WARNING: Author self-insert approaching.
-----
"Okay, what to write about today..."
Roukanken bit on the end of her pencil, looking to the sky in the hope that an idea would strike her down. She tapped a finger on the front of her notepad, growing more and more impatient as she wriggled into a comfortable position beneath the tree.
"Update Case Files? The Mafia crack fic? Some stupid short...?"
The only sound she could hear was the slow whirring of the gears in her head spinning to life, trying to generate a story that she could put to paper.
At least, it was until Zengar showed up. Then the loud, deliberate footsteps blocked out any sound her brain was making.
"Sup, Rou."
Rou bit down on the pencil a little harder.
"...Hey, Zengar."
"Mind if I do a little CLEAVING?"
Rou had two options here - let Zengar do what she wanted, or refuse and get cleaved for trying to interfere with her training. Not a hard choice.
"Go ahead. Just try not to be too loud or anything."
She may as well not have said it, because subtlety wasn't a word that Zengar really understood (or at least if she did, she didn't care much for it). The swordswoman quickly pulled out Zankantou, wielding it against an invisible enemy.
Please don't let her scream like she always does.
"I AM ZENGAR ZOMBOLT! THE SWORD THAT CLEAVES EVIL!"
...Never mind.
Rou started to scribble out words on the notepad, doing her best to ignore Zengar's thorough training regimen going on in front of her.
"HAH! TAKE THAT, FIEND! AND THIS!"
Rou was getting a headache just from sitting here. She stabbed her pencil through the paper, cursing quietly-
"NOW, FOR THE FINAL CLEAVE-!"
It was a good thing that Zengar was still screaming, because otherwise Rou would never have had enough warning to dodge before she sliced at the tree.
"What the fu-"
She rolled to the side, getting strands of grass all over her clothes. Zankantou cut through the tree cleanly as it toppled majestically to the ground. The swordswoman seemed pleased with herself.
"Excellent! Another successful training session!"
Rou's mouth hung open for a moment, out of sheer shock.
"W-What the hell, Zengar?! You nearly cut me in half!"
"You need to train as well, Rou. Remember that another incident could occur at any ti-"
"Whatever, whatever. There's nothing happening now, so I'm gonna take a break, okay?"
She stormed off, irritated, as Zengar frowned.
"...Poor girl. Couldn't CLEAVE her way out of a paper bag."
---
In here should be a little quieter.
Taking a seat in the midst of the Lecture Series, Rou smiled as she got back to writing. Without Zengar screaming her lungs out right next to her, things would hopefully be a lot easier. An idea had come to her on the way over as well, so she started writing an opening paragraph, the idea forming slowly but surely.
But nothing good lasts forever.
"Oh, Rou-chan!"
Someone was prancing through the lecture series. They didn't have permission to be here - at least, not anymore, but no-one had bothered stopping her from coming back in afterward. Gpop skipped across the room, placing her head over Rou's shoulder.
"Whatcha doin'?"
"Writing, that's all."
"Is it about Koishi-chan?"
"No."
Silence.
"Well, why not make it about Koishi-chan?"
"I don't feel like it, really."
"Really? But don't you think she's really really cute~?"
"I prefer Satori, myself."
Hoping that would be enough to shut Gpop up, Rou got back to writing. The ex-deity kept looming in, her breath blowing slightly at the page of the notebook.
"Want me to show you some pictures? You'll really like them."
"Not really, I'm sort of busy."
"They're really good, though. In fact I bunk to them every ni-"
"I need to be somewhere else right now."
Rou shuffled out of her chair, hastily making her way out of the Lecture Series. Gpop watched her leave, putting a finger to her mouth in a puzzled expression.
"Did she have some sort of subconscious urge to walk out? I wish Koishi-chan were here, she'd be able to tell me~"
---
The true sign of an artist is being willing to suffer for your art. This extended to both physical and financial suffering, and Rou's current plan was going to involve the latter.
Swimsuit? 50 glass beads, and that was for the cheapest one she could get - a personalised school swimsuit, with 'ROU-CHAN' scrawled on the front. (She was going to personally slap whoever decided to write that.)
Waterproof paper? 150 glass beads.
Hiring out a swimming pool to herself for an hour? 300 glass beads and a shiny rock.
...Silence? Priceless.
Finally, nothing to distract me...
Sitting at the bottom of the pool with her legs crossed, Rou placed the new notepad on her lap and started to write again. With nothing to put her off anymore, her story built up quickly, each word naturally seeming to flow from the one before it. There was something to be proud of with what she was producing, and it felt like it was worth all the trouble...
"Glub."
Hm? What was that?
"Blublgl..."
There was a sound coming from somewhere, but taking a quick glance around Rou couldn't see anyone else in the pool. Shrugging, she disregarded it and got back to writing-
"Glublglb!"
Great, it's getting louder too.
Getting irritated, Rou momentarily put a pair of fingers to her temples. She took a deep breath and-
"...Gl?"
...Aw, crap. I knew I forgot something.
---
One frenzied dash for the surface later, Rou added one last payment to add to her constantly growing charges - a breathing tube for 10 glass beads. Considering what she'd paid already, it was a good bargain.
Okay, THIS time for sure.
Even in silence, Rou's furrowed brow was enough to show her irritation. She swiped her pencil at the paper, intent on producing SOMETHING before the day was over.
Unfortunately, it isn't possible to hire a pool to yourself without someone finding out. Especially if that someone has a particular interest in you. Undoubtedly if said person is looking for potential blackmail material.
"うさあああぁ~"
The first sign Rou had of something being wrong was a muffled pair of footsteps. Assuming someone was cleaning the pool, she disregarded them, too busy looking at her own work to see the camera being poked at her.
The flash was much better at catching her attention.
"Mglb?!"
The sound of fleeing footsteps was enough to cue her in on the culprit, but her trademark cry made it doubly clear.
"うさ!"
Goddammit, Pesco!
Pulling herself out of the pool, Rou quickly dashed in the rabbit's direction. She was nowhere near as fast, though, and Pesco quickly started to gain distance on her.
"Dammit...!"
She could make out a middle finger being stuck up at her, as Pesco continued to escape with her embarrassing photos in tow. Regardless, Rou forced herself to keep charging, desperate to save her dignity.
Or at least, whatever shards of it Pesco hasn't already taken-
The chase continued for several minutes, neither of them showing signs of tiring, until Pesco made a sharp turn into a room on the right. Rou smirked - that was a dead end for sure. She'd caught her!
"Got you now, Pes-"
Her triumphant victory cry was cut short when she realised that Pesco wasn't the only one in the room. She could make out Zengar and Gpop, Ruro, Donut, Kanako, Trance, Alice...there wasn't a person she could name who WASN'T here.
And now every single one of them was looking at her in a school swimsuit.
"...Rou-chan?"
There was an awkward quiet for a few moments, followed by muffled giggles.
Then, outright laughter.
Rou shielded herself with her arms, blushing madly, but by now it was too late. Pesco laughed along with the crowd, smirking at her apparent superior.
"うふふふ~"
Uwaa...Pesco, you're so mean...
