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ｏｎｅ。 ａｕｄｉｏ。
[ There are a few slight moments of silence - perhaps, if you listen closely enough, you can hear some slight sounds of nature from the forest's edge in the background - before a girl speaks up with a quite deadpan (and calm, considering the situation) tone. ]
Am I being reduced to this again this soon already? I really must be popular with all of you witches. So, which one of you do I have the honor of dealing with this time? Bernkastel again, or even that Featherine witch? ... Either way, you can come out and start laughing now. If you're looking for your cue, this is it.
[ She pauses for a moment, as if she actually does expect someone to pop up. But when it doesn't happen, she just continues talking. ]
It's pretty inconsiderate to let someone waiting after dragging them in, you know. Although I guess I should expect as much from the lot of you.
And what's up with these wings? 'Sure, let's give her pink wings this time just to see the look on her face, ahahaha' or whatever, right? I'm not laughing, but surely you predicted as much.
... Any normal person would start to think I'm going insane by now, like I'm talking to myself. Ah.. it's useless, it's all useless. Does anyone who's not me feel like speaking up already?
Am I being reduced to this again this soon already? I really must be popular with all of you witches. So, which one of you do I have the honor of dealing with this time? Bernkastel again, or even that Featherine witch? ... Either way, you can come out and start laughing now. If you're looking for your cue, this is it.
[ She pauses for a moment, as if she actually does expect someone to pop up. But when it doesn't happen, she just continues talking. ]
It's pretty inconsiderate to let someone waiting after dragging them in, you know. Although I guess I should expect as much from the lot of you.
And what's up with these wings? 'Sure, let's give her pink wings this time just to see the look on her face, ahahaha' or whatever, right? I'm not laughing, but surely you predicted as much.
... Any normal person would start to think I'm going insane by now, like I'm talking to myself. Ah.. it's useless, it's all useless. Does anyone who's not me feel like speaking up already?
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... You know, I could be pretty awful and make a lame and corny about all women being angels. But I think I'll do a twist and go for the option to say that there are many types of angels and not all of them have to be cheerful balls of joy and smiles.
[Don't worry Ange, lately Keiichi seems to have the effect of making people be comfortable with him after just meeting him for a few minutes. He's not even trying to be so, though of course he wants them to be comfortable in Luceti but not specifically with him.
Anyway he doesn't want to go deeper into this subject either, just because you know Bernkastel it doesn't mean you hold the same level of knowledge than she does. In fact it's pretty clear by now that it's not the case, even if Ange may know about boards and pieces, that's yet to be determined, she knows nothing about Keiichi or hides it well. Thus there's no reason to go further in that path as things are now.]
It really sounds like that, right? I suppose everyone has a philosophic moment at least once in their lives, don't you?
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[ That being said, when she thinks about it it's pretty strange that she was sitting next to him in the car only a little while ago and now suddenly found herself here. Here, a place that seemed so infinitely far away from her own world.
And.. well, it's pretty easy to talk to Keiichi. So far Ange doesn't find him having quite the same obnoxious sense of jokes as Amakusa or even her older brother tend to have, plus he's able to carry a decent conversation. Maybe it's why she started rambling so much. ]
I've had enough philosophic moments in the past few-- [ She pauses. How much time had passed anyway since she met Bernkastel on that rooftop? Days, weeks, months? She wasn't able to tell. ] -- in the past while to last me a lifetime, to be honest. I'd be happy if I could finally stop about it for once.
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[He tries to know when to do it, but he still fails at times. He can't help it, a hundred of gameboards aren't enough to change the instinctive fail inside of him.]
Well, there's a lot of philosophy going around in Luceti, but I like to think that you can still keep yourself apart from it, so you should be able to get a rest of it for a while. For example, the school doesn't have a philosophy class, though I don't know if it's because how the school is structured or because no one has bothered to try to teach it.
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... School? [ There's a 'heh', but it sounds more.. bitter than actually amused. ] I was glad I was finally able to get out of school back home. It's another thing that's on my list of 'things I've had enough of for a lifetime'. St. Lucia's wasn't exactly welcoming.
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Okay, I know I can get pretty lame but I think that one is too much. Not to mention that it's a bad scenery to bring out. In that aspect I would prefer the one that goes 'Were your parents pastry cooks? Because a bonbon like you must have been made by professionals'. I mean, thieves against pasty cooks? I find the later a much better job to be attributed to a girl's parents.
[Keiichi smiles a bit at her reaction, it's a sympathetic smile though.]
I think I know how you feel. My first school wasn't bad per say, but it coupled with cram schools and all felt very pressuring and bad. I left it thinking I had had enough for the rest of my life and didn't care if I ended being considered an illiterate. But the school here is totally different from whatever you're used to, I swear it. To begin with you can just attend to the lessons you want to, the professors just ask you to say which classes you will attend to keep a bit of order with lists and people coming and going, but nothing else. And there are lessons that aren't in the schools back at our worlds, like 'World Sharing' or 'Filial Magic'.
You should give it a chance later on once you're all settled in and bored by the lack of things to do.
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[ She might actually be slightly teasing on that one, for once.. just covered with a few sprinkles of deadpan. ]
I might give it a chance somewhere along the road, but right now I doubt it. There are still plenty of things I want to see in this place and perhaps gather some more useful knowledge as well, so boredom probably won't be a big deal. If anything, I can go and play poker or whatever with my older brother if it comes down to the worst case scenario.
... Besides, I'm not really interested in learning most things unless they are useful for what I'm working towards.
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[Deadpan or not, Keiichi isn't one to be offended easily like that. Besides even if she's serious, she has yet to close the journal on him so it can't be that bad if she's willing to keep talking with him, right?]
If it's knowledge that you want, World Sharing may still be a good lesson to attend. People talk about their worlds, some aren't very special but others have quite interesting things. Then again you probably can gather that information if you just ask people directly.
[And there are a lot of things people don't share in that class after all, but may be more willing to share privately if given enough time.]
The library here is pretty decent either way, it has books from every world represented in this place, so you can get tons of information there. And if it's games that you want you can give me a call, I know many games that would kill boredom easily that us three could play. But don't call me unless you're willing to play as if your life was in the stake, I don't play easy games.
[He could ask about what she's working towards, but he won't. Not today at least.]
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... Huh. Sounds like there are quite some options here.. Class was never really my thing though, so I might just hit up the library eventually instead and see what I can find there. It sounds like we're in for quite a stay here either way, right?
You're that serious about games? I don't particularly mind, but you might want to go easy on my older brother. He might cry if you make him lose too many times. [ SHE CAN MAKE FUN OF BATTLER AT TIMES TOO OKAY.. ]
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[So dramatic.]
The only thing left for me is to be stuck with those lame lines and never get my son, if I have any, to the secret society to learn them. Though then he may be lead to a life of social rejection and shame.
Maybe girls should start their own secret society and learn good lines to pick up guys. You know, take the lead and all that. After all no man that's worth that noun would punch a girl no matter how bad the line was.
I have to admit that Luceti has many options in that aspect. Learning about other worlds? All you want. You can even get information about your own world that you wouldn't be able to get otherwise back there, I know this personally. So long as it's not the world of Luceti which you want to investigate, that is.
[He laughs at that, poor Battler, his own little sister making fun of him. Then again that's the prize of being an older brother.]
Oh, don't worry about that. I'm very serious about games, and I'm pretty confident in my skills, but who knows, maybe it will be your brother the one making me cry. Either way he may end crying even with just losing once, depends on his endurance to being dressed as a maid if he has to suffer a penalty game for losing.
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And I guess girls just don't have as much interest in those sort of things as guys have. Or.. well, I don't, at the very least. I can't say I'm exactly the representative of your average girl. I never would have had much use for them either way at an all-girls' school.
[ The next part actually makes her a bit more serious, because.. she already realises that much. ] ... Yeah, Bernkastel knows more about my own world and the future. But.. I doubt I can really trust or rely on any information she gives me. It could always be a lie either way. And I doubt she'd be willing to share it in the first place unless it's through a lie.
You have maid outfit punishment games? [ what is this she doesn't even.. ] If you put onii-chan into an outfit like that, he'd probably be crying and yelling that it's all useless in no time.
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[Awkward laugh here. It's a difficult topic actually, he supports Haruhi and Winry, just as he has some sort of liking to Grell. But deep inside he can't help to be at times uncomfortable with those things, a man who dresses femininely on purpose and acts like a woman and addresses himself as a woman, and two girls in love together... He doesn't judge, he doesn't want to judge, not in Japan neither in Luceti, so he tries to avoid the topic. If he doesn't talk about it he doesn't have to think or confront it, right? Just as if he keeps joking about it he won't be too bothered by those jokes about Minato and himself.
So he forfeits that subject and focuses in the next one.]
No, I think you're wrong there, though you probably know her better than me. But from what I've seen and experienced, Bernkastel doesn't lie, what she does, though, is to twist the truth, keep parts of it for herself and word it in a way that people can end believing something else. But in the time I've known her, she hasn't lied, not even once. Yet she has hidden the truth and twisted words countless times. Not that I defend her, hiding things and wording them so people are confused isn't much better than lying, but it's still not a lie.
[He can't help it, she hasn't lied. She never claimed to not contact Takano, she just never mentioned it or admitted it, she never claimed to be his ally either, on the contrary the reason why Keiichi was wary of her was because he was pretty sure she wasn't. She didn't even lie to Takano back then, she said exactly what Keiichi had told her before that he would do, the lie had been born in him, not in Bernkastel.]
The maid outfit punishment game is actually one of the tamest ones. I've worse things, and I have had to wear some of them at one point or another due losing games.Though I'm not sure if that would serve of some comfort for your brother.
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I don't think we need to discuss the more subtle nuances about that witch. You can call it lying if you want, or hiding the truth or twisting words or whatever sort of name you want to give to it, but it doesn't change anything about what she is. I fell for her sly words once, but I won't do it again. [ Or so Ange thinks.. ] I've had enough of Bernkastel messing with me or my family by now. Or any other witch, for that matter.
You're right, it would most likely just make it worse on him. He's pretty competitive, so he might just decide to jump into the whole idea of a game once it's proposed to him, but at a certain point he might just yell 'useless, it's all useless' and end up with a punishment game. ... I'm pretty sure he would give it his all, though.
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That's right, the way we call it doesn't change the way things are. 'What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet'. Or in this case 'The words of a witch, by any given name would be all deceiving'.
If you really want to avoid falling for them again, your best option would be the avoid or ignore her as much as possible in this place. You may need a lot of luck though, the village isn't that big.
So long as he gives it his all, ending with a punishment game shouldn't be a shame. Games require a lot of talent, true, but there's also a bit of luck involved and not everyone can 'not lose', so someone has to end dressed as the maid. But so long as they all tried their best and respected each other, the game and the punishment will be equally fun, and there'll always be another day to play another game. Would you give it your all, as well, Ange?
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[ She pauses for a slight moment, as if thinking about something. ]
My plan so far is staying away from her as much as possible though. If she doesn't bother me or my older brother, I have no reason to bother her. Unfortunately she often seems to find me too interesting to stay away from, even at the most inappropriate times. [ re: I'M GOING TO JUMP OFF A SKYSCRAPER-- oh hi, Bernkastel. ]
... Sort of. Once there's something I find working hard for worth, I'd give it my all. I'm not sure if that would exactly apply to games like that as well, though.. I have no reason to play games at all, honestly. I guess Battler onii-chan and I are different in that sense.
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[He can't help but chuckle without humor at that.]
It certainly is a problem when only one person wants to avoid the other. But with so many people here maybe you'll be lucky and she may find someone else even more interesting than you. Don't take offense, but I think we both know that it's better if she finds someone boring rather than interesting.
[Mostly because at least she doesn't seem to go around destroying boring things. Or so it seems, if she does then they are screwed either way.]
I could give you a lecture on how it's good to loosen up at times, but now isn't the moment for it anyway. Still, it would be fun if you were to join a game, just for fun. I'm sure you would be a formidable opponent no matter which game is picked.
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If you'd ask me, I'd prefer him to just stay away. Weird screwed up love antics like in that play are the last thing I need right now. Although I guess it's still more favorable than any of his more tragic plays, I've already seen enough of that by now.
No, I get what you're saying. Given the choice I'd much prefer to be found boring by her. It's nothing but a nuisance if she pops up every single time just to make fun of me or even worse. If she finds you an interesting person as well.. I have to give you my condoles, but I know how much of a pain it is at the very least.
I might give it a try if you insist that much. I'm not particularly into games or anything like it, but if I end up being trapped in this place for a long time I might as well find alternative ways to spend the time. [ And hey, she can see Battler getting a punishment game, maybe.. ]
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[Chuckling.]
But I agree, we don't need more tragedies around. In that matter Luceti is quite a blessing, not even death is permanent here. People can still die, unfortunately, though they come back, to some that may be pretty comforting.
I would prefer to be boring as well, though I try to be optimistic. If she's interested in me it means that she's ignoring others.
[Namely Rena, Rika and Satoshi. So long as she doesn't touch them it's okay, isn't it?]
I confess it, I'm pretty insistent, but always with the best intentions. And of course I don't expect anyone to run to play games right after arriving, but if you or your brother ever want some distraction or something like that, I'm always open for a game.
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... That sort of altruism.. I guess I can sort of understand it. As long as she would ignore onii-chan, even bothering me would be alright. Guess we're in the same boat there, Keiichi.
Don't worry, I'll doubtlessly contact you if such a situation would arise.
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Should we hope then that she will find us both interesting enough to leave the people we want her away from untouched?
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Yeah.. that's something I can agree on. If just the two of us can keep her occupied enough because we're seemingly interesting to her, as long as she doesn't bother other people.. that's okay.
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I just hope to be able to hold her interest long enough while she's here. At least we both know what to expect with her, I find that better than to leave someone who doesn't know catch her interest and start it all again.
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Don't worry, I don't think holding her interest will be a very difficult task. Once something manages to catch that witch's interests, she doesn't let go easily. [ Ange can attest to that fact, after all. ] She's like a dog who refuses to let go of its bone once he finally got it.
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But even a dog may end tired of a bone once it has gotten all it could got from it, right? Makes me wish to be a bone with tones of meat to be able to entertain her.