It's All Worked Out Like Clockwork

I WISH CHISATO AND NORIAKI WERE IN THE SAME GAME BECAUSE THEY'RE EERILY SIMILAR...

So, I think the posts during endgame pause showed a lot of this, but the two of them both have very similar drives and tendencies. Both Noriaki and Chisato want people to like them-- Noriaki because he can't handle being hated, Chisato because she wants people to trust her.

Their public faces are vastly different-- Noriaki wants to be flashy, Chisato wants to be overlooked (and have her "hidden" identities recognized, thus feeding her ego.) Both of them desperately need attention and affection and have rather unhealthy ways of seeking it.

But damned if the ways they do it aren't absolutely perfect for each other. Noriaki probably approached Chisato predespair to flirt with her since he does that with everyone, and her immediate reaction would have been suspecting he has an angle.

Which, well, she's right but that doesn't stop her from continuously seeking him out to see if the pattern will repeat itself. Annnnnnd Noriaki inevitably asked her about her title. And she didn't want to stop talking, but she decided to intentionally leave all her Exciting Whistleblowing Adventure Stories on cliffhangers to make him have a reason to talk to her again.

I cannot emphasize how cripplingly lonely Chisato was for most of her life, this was literally the best way she could think of to make a friendship.

But it worked! Noriaki kept talking to her, which was what Chisato desperately needed. Chisato thinks of Chisato as being pretty unremarkable, and at that time most of her more impressive feats to Anansi. Anansi was worthy of attention, Chisato wasn't. And Noriaki made her feel special.

So tl;dr Noriaki was her first friend probably, since she would've needed some nudging to approach Noboru.

Had Noriaki and her been in the same game they'd probably still have gotten along very well, and she'd have happily considered Noriaki one of her allies. She'd have covered for him in trials, up to and including hiding evidence that pointed to him. Even if Noriaki hadn't trusted her back, she'd have given out hers at least in part, though probably not enough to ask him to accomplice for her.

Act One: Along Came a Spider (Chisato)

Rule the World (Kamelot)

Sometimes I tremble like a little child That faces morning with a broken smile Sometimes I crumble when the shades unfurl Sometimes I feel that I could rule the world

The Devil Went Down to the Holy Land (Betzefer)

And I thought to myself, "where is the innocence?" It's no surprise it's been so goddamn hot as of late We're never gonna be cold You know the Devil is lord

The Watchmaker's Apprentice (Clockwork Quartet)

Now, I'm not the type who would grovel and beg That he deign to recant and permit me to stay So I cursed him and left And I solemnly swore that he'd pay!

When the Bough Breaks (The Agonist)

If you play God once, I can play God twice Materialism now abides Tradition exists when no-one has the guts to change

God's Away on Business (Tom Waits)

I'd sell your heart to the junkman, baby For a buck, for a buck If you're looking for someone to pull you outta that ditch You're out of luck, you're out of luck

Speak (Queensryche)

I'm the new Messiah, death angel with a gun Dangerous in my silence, deadly to my cause Speak to me the pain you feel Speak the word (revolution,) the word is all of us

Loyal to No-One (Dropkick Murphy's)

You're touched by nothing, watch a man fall Put a foot on his back to get a better view 'Cause you're loyal to no-one, no-one but you!

Act Two: Noboru (The Monsters We Create)

These Scars (Evergrey)

What's the point of touching it? So close you almost taste it What's the point of reaching for it? When all doors are closing And I wish I could feel it That feeling of belonging

Of Wolf and Man (Metallica)

Out from the new day's mist I run Out from the new day's mist I have come I hunt, therefore I am Harvest the land Taking of the fallen lamb

Wildfire (Sonata Arctica)

The story always goes when the anger within builds up for too long Takes us over And we all are forced to obey, hey!

Revelation (Divus Pennae ex Tragoidea)

Oh, wounds of hate have pierced so deep They never die Oh, my revenge is bittersweet!

Porcelain Heart (Opeth)

I see roads beneath my feet Lead me through wastelands of deceit Rest your head now, don't you cry Don't ever ask the reason why

Act Three: Two of a Kind (Noboru/Chisato)

Innocence (Halestorm)

Child, don't follow me home You're just too perfect for my hands to hold If you choose to stay, you'll throw it all away And I just want to take your innocence

Paradise Lost (Symphony X)

Mystified by the beauty, does the hunter pity their prey? Under starry skies, all love must die or fade away Oh, take my hand, divine or damned, make a stand, seize the day Oh, yours or mine, damned or divine, draw the line, come what may!

Make Me Wanna Die (The Pretty Reckless)

You make me wanna die I'll never be good enough You make me wanna die And everything you love will burn up in the light

Wings of Faith (Deadsoul Tribe)

We're flying on the wings of faith Don't let me down, don't let me down We're flying on a daydream The world is not what it seems 'Cause nothing ever stays the same

The Evil That Men Do (After Forever)

Love is a razor and I walk the line on that silver blade Slept in the dust with his daughter, her eyes red with the slaughter of innocents But I will pray for her, I will call her name out loud I would bleed for her if I could only see her now

Breaking the Silence (Queensryche)

Nothing will keep us apart, no more lies and fear There's no end to our story Breaking the silence of the night, can't you hear me screaming? I look for your face in the neon lights, you never answer me

Spoken Words (Shadow Gallery)

There are things I've just not told you Works of treason wrought by these very hands I've been scared for me, now I'm scared for you And so it's best I say farewell

Kiss While Your Lips Are Still Red (Nightwish)

Hold another hand while the hand's still without a tool Drown into eyes while they're still wide Love while the night still hides the withering dawn

Once Upon a Time (Kamelot)

She let out a sigh as she looked at the letter in her hands. It didn’t have a return address. As of late, that wasn’t a good sign. There were two possibilities: the first was that it was fan mail. It wasn’t unthinkable, it’d happened before. Not often, but she wasn’t going to dismiss the chance of that outright. The second, and far more likely, was that it was yet another person furious with her body of work as Anansi. Sure, the name on the envelope was her name-- her real one. But after what that damn reporter had done…

She closed her eyes, rattling the letter around next to her ear. It didn’t sound like there was anything potentially dangerous in there, and it was light enough to be a normal letter. Cautiously, she tore open the top and pulled out the paper. Nothing untoward yet, but then she unfolded it

Crushed spiders were taped to the letter. She threw it back, stumbling against the wall. For most people, it would have been an unwelcome gesture. Disgusting, perhaps immature, but otherwise harmless. However, when she went by a name like Anansi, the intention was clear.

She clenched her fists, letting her nails dig into her palms if only to give her something to focus on other than the fact her heart was pounding so hard she could feel the reverberations throughout her body. She snatched up the letter from the ground, balling it up, turned to the trashcan, and--

No. This wasn’t right. The spiders certainly hadn’t done anything to deserve such an indignity, did they? For the first time since she’d opened, the letter, she exhaled, and it felt like all her strength left her body with that one breath. She slumped bonelessly against the wall. Such a stupid thing to get upset over.

Stupid if you ignored the fact it was a threat and it was made by people who knew where she lived and by proxy knew where her family lived. She’d abandoned any hope the police would do much of anything, after all, so far it’d only been letters. Nothing physical. They were just supposed to keep their heads down and pretend everything was fine, probably until someone acted on them. Then she’d be dead, everyone would say a few token words about what a shame it was to have a life taken so young, and they’d all move on with their lives like nothing had ever happened.

(Ah, but she deserved it, didn’t she? This was how karma worked. How appropriate, for things to end up like this.)

They obviously thought she was asleep. It wasn’t hard to tell. With her parents, they always turned to financial matters when they thought that was the case. She sighed and pulled the covers up, trying to shut out the talk of bills and arguing about what their next meal would be and where it’d come from.

“Chisato?”

She opened one eye, looking to her brother and making a small grunt of acknowledgment.

“Are they fighting again?” His voice was soft-- it was well after his bedtime, after all.

Some people might have tried to spare his feelings, or at least try to obfuscate the nature of their argument. He was only nine, after all. But Chisato had never much cared for such things. “They are.”

“Why?” He was sitting up now, sending the threadbare blankets falling into his lap.

“Money.” She paused, realizing her explanation left a bit to be desired. “We don’t have enough of it.”

Even in the dark, she could see his brow furrowing with worry. “Can’t they just get new jobs?”

She ran her tongue over her teeth, trying to sort out how to pitch all the things she’d read online about worker’s rights and the labor movement and the evils inherent in the system they were born and raised in, but in terms easily understandable for someone his age. “It wouldn’t be easy. At least to get something that would pay enough. And there’s nothing wrong with the jobs they have, it’s just people don’t think they’re important. Even though they are. Mom helps run things for the store, and without Dad whenever machines would break down nobody would know how to fix them. But the people who give them money have messed-up priorities and think they’re replaceable. So they don’t get paid much.”

He sat with his head down, looking deep in thought. “Isn’t there something we can do?”

“No. Child labor laws.”

“Huh?”

“Kids aren’t allowed to work. We’ll have to wait a few years.” She folded her arms against her chest, staring at the ceiling and counting the dots on it. One, two, three, giant mildew stain that had to count for at least five dots...

It took some time for him to respond after that, long enough she began to wonder if he’d fallen back asleep. “Are we going to be okay?”

It was a simple enough question, but not an easy one to answer. She hated the idea of lying to him, and so she went with the very first statement to pop into her head. “I don’t know. We’ve gotten by before. So probably.”

They fell into a miserable silence, until she heard Kazuaki’s breathing slow as he drifted off. For her, it wasn’t so easy. She could only think of what she’d face tomorrow. Of course, she’d probably escape the notice of her fellow students. That was just as well. Being seen had never meant anything good. But just because others didn’t see her didn’t mean she couldn’t see them. Another day of witnessing opulence she knew she could never touch was before her. People with money to spare and no heart to spread it around, with their cars and expensive food and computers they didn’t scavenge together from parts in a dumpster. And all the while they lived like this. It wasn’t fair. Not for her, not for her brother, not for her parents.

It was strange how being close to people changed things. She was used to observing from the sidelines. People came and went, relationships showed how transient they were, and she watched from above contemplating how pointless it was.

But she’d promised things would be different here. She’d actually try, knowing it was so much easier not to. She hadn’t known how to do so, but they’d made it easy.

Noriaki had approached her first, grinning playfully and calling her ‘doll’ and ‘darling’ and other terms of endearment that’d thrown her so far off guard she’d stared at him in stunned silence for what felt like an eternity. People didn’t flirt with her. People didn’t notice her. So when he walked off laughing and immediately tried the same schtick on some other poor kid, she was relieved. It was a joke, that was all. She could relax.

Except he kept coming back. Their conversations got longer and longer, and inevitably the subject of her work came up. And, well, she didn’t like to brag, but it was only right to oblige, wasn’t it?

That was a lie, of course, and she knew it. She loved to brag, and he seemed so genuine when he listened, so rapt in his attention, even though she wasn’t much of a storyteller. But it wasn’t just the bragging, she was desperate for conversation. So sometimes she’d purposefully leave her stories on cliffhangers, and pray he’d come back, expecting a proper ending.

He did. Just like clockwork. And she had stories to spare, so it kept happening, and before she knew it, something terrible happened. She was getting used to it. She was looking forward to it, even.

Kezao was next to approach her, the same way he did most people. He’d made a joke about how awful the cafeteria food was, and she’d laughed along nervously and tried to not mention that she’d been eating the best she had in a long while. She figured that was normal social protocol until he offered to make her lunch. She was suspicious right away, because she knew well enough nothing was free. What was his angle? What did he want?

As far as she could tell, it was to give her food, because much like Noriaki he made a habit of it. She could only listen quietly when he talked about food, she knew little about anything outside of staple foods and recipes. But it was interesting, and it was such a welcome change of pace.

She was beginning to see the risks of this already. Inevitably, things were going to change. They’d get tired of her and find someone more interesting, someone with more to offer. She was such a very ordinary girl once you got down to it, after all, and even her more distinct interests were bizarre at best. Who would want to keep her around with so many more interesting individuals around?

So it took her brother’s insistence for her to ever bother approaching Noboru Watanabe. It should have been an obvious pick, with his readily apparent interest in tokusatsu. But he was quiet, and never made the first move, and Chisato herself was one who would always wait to be spoken to first. It wouldn’t do to be easily noticeable, after all, not for Chisato. Anansi was a different story, but she’d left Anansi behind in Sendai.

She’d waited for the opportune moment, when she saw him toying with a Mothra figurine. She’d said Mothra was her favorite Toho monster, and it became readily obvious she’d sparked his interest. He’d happily rambled about Mothra, saying she was his second favorite, before talking about his very favorite-- SpaceGodzilla. It’d taken a bit of time before he realized he was unintentionally carrying on a conversation with himself, and then he apologized profusely.

But she hadn’t minded. She could respect passion and enthusiasm. And things went from there- watching shows whenever there was a premiere, sharing DVD sets, surreptitiously passing off pirated files..it was another routine she’d gotten into. That was when she realized, completely against her wishes, she now had friends rather than acquaintances.

Of course, friends might not have been the right word.

That, also, was completely against her wishes. But no, tried not to blame herself. Attractive boys suddenly thinking she was interesting, with their dazzling smiles and fascinating talents, anyone would have done the same in her position. That didn’t mean she had her favorites, of course.

Noriaki flirted with anyone, his words were pretty and flattering and so empty once you looked past the surface. Kezao was nice to everyone, full of kind words and compassionate gestures. But Noboru…

Well, could you really blame her? She wanted to be special, and it was good being one of the few people he trusted. And once she started awkwardly making passes at him, attempting to tease him...how was she to resist his shocked reactions? The blushing, the stammering, the fact he was so clearly fumbling to work out exactly what she was implying...oh, it was intoxicating having so much power over someone. It didn’t hurt he was adorable, either.