Sometimes the Mall could resort to simple but very efficient methods for driving its inhabitants nuts. For example, having the PA system play "Happy Birthday" on repeat since 7 in the morning without pause ( Read more... )

  There's only been at outburst of crime in the Mall once before, in the form of a frenzied riot almost a year ago. Back then, the only way the damage and troublemakers were stopped was by Mall residents turned law enforcers.

This time, there's no fire on the streets. No scent of burning rubber, no broken storefronts and illegible vandalism. The ( Read more... )

Everybody loves game shows, with their painfully awkward attempts at extracting the smallest drop of entertainment from an essentially boring combination of cheesy, rosy faced hosts, droll unattractive contestants and the strange ever present woman who looks and acts as if she's stepped straight off the pageant runway, plastic enthusiasm and all. ( Read more... )

Every television in the Velvet Mall nexus switches on at precisely midnight, regardless of whether they're plugged in or not.

The unusually strong signal reveals Akihiko, standing in a dark, spacious room. It's hard to see, but in the flashes of lightning reveal an unsettling image every few seconds. His hands are definitely slick with dark red ( Read more... )

 Akihiko has been remarkably well behaved since his withdrawal stint in the clinic- there's been no monuments to Zeus made of live wiring, no fights with inanimate objects, and no obscenely loud music playing from his gym at odd hours in the morning. And today he isn't causing a large disturbance either, just sitting outside of his gym quietly, ( Read more... )

Drinking and driving is a terrible crime, and Akihiko would never take part in it. Unless of course said 'driving' referred to pushing around a friend in a wheelchair- that would be easy, right ( Read more... )

"I want that one." Akihiko's pointing to the item at the top of a rather extensive list, and the Tam Lin behind the counter cranes his head to look properly.

"That one? The beef roll?" Tam Lin drones, tapping the countertop over and over again. It's obvious that he doesn't have the empathy or the patience to deal with a recovering drug addict, ( Read more... )

A garage sale usually has old stuff you don't want anymore, clutter that might be worth four or five dollars. Instead, Akihiko has a table of each and every tool and instrument he uses for Enhancers and otherwise. Glass pipes, brass pipes, ceramic bongs and designer lighters of varying shapes and sizes. Akihiko doesn't look bothered by his wares, ( Read more... )

It's not widely advertised, but a small poster is plastered against posts and pillars in the Mall. Beef Bowl is throwing a party, one that encourages the Mall residents and demons to

'Come celebrate the most succulent beast on our planet- the unassuming, tender Cow!'

The store itself is lucky to be operating with an open front, because the Beef Bowl ( Read more... )

Kaede, who is a slave thanks to the Mall, is carrying household items for the rest of the Jdrama crew so they can decorate their dorm rooms. She's not dressed like Akihiko, for once, wearing a skirt and a blouse, so it may be hard to recognize her with just her bleached silver-white hair.

Yes, she is botherable.