Post by Kuno Kenji on Nov 6, 2016 17:00:33 GMT -6
This was where he belonged…
The streets were cold, dark and empty, save for a few strays and Kuno, so yeah, just a few strays…
What was he even doing here? He wasn’t a wrestler. He hadn’t succeeded in a single thing he’d tried to accomplish since he came to UCI.
He had tried to spread the words of The Prince by joining him in trying to unite the promising team of Jack Shlongson and Andre Holmes, but they had been met by failure after failure, he had thought that it was simply Andre being difficult, that after enough of prodding from Kuno and Jack he would realize that he really did want to tag with Jack. But there had been something about how Andre had simply walked off after driving his body through the door, the bruises from which still hurt; but something about it had felt off, it didn’t feel like Andre really cared, like Kuno had just been a random popup, and a Yakuza Kick had been Andre’s own version of AdBlock.
Oh god! Was that the way Andre saw him and Otakuul’s advances, as annoying distractions? Not because he had trouble accepting that he and Jack was a good team, but because the idea was simple nonsense. Maybe it wasn’t the “love and passion” of Jack that had led Andre to victory, he had after all won even after Jack turned against him…
NO! He couldn’t think like that! He was sure that the Prince could explain to him why Andre had won even though Jack had so publicly denounced him. Maybe Jack still wanted to Andre to win deep inside, and Andre noticed that his speech to him from the protest was only half-hearted. Yeah, that might be it… He would have to ask the Prince what he thought, there had to be some explanation.
Kuno wondered where exactly he was, he realized that he hadn’t really had a plan when he left the hotel, he had just thought he needed some time alone.
He tried to clear his mind, he couldn’t think straight right now, he needed to get back to his room, he needed to talk to The Prince.
His mind kept wandering, it hadn’t just been in their struggles with uniting Jack and Andre that he had failed. His aspirations of beating the arrogant Johnny Rabid who had tried to disrespect both him and, even worse, The Hentai Prince. But as much as he had tried to fight, and as much as he had struggled, he simply wasn’t strong enough to kick out of the Kingdom Destroyer, it was the first time he had ever been hit by any kind of piledriver, and he wondered, was he really cut out for this? Would he ever have the strength to kick out of an attack like that? He didn’t think so.
A car honked as it sped by, alerting Kuno that he had almost strayed into the damn road, and though his aspirations at becoming a wrestling might currently be falling flat, he didn’t want to become equally flat at the hands of some drunk german. Poignant though it may be, it was not the way he was hoping that his first time on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
He noticed that he had somehow gotten close to where he started, he could see the yellow sign of the Flämischer Hof hotel about a mile down the road, he knew what it represented, coming face to face with the man he had failed twice in their short time as partners, he wasn’t sure he could handle being face to face with The Prince, but he needed to get to his bed, he couldn’t win the day after having slept in the street, and the fight against Ryan Jones was one he had to win. Otakuul had suffered too many losses, they needed something to rally around, and Kuno had been given the opportunity to give them all just that, holding the gold, it was what he had dreamed of since he first heard of professional wrestling, it was something that could show the world that Otakuul was more than just a joke, more than just a
The hotel was getting closer and closer, he could see the friendly looking german girl who had greeted them when they checked in standing behind the front desk.
But, was he really the one to do it? The Prince was a much more skilled competitor than him, and though The Brawler might not have technical ability or speed of Kuno and Prince, he had a fighter’s spirit, which Kuno had showed he lacked when he couldn’t even kick out of one lousy Kingdom Destroyer…
He opened the door, the girl said the same thing she had when they first checked in, it sounded vaguely welcoming, absent-mindedly he smiled and nodded to her, the smile completely failing to reach his eyes
He ascended the stairs slowly, the world bobbing up and down to a steady rhythm as he got nearer and nearer to the 4th floor, and the room he shared with Brawler and The Prince.
His hopes that the other two might have already gone to bed were dashed as he neared the door, the high-pitched voices of the Moe Stars, probably audible to everyone staying on this floor, making it evident that his teammates were very much awake
The voices quieted for a moment as he entered, before rising even higher, in both pitch and volume. ‘Kuno-san!’
The three girls were back in their usual clothes, and from what he had heard from the outside, they were back to using their “real” names.
Biyaku was once again Donna, Bani was once again Michelle and Botan was once again Patricia Nichols.
It always bothered Kuno when they were like this, something about how they acted didn’t feel right, they may look the same, but these weren’t the three girls that he had seen at conventions for the last two years, the girls he had been envious of for getting to spend so much time with the Hentai Prince, the girls who had given him the news that the Prince wanted to work together with him in UCI, they were too… normal.
And the Prince wasn’t himself either where he sat on the couch, his smile looked tired, he lacked the confidence and XXX that he usually exuded.
Kuno hated seeing him like this, he couldn’t stand it, so when the got done answering the girls questions about his whereabouts the last few hours Kuno quickly excused himself, blaming a long walk and a full stomach for his fatigue, in actuality he hadn’t had anything other than chips to eat, it was the only thing he could understand what it was, all the sandwiches were labeled in German, and he couldn’t figure out which one, if any, was tuna.
He walked to his room, quietly thanking whatever part of UCI’s management decided to book them a room with separate bedrooms as he collapsed onto the bed, he still hadn’t gotten into the habit of sleeping with his clothes off or even sleeping on something as soft as a bed.
He looked up as he heard the door creak softly, seeing a face framed by blue hair peek through the doorway.
‘Hey there, kiddo…’
‘Hey, Biyak- Donna.’ He quickly corrected himself as he saw the girl furrow her brow as he almost used her stage name, he felt the familiar heat of a blush creep up his cheeks, he hoped she couldn’t see it in the dark room.
Biyaku walked into the room, turning on the light and sitting down softly next to Kuno on the bed if she noticed his blush she didn’t show it.
‘How are you doing?’
‘I’m fine, just a little tired after walk is all.’ He tried to twist his face into what he thought was a convincing smile, but Biyaku’s frown told him that he had failed in that endeavor.
‘Nervous for your match with Jones?’
Kuno sighed, knowing she had seen right through him. ‘Yeah, you saw him at Killing Floor, he looked right at home with that group of champions, and i... I couldn’t even get into the match…’
Biyaku looked at him with an almost motherly smile on her lips ‘And in the match he was eliminated by Johnny Rabid, and there’s no shame in that, now you have both lost to him, that puts you on even ground, doesn’t it?’
‘Yeah, I guess so… but did you see him in there? He was so cool, calm, and collected, I could never be that way in a match like that.’
‘That might be true, but-’ she pauses mid-sentence and ponders something a moment ‘Remember that fan made Dōjin manga about the Moe stars living in a hotel with the author? I think you reviewed it right before you started here in UCI.’
‘Y-yes, what about it?’
‘Do you remember how you described the author's character?’
‘H-he was unrealistic’
Kuno blushed as he saw the blue haired girl roll her eyes ‘And do you remember why you thought he was unrealistic?’
‘N-no.’ It was a lie and they both knew it, Kuno had been know to be able to recite the entirety of a 3-year-old video.
‘If I remember correctly you said he was “too perfect”. That he never showed any emotion that could be considered “uncool”. That he didn’t feel like a real person, he felt like what someone wishes that they were, like he had so much makeup on that there was no trace of who he actually was, just a mask.’
Kuno was slowly starting to realize what she was trying to tell him, maybe that was all that Ryan Jones was, a mask to hide the real person underneath.
‘You said it made him look insecure, that there was no other way to explain why he would hide his true self, other than that he didn’t think that who he really is isn’t good enough.’
‘But Jones isn’t like that, just look at how people react to him, he really is that cool!’
Biyaku chuckled softly and shook her head ‘No he isn’t, he’s just a really good actor, good enough to trick unsuspecting people into thinking that’s the real him-’
‘He probably even believes it himself.’
Both Kuno’s and Biyaku’s heads snap up when they hear Bani’s voice.
‘What do you mean, Michelle?’
‘I mean, he probably started acting this way as a conscious effort, but now he has kept the mask on so long that he has forgotten he’s even wearing one.’
Kuno perks up, thinking that he might be starting to get the full picture of the man the girls were describing ‘Like when you make a silly face for too long, and your face is stuck like that!’
He frowns as the two girls start laughing ‘I-is that not right?’
Biyaku calms down first and places a reassuring hand on Kuno’s shoulder ‘Yes, Kuno, that’s completely right, it’s just that neither I or Michelle would have thought to put it in those specific words, that was actually a very good analogy.’
Kuno smiled weakly, but the thoughts from his walk continued to keep him from truly being reassured.
‘Is something still bothering you?’
‘No, it’s just… do you think that it’s working?’
Both girls frowned but it was Bani who opened her mouth to speak first ‘That what’s working?’
‘This!’ Kuno gestured around the room ‘Otakuul, Love and passion, the whole thing, do you think that we’re really helping people?’
Biyaku stared at him, almost bewildered ‘Of course it is, you have seen all the emails we have gotten from people whose lives have been turned around because of what we teach, why would you think that is isn’t working?’
‘It’s about Andre, isn’t it?’ Kuno turned his head, seeing Bani stand there with her arms crossed over her chest, he nodded weakly.
‘What about Andre?’
‘He’s thinking that since Yandre and Jack haven’t gotten over their issues even with Otakuul doing their best to unite them, then there must be something wrong with what we’re trying to do, isn’t that right?’ She was almost glaring at him as she spoke.
Biyaku tilted her head and looked at him ‘Is that true, Kuno?’ There was no hostility in her voice, only concern.
Kuno could only nod, he didn’t trust his voice enough to speak.
Biyaku hugged him tightly and started trying to reassure him ‘Don’t mind Andre, he’s just being a little sour because-’
*SMACK*
She stopped talking when Bani, who had walked up to them during her brief speech, hit Kuno on the top of the head with a magazine taken from the nightstand.
Both he and Biyaku looked up at her ‘Michelle, what did you do that for?’
Bani simply grinned ear to ear ‘When a cat is acting stupid, like this little *baka*, then you hit them on the top of the head with a magazine, haven’t you ever read up on keeping pets?’
‘I-i’m acting stupid?’
‘Yes, very stupid in fact, almost incredibly so.’
‘Why? I don’t get it.’
‘You have faced a few setbacks, so what? You went from having never wrestled before, to competing to qualify for the main event of a PPV, you shouldn’t feel bad for losing your first match, and as for Andre; that man has been priding himself on being a “lone wolf” badass, and you try to pair him up with an ex-porn star, you had to know going in that it would take for than a few competitions and a dinner to make it work. And now you are going into a match against a man who had a good showing in that same match that you failed to qualify for, and the odds are certainly stacked against you, but that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible, or even that it’s a bad idea. It just means that it will be hard, and you have to face that challenge head on if you want to prove to the world that the philosophy of LOVE AND PASSION works, that what The Hentai Prince says is true!’
Kuno looked at her as she spoke, not sure if he agreed with her or not, but when she uttered those final words he realized that he had to win, not for Bani, not for Biyaku, not even for himself… but for The Prince.
He stood up and walked over to his still packed travel bag, he pulled out his camera and tripod, it was time to tell the world how he felt.
JHJHJHJHJHJHJHJ
Youtube.com
Video Title: “A message for Ryan Jones”
Uploader: “KunoKenjiii!~”
The video fades in, showing Kuno standing in the main area of the hotel room, to his left stood Biyaku, to his right was Bani.
Kuno starts speaking in his usual, cute voice ‘When I first heard that I was facing you I was scared, Jones-sama.’
‘Who wouldn’t be, you just got out of the Killing Floor match, where you fought six other main event level competitors, and you didn’t look out of place.’
The two girls look at each other and nod in agreement, the movement was exaggerated to an almost comedic degree.
‘But that is where the problem with you lies, you don’t *look* out of place, you carry yourself in such a way that you never look out of place, even with the best of the best, but I think it’s all an act, a mask!’
Both Bani and Biyaku donned shocked expressions ‘A mask? B-but why would Jones-sama need a mask?’
‘Thanks for asking, Bani-san! I think it’s because he doesn’t feel “cool” enough without it, he wears the mask to feel like the main character, when he is, at best, a member of the supporting cast, he’s the… Takumi Aldini, or the Vegeta of UCI, sure he’s always there, you even see him do something worthwhile every now and again, but for the most part he’s there to flesh out the other, more colorful characters.’
The two girls giggle at the quite unfavorable comparisons but quiet down as Kuno start talking again
‘I’m sure that you’re sitting and watching this of a nice recliner right now, feeling smugly superior to me for no real reason, well guess what Jones-sama? No one in UCI is falling for you act, sure you might have news hosts falling over themselves with your fake cool, but the rest of us know that you’re just hiding who you really are, in fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if the only one who you are fooling is yourself.’
The shocked expressions are back on the girl's faces, this time accompanied by a number of Kanji symbols and a recording of the girl's voices saying something in Japanese, one doesn’t need to speak the language to be able to guess that it roughly translates to ‘WHAAAT!?”
‘Yes, I think that you’ve kept that mask on so long that you’ve forgotten you’re even wearing one.’
Bani can’t keep herself from smirking as she hears him repeat the very thing she said before, she must have managed to reach the boy. She snaps back to reality and replaces her expression with one of exaggerated wonder as Kuno says his final line. The other three members of Otakuul are making their way into the shot, all wearing confident expressions, but remaining silent.
‘But tomorrow night, I will show the world that you are nothing beneath that mask, that unlike Otakuul, unlike The Prince, you are nothing but a wannabe.’
Kuno looks around him at all the other members, before laying his eyes on The Hentai Prince; The Prince nods to him, and Kuno raises his arms into the air after all, the other members have done the same, they shout in unison: *’VIC-TORY! VIC-TORY! VIC-TORY!!!’*
The streets were cold, dark and empty, save for a few strays and Kuno, so yeah, just a few strays…
What was he even doing here? He wasn’t a wrestler. He hadn’t succeeded in a single thing he’d tried to accomplish since he came to UCI.
He had tried to spread the words of The Prince by joining him in trying to unite the promising team of Jack Shlongson and Andre Holmes, but they had been met by failure after failure, he had thought that it was simply Andre being difficult, that after enough of prodding from Kuno and Jack he would realize that he really did want to tag with Jack. But there had been something about how Andre had simply walked off after driving his body through the door, the bruises from which still hurt; but something about it had felt off, it didn’t feel like Andre really cared, like Kuno had just been a random popup, and a Yakuza Kick had been Andre’s own version of AdBlock.
Oh god! Was that the way Andre saw him and Otakuul’s advances, as annoying distractions? Not because he had trouble accepting that he and Jack was a good team, but because the idea was simple nonsense. Maybe it wasn’t the “love and passion” of Jack that had led Andre to victory, he had after all won even after Jack turned against him…
NO! He couldn’t think like that! He was sure that the Prince could explain to him why Andre had won even though Jack had so publicly denounced him. Maybe Jack still wanted to Andre to win deep inside, and Andre noticed that his speech to him from the protest was only half-hearted. Yeah, that might be it… He would have to ask the Prince what he thought, there had to be some explanation.
Kuno wondered where exactly he was, he realized that he hadn’t really had a plan when he left the hotel, he had just thought he needed some time alone.
He tried to clear his mind, he couldn’t think straight right now, he needed to get back to his room, he needed to talk to The Prince.
His mind kept wandering, it hadn’t just been in their struggles with uniting Jack and Andre that he had failed. His aspirations of beating the arrogant Johnny Rabid who had tried to disrespect both him and, even worse, The Hentai Prince. But as much as he had tried to fight, and as much as he had struggled, he simply wasn’t strong enough to kick out of the Kingdom Destroyer, it was the first time he had ever been hit by any kind of piledriver, and he wondered, was he really cut out for this? Would he ever have the strength to kick out of an attack like that? He didn’t think so.
A car honked as it sped by, alerting Kuno that he had almost strayed into the damn road, and though his aspirations at becoming a wrestling might currently be falling flat, he didn’t want to become equally flat at the hands of some drunk german. Poignant though it may be, it was not the way he was hoping that his first time on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
He noticed that he had somehow gotten close to where he started, he could see the yellow sign of the Flämischer Hof hotel about a mile down the road, he knew what it represented, coming face to face with the man he had failed twice in their short time as partners, he wasn’t sure he could handle being face to face with The Prince, but he needed to get to his bed, he couldn’t win the day after having slept in the street, and the fight against Ryan Jones was one he had to win. Otakuul had suffered too many losses, they needed something to rally around, and Kuno had been given the opportunity to give them all just that, holding the gold, it was what he had dreamed of since he first heard of professional wrestling, it was something that could show the world that Otakuul was more than just a joke, more than just a
The hotel was getting closer and closer, he could see the friendly looking german girl who had greeted them when they checked in standing behind the front desk.
But, was he really the one to do it? The Prince was a much more skilled competitor than him, and though The Brawler might not have technical ability or speed of Kuno and Prince, he had a fighter’s spirit, which Kuno had showed he lacked when he couldn’t even kick out of one lousy Kingdom Destroyer…
He opened the door, the girl said the same thing she had when they first checked in, it sounded vaguely welcoming, absent-mindedly he smiled and nodded to her, the smile completely failing to reach his eyes
He ascended the stairs slowly, the world bobbing up and down to a steady rhythm as he got nearer and nearer to the 4th floor, and the room he shared with Brawler and The Prince.
His hopes that the other two might have already gone to bed were dashed as he neared the door, the high-pitched voices of the Moe Stars, probably audible to everyone staying on this floor, making it evident that his teammates were very much awake
The voices quieted for a moment as he entered, before rising even higher, in both pitch and volume. ‘Kuno-san!’
The three girls were back in their usual clothes, and from what he had heard from the outside, they were back to using their “real” names.
Biyaku was once again Donna, Bani was once again Michelle and Botan was once again Patricia Nichols.
It always bothered Kuno when they were like this, something about how they acted didn’t feel right, they may look the same, but these weren’t the three girls that he had seen at conventions for the last two years, the girls he had been envious of for getting to spend so much time with the Hentai Prince, the girls who had given him the news that the Prince wanted to work together with him in UCI, they were too… normal.
And the Prince wasn’t himself either where he sat on the couch, his smile looked tired, he lacked the confidence and XXX that he usually exuded.
Kuno hated seeing him like this, he couldn’t stand it, so when the got done answering the girls questions about his whereabouts the last few hours Kuno quickly excused himself, blaming a long walk and a full stomach for his fatigue, in actuality he hadn’t had anything other than chips to eat, it was the only thing he could understand what it was, all the sandwiches were labeled in German, and he couldn’t figure out which one, if any, was tuna.
He walked to his room, quietly thanking whatever part of UCI’s management decided to book them a room with separate bedrooms as he collapsed onto the bed, he still hadn’t gotten into the habit of sleeping with his clothes off or even sleeping on something as soft as a bed.
He looked up as he heard the door creak softly, seeing a face framed by blue hair peek through the doorway.
‘Hey there, kiddo…’
‘Hey, Biyak- Donna.’ He quickly corrected himself as he saw the girl furrow her brow as he almost used her stage name, he felt the familiar heat of a blush creep up his cheeks, he hoped she couldn’t see it in the dark room.
Biyaku walked into the room, turning on the light and sitting down softly next to Kuno on the bed if she noticed his blush she didn’t show it.
‘How are you doing?’
‘I’m fine, just a little tired after walk is all.’ He tried to twist his face into what he thought was a convincing smile, but Biyaku’s frown told him that he had failed in that endeavor.
‘Nervous for your match with Jones?’
Kuno sighed, knowing she had seen right through him. ‘Yeah, you saw him at Killing Floor, he looked right at home with that group of champions, and i... I couldn’t even get into the match…’
Biyaku looked at him with an almost motherly smile on her lips ‘And in the match he was eliminated by Johnny Rabid, and there’s no shame in that, now you have both lost to him, that puts you on even ground, doesn’t it?’
‘Yeah, I guess so… but did you see him in there? He was so cool, calm, and collected, I could never be that way in a match like that.’
‘That might be true, but-’ she pauses mid-sentence and ponders something a moment ‘Remember that fan made Dōjin manga about the Moe stars living in a hotel with the author? I think you reviewed it right before you started here in UCI.’
‘Y-yes, what about it?’
‘Do you remember how you described the author's character?’
‘H-he was unrealistic’
Kuno blushed as he saw the blue haired girl roll her eyes ‘And do you remember why you thought he was unrealistic?’
‘N-no.’ It was a lie and they both knew it, Kuno had been know to be able to recite the entirety of a 3-year-old video.
‘If I remember correctly you said he was “too perfect”. That he never showed any emotion that could be considered “uncool”. That he didn’t feel like a real person, he felt like what someone wishes that they were, like he had so much makeup on that there was no trace of who he actually was, just a mask.’
Kuno was slowly starting to realize what she was trying to tell him, maybe that was all that Ryan Jones was, a mask to hide the real person underneath.
‘You said it made him look insecure, that there was no other way to explain why he would hide his true self, other than that he didn’t think that who he really is isn’t good enough.’
‘But Jones isn’t like that, just look at how people react to him, he really is that cool!’
Biyaku chuckled softly and shook her head ‘No he isn’t, he’s just a really good actor, good enough to trick unsuspecting people into thinking that’s the real him-’
‘He probably even believes it himself.’
Both Kuno’s and Biyaku’s heads snap up when they hear Bani’s voice.
‘What do you mean, Michelle?’
‘I mean, he probably started acting this way as a conscious effort, but now he has kept the mask on so long that he has forgotten he’s even wearing one.’
Kuno perks up, thinking that he might be starting to get the full picture of the man the girls were describing ‘Like when you make a silly face for too long, and your face is stuck like that!’
He frowns as the two girls start laughing ‘I-is that not right?’
Biyaku calms down first and places a reassuring hand on Kuno’s shoulder ‘Yes, Kuno, that’s completely right, it’s just that neither I or Michelle would have thought to put it in those specific words, that was actually a very good analogy.’
Kuno smiled weakly, but the thoughts from his walk continued to keep him from truly being reassured.
‘Is something still bothering you?’
‘No, it’s just… do you think that it’s working?’
Both girls frowned but it was Bani who opened her mouth to speak first ‘That what’s working?’
‘This!’ Kuno gestured around the room ‘Otakuul, Love and passion, the whole thing, do you think that we’re really helping people?’
Biyaku stared at him, almost bewildered ‘Of course it is, you have seen all the emails we have gotten from people whose lives have been turned around because of what we teach, why would you think that is isn’t working?’
‘It’s about Andre, isn’t it?’ Kuno turned his head, seeing Bani stand there with her arms crossed over her chest, he nodded weakly.
‘What about Andre?’
‘He’s thinking that since Yandre and Jack haven’t gotten over their issues even with Otakuul doing their best to unite them, then there must be something wrong with what we’re trying to do, isn’t that right?’ She was almost glaring at him as she spoke.
Biyaku tilted her head and looked at him ‘Is that true, Kuno?’ There was no hostility in her voice, only concern.
Kuno could only nod, he didn’t trust his voice enough to speak.
Biyaku hugged him tightly and started trying to reassure him ‘Don’t mind Andre, he’s just being a little sour because-’
*SMACK*
She stopped talking when Bani, who had walked up to them during her brief speech, hit Kuno on the top of the head with a magazine taken from the nightstand.
Both he and Biyaku looked up at her ‘Michelle, what did you do that for?’
Bani simply grinned ear to ear ‘When a cat is acting stupid, like this little *baka*, then you hit them on the top of the head with a magazine, haven’t you ever read up on keeping pets?’
‘I-i’m acting stupid?’
‘Yes, very stupid in fact, almost incredibly so.’
‘Why? I don’t get it.’
‘You have faced a few setbacks, so what? You went from having never wrestled before, to competing to qualify for the main event of a PPV, you shouldn’t feel bad for losing your first match, and as for Andre; that man has been priding himself on being a “lone wolf” badass, and you try to pair him up with an ex-porn star, you had to know going in that it would take for than a few competitions and a dinner to make it work. And now you are going into a match against a man who had a good showing in that same match that you failed to qualify for, and the odds are certainly stacked against you, but that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible, or even that it’s a bad idea. It just means that it will be hard, and you have to face that challenge head on if you want to prove to the world that the philosophy of LOVE AND PASSION works, that what The Hentai Prince says is true!’
Kuno looked at her as she spoke, not sure if he agreed with her or not, but when she uttered those final words he realized that he had to win, not for Bani, not for Biyaku, not even for himself… but for The Prince.
He stood up and walked over to his still packed travel bag, he pulled out his camera and tripod, it was time to tell the world how he felt.
JHJHJHJHJHJHJHJ
Youtube.com
Video Title: “A message for Ryan Jones”
Uploader: “KunoKenjiii!~”
The video fades in, showing Kuno standing in the main area of the hotel room, to his left stood Biyaku, to his right was Bani.
Kuno starts speaking in his usual, cute voice ‘When I first heard that I was facing you I was scared, Jones-sama.’
‘Who wouldn’t be, you just got out of the Killing Floor match, where you fought six other main event level competitors, and you didn’t look out of place.’
The two girls look at each other and nod in agreement, the movement was exaggerated to an almost comedic degree.
‘But that is where the problem with you lies, you don’t *look* out of place, you carry yourself in such a way that you never look out of place, even with the best of the best, but I think it’s all an act, a mask!’
Both Bani and Biyaku donned shocked expressions ‘A mask? B-but why would Jones-sama need a mask?’
‘Thanks for asking, Bani-san! I think it’s because he doesn’t feel “cool” enough without it, he wears the mask to feel like the main character, when he is, at best, a member of the supporting cast, he’s the… Takumi Aldini, or the Vegeta of UCI, sure he’s always there, you even see him do something worthwhile every now and again, but for the most part he’s there to flesh out the other, more colorful characters.’
The two girls giggle at the quite unfavorable comparisons but quiet down as Kuno start talking again
‘I’m sure that you’re sitting and watching this of a nice recliner right now, feeling smugly superior to me for no real reason, well guess what Jones-sama? No one in UCI is falling for you act, sure you might have news hosts falling over themselves with your fake cool, but the rest of us know that you’re just hiding who you really are, in fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if the only one who you are fooling is yourself.’
The shocked expressions are back on the girl's faces, this time accompanied by a number of Kanji symbols and a recording of the girl's voices saying something in Japanese, one doesn’t need to speak the language to be able to guess that it roughly translates to ‘WHAAAT!?”
‘Yes, I think that you’ve kept that mask on so long that you’ve forgotten you’re even wearing one.’
Bani can’t keep herself from smirking as she hears him repeat the very thing she said before, she must have managed to reach the boy. She snaps back to reality and replaces her expression with one of exaggerated wonder as Kuno says his final line. The other three members of Otakuul are making their way into the shot, all wearing confident expressions, but remaining silent.
‘But tomorrow night, I will show the world that you are nothing beneath that mask, that unlike Otakuul, unlike The Prince, you are nothing but a wannabe.’
Kuno looks around him at all the other members, before laying his eyes on The Hentai Prince; The Prince nods to him, and Kuno raises his arms into the air after all, the other members have done the same, they shout in unison: *’VIC-TORY! VIC-TORY! VIC-TORY!!!’*