noirc

Come on, shatter the mystery, bro... I don't wanna dream about you every night!

Naughty, haunting Dylan's dreams. Looks like sometimes secrets are charming too.

I'm not kidding you guys, I don't have much of a secret. If you actually wanna look, I can—

Uh, nah!

Noir, you just stay as you are, bro, I think that's best. I'm worried you'd throw me for a loop if you actually had the mask off.

So, same as always, then?

Man, you guys. You wanna hear me tell stories again?

C'mon, bring it on! Your stories are the best part of playing cards.

Hm, lemme think. Last time we got to...

It was a rainy evening, and a mom and her kid were hiding in a... ruined temple? Then an Oni ran into them.

Wow, Chard, that's a killer memory you've got! Yeah, it was all like a scary movie. Then what happened?

—The Oni was there to kill.

Kill? And I thought the Oni'd be a good guy.

Right then, he was just an Oni someone told to go killing, so he went killing.

Sounds like he's got it pretty tough...

The Oni knocked the mom out, but when he had the daughter nabbed, it hit him she was just seven or eight, scared so bad she couldn't even scream.

The Oni thought to himself, 'it's for the mission, that's how it is,' getting ready to slaughter her.

That's when he noticed his strike being blocked by a blade.

That's cool!

Yeah, it was real cool, even I thought so. Uh, I mean, the Oni in the story thought so.

The light off that blade was real bright that night. The Oni couldn't help but fall back a little.

I get it, this was the hero coming to save the mom and kid, right?

Ha, the Oni was thinking that too.

He reckoned, if he couldn't win the fight, then forget it. Not like he was interested in killing anyone anyway. Act like he got hurt, treat the mission as a failure, and it's not like anyone would give him a hard time for it.

Only then did the Oni realize... the one who blocked his attack was another Oni.

Huh? Why'd that Oni come save the family, then?

At the time, he couldn't figure it out either. The weirdest thing was, seemed the other Oni was a whole other clan's lackey. Her head and his head were both out for the same thing, that girl's life.

Seriously? She held you off just so she could get her own kill?

The Oni guessed the same thing. He threw some hands with the other Oni, which led him to realize she actually wanted to save the kid.

So he asked her, what is it you wanna do?!

And she told him, she didn't wanna do anything. She just didn't wanna hurt another innocent person.

That stunned the Oni. He never once figured that was an option they could take.

Hey, sounds like he was a nice, soft guy... uh, soft Oni.

Yeah. He decided then and there, he'd let the girl go.

Because he was moved by the other Oni?

Ha... and maybe because he wasn't a match for her.

Giving up the mission yourself, that amounts to desertion. The powers on both their sides wouldn't let a traitor off easy, would they?

Yeah, so he came to the conclusion, he could only desert with the other Oni.

Man, fleeing together to the ends of the world! This turned from a horror story into a romance story.

It wasn't that romantic, was it? Trying to run away's not an easy thing... they got hurt together, they fell ill together. Had more than a couple close scrapes with death.

Not to mention, the other Oni couldn't stand being in sunlight. And nowhere's quick to trust you when you're always wearing a mask.

The Oni was obsessed, because masks were obviously pretty sweet, so he spent some crazy effort getting a whole pile of them.

A pile of masks?

Yeah, that was hard-earned as hell. Every mask was passed down by a different clan for a millennium, and had secret powers unbeknownst to anyone...

This is getting wilder by the second.

What kind of secret powers is a mask gonna have?

For example, you wear it and you're unaging and immortal. You get a huge strength boost or something.

Yeah, take that day, for instance. The Oni got his hands on the most fearsome mask of them all, and it came at a huge price. Almost cost him his life.

The other Oni was worried as hell for him. With all the guys chasing him, he did what he could in the moment, and put the mask straight on!

And in that instant, sand and stone came flying up, and every last enemy went pale—

And the Oni yelled in this huge voice, 'I've broken the limits!'

And then in a huge blast of spiritual energy, he sent every last bad guy packing.

Huh? What? That's way too sloppy for an ending! C'mon, Noir, every time you finish up, your stories just get more and more bizarre...

Well, hey, looks like I won, huh?

Huuuh?! I got way too absorbed in the story...

Same here...

Same all around, huh.

I see how it is! This is your special technique, isn't it, Noir?

Hey, hey, it's more effective than trying to bluff people out.

Augh, I still wanna hear more stories about the two Oni...

The one from before with the Oni challenging ten generals in a row on the night of a snowstorm, that was amazing!

Yeah, we'll leave it for next time. Looks to me like Chard's eyes are almost gluing shut.

When you're out from your field mission, then we can go for drinks again.

Hey, that's the Doctor, isn't it?

What? I was just staring at the cards—I didn't even notice!

Must've heard everything we were just talking about...

I... *cough* *cough* *cough*... I feel dizzy as hell...

Too late to act drunk, Chard.

Doctor, I never imagined you'd drop in at the bar.

Amiya suggested I come over and relax.;......;Is my camouflage module on the fritz?

Whaddaya nudging me for, you guys...

*cough*... Doctor, been ages since... uh, good evening!

*huff*...

Good evening, Operators Chard, Dylan, Barty, Noir Corne.

Doctor, you... you actually remember all our names?!

Your memory's still as good as ever, Doctor.

Getting into your mountain of paperwork, and remembering all our personnel's names on top of that, it's not easy. Doctor, watch you don't get worn out.

It's just what I ought to do.;......;PRTS helps me out.

Doctor, we're about to pack up right now. We'll give you some peace and quiet.

Uh-huh. Doctor, see you on the field mission!

We're out, Chard, what are you stuck to the ground for?

Huh? Yeah... *cough*, see you, Doctor.

Doctor, you don't mind if I sit down here, right?

Just now, we were meeting up after work, drinking and shooting the breeze. Must've been a comedy show for you.

They still don't really know what to make of you. But I know it well. You're fun, interesting, and a real good person.

It's your command, y'know, that lets guys like me find their proper position in a scene all tossed about head to tail.

And my position—is right here.

You eat char-grilled sandworm leg?;Want some spicy cactus jerky?

I'll go for anything. It's all tasty.

How about a drink with me, Doctor? A glass every now and then's no big deal.