[video] backdated to 3rd December!

[skilful]

[ The feed opens up to one girl recognisable to be Kougyoku Ren looking into the camera, clearly held up by somebody else. ]

So when it starts recording, I should speak to it?

[ From behind the camera, a voice chuckles, sounding amused. ] Kou-chan, it’s already started.

[ The girl gasps and blushes, covering her mouth in surprise. ] I’m sorry, I didn’t... Oh, how do I begin? Um, h-hello... everyone. I mean, greetings! I mean...

[ A whisper from behind the camera: ] Introductions, Kou-chan, introductions~

Yes, you’re right. It’s not like I haven’t introduced myself before. [ She turns her head a few degrees away from the camera. ] I am Kougyoku Ren. I am… eighteen years old. I am from the Kou Empire, and I, I like fashion, fighting and… um... Anyway, I. I am looking for friends.

[ Again, from behind the camera: ] So, if you’d like to be her friend, please reply to this video!

[ Kougyoku immediately smiles and faces the camera after that line. It’s as if her personality did a complete 180. ] Did I do good, Tatara?

[ And, once more, the voice behind the camera chuckles as the feed shuts down: ] Very well done!

[ note; Tags will be coming separately from Kougyoku and Totsuka separately! ]

Comments

[skilful]

Yeeep! Of course, back then, he wasn't a king yet. But when I first saw him, I thought I was seeing a lion roaming out on the streets...!

[redsea]

A lion... [ She's imagining it. A gruff Sinbad walking around town. Ah, but he controls fire, so... He'd be more like her Kouen, wouldn't he? Hm. ]

Does he have a goatee? [ Please say no. ]

[skilful]

[ Ah-- ] He shaves.

[redsea]

[ ... He didn't see that sigh of relief. ]

How did your first encounter go? I mean, how... why did you become his follower?

[skilful]

[ He totally saw it. ]

"This man would become a king!" That's what I thought when I saw him. So when I went up to him and called him King, he stared at me and told me to go away!

[ He's laughing, remembering this. ]

[redsea]

Anyone would do that! [ She's laughing, too. ] But I suppose you didn't go away.

1/2

[skilful]

How cruel, Kou-chan!

[ Yet, he doesn't sound offended at all while he's laughing. ]

[skilful]

Mm, I didn't. But King he came to visit me at the hospital even though he didn't know me that well.

[ Because the guys who beat him up had something against Mikoto, apparently...! ]

Kusanagi-san was there too! He's the mothering type so he started looking out for me. When King became the Red King, we were both there.

[redsea]

So he's that sort of king... [ Her tone carries some admiration for the man. But Kusanagisan and Mikotosan... Why do their names both end in -san!? ]

The Red King? What do you mean? I thought he was the king of HOMRA.

[skilful]

They are one and the same! The Red King is the King of Homra and Homra is the name of our clan.

[ Also, a bar. ]

[redsea]

Oh! My apologies, I thought it was a country... So the Red King, he was—he styled himself as such?

[skilful]

[ He chuckles. But, no, the King of Japan ... would be the Gold King, probably. ]

Nope. He was chosen.

[ There's a lot of history here and it's a lot to take in, so he decides to ask in order to clarify. ] Did you hear about Homra from Yata?

1/2

[redsea]

Yes! He said HOMRA does whatever they want, whenever they want, and if people don't like it, they take care of them.

[redsea]

... That's strange, it sounds like a... [ what's that word, it's on the tip of her tongue ]

1/2

[skilful]

[ He laughs. ]

That's not totally untrue! The streets were dangerous back then and there was a lot of fighting going on. King fought to make make the city a safer and better place for everyone!

[skilful]

...Well, it's not entirely safe yet but that's what we do!

[ They also play baseball and go fishing on whims. ]

[redsea]

Ah...! That sounds romantic. [ Look, she doesn't get out much. ] Do you fight, too, Tatara?

[skilful]

Not at all!

[redsea]

Huh!? Why not?

[skilful]

Because I'm not a fighter!

[redsea]

... What do you do, then?

[ What is a gang member, if he is not a fighter? ]

[skilful]

Well, I was one of King's first clansmen so somehow, very naturally, I became a core member!

[redsea]

Oh. [ That makes sense. ] What about Yata?

[ Like, what's his ranking... She is pretty sure there are rankings here. Or something. ]

[skilful]

Yata's potential is really, really high! A lot of the older members look up to him!

[ He's considering it. ] Hmm, Yata would be right after Kusanagi-san, I guess.

[redsea]

Is that so?

[ Kouen, Koumei, Kouha, Hakuei, Hakuryuu, Alibaba. All of them were King candidates. But what made them so? And how were they similar to the kings of Totsuka's world? She had so many questions, but she asks only one: ]

Do you think he has the potential to become a King as well?