Roam No More, Rabbit (Re-Release of An Old Original Novel EDITED)

Chapter 1: To Return Home Is A Timeless Event

Waikiki was dirtier than she remembered..

The acrid smell of gasoline mixed with salty sea air to burn her sensitive nose. The sounds of cars and tourists filled the air, a cacophonous onslaught on her ears, and the lights of the city overpowered the stars in the sky. Despite the intensity of it all, the Rabbit found herself a strange sort of peace.

To those of this world, it was just another night. To those that had been the Rabbit’s companions in another world, it was a long-sought dream. To the Rabbit herself, long-lost and newly-returned and oh-so-changed? It was an old fear finally crushed.

Underneath the moon, underneath the bridge, the Rabbit knelt down and cried softly.

She was home. She was… finally home.

===============

Seven years had passed for the Rabbit in that other world. She had hoped that there would be some distortion in time that would have made it so that only seconds, minutes, or even days had passed, but just by looking at the crystal blue waters of the Ala Wai, being able to see the fish swimming through the algae and undergrowth…

While it made the Rabbit happy that the Board of Health had finally started cleaning up that mess, it spoke of years of concentrated effort for the Ala Wai to be this clean.

Still, the fact that the city skyline was still recognizable gave hope that perhaps it wasn’t the worst-case scenario where hundreds of years had passed and everything was gone.

Either way though, the Rabbit  had changed so much. Her body, her mind, her name, so many things had changed, but she hoped that she had remained the same in the ways that counted.

Remained just the same enough that her family would still recognize her…

Hapa then slapped herself on the cheeks with both hands. Nope. That way led to brooding and depression. That wasn’t her! She hadn’t survived two wars, helped build a transit system that spanned time and space, and helped kill a god (lowercase and using an ‘a’ to imply plurality just to retroactively piss off that fucker of an asshole) to suddenly lay low and cry about how shit everything was.

She was Hapa. She had survived her isekai adventure, she had her stupid character arc, and now that she had finally gotten home, she was going to damn well enjoy being home. It was a shame that her comrades couldn’t be here to enjoy this with her, but if all had gone to plan, they’d be at their homelands too. They could figure out how to contact one another and do a reunion some other time.

Right now, Hapa was going to enjoy walking around and she was going to have fun.

…Well, as much fun as being broke in Waikiki could be. Hapa wished she had her old stuff from when she had first been Isekai-ed, but she had sold, traded, and bartered all of that long ago. Oh, well. Sightseeing was free and Hapa had stopped needing glasses when she got her new body.

Walking through Waikiki, the Rabbit marveled at how little the city had changed.

Same old lights, same old hotels, tourists wandering about in leis and colorful Hawaiian shirts. Some things had changed, an old mural or two redone, a building renovated and another destroyed.

Lifting her head up, Hapa adjusted her hat and smiled at the statue of Duke Kahanamoku. Nice to know the statue of the surfer was still up.

Eyeing the sculpted surfboard the statue was standing in front of, she frowned and then nodded. This time she was absolutely going to learn how to surfboard. It was a damn shame she never learned in her past life, and that time against the fire dragons didn’t count.

“Hey!” a voice suddenly called out, “Nice costume, what’s it for?”

For a moment, Hapa frowned and idly resigned herself to an impromptu lesson. Was this yet another idiot trying to pick a fight? They’d learn to leave the specism behind, but it was always anno--

She blinked and resisted the urge to slap her face. She wasn’t in Akasha where the fantastical was the norm and newcomers had to be tactfully taught violently the new rules. This was Earth where being a bunny anthro was fucking weird.

Thankfully, the questioner, a large polynesian man holding a snowboard, had already given her an alibi. And, judging by the smell, appeared to also be mildly drunk enough to decide that going surfing this late at night was a good idea. More power to him, she supposed.

“Eh, just felt like walking about,” Hapa shrugged, not quite lying, “Seems a shame to break out the outfit once a year.”

He raised an eyebrow, “So you’re not here for the convention?”

“Shi-- Shoots,” Hapa’s ears flapped in nostalgic joy, and she had to resist the urge to pull them down to pin them down. She had loved going to Kawaii Kon, but did her ears really have to move on their own? “Is it that time already?”

Suspicion fleeing as soon as it had arrived, the man laughed, “Heh, you should totally go! It’s next month! We’re getting some Divers, and one of them’s a local gal too! I'm actually going to be there as a volunteer, actually! Working in security!”.

“Sounds fun!” Hapa laughed, not quite cackling in panic. Yep. Yep. She was just about done with this conversation. Ugh, she wished Tofu was here. She’d know how to get out of this conversation super easily.

He then moved in close, uncomfortably close, rubbing his chin, “Whoa, your suit’s really realistic. Your chest is moving in time with your breathing. Did you get it custom-made with monster parts or something? Ooh, or the new SmartCloths?”

“No, and no. Also,  I’d thank you to not stare at my chest too much, marvelous as it is,” Hapa rolled her eyes, pulling her cloak together to hide her chest, “Anyways, got to go. I’m running late for a meetup.” she then began lightly jogging away.

“Hope to see you there!” the man hollered, waving a hand goodbye even as he stepped towards the beach, “Also sorry for being weird! Love your suit!”

“Thank you,” she hollered back. Then, she booked it. She had spent long enough delaying the reunion, it was time to meet her family again.

===============

Roof hopping from Waikiki to Ala Moana to Chinatown, Hapa sighed as she saw yet more evidence of time’s passage. They had demolished the old Korean Mart close to Ala Moana Mall and replaced it with the bones of yet another damn high-rise. Admittedly, this one was a fair bit lower, standing at what looked like a mere five stories, but still.

Annoying to say the least.

She stopped, perched on the corner of a building, to look closer at the building as she noticed something strange. The high-rise was natural in an unnatural way. Okay, she could have worded that better, but in the urban center of Honolulu, this building was extremely out of place with just how colorful and covered in flora it was.

…Okay, fine, she wasn’t the best with words. She just dug holes and fought crap back in the other world. Point was, the building was really out of place. With the round base and the weird entrances and the growing branches, if Hapa didn’t know better, she’d have thought she was looking at the start of a… of a… Guildcenter…

Nope. she shook her head. The Rabbit didn’t like that train of thought. It was a coincidence. It had to be a coincidence. If it wasn’t, that meant that chucklefuck of a god (lowercase because fuck them) was right and the worst-case scenario shitstorm really was coming in and-- and--

No. Maybe denial wasn’t the best idea, but she had earned it. Seven years gone and she just wanted to be home. Moon’s Scorn, she hoped home was still where it used to be.

Shoving that tiny (large) worry in the back of her mind, Hapa returned to hopping back home.

Chinatown was its same old shitty self at least. Dirty roads, worn-and-torn buildings that had ‘character’ with the wear, a fractured window spicing up bits and pieces, it was her hometown and by the moon, did the ugliness detract absolutely nothing from the joy she felt at seeing her old apartment.

It would’ve been too obvious to go through the lobby, so Hapa jumped up, climbing until the fourth floor to slip in through the fire escape. Technically, they were supposed to be locked, but it was still good to see that jiggling it in just the right way popped it open. Stepping in, she smiled and just… breathed in.

So close to home.

The old mirror on the wall opposite of the elevators was still there. Walking to stand before it, Hapa took in her current self.

Gray fur covered her body and her long ears poked straight up to be tipped in black. Wearing a black trench coat and white pants, Hapa smiled at her chest wrapped in bandages. When she had first grown breasts, the wrap had been an impromptu fix, but then it had just become a part of her image. Despite Tofu’s insistence that she needed proper support, Hapa liked her sarashi wraps. They were perfect for her sukeban aesthetic.

Black and gray made her long silver hair pop and… Hapa placed a hand on the mirror, meeting and marveling at herself just a bit. It was funny how time changed what was once devastating into something to be celebrated. At the time, Hapa, like so many others, thought the changes were a curse, but…

Moon’s Scorn, did she look fucking good. Maybe it was a bit too much of a sukeban cosplay, but damned if she didn’t make it look good. It was just about midnight, so nobody was around to watch as Hapa posed a few times; a classic pinup pose of blowing a kiss, two hands behind her head with her chest puffed out, even a silly pose where she pointed a finger gun at her reflection while leaning back.and pulling her cap down.

“Yare yare daze,” Hapa drawled before giggling. Her friends would call her a filthy otaku right about now, but so what? Hapa enjoyed life as she did without regret.

…This body felt right in a way that her natural-born one never did and… It was such a shame that she couldn’t, shouldn’t be herself for this reunion. She didn’t want to hide herself, but… it was best to hide the change… Just for a bit.

Reaching into the pocket of her trench coat, she pulled out a leaf. Breathing in and out in a controlled manner, Hapa jumped up with the leaf held to her head, flipping backwards, and transformed in a plume of smoke..

Coughing, she waved hand to clear away the smoke. Gah, hopefully that wouldn’t set off the fire alarm. Hacking just a bit more and wincing at the more masculine tone she had obtained, Hapa looked at the mirror once more and sighed.

She was… taller now. And a man. Her trench coat actually felt a bit tight, so she took it off and shoved it into her subspace. Hapa didn’t want to tear her trenchcoat now just because she was slightly too big for it, not after it had survived so much.

…Staring at the mirror, she nodded once. She really didn’t like wearing this shell, but  Hapa could endure the dysphoria for this first meeting. It would be better to have this form for now. More recognizable for her family to see a past self instead of her current self.

Turning away from the mirror, she hurried down the hall and paused across the room.404. Mother had complained that two 4’s meant bad luck, but seeing those numbers felt like anything but bad luck.

Not even bothering to breathe, Hapa knocked on the door, almost forgetting to control her strength. As it was, she merely dented it instead of punching through it.

“It midnight now!” She heard her mother grumble softly in broken English, “Who knock this late?”

Biting her lip, Hapa forced her hands into her pockets. It was gratifying to have confirmation that her family still lived here and oh, how did she want to see them right now. She could tear open the door easily, simple wood that it was, but she didn’t want to hurt her mother and she both looked forward to and dread and oh no she should’ve thought this through more and--

The door opened to reveal her mother wearing a prepared scowl that slowly transformed into slack surprise.

Still as short as she remembered, her short black-haired had a few streaks of white now, her face had a few more wrinkles, but her mother was still her mother. Amber eyes glistened as tears welled as her mother let go of the door to cover her mouth.

Stepping forward and using one arm to hold the door open, Hapa opened her mouth and found her throat closed. She opened and closed it once, twice, before raising her free hand to form a fist to cough into. She then fell into the oldest of exchanges between child and parent.

Smiling weakly, Hapa then murmured in meek Mandarin, “I came home, mother”

Stepping forward, her mother embraced her tightly, burying her face in her child’s chest and shaking her head in grieving, wondrous joy. To have a child long gone suddenly returned was a gift of a heady mixture of feelings. She still found the strength to finish the tradition.

“You’ve come home, my son. You’ve finally come home.”

There were so many things Hapa wanted to say to her mother. Apologies for disappearing. A correction about gender. Explanations about where she’d been. Revealing the changes, physical, mental, all of them. Asking how mother had been, how her sister was. There were so many things she wanted to say, but all the Rabbit said was nothing.

Hapa simply hugged her mother, ignoring the discomfort of her body transformed into the shell of a past self, and pretended that everything was normal and right with the world.

In a way, it was. She was simply a lost child coming home after all.

Chapter 2: A Lie Broken Before It Was Even Spoken

Her old figurines were still here.

Weird thing to notice, but it was… 5:00 am? Moon’s Scorn, Hapa thought she got over her hating herself phase, but really? Why would her body betray her like this and force her to wake up this early?

She ignored the perfectly logical explanation that she had trained herself to be a light sleeper and an early riser to survive in Akasha. Gah, she wanted to sleep in on her first night coming back home.

After her mother had brought her into the house, they had talked for a bit. Well, they had tried, but Hapa had near-immediately began nodding off despite her best efforts. Traversing the boundaries between worlds and then putting off going home for a few hours was tiring, go figure. Her mother, being practical, had simply rolled her eyes and shoved Hapa to bed despite her protests.

Against her will, Hapa smiled at the memory. She had missed being fussed over by her mother. It felt nice to have that again.

Rolling off the bed, Hapa smiled as she looked down at her hands. Still furless, still human. That was good, it meant the transformation held. She’d have to reveal her transformation to her mother at some point, but that day was not today.

Figuring that her mother wouldn’t be awake at this point, Hapa took a moment to look around the room. Her old room was changed. Obviously. With her having disappeared to another world, her sister would have taken the opportunity to claim it for her own.

Her old anime posters were nowhere to be seen, the beige walls were a nice sky-blue, and there was a corner filled with plushies. Not even bothering to check the drawers, Hapa was vaguely annoyed to see not even a single one of her manga or light novel on the shelves. Just textbooks and chapter books.

Her sister always was the more studious one. She really had just taken over the room all for herself.

So it was weirdly gratifying for Hapa to see that her sister had kept the old anime figurines. Willow had even gotten a fancy case for them. Most of them were of lewdly clad anime-girls. Not to be confused with scantily. Lewdly, as Hapa used to explain to her sister, was much more elegant than simply being near-naked. It took so much more effort, and thus made it all that more alluring, to make the act of being clothed horny.

Pity her sister never saw the majesty of her magnanimous argument. Honestly, it was a miracle that argument had convinced her mother to not burn her collection. While gloating over obtaining permission from mother, Hapa distinctly remembered Willow vowing to toss all of them out if she ever got the chance.

But… look at this.

Picking one up, Hapa traced a finger around the smooth plastic of the bust of a bunny-girl maid and smiled softly, “Guess you didn’t toss them out after all though…”

Placing the figurine back, Hapa cringed as she realized that the reason her sister had kept the figurines was probably to remember her and… How to say it?

Being remembered for collecting vaguely horny figurines was absolutely painful in the emotional sense.

Deciding that was enough introspection and cringing at her past self, Hapa sat down and sighed, trying to piece together what had happened to her sister. She had left obviously since she wasn’t at home with her mother. Looking around a bit more, Hapa rolled her eyes when she couldn’t find any hints. Of course, it wouldn’t be that easy. Not like there’d be a single clue that revealed everything.

Dismissing her transformation, Hapa waved away the smoke again even as she coughed. She was definitely going to have to ask Udonuki to train her. This way of transforming; the leaf, the flip, the stupid smoke, it was a hassle everytime.

Leaning back, Hapa stretched out, luxuriating in her natural bunny-girl form. Her sister was probably off to college or something, nothing stu--

Hapa stared at the ceiling. She blinked twice then wiped her eyes. Looking again, she pursed her lips. In what she thought was very mature of her, Hapa did not scream in frustration at the large poster of a magical girl taped to the ceiling.

She had nothing against anime girls. Hapa had a collection of figurines, she’d be a hypocrite to judge. In fact, she was quite happy that her sister had grown wise to the ways of anime and manga.

Unfortunately, it appeared to be because she had fallen for fucking propaganda like the dipshit bitch of a sister she was.

A smiling magical girl in a blue gothic lolita dress stood on a cliff overlooking a rainbow vista of forest. Holding a magical sword in one hand even as she held up a rifle in the other, she was in a lax position even as various monsters of myth scrambled up onto her position. Imposed on top and behind her were a series of slogans.

JOIN THE FIFTH GENERATION OF DIVERS!

DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE DUNGEONS!

LEARN THE SYSTEM AND CONQUER AND DEFEND!

At the very bottom, the title of the world was highlighted in bold, stylized script.

AKASHA: THE FORGOTTEN WORLDS NOW REMEMBERED

Still being mature, Hapa heroically resisted the urge to tear that poster down.

Moon’s Scorn, Sun’s Blight, and Star’s Bane, she did not want to have to dismantle yet another damn broken System. She was absolutely down and raring to kill another unjust god, but definitely not dismantling a system, literal/metaphorical.

…That explained why there had been a Guildcenter at least. Wait, no, it didn’t! Guildcenters were bases for Players in the System. The System only worked in Akasha. Why would there be a base in the real world!?

The System only worked in Akasha.

…Or should.

Something wasn’t right. This didn’t add up. Unless that piece of shit god’s plan was-- Hapa had to check something.

She should’ve been doing this from the get-go, but, and in her defense, she just wanted to relax, not hunt for conspiracies. Closing her eyes, Hapa began to extend her sens--

Two hard knocks on the door caused her to jolt. Her mother shouted, “Xiaoshen! Come out! I made breakfast!”

What time was it!? The clock said… 5:30? Well, her mother always did wake up early, but not this early! Shit! She was in her natural form. Leaf! Leaf! She had to find a leaf and do a flip to transform into her old shell.

Frantically, Hapa deepened her voice as she stalled for time, “Ah, mom! Don’t come in! I’m not wearing anything!”

“My son. Your lies are all over the place. I already know.”

“..You already know?” Hapa repeated dumbly, dreading the slow dawning of realization.

“Xiaoshen. Last night, I watched you grow two bunny ears. How could I possibly not know!?”

“Ah,” was the only thing Hapa could say.

Wait, how? Her transformation had held. Hapa knew it held, she had checked her hands and… only her hands. She had only checked her hands and forgot to check her head. Fuck, she had grown bunny ears, hadn’t she? Udonuki was always nagging about how not to let the transformation relax, but…

“re you coming out or not?” Her mother asked in a tone that very much ordered her to come out.

This was most definitely not the plan. Hapa had been hoping to stall the reveal for maybe… a day? Two days? Forever? Forever would’ve been great.

Her mother pounded the door twice. “Xiaoshen! Do you want to come out or do you want me to come in!? Hurry up and choose, or I’ll choose for you!”

Neither! She’d prefer her mother just leave and-- Fuck. Those were very loud knocks. Hapa knew from past experience that her mother was perfectly capable and absolutely willing to kick down doors to prove a point. There was just no winning against her.

“Yes, mommy,” Hapa braced herself as she slowly opened the door, wincing when her mother grew impatient and forced the door to quickly open all the way.

A small Chinese woman wearing a red apron with blue fishes should not be that intimidating, but in Hapa’s defense, that small Chinese woman was her mother and was also holding a rice paddle. The final nail in the coffin was the glare.

Hapa loved her current self. She was cute, hot, and a bunny-girl. That being said, she really missed being taller than her mother because meeting that glare was intimidating at this height. It was mildly better when she had a dick and was taller than her mother, but being the same height? Having to meet her eye-to-eye on the same level?

Hapa felt that being stabbed would be less painful than having to endure her mother’s analyzing stare. Actually, it would be less painful. She knew what being stabbed felt like.

Not wasting anytime, her mother cut to the chase, “Why are you a bunny?”

Wringing her hands behind her back, Hapa muttered, “I went to another world.”

Glaring just a bit, her mother sniffed, “Your explanation’s a bit short.”

Hapa shrugged, “Entire story’s a bit long.”

Silence reigned. As her mother simply stared at her, scanning up and down, Hapa began to rock on her feet, a nervous habit that had passed through even with her now-having digitigrade legs. How it worked, she didn’t know, but it was comforting to rock back and forth.

She jolted when her mother suddenly grunted, “Boy or girl?”

“...Girl,” Hapa fidgeted. She had fought gods and demons, but awaiting her mother’s judgment made her feel like a child again.

Watching her mother look her up and down, Hapa yelped when her mother rapped her nose with the rice paddle. Turning around and focusing on cooking once more, her mother scolded softly, ”Okay, my daughter. We’re going to eat breakfast. Then, you’ll tell me what happened in that other word. Honestly this time.”

Rubbing her nose, Hapa simply nodded. Still, she was happy that-- Ow! Her mother rapped her nose. Again! Why!?

“Really, daring to try and trick your own mother,” her mother grumbled ruefully, “I raised you better than that.”

“But I didn’t even lie yet,” Hapa protested as she followed her mother to the kitchen. Maybe a lie of omission, but that wasn’t the same thing… right?

She then flinched back and shielded her face when her mother whirled around and held the rice paddle up threateningly. “That you thought of doing it was already wrong though.” Her mother then used the rice paddle to point at the stool, “Now sit and eat.“

Following orders, Hapa sat down at the kitchen counter and took a steamed bun from the platter. Biting into the bun, she smiled at the familiar taste of red bean filling. Her mother still remembered her favorite. Wait, no. She wasn’t supposed to be happy. She was supposed to… feel bad? No, she was right to hide these changes from her mother. Or was she?

…No. She was right. But she should also apologize. She wasn’t sorry about trying to lie, but she was sorry about having to lie.

Swallowing, Hapa looked out the window as she rested her chin on a palm, sullenly saying, “Sorry, mom.”

Not too much sass, but just a touch.

”Hmph,” Her mother scoffed as she slid another platter of steamed buns onto the table, “Eat a few buns. We’ll talk later.”

Grabbing a few buns, Hapa found it difficult to be as angry as she wanted to about being forced to reveal herself. She had thought the reveal would be so much worse, but… not only had her mother simply accepted the changes, she had remembered her favorite bun-filling too.

…Why was she trying to be angry? This was a win on all accounts. Her mother was surprisingly accepting of her change in species, even of her change in gender. Hapa should simply be thankful for that.

“We’ll need to buy you underwear later. Her mother idly called out as she cleaned the steamer in the kitchen.

…Maybe there was such a thing as too much acceptance though.

Chapter 3: What’s In A Mall Says A Lot About Society

”I really don’t need a bra, mom,” Hapa complained as the car parked, “Besides, I need to stay hidden.”

Currently in a human guise that matched the dimensions of her usual body, Hapa found this form much more comfortable than the shell of her former self. She also really regretted showing off this form to her mother because it negated any and all excuses about staying hidden in her mother’s mind.

Indeed, her mother huffed as she dragged her through the mall to their destination, ”Nonsense! You have a good illusion! Moreover, I see you binding your breasts, and my heart hurts, Xiaoshen.”

…Why did her mother have to play the ‘I’m just concerned’ card? It was always so hard to fight against that.

Hapa appreciated the intentions. She really did, but she knew how this song and dance went. Give her mother an inch, and she’d drag you on a 25 mile marathon through all of Honolulu. Shopping for bras never stayed shopping for bras. She had seen it happen to her sister. Back when she still had a dick, Hapa had laughed at Willow's torment when their mother had dragged Willow into a shopping spree after her first period.

Now Karma was coming to bite Hapa’s ass.

First, it’d be bras. Then, it’d be trying on formal, semi-formal, casual, and business casual wear from a variety of second-hand shops. Finally, it’d be a lecture on how to best hide knives and weapons for for self defense within the new clothes which if Hapa was honest, was actually pretty cool of her mother to talk about. Didn’t mean Hapa wanted to sit through the first two parts though.

She really didn’t need a bra. Her sarashi wraps did the job just fine. Unfortunately, it was easier to just let her mother drag her around, and this time her mother had dragged her to Ala Moana Mall for a Mother-Daughter bonding shopping trip.

Hapa really regretted laughing at Willow now. Still, once they stopped got the bras they’d have a nice lunch at the foo… This was not the route that her mother had taken Hapa’s sister on.

Looking up at their destination, Hapa pursed her lips,”Can we even afford this? It’s Macy’s.”

Hapa had noticed that her mother had changed cars from the old used Toyota to that brand new Volvo van she always wanted, but she had assumed that was just another refurbished car. Seeing how confidently her mother walked through the doors to the fancy shop though was a bit world changing. Was their… family rich now? Or something?

They had never been poor back then, but they had never been well-off either. Despite how much Hapa had taken pride in her anime figurine collection, she had searched long and hard for the cheapest prices that she could and still felt guilty from time to time.

Holding up a-- was that a membership card!?, her mother took them to the lingerie section and whirled around with a beam, “We can.”

Now extremely self-conscious of the t-shirt and sweatpants she had borrowed from her sister, Hapa fidgeted, “”How?

“Your little sister’s job,” Her mother answered, browsing through the lingerie.

Stepping away to the side, Hapa was so thankful that they had done the measuring at home. As it was, it was taking all her focus to keep her transformation going and not just die of embarrassment. While this was just a human version of her usual self, so it was much easier to maintain, but, and Hapa waved a hand over her head to check for bunny ears, she much preferred her usual form.

Scrambling to follow her mother’s hunt for lingerie and studiously ignoring how large the selection of lingerie was getting, Hapa commented, “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that.”

“You don’t like it either?”

Her mother was always sharp about scams.

“Yes,” Hapa nodded. “”I feel she's joined something shady.”

She really hoped Willow hadn’t become a Player. Hapa would hate having to kill her sister, no matter how temporary the death would be.

Akasha was a dangerous world, one that contained all of humanity’s imagination and history, forgotten and remembered and all so very alive, but more dangerous was the mad god and the System it had attempted to implement in an attempt to control Akasha.

Wild and untamed, Akasha was the subconscious of Humanity, its forgotten feats and miracles but also the unlimited potential that could be realized once remembered. All the myths remained true and all the stories played and replayed there. Hapa still didn’t understand how it worked before the Exodus happened, but she knew what had happened after.

One god, one greedy god had wanted power, wanted control, wanted everything, and that god had created a System to collect and harvest all the beings, all the materials, one by one, bit by bit. One thing led to another, and the story of how that came to be was for others to dissect, but all Hapa knew was that one day, out of the blue, she had simply been one of millions suddenly snatched away to test out the System, forced to become a tool for that god, and…

…There was a war. At the end of that war, that god’s plans and machinations had been destroyed. Hapa was here and simply wanted to rest, but if need be, she’d destroy another System without hesitation.

So Hapa awaited her mother’s answer. She was quite surprised to hear the complaining.

“Yes. Honestly! Streaming that video game of hers!?”  Hapa’s mother growled incoherently before switching languages, “I no understand how one make money off that!”

…Streaming? THat’s what WIllow was doing? Streaming? Not… Not being an unwitting cog in a machine for power, just… just streaming.

…Was her sister… Was her sister just a streamer? Not a Player? That was… Wait, Akasha was just a video game? If Hapa was understanding this correctly, her sister, Willow, was just a streamer who played a game called Akasha.

Not the Akasha that Hapa was familiar with, just something that happened to have the same name. Divers were not the same thing as Players; that term was just the flavortext of what was beginning to sound like an MMO. There was no sudden return of that god, the machinations and plans were still dead. It was all just an unfortunate coincidence.

Stars and Moon, Hapa was so very glad that this was just a coincidence. And more glad that she hadn’t said anything at all. That’d have been embarrassing to try and explain to her mother. She’d definitely have to try and hunt down a stream of her sister. Poke fun at her for becoming the very thing she sought to destroy so long ago.

Was it immature of Hapa to find petty glee over her sister being so stupid that her mother resorted to english? Yes. Was it immensely satisfying? Also, yes. Big sister prerogative and all that.

Karma was a bitch though when her mother suddenly grabbed her shoulders and guided her into the dressing room. Seeing the pile of bras on the chair was… intimidating.

“Try these on,” Her mother called over the divider.

Maybe she could just… pretend to try? …No, her mother would absolutely know. Hapa sighed and began the arduous process of unwrapping her breasts. As she did so, she asked, “Where is she?”

“”Currently working. She is… 5th generation DIVER? She says she’ll come home next month, but she’s a workaholic.” Even from behind the dividing door, Detù could practically see her mother huffing in annoyance, doing that disapproving click of the tongue,  “She rarely visits home to visit mother. Not filial at all! You’ll stay, right?”

”I’ll try my best, but I also have duties,” Hapa replied.

Lifting up her first bra, Hapa glared. It was a simple white thing, no lace whatsoever, but… how’d it work? Logically you stuff the tits in the cups and then did the clasp, but it was always hit and miss. Why did bras have to be a thing? WIth a sigh and a roll of the eyes, Hapa set about to finagling it to her chest and putting it on.

“Like what?”

“t wasn’t just me who went to another world. There were others too,” Hapa replied, taking the plunge and putting the bra on.

Moon’s Scorn, these bras hurt. Was it too tight or did she put the tits in the cups wrong? Either way, she had finally gotten it clasped. Jumping up and down to test it, Hapa decided, once again, that bras sucked. Sarashi absolutely were the way to go.

Clicking her tongue in understanding, her mother commented, “Ah. Are you a leader then?”

Immediately, Hapa denied that statement, waving a hand in the air even if her mother couldn’t see it, “No!. No. I’m just a little important. I’m a scout.”

She couldn’t remember the Mandarin for the position she was thinking of, but scout seemed to be the closest. Hapa was one of, if not the fastest of the Isekai-ers. She went in, she gathered information, and then came back out to call it in with a few suggestions of her own. Being hard to kill only made her more perfect for the job as scout. It wasn’t anything special. She’d be reporting back after this, and the group would make decisions accordingly.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Yes. I go in first, make sure everything is safe,” Hapa reassured her mother. “I’m actually going to talk to the others after this, and then we’ll decide what to do as a group then.

Speaking of which, it was now time to make herself safe by taking off this stupid bra and putting on her wraps. Bras. Ugh, so stupid.

As she fiddled to unclasp the bra, her mother commented, “Sounds like you’re a leader then.”

…Was this her mom doing that weird thing again? Projecting her own views and expectations? She always did this, trying to push Hapa and her sister to be better, stronger, the top. So weird.

“No. No. You don’t understand,” Hapa grunted, spinning in place. She had clasped the damn thing, why was it so hard to unclasp it? “I’m just--” *SNAP* “FUCK!”

Holding it up, Hapa winced as the mangled remnants of the clasp. Crap, she hoped that bra wasn’t expensive.

She then jolted when her mother knocked on the door twice, “Xiaoshen, do you… do you not know how to put on a bra?”

Closing her eyes in surrender, Hapa finally admitted the truth, “…I told you, I like wrapping better.”

Silence. Ah, finally. Her mother understood. Now they could put this farce aside and go on with--

“I’m coming in,” her mother declared and then the lock jiggled menacingly.

Immediately, Hapa’s eyes snapped open and she frantically held the door shut against her mother’s attempts to be helpful, screaming, “No need! No need!”

=====

AN: This is an old idea I had. I released chapters 1 and 2, but I dropped it because I couldn't figure it out. Still haven't figured it out, but I went back in and edited it while finishing up Chapter 3.

Right now, I'm testing out some original novel ideas, so expect about... 2 more, and then I'll put it to a vote. This vote won't concretely decide what I want to do, but it'll definitely help narrow it down.

One of the original novel ideas is actually supposed to act as the prequel to this one, so I'm leaning to working on that one first.

Still working hard on the other stories though!

This is released to all patrons at the same time since most of it is already posted content, simply edited. The upcoming new stories will follow the new, thought-upon delays.