[SMTII] Senshi Night

[beaslays]

Title: Senshi Night
Fandom: Shin Megami Tensei II
Characters: Aleph, Daleth, Beth, Zain, Gimmel, Hiroko
Rating: T
Genre: Crackfic
Warnings: Cursing
Summary: Aleph is throwing a Great Big Sleepover. Daleth's been invited. Daleth does not like Aleph, but Beth does. Zain and Gimmel come along for the ride.
Notes: I had fun with this, and the AU it occupies might have started eating my brain. Had this gone any longer though, then Louis Cyphre and Hijiri would have shown up.
Written for smtsunday .

Aleph, the single most popular kid in school, was having a Great Big Sleepover.

It didn't matter where, or when, or why at all. What mattered was that he was having a Great Big Sleepover.

Daleth didn't like Aleph at all. Well, okay, maybe he could like Aleph if he made a little effort, but the other boy was just so damn obnoxious and well, too friendly that he was definitely hiding something. Before Aleph had moved here, to the Center, Daleth had been the coolest one, the one everyone went to when they needed something, when they wanted to be cool too.

Aleph had managed to become popular overnight upon his arrival. What had taken Daleth years to accomplish had taken this…this country boy a mere week.

Fact of the matter was, everyone in school was talking about this Great Big Sleepover, and how they expected it was going to be So Great and Awesome and Fun. They were also talking about who was invited, and who wasn't. Worse still was that it had completely overtaken any discussion the student populace might have had on that big game Daleth had recently won for the school.

Adding insult to injury was the fact that Aleph had invited him personally, and had done so while still sporting that annoying smile of his and making it clear he fully expected to see Daleth there.

And to further rub salt in the wound, Beth had cornered him right after the publicly humiliating invitation and had out right blackmailed him into going.

And so, that Friday night, Daleth found himself on Aleph's doorstep and ringing the doorbell.
***

Of course Aleph's mother had to be the one to greet him at the door. The woman was hot, yes, but doted on Aleph so much it reached creepy territory. Not to mention there was that incident Daleth tried so very very hard to wipe from his memory.


"Good evening, Daleth." Hiroko was smiling, though it was certainly a small smile and was heavily undermined by the twitch of her eye.


"Evening," he answered, still trying to erase the memory of that incident.


"Everyone's been waiting for you," she said, stepping aside to let him in.


Oh. So now he was the late one? Daleth said nothing as he squeezed past her and entered Aleph's house. He had not even taken three steps in when something bright yellow barreled into him and sent him sprawling and his bag flying.


"What the hell—"


"Daleth! You made it!" Aleph's cheerful face greeted him as he looked up and rubbed his head.


"Wish I didn't," he mumbled, which only earned him a laugh.


"Ohh, don't be like that!" said Aleph, standing and reaching a hand out to help Daleth up. He could see now that the other boy was dressed in bright yellow pyjamas adorned with orange stars. "Come on, we started without you—hope you don't mind—but it's not fun without the guest of honor around!"


Daleth picked himself up, ignoring the outstretched hand and using a nearby table to help himself up. He paused, as he considered what Aleph had just said. "Guest of honor? What are you talking about?"


He didn't get his answer though, as Aleph grabbed him by the wrist just then and ran off, dragging him along before he could even register what was happening.
***

Everyone turned out to be only three people who had taken it upon themselves to take up as much space. The room seemed to be Aleph's, but Daleth had a feeling there weren't usually this many pillows covering every inch of the floor.


Beth was of course present, dressed in a blue nightgown with white lace lining the low v-neck that he was now going to pointedly look away from. It showed off her long legs and that would have been nice had she not also been wearing an evil smile that was definitely directed at him. Daleth tried to avoid meeting her gaze (and her legs), instead looking over the rest of the group.


Zain was sitting near Beth, and Daleth wasn't surprised at all by his presence. After all, everyone knew the story of how Aleph had declared Zain his best friend right after the latter had shown him around the school. The tall and quiet boy was dressed in a striped black and white shirt that matched his pants. Daleth didn't really like him that much, considering how Zain was head of the Student Discipline Committee and easily the most strict of them all. As far as Daleth was concerned, Zain was bad news.


There was someone else present, one Daleth didn't recognize and couldn't identify as male or female. Said person had long black hair and pale skin, and was dressed in something that looked like a cross between a nightgown and pyjamas. Said person was also holding a guitar and had stopped strumming on it the moment he and Aleph had entered the room.


He was genuinely surprised at how few people had been invited. Or maybe everyone else was just even later than him.


"Everyone, Daleth's here!" announced Aleph, still gripping Daleth's wrist very tightly. The boy didn't look it, but his grip was like steel, and no matter how much Daleth was trying to break free of it, he was failing.


"Hello," said the one Daleth hadn't recognized.


"That's Gimmel," said Aleph, pulling Daleth in that direction. Daleth went along, trying to ignore the smirk Beth was giving him. "Gimmel, this is Daleth!"


"Aleph was just telling me about you," said Gimmel, smiling and reaching up to tuck a lock of long hair away behind an ear, "I hope we'll get along."


Finally, someone who seemed sane enough. Daleth was also fairly certain Gimmel was a girl, because somehow it made more sense to him that way and there was no way someone so…so pretty could be a guy. So Daleth allowed himself to smile back and nod.


"Yeah, nice to meet you too," he said. He tried not to think of what Aleph could have been telling Gimmel about him before this. He was going to kill Aleph if he found out Gimmel knew something embarrassing about him.


"Ohh, I get it, so that's how it is…" said Beth, amusement lacing her tone. Zain also seemed amused with something, though he was keeping his expression blank and pointedly trying to pretend he had not seen Daleth.


"Huh? Get what?" asked Aleph loudly, looking between him and Beth. Gimmel was also clearly confused, tilting his head at the dark-haired girl.


"Nothing!" Beth grinned. "Daleth, why don't you go get changed and then we get the party started?"


"Oh, that's right!" And here Aleph grabbed him again, pulling him out of the room. "I'll show you the bathroom!"


Daleth had to bite back a long string of curses. Beth's smirk was the last thing he saw before the door slammed shut after them.
***

"Okay, thanks for showing me, now—what are you doing!?"


"Helping you change, of course!"


"I can do that myself—wha—d-don't touch me! You filthy brat—"
***

"Should we have warned him?" asked Gimmel once the shouting started.


"Nah," said Beth, as she passed the bowl of popcorn to him. "This is funnier than any movie we'll watch tonight. Or ever."


"I feel kind of bad for letting him be subjected to this, though." Gimmel took the bowl. "It's like…torture."


Beth shrugged. "It's good for him. Daleth might be popular but he's kind of a dick."


"Even so—"


"He thinks you're a woman," supplied Zain helpfully.


"Oh," said Gimmel. "Never mind, then."


//