🎵 Rude Buster [Persona 5 Style Lo-Fi]
[Just Tamaki]
(the music may feel a bit weird for a few scenes as its supposed to be a general 'everyday' type and the scenes here that wouldn't use it are to small to cut it than just put it back)
Day 12
"So, the people here today are the same as yesterday. Just us seven." Hiro counted those in the dining hall, only missing
"Byakuya and Toko are a lost cause, but..." Sakura trailed off
"It looks like Mr. Ishimaru's decided to stop coming for good, too..." Hifumi added
"It's like he's just...given up." Hiro sighed
"For people wound as tight as he is, when you snap, you snap hard." Celeste said
"I wish there was some way to make him better..." Makoto Lamented
"On another topic... Kyoko, Quill, did everything go alright last night?"
"Yeah, we didn't have any problems. I went and checked on the laptop a little while ago, and there weren't any problems there, either. But..." Kyoko paused before continuing "It's related to this case, so I suppose I should be blunt. I have to make a new rule. Using Alter Ego without permission is prohibited. Someone going in and out of the dressing room would draw unwanted attention from the mastermind."
"I would have thought that would be obvious. Why do we need to make a rule about it?"
"I don't know. Hifumi" Quill turned to him with a very threatening closed eye smile as he managed to stab a butter knife halfway through the table "what are your thoughts on that?"
Hifumi started sweating "N-No... It's just like she said. We all need to be...very careful..."
"...Huh?" Hiro was confused
"Whatever, let's just hurry up and eat! We don't have time to stand around flappin' our lips!" Hifumi shouted
"Jeez! Why're you talkin' like a pissed-off drill sergeant all of a sudden!?"
********************************
"That's a break ace" Quill stated as he hung the cue stick back on the wall. He and Kyoko had been in the rec room playing pool for the last few hours or so
"That makes it 1 - 2, You win. Though it's a rather anticlimactic end to the game"
"Can't argue with that, it's probably the only bad time to get a break ace." He lowered his voice so Kyoko could barely hear him "Remember what I said. It should still be there unless our mastermind found it already" She gave a quick nod as the two left the rec room
But before they made it back to the dorms "Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!" they heard someone scream from the bathhouse. going to investigate, they found Makoto and Taka talking to Alter Ego. Though Taka looked... different with glowing eyes and white hair "Who the fudge is Taka!?" or not?... I guess?
"Y-Your eyes..." Makoto stuttered
"Hey, don't worry about it! Guess I caused kind of a scene, huh? Shoot, man..."
"And your voice..."
"I'm...a new me... Hraaah!" he screamed again "I'm totally stuffed with fighting spirit now! Ya dumbbutt!"
"O-Okay, Taka... Just calm down."
"I AM calm! And don't call me Taka! That's...that's not my name anymore... I'm...me! I! Am! Meeeeeee!" He proudly stomped out
"H-Hey! Taka, hold on!" as Makoto went to chase Taka, he noticed Quill and Kyoko standing there and froze in place
"Do you want to explain?" Quill was clearly not amused
"Q-Quill! Kyoko! Oh, um...no, see...this is just-"
Kyoko cut him off, also unamused "Don't go around doing whatever you feel like. It causes problems. And not just for us. For everyone."
"S-Sorry..."
"If you're really sorry, you'll get out of here. Now."
"... O-Okay..." He walked out feeling embarrassed and sullen.
Quill sighed "I understand he wanted to help Taka but he should know how risky that could have been..."
"Right... But what happened with Taka was... interesting"
"Yeah, that-that's a new one... I've got nothing"
********************************
Day 13
*Ding dong, bing bong* "Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!"
Makoto quickly got out of bed "Alright, I need to hurry up and get to the dining hall... I need to tell everyone what happened with Taka yesterday."
But as he got to the dining hall, only Hiro was there "Yo. I've been waiting."
"Huh? Are you the only one here? Where's everyone else?"
"They went on ahead."
"Went on ahead...to where?"
"We can talk about it later. For now, let's go take a bath." Hiro grabbed Makoto by the arm and dragged him to the bathhouse
Before they even entered the bathhouse Hifumi screamed "Kyaaaaahh! Someone heeeeelllp!"
Makoto rushed in "Hifumi, what's going on!?"
Hifumi crawled to Makoto's feet, pleading "Makoto! Save me! I've never asked you for anything, but I'm asking now!"
"Wh-What happened...?"
"Th-They're trying to kill me...!" he pointed back towards Quill and Kyoko
"We never said we were going to kill him." Kyoko said "I simply asked him a question. I'd like to know why he made the same mistake twice."
"The same mistake...? What did he do?" Makoto questioned, still very confused
"He snuck into the dressing room in the middle of the night and accessed Alter Ego without permission. And when we caught him last night he was hugging the laptop and breathing strangely."
"Wh-What were you doing!?" Hina asked
"It's better if you don't know, though it's fairly obvious" Quill grumbled
"I thought I made myself clear yesterday, but since being subtle didn't work I suppose I have to clarify myself further." Kyoko looked down at Hifumi, still on the floor
He put his hands together and continued pleading "Hyaaaaah! Please don't kill me!"
"I'm not going to kill you-merely instruct you."
"Ngh...gh!" he cried
Makoto looked back down to Hifumi "Um, Hifumi...could you tell me what happened?"
"W-Well, I just...I was just talking!"
"Which you were told explicitly not to do" Quill glared at him
"I-I mean, you see..." he stuttered "Talking to her was just...so much fun! And I j-just..."
"Whoa! Okay, time out!" Hiro interrupted "I can't even believe I'm about to ask this, but... Hifumi...you're not gonna tell us you...fell in love or something, are you?"
"Hah! That I, the cold-blooded killing machine of the underworld, would ever fall in love!? That's..." he started sweating "Wait...no way! Is...is this love!?"
"I happened to do a psychic reading for a certain famous CEO once and that guy was seriously head over heels for a mannequin. He had a wedding and everything! And your eyes just now... I saw the same look in HIS eyes!"
"Shut up! She's not a mannequin! She's an ANGEL! And don't bother telling me angels don't exist! What we have can't be defined by your petty 'words'!" Hifumi's demeanor changed as he quickly shot up from the floor and shouted
Hina sighed "Yeah, you're totally in love..."
"This is... beyond ridiculous..." Quill held his head in his hands
"So...how did things end up like this?" Hiro asked
"... W-Well, at the beginning...I just wanted to hear her say 'Master' one more time." Hifumi began explaining "B-But then I was poking around at her settings and stuff, and saw she was a well-designed program. And it was like...how can I say...? It was the first time I...I was ever able to talk like that...with a normal girl."
"Obviously she's well designed, she was made by the ultimate programmer" Quill interjected
"And she's definitely not a normal girl..." Hina added
"Even when all we did was talk about my hobbies and stuff...she wasn't annoyed or disgusted or anything." Hifumi continued " 'Your stories are so interesting, Hifumi! C'mon, tell me more...! I wanna learn everything you have to teach me.' That's the first time a girl's ever said anything like that to me. Besides my mom, I mean..."
"Your mom says stuff like that to you? That's kinda amazing all by itself..." Hiro commented
"That's why I was just...so happy. It was so much fun! And before I knew it... I found myself, y'know...liking her. Her face, her personality, her voice. Even her keyboard..."
"Even the keyboard...?" Hina recoiled
"I think you have misunderstood the situation, Hifumi." Celeste told him "Alter Ego was not interested in who you were. it was interested in what you knew. It is an artificial intelligence. It exists to learn. Of course it wanted to hear of things it did not know. You are an expert in many things Chihiro could not have taught it about, for what that is worth. Alter Ego wants that information-that is all."
"I-I know... I mean, I do know that. But still... Are you saying it's totally hopeless? Er..." Hifumi looked to the ground
"You gotta be freakin' kiddin' me!" not-Taka suddenly burst into the bathhouse "Hey, you jerks! I'm sittin' here, listening to you guys jibber jabber on about whatever!"
"Oh, Taka! Are you back!?" Hiro smiled
"Who the hell's Taka!?"
"Um...you?"
"Listen up! I'm me! Got it!?"
"Huh...? You're...who?"
"Don't bullcrap me! Isn't it obvious!? I'm Kiyotaka AND Mondo. So, like...Kiyondo, I guess..." Kiyondo explained "I'm gonna stick a banana up your tailpipe!"
"What the...? What the heck kind of fusion is this!?" Hiro took a step back
As did Hina "What's happened to you, Taka?"
"A-Actually..." Makoto went on to explain what happened yesterday with Alter Ego Mondo and Taka going Ultra Instinct
"So because of what Alter Ego said to him..." Sakura trailed off
"Are you sure it's Alter Ego's fault? Maybe Mondo's ghost showed up and possessed him!" Hina suggested
"Gh-Gh-Ghost!? No, th-th-th-there's no such thing!" Hiro stammered
"What are y'all whining about!? C'MON!" Kiyondo yelled "God, you're really cheesin' me off...! Hey, Hifumi!"
Hifumi nervously turned to him "Y-Yes...?"
"I dunno what you're thinkin', but...bro belongs to me!"
"Huh...?" Hina was confused, as was everyone else
"Alter Ego! He's an exact copy of the one who gave me my soul back! And I'm not gonna let anyone else have him ever again! Fudgin' idiot!"
"... I'm afraid...I can't allow that." Hifumi mumbled
"What!?"
"I can't withdraw... Mr. Ishimaru... Since I have this opportunity, let me say this right now... Destiny has bound me and her together in the Gordian Knot of true love!" Hifumi screamed at him
"Well me and HIM have been melded together in the white-hot heat of FRIENDSHIP!"
"H-Hey, come on, you guys..." Makoto tried to deescalate but was just ignored as Taka continued
"Moron! Talk down to me and I'll ram my fist right into all four of your vital points!"
"Well I punch at the speed of sound! And I don't have any arm hair so there's no drag!" Hifumi screamed
"Both of you. Shut it." Quill glared daggers at both of them "Alter Ego doesn't belong to anyone, Chihiro left her to help all of us. To give us what is most likely vital information"
"Quill's right. If anyone dares disturb our peace any further... They'll have to deal with me." Sakura radiated an intense aura. Both Kiyondo and Hifumi stayed silent
"Until Alter Ego has finished his work, don't do anything weird. Have I made myself clear?" Kyoko 'asked' them
"I can't hear you..." Sakura stared at them
"Y-Yes!" Hifumi stuttered
"G-Got it..." followed by Kiyondo
"Then let's go"Quill told everyone "If we stay we're bound to draw unwanted attention"
"Are you sure it's okay to let them off with a warning?" Sakura asked him
"Don't worry, there will be precautionary measures"
********************************
Maybe I can understand him a bit more this time Makoto decided to look for Quill again, who he found in the back of the library reading something, though he wasn't able to read the title
Quill looked up as he noticed him approaching "Did you need something?"
"Oh, uh, nothing specific... What're you reading?"
"This? It's 'Acta horrorum antiquorum'..."
"What... does that mean?"
"... It... roughly translates to 'Journal of Ancient Horrors'..." Quill was clearly not really used to talking about his own interests "It's a compilation of documents- or what would be documents of 'ancient horrors', were they to be real. Eldritch monstrosities and deities, hellspawn abominations, incomprehensible anomalies, those kinds of things."
"Oh, are you interested in that kind of thing?" Makoto was surprised
"I don't know how or why this got to the library here, but I'm not complaining. These beings would be a wonder to study, something truly unpredictable. Of course that's only a pipe dream since, again, they aren't real."
"You definitely study some... interesting things" Makoto scratched his face
"Just think about the possibility though. Tell me, what do you think would happen if something with debatably gray morals and no care for ethics craves knowledge and finds some knowledge that seems unobtainable? Something that would do anything to get the knowledge it wants and given more than enough power to get it, yet failing over and over?" Quill seemed more conflicted the more he talked "And what if that knowledge was of being human? What would they do? How low would they stoop, where would they put their limits?" Quill was almost shaking, it was as if Makoto wasn't even there to him anymore "Then to wake up, suddenly having those... morals, ethics, and emotions he's never had to deal with before? What was he supposed to do?... What is he supposed to do?..." There was silence for awhile, Makoto had no idea how to respond. Noticing what just happened, Quill quickly pulled himself together "Would something like that not make for an interesting study? Anyway, I need to be going now" Quill got up and left the library as Makoto just stood there
...I don't think I understand him any more than I did, if anything I understand less... but... I do think I learned something about him
********************************
"I have a new deal to offer" Quill told her. He and Kyoko had met up in the bathhouse during their watch over Alter Ego
"What is it this time?" Kyoko was clearly skeptical of his deals, but willing to at least listen considering how much the last one helped
"Simple, it's just an alliance. We work together to solve everything and end this game"
"Would that not go against your 'studies' of the game?"
"Th-that's..." He stuttered and hesitated before speaking again "This can assure that I get a real end and full conclusion to the study of the experiment, instead of a sudden end. Even if our reasonings may be different, we have the same end goal."
"Wouldn't everyone's goal be to end this? Then why me?"
"I'm fairly certain you know exactly what I mean, as well as the answer to that. You can't deny that this works in both of our favors."
She narrowed her eyes "Then anytime you find something you'll tell me instead of making another deal?"
"As long as you do the same, yes. We would be working together."
She thought for a while before answering him "Fine."
"... I don't know if you wear the gloves for any specific reason, but" he took his right glove off and held his hand out "I've always used an ungloved handshake as a sign of trust"
********************************
Day 14
Everyone met in the dining hall for their usual morning meeting, though a few were missing
"Taka and Kyoko are not here today..." Celeste pointed out
"Kyoko's still on guard duty, probably." Hiro guessed
"I have no idea about Taka..." Sakura said
"May as well just forget about that guy!" Hifumi shouted, upset at just the mention of Taka
"You don't have to get so mad..." Hina told him
"They're rivals in love. What're ya gonna do...?" Hiro sighed
Hifumi pointed at him "Don't put me on the same level as that...that... virgin! I might catch his virginity!"
"Nah, my guess is you're already infected..."
"He's patient zero, if anything" Quill added
"Wait, can you really catch it!?" Hina worried
"Stop being vulgar. Let's eat breakfast." Celeste ordered with her fake smile
But before anything actually calmed down "Kyeehaha!"
"Huh? That voice..." Hina trailed off
"Kyeeehahaha!" the door to the dining hall burst open as Genocider kept laughing
She wasn't alone as Byakuya followed in "Don't bother asking why we arrived at the same time. The answer should be obvious." he scowled
"I'll give you a hint... I'm wearing red lingerie today!"
"Umm...I don't think anyone wanted to know..." Hina recoiled
"Hold on a second! You...!" she ran up to Hina
"H-Huh...!?"
"What's your top power level, like 35-22-33!? You start out big on top to try and look thinner down south!" she pointed at her "Look at your melons! They're seriously gargantuan! Do you dunk 'em in milk every night or something!?"
"Y-You're starting to freak me out...!" Hina took a step back
Sakura took the chance to step in front of her "If you lay a finger on Hina...I will show you no mercy!"
"So? What do you want?" Celeste asked Byakuya "Surely you are not here to join us for breakfast."
"Of course not. I came to hear a story." he answered
"A story...?" Makoto wondered
"A story that nobody's bothered to tell me yet."
"Sorry, but we can't talk about that right now." Sakura told him
"Why not?"
"Because of certain...circumstances."
"Up till now you haven't given a crap about anything and now you're all concerned? I don't buy it." Hiro questioned him
Byakuya scoffed "I've just made a decision. When we get out of here, I'm going to feed your body to the vultures"
"What kind of messed up dictator are you!?"
"But isn't this a democracy? Or would you exclude those who don't fit into your tyrannical majority?"
"You chose to leave and refused to associate with anyone, that's entirely your own fault." Quilting him "Though, those words seem awfully familiar, don't they?"
"Well, whatever. If nothing else, tell me what's going on with Taka. When I saw him yesterday, I happened to notice something seemed...off. So I was curious."
"Taka has become utterly useless." Celeste stated
"Celeste! You don't have to say it like that!" Makoto huffed
"Did his spirit collapse or something? Was he unable to withstand this environment? Those men who clothe themselves in the cheap fabric of justice are often the first to fall..." Byakuya said "But perhaps that will make things all the more interesting..."
"Interesting...?" Makoto muttered
"Let me leave you with a bit of advice. Don't come to rely on false camaraderie or you'll reap its bitter reward."
"That's why you came? To give us that amazing 'advice'?" Hina glared at him
"It seems I am unwelcome here. Then I will grant your desire and remove myself..."
"Yeah, let's get outta here!" Genocider exclaimed
"...You don't need to come with me."
"You don't have to play hard to get, Master! You can just play hard!"
"That doesn't make any sense..." Byakuya started to slowly back out of the room. He started picking up speed, and soon he was sprinting out of the dining hall.
"He ran away...? So now he's running hard to get... I see! Wait wait wait wait! Gyaaahahahaha!" Genocider quickly followed
"Look at that, he can take a hint" Quill commented
"S-So at the end there... What was that all about?" Hina wondered
"Just now, Byakuya was like..." Hiro trailed off
"Maybe he's like the mean guy who starts acting different or getting all flustered when things change!" Hifumi suggested
"...Guess so."
********************************
He put down a jack of diamonds. Quill and Kyoko had been in the rec room for the past few hours again. He lowered his voice "Anyway, I may have a plan. We'll learn an abundance of things about this situation, and if we're lucky it might be what ends or leads to the end of the game" Kyoko raised an eyebrow "Obviously I can't say anything yet, so I'm sure you know what that means" he side-eyed the camera in the corner of the room
Kyoko nodded her head with a smirk as she played a king of spades
Quill sighed "That's 500, you win..." he quickly moved on "Whatever, if I'm right we need to go check that"
********************************
Makoto had been in his room for a while before he noticed something slip under his door. He picked up the note, in very neat handwriting [Meet in the dining hall]. He was nervous over who wrote this and why, but decided to go see anyway
In the dining hall was just Hiro again "Oh, Makoto!"
"Hiro...? Then the letter I found in my room..."
"Yup, I wrote it."
"Your handwriting is...really nice."
"Well, I was always taught that if you had bad penmanship, a ghost would come and haunt you." Hiro seemed oddly proud
"And why did you want to meet with me?"
"Oh, I just did what Quill asked me."
"Quill...?"
"I'm just an errand boy on this. Anyway, whaddya say to a late-night bath session?"
"Huh...?"
"Okay, let's do it!"
"N-No, I..."
Hiro wrapped his arm around Makoto's shoulders and whispered "It's all an act, so the mastermind won't notice. Everyone's waiting in the bathhouse."
Makoto quickly caught on "Y-You got it, Hiro! Let's go take a dip together!" though his acting skills were... questionable
🎵X
As soon as they entered the bathhouse Taka started shouting "Hey! You! How long were you gonna keep us waiting!?" he pointed at his watch "It's almost 10 o'clock, you know that!? Bedtime for all the good little boys and girls!"
"Tch... Shut up..." Hifumi mumbled
"What'd you say!? You want me to make you cry, little girl!?"
"Taka... He seems to be even worse off than I'd heard. Well, maybe it's a good thing. Maybe he's finally starting to grow a personality." Byakuya smirked
"What-!? You got a lotta poop fallin' outta that mouth of yours, you know that!?"
"How rude... A maggot like you has no right to speak that way to our heaven-sent Master...!" Toko grumbled
"Hm?" Celeste looked to Toko "Are you back to your normal gloomy self? I can hardly keep track at this point."
"Sh-Shut up...!"
"Well anyway, everyone's here, right!? Then my messenger duty is complete!" Hiro stated
"You wanted us all to meet here, right Quill? So, what are we doing here?" Sakura asked
"Isn't it obvious? It's gotta have something to do with Alter Ego, right!?"
"Yeah, totally!" Hina exclaimed "Did she finally find a clue? What is it? A way out!? The mastermind's true identity!?"
"See for yourself" Quill opened the locker holding Alter Ego, rather the locker that was supposed to hold Alter Ego
"It's gone...?" Makoto reacted
"We came here a little earlier to check up on things, and that's when we discovered... Alter Ego-the laptop-has disappeared..." Kyoko explained
"What!?"
"You're kidding, right...?" Hina muttered
Silence
"H-Huh...? What...? She's...gone?" Hifumi stuttered
"You can't be fudgin' serious! What'd you do with him!?" Taka shouted
"Was it the mastermind?" Celeste wondered "Did they finally notice what we were up to?"
"We told her to yell if anyone new showed up to try something. If it was the mastermind we'd know." Quill said
"Maybe we just...missed it?" Hina guessed
"I was in the laundry room right next door almost all day. There's no way I wouldn't have heard it." Kyoko disagreed
"B-But...if it wasn't the mastermind, then..." Makoto trailed off
"The solution to this particular mystery is obvious! It could only have been...him!" Hifumi pointed at Taka "Mr. Ishimaru! You stole her, didn't you!?"
"What!? I'm the Ultimate Moral Compass! I would never do something like that!" Taka argued
"I don't think it counts when you say it about yourself like that..." Hina told him
But she was just ignored as he accused Hifumi "You're the suspicious one here! You're nothin' but a big, jiggling sack of fat!"
"Shows what you know. This isn't my true form! I still have three more transformations left! Er...wait, I mean-it wasn't me! Everyone knows YOU'RE the thief!" Hifumi quickly corrected himself
"Wrong! It's you!"
"Well I'm sure it was one of you. So whoever did it, just hurry up and confess!" Hiro told them
"No. There's no way either one of them did it." Kyoko interjected
"Huh? Why not!?"
"We also told Alter Ego to yell if either of those two came into the dressing room" Quill explained
"Wh...what?" Taka recoiled
"It was a necessary precaution. There was a high likelihood one of you would try something you were told explicitly not to do"
"But...I never heard any yell." Celeste said
"Exactly. Which means it wasn't them." Kyoko restated
"Then...who was it?" Hiro asked
"The fundamental circumstances are becoming clear... If it wasn't the mastermind, and it wasn't Taka or Hifumi...then quite simply, it was someone else." Byakuya thought out loud "Makoto, Celeste, Sakura, Hina, Toko, or myself... One of us must be the thief."
"Why would any of US wanna steal Alter Ego!?" Hina shouted at him
"How about this for a reason?" his eyes quickly looked from person to person "There is a traitor among us."
"...Huh?" Makoto reacted
"One of us is working for the mastermind-a spy. And that's the one who stole Alter Ego. Can you deny the possibility?"
"I-It can't be!"
"I've actually been thinking for some time now that there might be a spy among us. The mastermind brought someone in to help keep things moving smoothly."
He was met with silence before Quill spoke "Did none of you consider that? That should have been obvious from day one"
"I don't care!" Hifumi shouted "I don't care...who... Someone, anyone...save her... Please, rescue her... I'm begging you... I just want to see her smiling face again..."
"Same here." Taka said "How many times do they hafta kill bro before they're happy...? I'll beg, I'll scrape my head across the ground. Just please give him back...!"
Hina looked down, dejected "This is pretty messed up... But still, I think I kinda get how they feel..."
"I think Alter Ego is most likely still safe, for the moment at least." Kyoko mentioned
"Right. If they were going to destroy it, they would have done so here to prove it" Quill added
"So you're saying whoever did it has something else in mind for him..." Sakura reasoned
"That doesn't matter. Nothing...nothing else matters... No matter what it takes, I'm gonna get him back! That's my promise as a man!" Taka yelled
"I swear I'll save her! Using the power of love...!" as did Hifumi
*Ding dong, bing bong* "Mm, ahem, this is a school announcement. It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially nighttime. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay then...sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite..."
"It's nighttime..." Hina said
"It is unfortunate, but we will have to leave the search for tomorrow." Celeste told everyone "For now, everyone get some sleep."
"How can you be so casual!" Hifumi shouted "We don't have time to wait around!
"What good are you if you are too tired? You will be much more effective after a good night's sleep."
"Who gives a crap about 'effective'!? We're talkin' about our FEELINGS here!" Taka aslo shouted
"Anything we do at night brings a higher chance of the mastermind noticing us. Celeste is right. We should begin our investigation tomorrow morning." Kyoko said
"If we franticly search the school this late, our mastermind will undoubtably notice." Quill added before any professionalism dropped from his voice "So both you shut up and deal with it"
"Ngh...!" Taka failed to make an argument
"Gah..." Hifumi just looked to the ground
"Okay, then let us part for today. We will begin our search for Alter Ego in the morning." Celeste smiled
"And you should think about what I said-someone may very well be spying for the mastermind." Byakuya reminded them
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The Canary's Birdcage
Vanilla Valentine - Vanilla Vanguard
9/2/2023