Sweet and Sour | Vinzent + Viper | Library Car

Vinzent Mayer

[self deprecation]

A while after the conversation Vinzent had with Cordelia and simmering on the past things he had said and done to people…

To say he wasn’t proud of himself was an understatement.

He genuinely did not like himself anymore. What was he, if he was only ruining things now? What self worth does he have, if he’s just making things worse by his own hand? He has learned nothing about himself aside that he wasn’t better just because he refused to use violence, huh.

He doesn’t think he’ll get better anyway. Maybe he was right that people would abandon Vinzent because of how he is. A coward who just poisons everyone’s time simply by existing. But they don’t need to know, again. They don’t need to know that he doesn’t matter.

… Anyway. Vinzent was browsing through the library, looking for something interesting until…

He saw a spine with the name Aoi Yamabe. Huh. Yamabe… While he won’t say the last name outloud (What if Viper kills him on sight!), Vinzent takes out the book of the shelf, examining the covers and spine for a bit…

If this can give him some more insight of who Viper really was as a kid from another perspective, perhaps the puzzle pieces will slowly come together. Sorry, not sorry! Viper got some bad lore out of him, so he’ll just try to get some more things out of her indirectly if it means he’ll understand her better. Hah. He felt like an hypocrite. Especially since he knows he’s at fault for the incident.

Screw it, he has only one life, might as well use it. He opens the book, wondering who that Aoi Yamabe could be. And if that Aoi could give him more answers about Mi… Viper. But he should probably use her real name for chatting with Aoi. Very sorry Viper! He’ll simmer on that for a bit in the meantime.

Viper

A spirit rises from the book, seeming a little confused for a few moments before registering there was someone holding the book. Aoi smiles a kind smile. She’s an older lady, looking to be at least in her seventies with how her hands and face are wrinkled, but her hair isn’t entirely grey. Brown-ginger and grey hair hangs around her face, neatly curled and looking somewhat sparser in her old age but still rather full.

She leans down, squinting despite the glasses on her face, and it seems her eyesight was still failing her in her spirit form.

“Why, hello there young’un. How can I help you? Are you a friend of my son’s?” She pushes up her little glasses, “Masaki was always such a shy boy…” Vinzent was about the same age as Masaki was when she died… about 4-8 years younger at least. It made sense to her to assume that he was a friend of her son’s instead of an enemy of her granddaughter’s. As far as she was concerned, her beloved granddaughter was still just six years old.

Unfortunately for her, Vinzent doesn’t know Masaki by name, so may wrongly assume their connection, but… hopefully he’ll get it right!

“Ah, you look so much like dear Kaori…” Vinzent… kind of did, really. The big fluffy brown hair, he did look somewhat like Kaori. But less than Viper did nowadays. “Are you her brother?”

Vinzent Mayer

Vinzent watched the spirit rising from the book, this time completely unfazed. He watched her features. Viper’s grandma, maybe? They do share the last name, so that’s his best guess.

As she spoke, Vinzent was pausing, trying to make a connection. Friend of her son’s? Viper’s dad??? Uncle?? With so little information, he could only guess.

“Uh… No, I don’t know Masaki at all. Apologies.”

And then Kaori. Huh. Vinzent is definitely confused on that. Could they be…

Although, her brother? Oh no, no… He’s too white for this- Like 100% Austrian. But given how Viper looks… He could understand the mistake.

A lighthearted laugh escaped before he spoke.

“Ahah, no. I’m not part Japanese at all, nor related to Kaori at all, I don’t know her either, sorry. My name’s Vinzent. And I’m Austrian.”

But he could put together a guess as to why these names are mentioned…

Mi- Viper’s parents. Unfortunate that she has such an easy first name to recall, and unfortunate that Vinzent has decent memory. The Yamabe part of the book spine does not help in keeping up the secret. But he can keep Viper’s real name at bay and vaguely reference it if needed. But he’ll probably say something simpler like saying granddaughter or something like that. Keep it all hush hush. As for the topic… Ah-ah! He got this.

“I would’ve loved to meet them though, they seem like pleasant people! What did they do in their lives?”

Viper

“Oh, what a shame… It would have been nice for my dear boy to finally have some close friends… he keeps to himself far too much…” Aoi shakes her head almost forlornly, as if mourning the many friendships Masaki could have had throughout the years and never quite jumped on. Her brow furrows as he says he isn’t at all Japanese- although she shouldn’t really be surprised, it wasn’t as if Kaori looked Japanese. “I see. Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Vinzent.”

It was hard to imagine this awfully polite woman was related to the volatile woman everyone knew.

“What did they do? What do they do, dear boy. They are far too young to have joined me yet. Fit as fiddles, those two are. And my beloved granddaughter, too.” Aoi smiled fondly thinking of her family. “Miki is just like my Masaki. She’s always following him around and watching him as he tinkers with those machines. Ever since he first got his hands on a computer, it’s been his lifeblood.” A brief pause, before she continues.

“Kaori just worked in a convenience store last time I saw her, my Masaki gets paid enough to support them all. But she used to be a secretary…of some company, I think. It’s been a long time, my memory escapes me.” It’s close! Not quite a secretary, but more just a… higher-up intern.

Vinzent Mayer

Viper

Vinzent chuckled softly. What a kind man. And reserved… Well, that’s understandable.

“He does seem like a nice fellow!”

He nods.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well. Ms. Yamabe!”

Oh. it was. Vinzent was a little surprised. At the correction, he stratched his head.

“Oops, you’re right, haha. My apologies.” Oops! Well, here we go, he can’t avoid hearing her name but he’ll do his best to not mention it outwardly often. That said… She has been following in her father’s steps, huh. “That’s sweet…!” Then finally. Once it was said, he nodded.

“Ohh, I see. That’s interesting!” Viper’s parents being so ordinary… Which is not a bad thing! But their daughter being like this… Weugh. That’s sure a whole another thing to deal with. Again, she’s on this train for a reason after all. Something definitely happened to her, but what? And what caused her to get this violent?

… He should figure out how to apologize to Viper to get her off his case for once and all. Vinzent is definitely not expecting the best outcome as it went horribly. But if she leaves him alone and quits being agressive with him… That’s all he wants. And he knows he fucked up. He just isn’t sure how to word this… But he really wants her to know that he knows he was in the wrong for this. At least, he finally realized that, even if he wasn’t fond of her anymore.

Anyway! Let’s carry on to lighter topics.

“And what was your life like, Ms. Yamabe?” He presumed it was pretty ordinary as well! But he does appreciate knowing more about Viper’s family.

Viper

“Oh, he is my most dear boy. Always was my softest, gentlest son.” Seems Viper has uncles and possibly aunts too. “But Miki… not so much. Picked up on Kaori’s personality somewhat.”

“Yes, that granddaughter of mine… she’s always causing trouble, even at her age.” Aoi chuckles, and it’s clear her idea of ‘trouble’ was more appropriate of the kind of childrens’ trouble one would expect them to cause. Nothing like almost committing murder or arson… or knife threats.“…Do you happen to know her? She…must be at least in her twenties by now…” Aoi looked around, as if searching for Viper, as Vinzent continues.

“Oh, my life, dear? Well, very typical for someone like myself. My husband used to own a restaurant, and I helped him in the kitchen, but we sold it off once we retired. Then, we spent our retirement vacationing in Atami, travelling and seeing sights as well.” It was a painfully typical life, really. “Before I met him, I just used to work in an office… nothing… exciting!” The kind smile on her face is ever-present.

What did go wrong with Viper? Perhaps there’s another book that can give him more insight.

Vinzent Mayer

He isn’t surprised at the possible uncles and aunts in the family. Oh, she got her personality from her mother then… But certainly. Not that awful?

Trouble at her age… Yeah, he could see that. Now if only Viper kept it at that and not this today. At that question, frankly Vinzent was trying to find the right words. Yes, he does, but. Also not. And he still doesn’t like her at all.

“Oh, yeah. We don’t chat much, but yeah, I know her a bit.” Technically… True? Ish?

He isn’t telling this sweet grandma that her granddaughter is such an asshole right now. And that he’s at fault too. Nope, keep it nice for now! This poor lady didn’t need to know this yet.

He smiles once again when he listens to Aoi talking. Everything in this family is perfectly fine. What has Viper done or what happened to her, he’ll find it out.

“I see…! That’s really nice. It might be typical, but it’s nice to have a typical life sometimes, haha…!”

A pause.

“It’s been a pleasure to chat with you. Ms. Yamabe. While I’d like to chat a bit further, I… Have other things to do, if it’s quite alright with you.”

He’ll wait for her answer before closing the book, otherwise that’d be rude of him.

Viper

Aoi brightens at hearing Vinzent does indeed know her granddaughter. That kind smile only widens, and she reaches out a spectral hand, resting it just above his shoulder. She couldn’t directly touch it, but she hoped the gesture was received well.

“Of course, dear. If you need me again, you are welcome to call on me. And if you see Miki, tell her I hope she’s doing well, and that I love her.” She wished she could give him such a gentle hug- Aoi was known as the one who gave the best hugs of the family…

But she disappears as the book snaps shut, leaving Vinzent alone. Perhaps another book, just slightly pulled-out will call to him?

Vinzent Mayer

While Vinzent appreciated the gesture, as it was sweet, he felt… Bad too. Terrible. For causing her granddaughter so much problems.

“I will…! I’ll make note of it.” Is what he said before finally keeping the book shut. He will not tell Viper directly of course because. Why should he, when he was snooping around? But he wished she was there by herself to read that book. Her family is sweet, after all.

Putting it where it belongs, Vinzent noticed the slightly pulled-out book nearby. He made sure to read the spine…

Renjiro Nishimoto

While not a familiar name by any means, he couldn’t help but wonder if it was relevant to Viper’s situation. Well, anything to find out! He pulls it out then open it to find who is this Renjiro person and if it’s related. And if it’ll start answering his own questions.

Viper

A man in his late forties emerges from this book. He has blond hair, neatly cut into a short, fluffy hairstyle. Glasses perch at the end of his nose and a stern stare meets Vinzent. Very clearly too… Japanese-looking to be related to Viper’s family, from the members Vinzent has seen thus far.

“…Can I help you?” He asks, his voice not unkind but not the most friendly either. Seems it’ll take a few moments for him to open up to this stranger who just released him from his book prison. “You don’t look like a student of mine. Former or… current.” Current… was a strange word to use, because according to the book, this man died at least five years ago. Car accident, if Vinzent were to read into it.

“Renjiro Nishimoto. Teacher at Shinjuku West High School.” Seems he’s going to introduce himself at least.

Vinzent Mayer

Oh fun! The vibes are not good today. Stay polite! At least it wasn’t meansprited.

Although, current? Weird. As he read the book for a quick glance, Vinzent noticed this death was relatively recent. Hm, unfortunate.

“Oh, no, I haven’t studied at your school at all.”

Time… To try.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Nishomoto. I’m Vinzent Mayer, multimedia artist.” Leaving it at that, he’ll probably say more if the teacher inquires.

“I have an question… Do you happen to know someone by the name of Yamabe?” Not saying her first name outright yet. He’ll see if Renjiro will remember, after all, he died young, so his memory should be still fine.

But he’ll say the first name should that fail. One thing at time.

Viper

“Artist… not my department, unfortunately. Unlikely to be of any use discussing the matter.” Renjiro conceded after a moment of thought, before settling himself into a seating position, hovering over a nearby book stack. He asks his actual question, and Renjiro is clearly thinking.

“Had a few Yamabes come through my class, Mr. Mayer. I’ve been a teacher for a good few years now.” There’s a small pause. “Hm. Most recently there was Hiromi. Surely you can’t mean her?” He looks at Vinzent with that stern teacher look again, folding his leg over the other.

“If you want to speak to me about a specific, you will need to ask, Mr. Mayer. Some of my students who have that surname go back ten or fifteen years.”

Vinzent Mayer

“That’s fine.”

Ouch, what the hell? At least the following question got him another answer.

… Yeah, that’s about what he figured. Gotta be more specific. He didn’t like that Look, sir.

“No. I don’t know someone going by Hiromi. I’m talking about Miki. Do you recall her?” Let’s see if there’s more information to get out. Perhaps there will be some context to finally put on.

“That’s understandable. I’ll try to be more specific from now on.” It is a long time so he’ll… Try to be more specific without Viper catching him. And if she does? He’ll run away! Easy!

Viper

“Ah…Miki.” Renjiro takes a few moments to think back. It had been a while, he needed to retrieve the memories from his mind. “Yes. I do remember her. About… 13 years ago, she joined my class.” That would track, with Viper currently being 26 and all. “I remember her well. I do find myself wondering what happened to her. She seemed to go… mostly off grid for the last two years of her school life. Although by then, she wasn’t my student any more, so it was not really any concern of mine.”

Renjiro felt a little weird discussing a previous student like this, he had to admit, he was a little suspicious of Vinzent’s motivations, but he had to be asking for a reason.

“She kept mostly to herself, that was until she met Miss Kurashiki. Those two were inseperable from the day Miss Kurashiki joined my class. I heard her attendance was poor due to home issues, but once she met Miki, she was in my class every day. She taught Miki to play piano- she showed me, once. But Miki was always getting into fights with those who caused Kanna trouble. It got to a stage where the two of them would spend lunch period inside the computer lab to avoid Miki getting expelled.”

“Was there… anything particular you would like to ask about her, Mr. Mayer?”

Vinzent Mayer

Vinzent didn’t mind waiting. In fact it’s fair that it’d take a while to recall, especially since highschool is a long time ago. And since he’s the same age as Viper (not that he knows that, but he estimated she was close to his age at least). So, very understandable!

“Oh, huh.” Off grid, huh? She dropped out or something…?

As he listened, Vinzent heard another name, Kurashiki… Definitely someone important to the woman.

Ah. Ha. He wondered since when Miki was getting in fights and why. Well, it partially answered some more questions! At least regarding her fighting tendencies. It started out… Understandable enough?

… He did wish someone at his highschool was there for him, to stand up for him, but hah. Too late.

Anyway, what of the fights she has gotten into while in the train? He doesn’t know her current motivations… Well. Except that one time. Which. Well. Vinzent wasn’t happy that Abel started it, so he understands. Even if… No. Well, he just didn’t like that it was nearly causing one death, one or the other. Ugh. To say Vinzent caused bigger trouble than necessary later on…

… So, he just. Understands. As for the next question…

“I see. And yes. Has anything else changed about her shortly before she got off the grid for the most part? Did.. You notice something about that? Or even just before she wasn’t a student in your class anymore?”

One or another… This man had to have a part in why Viper is the way she is now, or something. There’s a reason his book is here.

Viper

Renjiro scratched at his chin- he had a very pale blond goatee that was actually rather hard to see on his face… He hummed almost thoughtfully as he pondered the question, trying to formulate an answer that he felt that Vinzent would be satisfied with.

“I suppose… she did start getting rather… tetchy. She joined my class a prodigy, so the curriculum… was often too amateur for her skill level.” He mused, “I simply let her go and… do what she wanted, as long as it was focusing on her skills. She… started with mod programming for video games, I watched her with much interest, but before long she began… playing with code I could not quite identify. Highly complex programs far above her expected comprehension level for her age.”

He frowned.

“I often saw her looking over her shoulder when working. She seemed like she was doing something… wrong. But I could never get her to open up to me.” He sighed. “Truth be told, I suspect she was the one behind the school’s mass server shutdown that happened the year she joined my class.” It was clear the man was somewhat ashamed of his lack of ability to convince his student to open up. “I just hope she didn’t get herself into trouble. When she began not attending school, it was a big concern, but I know she did get her grades… Such a bright, promising young talent. I can only wish she put it to good use.”

Vinzent Mayer

Tetchy, huh…

So Viper was already really good, and she just sought to improve. That would be admirable. Except for the tetchy part.

Then… The complex programs. Hm. Weird.

…

She did what. Why does that indeed sound like her…? Is this where she started making questionable choices?

One choice after the other. Vinzent could only wonder what else happened next to Viper but… He was not sure if Renjiro had the answers. Most likely not. Certainly, the school server wasn’t the only thing Viper did to… Not talk about it, but he’d imagine that if she did talk about it, it would probably reveal more and more and… He understands the secrecy. More than before. He’ll keep it to himself forever. His quest for answers had some consequences, and it was the displeasure to find some stuff about her, even if it explained some things. Partially.

So, after an attentive listening, he nodded.

“I… I see. That’s… A feat. Not a good one, evidently, but… Yeah.”

He won’t badmouth her in front of Renjiro because… Yeah. He could only get more parts of the puzzle that at least put together slowly of who the woman really was. And even with several missing parts? It was better than nothing. Anything to explain her attitude. Herself.

Put it to good use… Well, frankly? Vinzent doubted that part, but he had nothing except an old admission to back that up. So he’ll let it be. For the sole reason that he had nothing solid to back up. Perhaps it was a 50/50 case. Who knows. He can’t confirm or deny anything without solid evidence.

And it’s fine if it never get brought up again.

“I feel like I… Understand a bit more about herself. Thank you for being willing to talk about it. Because she is very secretive, which I get it, but she was… All I just wanted is to understand her. We just know each other for a bit. And she… Knows some personal things about me but didn’t… Really talk about herself. And uh. Just… I’m just going to say it’s complicated. We’re not friends. But… We’ve talked for a while before when I met her and it seemed fine, I thought she was going to be a good friend. And then… There’s been some quite bad misunderstandings between us recently. So… I am just going to do my best to try to make it up to her. And I want to see if there’s something I can do to help. I’m… Not expecting much though. But I want to try.”

He really does not expect any miracle, especially with how poorly it went down. But Vinzent just wants Viper to stop showing her poor attitude at him for good. He also just wants her to find her own safety for good as well, based on what Abel said. There is a reason for her alias, after all. And he had a hunch of what it was, with what he vaguely recalls of what Viper told him back at the island. It’s been a long while now, huh.

… In a way, he did feel quite bad for her.

… Perhaps… He should try to apologize first. And see if she can stop it. Because he honestly doesn’t forsee her saying sorry first. Especially not with how it went down. He knows so well that it’s his own fault.

He should probably give the teacher a rest soon after all this, but he wants to hear from Renjiro first before Vinzent leaves him be.

Viper

“Hmph. Don’t get me twisted, skill-wise? It’s impressive. Just… morally, not so much. Kinda became a bit of an urban legend around the school. People wondering who did it.” He remembered those times so well, before it fizzled out. “School were so determined to figure out too. I think… eventually it got ruled as an outside force and that was that. Someone did anonymously drop some tips for… improving security. Which is what has me doubting it was Miki.”

He sighed.

“That… sounds like her. How she was toward her graduation, anyway. Miss Kurashiki was the only one who could get anything significant out of her, and she became rather… neurotic, I suppose. It doesn’t surprise me to hear she has… remained very much the same.”

A small pause.

“Was there anything else you wished to know from me?”

Vinzent Mayer

“Ah, of course not, sir! Sorry if I sounded like I thought it was anything good. I agree it is not.”

An anonymous tip from her? That sounds so… Yeah, that’s her alright.

“I see…”

He does understand that only one person would manage to get anything out of Miki/Viper. Trust is a difficult thing to build, after all. … So. Vinzent gets that.

“Nothing else. Thank you very much, sir, for your help. I think I’ll leave you be.”

He does wait until the teacher says anything else before closing his book.

…

…… Man. How has he misintrepreted Miki so bad? There’s still some things he didn’t agree with her, but… For now? It’s time that Vinzent becomes the bigger person and not focus on being petty or whatever. That does not help his case or hers at all. Things clearly happened to her around that point.

While he could seek out anything else to try to find out what her crimes were, and if she did anything else… Vinzent decided it wasn’t worth it. What if it was too far? Was it really necessary to go that far? The only personal thing Vinzent did tell Viper was his miserable school life. So… He didn’t need to go overboard just for that.

Vinzent wasn’t sure what to say to Viper right now, so he put the book back where it belonged, then sat down to write down what he had in his mind. Then, he’ll formulate it better outloud. He isn’t going to write a letter, but more… Of things he didn’t want to forget to tell her.

Vinzent’s not hopeful about anything, but if she can at least understand it and let it rest.. That’s all. Even if they never become friends again, he just wants her to understand that he has no malicious intents at all. He is sorry. He just wants her to be okay, even if he isn’t going to be close to her at all.

Yes, she fucked up a lot, yes, she drove him mad often with her nonsense… But so did he, by losing his patience and saying things he shouldn’t have said. And things he shouldn’t have known, technically… Perhaps he should clear that one out, because he feels really bad for Matsukaze. And he thinks Viper deserves to get the entire context of how Vinzent knew about the incident in the first place.

… So with that in mind, he seeks her out. He’s expecting her to be fucking around in the library, for some reason.

Viper

Fucking around in the library she was indeed. He would find Viper stacking up books and climbing onto them, almost as if she were trying to reach the very top of the shelves but didn’t want to use the ladder. Books are strewn across the floor haphazardly, although luckily none of them are open. The tower wobbles and she clings to it like a cat, waiting for it to steady.

Then, she catches sight of Vinzent, and stares at him. He could so easily topple her and probably do her some actual damage…

“What do ya want? Didn’t think I’d see ya comin’ near me! I know ya scared’a me. Lookin’ at me like th’goddamn monstrous freak I am.” She hisses, but there’s a pain there. Very sheltered, but its there.