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[seafloor]

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SUGARCANE

✖

CHARACTER NAME

Kaito Nagano

CIVILIAN NAME

Kain Suga

TEAM

Everlight

HOUSING NUMBER

009

❤

Comments

[seafloor]

[ His smile droops away, replaced by a pensive stare. ]

...Fifty years is a drop in the water for some of us.

Are you part of that circle? Are you secretly Hag Sooyoung in disguise?

[ Beyond the taunting is a not-so-small glimmer of curiosity. ]

[plagiarists]

I will stab you like you’re Kim Dokja.

[ Three rights and one major wrong. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.

Also, being stabbed that way is the greatest honor, he better appreciate it. For now, she just resorts to pinching his both cheeks at once. ]

It was… because of a scenario. During the Great War of Saints and Demons.

[ Saying that doesn’t reveal much—it might even sound like she’s just blabbering since she doesn’t bother providing the context. Still, Sooyoung is still surprised that she managed to mutter that. ]

If you’ve ever read an isekai novel then that’s what happened. And I was stuck there waiting for fifty years.

[seafloor]

Who's Reader Kim?

[ Should that name be familiar? It sounds familiar. Maybe his brain is filling in blanks. ]

Fifty years of waiting.

Sounds shitty.

I guess I'd be an old hag too, if I counted the times I got "isekai'd" away from Earth...

Do you feel like you've missed out on your youth, Hag Sooyoung?

[plagiarists]

A dumbass like you.

[ Sooyoung refuses to elaborate. ]

I didn’t miss out on my youth, bastard. I’m 29 and my best years are right ahead.

[ Well, would be waiting right ahead if some idiotic organization didn’t summon her here to clean its messes. ]

Count it. I want to know how many times it happened to you.

[seafloor]

Hm. I hope I get to meet him someday.

[ Har har. ]

More like 79. You're the brattiest grandmother I've ever made out with.

[ Ugly laugh: executed. ]

Mmm... Three? Four, maybe? Those are the times I didn't ask for it, mind you. Otherwise it'd be close to the double digits.

[plagiarists]

Not a chance.

[ Since the probability they will bump into each other is high assuming Dokja won’t glitch out, Sooyoung winces. ]

Also the hottest.

[ The wince changes to pout… that bastard calling her a grandma is too much. ]

You must be like a million years old yourself, gramps.

[seafloor]

Ehhhh, I dunno. I've met babes who are twice as old as you...

[ Kaito makes a face, sneers, then sits up again. He gives the Stitch plushie a little pat. ]

You like this one, [ he murmurs offhandedly. ]

I've opted to ignore the birthdays that passed in other worlds. Every time I came back, I looked the same as when I left. What's the point of me being thirty or three thousand when I still get accused of having a babyface?

[plagiarists]

Good to know you like them older. I’m still 29.

[ It’s very important to emphasize that repeatedly, it seems. ]

What’s not to like about him? A little menace from space.

[ Menaces attract each other. Well, there’s also the found family storyline but Sooyoung doesn’t feel like discussing that right now. ]

Someone doesn’t like being called a babyface… [ She can’t help smirking. ] Does this world count as the opted-out of birthdays one too?

[ That would make sense. But is it enough to make her stop asking questions? No. ]

When is your birthday anyway? I will make sure it’s the worst day of the year for you.

[seafloor]

And I'm still... I forgot, actually.

[ A menace from space. Perfect for her, yes. But he has to wonder if she properly likes the series and what it stands for. ]

I don't like to think about my birthdays anyway, so it's fine if no one here knows about them. I didn't tell Vergilius, so there's no way in hell I'm telling you.

1/2

[plagiarists]

You…

[plagiarists]

You really like hanging out with old people.

[ Will Sooyoung ever miss a chance to dunk on poor Verg… no. ]

Tell meeeeee.

[seafloor]

Hey, you're gonna make him sneeze.

[ Snicker, snicker. ]

Listen to yourself. You sound like a petulant child.

I'm not telling you a thing.

[plagiarists]

Listen, he’s old, but he won’t die because of a sneeze.

[ She’s the worst and she’s proud of it. ]

Man, you gotta decide if you see me as a granny or as a child. Both are wrong, though.

[seafloor]

Some grannies can be kids.

[ Kaito sticks his tongue out. ]

You're too young to be middle aged, brat.

[plagiarists]

If you’re really not going to tell me, I have no other choice.

[ Sooyoung sits up and puffs her chest. ]

I have to make every single day the worst day of your life.

[ Sounds fun. ]

[seafloor]

...

You're that obsessed with me, are you?

[ What a pair of menaces. ]

[plagiarists]

That’s your conclusion?!

[ She’s gonna punch his arm now. ]

It’s your fault because you didn’t tell me your birthday.

[seafloor]

It's either obsession or a proposal.

[ He takes the punch in stride, smirking. ]

I don't like my birthday. That's why I don't share it with people.

[plagiarists]

It’s neither!!! I can leave you be anytime!!!

[ She hasn’t even realized that she’s raised her voice significantly, what a clown.

It takes Sooyoung a while to speak up again because she’s too busy being sulky. At least she’s not yelling anymore. ]

Was it always like that?

[seafloor]

Whatever you say, weirdoooooo.

[ Taunting her is fun, but the follow up question wipes his smile away. ]

No. But it started early. Fourth birthday.

[plagiarists]

You will never see me again.

[ Maybe if she didn't stick her tongue right after saying that, Sooyoung's threat would have sounded a bit more serious. ]

Fourth birthday. [ Her symbolism senses are tingling. ] So what happened then to change your mind about birthdays?

[seafloor]

[ Kaito reaches up to twist her nose in a pinch. ]

Take a wild East Asian guess.

[ Despite the snark, his gaze strays. He doesn't want to talk about it, but surely she'll be able to guess. ]

[plagiarists]

[ Not her beautiful nose— ]

Who died?

[ Sooyoung tried not to be too blunt and it was a mistake, it seems. If he gets angry because of this, it's fine. It's better than being apathetic, anyway. ]

[seafloor]

It's complicated.

[ Kaito looks down and grabs the Pikachu plush. ]

My mom and I were out at sea for my birthday. A terrible storm tore the boat apart. I lost her that day.

[ Squeeeeeeeeze. ]

Everyone but me thought she had died. Turns out she had disappeared for two decades.

[ A glance over to Sooyoung. The smile that follows is weak. ]

Turns out, the one who actually died was me.

[plagiarists]

[ She'd rather not see him smile right now, but that's a comment she leaves to herself. Sooyoung remains silent for a little while longer, sorting out what she has just learned. While her conclusion is that Kaito's mother didn't sacrifice her life in a literal sense, there are all kinds of deaths.

She might have been dead to her parents from the very beginning, but that's not what she wants to think about right now. ]

Are you feeling guilty because you were born or because you died?

[ Sooyoung's eyes are locked on Kaito and while she doesn't say it openly, it might be obvious that she's not letting him off the hook until she gets an answer. ]