Ritsuka felt a warm and wet sensation on his face.
The feeling reminded him a lot of when his auntie Sayaka's chihuahua got too close to his face.
"No, Chi-chan, no kissies."
"Fou."
The unfamiliar noise caused his eyes to shoot open, and his vision was met not by a tiny dog whose breath reeked of hot dog brine but instead by a blue rabbit-dog-squirrel?
"You're not Chi-chan."
The small animal huffed as if it was dismissive of being compared to his aunt's tiny dog, then leapt off his chest and sat next to his head.
Ritsuka got up from his prone position and immediately noticed his clothes were different.
Instead of his t-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops, he was now wearing a white coat with a stylish belt on his chest. He also saw a belt buckled over his pure white jacket. Ritsuka wasn't a fashion guy, but weren't belts supposed to go under jackets and shirts?
He quickly got over the odd designer choices of his outfit and took note of his surroundings.
He looked to his left, then right, and saw that the gray and white corridor was completely identical on both ends. Observing the windows, he was shocked to see a snowstorm raging outside.
He tried to rack his mind as to how he got here.
He was playing Minecraft with Chat.
Then someone knocked on his door, and he went to answer it.
That was a mistake, and now he was here.
Chaldea? Yeah, the Chaldea Security Organization—that's the name of the company that kidnapper said they belonged to.
He put a hand on his chin, closed his eyes, and strained himself in an effort to clear up the fog in his head.
Remember… Remember!
✦✧✦
Earlier in the day
Ritsuka stood on a hyperrealistic grassy field, but he was incapable of appreciating it as much as he would have due to the inexplicable feeling of jetlag that he felt at the moment.
He did his best to check his surroundings, and he concluded that he had no clue where he was.
"Your orders Master?"
He heard the voice of a young woman, rubbing his eyes to clear away the blurriness from his vision, he saw a young, blonde haired female knight in armor, next to her was a man in spandex holding a lance, his blue hair tied into a long, thin ponytail. Finally, there was a bishonen bowman, he smiled and waved at him.
The trio of what looked like heroes, combined with the fact that he was now on a plain in who knows where? It could only mean one thing.
He got isekaid into Fire Emblem.
Shit, he sucked at playing those games, yes he loved the story, worldbuilding and characters but still, there's a reason he played in casual mode. He hopes the ROB who placed him in this world didn't set the difficulty to Lunatic.
What's worse, he doesn't recognize these guys, so he couldn't rely on metaknowledge to carry him through the story.
He looked ahead of the trio of people and saw a massive, hulking figure made of literal solid rock. Its jagged spikes and edges combined with its piercing yellow eyes made for a rather intimidating presence.
That's not a bandit. Weren't Fire emblem stories supposed to start with routing bandits?!
Also, holy shit Geodude got a glow up, Bro looks like he started going to the gym and went from Geodude to just Dude!!
Maybe he was actually in isekaid into pokemon? Is that what the robot lady was saying when it called him a master?
"Master! Your orders!" The woman said, her voice laced with urgency. It was to be expected, the hulking Dude was charging straight at them!
Oh crap, he forgot what weapon was effective against what! Lances beat swords, swords beat axes? But that Rock Guy has no weapons equipped.
'What do I do?!!'
"Um, um… " He looked around in a panic before his eyes stopped as they fell upon the sword lady's beautiful gleaming sword.
Memories flooded his brain, childhood memories of him sitting on his couch, playing the game of a young fairy boy wielding a divine forged blade that could fire lasers.
Maybe it can do the same?
With the hulking berserker closing in, he made a decision.
"Sword lady! Use SWORDBEAM!"
The Sword lady looked utterly bewildered at his command but she quickly composed herself and started to charge up her attack. The blade was bathed in a golden light and particles of the same golden color danced around her form.
Holy shit he was right?!
Looking back towards the battlefield, his eyes widened with horror when he saw that the hulking Chad-Dude close the distance faster than he had expected.
With its built up momentum, it shoulder tackled the lancer guy.
His ears, even at this distance, caught the sound of bones snapping as the lancer guy was ragdolled into the stratosphere and land unceremoniously on his neck a few seconds later.
Ouch, that looked like it really hurt.
The rock man skid to a stop.
Then after holding his running pose for a second, it stood up and turned its head towards him.
Ritsuka saw ominous glowing pupils glaring at him, his body shook in fear as the giant in front of him reminded him of a certain armored titan just before they broke a wall.
Plink.
The bowman had not been idle as he shot an arrow towards the rock man. The arrow somehow managing to embed itself on solid rock like it was made of normal clay.
The rock man got into a running pose again and gunned it towards him.
The bowman retreated, peppering the rock man with arrows so much that it now looked like a pincushion.
"EXU…" He heard the sword lady say behind him and woah that is a huge sword of light!
Unlike him, thebowman saw the same awe inspiring scene before him with a look of sheer horror on his face and threw himself to the side-
"CALIBAHHH!!!"
A golden light slammed into the boulder from above, like the judgment of god, then after it hit its mark, it returned to the heavens as a towering pillar of light. It was so bright he had to squint his eyes.
When the light died down and Ritsuka blinked the spots from his eyes, all he saw was the archer guy, lying just a few feet from where the light beam carved the earth, holding his chest like he was having a heart attack. Meanwhile, lancer was lying on the ground, facedown and was disintegrating into what looked like fireflies?
He looked next to him and saw a trench.
He followed the trench and saw it ended in a crater, it looked like a street that led to a cul-de-sac.
There was nothing there, so safe to say that the roided up geodude has been vaporized. The Sword Lady, meanwhile was nodding to herself with a hint of pride in her hums. Her cute ahoge somehow defying the laws of nature and bouncing in place like a Spoink, completely ignoring the strong breeze that was still blowing as a result of her attack, The EXU-CALIBAH.
Ritsuka looked back towards the crater, then to the trench and shivered.
He had nearly suffered the same fate.
[WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR 180 SECONDS AS A MASTER IN OUR SIMULATION, YOUR APPLICATION PROCESS HAS BEEN COMPLETED. WELCOME ONCE MORE TO THE CHALDEA SECURITY ORGANIZATION, 48TH MASTER CANDIDATE, RITSUKA FUJIMARU. ]
✦✧✦
Back to the present
Hmm, nope.
No matter what he does, he can't remember much; all he recalls is that he was commanding people like Pokémon.
…
Wait.
Pokémon?
His chat!!
His chat must be so worried that he hasn't come back from the front door!!
Oh god, nevermind the stream, where was he, and what time was it?! He left his lights on; his light bill is going to be huge if he doesn't head back to turn them off.
That is, if someone doesn't walk into his house and steal his stuff.
Like his really expensive computer, God, he really hoped whoever kidnapped him was nice enough to at least close his door, or else—
Ritsuka's panic was cut short as he was startled by a screen popping up in front of his face. His eyes shot wide open when he saw a holographic Twitch chat floating in front of him.
And it was not just any Twitch chat; it was HIS Twitch chat.
[Electrical★Streamer_Iono(MOD): GUDAO!! YOU'RE ALIVE!! ♡⸜(˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶)⸝♡ ]
[He's alive!! ]
[PerfectlySaneHex: I thought I lost you, mon amour.]
[Praise be to Arceus, he's not dead!! ]
[KicksYouIntheFace193: Good. Now he can't use death as an excuse to not play Smash. ]
"Chat? Is that you?" He rubbed his eyes, believing himself still asleep. Yet when his eyes refocused, the screen was still there.
"How are you even like this? Do you guys know what happened? And how are you seeing me? Oh, wait, never mind." Ritsuka gawked at the translucent orb that had a camera icon etched in its center hovering near him.
After a moment of observation, he remembered that he had asked Chat some questions and that he shouldn't keep them waiting. He looked at the screen, and for a moment, he hesitated before he placed his thumb over the box and actually felt the cool sensation of glass. With the flick of his index finger, he scrolled through the responses in chat.
To summarize the events leading up to his awakening:
He was kidnapped and was taken somewhere far, far away; based on the weather outside, he was either in the far north or far south.
His Twitch chat is obviously not reliant on his computer camera anymore, as it now has a brand new 4k 60fps camera that has been recording his streams like a professional cameraman with years of experience. Or so his chat claims, given how much more cinematic the shots have been.
They also have no idea where he was, due to his stream abruptly getting cut off during his transport; at the same time, his end title card was replaced.
Apparently it said, "Don't worry, Gudao is not dead. He is just resting."
Which didn't bring comfort to any of them, and soon, the Pokémon world was in a state of panic as a consequence of last night's events. Everyone was anxious and worried about his safety.
For the first time since the big revelation that Pokémon were fictional in his world, his face was once again plastered all across the world after getting kidnapped live on stream.
Finally, his stream didn't come back online until two minutes ago, and he confirmed that he had no idea that this even happened.
[Lol, what's with that Aether Foundation getup? ]
[I was wondering that too. Its so bizzare to see you in anything but anime themed merch and stuff from the pokedollar store. ]
[PerfectlySaneHex: Well, I for one thinkyou look rather dashing in white, Gudao~ ]
Ritsuka blushed at Hex's compliment. "Thanks, Hex, though I have no idea where I got these from—"
"Fou?"
His musings came to a halt when he remembered there was an elephant in the room he had been ignoring. Or rather the blue cat/rabbit thing now sitting comfortably on his lap.
[Mighty1Oak: Who's that pokemon?!! ]
[It's-ALWAYS-Pikachu: IT'S PIKACHU!! ]
[Gible_Archeologist: Awwwww its so cute <3<3<3<3 ]
[JuniorResearcher: finally! Actual honest to science foreign pokemon!!! ]
[ShortShorts_QUEEN: Gudao, did you lie to us? You told us you had no pokemon in your world! Explain yourself! ]
[Electrical★Streamer_Iono(MOD): Top 10 anime betrayals. ]
[IliekQTthings: WHY WOULD YOU KEEP THIS ADORABLE BABY FROM US GUDAO?! WHY?!!!! ]
[KicksYouIntheFace193: Cute. ]
"Guys, it's not a Pokémon; it's a…" Wait. What even is this cute little guy?
[Yes?]
"Uhh… It's probably just an unidentified species of animal that science hasn't discovered yet."
[Bruh. ]
[Junior_Researcher: *Raises finger then puts it down* Huh. He's actually got a good point. ]
[MalasadaMayhem: @Junior_ResearcherOf coarse you of all people would think that wouldn't you?]
[ShortShorts_QUEEN: Stop trying to gaslight us Gudao. We know what a pokemon looks like when we see one! ]
Ritsuka gave Chat a look.
"You guys said the same thing when I showed you a platypus for the first time."
[ShortShorts_QUEEN: T-That was different!! ]
[Yeah! You can't blame us for thinking that thing was a 'Mon.It's a poisonous mammal that lays eggs! ]
"Come on, guys, if this little guy was a pokemon like you guys claim it is, then it would be saying its name."
"Fou?"
Oh, right. He forgot.
[SEE IT SPEAKS!! ]
[PsychicMoostache(MOD): Come now, Gudao, there's no shame in admitting you are wrong. ]
He wasn't ashamed about being wrong.
In truth, Ritsuka just didn't want to get his hopes up, only to later find out it was just a normal animal.
"Well, there's only one way to find out."
He offered the little guy his hand, an invitation for it to get comfortable with his scent.
The creature sniffed his hand, and to his surprise, it leaned into it. Safe to say that this guy actually liked him.
Then, he gently scooped the small animal with his hands and raised it to eye level. To anyone with experience handling animals or Pokémon, this action would have been seen as reckless, but the small animal didn't seem bothered by it.
The little thing cutely tilted its head, confused by the action rather than offended.
Ritsuka leaned in closer to the colorful animal and asked, "Can you understand me, little buddy? Nod your head once if you can."
The "Fou," as it called itself, just stared at Ritsuka unblinkingly. This went on for what felt like hours, and at some point he wasn't sure if the creature was messing with him or if he was making himself look like an idiot for trying to talk to a blue, unidentified animal in hopes that it would be a real-life Pokémon.
Maybe it was both.
His jaw hung open when the creature responded with a nod, confirming chat's suspicions.
[SEE!! WE TOLD YOU.]
[You shouldn't underestimate our ability to identify unidentified pokemon Gudao. ]
Chat continued to brag about getting one over on him, but Ritsuka didn't care. He wanted to deny it, but the facts all point towards this 'Fou' being a pokemon.
"Huh. Well, what do you know, Pokémon are real here too."
The "Pokémon" seemed to frown at his statement and viciously attacked him with its soft paws.
Heh. That tickles.
He put the little guy down, and while he had stopped his onslaught, he still looked rather annoyed at him. To appease the creature, Ritsuka reached over and scratched the back of its ears. The small creature leaned into his hands, eagerly enjoying the scritchies he was giving it.
[Electrical★Streamer_Iono(MOD): D'aaaw ♡ ]
[__Red__: ... :Ash's Pikachu cheek rub emote: ]
[You know… on second glance, it kinda reminds me of an eevee. ]
[Ecruteak_Gal: Oh my Ho-oh, You're right!! The ears, the body shape, it just SCREAMS eevee!! o(≧ᗜ≦)o ]
[Mighty1Oak: This is a truly groundbreaking discovery! A possible convergent evolution that looks like an Eevee!! o(≧ᗜ≦)o ]
[I wonder what type it is. ]
"Fou is not a Pokémon."
Suddenly, an angelic voice brought his scritchies to an abrupt end, much to Fou's displeasure.
Ritsuka turned to the voice, and he caught sight of something rather amazing.
'Woah...'
For a moment, he had looked up from his lower vantage point and was able to take a glimpse at Nirvana. He saw a daring set of black lace panties, completely visible through the semi-transparent black stockings.
Ritsuka had never seen a sight like this before.
He was actually a bit mesmerized for a while before he realized he was being a perv. He abruptly stood up and looked away in shame. His beating heart was flooding his cheeks with blood, uncaring for his attempts to relax himself.
'She didn't notice... did she?'
He didn't have the heart to look at her, so he decided to pay attention to something else to ease his anxiety.
However, this proved to be a mistake as he stared at the comments in front of him in horror.
[PsychicMoostache(MOD): I'm disappointed in you, Gudao. ]
[Pervert. ]
[ShortShorts_QUEEN: seriously Gudao?! You just met her. You should at least invite a lady for dinner before you start gawking under her skirt you perv. (ꐦ¬_¬) ]
[MalasadaMayhem: Damn, Cameraman is putting in work with these shots. ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧ ]
[You lucky bastard. ]
[PerfectlySaneHex: (≖_≖ ) ]
Crap, he just acted like a creep in front of... 50,000 people?!!
He hasn't had an audience this huge since he revealed Pokémon was fiction in his world or when he was doing Pokémon-related streams.
"Senpai? Are you okay?"
He barely had time to gather his thoughts, and so his monkey brain went on overdrive and took over control of his mouth.
He decided that he preferred talking to the girl he just ogled rather than the thousands of people calling him a pervert.
"Ah. I'm okay, I—" Ritsuka paused when he saw the cute girl with lilac hair. She wore a black shirt with a skirt underneath a gray hoodie.
Her glasses added to her charm, but the same couldn't be said about her lavender eyes. They looked despondent, almost lifeless and lacking hope.
What has this girl gone through?
[ShortShorts_QUEEN: Gudao. You're staring again. ಠ_ಠ) ]
[Dear me, did we just witness a real-life example of love at first sight?! ]
[MalasadaMayhem: Damn. Gudao is down bad. ]
[Gible_Archeologist: Gudao… ]
[Electrical★Streamer_Iono(MOD): TᴖT our little Gudao has finally grown up. ]
[PerfectlySaneHex: IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME! NOT HER! IT'S NOT FAIR!!! (˃̣̣̥ᯅ˂̣̣̥) ]
"Erm, uh, so why did you call me senpai? Usually that's a term reserved for someone with more experience than you in a school or workplace setting. And as far as I know, I just barely got here."
"Oh, you shouldn't worry about that. Everyone in Chaldea is my senpai."
"That's weird; you don't look much older than me. If anything, I should be calling you senpai since I just joined."
The girl frowned at his statement, "No. Age doesn't matter. Everyone is my senpai."
Ritsuka furrowed his brows as his mind tried to understand the bizarre statement the weird but pretty girl in front of him made.
Suddenly, he felt a cold breeze blow in from his left.
Turning his head, he could see his chat moving at a pace that was hard for his eyes to follow.
Wait, why are people spamming the Officer Jenny and Hypno emotes?
Oh.
Oh no.
He needed to put a lid on that grease fire before it caught the ceiling on fire, FAST.
"By the way, how old are you?"
'You fucking idiot!'
Ritsuka could see chat was now scrolling at an accelerating pace the longer this awkward conversation kept dragging on. Fuck, what did he do to deserve this?
The girl seemed taken aback by his blunt question, but that was replaced by a cute frown and one of her cheeks puffing out.
"You know, senpai, it's not very nice to ask a lady her age." He has no idea how, but this girl had managed to replicate the same look his mom gave him whenever she caught him doing, or in this case saying, something stupid.
This familiarity activated his neurons, which forced his body to go into autopilot. His knees gave out, and in one smooth, swift motion, he slammed his forehead to the ground as his body moved into a seiza position.
"I-I'm really sorry!"
The girl seemed to be caught off guard again, as she let out a cute "whah" at Ritsuka's dramatic display.
"Please raise your head, senpai! You don't have to apologize so profusely over a simple question. I-I wasn't being serious!"
The older teen, feeling embarrassed for his display, got back up from his seiza position.
"Sorry about that. I went too far."
"Ah, it's ok. I don't mind. But if you really want to know my age, then for the record, I'm 18."
'Oh, thank God!!'
[Phew, Gudao just dodged the Hypno allegations.]
[GroundHippowdon: I believe all of us just did.]
[Heart-of-Gold: Phew.]
[Phew] x10
[ShortShorts_QUEEN: raises eyebrow Yeah, keep telling yourselves that, you weirdos.
Ritsuka, after going through a rollercoaster of emotions, decided to try and change the subject before it got any more awkward. "Oh, by the way, you said Fou was not a Pokémon, so do you happen to know what he is?"
At his mention of Fou, the girl's eyes lit up slightly. "Ah, he is a special Beast who has received the privilege to roam Chaldea as he pleases."
[IliekQTthings: That's a mouthful, and it's also not very cute.]
[Malasada Mayhem: Look, lady, it looks like a Pokémon, and it sounds like a Pokémon. It even behaves like a Pokémon. I'm calling it a Pokémon!
[IronMunchkin: Ah, so he's like my mom's Meowth. He likes to take naps EVERYWHERE, and it's ALWAYS in the most inconvenient places. Like my favorite spot on the couch, my bed, or even my keyboard.
And nothing short of Arceus themselves descending from the heavens can make him budge from his spot.
[Frisky1ntheFlowers: you people are mad! That's no Pokemon! That's the most cruel and foul-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on!!!
[IliekQTthings: @Frisky1ntheFlowers STFU 凸ಠ益ಠ)凸 ]
[SeeDotbyTheSea: What is with that username lol?]
The small creature, without warning, gracefully leaped and jumped onto Ritsuka's shoulder and immediately chose violence. He felt the animal's soft paws softly swiping at his cheek.
Ritsuka got the message and continued to scratch the back of his ears.
[Frisky1ntheFlowers: Look!! I warned you! That beast has a vicious streak a mile wide! It's a Killer!
[Frisky1ntheFlowers has been timed out by Electrical★Streamer_Iono (MOD) for 1 hour.]
[IliekQTthings: lol. Get wrecked, loser.
[Electrical★Streamer_Iono(MOD): New chat rule! No Fou Slander! (◣_◢) ]
"That's… Fou has never done that with anyone before."
"Do people here not like petting small, cute animals?" If that was the case, then the people working here are colder than the literal snow desert outside.
"No. What I mean is, Fou doesn't go up to people and ask them to touch him, quite the opposite, he avoids everyone aside from me, and now you." The girl smiled at that last statement of hers, confusing Ritsuka.
"Congratulations, senpai, you are officially the second caretaker of Fou."
[PsychicMoostache(MOD): My, my, big shoes to fill. Be sure not to disappoint your new crush, my friend. (≖⩊≖)]
Ritsuka felt a shift in the weight on his shoulder and noticed Fou had jumped down from his shoulder and was now on the ground. He watched as it ran down the corridor. The girl sighed seeing the little Not-Pokémon run away from them.
"There he goes again, off to wander where he pleases."
[Gible_Archeologist: No, wait! Come back! (˃̣̣̥ᯅ˂̣̣̥)
[ShortShorts_QUEEN: (˃̣̣̥ᯅ˂̣̣̥) I want a Fou of my own so bad! (˃̣̣̥ᯅ˂̣̣̥)]
[Electrical★Streamer_Iono(MOD): uuuuuuuuuwooooooh, me too! I don't care if it's an electric type or not, I just want him! (˃̣̣̥ᯅ˂̣̣̥)
[Ecruteak_Gal: A soilless Diglett. Given a chance to roam free. Sealed forevermore (╥‸╥).
"What a strange creature Fou is." Ritsuka looked at the strange girl.
"By the way, what is your name?"
"Ah. I don't have a name, or rather, I don't have a name that's worth remembering."
Ritsuka didn't seem to know how to respond to that. The girl seemed to catch what he meant and just looked down in shame.
"Sorry. Mash. My name is Mash Kiryelight. Nice to meet you, senpai."
"Nice to meet you, my name is—" Before Ritsuka can introduce himself, he is interrupted by the voice of a strange man.
"Ah, Mash. There you are."
Both heads turn to look at a man in a green suit and top hat.
[Top-Hat-PSY: Well, it's nice to FINALLY see someone with great fashion taste for once. While I would never be able to pull off green, he's definitely rocking that outfit! 10/10 ✧ദ്ദി( ˶^ᗜ^˶ ) ]
"The director is waiting for us to be at the control room. You know how upset she can get about lack of punctuality."
"Ah, sorry. Fou found someone and led me to them."
The mysterious man turned to Ritsuka and hummed.
"Who could you be?"
Ritsuka was about to introduce himself but the man didn't pay attention to him as he looked down at his wrist and pushed a few buttons from a holographic keyboard projected from his wristband.
So it seems like his floating chat box wasn't as special as he thought it was.
Another hologram emerged, this one showing what looked like an identification card.
"Ah, Master Candidate #48. Ritsuka Fujimaru, one of the public applicants. A third-generation Japanese American born in the United States of america. No magus lineage whatsoever… "
[The-Undefeatable: Did—did that guy just doxx Gudao? ]
[MalasadaMayhem: Name reveal, LET'S GO! Now tell us his banking account information, funny hat man! ]
[GroundHippowdon: Bro, you ain't gonna find any cash there. Gudao or rather Ritsuka is poor as dirt. ]
[MalasadaMayhem: I know. I just want to wire money to him. He really needs it. ]
[JigglyWiggly: Its not gonna work. We've never been able to send money to Gudao. ]
[MalasadaMayhem: I know, but its the thought that counts :> ]
[PsychicMoostache(MOD): … what in the name of Arceus is that thing?!!! Σ(O_O) ]
[Gible_Archeologist : ??? ]
[Electrical★Streamer_Iono(MOD): @PsychicMoostache(MOD) U good? ]
"Ah. Forgive my rudeness. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Lev Lainur, and I am an assistant to the director of sorts. Nice to meet you." Lev extended a hand in greeting towards him.
"Nice to meet you as well."
Ritsuka shook the eccentric-looking man's hand with a firm grip.
"Hmm?" For some reason, the man's ever-present jovial smile was gone.
His eyes, which had been closed the whole time he had talked to him, suddenly opened to reveal cold, brown pupils focused to his left.
Ritsuka furrowed his brows, wondering why Lev got serious and scary all of a sudden.
Ritsuka followed his gaze.
It was chat's camera.
"Is something the matter, Mr. Lev?" Mash, seeing Lev abruptly stop talking, interjected with a question towards the man.
The man's smile returned, though it looked more like a smirk.
"No. It was just my imagination."
Wait, he can't see it?
Actually, now that he thought about it, Mash hasn't brought up the giant floating glass ball either. Or his chatbox.
Which means…
The sound of an alarm went off, cutting off Ritsuka's train of thought.
Lev looked at his watch and winced. "Oh dear, we must be going now or else the director will really be in a foul mood. Please join us Mr. Fujimaru; we can talk as we walk."
The man walked ahead; he and Mash glanced at each other before they followed after him.
✦✧✦
Ritsuka, Mash, and Lev were walking through the corridors of Chaldea on their way towards the control room for the debriefing.
On the way, Gudao explained how he arrived at Chaldea, much to Lev and Mash's shock and horror.
"How peculiar. Our agents aren't usually that… violent when they are sent to retrieve our public applicants," Lev sounded apologetic, but Mash looked genuinely upset.
"Retrieve?! Senpai was assaulted and kidnapped from his home! That's not something you can make light of, Mr. Lev!"
Lev actually stopped and made a pleading gesture of apology. "You're right. I'm terribly sorry we kidnapped you, Mr. Fujimaru!"
[JigglyWiggly: that's right You tell him Gurl!! ]
[HippityHoppip650: Shame him some more!! ]
[ShortShorts_QUEEN: wait, why is Gudao even following them like nothing happened?! He has every right to demand they send him home for abducting him and then sue them for their unlawful hiring practices! ]
"Ah, it's ok. It's all in the past." Ritsuka told them without a hint of anger in his voice.
[ShortShorts_QUEEN: EXCUSE YOU?!!! ]
[ :shock emote ] × 100
[ :animated huh meowth emote:] ×1000
[MalasadaMayhem: hold on! Let him cook. ]
The duo looked perplexed by his answer, so he decided to clarify.
"I mean, sure, at the moment it was scary and stuff, but I'm still alive. You guys clearly had an urgent need for my help, and you couldn't wait for the morning. And seeing as how I'm now in Antarctica of all places, I might as well just stick around and see what you guys have to offer."
The duo stared at him in surprise, completely caught off guard by how blasé Ritsuka was after being kidnapped.
[MalasadaMayhem: facepalmI'm revoking your cooking license Gudao. ]
[ :facepalm emote ] x1000
[ShortShorts_QUEEN: You know what? I give up! Give me back my feelings of worry you stupid dunderhead! ]
[:nodding emote x1000]
"Ah, but I would appreciate it if you had someone go confirm the state of my house. I didn't really have time to close the door before I got here, and I don't want to return to an empty, ransacked home."
What Lev did actually pissed him off a little. He laughed.
"Please take this seriously; I have a few expensive items in that house I don't want to find stolen."
"I apologize, Mr. Fujimaru; I was not laughing at your request. I was merely surprised and amused by your reaction. Rest assured, I will make sure to have a word with the American branch of our organization. You will find everything as you left it when you return."
"Well, in any case, we have arrived. Please follow me."
Ritsuka and his group had arrived in front of a door that had a very fancy letter "C" etched on its surface. The sliding doors opened, revealing a fancy, futuristic elevator. Its furthermost wall was made entirely of glass, so Ritsuka could clearly see the interior mechanisms that would normally be invisible on a normal elevator.
Ritsuka followed Lev and Mash towards the elevator, and the group of three went to the lower floor. Mash and Lev were having a private conversation, so he decided to tune them out as he browsed chat.
[GudakoBot: Stream goal reached! Discrete chat has been UNLOCKED! ]
[Nice. ]
[Ooh, I wonder what discrete chat means. ]
[One on one private messaging with Gudao perhaps? ]
[Twitch already has that. ]
[Aw man, I wanted a new emote. ]
[Forget the emotes. Gudao, Aren't you worried about your fam bro?]
[His PC is his family too.]
[Gudao: I really want to type something into chat, but it seems Mash and Lev can't see chat and the camera. I don't want them to think I'm a lunatic.]
[Gudao:And my parents… meh I'll call them later. If anything, they would be glad I actually got a job for once. ]
[Uh… ]
[Gudao: Wait, I didn't type that into chat… so why is it showing up here?! ]
"Is something the matter, Senpai?" Mash asked with concern on her face.
"Sorry, it was nothing."
Mash didn't seem to believe him, but since she didn't know him very well, she didn't press him for more answers.
[Dude. How did you do that? ]
[Gudao: Dunno. I just… thought about it and now my thoughts are comments. ]
[Bro. That's freaking scary.]
[Mighty1Oak: Gudao, I know you are having an episode right now, but I would advise you notify your university of your absence as soon as possible to avoid any black marks on your record. ]
[Gudao: Oh. University… I completely forgot about that… right, kind of like how I forgot Mighty1Oak was Professor Oak. Of coarse he'd care deeply about education. ]
[Mighty1Oak: I would make for a poor pokemon researcher if I didn't. ]
[Gudao: wait, how did you- oh right… mind reading… chatting… thing… ]
Ritsuka rubbed his eyes, which felt like they were starting to weigh heavier the longer time passed.
[U ok? ]
[@PsychicMoostache(MOD), we could use some psychic expertise here.]
[Speaking of Moostache, where is he? Did he go afk? ]
[idk. ]
Ritsuka yawned, his body still struggling to stay on his two feet after last night's event.
[Gudao: ugh… how do I turn this off?! This is getting annoying!! ]
[GudakoBot: Disable Discrete chat? Think or say: YES / NO. ]
[Gudao: YES. ]
Ritsuka said a few safe thoughts in his head to ensure this annoying feature was truly gone. To his relief, it was.
It was around this time when the elevator shaft disappeared, catching Ritsuka's attention.
He couldn't help but get closer to the glass wall and stare at the huge, blue room filled with giant, futuristic-looking constructs in front of him.
Reaching the bottom, Ritsuka followed after his temporary companions out of the elevator and towards another door, one similar to the one he saw earlier, but much larger.
The doors slid open, and the first thing that caught his eye was the rather complicated-looking globe with rings orbiting around it. In front of the construct was a large gathering of people sitting in fancy chairs that reminded him of a university classroom.
Lev directed him to sit in the back row, as all the seats were currently occupied by 47 other people, the other "Master Candidates," as Lev and Mash called them. He felt a little nervous seeing the entire room of people sending annoyed glares towards him.
The most intense glare, by far, was coming from a beautiful, white-haired young woman standing front and center of the assembled masters.
Her golden-amber eyes were boring holes in him, clearly offended that he had arrived late.
[GroundHippowdon: Well hello there. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ]
[IliekQTthings: Cute Girl detected!!]
[Electrical★Streamer_Iono(MOD): Another potential love rival for @PerfectlySaneHex?!! ]
[PerfectlySaneHex: Ugh, I hope not… (¬`‸´¬) ]
The young woman's eyes shifted towards Lev and softened a bit. That only lasted for a moment as she refocused her attention back towards him.
"From now on. If I see any of you arrive late, I'll lock you outside and have security throw you into the ice and snow with the penguins."
Though it sounded like she was informing the whole group, in truth, it was a message meant solely for him. He nervously shook nodded in understanding.
The woman huffed dismissively before she returned to address the rest of the room.
"I am the director. Olga Marie Animusphere. Welcome to the Chaldea Security Organization."
"Before I begin the debriefing, I know some of you enjoyed taking advantage of what little status your family back in the Clocktower before arriving here. Some of you are likely excited to find out you are one of the Fourty-Eight special "chosen ones" that stand over the billions of other humans on this planet to become a master candidate.
Some of you may think that fact will give you authority to throw your weight around.
I am here to tell you that is not the case.
Chaldea is my lineage. My workshop.
And most importantly, it means that despite my young age and whatever abilities I do or don't have, I am in charge.
You are all tools. Precious tools, but tools nonetheless. And your purpose is to preserve and ensure humanity's survival."
The masters in the room erupted in whispers, a few concerned about being referred to as tools while others were incredulous at the audacity of her dehumanizing statement.
"Silence!"
The room quieted down.
"While it's true we need every precious master we can get our hands on, that doesn't mean we will take everyone.
If you have a problem with keeping your head down and following orders, you are more than welcome to leave, otherwise, my word is absolute. Insubordination will NOT be tolerated if you step out of line, master candidate rarity be damned."
[ShortShorts_QUEEN:Geez, what a bitch.]
[Mighty1Oak: While the lass's words are harsh, I can understand why she would say these things.
It must be hard to be the leader of an organization with a goal as ambitious as preserving humanity's future. So we should not judge a book by her, admittedly very rough, cover. ]
[:Nods in approval emote :] x100
[ShortShorts_QUEEN: I still don't like her. ]
[JigglyWiggly: uh guys, Gudao is nodding off. ]
[Junior_Researcher: Of course he is. ]
[Ranger75: Uh oh. Maybe she won't notice? ]
Gold eyes stared at the sleeping figure of Ritsuka in incredulity.
[Ranger75: Nvm, she zeroed in right away ]
Olga Marie was by Ritsuka's side in a heartbeat.
She loomed over him, her fingers moving with fury over her holographic keyboard on her wristband. Her frown deepened with disdain as she reviewed his information presented over the holographic display.
"Of course it had to be a public applicant," She glared at the peaceful, soft snores coming from Ritsuka.
Hearing him snore with a peaceful smile on his face made a visible vein appear on her temple. Unclenching her fist, she raised her arm as high as she could, then using every bit of her non-enhanced strength….
SMACK
She slapped him across the face with enough force that it echoed across the entire room.
Ritsuka abruptly woke up, his face marred by a red mark that matched the director's dainty but perfectly manicured hand.
"Agh! What?! Who?! Where?!"
[El_Kukui: whistles that wake up slap was super effective. ]
[SeeDotbyTheSea: Bruh, look at Gudao's face lol. ]
[MalasadaMayhem: Gudao's face looks like that of a man who got caught cheating on his wife with another woman. ]
[The-Undefeatable: Ouch. I felt that. No seriously, my cheek is tingling rn. ]
[ShortShorts_QUEEN: Geez, was that slap really necessary?! ]
[KicksYouIntheFace193: Slapping someone is the fastest way to get them awake. I should know, I own a Machamp. ]
[PerfectlySaneHex: ( ◺˰◿ ) ]
"Kyrielight. Get this peasant out of my sight."
The disdain in her voice when she said 'peasant' was palpable.
[ShortShorts_QUEEN: And she's a classist too. Why am I not surprised? (◔_◔) ]
"Y-yes, director."
Mash looked at him with sympathy clearly visible on her face. "Come on, senpai."
Ritsuka stood up from his seat and followed his self-appointed kohai outside the room.
✦✧✦
Kalos region
A dark silhouette of a young woman sat alone inside a dark room.
The harsh glow of a computer screen was the only light source illuminating the place.
The woman's hair was disheveled and was so long it could easily reach the back of her knees if she stood up.
In her arms she held a large, homemade plushie of Gudao, one she painstakingly made by hand and with love.
She was currently hugging the thing so tight to her ample chest that if it was alive, it would have suffocated due to its head being engulfed in her cleavage.
Her sunken eyes were currently filled with rage as she saw Gudao, her Gudao, hanging around another girl.
A pretty girl who wasn't her.
The flash of excitement she felt when the girl revealed that the supernatural world was a very real thing in Gudao's world wasn't enough to distract her from her burning feelings of jealousy.
Her gut twisted in envy when the screen focused on the light-colored-haired girl who had captivated her Gudao so.
Twirling a lock of her own hair, she stared at it in contemplation. Does Gudao prefer girls with short hair?
The sound of an automatic door sliding open brought her attention back to her beloved.
Her jaw slackened open in shock when she saw a fluffy, ponytail-haired man, slightly bent over in front of her screen.
The man stopped, his pants mid-leg, and stared at Gudao in horror. It was a small mercy that most of his butt was covered by the long coat he wore.
What the heck did that hussy lead Gudao into?