Another untitled Gaim ficlet, Kappa universe

[estirose]

Kouta has gotten used to a diet of Helheim fruit and nothing else. He's even gotten used to gardening - though it's less gardening and more convincing a bunch of alien plants not to grow outside and not to grow any fruit. It's bad enough that every so often he opens up the door and has to prevent tiny Elementary Inves from escaping and causing a panic.

Someday, he knows, he'll have to move before someone realizes he's not aging. And the garden will have to move with him. This will be a while; he's working with Takatora as they try to get Mitsuzane a little closer to sanity. Kouta thinks that they might be on the way to convincing him that Takatora is Takatora and not Kouta.

He'd let his sister near the garden - she knows it exists, he had to tell her that there's enough Helheim flora there that he won't starve to death - but it's far too dangerous to humans. There's always the possibility that a human will find it and its fruit, and then everything will spiral out of control.

There's a commotion in the shed, and Kouta internally winces. Is he going to find a full-sized Inves in there? Is he going to have to kill another human that was in the wrong place at the wrong time?

He opens the door, and the vines are waving. There's a shape in there, a dark shape, and he realizes after a moment that Mitsuzane found his way in and now he's almost completely wrapped in vines. The vines aren't harming his old friend, but Mitsuzane is struggling. "Teleport," he says, hoping that Mitsuzane is coherent enough to go back to the dock. It isn't Kouta's top choice, but the plant can be overwhelming if one isn't used to it. He himself has to mentally force vines away from his body if he's been gone for too long; he thinks, sometimes, that the plant considers him part of it.

Mitsuzane teleports out, and Kouta takes a deep breath. He looks among the slender vines for a fruit and sees one, probably generated when Mitsuzane came in. He fishes out a bag and seals it, knowing that Mitsuzane must have been hungry enough to find his way there.

Maybe Mitsuzane will eat without being prompted or commanded this time. Kouta always hopes that he will. But that's in the future, and this is now. He must make do with what he has.

Comments

[reka]

I guess keeping plastic bags on hand is a necessity when you're Helheim farming. Putting the fruit down in order to get one is probably a bad idea. I definitely thought of you while watching 45, particularly about Kouta not wanting to seem like an Other. That scene where he was asked if he was kind of like an Overlord and he replied noncommittally (that word looks misspelled in every way somehow), particularly, but also a few others. I'm not surprised it prompted more Kappa universe.

I'd imagine that Kouta keeps the shed locked, at least part of the time. That's true, a locked door wouldn't keep out all animals. It would be hard to keep mice out, I think. And bugs. Did Micchy teleport in (out of hunger, maybe)? As an Overlord he could probably do something to locks if he wanted somehow. I wouldn't be surprised if he was the sort of kid who learned to pick locks because why not, but from what I know lockpicking does require some coherency and conscious thought. Or maybe Kouta left the door open for some reason? It could maybe be a combination lock that Kouta's told Micchy, but that would require Micchy to have been listening. If it's a combination, would Kouta have given it to Takatora? Takatora has absurd amounts of self-control, but since Kouta can teleport, there might not be a need to share because Kouta can go and get some for Micchy any time.

I'm not sure why I spent most of my comment rambling about completely mundane locks. I really enjoy your AU exploration fics.

[estirose]

45's the first episode where Kouta's trying to deal with being an Other (40's mindtrip kind of covered it, but not with real people). I'm worried for him because there are now several people who know he's not quite human anymore and it might slip out that Kouta is now Other. I suspect there will be a lot of Kappa universe - I might try for a novella because it's such an interesting concept.

Kouta's got a tough padlock on the shed. He has a key and so does Takatora (in emergencies, just in case Takatora has to feed Mitsuzane and Takatora knows the danger well). Micchy would if Kouta wasn't afraid he'd lose it.

The growth tends to put out fruit when it detects multiple animals, much to Kouta's annoyance.

Micchy teleported in (I do have a character that's good with locks, but Micchy isn't it). It wasn't conscious, he was just hungry. The growth produced a fruit for him in hopes that he would stay. And then held him there while waiting for him to eat. (Well, that and it wanted him to keep coming back because it felt that he would let it grow when Kouta would not.)

[reka]

Fortunately no one was around to see him summon all those Invess. That would really freak them out. I think he's kept enough of the really inhuman things private enough that he'll be okay for now. I think the real danger is when people return to Zawame. I'm worried that he'll decide he's too vulnerable in a place where people know him. Poor, poor Kouta. That nothing happened visually when he ate the fruit was really telling.

I don't think Micchy would have practical lock-picking experience, but a smart bored kid can look up a lot of things. But it's not really important for this situation, yeah. And a good lock would probably make it beyond the average curious kid's abilities.

It'd probably be okay if Micchy lost the key (unless for some reason the key says "HELHEIM SHED" which nobody is stupid enough to do), but there's no reason to take the risk since it wouldn't do any good lost. And Takatora is Responsible.

I'm sure the vines could manipulate Micchy, but I think there'd also be a risk of Micchy responding too intensely to out-of-control growth and destroying more than he needs to or should.

[estirose]

Yeah. So far they've just seen that he heals very fast, which is kind of scary but not that scary. They haven't seen half of what he can do as an Overlord. I wonder if he subconsciously chose his own form as his Overlord form, just like Kaito did with Lord Baron and Micchy does to become a kappa.

I think that Kouta would have moved if it weren't for Micchy. I figure Mai's still there but can't spend much time in their world (side effect of Helheim going away), so she tries to help Kouta with Micchy. She might be able to generate Helheim vines/fruit in an emergency but Kouta would never ask her.

Kouta doesn't want any key to his shed floating around, which is why Takatora has it.

Micchy could probably control/destroy the vines, but luckily for Kouta's garden, he didn't grow it, he just got really wrapped up and had panicked about what he should do instead of trying to disintegrate the growth.

[reka]

Yeah, I think Kouta really doesn't want to change outwardly. Unlike Kaito, he was an Overlord before eating the fruit, but I think he definitely could've changed forms if he wanted to. He probably still can.

Yeah, Kouta would probably do that. By being what he is, he will always pose some sort of risk to the people he loves. But he's also the only one who can help Takatora help Micchy. I'm not sure exactly what Mai's powers are, and I don't understand at all what will happen to her when she gives up the Golden Fruit. She's not quite dead, but her life is tied to the Fruit and her body just disappeared. I have no idea what's going on with her and hope very much that we'll find out. I'm sure that Kouta would never ask things like that of her, though. And I suspect Micchy really does not want her help.

Poor kid probably really freaked out. I assume he'd go back to the docks if freaked, but where did he teleport from? The docks again? And what form was he in? He might slip into kappa to protect himself, but he could also stay human out of disorientation or something. Did anything specific cause him to go to the garden?

[estirose]

I'm sure Kouta could, if he weren't so concerned about seeming Human instead of Other. He didn't know where Micchy went at first (it was actually Takatora who figured out that Micchy was the mysterious kappa-like thing crying at the docks). He's willing to be there as long as Micchy needs him.

Micchy actually can sense Kouta, but most of the time he's wrapped up in too much despair to really focus on that. (He is, technically, the Overlord King of Earth.) I figure, for the purpose of this AU, that he managed to kind of "freeze" Mai into a sort of existence as a sort of payment for his sins. He didn't do it on purpose, she's there to kind of replace hallucination-Takatora. If she shows up, he doesn't go anywhere, but he really doesn't listen to her because she's not saying horrible things about him.

As for where Micchy was, he was swimming and then he finally got very hungry and kind of wished himself someplace safe. His body took him to the nearest "safe" place, Kouta's garden. Which promptly tried to care for him the only way it knew how - to cradle him and produce food for him. He considered it part of the payment he was making for what he did, and shifted into his old human form. The only reason he teleported out was because he didn't want to be near Kouta at the moment.

[reka]

So Takatora's been around for quite some time, then. How did he figure it out? If Kouta told him what happened and that he couldn't find Micchy anywhere, Takatora could probably figure it out from that but I think it would take a bit of time.

Ah, "I can't listen to anyone who doesn't say horrible things to me because I don't deserve to hear good things." Poor Mai. Can she talk with Takatora as well? Being able to sense Kouta must make it easier to avoid him when Micchy pays attention, but if Kouta's catching glimpses of him he probably isn't.

[estirose]

Takatora figured it out when Kouta mentioned that Micchy sometimes showed up at Gaim in his Overlord form. (They'd had a discussion about the fact that Kouta didn't have an Overlord form, unlike Kaito.) Apparently, while the world is putting itself back together, Takatora has a lot of time on his hands. He kind of wondered about the fish monster and meant to ask Kouta about if it was an Inves, but got distracted.

Mai managed to talk to Takatora once. It was kind of an awkward conversation, apparently, because it was his staff member who killed her (she remembers a man with long bangs, a white streak, and a ponytail). She doesn't know that Micchy's the one responsible for her current state.

One of the issues that Kouta will have to deal with is Micchy being able to sense him on a more regular basis. Once he is sane enough/slightly less guilt-ridden, he'll realize that the easiest way to avoid getting hurt is to avoid Kouta. He'd take his brother any day - even if Takatora's trying to be gentle with him, he'll still take everything the wrong way. (Takatora might find his brother there and dripping on the carpet on a regular basis.)

[reka]

Well, Ryouma did try to kill him once too. I think everyone can find a way to relate to each other that way (I'm of the opinion that the Hell Lockseed was primarily intended to kill Micchy.) Even if it wasn't awkward because of Ryouma and/or Yggdrasil, it'd probably be awkward because Takatora is awkward and doesn't know anything to say to Mai. Did she know he was Micchy's brother at the time? Does she know now? Speaking of awkward interactions, I bet he and Akira would have one.

I'm sure Takatora sometimes finds water on the carpet without seeing Micchy, too. Yeah, Takatora would be better at giving Micchy space, although I'm sure it would feel really weird.

[estirose]

Yeah. Poor everybody. Takatora's really sorry for what happened to everybody too. Mai knows now that Takatora's Micchy's brother.

(My Kouta muse suddenly decided to play matchmaker. I dumped him in the bay to cool him off.)

I would think that it would be very weird to have wet spots on the carpet and never see his brother. Though it might be comforting to know his brother feels comfortable enough to come home and is coming home. It might be a sign of progress. Takatora might keep some tightly-sealed Helheim Fruits in Micchy's room.

[reka]

I was thinking that. Micchy hasn't been comfortable talking to Takatora about himself for a long time and feels a lot of guilt about Takatora in general, so I think the wet spots would be the only clue that Micchy is starting to think of it as home again for a while. Not that Micchy doesn't wander in other places too, but.

Yeah, I'm sure the ways Ryouma kept the fruits would be a good place to start. Ryouma might've been eccentric (to put it mildly), but he was very aware of the danger and didn't exactly want his lab to try to kill him. And Takatora could ask Kouta to check the container.

(Yeah, it really isn't the time for a romantic interlude at all.)

[estirose]

Sometimes, Mitsuzane comes back to his old room. Not because it's his anymore, he lost that right, but sometimes it feels good to lie down and cry. People try to approach him if he is at the docks during the day. He's sure it's because they're curious or somehow think he's a protective spirit, but he doesn't want to deal with them.

He's aware he leaves big damp spots on the floor, but he doubts that his brother comes in there any more than he did when Mitsuzane was still human.

If he concentrates, he can sense Kouta. He can also sometimes feel another presence in the building, which he thinks is his brother. He's getting better at figuring out which one's which. If his brother came into his room, he might be okay, he thinks, but Takatora never tries.

There are sealed containers with Helheim fruit in them. He recognizes them from Professor Ryouma's lab. Kouta must have placed them in there at his brother's prompting, because Kouta wouldn't know how to properly store Helheim fruit at all.

Maybe he sleeps, when the house is peaceful and Takatora is out. Sometimes Takatora calls out to him, but he never demands anything of Mitsuzane, not even to eat nowadays. No, he's more tormented by visions of spirit-Mai, trying to get him to forgive himself just as she did when she gave him the power to save the world.

There's always a glass of water by his bed. He wants to laugh, sometimes, because really, why would he need water? He lives in the bay, after all.

But mostly he cries. Because he can and because he will, and because he will never make up for what he's done.

[reka]

Poor kid, not even sure or concerned about whether he's asleep or awake. It must be really upsetting to him that anyone thinks he protects anything at all. Where does Takatora go when he goes out? If he has a job anymore, it's probably one he assigned to himself out of an overflowing sense of Duty.

How often does Mai visit him? I'd assume Micchy himself isn't really sure. The glass of water is really a nice touch. He's being cared for more than he's willing to notice.

[estirose]

I'm sure Takatora found something to do that helps put together the city his company kind of tore apart, with minimum compensation.

When he's not out, he's checking on Micchy. That's why Micchy sometimes hears him call. He's got a webcam set up that Micchy hasn't noticed so that he can see if his brother's in. If Micchy's asleep, Takatora often tucks him in, no matter what form he's in. Takatora blames himself for Micchy's state, after all.

Mai only rarely visits, mostly to try to support what Takatora and Kouta are doing. Not because she wants to play a supporting role, but because she knows that Micchy can't quite accept he's worthy of forgiveness yet and won't listen to her. (It occurs to me that what she did effectively makes her thhe Overlord Queen to Micchy's Overlord King.)

[reka]

One of the really unpleasant things about Mai's situation is that it literally makes her into a prize. She can't really make her own choices about relationships anymore because her existence is tied to the Fruit. I think she and Micchy could have a good non-romantic partnership if Micchy was himself. (I just can't see a romantic relationship between them. I kind of see Micchy's feelings towards her as an intense admiration-crush.) But yeah, she is kind of the Queen. Poor Mai can't really do anything to change her own situation like this. She can only support.

The webcam is a really good idea. It allows Takatora to keep an eye on him without being too intrusive and making him flee. And I'm sure Takatora blames himself. He's pretty good at it. Micchy's not innocent (it's not like somebody else tried to kill Takatora and Kouta), but he was vulnerable and manipulated in about five bazillion ways. And the people who were manipulating him went right for his relationship with his brother. They'll probably be awkward for a very long time.

The image of Takatora tucking Micchy-as-kappa in is terribly cute. Sad, too, but also cute. I think I'll always be a sucker for sibling relationships.

[estirose]

I think I'm going to write fluffy fic about Takatora and Micchy and put it... somewhere. And just mention here that I hate how they essentially fridged Mai, as you stated.

---

"Micchy." He must be dreaming, he realized, because they were at one of the Public Stages and he was in human form in his old Gaim hoodie. Mai was standing before him in the dress she often wore as a spirit. Her arm was up, and her hand out to him, as if wanting him to go with her. But she wasn't human anymore, and it was all his fault.

She often appeared to him when he felt his most guilty, just as his brother had before. It almost made him not want to sleep, but he figured he deserved everything that Mai had to say.

There were two thrones behind her, he realized. Stone thrones, like what he'd seen in Helheim. They were on the stage, looking out of place in the environment.

"Mitsuzane," she tried again.

"Mai," he replied dully.

"Let's sit down," she said, and he figured she was going to start yelling at him. Suddenly, he was sitting on one throne, and she on the other. He looked at the plaza, and suddenly the plaza was surrounded by Helheim forest.

Kouta was kneeling before them, a cart of Helheim fruit behind him. "I've come with the harvest, my lord and lady," he said.

"Thank you, Kouta," Mai said with a smile. It was the smile she had before he'd caused her to lose it. He could finally see that he was at fault for the loss of her smile. Kouta wasn't at fault at all.

"I'm not your king or your lord!" Mitzuzane screamed, standing up. "I don't deserve this!" Suddenly, one of the doors in the plaza slammed, and he was held tight. He struggled against his unseen bonds, which suddenly went away with a thud.

"Micchy!" Mai was back, strolling towards him. She looked unhappy. "Don't!"

"I don't deserve this!" Mitsuzane screamed once more. Kouta tried to catch him, but he couldn't, and Mitsuzane ran past him, into the Forest. It was what he deserved, all he deserved.

The dream world faded, replaced by the darkness of his room. Crying, he teleported out back to the docks, where he was safe. Where he was free to suffer.

[reka]

I think the challenge of brotherly fluff is to keep the characterization consistent. We've only really seen them in some sort of conflict. I will probably look for any fluffy fics you write. And yeah, I could say a lot more about Mai (and Minato-- I really wanted to explore her character more), but that would take a lot of energy and I suspect I'd mostly end up repeating the same points.

Kouta would make a good subject/adviser, I think. Does Micchy think Mai is just another hallucination normally (i.e. outside of dreams?) And were the unseen bonds vines? I could see him taking the feeling from his visit to Kouta's garden or something. It must be really tiring for him to be crying all the time.

[estirose]

Yeah. I might have a drabble about Takatora tucking Kappa!Micchy in. It's a lot less frustrating than trying to write about the fridging of women in this series....

Micchy does think Mai is a hallucination regardless. Eventually he'll realize this is Mai, though given his attitude about her incorporeal self, I'm not sure how he'll react to her and the fact that he kept her there when she should be dead.

The bonds were vines (he accidentally summoned them), and Takatora got in the room but he remembered that it might be dangerous to try to rouse Micchy. Right now, unless Micchy managed to disintegrate them, there are now Helheim vines all over his room.

Micchy is tired and really seriously needs to rest. That's why he's sleeping a lot - and Takatora is happy that at least he's doing it where he's safe.

[reka]

I always think "well it could be worse" and then I realize that I'm settling again. I'm not sure how to talk about it sometimes.

Oh, the vines were real? Hmm. Since Micchy was disoriented and freaked, he might not have realized they were there / thought to get rid of them. It would probably be better to call Kouta than risk flamethrowers or something. Having an Overlord on call who's eager to help is really helpful.

Getting sleep is important when you're upset, I think. Yes! He might be pretty safe in most places, but at hope someone can watch him and make sure he doesn't hurt himself somehow.

[estirose]

I'm still figuring out how to talk about it.

Micchy was definitely freaked and considering Kouta told Takatora that they couldn't generate Helheim vines any more, Takatora's going to be very confused. At least it's early enough that Kouta could teleport in and do something about them. And then Kouta can explain that since Micchy never created flora before, he thought the ability was gone for both of them.

The whole sleep thing is definitely stabilizing Micchy, which makes me kind of happy.

[reka]

Considering that Micchy got the fruit here, it wouldn't be too surprising that he would have abilities Kouta doesn't have. I bet he hasn't, since part of the reason for doing so would be to create food and Micchy doesn't want to eat.

I bet. He still has a long way to go, but stability helps a lot for recovery.

[estirose]

Yeah, Micchy has a little issue with eating, I think.

(Sticking this here so I don't lose it)
--

"Kouta," said a bewildered looking Takatora, "How could this happen?"

Kouta looked at the floor of Micchy's room. "I don't know? I mean, as far as I know, we can't generate Helheim vines." And yet there were vines all over the floor. He'd never tried to create the flora since Micchy closed the connection between Helheim and Earth, and Micchy hadn't ever generated them either, even at his lowest point. "But maybe... maybe because he's the King...."

Takatora studied his friend. "You told me about that, but I'm still not sure what to think." Kouta understood Takatora's confusion, since Mai had chosen Micchy instead of Kouta to take the position of King.

Kouta grabbed some Fruits and then willed the vines into nothingness. They disappeared. "I'm still not sure, either." He wished he had something to put the fruits in - he'd have to grab some bags as soon as he got home, that was for sure. "I'll get these into containers. Is he eating anything?"

His friend shook his head. "No. He sometimes sips at the water, but I've never seen him eat unless I tell him to."

No progress there, then. Sometimes it felt like they were getting somewhere with Micchy, sometimes it felt like he stayed still or slid backwards. He wished he could devote all his time to his friend, but Takatora had pointed out that they both needed something to concentrate on besides Micchy or Kouta's garden. So Kouta helped his sister out financially by working in construction, and Takatora tried to help Zawame recover. He was sure that Micchy didn't need to eat very often, so it wasn't like he was completely starving to death, but still, Kouta worried as much as Takatora did.

"Maybe, if you'd ask him?" Kouta queried.

"I will." There was a sigh in there. "It's too late to go to the docks. Maybe he'll come back."

At least, Kouta thought, there was a good chance of that. Micchy might have felt like he was paying for what he did at the docks, but at least he came home to safety often enough for Kouta to not worry so much.

And that was all either of them could ask.

[reka]

They're siblings in spirit or something. They'd be awful blood siblings, of course. Anyway.

So is Micchy now frequently sleeping in his room? That's good. And even though he thinks the water is silly, he still drinks it sometimes. Comfort?

I bet there are tons of construction jobs available. I wonder what Akira's doing? I'd imagine Kouta has to restrain himself a bit at work.

I kind of think of the Overlords as immortal unless killed. It seemed like they didn't have lifespan limits at the very least.

[estirose]

Oh, gads, Kouta as a Kureshima would be a disaster. He'd kind of fit in between Takatora and Micchy, but he'd probably be the black sheep of the Kureshima siblings. Good thing I have too much on my plate to write that right now.

Micchy's taken to (subconsciously) wanting some of the comforts of his old life, so yes, he's going home to sleep/nap. And have some water. He probably doesn't need to eat too often - look at how long it took between the time that Kouta stopped eating and the time he ate his first Helheim fruit.

Akira got her job back (her workplace was actually mostly intact and they were still functional when people came back). Kouta is careful not to be too Other, including avoiding any tests or accidents that might expose his altered physiology.

[reka]

I thought Akira worked for Yggdrasil? There are many branches and stuff, so it's possible that she worked in a section that broke off or switched jobs during the series. Or something. (The TV-Asahi site says so, but I have no idea if there are any other sources for that bit.) It would make some sense, given that she's never shown worrying that her employer has suddenly imploded.

Agreed on the eating. Does the water do anything for him? I have no idea if Overlords have water needs. I'd theorize that they would (as much as they can be said to have needs), but who knows.

Kouta may develop a reputation for escaping injury by the skin of his teeth.