Fool Bloom: Strange Kind of Spring

This pedantic ultra-high excruciating detail autism spectacular review was commissioned by @ArlequineLunaire


"Fool Bloom" is, once again, a work of @ArlequineLunaire's own creation. It was written as a quest, but has since been modified into a conventional prose story. As best I can tell by the intro blurb, this is sort of a sequel to an implied ersatz Sailor Moon story. The emotion-draining enemy was defeated by a high school aged heroine, and now it's decades later and she's a retired magical woman. The new story is catalyzed by her meeting with a new, young meguka, seemingly without any enemies to fight with her new powers. Not sure at all where it goes from there.

Anyway, I'm going to read the first arc, "Strange Kind of Spring." It's two chapters long, so this may end up being one or two posts.

1.1​

Born too late to be a magical girl, born too early to forget them…

That could've almost been Miyako Nozawa's motto, a metaphorical tattoo over her heart. The Frost Decade had finished by the time she'd been born, and already her twentieth birthday had come and gone.

Nothing could more scream that she was an adult by now than the winding, head-blurring college application form she was trying to make sense of, staring back at her from her laptop screen as she sat outside a countryside café. If this is just the form, I don't even want to think about the entrance exams, it occurred to her as she briefly removed her glasses and rubbed her temples.

Neither alien-hide nor plant-hair had been seen of the Dandelionhearts since the Frost Decade, but even if they were still around, most likely she'd already aged past the cut-off date for them to have anointed her a Hanazakari. Though maybe I shouldn't get so hung up on age, she thought, 'cause the Hanazakari would be in at least their mid-thirties by now. Ah, not like that's a problem, she apologised to nobody.

Weird segue in her thoughts there before that last paragraph.

Anyway, I guess we're following the newbie girl rather than the older veteran, at least to begin with. Not what the intro blurb had me expecting.

Speaking of Hanazakari, Miyako may have been meaning to fill out her application, but that wasn't the real reason she was here. She wasn't even there for the coffee and melon-pan, much as she slurped and munched them down, both better quality than she was told she should get used to in college.

Depending on where you're going to college, free food of higher quality might be findable on a day-to-day basis. Though it requires you to spend time and effort that you could otherwise use studying, so, YMMV.

No, she was keeping her eyes peeled for the very sort of person she admired most, for the chance to make her teenage dream come true, if the past the point of her actually being a teenager. I'm going to meet a Hanazakari, a saviour of the world, in person!

Not that one as devoted to them as her had never met one before, just only fleetingly for an autograph or rarely photo. Japan's government and corporations made meeting a real Hanazakari pretty hard, most being registered under the title of Senshi with the former and as an Idol with the latter. Out of the three main designations for Hanazakari, that just left the independents, or 'Witches'.

I think that's supposed to be "Senshi with the former OR as an Idol with the latter."

And damn, the megukas get snapped up to be cutesy mascots for scummy corporations, if they aren't military. Depressing, but not improbable.

On another technical note, this fragmented exposition that comes in alternating paragraphs with Miyako going about her day is...weird. There obviously is a connection, since she's going to the event where she can meet the indy witch lady, but the placement of the information is still...I dunno. I feel like it could be paced better.

She alt-tabbed to check the remains of the Hanazakari forums again. Yep, those rumours still spoke of a raggedy, auburn-haired woman in a tattered overcoat who lived on the outskirts of Hinodeharu. And Miyako needed no reminder this was Hinodeharu, her having come all the way out here.

Weird sentence at the end that I can't really make heads or tails of.

Anyway, here the author embedded some music that's meant to serve as the story's intro theme. It's about what you'd expect, given the genre.

Suddenly, a hush fell over the people sitting at and walking past the café, as they then slowly shuffled to the side. All this tension was over a single forty-pushing woman walking down the street, or more like stomping with her gait. A woman who was the spitting image of the Witch described to Miyako.

While everyone else avoided her, Miyako leapt out of her chair with her coffee unfinished, rushed right up to this woman (not the easiest thing to do in a long dress like hers), and exclaimed, "Hi there, I'm Nozawa Miyako! Really, really big fan, I came here just to meet you!"

The crowd gasped as the Witch slowly turned to gaze down at Miyako. "Tell me, girl," she said, "Do you go around forcing everyone into the spotlight like that?"

"What? Oh no, nonono, that's not what I meant to do at all!" Miyako said, her grin wavering and a sweatdrop trickling down her freckled face. "The forums just said you lived in this town, so I thought this could be my one chance."

"You realise you sound like a stalker, don't you?" the Witch told her, her tone of voice no less sour. She then sighed and said, "Alright, let's just get this over with. You read my novels, don't you? So naturally you want me, the award nominated Kuramazov, to autograph one of your copies."

"Huh? Wow, sounds impressive, but I wanted to meet you for a whole 'nother reason. You know, the big one!" Miyako said.

But as Miyako beamed and grinned, the Witch just narrowed her eyes and said, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"That you're a Hanazakari!" Miyako let out. "You saved Japan, no, the whole word, from the Frost Fair! How could I not want to meet you?"

The Witch's expression changed, not to pleasure but paranoia. She placed a hand over Miyako's mouth and the other tight around her arm before the girl had any chance to react, then ran off with her into the nearby bushes. Not till the Witch had looked all around for a mysterious 'anyone else' did she finally release her grip on Miyako.

"Who sent you?" she hissed at Miyako. "Because you look suspiciously young to be naturally into Hanazakari, I doubt you even lived through the Frost Decade. Did RUNE send you? Because whatever Yumemi's asking, my answer is still no. And that goes double if some corporation picked you!"

Okay, I guess she's not going to a particular event to meet this lady. Just put her identity together with some rumors and came to ambush her at the cafe.

Though, everyone IN the cafe tensed up when she came in. Which suggests that either they were all waiting for her, or her presence was unexpected...and yet everyone in the room still recognized her.

Erm. Maybe everyone came to see the witch in her natural habitat, but only Miyako was rude enough to say anything? Maybe?

Also, on further thought, Miyako is putting her appearance together with "descriptions," but there's no mention of photographs. Maybe meguka don't show up on camera or something.

"You've got me all wrong!" Miyako shrieked. Is- Is this really what a Hanazakari's like? she worried, with neither 'love' nor 'justice' being the impression she got.

Not very self-aware, this one.

She took a few deep breaths to stabilise herself, then said, "I just… always wanted to meet a real magical girl. That's all."

Only then did the Witch's grim face soften. "Well, you've met one now," she said, sighing at herself. "More correct to say I was a Hanazakari, the Frost Fair hasn't been seen for decades now. Really, no one's been a Hanazakari since then, no matter what propaganda will tell you. We said we would fight for all of humanity, not for militaries or corporations."

"Wait, you've all still got magic, right?" Miyako asked. As the Witch cautiously nodded, the girl followed with, "I've heard about all sorts of Hanazakari spells, I know you could use some of them to make people's lives better! Doesn't have to all be fighting."

"If only," the Witch muttered, "We were chosen to be weapons of war. Oh, the Dandelionhearts told us they just wanted to give the defenceless the chance to defend themselves, but they knew what they were signing us up for." Her voice lowered further as she said, "Well, they're all dead now, like they have anyone to speak for them."

Okay, if I'm understanding this correctly the dandelionhearts are the entities who empowered the hanazakari to fight the invading Frost Fair. The dandelionhearts are alldeadnow, not just absent, which could mean the frost fair got them all before the hanazakari could turn the tide, or there was a mameluke revolt and the hanazakari turned against their own creators.

Now, is the witch saying that the other hanazakarican'tuse their powers to fight for corporations and governments, or that theyshouldn'tuse their powers to fight for corporations and governments? Her phrasing makes it seem like the former, but unless the others are all just serving governments and corps exclusively in PR roles I think she means the latter.

Granted. This witch thinks the others have fallen from their noble purpose, but she also doesn't seem to think much of the entities who gave them that purpose in the first place. So, not sure what angle she's looking at this from.

Then the Witch asked Miyako, "Hmm, you don't still know my name, civilian or Hanazakari, don't you? Assuming you really aren't a stalker, let alone a spy."

Miyako shrugged. "Yeah, still got no idea. Er, Yamino Hanako? Sato Suzuko? Spider Lily in Full Bloom?" she feebly guessed.

The Witch did have to smile a little. "Arisugawa Koyomi," she told her, "I figured you did have obviously no idea. That, or there's the slightest probability that you're some remarkable actor hired by RUNE, in which case they already would've told you. As for my old Title, it's Starknight Black Rose in Full Bloom."

No way in hell is she giving out her real name or moniker, after all that.

Miyako couldn't help but smile. While that wasn't a Hanazakari Title she really recognised, as opposed to big names like Cherry Blossom and Chrysanthemum, she was still getting to know a real Hanazakari! Way better than being one among many to get an autograph, she thought.

Only then did she realise this talk had been a mostly one-way street. "Ah right, guess I ought to say more about myself. I'm Nozawa Miyako, wait I already said that, ahem, and I'm a ronin. Er, obviously not the cool Sanjuro or Forty-seven kind, not even the salary kind," she awkwardly chuckled, before she tried to straighten up and say, "But I totally know what I'm gonna be studying, it's- it's- journalism. Yeah, that's it!"

Why the hell does she want to tell Koyomi about herself? What, is she trying to convince her to be her new best friend or something?

"I see," was all Koyomi replied to that with, before she took the conversation back into her hands, "Alright, you got what you wished for, you've met someone who can do magic and at some point was called a Hanazakari. Now, if those bystanders won't keep staring this time," she said as she looked out of the bushes then brought Miyako back with her onto the main street, "you're free to go. Fare thee well."

Learning that the first Hanazakari she'd truly talked to still wanted her gone stung Miyako, but something else drove the pain in deeper. "I, ah, don't have anywhere to go," she said, "I don't have any accommodation and, look, there's no way I can back to go my parents."

From the Hanazakari she'd heard about, Miyako would've expected an answer like 'they're your family, of course you can go back to them', but had to remember that not that many Hanazakari had the best home lives themselves. Koyomi however just asked, "Why is that?"

Miyako froze with every attempt to answer that question, before she just came out with, "I'm… a transwoman. Like, I am a woman, but my parents keep saying I'm not. More than just 'say', even."

I think Kyomi probably knows what a transwoman is, but I guess Miyako was sort of stumbling her explanation out of order.

And, um. Is she asking this lady to adopt her, as it turns out?

She grew cold and paralysed awaiting Koyomi's reaction, as part of her thought, she's a whole generation before me, who knows what she thinks of transwomen? Another part, however, held onto, she may not act like one, but Arisugawa-sama's still a magical girl. She can't be unloving, can't just cast someone in need aside like that…

"Fine, you can stay at my place," Koyomi said, relieving Miyako of her greatest fear. Of course, she was starting to sense that with Koyomi, there was always a catch. "But for one night only, maybe two, you hear? After that, we're finding you some actual accommodation, a part-time job too if need be."

Koyomi may not have made the friendliest-sounding statement, but Miyako still smiled and said, "Thank you, Arisugawa-sama, it means the world to me." You really are a Hanazakari…

So, she got kicked out and disowned by her parents, and decided that her best bet was to seek out the nearest hanazakari to beg for charity from.

Okay. Problem.

Koyomi isn't running a soup kitchen. At least, not under a recognizable name or face. Neither, apparently, are any of her former comrades. Miyako was born after this had already become the status quo.

Why would she have any expectations of hanazakari being the best people to beg from, if they demonstrably aren't out there helping other beggars?

We do know that Miyako is very self-centered, so I guess it might make sense for her to just assume the rules would be different for her. But then...the rules ARE different for her, apparently, so.

Like, if Koyomi is the type to let people who need a place stay with her for a night or two despite not knowing them, then shouldn't she always have a homeless person or three in her house? Shouldn't she be known for it? Shouldn't that fact, by itself, be what attracted Miyako to her in this situation, rather than her being a hanazakari?

"So back in the Frost Decade, what did you do-" was the first thing Miyako couldn't stop herself from asking. The immediate response she got however was a hand to her face.

"You know that immediately asking questions like that does nothing to quell any suspicions that you're here to spy on me," Koyomi told her.

If that's your attitude Koyomi, then you sure did volunteer an awful lot of information with very little reason a few minutes ago.

Also, more mood music.

Kay.

The two of them were now trudging uphill, with the out-of-town Miyako already starting to feel her lungs ache. Not like that stopped her from talking, "Oh right, forgot you were kinda touchy about that. Guess it's me, y'know, because if I was a Hanazakari back then I'd be telling tales of my adventures non-stop!"

An understandable thing to forget, considering that Koyomi herself forgot it for a few sentences.

"We Hanazakari didn't have 'adventures'," Koyomi muttered, not looking back to see Miyako's face sink at that line. "Didn't you ever watch those giant robot anime? War is no adventure, don't trust anyone who tells you it is."

"You should know that war is bad, it says so in Gundam" said no veteran ever.

"I know, I know, it's just…" Miyako began, but then shook her head and changed the subject entirely. "Okay, we'll discuss something normal. Yeah, I can do small talk! So, er, what you were doing out on the town? Groceries? Oh wait, we're headed back and you've got no bags, so no."

"I had mail to pick up," Koyomi said, "And before you ask, yes I am technologically sophisticated enough to have internet. Even if my place doesn't get the best reception."

"Ooh, using snail mail these days, that's sure something. Sounds like it was super important, like real confidential stuff since email could be hacked," Miyako said, then frowned. "Suppose that means you're not gonna tell me who sent it then."

I hate Miyako. I hope no one reading this is socially inept enough for me to have to explain why.

"Someone I'd rather not get mail from, that's who," Koyomi said, before her eyes spotted a nearby shop. "Ah good, they stock firewood. Worth interacting with the shopkeep to get something to burn this letter with. Wait here."

...now it just seems like Koyomi is trying to bait her into asking questions on purpose.

Okay, maybe I was wrong and Miyako is actually astutely empathetic and has been saying the exact right things for Koyomi to like her all along.

That raised several questions for Miyako, the first one to leave her lips being, "Wait, people still buy firewood?"

She then found herself alone on the hilltop street corner, fidgeting by twirling her brownish-blonde shoulder-length hair, then immediately unwinding it before she ended up with a serious knot.

While the Witch was out of sight, Miyako was then approached by a boy who looked about her age. He wasted no time in asking, "Hey, not meaning to intrude here, but… you do know that's Arisugawa you're hanging out with, don't you?"

Miyako twitched at that question, then asked, "W-what, is there some problem I don't know? I know she can be kinda mean, but she's still a Hanazakari!"

The woman letting you stay in her house and helping you get back on your feet out of the goodness of her heart as soon as she met you is "kinda mean," is she?

I take it back. I despise Miyako and want something bad to happen to her.

"Yeah, I'll bet she is," the boy sighed, then told her, "Look, she caused a big issue for us townsfolk a week ago. A new restaurant opened in town, great right? Except Arisugawa barged in and started snooping all around the place till she had to be kicked out, all these years later she still thought it was some monster plot to harvest emotions. And trust me, that was not a one-off case. Just ask around, people will back me up."

"And that's why I'm super eager to get myself mixed up in her business for no reason."

That was something Miyako didn't know how to respond to, but her thoughts were, On one hand, a member of Hanazakari should increase restaurant customer flow, in spite of any accusations, so I'm not sure how her doing that is a bad thing. On the other hand, the fact that she still cares enough to investigate a random restaurant because she wants to protect the Japanese people, is really heartwarming, so thank you for telling me!!

"Well, gotta go," the boy suddenly said, whistling with his hands in his pockets, "But nice meeting you. Oh yeah, there's also Kai Kazuya, one more person around town you should take note of. He seems harmless, so not like Arisugawa, just… weird, y'know?"

The boy quickly made his exit, not coincidentally just as Koyomi came out of the shop with a bundle of firewood beneath her arm. Miyako was left to think, Well, it's not like that guy wasn't a little weird himself, since he brought it up. Not that weird's bad or anything, of course, before she got to speculating just what this 'Kai Kazuya' was like.

Yeah, for real. Well, at least our protagonist noticed it, so the author probably intended for that boy's lines to come across as WTF as they did. Wonder what the deal is with him?

She then shook her head to reorient herself and asked Koyomi, "Oh Arisugawa-sama, need any help carrying that firewood?"

"Sure, if you want. Just don't give yourself a splinter," Koyomi said before she lugged half the logs Miyako's way.

While Miyako successfully caught them, she immediately found herself straining to keep the wood aloft and not plummet to the ground. "It's okay, I got it, I totally got it," she wheezed.

"By the way, the town theatre's due to reopen in a few days-" the boy from before then reappeared and tried to add, only to find Koyomi's gaze right upon him. "Er, you get the gist. See ya!" He then disappeared just as quick.

"Hold on, why wouldn't that guy want to talk to you about the town theatre? You're a famous author, isn't that your thing?" Miyako asked, trying not to fall over with the firewood all the while.

"Firstly, the stage is a different medium. Secondly, I'd hardly say 'famous'. Hope not anyway, couldn't stand the attention," Koyomi said, her firewood in contrast not weighing her down at all. "And thirdly, why would he want to talk to me about the theatre?"

That statement got Miyako wondering if Koyomi had overheard her and that boy all along. Hanazakari do have enhanced senses, no wait, Arisugawa-sama isn't transformed right now. Ooh, maybe all her experience means she doesn't need to transform to have powers? She would've asked, but already had to expect that Koyomi would just give a non-answer if she did.

Alright. I'm guessing he's a manifestation of the monster she exorcised from that restaurant, or the like.

Anyway, no, I wouldn't say that a local community theater is necessarily of interest to a book author. Dumb question, but Miyako seems to know exactly which dumb questions Koyomi enjoys being asked, so.

Miyako had heard the Witch of Hinodeharu lived on the outskirts of town, and it turned out they meant outskirts. The two had to walk through the forest eaves along a dirt path, then a series of stones, before they finally reached the clearing in which Koyomi's house stood. The sight of their destination made Miyako so relieved that she finally dropped all her wood to the ground before she could get in the door.

Not that it was a house you'd think would give anyone much relief. It was a rickety wooden shack that could've easily dated back a hundred or so years, in fact if Miyako didn't already know its occupant, she'd have guessed the place was abandoned. When she stepped onto its veranda, she braced herself for an almighty creak, and was grateful her foot didn't create a massive hole in it.

"What, did you expect some candycane cottage, portable pink palace, or mansion magicked up from a tree stump?" Koyomi muttered. She looked like she would've crossed her arms if not for that firewood.

Miyako was about to protest, but had to admit, "Suppose it sure is distinctive, which sounds to me like a Hanazakari's home. No wait, most Hanazakari lived in suburban Tokyo houses back in the day, houses any young girl could've lived in. Well, back when Tokyo was all in one piece, of course."

Walking indoors, Miyako could see the shadow-strewn, cobweb-cluttered house pulling double-duty as a summer test of courage, even if winter now felt like the way scarier month post-Frost Fair. She slowly looked around, still worried that any sudden bound could make the whole place collapse on top of her. She peeked into the kitchen first, but the pungent, grassy odour coming from it make her quick to consider eating out instead. Koyomi surely couldn't have been kicked out of every restaurant in town.

And now she's expecting her to take her out to restaurants, apparently. Real winner, that Miyako. Charming young woman all around.

Miyako soon spotted Koyomi's writing desk, which made her concerned for the woman's eyesight as it stood in the same darkness as the rest of house.

Have you considered that the light might be switched off right now, Miyako?

Perched on it was the very computer Koyomi insisted she had, with Miyako making out that she kept a typewriter and quill around anyway. No TV was to be found anywhere though, not that one was really needed with a computer these days.

Of course, Miyako had only just learned that the Hanazakari the forums had told her about and that author Kuramazov she'd vaguely heard of were one and the same. This made her want to check out her bookshelves, always good to see what authors themselves are reading, she thought on cue. That just let her down again, as while the shelves were well-stocked, the only books Miyako recognised were ones she'd read solely because she'd been assigned them in school, your Genji, Kokoro, Brothers Karamazov (natch), and she had to wince seeing No Longer Human again.

She'd given up hope of finding any manga by now, but she did spot one… about a doctor who saved a child's life only for him to grow up to be a serial killer.

Wait wait wait. She named all the other books she saw by title. But the "Monster" manga she summarizes without naming.

Has she read Monster, or not? If she's naming titles, it seems really weird for her to not name one of the ones she recognizes. If she hasn't, how the hell does she even know what it's about?

Weird, nothing Hanazakari-related either, she had to notice, though Koyomi had hardly been comfortable with her past so far. Plus, magical girl stories had certainly shifted in style after everyone had gotten proof such characters really existed.

Just assuming that the actual hanazakari would necessarily collect books about them, lol.

And...why does it matter if magical girl stories "shifted" after the real deal showed up? What does that have to do with whether or not Koyomi has any of them in her house?

"Are you done gawking?" Koyomi raised her voice. "Like I said, one night only. You've seen enough to know I'm not running any guesthouse."

Why not, though?

Or rather, if you indeed aren't, then what the fuck is Miyako doing here?

"Eep, so sorry. I'm done, I'm done!" Miyako panicked at the silence being broken like that. Well, she wasn't quite done gawking as she spotted two more books, religious texts at that. First was a copy of the Zhuangzi, then next to it the Torah labelled as exactly that, and not 'the Old Testament'.

As Miyako couldn't help but stare at it, not having taken Koyomi for the religious type, Koyomi then outright told her, "I'm Jewish, well I suppose I am. Had a Jewish grandmother who came to Japan to flee World War II, weird as that sounds that sort of thing genuinely happened. She was my maternal grandma, so that makes me 100% Jewish as our customs have it."

Koyomi's degree of caginess about personal information seems to change every time her heart beats. Shifting across the entire spectrum from "misanthropic recluse" to "Bioware NPC" without warning.

Miyako nodded along with all that, embarrassed to admit that most of her knowledge of Judaism came from anime and gaming. That at least meant she knew what golems and a sephiroth were… roughly.

But not that sefirot is plural, apparently.

Had you asked Miyako her own religion she would've just said 'oh, nothing really' or 'I pray at shrines every now and then', though she had heard about those new Hanazakari religious movements that'd sprung up after the Frost Decade.

Talk of religion though made her think of the question when it came to Hanazakari and faith, that of the Resurrection (and not the Biblical one) and whether Koyomi believed in it, and if she did how so specifically. Maybe I'll ask later, when she's in a better mood. If she's in a better mood.

She also got to thinking what she should be doing, now that she was at Koyomi's place even if only for a night or two. But even just a night was more than ever would've dreamed of, when it came to living with a Hanazakari...

And with that, we end the chapter. With any luck the next one will be starring someone less entitled and self-centered and we won't need to hear from Miyako again for a while, but I'm not holding my breath.

1.2
​

The Resurrection was a promise given by the Dandelionhearts, way back when they'd first appeared to those who'd become the Hanazakari. That any Hanazakari slain in battle would, upon the final defeat of the Frost fair, be resurrected, the second of the Dandelionhearts' 'two gifts' after their powers of course. All this Miyako knew, as any self-respecting Hanazakari fangirl would… which meant she also knew that this Resurrection hadn't happened. Maybe it would've had the Dandelionhearts lived, maybe it was a lie of theirs all along, maybe it would still happen one day, but either way, it was a conversation best avoided around the dinner table.

Hell, I'm already lucky Arisugawa-sama even let me into her house, this is not the time to be pushing that luck, Miyako thought. Now if I was Starknight Four Leaf Clover in Full Bloom, maybe…

"So ah, do you want me to help you clean the place up?" she asked instead, before it occurred to her, "Er, unless you like it this way?"

I'm starting to think that Miyako actually is a spy for someone or other. Her first night staying with Koyomi, and she's already trying to figure out how to fish for information about secret meguka stuff.

...okay, yeah. If Miyako is a total liar who's taking advantage of Koyomi, then that would solve a lot of the problems I had with the first chapter. Not all of the problems, but a lot of them.

To engage with the in-universe mystery now: the obvious unmentioned possibility is that the Winter Fair was never actually defeated thoroughly enough to satisfy the terms of the pact. When and if they're beaten for good, the dead hanazakari will indeed resurrect.

Anyway, more music embedded:

I like it. Low key, relaxing, but with a little bit of bite to it in those high keyboard parts.

"Well, it'd be nice not having to deal with all the dust sending me into coughing fits," Koyomi said. She took a brush and pan from the alcove and said after she tossed them to Miyako, "You carried all that firewood here and now you're volunteering at cleaning duty. I suppose that's good, our country does like a busy little worker bee, doesn't it?"

Miyako twitched at those words. Being Japanese herself she felt she hardly needed to be told that, so to her it kinda came off as Koyomi just looking for a chance to be negative.

This exchange (including Miyako's thoughts) very much feels like the polarity-switched version of "eat your hamburgers, Apollo."

Though said grumpy gloominess reminded her, "Hey, Arisugawa-sama, I noticed a lot of heavy-going books on your shelves, do you ever, y'know, read stuff for fun?" she asked.

"Do I ever come into your house and rummage through your taste in literature?" Koyomi asked back. Probably rhetorically, since the two had only met today, though Koyomi's bitter tone made Miyako feel she actually would, given the chance.

Please for the love of god Koyomi throw this bitch back out on the street.

Koyomi then sighed, went over to a bookcase of hers, and pulled out Goethe's Faust Parts I & II of all things. "See, I know how to have fun."

Faust being used as an example of fun didn't compute for Miyako. "Really? I mean yeah, I haven't read it, but er… how is something as dark as Faust fun?" she asked, scratching her chin.

"Read the book then, it's hilarious," Koyomi told her, not that she said that at all mirthfully. "Most of it's what we'd now call a buddy comedy, a lot of the humour courtesy of Mephistopheles. Young Werther's the dark one, and it became old shame for Goethe, I can relate," she muttered. "Of course, you signed up for cleaning first. Faust later."

That did little to clarify for Miyako whether Koyomi was just pulling some prank on her or not. Still, it got the girl thinking, Goethe's version has Faust being saved at the end, right? She'd admit that was the only Goethe-specific thing she knew about Faust. So maybe that's a secret clue Arisugawa-sama really does believe in the Resurrection! She just didn't straight up tell me because, er, because… her train of thought screeched to a halt, she was worried I'd be sensitive about it too, I guess?

Let's psychoanalyze people's positions on highly specific issues based on what their favorite books are! That never led anyone astray!

Seriously, this is a leap of logic that Detective Ortega would have trouble keeping up with.

The fact that Miyako hasn't even read the books that she's trying to make these inferences with just makes it funnier.

After Miyako was done sweeping the bookshelves, she then got to work on the floor before she more gently swept the writing desk, not knowing how Koyomi would react if she made the slightest mess of it. That did almost happen when she knocked an ink bottle over the edge, with Miyako barely catching it before it spilt all over the floor. She felt she'd earned a long sigh of relief.

Then it was up to the attic, the emptiest room in the house. Had Miyako gone through with snooping around for any Hanazakari mementos behind Koyomi's back, her disappointment on reaching this room would've crushed her. As it was, she took it this'd be her room for the night, with the light living Koyomi (books aside) clearly not having anything else going on here. And surely a magical girl wouldn't force me to sleep on the couch… would she? Miyako gulped.

At this rate, you'll be lucky if you don't end up sleeping in the dumpster outside.

Her nostrils then picked up the hint of smoke from below. Miyako had to hold back her instinct to scream Fire, given she'd only been in a firewood-heated house before on museum trips. And sure enough, on walking downstairs she saw it was just Koyomi setting the firewood alight, which made Miyako wince as she remembered all the wood she'd dropped just outside the house.

I won't judge Miyako for this. Firewood stoves are a bit more natural for me, on account of growing up in rural Alaska and knowing some people who lived off of the grid, but they aren't for most people in the modern developed world. Even after bringing the firewood in herself, it might take a minute for Miyako's mind to make the connection.

"Feels nice," Miyako smiled at Koyomi, as she got to bask in the warmth of the firewood. "Ooh, did your Hanazakari powers have something to do with fire?"

...where the fuck is THAT connection coming from?

Koyomi side-eyed her at first, then smirked, "I wish. Would've made fighting the Frost Fair a whole lot easier for me." But her tone softened as she said, "Though when your enemy was the Frost Fair, you learn to hold onto any warmth you can. Even all these years later…"

The Frost Fair being brought up made Miyako say, "Oh yeah, you're still trying to protect people from the Frost Fair, even to this day! Just like I knew a Hanazakari would."

That comment made Koyomi go all stiff. "…Explain," she stated at Miyako.

"Well, I was told back in town that a new restaurant opened, so you investigated to make sure it wasn't a Frost Fair plot to steal emotions," Miyako said, "So you're still there to defend Japan!"

"Are you mocking me?" Koyomi stood straight up and hissed at the girl.

Yes she is. Kill her.

Miyako could've frozen, no matter the firewood. "No, not at all! I was saying it's great you did that, it helped me see you really are a Hanazakari."

"Nozawa," Koyomi stated, staring right into the girl's soul, "I am not here to play out your, or anyone else's, fantasy of some paragon. I've got my own life now."

All Miyako could now say in return was, "I-I'm sorry," as her eyes started to well up.

She's crying. Keep going Koyomi, this is an excellent start.

There was no sound but the crackling of the fire, till Koyomi's intensity faded and she said, "I knew there was no Frost Fair at that restaurant, logically anyway. But irrationally there was, how do I describe it, just this one part of my mind that kept going 'This is a Frost Fair plot! This is a Frost Fair plot!' Nothing would shut that thought up. I couldn't keep myself from accosting the Head Chef, I only saw him as a secret Frostfarer. But no, he was human after all," she sighed out.

"Nozawa, there was nothing heroic about what I did."

"You-" Miyako tried to say, "you still meant well."

"Yeah, and what's that road to Hell paved with again?" Koyomi said.

Not a straggler frostfarer, then, unless that's going to be a twist later on. Just a PTSD incident. It's probably fortunate that magical girl powers are generally less deadly when used reflexively than guns are.

Given Koyomi's attitudes toward society in general, I imagine therapy would be a hard sell for her. Unless the therapist was named Miyako I guess.

Till now, Miyako had thought Koyomi's 'one night only' condition was just because she was a stranger. But maybe Arisugawa-sama's worried… worried she'll lash out and hurt someone?

Hey, Miyako? Yeah, yeah I just wanted to tell you something.

Fuck you.

Miyako had no idea how to make this better, but felt as Koyomi's guest, she still had to try.
Maybe best to change the topic. "So, novelist huh? Is there anything you're writing right now, or got any good reviews lately?"

"Now you're interested in my novels?" Koyomi asked while side-eyeing Miyako.

The girl twitched, thinking that Koyomi had figured out she was only trying to change the topic, but Koyomi then relented and said, "I'm not really writing anything at the moment, I've got ideas but right now they're just that, ideas."

"Ooh, what sorts of ideas?" Miyako chimed in like a cheerleader.

Koyomi shrugged. "None I'd bet you'd be interested in," she said. "Not one of them involves any Hanazakari for starters, except me obviously. I had thoughts about writing a Historical this time, but couldn't decide on the era, so I thought to pull a Vonnegut and have the protagonist disassociate between eras. All in her head, no time machine."

Miyako seemed into that idea, but then seriously asked, "Wait, what's a Vonnegut?" The only answer Koyomi gave to that was a long glare.

Miyako "seemed" into that idea? Aren't we in her head? How does she herself think that she "seems" to be something?

Afterwards, Koyomi lightened up a little, if with not at all a light topic. "I've also thought writing from the viewpoint of a serial killer," she smirked, "A female serial killer specifically, to comment on how the public treats them differently from male serial killers. But then I stomached a ton of shit true crime podcasts as research and lost interest altogether."

Heh. Not the best way to research that subject, I don't think. True Crime has a well earned reputation for...well...everything.

That said, while I know some stuff has already been written in the last decade or so about this exact topic with regards to gender and violent crime, it is still an interesting topic to explore.

...you know, in a world where magical girls are known to be a thing, I wonder how these perceptions might have changed? On one hand, the possibility of a woman potentially being an overwhelming physical threat is significantly larger than it is in our world. On the other hand, meguka are still very few in number in proportion to the general population, and their association with protection and purity might still prevent people from connecting their type of violence with the dangerous type of violence. Granted, if most of them have since gone mercenary as some of the dialogue has implied, then this last factor might not be such a thing anymore.

But yeah. This whole topic, about women and power in the public consciousness twenty years after the Sailor Sentai saved the world, is by far the most interesting thing to me out of this story so far.

"Oh, don't worry, I've never been the sort of girl who's into true crime," Miyako smiled as she said.

"…Right, and I'm sure you think you're so much better because of that," Koyomi chuckled at her, despite her own previous comment about true crime.

Miyako twitched again. "Yeah, sorry about that. Didn't realise that was how I sounded," she said.

That's true of literally every sentence you've said OR EVEN THOUGHT in this story so far, Miyako.

"Guess true crime's just too… real for me. I mean, Hanazakari and the Frost Decade are obviously real too, but they're the 'wow, superheroes and aliens really exist' kind of real, while we've known murder has existed since forever."

I'm very sceptical that this attitude would still be a thing decades after the fact.

Not that Hanazakari and true crime never intersected, given certain 'affiliations' some had, something Miyako knew but chose to keep quiet on.

Miyako's attitude toward Hanazakari as a whole make no sense and has no consistency.

Unless she really has been lying this entire time and is a corporate spy doing an infiltration or the like. But in that case, it's kinda cheap that her inner thoughts are directly lying to the reader.

"And you were spared having to live through the Frost Decade, so for you it's all a step removed," Koyomi said. She then slumped back in a chair and put her arms behind her head, "Besides, I've been in the novel business for years now, I should be entitled to take a break. Pity publishers and deadlines don't see it that way."

"So, you've been writing that long," Miyako said then asked, "And… you haven't written any fiction about being a Hanazakari? Ah, that's okay of course," she gulped, "You're the author, I'm not saying you have to write any one thing. It's just, y'know, you're a magical girl and a writer, not a combo you see every day."

shutupshutupshutupshutup

Only slowly did Koyomi admit, "I have written a Hanazakari story. One, the first novel I ever got 'professionally' published. Not that I wanted to, the publisher just wouldn't accept anything else from someone like me." Recalling that made her nearly retch. "I was not going to be a Magical 'Idol', even as an author and not some singer.

Fortunately, I found a new publisher for my second novel, and while let's just say I have 'issues' with them, they've never made me write about Hanazakari. As they saw it, any more reminders of the Frost Decade were the last thing readers wanted."

Miyako thought for a little while before she figured, "Guess you wouldn't have gone by 'Kuramazov' yet on that first novel, huh?"

"Nope, not till my second," Koyomi said, "And it wasn't under 'Black Rose in Full Bloom' either, before you ask, or Elohim forbid my real name. That publisher at least had the courtesy to not make me do that," then she reconsidered and added, "Likely only because I was never one of the bigger Hanazakari. Yeesh, no way they wouldn't have pushed me into the spotlight had I made more of a name for myself back in the Frost Decade. And I guess some critics would argue all my novels are about being a Hanazakari, but metaphorically of course."

"Yep, metaphorically, got it," Miyako said, keeping a lid on her disappointment. It was ever clearer to her that she really shouldn't ask any more about Koyomi's first novel, hard as it was for her not to. Though hey, an early Hanazakari novel with only one use of the author's pen name, shouldn't be hard to track it down. Might have owned it myself… oh no, that'd mean it's back at my parents' place, if they haven't thrown it out.

With how little Miyako seems to have read in general, I kind of doubt that.

Then another thought came to her, Wait, what if the publisher just reused her pen name, all Carolyn Keene-like? That's the sort of thing they can do, isn't it? Okay, calm down, it still couldn't be that hard to find…

"Oh yeah, you asked about my reviews, didn't you?" Koyomi said, then shrugged again. "They're alright. Doubt I'll get awarded the Akutagawa Prize till I'm dead, but nothing to complain about. Oh, except there's this one guy who keeps praising my work, but given how he writes female characters in his own novels, I bet he's just trying to cover his tracks."

You can just say Gen Urobuchi, it's okay.

Suddenly, Miyako pulled out her phone, and found per Koyomi's warnings that the connection was laggier than usual here. "Since you brought up your reception, made me think to check your social media. Okay, I've got the page up now," she said, only for her eyes to widen. "Wait, this is you online? You seem," much nicer, happier, "different. Er, not that we aren't all different online, of course."

"The answer's simple, that isn't me online," Koyomi told her, as she narrowed her eyes at Miyako's phone, "It's my official account, sure, but my publisher gets someone else to run it. They kept insisting their authors be on social media, I kept telling them no, so we came to a compromise." She had to groan, "You need to have a particular personality to play the social media game, hell to be a public figure period, and you can already tell I do not. To their credit, were I to 'just be myself' online, all my sales would tank. I actually guested on a podcast once, and my publisher had to do massive damage control."

Granted, I'm not Japanese, so this might not carry over. But I feel like Koyomi's personality would actually make her pretty popular online.

Again, maybe that's only true of the Anglo-internet.

"…I see," Miyako muttered. She'd already said that people were rarely themselves online, but Koyomi's words had her now quivering over just how deep that rabbit hole went. Even offline, are the author's notes in manga all lies, and the mangaka's never like that at all?

I know this is going to break your heart, Miyako, but...Hiromi Arakawa isn't actually a cow.

At least she had to pride herself on thinking just like a journalist. "So it's like, the online Kuramazov is herself a fictional character, you could say?" she settled on.

"Good observation," Koyomi said, showing she could give compliments, "Problem is how many people have picked that unreality up, and how they'll react when they realise that's the truth."

This lighter topic having only grown heavier, Miyako again played the 'change the subject' card by asking, "By the way, Arisugawa-sama, how long have you wanted to be a writer?"

Koyomi laughed. "What, that old question? Next you'll be asking where I get my ideas."
But she then answered, "Alright, to get it out of the way, it would've been since middle school. Admittedly I wanted to be a mangaka at first, but I couldn't draw nor could anyone I knew, so novelist it was. And then the Frost Fair put everything on hold."

Miyako took that all in. "Wow, you really do have a way with words, Arisugawa-sama. If anyone asked why I want to be a journalist, I think I'd just stutter a bunch and not give any one answer," she said.

Lacking a way with words doesn't exactly lend itself to a career in journalism, Miyako. Just saying.

"Hah, I'll spare you the ordeal then," Koyomi said.

Dinner wasn't long afterwards, though as Miyako had feared from the pungent smells from the kitchen, Koyomi's cooking… wasn't the most appetising, looking like lumps of indistinguishable vegetable matter.
"What? It's incredibly nutritious," Koyomi told her. Miyako took her word for that but made a mental note to eat out whenever possible.

"Whenever possible."

Already planning to overstay your welcome, I see.

As night fell, she was shown that empty attic was indeed her bedroom, the futon Koyomi had dragged out certainly a change from the bedding Miyako was used to. Koyomi then left the attic without even bidding her goodnight, but Miyako still had one last thing to do before bed.

Phone in hand again, she withstood the lag to log back on to the chatrooms (her username MorandoKyo), where she'd first learned about a Witch in Hinodeharu. She wouldn't give Koyomi's real name of course, but she still had to say something.

Arisugawa-sama thought I was a stalker at first, maybe I can at least throw people off her tail, give her privacy. "Sorry, I don't think there's any Hanazakari in Hinodeharu," she typed.

So ended the first day of the rest of both Miyako's and Koyomi's lives, with Miyako thinking, yeah, I lied, but I lied for a Hanazakari. No, for Arisugawa-sama...

What a great person that makes you, I'm sure you feel very proud of yourself for it.

Anyway, that's the first arc of Fool Bloom.


So, this was originally a quest. Maybe it worked better AS a quest, if all of these dialogue choices were things that the players voted on and the QM had to roll with and adjust the conversation to accomodate while still keeping things somewhat on the rails. It could have been a decent quest.

It's a miserable prose story, though. Relentlessly unlikable protagonist whose Mary Sue aura prevents Koyomi from reacting to how utterly obnoxious she is. Robotic NPC minor characters. Awkward exposition placement. Prose irregularities that make it hard for me to believe that this is the test-read and edited version. Some interesting ideas, but not enough to make up for everything else.