Chapter 95: Game Plan

Inside Ken's room, a group of children had gathered.

Of course, there was Ken himself, and his sister Nara. But along with them were Eri, Kei, Kiba, Fu, Kota, Shiruku, Yami, Otoko, and Netsu.

Fuku was also here, surprisingly enough, with her hoodie on of course, and she'd eaten a bit of Amai's calm candies. Speaking of whom, Amai was also present.

Why were they all here? To plan a game of course!

While Ken could handle the technical aspects of creating a game, he could use some help with the creative aspects, as such he went around asking everyone if they would be interested in helping him, and this is who he got.

"Alright! So here's what I have so far!" Ken pitched. "A handsome, incredibly talented man gets transported to a fantasy world, that's being invaded by monsters ruled by a terrible Demon King! And he must wield the genesis gauntlet, a gauntlet that lets him turn into different types of dragons, to stop him and save the world!"

Nara rolled her eyes. "You're not even being subtle that the main character is your self-insert."

"Well, it's my game! Why shouldn't I be the main character!?" Ken said, defending himself.

"Ken's ego aside, the premises isn't bad. Generic but we can work with that." Kiba added. "So long as we make me a queen."

"I wanted to be a princess," Eri said quietly.

"But I wanna be a king!" Kota added.

"I wanna be a snake!" Kei added, being as predictable as ever. "Oh! Can I be Eri's pet snake!? Like a huge snake that keeps her safe!"

"I would like to be a handsome prince." Read a piece of paper that Otoko held up.

"Wait a minute!" Ken shouted. "Not everyone can royalty here!"

"Um…maybe they can?" Fuku spoke up and instantly regretted it as now all the attention was on her. "W-w-well if we have multiple kingdoms then we can make everyone who wants to be royalty, royalty. And um…I was also thinking maybe we could tie that into the Genesis Gauntlet. If it lets you turn into elemental dragons, maybe we could make it so it uses Dragonstones. And right now it doesn't have all the dragon stones, and the stones are scattered across multiple kingdoms that are having problems because of the Demon King, and once you help out the kingdom, you get the dragon stone."

"Oh, that's great! Games need a sense of progression after all, and each time you get a stone, you get to transform into a cool new dragon with cool new powers!" Amai added.

"Huh, yeah that does sound cool. Collect Dragonstones to defeat the Demon King." Ken smirked. "Great job Fuku!"

"T-T-T-Thank you." Fuku stuttered.

"I think Fuku should be the lead writer." Said a voice coming from Ken's closet.

"Mu!?" Fuku shouted out in shock.

"Wait, like Mu the ghost boy?" Nara asked.

"Isn't that the kid no one ever sees?" Ken looked at his closest in confusion. "Why are you in my closest?"

"Well I saw that you were making a game, and I wanted to help too," Mu explained from inside the closest. "But, I don't like being seen by people. So I hid the closest. Is that ok?"

Ken shrugged. "Sure. Knock yourself out."

"Cool. Thanks." Mu said.

"So what did you say about Fuku being lead writer?" Ken asked.

"Huh?!" Fuku piped up, remembering Mu's original proposition, and suddenly becoming very nervous. "Wait! Why me!?"

"Because you like to write stories a lot," Mu explained. "I think they're really good."

"Oh! Yeah, Fuku's really creative! She comes up with all sorts of ways she thinks people could kill her!" Kei pointed out without a hint of self-awareness.

"She does do that." Eri agreed although she winced as she did so.

"Well, she did already come up with a good main plot. So I guess making her the head writer is the for the best." Nara shrugged.

"Yeah sure. That sounds good." Ken agreed.

"Wait! I didn't agree to this!" Fuku objected, before shooting a mean look at the closet, which was moot because Mu couldn't see it. "And you weren't supposed to tell anyone about that Mu! Not cool!"

"Sorry," Mu said apologetically. "I just think you're stories are really good, and it's a shame more people can't read what you write."

"I…you…hmph!" Fuku pouted under her hood. "Don't say nice things like that when I'm mad at you!"

"Come now dear sister, this is your time to shine!" Kiba urged her. "Just imagine how you'll feel when you see all those people praising you're writing!"

"But what if they hate it!?" Fuku countered fearfully. "I-I don't think I could take it if the internet started panning my writing!"

"I don't think that'll happen," Fu said. "You're an abused eight-year-old girl. Anyone who harshly criticizes you're writing is not the kind of person whose opinion you should care about."

"What are you worried about!?" Netsu spoke up. "So long as you put passion into what you do, people will recognize it! Just work super hard and you'll get tons of people praising you!"

"That's surprisingly profound," Shiruku said, not expecting something like that from Netsu.

"I think you can do it Fuku!" Eri encouraged her, patting her on the back.

"Yeah, you can do it!" Kei joined in on the back-patting. "I think it's the right choice."

"Mmmmmmm." Fuku was still very unsure about this.

"Also, since you're getting a more important role, you'd be getting more of the money," Ken added.

Fuku's eyes went wide under the hoodie. "W-well, I mean…I guess I could do it."

Kota laughed. "Wow, all that encouraging from you're family and the money is the thing that convinces you."

"T-That's not the reason! H-He just happened to say that after I made up my mind!" Fuku lied, her face red with embarrassment.

"It's ok sister, I know how enticing money is," Shiruku said, before looking at Ken. "By the way, I'm getting a lot of cash because I'm the lead character designer right?"

"Sure," Ken answered.

"Fantastic," Shiruku said, smiling with delight. "This is going to be fun!"

"Ok, let's establish what everyone's characters are going to be," Fu said. "One at a time. So we're not constantly speaking over each other. Kiba you first."

"Ok! I want to be the vampire queen of a kingdom of eternal night!" Kiba started excitedly. "I'm a warrior queen who draws power from the blood moon!"

Fuku took out a notebook and started writing all this down, so she wouldn't forget anything and make anyone angry.

"Alright, Netsu how about you?" Fu asked.

"I wanna be swordsman who wields a sword made of fire! And wanders the land fighting for justice!" Netsu said.

"You mean sword that's on fire or a sword made of fire?" Fu asked.

"A sword, MADE of fire!" Netsu emphasized.

"Alright, Shiruku your next," Fu said.

"I don't really want to be in the game or anything. I just want to make the character designs, and get paid." Shiruku admitted.

"Wow, so shameless." Kota sniggered.

"Don't pretend like you're not here for some reason." Shiruku rolled her many eyes.

"That's not the only reason, I think It'd be cool to be in a video game," Kota argued.

"Ok then, what role do you want?" Fu asked him.

"I wanna be a demi-god!" Kota smirked. "One that commands the waves themselves, and takes vengeance on anyone who disrespects them!"

A Demi-God?! Darn it I should have thought of that! Kiba cursed her oversight.

"Wow, another big ego, what a surprise," Fu said, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, what about Eri. Kei too since I guess your stories are gonna be intertwined."

"I…just wanted to be a princess. I didn't really think of anything else." Eri admitted sadly. "Sorry."

"And I just wanted to be with Eri, and be a snake," Kei added with a shrug.

"Um…I think I can make that work." Fuku said, thinking out the story in her head. "What if Eri is the princess of time, that watches over the course of history, with her guardian, the greek snake Kei. And when the Demon Lord comes and threatens her world, and when no one can wield the Genisis Gauntlet, she summons someone from another world who can."

"Oh, that sounds so cool!" Kei gasped, her eyes widening in amazement.

"Heck yeah, that's amazing!" Ken smiled widely. "Chosen hero, picked by the princess of time. I like the sound of that! Great job Fuku I knew I was paying you for something!"

"You haven't paid me yet," Fuku mumbled.

"Are you ok with Eri?" Fu asked.

Eri nodded, and gave Fuku a thumbs up, making the hoodied girl blush.

"By the way, what role do you want Fuku?" Nara asked.

"Oh well…" Fuku hesitated. "It might sound a bit silly but…please don't judge me for it!"

"You're fine. Just say it." Ken told her.

"Ok…I want to be Lady Kiba's younger sister. A warrior princess who was called Eri to help the hero, and ran away at the beginning of the game, to aid them." Fuku explained very quickly, before going silent and nervously waiting for everyone's reactions.

"Oh, so you're going to be the tutorial character!" Amai summarized. "The one who introduces all the gameplay mechanics, and tells us about the world."

"Awwww! My sweet little sister." Kiba wrapped her arms around Kiba, bringing her into a hug. "How utterly adorable! I accept this with all of my black heart."

"Lady Kiba! Please this is embarrassing!" Fuku pleaded although that didn't stop her from leaning into the embrace.

"Come now there's no shame in being hugged by your big sister." Kiba insisted.

"Isn't Fuku older than Kiba?" Amai whispered to Yami.

Yami shrugged. "They don't care."

"Alright, Otoko, you're next," Fu said.

Otoko nodded, and raised a sign that he'd been writing on which read, "I want to be a nice looking prince, that rules over plants, and protects nature."

"Alright. Yami? What about you?" Fu asked.

"Not in-game. Draw monsters." Yami explained.

"So you want to be the monster designer. That makes sense." Fu said.

"Yeah, you're pretty much a monster designer in real life!" Netsu pointed out.

"What about you Nara?" Fu asked.

"Well I don't want to do the same thing as Ken, so…how about a witch." Nara decided. "I always liked reading about magic systems in fiction, so being witch sounds good."

"I thought you were one already." Ken snickered, earning a glare from his sister. "What about you Fu? What'd you wanna be?"

Fu shrugged. "I don't really care. I just came because I thought this would interesting to watch."

"Same," Mu said from the closet.

"Ok, so the last person is Amai," Shiruku said. "Do you want to be in the game Amai?"

"Not really, I just wanted to talk about the gameplay," Amai said. "By the way, what kind of gameplay is the game gonna have?"

"Oh right, that!" Ken said his eyes going wide as he realized he forgot something very important.

"You wanted to make a game, but didn't even decide what kind of game it was going to be?" Nara said, mocking him with a smug look on her face.

"Shut it or I'm cutting your character!" Ken threatened.

"Well if you haven't decided, then R.P.G. is probably the best. It's not my favorite genre, but it's pretty simple and harder to mess up" Amai explained. "It's also a good genre for long games, and this seems like it's gonna be one of those."

"Alright sounds good, I like a good R.P.G.," Ken said. "And I can go all out on the super attacks! This game is gonna look so good it'll blow people's minds!"

"That's good. Lots of people will just buy a game for its' graphics, even if the game itself is total garbage." Amai said. "Which it won't be if I have anything to say about it!"

"So, Fuku is going to be a lead writer. Shiruku will be the character designer, Yami will be the monster designer, Amai will be the gameplay designer, and Ken will be the one actually making the game." Fu summarized. "We still need someone to design the world itself. Cities, and forest, and stuff. And we'll need someone to market the game, and let people know about it."

"I will be the one to spread the word of our game far and wide!" Kiba proudly volunteered. "I'll have my followers tell the entire world about it! And I'll ask Caretaker if he can help us make a trailer once enough of the game is done!"

"Is it really ok to ask him to spend all that money? I looked up how much money is spent on advertising, and it's ridiculous." Nara said, wincing slightly. "We already had to ask him for money for the equipment to MAKE the game, and he also has to spend money to you know, feed and houses us, as well as giving us everything we could ever want."

"Relax. Once this game sells, we'll give him all the money he spent and more." Ken told her, looking almost a bit offended at what she was saying. "I'm not just gonna take from Izuku without giving back. What am I a parasite?"

"Um…I can design the world." Fuku offered. "I-If that's ok with you guys."

"Sure, go for it," Ken said.

"Alright. Now that we have a game plan, this meeting is done." Fu said. "You all know what you have to do, so get to it. Remember. Money."

"Yeah!" Cheered Ken, Shiruku, and Fuku.

"You guys are kinda shameless." Amai giggled, finding this extremely amusing. "I like it."

As the meeting ended, and everyone started to leave, Amai grabbed Yami's sleeve. "Can we talk? In your room?"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

After a quick trip to Yami's room, the two sat on Yami's bed, and Amai began to speak.

"So, my school is having a sports festival soon," Amai explained, blushing slightly for some reason.

Yami titled his head. "Like U.A.?"

"Huh? No! No! It's nowhere near as big as something like that!" Amai smiled at the childish misunderstanding. It reminded her how innocent he was despite his appearance, and how smart he actually was. "Lots of schools have events like this, but U.A.'s is one of a kind. But it's still pretty important for my school. And I really, really hate to lose. Even if it's not at video games. Sooo…I would really appreciate it if you went and cheered me on."

Amai turned away, as she awaited her answer.

There was a long pause before Yami gave his response.

"Don't be afraid to ask me things," Yami said.

"Huh?" Amai turned back and saw Yami staring intensely at her.

"You are…my friend," Yami said, trying to get his words right. "You make…me happy. So don't be scared to ask me things. I want…to make you happy."

Amai's blush intensified, and she almost squealed a little bit. "I-I-Um-I…S-S-So you'll come?"

Yami nodded and gave her a small smile. It was more like his mouth twitched upwards, but that was just how Yami smiled.

Amai gave a nervous smile in return, trying not to make it obvious how much her heart was pounding. "G-G-Great! Thank you so much!"

Yami nodded again, accepted her gratitude.

Afterward, there was a long, awkward silence, with Amai looking away from Yami, and Yami looking intensely at her.

"W-Well I-I'm going to ask your dad for permission! Bye!" Eventually, Amai couldn't take the awkwardness, and ran out, leaving Yami slightly confused.

If only he could pinpoint what that strange positive emotion she was feeling was.