The Bite of Victory

“Well if it isn’t the Toy Maker!” Kyouko said. “Welcome back!”

“Hey!” Shuto said. “That’s my nickname for him! You hijacked my nickname! You hi-named!”

I cringed. “Not your best joke, buddy.”

“Oh shut up, Riku.”

“Anyway, you came at a good time,” Kyouko said. “We’re just about to come up with a plan.”

“As if we haven’t been trying that for the last few days,” Shuto muttered.

A quick briefing told me what was happening. The Advocates hadn’t quite recovered from the Marble Massacre, but that advantage got smaller and smaller as time went on. Even I struggled to find a solution, and I was far from short on options. Then again, it wasn’t like I could conjure infinitely, or I’d just overwhelm Windall with the power of toy—which would be pretty cool, to be fair.

“I tried to say I could fly in for an air strike,” Kyouko noted, “but someone was against the idea.”

“Well excuse me for caring about your safety and well-being!”

“I can do that myself, Shuto!”

“It doesn’t hurt to have someone at your back!”

“Then I’ll take Riku,” Kyouko shot back. “At least he won’t nag me the whole way.”

“I nag you because I care, Kyouko!” Shuto sighed. “Look, we can’t risk you.”

“What choice do we have?!” She yelled. “They have infinite ammunition, strategies we’ve never even heard of—”

“It’s not infinite,” I said. “Even the best Conjurers have to stop at some point.”

It was like we joined wavelengths as our eyes widened. Shuto was the first to recover, a grin splitting his face. Honestly, it was kind of terrifying to hear his ideas, and if I ever found myself against him in battle, I might just quit on the spot. Regardless of that, we dispersed soon after that. Our idea was risky as fuck but, surprisingly, I had full faith in it.

“You sure about this?”

“Just wait for my signal.”

I couldn’t blame Kyouko for being skeptical of my plan, but that sure as hell wasn’t going to stop my excitement from blooming. Not only was I in a helicopter with Kyouko—a tight fit with my physique, but we made it work—but our height meant the odds of Kit getting caught in anything were lower than the ceiling on the aircraft. Seriously, whoever designed them definitely had few toys in their youth.

“Updates?” Shuto asked over radio.

“Yeah,” Kyouko. “As of now, you are still a nerd.”

“I meant about the mission.”

“I know.” She sobered. “We’re five minutes out from kicking Taihen ass.”

I could not be more ready for this if I tried. I had a toy in each hand and Kitsune curled up in my pocket. For once, I remembered that I had ninja spikes, and I’d made one into an earring using a paddleball string. With my palms full, I probably wouldn’t get much utility from the actual weapons, but I trusted my toys enough to carry me through. Eventually, their time came as the rebel base came into view.

Though my marbles had long since vanished, their legacy was visible even from afar. It was satisfying on a personal level to see the lopsided tents jutting out around the camp. Part of me wished I could drop more spheres of chaos onto the field, but the commander had vetoed that idea, calling it ‘immoral’ and ‘barbaric’—spoken like a man who hadn’t seen the trail of rotting waste coating their area.

“Now!”

I released only the contents of my left hand, watching closely as the colorful items fell. I almost burst out laughing as their googly eyes rolled around as they descended. Some would argue pebbles to not be a toy, but Pebble Pals was a huge hit in the states back in the day. From below, they would appear as a rainbow shining down upon the fighters… Then they would fall faster, and there would be nothing they could do.

Maybe I’d finally lost it, but the scrambling from all the way down there was beautiful.

I toyed with the item in my other palm. I didn’t want to haphazardly reveal this card just yet. We had agreed to let them get truly panicked from the Pebble Pals before we moved to the main event. I checked our side—completely empty. How could they fight back when none of us were within range?

With a tone of ‘are you sure about that’, apples soared to our position. In such an open spot, we couldn’t just fly higher or the air would be too thin. Well, if those bastards were playing hardball, I didn’t care to wait anymore. I released the singular ball in my hand, letting it fall as I tried to handle the other issue. This fruit was harder than oranges, so I couldn’t just bat them away. Then I wondered: if they were going up, how hard would they actually hit?

Bip!

I lost it as the fearsome fruit barely tapped us, the power of gravity asserting its dominance. After all the hiding, caution, and fucking food assault, it felt good to be at the top. I revelled in that power as I waited for the ball to do his job.

Bouncy balls were a staple of casual play. I couldn’t even count the hours I’d spent watching them jump around. No matter what, though, it never felt like enough. Once I got tired of one, I would always move to the next. But I didn’t have to be down there to know the rebels had more than they bargained with this new model. The silver sphere I had released would hit the ground, and a second would appear in its wake, this one in a new shade. This would keep going until I decided there were enough of them leaping around.

As if I’d do that.

With all my confidence, I knew this couldn’t go on forever, so it was relieving to know the next part was Kyouko’s job. If I were a Taihen Advocate, I would have already given up with the toys, but I’d probably still have to face the smoke bombs. Our panic would rise as sight went from limited to nothing. Where would they strike next? How could we counter the unseen?

Boom!

And there it was, lighting up the sky in greens, reds, and purples—the Taihen colors. Their surrender had our radios deafening with joy. I let the relief wash over me—the knowledge that no other families would be torn apart like Sayuri’s or Trevor’s. Then I grabbed my parachute, nodding at Kyouko. There was still one thing left to tend to before we could celebrate.

I fell at the end of the apples, both of us plummeting towards the ground. On a whim, I grabbed one, curious about it. The fruit was perfectly formed, and I took a bite. It was good, but the knowledge of where it came from soured the taste. Even so, it wouldn’t hurt to eat as a snack later.

I arrived just as the smoke cleared out, landing softly with the lightest tap. There were bruises coating everyone on the field, many of which were doubled over in pain. Looking at them now, I was astounded with how few people there were—maybe a hundred? Perhaps two—I’d never been that good at quick counting. Regardless, they weren’t my problem, and if their demeanor and condition were any indication, they weren’t a threat to me.

“Are you happy with yourself?” came a voice, one I strangely recognized.

From the chaos emerged Tanaka Hana, and my eyes narrowed at her audacity. After spying for the enemy, delivering Kit to their doorstep, what right did she have to look so wronged?

“Why wouldn’t I be?” My voice was curious.

“This was the last hope for so many of us here.” Hana pointed to her left. “Veru’s family went broke because his grandpa left them on the will. He spent years living with next to nothing until Azzie took him in.”

“And Asper.” She pointed again. “She lost her job because some asshole stole her pitch, then made her out as the plagiarist.”

“Well—”

“I’m not done, Riku.” Her gaze hardened. “We’ve been stagnant for years because of shit they let happen. The roof caved in to my family house, Riku. But we couldn’t afford the repairs, so we had to live with that. Mother got sick that winter, and our makeshift branch covering wasn’t enough for that. “

She gestured to the crowd. “I’m not the only one who lost someone to this shit. That’s why we’re all here—to make change. And now here you are: allowing these things to happen to more people.”

“Are you serious?!” I couldn’t fathom the delusion spouting from this woman’s mouth. “Is bombing a building your idea of change, then?”

“That was a necessary sacrifice.”

“Oh, was it?” I met her gaze. “I met a woman that day as she was going to work. Her little girl was with her—-maybe eight, at the most. When that explosion happened, that child lost her mother. Is that justice to you?”

“War comes with sacrifice.”

“And sometimes,” I paused, “there are other ways to assist.”

I addressed them all. “You all used to do so much for the community. I saw the houses you rebuilt—the ideas you fostered. That could have made real change! There’s no way you could fix a big problem that fast, but damn if you weren’t helping. So yes, I’m happy with myself.

“Because you’re all a bunch of hypocrites.”

I walked unopposed to Azzie Windall’s tent, not surprised that he had chosen to hide from his crimes. I kept my gaze peeled for that stringy hair, my ears honed for his grating voice. He’d fucked me over once, and it would be a cold day in hell before he got the jump on me again.

Bang!

I jumped back as the moron tried his food assault again. The waves of food kept coming—pies, bananas, cheeses—and I just kept dodging them. It was pitiful to watch, really—the cockiest man I’d ever met reduced to such desperate measures—but it made my job a hell of a lot easier. I thought I would need to taunt him at least a little before he used his energy on pointless attacks.

As predicted, his strength failed him in the end, and I found him laying on the ground, breathing heavily. My job was to take him in as a prisoner, but as I watched his pathetic form there, I considered it more. They wanted him alive, but no one said he was to be unharmed.

I grabbed an egg from the floor and just let loose. Once the others were done apprehending the other rebels, they joined me, adding a variety of other foods to the mix. We all took immense satisfaction from his state. I knew we were all thinking about the oranges as we threw our own in his face, hitting his ego harder to mask the sorrow.

Even through our smiles, we knew this wouldn’t erase what we’d gone through: the shattered lives, broken spirits. For me, at least, I was able to walk away a happy man, Kitsune at my side. I looked to the stars peeking out at our work, blinking in approval. I exhaled the weight of the past from my shoulders, reaching a hand to my pocket, and began to eat.

“Hoshino Riku! There is no way you were going to leave without us!”

Kyouko and Shuto appeared in front of me—literally, thanks to teleportation. They looked relaxed, and I couldn’t help but notice how her hand lingered on him for just a moment.

“Hey guys,” I said casually. “About time you showed up.”

“Oh, cut the shit, toy boy.”

“‘Toy boy?” Shuto scoffed. “What kind of nickname is that?”

I smiled as I took another bite. There they go again.

“Better than the shit you come up with. For all that intellect, I’d think you could have come up with something better than ‘toy maker’.”

“That was yours, too!”

“Oh yeah?” She smirked at him. “Prove it.”

They went at it for a good while after that, trading banter like it was the air they breathed. I didn’t miss Shuto’s gaze flicking to her as he spoke, the glint in his eye as he spoke with her. I felt the wind of freedom as I ate, and let me tell you:

I have never tasted a better apple.