Heaven's BBS - text

[kokuyoyo]

From: Anonymous
Date: October 17

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It's keiyuki again. I've been busy but here's more.

- Chapter 1

[Yep, it's that romance writer anon again! Or, aspiring romance writer, at least. Looks like they're still working at it. Good for them...?]

[So far, the next chapter starts off with Protagonist Casimiro Falco introducing his new partner and Presumable Love Interest Elio Adesso to various spots around the police headquarters. They're in the sparring area when Casimiro insults Elio, leading to arguments and, inevitably, tackling.]


"I'll do my job just as good as you- I'll do better!"

The ground pressed uncomfortably against his spine from one side. From the other side, Elio Adesso bore down on him. Casimiro didn't feel uncomfortable, usually. He was level headed. There was still something that seemed like it inside him as he was forced to stare up at Elio's twisted and passionate face. It was more than the fact that he was filthy. It didn't help but it was more than that. He would later realize very belatedly that it was the words that bothered him. Casimiro could't remember when similar thoughts had gone through him only that they had. In his case, there had been no one to compare himself to.

He had never been good at words. Pinned down against the floor of the police training room, all he did was stare up at his new partner. It didn't help. It wasn't meant to. He didn't think Elio knew that was the point but the other cop also didn't care. All he did was bristle, teeth bared. Before the situation could become worse, radio static crackled through the air and straight into Casimiro's ear. Elio seemed to have it worst and actually jerked. The voice speaking through Casimiro's radio, where it clung to his jacket, didn't care what it did. It only continued to drone onwards. It was hard to tell through the static but there was a sense of urgency in the words.

[There's a conveniently timed robbery! Because of course there is. Casimiro and Elio get over themselves long enough to suit up and get in a car, driving to somewhere to intercept the robber.]

[Also, did you know this had werewolves in it?]

It was a good thing that Casimiro was good at his job. He prided himself on it, for lack of anything else. It meant that he could put his body on autopilot in assembling a weapon he knew by heart. His eyes were focused on his new partner who was eagerly shedding most of his outer clothing as if he was going home instead of being on the job. As far as he had been able to tell in his years working as a police officer, that wasn't too unheard of with people in his division. Elio just took it further.

Casimiro didn't scoff at or scold him. Instead, he watched carefully. He had never had the opportunity to be right next to a shifter as they transformed. It had never been particularly important to his job to do so. That didn't mean the interest wasn't there. So he watched carefully as Elio's body began to warp, starting first with how his muscles bulged out. Underneath an eerily wet sound, there was the sound of bones breaking and elongating. From what he understood, shifting was a technically painful experience, dulled only by adrenaline rushing through the system and various other complexities in the nervous system that was still being studied by scientists. Fur sprouted quickly, all over his body, and sticking out uncomfortably from his inner uniform which was designed to stretch along with a shifter's change in form.

"Remember that they're only petty thieves," he said. With his anti-car gun assembled, made specifically for occasions such as this, he stood up. "Don't maul them." Regular police were criticized for overusing violent methods. The Giallo unit had it worse.

[While "keiyuki" manages to avoid from going into too much detail about Italian police again, there's still a lot of description on the chase scene, and the kind of (fictional) gun that Casimiro uses to take out the car wheels but is apparently not as useful against actual people. The chase scene is a mixture of regular police units trying to herd the suspects, Casimiro using a sniper spot to take out the car, and Elio finishing the job by stopping the car and then hunting down the robbers. As the regular police unit takes them out and the paperwork portion of the job begins, Casimiro takes a look at his partner's filthy state from the chase and offers to take him back to his apartment to clean up before heading back to the station...]

Comments

[reformedsinner]

Chikusa, I'd like to come inside, please.

[He could teleport, but he suspects that would just open him up to a more annoying, later revenge.]

Don't worry, I don't plan on giving away your pseudonym. Although you could just talk to him.

[kokuyoyo]

...It's a little late for that.

[He disappears around the corner again. Don't worry, he has backup in case Hakkai actually can teleport past a borderline. (He's never tried against a god.)]

[reformedsinner]

For talking?

[Bon is standing up again, leaning heavily against Hakkai's side and shedding black hairs all down his slacks. Hakkai pats his head again, absently.]

[kokuyoyo]

For giving away pseudonyms.

[As far as Chikusa is concerned, that was about as subtle as he was.]

[reformedsinner]

Anyone could pick the wrong character from a list. [Hakkai chuckles; Bon's tail begins to wag more eagerly at the sound of the laugh, and he barks, threatening to go up on his hind legs again. Hakkai holds his hand out, palm-down, and says firmly:]

Sit.

[Thump, go Bon's hindquarters once more on the pavement. He's coming along quite well, really.]

[kokuyoyo]

[One day, Chikusa will learn the trick of mastering Bon... but he suspects that might mean giving up his hats. Another day.]

The mashup sounds too similar. You know it.

[reformedsinner]

From one anonymous commenter to another? Not necessarily.

[Thoughtfully, he adds:]

Although you'll have to get better at denying it.

wow this sure got lost in my inbox

[kokuyoyo]

And maybe you should stop calling me out on the BBS.

[reformedsinner]

I'll avoid it in the future. [He chuckles.] I was just curious, you see.

[kokuyoyo]

...Curious.

[Wow his voice sure has just gone even more flat]

[reformedsinner]

About whether it was really you. I think you've answered that, though.

[kokuyoyo]

Why?

[reformedsinner]

I did say I was curious. It seemed like your style.

[kokuyoyo]

....This is the first time I've ever written... I don't even have a style.

[reformedsinner]

Oh, not the prose style, the content.

[He chuckles easily.]

-- But I don't think someone who didn't know you well would notice that.

[kokuyoyo]

[UUUUUUUGH....]

...Advice I read.... said to write what you know.

[And what he knows best is...]

[reformedsinner]

Is it bad that I recognized you? The story's not terrible for a first effort.

[kokuyoyo]

[Finally, a pair of owl eyes peek out around the corner.]

...It's anonymous for a reason.

[reformedsinner]

I don't plan on telling anyone it's you.

... If you were concerned about that. [His eyebrows quirk.] Although, you could just talk to Ken....

[kokuyoyo]

[The eyes underneath the owl narrow a fraction.]

I'm not writing it because of him.

[....most....ly...]

[reformedsinner]

Then what's your reason?

[kokuyoyo]

[The owl slinks out of view again.]

....Someone said... I have a romantic soul... and if I'm supposed to be someone on my own... I should have hobbies.

[At least, that feels right. Normal people have hobbies outside of how useful they are to a single person, after all.]

[reformedsinner]

That's a good reason to write it! But I was wondering what the reason was for you to write it anonymously.

[Because if it's not "I don't want to have awkward conversations about me and Ken," he's stumped.]

[kokuyoyo]

...If people knew it was me.... They'd be annoying and dumb about it.

[reformedsinner]

Ah ha ha, is that the problem?

Well, I suppose you're probably right. [Most of the "annoying and dumb" would probably take the form of teasing, and Chikusa is not going to be free of teasing now that Hakkai knows... but Hakkai can keep it subtle.]

As I said, your secret is safe with me.