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Angus was waiting outside the Yamaku gates early in the morning. As there was no one around and he had nothing better to do, Angus decided to pass the time by singing.

By the time he had reached the third stanza, he realized he was not alone. A Japanese youth with slightly messy brown hair was watching him. Angus cut himself off at “rebounding,” and stopped in his tracks. He had started pacing while singing. Regarding the boy there more closely, Angus came to the conclusion that the boy was somewhat handsome. At least, he would be, if it weren’t for that horrid sweater vest he was wearing.

“Uh, hello. I take it you are a student here?”

The boy nodded. “Yes. Hisao Nakai. You are?”

“Angus McCrae.”

For some reason his name seemed to spark recognition in the boy. “McCrae? Oh, you’re that guy Hanako met on the train Monday.” That explained it.
At the same time, Angus felt a pang of jealousy. ‘How many friends does this seemingly shy girl have? More than I do, that’s for sure.’ Angus briefly reflected that that was mostly his own fault, though.

“Ah, yes. You know her?”

Again, Hisao nodded. “I’m one of her closest friends.”

At that moment the Yamaku gates opened again. Through them stepped Lilly and Hanako.

“Hisao?” Lilly called out.

“Hello Lilly,” Hisao answered her. She turned to face him once he had spoken.

“Lilith,” Angus greeted her cooly. His greeting gave her pause.

“Angus? I hadn’t realized you were here,” she said cautiously.

“I know. That is why I spoke up.”

“You two know each other?” This came from Hisao.

Angus nodded. “The McCraes have very close business partnerships with both the Satous and the Hakamichis.”

“So you know Shizune too?”

This time it was Hanako who spoke up. “Y-yes. He beat h-her at Risk y-yesterday.”

Hisao looked impressed, and voiced as much. Angus only shrugged and said, “It was mostly luck. She beat me at Axis & Allies, which is the superior game.”

Hisao shrugged and said, “Never heard of it.”

Angus was disappointed, but not surprised. Axis & Allies was not as well-known as Risk. “Alright. I think we have different items planned for today. We should go our separate ways now.”

Lilly, who had been silent, said, “I think so too. Good bye Hanako, Angus,’ and turned to lead Hisao away. Hisao waved farewell as Lilly near dragged him down the hill.

The bottom of Angus’s eye twitch a little as he watched them go down the hill. ‘This is the bastard that replaced me! He’s such a limp-wristed, weak-willed, skinny-fat little boy! He probably even huffs glue! If this is the kind of man Lilly likes, then I’m glad she’s gone!’

Hanako’s voice brought him back to reality. “Um, A-Angus?”

“Yes, Hanako?”

“A-are you ready to g-go?”

“Sure. Where?”

“I-I figured we could go to the Sh-Shanghai and decide from th-there.”

“Okay.” Angus wasn’t entirely sure where she was going with this, but decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. She was probably just going to ask him what type of places he’d want to visit. Although they spent the whole walk down to the Shanghai in silence, it was not so long that it became awkward. The silence also let Angus focus on the scenery of the surrounding countryside.

The waitress on duty at the Shanghai was not Yuuko. While this meant that their service was much faster and more competent, there was something about Yuuko that made her service more enjoyable.

“Wh-what t-type of pl-place do y-you want to g-go to?” Hanako asked after their waitress left.

Angus had to think about his answer. “I am … unsure. Akira recommended karaoke. I do not think we should do that two days consecutively.”

Hanako nodded. “H-How about a b-bookstore?”

“Are there any places that sell English books?”

“P-probably… in the city.”

That was not a comforting answer. “Do you know of any specific places?”

“N-no,” she said. As if to explain, or perhaps excuse her lack of knowledge, she said, “I-I d-don’t really g-get out m-much.”

Angus scratched his chin. “Really? You seem to have a lot of friends for someone who does not get out much.”

“O-only Lilly and H-Hisao… a-and Akira… a-and Naomi and N-Natsume.”

Angus wanted to ask about Shizune and Misha, but did not. If Hanako did not list them as friends, then they probably were not friends.

“That’s still more then I have.”

Hanako seemed shocked by this revelation. “R-really?”

“Yes, a solid two, three, including Akira. The Captain and Misha, they are called.”

“M-Misha?”

“Sorry, different Misha. Those are nicknames. Their real names are Henrietta and Yuri, respectively.”

“O-oh,”

“Yes,” Angus said before the conversation dwindled into an uncomfortable silence. Conveniently, Angus realized he should probably ask Hanako about something. “How long are you going to be my tour guide? Will it be for the entire week, or just today?”

Hanako had to think before giving an answer. Angus took the opportunity to look closer at the purple haired girl. Her hair appeared very well cared for, even in the dim light of the teahouse it seemed to have a subtle sheen to it. Angus found the way it framed her features as she stared at the table in concentration to be very cute. Angus found himself deciding that he would not mind it if her assignment was for the whole week.

“I-I d-don’t know. I should a-ask Natsume when we get b-back.”

That was not the answer Angus had been hoping for. He figured he’d find out later. With nothing further to talk about in that line of conversation, Angus decided to change the topic.

“Oh. Okay. Uh, how is The Great Hunt going?”

“Huh? Oh… I f-finished it. I-it was good.”

“That is nice. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Do you plan to finish the series?”

Hanako nodded. Angus couldn’t help but think she looked very cute doing that.


After a few hours of walking around the city, Angus and Hanako stopped at a street corner. They had visited a number of bookstores, but none had an English section to please Angus. Somewhere along the way they had picked up ice-creams. They had both gotten vanillas.

Angus noticed a shop with an English sign, 22nd Corner. From what he could see it was an art gallery. Angus recalled that he had said he would bring Mishka a painting.

“Hanako, do you know that place?” he said, pointing. “The one with the English sign, 22nd Corner?”

Hanako shook her head. “I-I think it’s an a-art gallery. Why? Do y-you want to go there?”

Angus scratched his chin. “Not really, but I did promise my friends I would get them a painting or something. Might as well do it now.”

“A-alright,” Hanako said. Angus, by now used to her not taking the lead, strode over to the gallery.

Entering the gallery, Angus saw two older adults accompanied by a couple, probably around his own age, talking together in the back of the store. It seemed they were just finishing talking when he and Hanako entered. Upon hearing the door bell, the girl in the couple turned to look at them. She was about to turn back, when something drew her notice and caused her to break away.

“Hey Hanako!” she called, “who’s this?”

Angus stepped aside to look at Hanako out of the corner of his eye. He scratched his chin while she answered.

“H-hey Emi. Th-this is A-Angus. I-I’m acting as his t-tour guide for the n-newspaper.”

“Hello.”

At that moment the guy wandered over. Looking closer, Angus was no longer sure it was a guy. He was also missing both arms.

“What’s with your beard?” he asked.

“Rin!” Emi said, “You’re supposed to introduce yourself first.”

“I know. But I wanted to learn about his beard. It makes him look like that wolverine guy,” then, turning to face, Angus, Rin asked him, “Are you that wolverine guy?”

Angus was pretty sure Rin was talking about Wolverine from Marvel Comics. Angus had never read any of his stories, but thought that he would probably know if he was Wolverine. “No, I am not.”

Rin accepted this answer with a shrug of her shoulders. “If you say so. I’m Rin Tezuka. No need to shake hands or anything,” she said with a slight smirk on her face. Judging from her lack of hands, Angus assumed that was a joke. Angus was starting to think that Rin might actually be a girl.

At that moment the older man came up behind them. “Tezuka, Sae would like to speak with you.”

Rin nodded and left with him without saying another word.

“Wh-what are you d-doing here, Emi?”

“I’m just here with Rin. Nomiya talked her into getting an art exposition.” That confirmed Rin’s gender to Angus.

“Rin is an artist? What type of art does she make?”

Emi shrugged. “I don’t really know. It’s abstract or something. She’s pretty good at it though.”

“Is that so? Can I see one?”

“Yeah, I’m sure Rin will let you,” Emi said. Angus looked up as Rin and Nomiya approached. “Hey Rin, Angus is interested at looking at some of your paintings.”

“Is he? But I don’t have any. Saionji has the ones we brought.”

“I will speak to her about it then. She has the authority to sell the paintings, does she not?”

It was Mr. Nomiya who answered. “You’re interested in buying? We will need new pieces for the exhibition, so there’s no harm,” Nomiya said as he looked up at Angus through his rose-tinted glasses. “What do you think, Tezuka?” Without evening waiting for Rin to give a response, Nomiya continued, “Of course you think it’s a good idea! Sae!”

The older woman came over when called by Nomiya. “Yes Shinichi?”

“This young man,” he said, grabbing Angus by the shoulders and causing him to tense up, “is interested in buying one of Tezuka’s pieces!”

Sae looked at Angus, getting a measure of him. “The paintings are over here. There’s only two of them though, so there isn’t much selection.”

Angus nodded and followed Sae over to where the paintings were laid out. He saw both of them, and while he didn’t particularly like either one, there was one he knew Yuri would love.

“Yes, Misha would love this one,” Angus muttered under his breath in Scots Gaelic while rubbing his chin. In Japanese, he declared “I will buy this one. How much?” while pointing at it.

Sae looked at Rin. “Tezuka, how much would you sell it for?”

Rin shrugged. “Different people would value art differently. How much does he value it?”

“Probably about four hundred pound, I guess? How does that sound?”

Rin shook her head. “I don’t think it’s that heavy.”

Angus looked at Sae. “I will go ahead and write a check for four hundred Pound Sterling.”

Sae nodded, so Angus took out his check book. After Angus filled out a check in English, he hoped Sae’s bank would be able to process it; Sae took the painting and rolled it into a carry tube.

“A pleasure doing business with you,” Angus said and gave a formal bow.

Sae chuckled. “No need for that. Makes it feel too stuffy in here.”

Angus nodded and turned to find Hanako. She had trailed him, seemingly to avoid the unwittingly disconcerting gaze of Nomiya.

“Are we ready to leave, Hanako?”

She nodded, then added, “I-I’m getting h-hungry too, so if we c-could find a place to e-eat…”

After saying good bye to Emi and Rin, Angus led the way to the door, his guide trailing behind him.


Angus was wandering ahead as Hanako followed while they looked for a place to stop and eat before heading back to Yamaku. It had not been all that long after they had left the 22nd Corner when a phone rang. It took Angus a moment to realize that it was his phone ringing.

Taking out his iPhone, Angus said, “I am sorry, I have to take this. I was not expecting the call until later though.” Hanako seemed to fixate on the brand new product.

Angus had stopped walking and moved over to an alleyway to get away from the noise of the street. Hanako followed him but didn’t seem to be paying attention to what he was doing.

“Angus McCrae speaking, who is this?”

The familiar voice of Yuri answered him, “How’s it going, Angie?”

“Ah, Mishka. I wasn’t expecting you to call this early.”

“Really? What time is it there?”

“Probably about eighteen or twenty local time. I just finished buying the gift for you, I know you’re going to love it.”

“Great, great! Anyways, have you won that blonde girl back?”

“No, that got shut down rather early. First day here, in fact. I’ve spent today being led around the city by a different girl.”

“Really? You lucky bastard, you. Is she cute?”

Angus looked at Hanako. She had been looking at him, but Angus wasn’t sure if she was listening in. He wasn’t sure if she even could listen in. Just to be safe, he used what little French he knew to say, “Yes. She’s very cute.”

“Good for you man. I’ll let you get back to her now, alright? Bye.”

“Alright. Bye.”

Angus hung up and put the phone away. Hanako looked up at him, and he motioned that they should continue, which they did. Angus tried to get her to talk by discussing books. This eventually worked, and after they found a café they ate dinner while discussing the nature of the Spice.

You know... this whole art thing feels quite forced:

"I have to buy a painting as a gift from my trip to Japan."
"This girl paints. Want to buy one of hers?"
"Sure, I'll pay two months of a regular person's salary for this painting of a Japanese schoolgirl."
"But isn't it supposed to be a gift from Japan? It has nothing to do with Japan at all.
"No matter."
"..."

And the strangest thing is I have no idea WHY you would even force this scene in the first place, except to drop a few cameos and show off that Angus is filthy rich - but we already know that from the fact that he was able to simply travel to Japan on a whim.

Mirage_GSM wrote: ↑Mon Jul 23, 2018 6:23 pm And the strangest thing is I have no idea WHY you would even force this scene in the first place, except to drop a few cameos and show off that Angus is filthy rich - but we already know that from the fact that he was able to simply travel to Japan on a whim.

Most of that scene was cameo and reinforcing that Angus is rich, but I also tried to indirectly develop Yuri and set up future side plot points. I chose 2000 because it was a big, clean number. I figured it was a good number for an unknown but skilled artist like Rin, considering how much Rothkos can sell for.

I have no idea what a Rothkos is, but what you have established in this scene is that he likes to throw money around.
I don't claim to be an expert in art and art prices, but Rin has literally never sold a painting before, and he just offered that money without even getting the opinion of an expert. If any "unknown but skilled artist" could get such prices for their work, all painters in the world would be filthy rich.

Rothkos is what I assumed the plural of a Rothko, or a painting by Rothko would be. But you make a good point anyways. I'll bump it down to maybe 400? Or should it be lower?

As I said, I'm not an expert, but 400GBP sounds a lot more reasonable.

Hisao returned from his first run with Emi. It wasn’t much of a run since he was so out of shape; he had actually done worse this time than he had at the beginning of the school year. He showered and put on new clothes before leaving the dorms. He managed to miss Kenji on the way out. He was hopefully still asleep and wouldn’t bother him today. Fortunately, he would be heading into town today, so it was very unlikely that Kenji would be anywhere near him. Hisao managed to get all the way to the town before his hopes were dashed by a tap on his shoulder.

“Hey man, where were you this morning?” Kenji asked. His face displayed a large frown. Without waiting for an answer he continued complaining, “I needed you to go pick up some ingredients for my next action against the feminist conspiracy, but you weren’t there, forcing me to go into town myself and expose myself to unnecessary risk.”

Hisao was not in the mood to deal with Kenji’s lunatic theories today. Fortunately, Angus spoke up before Hisao had a chance to.

“Kenji, I have already told you, you are in no danger,”

‘At least Angus seems to be reasonable.’

“You are too small. They only worry about major influencers trying to oppose them, billionaires, politicians, celebrities, those sorts of people. Not high schoolers.”

‘Never mind,’

Kenji had switched to yelling at Angus now, and was completely ignoring Hisao.

“Are you saying that I’m impotent? That I can’t do anything?”

Calm before the storm of Kenji, Angus countered, “No, what I am saying is that they think so. They underestimate your power.”

This seemed to stop Kenji. “No, that’s not how it goes. I’m supposed to have the high ground. If they underestimate my power, then that means they have the high ground and I lose. It’s like in that foreign movie that was totally a rip-off of a much better one of ours.”

Angus blinked and scratched his chin. “If you say so. Come on, let us get the things you need.”

With that they were off. Of all the encounters Hisao had had with Kenji since meeting him, that was probably one of the strangest.


In the convenience store, Angus watched over Kenji as he gathered his supplies like hired muscle. At least, that was what he was supposed to be doing. In actuality, he was looking down the aisle, bored beyond comprehension as Kenji debated which brand was the least feminist so he could buy it.

Angus looked at what Kenji had in the cart so far: a bag of fertilizer for his plants, a crate of cans of Spam, a crate of instant ramen, a dozen glass mason jars for God-knows-what, and a pack of permanent markers.

“I’ve got it!” Kenji exclaimed. He had finally decided to get the name brand bleach. Kenji put the jug in the cart and they went to the cash register, where Kenji had Angus handle the transaction. Kenji hadn’t wanted the Feminists to get a hold of his fingerprints by him touching the money.

Of course, Angus had to help carry the stuff back to Kenji’s dorm room. Kenji tried to make conversation as Angus hauled the majority of Kenji’s supplies up the hill.

“So, how do you figure it?”

“Figure what?” Angus asked, growing annoyed with Kenji.

“That a Communist will be elected to the American Presidency.”

Oh. That was what Kenji was talking about. Angus proceeded to illustrate his reasoning. “The Americans can never vote a black man into office. That means the other candidate, Ilyá Vladimirovich Ulyanov, shall going to victory.”

“But what if they vote third party?”

“Americans never vote third party.”

Kenji shrugged. “That’s probably true. Still, I think Chad McBane has a pretty good chance to win.”

“You are crazy.”

Kenji frowned. “That’s exactly what the Feminists want you to think.”

“Communists,” Angus corrected him.

“Same thing.”

Angus almost corrected Kenji again, but decided not to, because at that point the difference was semantic. It was not long before a question occurred to Angus.

“So, how are you going to make all this stuff into your dorm?”

“You’ll carry it.”

“Yamaku just lets random people onto school grounds?”

“Technically no, but the security is so bad they might as well. I once saw a Hawaiian werewolf with a katana on school grounds once.”

“You mean Mr. Hakamichi?”

“Who?”

“Never mind,” Angus didn’t particularly feel like trying to explain who Mr. Hakamichi was to Kenji. They had reached Yamaku’s gate by that point anyways, so Angus had to go open the gate so Kenji’s fingerprints wouldn’t get on it. It did not take much longer to get Kenji’s supplies into the dorms and up the stairs. At the door to his dorm, Kenji hesitated. Eventually he opened the door and motioned Angus inside.

“I’m only letting you in because I know how dedicated you are to our cause,” he explained, “just set the stuff down. I’ll sort it out later.”

Angus did as he was told while glancing around the room. It had a bed, a desk, a dresser, a shelf, and a bulletin board. The bed was neatly made, and the desk bore a number of potted plants on it, Angus thought he could identify a tomato plant and maybe some sort of tuber, potato, probably, with a small sun lamp shining down on them. The bulletin board was covered in newspaper articles, maps, and fragments of other miscellaneous papers with red string running between the pins holding the papers to the board, forming a web-like mass of incomprehensibility. The shelf had numerous mason jars of a disgusting yellow-brown liquid. Kenji had noticed him looking at them.

“I see you’ve noticed my jarate arsenal.”

“It looks like jars full of urine.”

Kenji scowled. “They’re not. It’s real jarate. I bought them from an Australian arms company.”

“What,” Angus scratched his chin.

“Yeah, I was reading one of my magazines one day when I saw an advert for it. It’s the perfect weapon to fight the Feminists.”

“Uh, sure,” Angus said, not wanting to believe the alternative. “I can be going now, I guess.”

“Sure thing. See you later, man.”

With that Angus turned around to leave and nearly tripped over a pressure cooker that was lying on the ground. How he had not noticed that earlier astounded him. Going around the pressure cooker, Angus exited the room and began the long trip back to the bus. He had worked up a sweat from carrying Kenji’s large items up the hill and stairs to his dorm from the store, and now he wanted to shower and change.

Unfortunately, he would not be able to at the moment. Halfway down the hill he was flagged down by an approaching Naomi.

“Hey, Angus!”

“Hello, Naomi.”

Naomi motioned him to come over to her, which he did. Once there, Naomi started talking, “I was hoping to get a in a follow up interview about your tour guide, Hanako. For the paper, and all. You wouldn’t mind if I ask you some questions while we walk, would you?”

“I suppose not. Ask away, if you will.”

“Alright then! So, your tour guide was Ms. Ikezawa, was it not?”

“Yes, it was.”

Naomi had pulled out a notepad and pen and wrote down his answer.

“Good, good. Now, how was the tour? Did you have fun?”

“Yes, I found the day very enjoyable.”

“So you’d say your guide was helpful?”

Angus paused here. “Uh, not really. It can not really her fault though. We spent most of a day going through bookstores, but I can only read romaji.”

“I see, I see,” Naomi said, her pen scratching on the paper. “But you would take the tour again, wouldn’t you?”

Angus nodded. “Yes. I did say I found it very enjoyable.”

Naomi finished writing and said, “Alright, I think that’s good enough. We’ll just put this interview at the bottom of the article. Fair enough?”

Angus shrugged. “I guess.”

Naomi nodded and ran back up the hill to Yamaku.


Angus had just gotten off the bus heading back into town when his phone rang again. With a sigh, he picked it up and answered it, walking across the street to sit on the park bench while he took it.

“Angus McCrae speaking, who is this?”

“It’s me, you little shite,” answered Henrietta, her voice full of its usual tease.

“Ah yes, Captain Morgan. I was expecting you to call sometime. What do you want now?” Angus asked, feigning annoyance.

“Ah, nothing, it’s just that Misha mentioned you were spending the day with a girl yesterday.”

“Uh huh. And this involves you how?”

“I was just wondering if you were finally over me.”

Angus sighed. “You’re never going to let that go, are you?”

“Nope!” she exclaimed cheerfully, “At least, not until it stops being funny.”

“It stopped being funny two years ago.”

“Yura seems to think otherwise.”

“You know Mishka has no sense of humor.”

The Captain laughed, “You only say that because of the pie incident.”

Angus frowned, despite knowing she couldn’t see, and said, “Hey! We all promised we’d never speak of that ever again.”

Henrietta laughed again. “I don't know why, it was nothing, really, but I guess I’ll stop bugging you now. See you when you get back home, you thick-headed bastard.”

Angus rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, see you when I get back you Welsh drunkard.”

Angus heard her laugh a little before she cut the line. Putting his phone away, he started down the street to the Shanghai.

At the Shanghai, he was greeted by yet another familiar tomboyish female.

“Yo!” Akira said.

“Hello Akira,” Angus responded.

“Come join us,” Akira said, while motioning him over. Angus went over, not having a better place to sit.

Akira’s “us” had been her, the same guy from earlier in the week, and surprisingly, not Lilly, but Hanako. Angus greeted them and the guy introduced himself as Hirohiko Toriyama, Akira’s boyfriend.

“Is there something you wanted to talk about, Akira?”

“Nah, Hiro and I were just hanging out here when Hanako came in. We figured she’d rather sit with us than alone, so we invited her over. You came in a little bit later so we invited you over too.”

Angus slid into the booth with them and ordered a drink when the waitress came. He ended up spending most of the time talking books with Hanako. It was not long before Akira and Hirohiko had to leave. Before they left, however, Akira invited him to dinner the next day.

“Lilly decided on a pretty fancy place, so you’ll have to wear a suit,” she said, placing extra emphasis on “suit.” Angus caught her meaning: no kilt and fly plaid.

“Okay. I will be there.”

With that, Akira and her boyfriend left, leaving Angus and Hanako together at the table.

“Hey, Hanako?” Angus asked to make sure she was paying attention. She nodded that she was. “I really enjoyed spending time with you Tuesday and Wednesday. Would you like to do it again tomorrow? I don’t have anything planned until the dinner.”

Hanako took a moment to answer. “O-okay,” she said.

“Thank you.”

Soon the waitress came with the bill, which Angus took. He could read numbers well enough.

“Hey, wait a minute,” Angus said, looking at the long list, “Akira didn’t pay for her food!”

Every time I see that name 'Angus', I think of beef burgers done medium rare.

A couple of illogical things in this one, but let me just point out that he apparently traveled halfway around the world without knowing the name of the place he was going to - and apparently he arrived anyway...

Mirage_GSM wrote: ↑Mon Sep 03, 2018 7:38 am A couple of illogical things in this one, but let me just point out that he apparently traveled halfway around the world without knowing the name of the place he was going to - and apparently he arrived anyway...

And apparently he already knew half the student body... I mean, Shizune & Akira are kinda believable, since they're related to Lilly, but Kenji? Good grief...

Mirage_GSM wrote: ↑Mon Sep 03, 2018 7:38 am A couple of illogical things in this one, but let me just point out that he apparently traveled halfway around the world without knowing the name of the place he was going to - and apparently he arrived anyway...

He knew the name of the big city where his hotel was at, and he knew the name of the school Lilly goes to. He didn't really need to know the name of the small town between points A and C.

And apparently he already knew half the student body... I mean, Shizune & Akira are kinda believable, since they're related to Lilly, but Kenji? Good grief...

Kenji shanghaied him off screen.

Uh... Yamaku is a part of that town, so yes he probably would have needed to know, or at least it would have come up the moment he looked up the address of the school.
Try getting off a plane in LA and take a taxi to "Oceanside High School - should be in a small town somewhere around here"...

Mirage_GSM wrote: ↑Mon Sep 03, 2018 4:00 pm Uh... Yamaku is a part of that town

I always interpreted it as Yamaku being outside of the town. Maybe I read too much into it.

Everything has to belong to one town or another. Who would be in charge of building permits, local taxes, maintaining access routes etc.
And how would you address something at all if it were not part of a town?

Mirage_GSM wrote: ↑Wed Sep 05, 2018 3:43 am Everything has to belong to one town or another. Who would be in charge of building permits, local taxes, maintaining access routes etc.
And how would you address something at all if it were not part of a town?

That's a good point. Fortunately, its a minor detail with absolutely no bearing on the plot and will likely never come up again, so I can just omit him not knowing the name of the town.