Work Text:
Koakuma slowly worked her way down the bookshelf, brushing it with a feather duster as she went. It had taken hours, but now there were only a few patches of dust left.
Koakuma was tired of dusting. She sniffed as she finished another shelf. She'd been sneezing constantly since she started.
Before Koakuma could clean the last few corners of the bookshelf, she heard a faint noise coming from somewhere nearby. It sounded like some sort of music.
The music came from an instrument Koakuma couldn't identify. It sounded like some sort of guitar. It was very energetic. She decided to search for the source of the music.
It didn't take long for Koakuma to find what she was looking for. In an isolated corner of the library, a particularly old computer sat on an even older desk. Two chairs had been pulled up to the desk. Patchouli and Flandre sat, staring at the monitor.
“I didn't expect to see you two here,” Koakuma said.
Patchouli hit a key on the keyboard, and the image on the monitor froze.
Flandre shot Koakuma an annoyed look, while Patchouli had the same tired, blank expression as always.
“Flandre's showing me some game,” Patchouli explained.
“Really? Is it fun?” Koakuma asked.
“You wouldn't like it,” Flandre said.
“I wouldn't like it? Why?” Koakuma raised an eyebrow. “Is it bad?”
“No, it's like the best game ever.”
“Flandre, you've said that about at least thirty different games by this point,” Patchouli said.
“Yeah, and I'm always right.”
Koakuma walked closer to the computer. “Then what's wrong with it?”
Patchouli's eyes shot to the monitor, then back to Koakuma. “It's pretty violent,” Patchouli said.
Koakuma could see the game clearly now. She was greeted by a bright and colorful scene. A brown, spiky, humanoid monster looked directly into the camera, while some sort of flying meatball creature hovered nearby.
The game didn't look violent at all. Sure, there was a weird laser gun at the bottom of the screen, but it looked more like a toy than anything dangerous.
“Really?” Koakuma asked.
Patchouli nodded.
“But it looks so cute!” Koakuma said.
“Cute?” Flandre asked, confusion and offense in her voice.
“Yeah!” Koakuma pointed at the meatball monster. “Look at this goofy guy right here!”
Flandre stared at the big red ball on screen in silence.
“Those are demons, Koakuma, just like you,” Patchouli explained.
“I can tell!” Koakuma pointed to the brown monster. “This one looks just like my-”
“Koakuma, are you sure you want to watch a game about fighting them?”
Koakuma nodded. “It's just a silly game.”
“If you say so.”
Flandre was out of patience. She held up her fists in front of her, and flailed them around. “Come on, let's get back in there!”
Patchouli turned back to the monitor, and unpaused the game.
As soon as the game restarted, the monsters began to attack Patchouli's character with fireballs. Patchouli dodged the attacks and fired back with her laser gun. The meatball monster flinched as the lasers struck it.
Koakuma smiled. She wasn't bothered at all by the action on screen. After all, how bad could the game be? Sure, Flandre did like violent games, but would Remilia really let her play something bad enough to get to a grown woman?
Patchouli's laser gun ran out of ammunition, and she switched weapons. A massive, double barreled shotgun appeared in the laser gun's place. Patchouli silently leveled the gun at the brown monster.
Koakuma's jaw dropped. There was a loud, heavily compressed sound that resembled a gunshot. The brown monster turned red.
Flandre silently watched Koakuma, while Patchouli turned her attention to the meatball monster. She started blasting away at it. Within a brief moment, the second monster suffered the same fate as the first one.
With both monsters dealt with, Patchouli examined her surroundings. There were dozens of dead monsters around. Every single monster had been reduced to a mess of blood and gore. It was like being inside of a plate of spaghetti.
Koakuma was frozen in horror as Patchouli moved to the next group of monsters. Flandre nudged Patchouli, who looked to Flandre, then Koakuma.
Patchouli paused the game again. “Are you alright, Koakuma?”
Koakuma forced herself to nod. “Yep, just fine.”
“I knew she couldn't handle it,” Flandre said.
“I didn't think it would be that bad,” Koakuma admitted.
“You must have read worse stuff in your books.”
“She's written about worse stuff,” Patchouli said.
“Yeah, but that was different,” Koakuma said.
“How?” Flandre asked.
“The bad stuff wasn't happening to such cute little guys there.”
“It's just a game.”
“I know, I know. I'm just going to get back to work.”
Koakuma turned and went back to the bookshelf she'd been dusting. She heard Patchouli say something to Flandre as she left.
Koakuma spent a few minutes finishing up her dusting. She quickly got over the game that Patchouli and Flandre had been playing. Her work rapidly buried any negative feelings she had, and she practically forgot about it.
Right as Koakuma finished dusting, Flandre appeared. She had a piece of paper in her hands.
“Here. I hope this makes you feel better,” Flandre said, offering the paper to Koakuma.
Koakuma took the piece of paper, and Flandre quickly returned the way she'd come from. Koakuma looked at the paper. It was a simple and crude drawing, clearly done by Flandre herself. It depicted the brown monster and the meatball monster from the game together. They both had big smiles on their faces.
The monsters were sitting in the library, reading books together. “They're O.K.” was written above them.
Koakuma smiled at the picture. She carefully folded it up and put it in her pocket.
As soon as Koakuma put the drawing away, the sounds of the game returned. It was louder than before. A mix of music, gunshots, and screaming monsters filled Koakuma's ears. She turned and walked away from the sound. She decided to search for a quiet corner of the library to read in.