening period is over, isn't that promise overdue?

Nanaki: …

…I guess, I know. That that's true.

Either way, I'm not watching it. Later then.

*footsteps*

Momiji: Ah, wait, Nanaki-kun-!

*Reiterating the "wherever possible" part of my gender (or in this case, body) neutral MC translation. …I actually considered using the male MC dialogue here, since it technically is gender neutral, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not fond of Momiji and would feel bad about doing so. For what it's worth, here's what Kaede says:

Kaede: (I've also had the experience of messing about, passing around videos like that at night when on trips with my friends.)

(Alright… this is where I have to show that I understand to not interrupt bonding between men.)

I get it! Watching stuff like that with your friends is fun. It's a charm of travelling, talking about your crushes in the night and whatnot.

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Masterlist

[victorluvsalice]

And ascend to SPELLCASTERS! EMMETT BROWN, TECHNO-WITCH IS REBORN! :D Aaand promptly spent his first hour as said techno-witch scouring the bookshelves for good tomes along with his wife. Came up with a familiar orb of the Skull (two, in fact -- they both got one), but no books, meh. So I figured I’d send him to Caster Alley instead to get some wands and stuff!

. . .Wand stall closed shortly after he got there. *grumbles* At least I was able to get him a broom. Namely because the astral projection of Caleb Vatore never sleeps. Because, you know, vampire. XD And I got another look at the cool scenery in this world -- seriously, those torn-apart houses are the best. Really add to the feel that this world was saved JUST from the brink of destruction. Lovely. :)

And after that, I just had them practice magic and experiment with the cauldron until they had to head home to grab some sleep. Of the two, Nikal’s the only one with a spell right now -- Repairio! Instantly repairs broken objects and upgrades the quality of crafted ones. . .unless it fails, in which case it will set things on fire. We’ll, uh, see what Nikal manages in the next episode. ^^; Maybe we shouldn’t muck around with that spell until we know Chillio. . .

Anyway! Tomorrow, back to wo -- oh, wait, no! Tomorrow’s Spookfest! I made that a holiday! Okay, yeah, next week -- early Halloween for my two freshly witchified Sims! This should be fun. :)

[dontreadthistrashgarbage]

Pt.5

"You're flashy again today!" Charlie said appreciatively to Guerin, who had opted for blue lipstick, dangly earrings and a yellow cropped sweatshirt over leggings and chunky black boots.

"Well yeah, we're gonna be in a private room so I'm taking advantage of not having to hide!" Guerin posed by poking her cheek paired with a pouty smile. Charlie grinned to see her friend looking cheerful.

"Well you look great."

"I look great? Look at youuuuu!" Guerin crowed, "Boy better watch out, you look on fleek." She dipped into english to adequately express admiration for her friend.

"Stop you're too much." Charlie rolled her eyes at how over the top Guerin was being, but it still made her happy cause despite how obnoxious it was she was being genuine with her opinion.

"Never." Guerin linked arms with Charlie, "Do you know where we're going?" The girls had met at the station closest to the karaoke place that had been chosen by A.C.E and would meet the group there. Charlie led the way, familiar with Guerin's legendarily poor sense of direction. She texted Jun to let them know when they arrived. Once inside Guerin chose two beers to bring in with them.

"We'll need these for bravery. If we wanna sing in front of those five." She said sensibly.

"I could use a drink but I'm not going to sing." Charlie accepted the beer.

"That's fine, but if you wanna do a duet later I'm here for you." Guerin winked.

Just then Chan appeared in the lobby, "Did you two get lost? You're taking forever." He said.

"Hey, don't talk to your elders like that." Guerin said, undermining herself by sticking out her tongue as they moved to follow him.

"Sorry Guerin-Noona, Charlie-Noona." Chan pouted at the older women, causing Guerin to immediately melt and coo at him.

"You are so weak." Charlie teased her friend as they made their way into the assigned room.

"It's true I'm the softest. Hey everyone!" Guerin called out, waving to the rest of A.C.E as they joined them. "Awww you had the same idea we did!" She commented on the assortment of drinks already gathered on the table in the center of the room.

"Charlie, you look great!" Donghun piped up after everyone had finished their greetings. Maybe it's because Guerin was looking for it, but she caught Jun go from looking and smiling at Charlie to shooting Donghun a surprised expression at his compliment.

"Thanks." Charlie said shyly, "It's nothing much." Her outfit was a simple hoodie and jeans but she had left her freshly dyed hair down, apparently the vibrant pink and purple was a hit.

"Nothing much. Pshaw. you are the belle of the ball." Guerin threw an arm around her friend, tapped her beer to Charlie's and the two of them started with their first drinks of the night.

The seven started off restrained enough but after a few songs Guerin insisted that without Queen it wasnt worth coming out so she sang Don't Stop Me Now which got everyone more riled up despite her not quite hitting every note. Seyoon got particularly aggressive with the tambourine during a flailing dance off so Guerin had to disarm him but otherwise no one was hurt. Charlie even joined in after a few drinks and sang Spice Girls and Backstreet boys much to the amusement of A.C.E and with Guerin acting as her solo hype team and yelling along.

After about an hour they flopped down for their first break as Jun, Chan and Seyoon hurried to the front to order snacks and more drinks.

"Jun was right, this is fun!" Charlie exclaimed happily.

"I've found the perfect song for us to do next! Will you sing it with me?" Guerin scooted over to Charlie, showing her the selection.

"Oh... oh yes. Definitely." Charlie nodded, the alcohol in her system making her bold.

Donghun leaned slightly across Charlie to try and peak at the song choice but Guerin snatched it away. Charlie blushed at the proximity of Donghun being so close. Sure she liked Jun but that didn't make her blind. Or sober. The other three returned, Jun came in first seeing Donghun and frowning as the two seemed to separate quickly. Byeongkwan tried to take the song selecter from Guerin for a peak and she jumped away from him.

"Noona what is it, let me see!" Byeongkwan said, reaching again.

"No, it's a surprise!" She twisted away from him and collided with Seyoon who had fortunately just set the snacks he was carrying down. His hand automatically went to her arms to steady her as the two stumbled.

"Oh shit" she was shocked into english for a moment, "Seyoonie I'm sorry are you okay?"

Before he could answer Guerin felt Byeongkwan reaching for the song selecter again and she yanked it instinctively away from him, which moved her closer to Seyoon. He used her momentum to pull her closer to him, but switching to look at Byeongkwan.

"Stop antagonizing her, at this rate she'll accidentally kill me." Seyoon said with a grin. Guerin tsked and pulled away from him. She had enjoyed feeling his hands on her and being so close to him, but she while she may have been too tipsy to make a snarky comeback with that level of distraction, she wasn't drunk enough to act on it.

"It's not my fault she's not watching where she's going." Byeongkwan shrugged.

Jun had surreptitiously settled in Guerins abandoned spot next to Charlie and was offering her another drink.

"Noona do you have a song picked out?" Chan asked, opening a bag of chips.

"Oh yes! Charlie is gonna sing with me!" Guerin spun and held her hand out to her friend who got up to join her. Jun looked disappointed for a moment until Guerin started the song choice. A.C.E all laughed and cheered as Take Me Higher came over the speakers.

The two women had a grand time singing along heartily, eagerly using the two dance moves they knew from the performance (poorly) and freestyle dancing the rest (also poorly). Guerin also mixed in randomly singing to each member of A.C.E, but she stopped when she sang the lyrics "I want you, I need you, say you love me" to Seyoon who had a big grin that started to falter. She threw herself back into the song and the two wrapped up with big cheers from the audience. Charlie flopped back into her seat between Donghun and Jun while Guerin sat next to Byeongkwan at the end of the couch.

"That was amazing!" Jun cheered and clapped loudly, giving Charlie a standing ovation.

"I'm glad you guys liked it." Charlie beamed up at him.

"Noona, maybe you could come to our dance practice sometime, before you try that again in public." Byeongkwan suggested to Guerin.

"Do you want to die?" She joked, throwing her arm around him and pulling him into a healock, but completely unable to keep a straight face.

"Aah, I'm kidding I'm sorry!" Byeongkwan tapped at her arm.

"Charlie you sing really well!" Donghun said. Guerin noticed him lean in closer to her friend as Jun's smile faded a bit, eyes moving back and forth between the two.

"Stop, I'm not a singer." Charlie protested.

"No really! We should sing a song together." Donghun pressed.

"Nooo you'll make me sound so bad." She waved her hand in protest, "Really you're being too nice."

Donghun took hold of her waving hand, "I'm serious, let's-"

Before he could finish his sentence Jun grabbed her hand away from Donghun and pulled her up toward him, he held her hand tightly, staring at Donghun, then moving his eyes to Charlie, "I like you. I don't want to see him flirt with you like that."

Charlie was flabbergasted. Her mouth worked as her mind caught up to what had just happened. Byeongkwan tapped lightly on Guerins arm, she had forgotten she was holding him as things unfolded and she quickly let him go but no one said anything else.

"I'm sorry to bring it up so suddenly but-" he suddenly couldn't speak anymore as Charlie took his hands and pulled him in for a kiss. Jun looked shocked.

"Sorry, I like you too. I got carried away." She looked down suddenly shy again but Jun beamed, pulled her chin up and kissed her again. Guerin, Byeongkwan and Donghun both cheered and bounced up. Seyoon had a big smile on his face, Chan looked shocked with a somewhat vacant smile on his face.

"I'm sorry Jun-ah, but you weren't doing anything so I thought I'd egg you on." Donghun clapped both of them on the back. Jun shot him a glare, "That's great so you can stop forever now." Guerin resisted bouncing over to Charlie and forced herself to sit back down. Seyoon scooted over to her.

"Did you know about this?" He asked, still smiling and watching.

"Well I knew Charlie liked him, but I wasn't sure about Jun." She looked at Seyoon, "Did you know?"

"Yeah, he talked to us." He responded.

"He wasn't sure he'd ever act on it, and if he did this wasnt in his plan." Chan piped up, laying across Seyoon to join the conversation.

The rest of the evening was spent drinking, singing and dancing. And, in the case of Charlie and Jun, holding hands and smiling at each other. Even Guerin with her high tolerance for alcohol managed to get well into tipsy by the time they were ready to wrap up.

"Are you okay getting home?" Charlie asked her friend, concerned.

"Yeah I'm fine, I'll just take a taxi or something." Guerin waved off her friend. She had heard Jun asking Charlie to get a coffee somewhere so they could talk and there was no way she was going to interrupt that. The two of them went their separate way, A.C.E held back until Guerin was able to flag down a taxi and get in before they headed off to their dorm.

"She was kind of drunk, think she'll be okay?" Donghun, peaked backwards concerned.

"Yeah, cabs can be creepy especially toward women." Byeongkwan added.

Chan looked genuinely concerned, "Normally I wouldn't worry about her but..."

"You guys go ahead without me." Seyoon peeled off and ran back to the taxi, stopping it and sliding into the backseat.

"Idiots. All of them." Donghun shook his head.

"What are you doing?" Guerin asked in surprise as Seyoon slid into the seat next to her.

Seyoon thanked the driver and apologized to him before answering Guerin, "Just making sure you get home safe. You never know these days." He said with a shrug.

"You're silly." She scoffed, "But that's very considerate of you, thank you."

They were quiet for a minute before Guerin spoke again, "Tonight was so much fun, thanks for letting Charlie and I crash your party."

Seyoon laughed, "It was never our party. Jun planned this after he invited Charlie and you."

Guerin covered her mouth to keep from laughing too loud, "He is slick." She giggled.

"It was fun anyway. We have fun when you're around." Seyoon said offhandedly looking at Guerin.

She smiled shyly then reach up to cover his eyes with her hand, "You have such an unsettling habit of staring directly at people." She laughed nervously trying to cover up her own reaction to the direct eye contact. He reached for her hand and pulled it down so she could see him still looking at her.

"You don't want me to look at you?" He asked, raising his eyebrows to accentuate his curious smile.

"I don't mean it like that. It's just a lot to look at you sometimes." Guerin tried to cover her tracks without thinking. She puffed out her cheeks realizing what she had said too late and looked straight ahead. Seyoon reached over to poke her cheek which caused her to glance at him from the corner of her eye and giggle. "Sorry, I'm not thinking straight. Just forget it."

His classic smile remained in place as he shrugged in acceptance and leaned back, just happy to have pestered her.

"Hey so what is your company's policy on dating?" Guerin asked suddenly.

"Our... dating? Why?" Seyoon was surprised by the sudden question.

"I'm curious for Charlie." She answered.

"Ah... I see." He nodded for a moment, trying to ignore the moment of disappointment he felt, "We can date. They want to know and I don't know how they'd go about it as far as announcing it." He shrugged, "I guess we'll find out."

"That's good at least. I'm glad you're allowed to be human." She smiled at him.

He bit his lip then slid his hand over to rest on top of hers, "Me too." He added, staring straight ahead. Her hand twitched under his but she didn't pull away. They sat like that for the next few minutes in silence until arriving at her apartment. She thanked him for riding with her home and tried to pay which Seyoon had to threaten to take her card away before she gave up. Once inside her apartment she washed her face, changed into pajamas then collapsed onto her bed.

"What the shit." She said to herself, flopping around in frustration under the covers.

[nuravity]

During lunch, Urduja was helping serve lunch to the students of U.A. with Lunch Rush with her shaved head on display for everyone to see, Aizawa offered to give her a wig to wear until her hair grew back and although she was grateful for the thought she simply couldn't bring herself to wear any wig as it only served as a painful reminder of her hair that she lost, what was the point of trying to look pretty anymore anyway? Even if people didn't care about how she looked she just felt worthless, she didn't feel like the prettiest girl in school anymore she just felt ugly and ashamed, and watching all the other girls get to walk around with their hair freely only made her feel worse.

As soon as she noticed Uraraka getting in line to be served lunch, she looked down to just focus on serving the other student that were in front of her, a group of three first year girls from the general studies course that were in front of Uraraka snickered as they stared at Urduja's head as they began to talk to each other, making sure they were loud enough so that she could hear them as she prepared their food.

"Ah damn, I don't know what I want to do with my hair this Sunday, so many hairstyles to choose for next week..."

One of the girls ran her fingers through her own long hair as she spoke, prompting Urduja to turn her backs to them just to chop some vegetables to hide her annoyed expression.

"You can pretty much style it anyway you want as long as it isn't too flashy, long hair is really versatile no matter the texture! I can't help but feel bad for people who don't have much hair on their heads, having the same look every day for months on end sounds pretty boring."

"Yeah that sounds like no fun but I guess some people like to have their hair like that, but what can ya do?"

Before she brought the girls their food, Urduja wiped away the tears that began to well up in her eyes with a clenched fist. She hated this, she wanted to disappear from the face of the earth and never be seen again.

When she inevitably had to face Uraraka, she gave her a defeated smile with glassy eyes.

"I guess this is what I get for being so terrible to everyone, and no I didn't shave my hair off, my dad did to punish me when he found out what I was doing here..."

She spoke as she handed the shorter girl her tray of food.

"I know apologies are useless at this point, but I'm sorry for everything I've done to you guys. On the bright side, I hope you guys have a good laugh about seeing me like this."

Ochako was glad she didn't have to serve food the same time as Urduja. While she wasn't looking forward to do this kind of work for seven days, not being around her was somewhat of a light in the time of darkness so to speak.

But eventually, she had to face her and she stood impatiently in line to get her lunch served.

That's when she heard some girls start to gossip, clearly making fun of Urduja and Ochako's brows furrowed. She just learnt recently that Urduja had her head shaved for a reason she didn't know and while she wasn't coming to her defense, hearing those girls gossip still made her feel annoyed. "Not everyone wants to go through the trouble of sitting in front of a mirror for hours on end and instead focus on studies," she muttered under her breath, wondering if the girls would have heard. But honestly, she didn't care really.

Finally, she was faced with the other girl as she handed her her tray of food and Ochako noticed that Urduja had been close to crying. Yet, she didn't say anything. She had also cried at the costume contest. Did she change? No! She'd always go back to making fun of everyone!

But what made her feel a slight bit sorry was when Urduja admitted that her father had shaved her head. "He did this?" she asked in slight disbelief. While she didn't approve of what her father did, deep down the heroine hoped that this would be a wake-up call for her. But she wasn't particularly hopeful.

And then, as usual, Urduja apologized but Ochako frowned, realizing that Aizawa probably expected her to apologize as well. "You're right about it being useless...but I guess Aizawa also told you to apologize to me, right?" She sighed for a moment before looking away from her. "I'll apologize once the seven days are over but don't think we'll be anything close to friends. I still need to see you really change!" she growled before moving away from her. It might sound hypocritical since Ochako was the one who started the fight but she wanted to learn not to let anger control her like that again - something she was sure Urduja wouldn't do!