My head felt light as a feather as I biked home. It was a lot less crowded here during the summer, I noted absentmindedly. Which is good because I was currently yelling my way through "Baby Romantica" as I navigated down the road. It was a tradition of mine, but today I didn't feel as up to it because of how fitting it was.

 

'Fitting? Wait, no. Nonono. Wrong. The Junjou Romantica ending song did not fit my current situation. Bad brain. Go back to thinking about that ugly car that passed by. Yeah, it looks like a brick on wheels. Criticizing cars, good. Thinking about your gay boyfriend, bad.'

 

I pulled into my driveway and put away my bike, still singing louder than my headphones. "Jun~jou dade sore daku wa- OH JESUS !"

 

"Baahahaha! And hello to you too." I was greeted near my front stoop by a roaring blonde in a rainbow outfit jumping out at me. "Did I finally get you?" she asked excitedly.

 

"Christ mothe- yes, Caroline, you got me." I put my hand to my chest to try and keep my heart from breaking my ribs. I took a deep breath, swore again and looked Caroline right in the eyes- well, sunglasses. "Did you and Mel decide to come over early?"

 

"I guess so." Caroline turned from roaring dinosaur into shy introvert in seconds flat. "Melesa said that you got back from summer school at one o'clock, but it must've been one thirty then."

 

I sighed. "It does end at one. Sorry I kept you guys waiting. It is more than just a long story, so let's go inside."

 

Inside I was greeted by Mel yelling "Why doesn't your On Demand have K-Pop on it? Mine does!" at me. I sighed and snatched the remote from her.

 

"We have different service providers. Please don't play K-Pop in here; my brother is home."

 

"But I have to show you 'Two M-"

 

"But nothin', I have important news."

 

"Didn't Thursday already pass?"

 

"It's not about anime! Listen!" I kind of lost my nerve for a second after that. "I met someone at summer school..."

 

I hesitated and Mel gave me a hand motion and said, "Go ooon..."

 

My words came out in a rush. "Well, it all started when he saw my sketchbook and-"

 

"Woah, your sketchbook? He!?!"

 

I brushed my bangs out of my eyes. "Yeah, it's exactly how it sounds. He flipped to /that section of my sketchbook. But not to fear! He said that he knew Torao and Tatsumi! Melesa, I think I managed to find one of the rarest of all species of otaku: the fanboy."

 

She gasped and Caroline had no real reaction to that. She had a vague understanding of what was, but since her life didn't revolve around it like mine did, she didn't grasp the rarity of the situation. Mel, however, looked like she had won the lottery. "A fanboy!?!?! OMG! What was he like? Does he know Junjou Romantica? Did he look like a seme or uke? Did he look like Souta? Is he cute!?!"

 

I blushed and glared at her. "MELESA! Calm yourself!" I sighed and sat back in my chair. "Where do you want me to start with that barrage of questions?"

 

She grinned. "Is he cute? Like, uke cute?"

 

I glared at her, the blush still lingering on my face. "He had messy brown hair and yellowish brown eyes- which I didn't even know existed- with freckles. And yes, he was the perfect uke height. He's about up to my chin."

 

Mel grinned and made a noise that sounded like a combination of a laugh and squeal. I couldn't blame her though. If I heard her talk about someone so uke-esque, I would probably end up rolling on the floor making some noise akin to the cry of a pterodactyl. "HE SOUNDS SO PERFECT!" she let in a huge gasp and leaned in. "But that's not a long story. What happened next?"

 

Half of me really didn't want to tell her, but the gossipy part of me won over and told her everything. From me befriending the lone fanboy, to the drawing of Kodama, to the stand-off with Angel (insert Mel swearing Angel off to the high heavens), to our triumph in the Dean's office (insert Mel ranting about how awesome that is).

 

I wanted to end it right there, but Mel saw the doubt and hesitation in my eyes and latched at it. "And theeeeeen?"

 

"Andthen we went home and lived happily ever after!" I replied too quickly.

 

She narrowed her eyes and gave me a cat smile. "What did you two dooooo?"

 

Her venomous looking smile infected her words. "Did he do something that proved he wasn't gay?"

 

I sputtered and choked on air for a moment. "Nan-nandayo koitsu!?!" She looked confused for a moment. "I said 'What's your problem!?' He's still gay! We're just........we're kind of going out now."

 

"WHAAAT!?! " she looked somewhere between dumbfounded, delighted, and confused.

 

"Look, today wasn't the first time he was bullied by homophobic dickwads like Angel, but it was the first time he was attacked by one. He and I both figured that if he had a 'girlfriend', he would be left alone. I'm basically his beard." I explained rationally. "We're having our first date tomorrow. He asked me out and everything."

 

"What are you guys gonna do?" she asked with a huge smile.

 

I shrugged. "I dunno. He didn't really specify anything. I'd assume we'd just walk somewhere after school and hang out. Oh god, is that not how dates work?"

 

Caroline spoke up now. "It's like it's some sort of mega romantic pre-prom date. No matter what, you'll be fine."

 

Melesa interjected, "Though, seeing as how none of us have ever had a boyfriend, we wouldn't be the people to ask."

 

We all laughed and changed the topic to what kind of movie we should watch on demand.

 

Meanwhile in another POV...

 

"Listen, they've gotten too powerful already, Sis. We can't wait to find her forever."

 

"Have patience, my brother. She will be found. If we fight sporadically, we will only be defeated. And must I also remind you that we are supposed to remain hidden? No, such hastiness would never do."

 

"Cut the ty backwards talk, Yoda. Stupid, you sound."

 

She glared at him. He was completely unruffled by her anger. "As I was saying, our agent is searching farther now than ever before, and there are many subjects that we are investigating thoroughly. We've already determined which sect she will be from." The girl grinned in anticipation. "She will be upon us soon."

 

"We're seriously going to find the Magic Girl this time? What kind will she be?" he said excitedly.

 

His sister giggled, "I guarantee you won't like it..."

 

"Me? Not liking a magical girl? You obviously don't know me very well then. And will you stop talking about him as"our agent'? He's our brother for Christ's sake."

 

She huffed at him. "Well, excuuuuse me if I wanted to sound mysterious. We're new characters and therefore an enigma for the readers! If it weren't for the fourth wall, (which is pretty thin anyways) I would tell Mun to write you out of this whole thing!"

 

With a confused look, the black-haired brother sent the POV back to me (thank you!).

 

.....Except I am asleep. Well crap. Sorry mysterious girl that I won't write about for awhile, I have to send it over to someone who's actually awake right now. Hmm, it looks like no one is awake right now except for the little shadow duo. I guess I pass the POV to one of them instead of that creepy 3rd person omnipotent POV. Let's get this baby shifted to 2nd person!

 

A young man stands in his bedroom. It just so happens that today, the 30th of June, is NOT his birthday. Neither will his birthday mark the end of the world, he promises. Though he is a pivotal character in the plot, it is only today that he will be given a name in this story! What will his name be?

 

>Enter name.

 

His name is Th- what kind of language is that, young man? This is my fic, and I get to use your full name if I want to. It doesn't matter what you have to say on the matter.

 

.......You're kind of right though. Your name would mess things up a bit. ​Fiiiiiine​, I'll let you use the weird- one that sounds like you cam from the 7th century. It was the one I came up with in the first place anyway. I'm still using your last name though.

 

>Enter name for real this time and settle into 2nd person already!

 

Your name is Zephyr Graham. It is an unseasonably cold June day. That's because your window is open and it's nighttime, genius. Arguably more genius is your kickass computer setup which brings us to your variety of interests. A kickass dude like yourself is sure to have many. You have a penchant for spinning out of control over slight details, you know, like your savior disappearing overnight, that your asinine sister insists on chastising you on. You like to rave on about obscure Magical Girl animes that no one cares to even look up which only infuriates you more. You have the large collection of Magical Girl posters and merchandise, foreign literature, and language dictionaries. You can speak Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, German, and, of course, Japanese fluently. Although you hate the language with a passion, you are fluent in reading and speaking Korean, as is insisted by your parents. You maintain international relations in your and your sister's mysterious organization. And, if it just so happens to tickle your fancy at that moment, you can kick some serious .

 

What will you do?

 

>Stop making Homestuck references this instant.

 

What? No. What's the point in talking in 2nd person if you're not mimicking Homestuck? You dismiss such a ridiculous question to go settle down at your "center of command". It's your desk really. It's tidiness is imperative to making allies of the other otakus.

 

Next to your high-tech desktop computer is your volume of Puella Madoka Magica. Very mainstream, but at least the volumes were cheap. You enjoy your classy shoujo manga until your computer beeps at you saying you got a new message. The name astraphilacKelidoscope popped up on Pesterchum and you reply almost immediately.

 

>Answer chum.

 

You can't open Pesterchum fast enough. This is one person you can't keep waiting. No exceptions, as they insisted.

 

(astraphilacKelidoscope [AK] began pestering justifiedRadicalist [JR] at 1:43)

 

AK: hey Zephyr >:3

AK: you still awake?

JR: yeah, I was just reading through some Madoka.

JR: what's up?

AK: i dunno missed ya ;)

AK: oh I actually heard of that one! I heard its real sad

JR: shh! Don't spoil anything for me!

JR: I'm only on the third chapter.

AK: i still dont get why you like that little girls stuff

JR: Like you're one to talk! Your taste in manga I'll never get. That BL is cliche as .

JR: Even to the point where it is categorized as shoujo.

AK: well, it is made for girls. Of course they put it as shoujo.

AK: and take that back!

AK: BL is NOT cliche!

JR: Chapter 1, they .

JR: Chapter 2, they fall in love, but one of them won't confess it. The rest is spent fighting off a rival and/or getting the other one to confess his feelings. The end.

AK: not true!

AK: two words for you:

AK: Seven Days! *drops the mic and walks off stage*

JR: I'm still not reading any.

AK: pleeeeeease? They don't even in this one <:(

JR: No way.

AK: ...coming from the guy with JR as his chumhandle.

JR: For the last time, THAT WAS A COINCIDENCE

AK: ik, ik

JR: sO HOW WAS YOUR DAY?

JR: ho forgot the caps.

AK: alright Tavros, I'll tell ya.

JR: *oh

AK: make that Roxy...

AK: pretty damn ty overall. That's why I wanted to talk to you~ ;)

JR: I can't go on webcam rn.

AK: I know, jeez. Just talking is fine. Thanks for the offer though ;)

JR: I just said it as a BTW.

AK: such a tsundere ~hshs

JR: >:l

AK: cutie~

JR: Creepy~

AK: oh how you wound me, Zephy! I want your dere side back!

JR: tu_ut

AK: haha! Alrighty then UU, I'll leave then.

JR: Already?

AK: there we go!

AK: there's your dere side!

JR: off

AK: <3 luv ya too <3

JR: ......you still there?

AK: yeah

AK: i'm just

JR: just?

AK: nothing

JR: :/ Don't pull that . I know it's not "nothing'.

AK: ugh

AK: it's just.

AK: I kind of want to see you in person

AK: but I can't

JR: why not?

AK: there's zero chance of me being able to convince my parents

AK: "hey can you give me money to go hop on a plane to see my internet boyfriend?"

AK: and you're busy with your gig so you can't come here...

AK: it's just...

AK: it

JR: bby...

AK: ......are you sure you can't go on webcam?

JR: Alright.

JR: We can't be doing this every night though.

AK: thanks

AK: in case you didn't hear before

AK: I love you

 

You didn't even hesitate for a second before replying:

 

JR: I love you too.

 

(astraphilacKelidoscope [AK] ceased pestering justifiedRadicalist [JR] at 2:33)

 

A/N: Yoooooo. How are things going on your side of things? I hope better than things are going over here. This chapter has been sitting around for a bit waiting for me finish some other chapters to fall back on when I get back to school. I'm debating on returning to returning the POV stick back to the main people or introducing another of my characters while I'm at it. I have the chapters typed up wither way. As for drawings, I'm having a bit of trouble with my tablet (luckily this one is just an edit) so expectations should be set low for the next chapter pic. I need to go sleep now, so night night. Don't let Shia Lebeouf bite.