Chapter Text
Momo Ayase watched her now-ex-boyfriend stomp down the halls of the campus’ sciences building, drawing attention and strange looks from the people he walked past. Not that she could blame them; she had tried to roundhouse kick him in the head for suggesting that they go to a love hotel after her next class. Date a guy for a week, and he thinks he can just get into your fucking panties like that?!
She hadn’t been expected to be shoved to the floor like that though, but she supposed she shouldn’t be surprised. She was the one who threw the first punch (kick), but whatever.
It was an absolute shit way to start a new semester of her sophomore year of college, but that's life, right? She gathered up what pride remained in her soul and readied herself to get off the ground.
“A-a-a-are you alright, m-miss?”
Momo looked at the source of the broken-record-stuttering voice and saw the biggest fucking nerd she’d ever seen in her life crouched down next to her, gathering up the things she had dropped when she got tossed. He had messy, black hair, big round glasses, and bigger brown eyes, though it took a second to see them since he was looking anywhere but her face. Guess some of my notebooks and stuff fell out of my bag.
“Psh, I’m fine, asshole,” she said, still burning with humiliation at just being publicly dumped. “I’m not some fucking damsel in distress who needs your help.”
The nerd squeaked out a ‘sorry,’ which made Momo feel a pang of guilt in her chest. She knew she shouldn’t have snapped at this poor guy who was going out of his way to help her, but she was still fuming, damn it. He stood up in a haste and shoved her things towards her. “Iwon’tbotheryouagain!” He said in one breath as she took the things from him.
She opened her mouth to apologize, but it was too late - nerd boy had taken off and was practically running the other way.
Momo looked down at the stack of notebooks in her hand, guilt mixing with anger, topped with a generous dose of embarrassment. “Shit,” she muttered. “This is a great way to start a new semester.”
Grumbling, she made her way to her biology class, which would certainly not lift her mood for how much she hated science and everything related to it.
-------
She plopped down in her biology class, flopping into her seat with all the grace of a one-legged drunk. She was lucky that she managed to get the class with her roommates, Miko and Muko, and was even more thankful that the two had saved her a seat with them in the large lecture hall. She threw her bag under the table and dropped her head down on the desk.
“You okay, girl?” Muko asked.
“... got dumped,” Momo muttered, just barely audible.
To her abject horror, her two friends laughed. “Callllled it,” Miko snickered.
“You guys are so mean!” Momo whined. “Shouldn’t you, I dunno, feel bad for me?”
“Girl, we told you he was bad news,” Muko sighed, looking in her compact mirror. “That’s why you don’t date guys just because they look like dead celebs.”
Momo’s head snapped up with an angry glare. “Ken Takakura is NOT just a dead celebrity! He is the ideal man! You may not like it, but that is what peak performance looks like!”
“Lady, what are you talking about?” Miko laughed. She looked down at Momo’s notebooks and quirked an eyebrow at a magazine sticking out of it. She grabbed the corner of it and pulled it out. “Mystery Magazine Mu? Momo, are you into conspiracy theories now? I thought it was all ghost stuff.”
“Don’t be so loud about the ghost stuff.” Momo hissed and stared at the magazine in horror. Something like that could ruin her reputation! She snatched the offending literature right out of her friend’s hand and gave it a look of disgust. “Ugh, did that nerd drop this with my stuff?”
Miko and Muko gave her a look of intrigue. “Oh, you got a new man already? Going for the nerdy type?” Muko asked.
Momo threw the magazine down on the table like it was on fire. “Ew, no. Some... geek asked if I was okay after my dirtbag ex shoved me down and helped me pick up my stuff.”
“Oooooh, chivalrous!” Miko cooed.
Momo rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right, probably just hoping to get me on the rebound. Guys are scum. Buncha scumbags everywhere.”
Muko raised an eyebrow at her. “You totally yelled at him, didn’t you?”
Momo looked to the side, guilt evident on her face. “...maybe. Ugh, I guess I’ll hold onto it in case I see him again.”
The three looked up as the professor walked in and began to set up for the lecture. Momo tucked the magazine into her backpack and opened her notebook. She sighed in aggravation as most of the other students opened their laptops. Just a few more shifts at that stupid maid cafe, and I can get one of those bad boys myself.
------
“I hate biology,” Momo groaned as she looked over the syllabus, walking out of the class with her roommates.
“Girl, all we did was go over the syllabus,” Miko laughed.
“And did you see all the stuff they expect of us?!” Momo exclaimed, waving the syllabus. “It’s ridiculous. I wish there were another prerequisite I could take.”
“We’ll persevere together, boo thang,” Muko assured her. “You wanna hit the cafeteria with us? I need caffeine.”
“I wish,” Momo frowned. “I have to go a few buildings over for a communications class. Public Speaking 101,” she rolled her eyes. “I wish I had taken that last year instead of putting it off.”
She waved goodbye to the other two and made her way across campus. The crisp fall weather felt good on her skin, bringing her at least a bit of comfort after her already rough day. She was still upset about her stupid ex, and she still felt guilty for snapping at that probably-well-meaning nerd from earlier.
She expected Public Speaking to be an easy A. She still wasn’t sold on a major yet, so getting her electives out of the way was how she would spend this semester. This was one of the smaller classes, not a big auditorium-styled lecture like biology. She walked inside the smaller classroom and looked around for any familiar faces.
She nearly did a double take as she saw a familiar mop of black hair at the back of the class. Is that the nerd from earlier? It was hard to tell. He had a magazine covering his face.
The same type of magazine she had found earlier. Mystery Magazine Mu. Yeah, that’s him.
Before she could take a step towards him, she saw something sail through the air at him: a paper ball. It bounced off the top of the nerd’s head, making him flinch slightly. Momo looked at the perpetrators, a group of frat guys she had recognized from a terrible party she had been at a few months ago. They balled up more paper and threw it at the poor geek. Momo scowled. What is this, high school? What a bunch of immature douchebags. No justice in this rotten world.
She made up her mind. She was not going to stand for this. She marched boldly to the back of the class and sat at the desk right in front of the nerd, sitting sideways to look back at him if she wanted to. But her eyes remained firmly on the frat jerks. They went to throw another paper ball but froze when they saw Momo planted herself directly in the way of their target. She glared daggers at them.
The nerd lowered his magazine and looked up in confusion, and the frat guys gave her a confused look as well. Momo continued to stare daggers at them until they got the picture and turned around. “Tch, what a bitch,” she heard one of the mutter.
“Um...” the nerdy guy uttered. “I...uh...”
Momo turned around and fished in her backpack. “Whatcha reading?” She asked as she rifled through her things.
She glanced up as the nerd’s hands shook, and he made a weird noise instead of answering with words like, you know, a person. Am I making him nervous? He’s shaking like a leaf. She pulled the magazine from earlier out of her bag and handed it to him. “Is this yours? You dropped it earlier.”
Gingerly, the nerd reached over his current magazine and grabbed the one out of Momo’s hand. “Thank you...” he whispered, voice just barely loud enough for her to hear.
“No problem.” She said, “Can’t believe those jerks were throwing crap. We’re adults. What a buncha losers. So uh... you into all that occult crap?”
She almost jumped back as the nerd’s eyes lit up. Those coffee-brown orbs were more expressive than she would have thought they would be. She found herself staring into them and a little bit of heat rushing to her cheeks.
He opened his mouth to speak, but just as he did, the door flung open, and their professor stormed in. He looked very disheveled as his briefcase fell open, and half of his shirt came untucked. This was by far the geekiest professor she’d ever seen, and she judged that squarely by the bowtie set crookedly under his neck. She fought back the urge to laugh. “Sorry I’m late for class,” he cried out, “let’s begin.”
Momo could see the nerd slump back in his chair, disappointed. She was vaguely curious about what he had been about to say, but she pushed it out of her mind and spun around to face forward. She grabbed a fresh notebook from her bag and opened it up.
--------
Public Speaking seemed like it would be much, much easier than biology. Their grade was essentially going to be split into three presentations: One about them, one about their major (or why they were undecided if so), and one about a celebrity of their choosing. She already knew who she would present about for that last one - it was a no-brainer. As she packed up her things, she turned back and saw that nerd-boy looked like someone had just read him his death sentence.
“You okay there?” She asked. “You don’t look too good.”
He shook his head. “Don’t like... presenting stuff.” He responded in what was possibly the meekest voice she’d ever heard in her life. What is he, he some sort of cartoon mouse?
She wasn’t shocked by the confession, though, that sentence itself sounded like it had kicked his ass. “You’ll be fine. Anyway, I’m out of here, see ya around.”
She stood up and walked out of class, wondering if it was too early for lunch. I did skip breakfast this morning... granny would kill me.
“Miss! Miss, wait!”
Momo’s brow furrowed, and she turned around. The nerd was running towards her, waving the magazine that she had returned frantically in the air. “Uh... you talking to me?”
“Y-yes,” he stammered out nervously. He flipped open a page in his magazine and practically shoved it into her face. “Y-y-you asked if I was into this stuff, right? I wanted to show you this - new pictures of Nessie!”
“Uh...?” Momo uttered, unsure of how to respond. She looked around to see that a few people were already pointing at them and snickering. She did not need to be known as one of those people on campus.
Clearly not the response he was looking for, the geek pulled the magazine out of her face and began flipping rapidly to another page. “A-a-nd this story about how President Obama went to Mars!”
He held the magazine up to show her, but Momo swatted the book away... perhaps a little harder than she meant to as it went flying out of his hands. “Look,” she said, loudly enough for everyone to hear, “don’t get the wrong idea. I wanted to apologize for snapping at you earlier. My boyfriend just dumped me and I’ve had a shitty day, but don’t get it twisted. I don’t need you shoving your phony alien bullshit at me. I don’t believe that crap, nerd.”
The people watching them all laughed and seemed to move on with their lives.
She let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding in.
But as soon as the words left her mouth, she immediately regretted it. The nerd seemed to deflate on the spot, recoiling a step back from her, his jaw left hanging open and his eyes shifting to the floor. His face turned red, and he began to fidget with his hands. She was expecting a retort of some kind, but his silence was deafening.
God, Momo, you can’t even apologize right, she chastised herself. With a sigh, she walked over to the magazine and picked it up off the ground. She dusted it off slightly and walked back over to where the nerd stood, still frozen in place. “Sorry,” She mumbled, shoving the pages to his chest. “That was... harsh, I guess. I um... I don’t believe in aliens, but I do believe in ghosts.”
A silence hung in the air between them. For a second, she wondered if she had broken the boy or something, but then she heard him snicker.
He was snickering. At her! The nerd was snickering at her?! How dare he!
“Ghosts aren’t real,” he chortled, covering his mouth with his hand. “That’s so childish! Aliens at least have scientific evidence backing them up.”
Momo’s anger came flaring back to life with a vengeance. “WHAT?!” She exclaimed, making people walking past them jump. “Here I am trying to relate to ya, and you laugh at me! You’re such an idiot! I’ll have you know my grandmother is a bona fide, genuine spirit medium!”
To her outrage, he remained unimpressed. “Sure she is,” he chuckled. At the very least, he seemed more at ease now.
“It’s true! Have you ever seen an exorcism? The possessed can go into full-on convulsions!” She pressed her hands to her cheeks for effect.
“Illnesses can cause those too. Look, I have to get to my next class, miss...?”
“Momo Ayase!” She informed him; she jabbed her finger into his chest with an air of indignance. “And just you wait! I’ll prove to you my granny is a real medium next time we meet in this class on Friday!”
This seemed to make him blush for whatever reason. “Oh... um... o-okay Miss Ayase.”
She turned on her heel and began to walk away but turned back and looked at him. “I’m serious, Occult-kun! You’re gonna eat those words on Friday!”
He watched her go, unable to fight the slight smile on his face.
--------
Later that night, at one of the school computer labs, Miko and Muko watched her print out some papers.
“This is not how we wanted to spend our first day back on campus,” Miko drawled. “I know that Wednesdays aren’t like party nights, but there’s no actual work yet, Momo.”
“I know that!” Momo snapped. “I’m printing out articles to prove to that geek from earlier that my grandma is a real spirit medium! Santa Dodoria has been in plenty of articles.”
“Wait, what geek?” Muko leaned in, suddenly interested. “Oh, that nerd who helped you earlier? Girl, dish! Did you see him again?”
“I did. And he totally sucks!” Momo exclaimed, looking through what she printed out. “We have Public Speaking together. He was all like, ghosts aren’t real; that’s childish, and this was after I apologized for making fun of his alien garbage.”
“I dunno, Momo, aliens and ghosts seem the same level of silly to me,” Miko shrugged.
“Well, they’re not!” Momo said, voice dripping with a sense of righteousness. “And I’ll prove it to him.”
--------
Friday rolled around again, and Momo was ready. Perhaps this self-imposed challenge helped spur her through biology because she practically ran out of the lecture hall as soon as it was over, just so she could rub her grandmother’s authenticity in nerd-boy’s face.
She saw him standing outside the classroom and went to call out to him, but stopped herself just in time when she realized he was on the phone. His back was to her, so he didn’t notice her approaching.
“I’ll try and come back home this Sunday, Mom, I promise.” He said. “I... I know. It’s just... not... look, class is about to start, I have to go. I’ll call you later.”
He let out a very frustrated sigh that piqued Momo’s curiosity for a second. But she looked down at the papers in her hand and forgot all about it. “Hey Occult-Kun!”
Momo could have sworn the nerd jumped about ten feet in the air, and she cackled at his expense. He whipped around on his feet and clutched his chest in a panic. “Miss Ayase, you scared me!”
She kept laughing, to his horror, and his look of shock fell to one of frustration. “That’s so mean, Miss Ayase, why would you do that?”
She wiped the tear from her eye and gave him a cheeky grin. “Because you were such a prick about my grandma last time I saw you. Speaking of, read it and weep!” She shoved her small stack of papers at his chest.
He blinked in confusion and took them from her, scanning the headlines. “Santa Dodoria exorcises revered yokai from hot springs town...?” He read aloud. He glanced up from the page and looked at the smug look on Miss Ayase’s face. “That's your spirit medium, grandmother? Santa Dodoria?”
“Damn right! Ready to face defeat?” Momo gloated, folding her arms over her chest confidently.
“I mean. I have heard of your grandmother.” He adjusted his glasses. “And I can see why you would believe in ghosts if you were related to her... But...”
“But what?” She huffed, hands now on her hips. She studied his expression, and he shirked away from her nervously.
“Just... This doesn't prove anything...” He muttered, unable to make eye contact with her.
Momo had just about enough of his bullshit, thank you. She stepped forward to him and grabbed his collar. “What did you say?!”
The nerd’s ears began to turn red, and he was trying to look anywhere besides at her, which only made her more mad. “I-i-it’s not like the ghosts were caught on camera is all I’m saying...” he trailed off.
From the corner of her eye, she saw some people pointing at them. She quickly shoved him away from her. “You’re the worst, you know that? You believe all those fake-ass alien photos, but not this?”
Despite his timidness, the nerd furrowed his brow at her as he kept himself from falling backwards. “They aren’t fake. The US Government has even admitted to -”
“Don’t care,” she interrupted him, turning on her heel and marching into the classroom.
The nerd flinched. Way to go, the first person who has wanted to talk to you in years, and you screw it all up, he thought to himself.
He walked in and walked to the desk he had sat at last time, surprised that Momo was sitting at the desk in front of him again. She shot him a disgruntled look as he walked past her. To his surprise, she spun around and talked to him as he sat down.
“How about this?” Momo said. “I’ll prove to you ghosts are real.”
His curiosity was piqued, and he couldn’t pretend it wasn’t. “... how?”
“You and me, we’re going to a haunted location. Tonight.” Momo dared him.
The nerd blushed furiously at the suggestion. “Oh, um...I-I can’t tonight. I h-have to work. I could any other day, though.”
“Hm. Well. I work early tomorrow, but I suppose we could go then instead,” Momo grumbled. “Then you’ll have to admit I’m right and be my gofer.”
“That hardly seems fair,” the nerd scoffed. Momo couldn’t help but notice that the only time he didn’t seem timid was when they were arguing about this stuff. “I should get a chance to prove to you that aliens are real then. We should go somewhere where there are known UAP sightings, too. Make it even.”
“Psh.” Momo rolled her eyes. “Delaying the inevitable. Fine. We’ll go to one of your UFO hotspots too next week.” She looked towards the front of the class. The professor STILL wasn’t there. Five more minutes, and they’d be free to go.
...so why did she feel disappointed about that?
“So uh...” she turned back and looked at the nerd, who was already pulling out another alien-themed magazine. “Where do you work?”
“O-o-oh,” he stuttered as if the question was wrong and unexpected. “Um... that game store just off campus... It's nice because I can walk there.”
Momo nodded. “Oh, cool, I guess. Oh!” She pulled her phone out of her bag. “If we’re doing this, I should probably get your phone number. What’s your number?”
She looked up to see the most bug-eyed, deer-in-the-headlights expression she’d ever seen in her life. With those big brown eyes, it’s kind of cute - nonono, he’s such a geek, I could never be seen in public again!
He read off the digits quietly. “Okay, so what’s your name? Can’t have you in here as Occult-kun,” she joked. Her lousy mood had passed; after all, she was going to prove this nerd wrong and make him do her biology homework.
“Oh, it’s... Ken. Ken Takakura.”
Clatter.
She dropped her phone on his desk. He stared down at it, confused. “Miss Ayase, is something -”
“You think that’s funny?” Momo seethed, not meeting his gaze. “You fucking with me right now, asshole?”
The nerd - the alleged Ken - sank back into his chair. “I’m not messing with you!” He squeaked. He reached into his pocket and showed her his student ID. “S-see? That’s my name.”
Momo stared at the identification. She could see it. She could read it. But she definitely couldn’t believe it. Finally, she looked up and pointed at him. “You are never to use that name with me again.”
He blinked slowly, his brain trying to process the bizarre order he had been given. “Uh... o...kay?”
“I’m gonna give you a nickname,” Momo declared. “You are... Okarun. You like the occult, it sounds like occult-kun. That’s you. You’re Okarun.”
The newly dubbed Okarun scratched the back of his neck, and Momo could have sworn she saw a small smile grace his lips.
“Um... okay,” he replied. “I can be Okarun for you, Miss Ayase.”
She felt heat bloom up to her cheeks. Why am I blushing, stopitstopitstopit! “Damn straight. So no more of that other name.” She looked around and saw that other students were beginning to leave. By now, the professor was twenty minutes late. “Looks like we can get out of here. I’ll text you the details tomorrow, Okarun!”
“O-okay.” He said, packing away his things. He had to keep himself from staring as she walked out the door. He fought the faint smile on his face. She just wants to give you a hard time, Ken. Don’t get your hopes up. You haven’t had a friend since... her.
You deserve to be alone, anyway.
He glanced down at his phone and saw a new text had popped up. It was from Momo. He furrowed his brow and looked down at it.
“You’re going down tomorrow!” It read.
He smiled in spite of himself.
-------
Momo groaned as she walked to the corner store across campus. She had lost the rock-paper-scissors tournament with Miko and Muko and was forced to go on the beer run for the three of them. The two girls were going to invite over some dudes from elsewhere in the building anyway, and she had no interest in hooking up with some rando after the week she’d had.
The best part about a college town is just how close everything is. She could walk off campus for booze, get a bite to eat, and get coffee slightly better than the campus cafeteria. There were also plenty of bars in the area, though that wasn’t her scene. She’d rather party it up with the girls, but she wasn’t exactly feeling it tonight either.
As she waited at the crosswalk, she glanced at the game store across the street. Oh, that’s where Okarun said he worked. She thought to herself as she hummed. She squinted as the door opened.
Was that him?
It looked like him, the boy walking out with the same messy hair and the same round glasses. Is he off work already? We could definitely still go to that haunted tunnel I looked up!
“Hey! Okarun!” She called out, but he didn’t turn around. “Probably can’t hear me over traffic.”
The crosswalk finally changed over, and she jogged across the street. “Okarun!” She yelled out to him.
But she noticed he was walking away from campus, towards where all the bars were. “Huh... going somewhere, Okarun?”
Momo Ayase was a curious creature by habit, and something about this timid nerd going towards the college bar scene produced an itch in her head that she had to scratch. She took out her phone and sent a message to her roommate's group chat.
“Going on a stealth mission, get your own beer,” she texted quickly.
She followed along behind Okarun, across the street from him, watching as he seemed to walk more and more quickly. He walked past one bar, then another...and another. She furrowed her brow as she watched him. How far down did he have to go?
She briefly pondered if maybe he wasn’t going to a bar at all. What if he’s some kind of drug dealer or something?!
Momo began having second thoughts as they approached the end of a long block. Why am I following this boy I just met, anyway? God, am I being a creep? Whatever he’s doing probably isn’t any of my business anyway...
She was just about ready to abandon her quest when the boy stopped in front of a dingy, rundown-looking bar she’d never seen before. The building barely had any lighting outside of it, but she could hear music coming from inside. The sign just outside the door said, “Muldoon’s.” She had never heard anyone on campus talk about a bar with that name before, but considering it looked way smaller and older than any of the other bars on the street, maybe it just sucked.
Okarun just... stood there, looking at it for a solid minute. Is he psyching himself up or something? Geek has probably never even been in a bar before...
She considered walking over and encouraging him, but before she could, he strode inside.
“Well... I guess that’s that.” She muttered to herself. “Even the nerd likes to go out and party.”
And that should have been the end of it. She should have turned around and gone back to her dorm with her friends.
Instead, she found herself looking for cars, crossing the street, and standing outside the door of the bar. She hesitated, though. “Come on, Momo, you don’t know this guy... why are you following him?”
Maybe it was because he’d been the first person she could talk to about ghost stuff since she had moved to college. Even if they argued about it, she had never dared tell anyone besides Miko and Muko.
Maybe she still felt terrible about how she treated him in the hall—swatting his magazine away because she was worried about rumors stating that she was a nerd like him. She frowned at the thought. Even at twenty, she still cared too much about what other people thought of her.
She blamed Jiji for that.
After a few minutes of indecision, she jumped as the door opened, and an older man stumbled out. He nodded at her and walked past, but that was enough to spur her into action.
“Just go in, get a drink, and say hi if he sees you,” she told herself.
She opened the door, took a deep breath, and walked in.
The door opened to a little hallway with two bathrooms in it. Down at the end of the hallway, the building opened up into the bar proper; the bar itself was directly to her left, and to the right was a big room full of tables. At the far end was a stage where she could hear someone singing, naturally attracting Momo’s attention.
Two people occupied the stage. One was an old lady with the wildest name of unruly white hair Momo had ever seen in her life. It reached down to the shriveled old lady's waist, and she was standing behind a DJ booth. The other lady was on stage, microphone in hand, singing “When He Cheats” by Carrie Underwood.
Very poorly, she could add.
It clicked what this was: Western-style karaoke. She had heard of it before. Instead of renting a booth with friends, you sang for the ENTIRE building in front of STRANGERS.
It seemed like an exercise in masochism.
“Can I get you a drink, madam?”
She jumped at the voice coming from the bar. The bartender, a rather chubby-looking man who looked about her age, peered at her from behind his glasses.
“Whatever drink you desire, it shall be no problem for Ale Wind Albert,” he added with all the air of a fancy butler instead of a bartender.
“Uh... Sure. Rum and Coke, please.” She fished in her pockets for a card. “Here, I'll start a tab.”
The bartender glanced at it to read her name. “I shall make it posthaste, Lady Ayase.”
“Ooookay,” Momo muttered to herself.
As she waited for her drink, the singer on the stage finished her song. “Thank God,” the girl whispered to herself. Still, people around the semi-crowded bar clapped and applauded for the effort.
“Alright, that was Katsumi starting off the night. Up next, we have a fan favorite here; welcome... Captain Charisma to the stage,” the ancient DJ announced into her microphone.
Momo snickered at the stupid name but was surprised when a bunch of patrons around the bar whooped and hollered.
A guitar riff hit her ears, and she nodded. She hadn't heard “Smooth” by Rob Thomas and Carlos Santana in a long time.
Man, it's a hot one
Like seven inches from the midday sun
She raised her eyebrows. Alright, this guy was good, or at least way better than the last girl. She was about to turn around and look when the oddball bartender returned and handed her the requested drink.
“For you, milady,” he said with a bow.
Momo fought the urge to roll her eyes. “Thanks.”
Well it's just like the ocean
Under the moon
It's the same as the emotion that I get from yooouu
You got the kinda loving that can be so smooth, yeah
She had to admit, this guy sang pretty good. His voice was, well, smooth, and he was hitting all the right notes. He sang with an air of confidence too. She smiled and turned around to see this supposed Captain Charisma.
She nearly dropped her drink.
Up there on stage, the familiar mop of messy black hair and big round glasses was holding onto the microphone with one hand, a bottle of beer in the other.
Okarun was singing his heart out. The same shy nerd who was terrified of public speaking and shook when speaking to her ... Was performing for a crowd in a dingy bar.
She stared, jaw hanging open as he finished the song. The whole crowd cheered loudly, someone by the stage whistling.
Okarun was...
“Give it up for Captain Charisma, everyone,” the DJ said as Okarun handed the microphone back to her.
Momo felt her lips curl into a smile.
Her night just got interesting.