yumemigaoka | THOU ART MAIDENLESS, AND THUS THOU ART ALONE

Picturing what you want to do...

[he's nodding along politely and attentively. Because anything is better than nothing, right? And it didn't even seem like bad advice at all. But he's still hesitant to talk about it. It's a little silly, isn't it? To have a cool theme like ninja only to spontaneously turn into a small, docile tanuki...

Then Ango goes and opens his mouth.

Tycoon stares for a second, all thoughts grinding to a sudden and immediately stop. Then, once he was sure he heard correctly, there's a quiet;]

Eh?

[then he realizes that Ango is totally serious. Then all this thoughts boot up and start running at the same time. He hadn't thought of transforming into another person at all, instead using his shapeshifting to simply turn into items in the environment to hide. So faced with Ango's confident response, Tycoon could only wave his hands frantically in front of him while shaking his head]

N-no! I wouldn't- It's nothing like that!

[WHY IS HE SO EMBARRASSED?! It really just makes him look more suspicious...]

Really, it's nothing to be ashamed of! It's the first thing I tried, too!

[With the way Ango's love life has been going lately, the only way he'll get close to a pair of boobies is if he makes them himself. The quality of his illusions relies on the strength of his creativity... and he's got a vivid imagination.]

Just wait until you figure out all the wild things you can do with the shadow clone technique!

But I didn't-

[If Tycoon could hear that internal monologue, even he would be hard pressed to feel any sort of sympathy for his senior shinobi. Luckily for Ango, he doesn't have such an ability, and so the older man's (somewhat tenuous) reputation in Tycoon's mind remains more or less the same...

But it's slowly tanking as this conversation goes on]

Wha- You aren't doing anything inappropriate with your powers are you? [he sounds incredulous as he says this but then waves it off with a frantic 'no' gesture, because he doesn't want to know. He's happier not knowing, ignorance is bliss and all that]

No, no, that's not what I meant. [and he hurries through the explanation so Ango doesn't get any more ideas, his embarrassment over this misunderstanding apparently overwriting his previous embarrassment over what actually happened] I got knocked out of one transformation into a tanuki and just... couldn't change back for a while...

[he looks a little dejected with the way his ears are folded down. It sounds stupid when he says it out loud like this]

[...To be honest, Ango has mostly been doing inappropriate things with his powers. He and Tycoon may both be going for a ninja theme, but Tycoon's abilities are more combat-focused while Ango's are... basically all just illusions, gimmicks and cheap tricks. At least he's got a decent punch that's been honed from real-world experience.]

But you're already a tanuki...

[Tycoon's got the poofy tail and pointed ears, and like the tanuki of folklore, he's a bit gullible. Put him in a straw hat and give him a bottle of sake, and he could almost pass for one of the cute little tanuki statues that old-fashioned Japanese shops put on their doorsteps to bring luck in business. But he's thankfully lacking the fairy tale tanuki's most famous physical attribute. Heh.]

You mean you went full tanuki?

[Oh hell, that's adorable. And hilarious. But the kid looks so embarrassed about it...

Wait... maybe he's a furry? It's not Ango's kink, but as a writer and a man of culture he's naturally perused a few fanfics on Pixiv...]

I-I mean, that's totally healthy and normal, too! It doesn't hurt to get in touch with your wild side!

[no, he's embarrassed that Ango would think he would be perverted enough to make fake boobs for himself. Keiwa is too polite for something like that. At this point, he's given up on trying to shake the Tanu-cusations ~~pon~~.

Once again, Tycoon is grateful that telepathy is not in his repertoire. Frankly, he's happier without it. When Ango confirms that Tycoon turned into a full tanuki, the younger Dreamer simply nods dejectedly in confirmation. He's embarrassed because it's such a random trait, something silly and kind of useless honestly, and he wants a second opinion on how to work around it--]

Wh-wait, Ango-san what are you thinking about now? Wild side?!

[really, it's a good thing he's not using any magic right now, or there would be a frantic tanuki hoping around at Ango's feet as they speak]

No, that's not it either. Have you never had your power not work the way you thought it did?

Hey, I'm in no position to judge! I mean, who doesn't like catgirls?

[This semi-mentorship stuff is hard, but Ango thinks he's really starting to connect with the youth... having a crush on an anime catgirl is truly the universal experience that brings people together.]

B-but yeah, sometimes I'll end up with a funky transformation if I don't have a chance to totally visualize it first! Usually there ends up being too much of me left in the final product... it sounds like you're ending up as something completely different, though. Maybe it's like, uh, a form of performance anxiety?

[this is Tycoon with his face in his hands, tail puffed up in indignation and ears doing the airplane thing that cats do when they're nervous and ready to fight. Is this really his limit? Cat girls? ~~we don't talk about that one time a guy dreamed of Keiwa as a cat boy~~ There's an upset groan, but he wisely chooses to drop the topic as it seems... Ango is doing his thing as a writer and just making things up to fill in the gaps.

Which is probably what Tycoon gets for not being clear about what he's talking about in the first place.

The tanuki ears perk forward when Ango starts talking about his own experience working with shapeshifting]

... I did need to calm down before I could change back...

[his words are muffled by his hands, but he seems to be listening to Ango. After a moment, he smiles sheepishly]

Did you encounter any other downsides? Other than the transformations resembling you more than you wanted.

[the whole tanuki business might be specific to Tycoon, but maybe he could take preventative steps towards future problems]

That must be it, then! You're still pretty new to all of this, so your nerves are getting to you!

[Tycoon seems like the worrying type, though, so there's no point in telling him to relax. That's like telling Ango to stop wrecking his own life!]

You don't have to figure it all out at once. Just keep practicing, and you'll get the hang of it in no time. Oh, but if you're gonna practice transforming into something that can fly, I'd recommend doing it over water or, like, a big pile of mattresses... haha I definitely found that out the hard way.

At least you're accidentally transforming into something adorable! If you're lucky, some cutie might pick you up and give you a cuddle.

[Ango flashes him a thumbs up sign. Touching boobs in tanuki form totally still counts!]

Maybe I oughta give that try...

[Ango please...]

[Ango's dispensing some pretty good advice. The mood is still lighthearted but Tycoon's clearly listening thoughtfully to what Ango's saying about practice and the light... He even laughs a little at the flying comment, though he looks a little concerned when the older Dreamer points out he found this out the hard way. Well... It feels like the sort of recklessness that characterizes Ango in general.

Then Tycoon's usually innocent expression flattens, completely unimpressed]

Ango-san. Hearing you say something like that doesn't really inspire confidence... [he thinks for a moment before adding] And people might realize it's you.

[not going to elaborate on that, Tycoon?]

THOU ART MAIDENLESS, AND THUS THOU ART ALONE

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