#shizukasu

Shizuku had received the news of her master’s death along with a scroll bearing his seal. Within, she found orders to locate Kasumi, bring her home, and protect her so she could take her father’s place. Without a strong leader, the region would be left in an uncertain, liminal state. Any other local lord could ride in and claim everything as theirs.

Shizuku approached the gate of the stronghold to where she had tracked the ninjas. No obvious signs of guar…

Shizuku slashed her sword out to deflect the incoming shuriken. Then twice more. Finally, she brought her blade to bear against the barrier. Several swipes, a swift kick, and she broke through.

“Aww, did you really need to break our gate, Shizuko?”

Shizuko? Wait…

“Kasumi-chan?” Shizuku scanned the area.

There were dozens of ninjas surrounding her, but they all looked the same.

“Yeah, I’m here.” A ninja stepped forward and pulled off her mask.

“W… what are you doing here?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I joined the clan.”

“But…”

“Oh, and I was the one to kill my father, by the way.”

“… Why?” Shizuku’s mind spun.

“He was making shady deals with a warlord, some Kajiyashiki guy or whatever.”

“…?”

“So I made a better deal with Higasa who will peacefully absorb my father’s lands into hers. And pay me and my new clan to protect it.”

“But… I’m supposed to protect you.” Was all Shizuku could think to say.

“And you still can.” Kasumi extended a hand. “Join us. Protect me so I can better protect my people.”

Shizuku hesitated for a long moment. Then, she accepted Kasumi’s hand.

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“So, what do you think?” Kasumi bounced back and forth in anticipation. “Amazed by Kasumin’s brilliance?”

Shizuku pursed her lips. “I have questions.”

“What’s there to question? Kasumin and Shizuko finally get a play where they can end up together, instead of fighting and sometimes killing each other like in all the stuff Shizuko’s been writing lately.”

“Isn’t Higasa-san kind of deus ex machina? I don’t recall her being mentioned earlier.” Shizuku flipped through several pages of Kasumi’s script. “Same with Kajiyashiki-san for that matter. I’m not sure the audience will like being surprised by this resolution that they could not possibly have seen coming.”

“Yeah, but if I do something like show my character’s father meeting with Kagiyashiki, that would reveal he’s a bad guy too early.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Well yeah, ‘cause then they won’t empathize with Shizuko fulfilling her dying master’s order.”

“Are you sure about that? Just because the audience knows he is a bad guy doesn’t mean my character knows. And the audience knowing I don’t know could add to the drama.”

“Hrm…” Kasumi chewed her lip.

“It is a good first draft though.” Shizuku said. “And yes, I do like that our characters end up together.”

That prompted a smile from her girlfriend.

“And perhaps,” Shizuku closed the distance between the two, “I might spirit away my Kasumi-chan to a nice restaurant with a private booth where we can enjoy a nice meal and work on this script for a while.”

Kasumi’s smile grew before she pushed up on her toes and pecked a kiss on the taller woman’s cheek. “Let’s go.” She said, grabbing Shizuku’s hand and pulling her toward the door.

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Author's Note Continued: Yet another reference to other entries, both this year and prior years. As Kasumi rightly pointed out, I've had Shizuku write several potential play scenes where she and Kasumi were antagonistic to each other in some, usually tragic way. So I figured this year I could have Kasumi rectify a few. And if I recall correctly, there is another sad Shizuku story Kasumi could make happier in some future Promptober entry.

But if it isn't obvious, I like playing into those parts of their personalities. Shizuku adores her tragic tales while Kasumi prefers her cute and happy endings. And Shizuku also loves her hero stories, so she is fine going along with Kasumi's more heroic happy endings.

Also, I may expand more on this samurai and ninja play a bit more at some point. There were a few ideas I had to cut out to make this scene fit into 4k characters, which I then lampshaded by having Shizuku ask about deus ex machina. So I'll have to decide if this will be a full production to be performed on the theater's primary stage, or a more limited show that could fit on their smaller black box stage. The latter I just started using with Shizuku's, and now Kasumi's as well, ghost and Hunter story.

And finally, whew, I had to stretch some word choices here to squeeze in some last minute prior prompts that I had been neglecting all event.

Kasumi giggled and popped the candy back into her mouth.

“Have you found the others?”

“Others?” Kasumi tilted her head.

“You didn’t wonder why there was a number on the package?”

“The nine?”

“Yes, the package I bought had a dozen.” Shizuku explained. “I numbered them all, so you still have eleven to find.”

Kasumi’s eyes widened. “I’m gonna find them!” She announced before bounding back into the apartment.

“I’ll start on dinner.”

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“Found another!” A voice called from elsewhere in the apartment.

“How many does that make it?” Shizuku asked as she chopped the carrots on her cutting board.

“Four.” Kasumi scampered into the kitchen, pecked a kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek, and spun back out. “Eight more to go!”

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“I’m up to seven.” Kasumi announced happily as she took a seat at the table.

“You’re finding them a lot faster than I thought you would, Kasumi-chan.” Shizuku admitted, setting plates down for both girls.

“Shizuko needs to up her hiding game if she wants to keep them away from the great detective Kasumin!”

Shizuku chuckled. “I do actually want you to find them, though.”

“I suppose.”

“Are you having fun with my candy hunt?”

“Yup! I’m going to find them all before bed tonight.”

Shizuku smiled.

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“Kasumi-chan, let me brush your hair.”

“I still need to find three lollipops though.”

“We need to head to bed soon.”

“But…”

“You can keep looking tomorrow.”

“But…”

“They’re not going to melt or spoil if you don’t find them tonight.”

Kasumi sighed and knelt in front of Shizuku so she could dry and brush her hair.

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“Kasumi-chan, you need to eat your breakfast or you won’t make it to lunch and will get grumpy.”

“I just need to find one more of Shizuko’s lollipops though.”

“You can continue looking when you get home from class.”

Kasumi sighed and ate her breakfast.

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“Kasumi-chan, it’s time for bed.”

“But I still haven’t found the last lollipop…”

“It’s been three days.”

“I know.”

“Does the great detective Kasumin give up?”

“Never!”

“Well, at least take a break for now and come to bed.”

“… Alright…”

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“Shizuko~~!”

“What’s up Kasumi-chan?”

“I give up!”

“Oh?”

“It’s been two weeks! I can’t find the last Shizuko pop.”

“So you admit defeat?”

“Mohhh… fine, yes. Can you please give me the last lollipop?”

Shizuku smiled.

“Shizuko?”

Shizuku laughed.

“What’s so funny? Shizuko? Why are you laughing?”

“There were only eleven lollipops.”

“Eh?”

“I bought a ten pack and one extra.”

“But… I found one with a number twelve on it.”

“I skipped seven.”

Something clicked in Kasumi’s mind. “Shizuko~! Why did you let Kasumin search for two weeks if you knew there was nothing left to find?”

“Karma.”

Kasumi blinked.

“Kasumi-chan has pranked me numerous times, so it felt like it was time for a little bit of payback.”

“So there really isn’t a twelfth lollipop?” Moisture gathered in Kasumi’s eyes.

Shizuku chuckled. “You’re really concerned about that part?”

“They were good though! Shizuko found a really good brand.”

“They were just a normal brand.”

“But they were ones Shizuko gave me.”

Oh. Shizuku smiled again. “Alright, I’ll get Kasumi-chan a twelfth lollipop tomorrow.”

“Really?” Kasumi immediately brightened back up.

“Yes.”

“And maybe more than a thirteenth?”

“Or fourteenth?”

“Even better.”

“Alright.”

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Author's Note Continued: Karma -> Payback? -> For a prank? -> Shizuku giving Kasumi karmic payback for all of the pranks. One Google search for a relatively harmless, and possibly rewarding prank later and I had the core idea for this chapter. Weaving it through a handful of soft, simple, domestic ShizuKasu scenes was just me indulging in my favorite genre of writing.

Shizuku let herself be led through an alleyway to another road. This one appeared to be nearly deserted, so it was probably…

“Halt!” A figure appeared from the next alley down.

Kasumi cursed.

“Where are you taking that wrathful wraith, Kasumi-san?”

“Ah, Setsuna.” Kasumi greeted. “This phantom was about to escape her seal when I intervened. However, I cannot destroy her on my own. I seek the services of the exorcist, Nozomi.”

“I have heard such apocryphal accounts of the exorcist Nozomi.” Setsuna sneered. “However, she was nothing more than a witch. A heretic. My team and I have dispatched of that nuisance.”

“I see… that is good…” Kasumi fumbled. “I suppose I shall have to search elsewhere.”

“Nonsense.” Setsuna shook her head. “Although she was a witch, she possessed no shortage of tools that have proved useful to us Hunters. Tools such as this!” She pulled what looked like a wand from her cloak and pointed it at Shizuku

“Wait!” Kasumi insisted. “Let me care of this!”

“Be gone, fiend!” Setsuna bellowed.

“Quickly! Possess her!” A voice called in Shizuku’s mind.

What? Was that Setsuna?

“Possess Kasumi-san!” The voice repeated. “Now! Before my spell goes off!”

The end of the wand glowed. Shizuku slid sideways into Kasumi. Magicks burst like a firework where the ghost had been half a second prior.

“Good work in bringing that thing to me, Kasumi-san.” Setsuna said aloud, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“I am sorry, Kasumi-san, Ghost-san.” Setsuna’s voice continued in their combined mind. “I was unable to protect Nozomi. But I can give you this to help you find your way.”

Something slipped from Kasumi’s shoulder into her pocket.

“No go.” Setsuna spoke again. “Continue the hunt.”

And with that, Kasumi and Shizuku departed the town.

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“Ohhh…” Setsuna vibrated with excitement. “I wonder how many in the audience are completely confused as to what special effects we used to make Shizuku-san disappear before their very eyes! Little do they know there was an actual ghost on stage actually possessing Kasumi-san! And Nozomi-san’s wand casts real magic! Ohhh, this theater is amazing! The best!” She continued to babble away as the three prepared for their next scene.

“Uhm… Shizuko… are you gonna get out?” Kasumi asked in her mind.

“I suppose.” Shizuku sighed. “I was kind of liking it here in Kasumi-chan’s body.”

Kasumi chuckled. “Is Shizuko being possessive?”

“Well, I am a ghost.”

Kasumi’s laugher couldn’t be contained to her mind.

“Kasumi-san?” Setsuna questioned.

“Never mind.” Kasumi dismissed. “Let’s get ready.”

Setsuna nodded.

“You too, Shizuko.”

“Fine.” Shizuku sighed and slipped out of her girlfriend’s body.

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Author's Note Continued: A sequel chapter to an entry from earlier in the event, Escape Room?. And as with that entry, I am continuing to use the same names for them on and off stage. My apologies if this results in any confusion. However, I will probably continue to do so for scenes involving the theater's black box stage. It is something I intend for the PoH crew to be able to use to bring to life all of the little ideas and inspirations that may not warrant a full length play with all of the time and resources such a production entails. And thus by extension, I can similarly explore such ideas and inspirations.