It's the most wonderful time of the year

We'd like to take this opportunity
to greet our Fictionpress & Soompi friends a
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

God bless you all and your families!

~ Greetings from Hiro L & Meia L

* Hey everyone, how have you all been? I'm very sorry for the lack of replies to your outpouring e-mails and messages, including questions and constructive criticism. But I've read each and every one of them (with my handy-dandy BlackB) and now that my wrist drop isn't killing my hand as much as it did before, I would reply to them as soon as I can.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the support to F&L, most especially for the get-well messages and E-cards you guys sent. I hate being dramatic but yeah, they really mean a lot to me not only as a writer but as a person.

It's been a long time since I last dropped by Soompi. I could say that I did miss the forums a lot. Hehe.

Your "BFF" (Brain-Frying Friend),
Hiro


P.S.
Please do not distribute Fists and Lipsticks 1+2 yet in .doc version. It isn't fully proof-read yet. Please keep my creepy grammar and spelling mistakes exclusive to Fictionpress and Soompi for the mean time, hehe.

I have received several requests for proofreading in Fictionpress. I'd attend to them when I get back to the US on January 2010. Though my hand is pretty functional now after they took off the brace, the holidays kept me moving from place to place; thus, I can't attend to requests yet.

Back to do something I missed

It's good to be back in Boston and except for the brace stuck on my arm for about a month now, I've been doing pretty good as far as my rehab sessions are concerned. In Detroit, I got to meet many oldies (because people who go to rehab are usually old people who suffered from stroke) and I can write again.

It's amazing how I've learned how to write with my left hand too now. That made me remember something that Dr. Young told me - that the body is able to adapt to disabilities by amplifying other parts to compensate for what it is not capable of doing. For example, sightless people do have increased senses just as much as deaf people could read the lips of the persons they talk to.

Proves that there's a genius called 'God' hanging around somewhere.

Anyway, regarding Vena Cava, I'm pretty excited to get back to it as soon as I can. I would be posting new chapters within this month and I am filled with so much inspiration in writing something new this time.

Thanks by the way for all the kind e-mails and reviews you guys sent regarding Fists and Lipsticks. There's so much editing to be done, grammar and spelling errors to be fixed, scene inconsistencies, and also pulling the whole bulk together in a single PDF file for the final manuscript... I still haven't posted my long overdue thank you notes and in-depth analysis of scenes including the answers to the questions previously posted. I still haven't dropped by Soompi yet, but Meia had kept me informed of the PMs you guys sent and it warms my heart to have read all of them.

I've received e-mails regarding the broken YouTube link to the F&L Trailer of combined Book 1 and 2. I already asked Pamie about it and she said that she would be re-uploading it to a site where the audio won't be taken down. Apparently, the Multiply.com video link isn't working anymore too. Also, Pamie and Meia are planning to make a trailer for Vena Cava too and I'm pretty excited about that too. I don't know how they'd do it, but with Pamie's editing talent I think it's gonna be great!

Thank you guys! See you around.

-Mark

DONE!

DONE!

*collapses*

Rehab and wedding plans

My next round of rehab would start on the first week of November and it take longer than the previous sessions. After that, I would be away to plan for my upcoming wedding. It's going to be so busy, so I might not be able to log-in for a while to answer your inquiries and questions regarding F&L.

I wanted to avoid another lengthy hiatus. Because of this, I have decided to upload ALL six pending chapters of F&L before this month ends.

My request, however, is to hold any unofficial distribution of a .doc version after all chapters are posted. I wanted to make final revisions to BOTH book 1 and book 2 before I release the final pdf. Please do not copy-paste Book 2 and share them via file-sharing networks without my permission.

Thank you and God bless everyone,

Hiro

Chapter 59 will be posted soon

I'm doing one last round of checks before uploading Chapter 59. It would be a short "transition chapter". Nevertheless, it would be quite interesting. Chapter 59 will be available within 24 hours.

Thank you for everyone's patience and your overwhelming support.

-hiro

Next rehab session... -#-sigh-#-

My fifth rehab session is up this week and although I've been having a lot of progress as far as my arm's motor skills are concerned, I've been experiencing some recurrence of the numbness. I'm praying that things would work out well pretty soon.

Boys and girls, please take care of your radial nerves.

I've received your inquiries and will be replying to them very soon. For those who can't download Book 1 of F&L, you can go instead to our thread in Soompi or the Fictionpress site. Half of the chapters in the Fictionpress version, however, has not been proof-checked as much as the Soompi version so if you couldn't stand massive grammar and spelling errors I have left uncorrected, I suggest you guys visit our Soompi thread.

Regarding the next chapter, it's actually done. It's some sort of 'transition chapter', but a lot will happen nevertheless. It's quite cool and I can't wait to share it with you guys. I just have to find time to do the [TAG]s and some final spell checks. I'm just not so sure when I could post it. It depends on my arm if it can stand work or not, hehe.

New readers, welcome to F&L and Vena Cava!

Regarding the PM list, you can either ask to be added to the list or better yet FOLLOW us in Soompi by subscribing to either Meia or me. We found out that the subscription feature had been added in the new Soompi so yeah, that would be cool if we use new technology.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers.

-Mark

No Facebook and Twitter

Again, I'd like to say that I don't have a Facebook or Twitter account. So whoever that "Hiro" is that adds you up in Facebook or Twitter isn't me. Come on guys, I'm not a Hollywood actor. Although I have movie offers coming left and right, I'm not someone worthy of being impersonated.
(Hehe... kidding).

Due to insistent public demand, yes I will be updating F&L very soon. Actually it's done but I'm doing some major revisions to the sequence of the scenes.

The next chapter's going to be very sinful. -#-evil grin-#-

-hiro

Philippine storm

I saw the deluge and massive flood in Manila, Philippines in CNN earlier. I had no idea it was that serious! I'm blessed that my relatives in Makati aren't seriously affected except for the leaking ceiling and ankle-deep flood on adjacent streets.

My Filipina crush Cristine Reyes was affected by the flood too! I wanna fly there to Marikina to personally rescue her, but Richard got in my way so... yeah. Hehe.

Kidding aside, please help by sending your donations via
Philippine National Red Cross - http://www.redcross.org.ph/Site/PNRC/wtd.aspx

RP: PHILIPPINES IN A STATE OF CALAMITY...To all my willing and abled friends and family who live in US & CANADA who wish to help in the rescue and relief operations, you may donate through the American Red Cross. Call 1-800-435-7669. Please pray for everyone affected.

Fourth wave of rehab almost done

I'm glad that I'd be finishing my fourth wave of rehab sessions this week. I could type again (although I prefer using one hand because my right gets strained easily) and I could move my wrist again with careful movements. In fact, I'm trying to type this blog entry with both hands and I'm quite proud of the fact that I could sustain holding my arms forward for more than 10 seconds without straining.

I'm excited to post the few remaining chapters of F&L and Chapter 3 of Vena Cava soon. Thank you everyone for your patience and your kind get-well-soon messages. Thank you for the reviews and constructive crits you've left via Fictionpress and Soompi. I checked Soompi a while ago and wow, some new stuff going on there. I like the new layout and features, although it still kinda confuses me, hehe.

I miss writing badly, both for the newsletter editorials and my personal fictional works. I have the feeling that I'd go into binge-writing when I get back. So many ideas in my head dying to go out in the open to cause an explosion. I like being a writing arsonist.

Hope the hand would permit. Bad nerve. Really bad nerve.

New laptop, lots of re-writing

Crap happens.

My laptop was stolen last week - THE laptop that contains the unedited, remaining chapters of F&L. Some thugs on motorcycles whacked the windows of my car while parked in front of a fastfood stall and got the laptop bag along with my cousin's iPhone and purse containing some IDs and credit cards.

Meaning, I have to REWRITE them. ALL of them. ALL remaining chapters. Crap happens, but at least I didn't break my other arm by getting into an unecessary brawl. Thank god for that at least.

I got a new laptop last Saturday. Pretty cool, but I'm not yet used to Mac.

For those waiting for the next chapter of F&L, I'll have it posted on Sunday or Monday. Rewrite is a good thing. I actually think I improved the story a bit compared to the old one. Starting from scratch gets things going and I'm pretty much getting the hang of using the laptop with just one hand. I type pretty fast now compared to before.

Vena Cava will be up too soon. I may post it with F&L or earlier. I'm just tweaking things up. Good thing I got the chapter saved in my mobile phone.

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go... HOME!

It's great to be discharged from the hospital today. I'd still be continuing rehab (NOT 'drug' rehab but a rehab for people with broken bones and weak muscles, hehe - people freak out when I send them a message of me being in a 'rehab') but I'll be having it back in Boston. I haven't seen Meia in a long time and I haven't gone online except through my handy-dandy mobile phone. But yeah, going home feels nice. A breath of fresh air, guilt foods, and seeing again crazy friends. Not bad, eh?

My arm still has stitches and screws but I can twitch my fingers now. Doing really better compared to before. For a while, I thought they were going to amputate my arm. There's still swelling and my fingernails are somewhat bluish, but the doctor said that it's perfectly fine and it will go back to how it was before. Again, for readers of F&L and VC who sent their get well messages, thank you so much. The hundreds of emails really warmed my heart and I can't help but go 'wow, there's a God that loves me!' along with all the concerned people.

In line with this, expect an update for F&L soon. I'd go to it once I arrive in Boston. No promises about the exact date of posting though. It's going to be doubly hard doing the [TAG]s with only my left hand working on the mouse and the keys, so thank you so much for your understanding and patience.

-Hiro

Sliced arm and back again

I'm now three days post-surgery and it feels good now that the anesthetic has worn off with all my arm's numbness alleviated. Still hurts, but not as much as before and now I can move my fingers again. Big thanks to Dr. Young and co. of the orthopedic dept here in Michigan and of course Dondon, my physical therapist. He's a crazy Naruto and Bleach fan like me, so we get along well.

I'm making this blog via mobile phone by the way. But hey, I can hold my phone again with my right but with the metal still attached to my bone, still lots of recovering to do. Thank God the big thorny road has been passed by. Will take me a long time to go back to basketball and PS2 but I'm pretty excited to go back to writing... not in a few more days, but getting there.

Regarding the unposted chapter 57, sorry for not posting it in the day promised. It's because Meia is in Florida right now. She hadn't dropped by to Bayback so she hasn't gotten hold of my laptop with the Chapter 57 word .doc yet. Things are pretty crazy right now, so thank you very much for your patience. Life's getting in the brain-frying way too much hehe.

Thank you for all the get well soon messages and prayers. I'm getting well and doing good. Just a little bit of rest and I'd be back with Vena Cava and Fists and Lipsticks soon. Again, thanks for your care and patience.

I miss hoops

For a series of physical therapy sessions for my radial nerve injury, I had to go to Detroit. The hospital here is a lot better in terms of PT facilities. Pretty cool that I had a Filipino PT because I hadn't practiced speaking Tagalog in a long time. I could only access the internet via mobile phone (which sucks, but goes well with my one-handedness hehe). Couldn't fully use my arm yet, but the pain's half gone. Improving, getting there... couldn't wait to go back to Boston and see my pals and of course Meia. Haven't seen her in... three weeks. Life sucks that way.

I realized that it has been a year since I posted Book 2 of Fists and Lipsticks 2: The Silver Crescent. Wow, it has been a long journey. Thanks for the messages and emails, especially those notifying me of errors and those unending get well soon messages. I'd have them fixed once I get back to Fictionpress/Soompi. I could only access Yahoo! and Blogspot through my mobile phone with a page that loads and looks 'normal'.

Meia's going to my place later and I asked her to bring my laptop along with her so that she can be the one to upload the next chapter while I'm not yet around. Most probably, Chapter 57 will be up late in the evening of June 27 or early dawn of June 28. Sorry for the errors that you might see spreading doom in Chapter 57. I haven't edited it and I don't want to post unedited chapters as much as possible, so please bear with me. I'd have the errors fixed when I get back after two more weeks.

I'd say that Chapter 57 will show a 'different' side of Crosse. Also, it would include the narration of what transpired right after the events in Book 1. Remember how Crosse disappeared mysteriously in Book 1? Chapter 57 will be the much-awaited narration of how he was able to escape from the Spectra Gang in Book 1. Aside from this, more revelations about Kaoru Hiro and Kaoru Saori will be 'hinted' in this chapter, so stay tuned.

As warning also, Chapter 57 will have an 'adult' scene. To Soompi readers, please refer to the Fictionpress version if you wish to read the uncut version.

Once again, THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE PATIENCE AND THE AMAZING SUPPORT.

^ Where am I? Hehe.

Being sick is stressful. Ah, I miss playing hoops.

At last non-hospital FRESH air in my lungs...

I just came out of the hospital today and the doctor told me that I'd be getting the results sometime tomorrow. I may be able to update three days from now (F&L and VC) but I don't want to make definite promises. I'm not really sure but the chapter's ready and I just have to do the [TAG]s stuff.

Thanks for the endless e-mails and PMs. I really appreciate it.

-Hiro

Update about Delayed Updates

To readers of F&L and VC:

I've updated Vena Cava recently and for those who have read it, thanks for dropping by. Hope you liked the little glimpse I gave you about Sue's 'special ability'. I've read very intelligent guesses from Soompi Forums and I'm glad some had actually hit the jackpot. But that's just a little taste of her 'powers'. The plot itself will be a bit crazier than that, hehe.

Regarding F&L2, I'm suppose to post an update within the week but I don't think I would be able to do so. With this, I apologize to the readers who are anticipating Chapter 56. I made this blog entry with Meia's help because my whole arm is numb. I had a CT scan yesterday to see if the numbness has anything to do with my past injury or if it neurological (I'm praying its not). Because of this, I'm taking a temporary one week (or two) break from gradschool and the computer so I apologize if I can't put up the chapter this week as expected.

But Chapter 56 is going to be cool. I'll post it up as soon as I can get by ass back to work up the final edits. Not this week though... hopefully next week.

Thank you for the patience and continued support :)

Chapter 55: Camera

Chapter 55 was originally 50 pages long, but after about three rounds of editing, I made a decision to cut the chapter to 6,000+ words, keeping it as 'less brain-frying' as it could be. My decision to place Chapter 55: Camera where it should be is to keep the plot sequence at balance. So many puzzles, revelations, and bombs have been launched in the past couple of chapters. Because of this, I believe that this is the best time to insert a 'lighter' chapter and at the same time re-enforce, mend, and strengthen relationships between the characters. I hope it worked, hehe.

Don't ask where I got the jokes. (But if you want more, I can tell you MORE. E-mail me? Haha.)

From here on, I'm going to intensify things a bit. Hold on to your seats. It's going to be one hell of a ride. I'm pretty excited about it.

Thanks for the amazing support.


-The Author

For Hiro's Fried Friends, hehe...

(This post was copy-pasted from Soompi Forums)

Hey there, F&L reader. Hope your brain is still okay, hehe.

We’re getting to the end… slowly and bombing and frying, but getting there. As early as now, I wanna bow down to you guys to thank you for your amazing support.

I thought that it would be good if I post these replies first before releasing the next chapter. This would help to ease the confusion you may have in mind. If you have any more questions or if there is something I missed, feel free to post/PM/email me and I’d be more than happy to reply.

Plot-related questions

[nganrinat0r]
The inside story about chris shocked crosse, is he just playing along or does he not really know about chris. So, crosse knows that the vault is empty and wasn’t it revealed in the previous chapter that the other vault was in China, so why is he still questioning ayane about the whereabouts. Unless ayane transfer the rest of the money somewhere else as well as the stuff in the china vault.

x3_b3b3
The place where Kosuke's mother trained at...did Crosse train there too? Since in the other chapter, Yuken told Ayane that he met Crosse in China. && Crosse was Spectra's assassin right?

Remember that during those eight years between Book 1 and Book 2, Crosse and Ayane were away from each other. Crosse was in China (as revealed in the chapter ‘Wits, Words, Weapons, and Wine’ – now can it be possible that this will answer miss x3_b3b3’s question above?), while Ayane stayed with Yoshifumi Rei in Switzerland. Although it has already been revealed that Crosse planned a ‘grand revenge plan’ (which are now being revealed in the past few chapters, mostly in Sessions Part 8), Crosse has NOT been aware of several things regarding the Silver Crescent Gang – Chris Glasgow’s identity and the Silver Crescent Vault’s partitioning, for instance.

About the money transfer, it has been revealed in Chapter 51 too that Ayane partitioned the wealth inside the Silver Crescent Vault in Switzerland. For purpose of recall about the Vault, you may read my old author note (Anti-confusion for the Brain-Fried – see my blog http://hiro-0911.blogspot.com).

The China/Great Wall Vault (Golden Crescent Vault) is different from the Swiss Vault (Silver Crescent Vault) and is also different from the Japan/Tsuzuya Academy Vault (Crescent Vault).

The Vault that Hiro and Kosuke visited in the previous chapter in China is the Golden Crescent Vault.

The one owned by Ayane in Switzerland is the Silver Crescent Vault.

The Vault in Japan underneath Tsuzuya Academy is the Crescent Vault, which is also the one that Yamazaki Daisuke (Kosuke’s prime minister father) seized several years ago when he took over the Crescent and established the Spectra.

Now this leads us to this question:

fuuko-chan
If the Golden Crescent necklace that Daisuke have obtained when he "killed" Gendou is fake, how did he access the vault in Tsuzuya? What's weirder is that, he didn't have the Silver Crescent necklace nor the Silver Disk, right? So... how did he...D: And that was also the necklace given to Kosuke, that he gave to Ayane when they were in high school. So, she also managed to open the Swiss (and probably China too) Vault with a fake Golden Crescent necklace? The fake ones aren't supposed to work, right? @__@ Or they function the same as the original?

This is a very good question, but if you look more closely, the answer is also very simple. I’ll give some clues, but I won’t spill it out because it’s cooler if you guys figure it out on your own, hehe.

For the first question: If the necklace Daisuke got from the ‘killed’ Gendou is fake, how did he access the Crescent Vault in Japan/Tsuzuya 25 years ago?

To give clues for this question, let me ask you this:

Who are the ‘authorized’ people that can access the Vault again?

Okay, now that you’ve answered that question in your mind, what if that person ‘accompanied’ Daisuke to the Vault? Now by answering that question, I give you the biggest clue as to how Daisuke was able to access the Vault.

The other question is: If Ayane got the ‘fake’ necklace from Kosuke, how did she open the Vault in Switzerland then?

To answer this question, I’ll ask you the same question: Who are the ‘authorized’ people that can access the Vault again? And I’ll ask you another question along with this: How do you access the Silver Crescent Vault from the upper floor?

Look back to the chapter when Rei went there to acquire it himself (the chapter entitled ‘Foxed’). What if Ayane was ‘assisted’ by a Vault keeper too?

Hehe, see? It’s cooler if you’re the one figuring it out.

Okay, now let’s go to the common question:

fuuko-chan
But how the heck did Gendou live... Didn't Daisuke point the gun to his heart? And it bang-ed for like six times. Either he was wearing a bulletproof vest or he's immortal, etc. >__>
redbutterflytree
But...I'm a little confused by that, since Zakuro/Daisuke shot him so many times and slashed his face, but I believe that you have a good explanation for that...however, it's still very confusing and disorienting.
1shinhwa
but how did he survive?? i thought he was dead cuz there was plenty of bullets and plenty of scars on his face??? and so much blood??
pearllovestop
But then how did Gendou survive? Zakuro clearly shot him several times in the heart:
shar0nsaurus
But that's impossible, how did he escape all the gunshots? the BANG BANG BANG.
fairy~dream
How did he survive those gunshots then? Shouldn't he be dead?
kc_chua
how was Gendou able to survive the gunshots?
linnienguyen
gendou is one lucky guy.. with all of those bang bang bangs i thought he would have died for sure

I see that a lot of people are questioning Gendou’s mysterious resurrection. I won’t answer this yet, but I promise to give you sensible and shocking reasons behind this survival.

However, believe me when I say that the clues to answer this big question is already scattered all over the past chapters. If you’re keen enough to link them altogether, you’ll get it, hehe.

Now, let’s go the other common questions:

mangoes-dbsk
Then... since Aya's Keiko's fake daughter... she'll considered to be Hiro's fake daughter as well... so why didn't Hiro try to save her that time she was in the hospital unconscious? I mean... it is his fake daughter. Why wouldn't he try saving her, just for Keiko's sake?
emfkrx
then where the hell has gendou been for 25 years?!?
stalking lilly? planning the demise of the Spectra Gang?
lady_luv
where has gendou been hiding all these years?
benchi101
How did they know that Ayane was still alive though?
fuuko-chan
this makes Saori's identity a mystery. Is she really Gendou's sister?
babiiphatt
If they were all part of spectra, doesnt it make them ayane and kosuke enemy?
sentuhmentalfo0l
i feel like people keep peeling off masks in this story haha

I’m glad that the readers have pointed these out, especially Gendou’s disappearance and the relevance of the ‘masks’. I see the heightening speculations regarding Kaoru Saori’s identity too.

I won’t answer these questions YET. I have chapters that would answer these questions. For now, just remember these questions WELL, because the answers to these questions comprise the ‘bigger’ bombs I was talking about.

Now I’ll answer some questions that have been posted in the past. Sorry for the late replies.

Here are questions about Ayane’s pregnancy:

morphine99
Somebody correct me if I am wrong but as far as I know (because my younger sister takes drugs for obsessive-compulsive disorder which quite similar to the ones prescribed for PTSD), those types of drugs cause malformations in the baby. In the leaflet of her medicines, the drug is contraindicated in pregnant women. It says that it could cause the baby to have soft nails and end up with no arms...?

So maybe that is why Yuken said he was going to prescribe new drugs for Ayane.

Yes, exactly. That’s the reason why Yuken withdrew the drugs Shizuki previously prescribed for Ayane. Drugs used to cure post traumatic stress disorder may harm a baby inside the womb.

I read another post (I believe it is by miss Denied) saying why Shizuki didn’t know about Ayane’s condition right away – it’s because Ayane still wasn’t symptomatic during Sessions Part 7.

jusplainmeh
What?! She's pregnant and still kicking butt?

At six weeks of pregnancy (according to my research by the way, not Meia’s personal experience, hehe…), the baby inside the womb is no more than an inch big. It’s about a size of a pea, so you can still move around like Jackie Chan pretty much.

tusoo
wait...so who is on who's side?
Team 1: crosse, hiro, saori, the architect(i'm bad with names), the doctor, the manager
Team 2: aya full stop
ahahah...ahh....gosh...i think i am totally lost..ahaha

Don’t worry, it’s okay to be lost at this point. You’ll get the answers on the next chapters. Welcome back to our thread by the way, hehe. For Fictionpress readers, I put the replies in my Blogspot page instead because I wanted the word count there to count the total for chapters excluding the author notes.

redbutterflytree
So now Rei knows about the picture, huh? Oh, goodness. He's really mad now...seems like he's going to go on a rampage. Or not. I'm not sure. Somehow, I feel like he's rather unpredictable. But, I find it very possible that Rei will NOT hesitate to get his revenge on Ayane (whatever that may mean), especially since it's VERY likely that the baby isn't his...then again, that all depends on if he finds out.

Rei will be up for a nasty comeback soon.

mangoes-dbsk
And by the way, where has Stream gone to? I think I asked this question before... but I forgot if you replied / mentioned it in one of the chapters. I mean, there are so many chapters, so much studying, for my occasionally good but mostly bad memory, I don't think I'd be able to remember. Is he planning some tricks or something? -.-

I guess I won’t be spoiling anything by saying now that Stream Williams (Crosse’s older brother) died in that airport bombing in Book 1 with Kato Saburo – for real.

benchi101
To be honest, Kosuke's the slowest character in the story now. He's so behind while everybody knows this and that.
kawaii999
Im sad to say this Hiro.. I think Ayane has lost her touch. She was the reason
I started reading Fists And Lipsticks.. but now that shes ill,pregnant, head over heals
in love, prisioner to Crosse, and finding out that so many people fooled the Empress
.. I don't see Ayane the same anymore. I really wish this story goes back with the old
Ayane. But now that shes pregnant I doubt that huh?

I’d have to say that this is one of the best observations so far spanning the entire Book 2 because this is precisely the reason why I chose to break Fists and Lipsticks into two parts.

In Book 1, the themes included perfection, innocence, cliché, cheesiness, immature love…

In Book 2, however, you saw Ayane at her weakest, Kosuke at his weakest, and Crosse at his weakest. Book 2 is about flaws, brokenness, passionate love, jealousy, and transcending the threshold of sanity.

If there would be a ‘reversal’ to these weaknesses, the remaining unposted chapters would answer that.

Random stuff

Silent Serenity
What about you, Hiro? Are you gonna have eleven Chinese kids too?
Meia, get your womb ready! Lol
Hey Mr. Brain Fryer, I saw that your birthday's near!

Hey Meia, hear that? -#-evil grin-#-

ronicabeee
It's bigger than my shock with Ricky Hatton's 2nd round knock down by Manny Pacquiao! Hahahaha.

I saw that match! Man, Hatton was 7-minute pawned by Pacquiao!

anniiepoo
Hehe Feb 13th!!! That's my birthday tooooo !!! Yay!!! Valentines Eve ^^
Silent Serenity
Hey Meia, isn't your birthday February 13?

The reason why I made Ayane’s birthday Feb 13.

jaycee725
i just finished reading fists and lipsticks 1
now im starting my first chapter now....though its long story.
but i cant just stopped reading....im enjoying myself.

Welcome to F&L miss jaycee725. Welcome to the other new readers too, both signed and silent. Thank you for your support.

loveme100x
I wish you'd update faster... like 2x a week perhaps? XD Once per week is killing me.

Hehe, that was my plan but the [TAG] stuff here in Soompi takes me a lot of time to do. Don’t worry though because updates will be regular, although I would avoid posting warnings/update schedules from now on because every I do, the updates get delayed so yeah… just expect regular surprise updates as usual.

Right now, I am struggling to cut down the length of Chapter 55. It is 50 pages long (20,000+ words -- sigh, yeah I know…), so I’m still editing it to cut it down.

If I can’t cut it down, well, F&L 2 may extend to Chapter 70.

Either way, expect an update very soon.

Vena Cava has been posted too, so if you have time to spare, I invite you to check it out. The link is on my signature. It's something different from F&L, but I'm excited about it myself.

Again, THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE SUPPORT.

-The Author

Anti-Confusion for the Brain-Fried

Anti-confusion for the Brain-Fried
by Hiro, the Brain Fryer

Hello F&L Readers!

Fists and Lipsticks is mainly a mystery story, and so it was intentionally made to be ‘confusing’. However, after reading the feedback both from Soompi, Fictionpress, even including Meia herself, I realized that I might have gone a little overboard regarding the manner by which I narrated the events for the past few chapters.

I apologize to the readers if F&L became a little TOO confusing for you lately. I appreciate everyone’s honesty in pointing out their feelings about the story.

It is for this reason that instead of posting a new chapter, I decided to write this Author note first to clarify the events that have transpired so far. I hope that by doing so, you, readers, would be properly guided and at least lessen whatever confusion you have in mind.

I also posted this author note in my blog – http://hiro-0911.blogspot.com so that readers from Fictionpress.com can read it too.

**SPOILERS AHEAD!
If you haven’t read Book 1 and the posted chapters for Book 2,
DO NOT continue reading this author note**

Firstly, let’s have a recap of the cast of characters. Watching the F&L Book1+Book2 trailer made by Pamie (in YouTube) may help you recall them too. Regarding the requests for a character chart, we couldn’t provide you with one because it isn’t allowed here in Soompi (as far as stories listed under the original fiction section are concerned – thanks to the forum mod, miss iridescent, for clarifying this rule for us).

Of course, who wouldn’t know Yoshida Ayane. In Book 1, Ayane decided to act as Miyazawa Aya’s decoy to save her life (Chapter 61: Backseat) after she apparently fell into a coma after a bullet hit her head as told in Chapter 60: Reminiscence – Dénouement. As a ‘decoy’, Ayane had to move around a lot, and so as told by rumors (Chapter 1: Transfer Student), she had enrolled in many schools to ‘lure around’ the Spectra. One of these schools is the Tsuzuya Academy, where she coincidentally met Yamazaki Kosuke, the son of the renowned Justice Yamazaki Daisuke (who becomes the prime minister later in Book 2).

To cut the long story short, the cliché happens: Kosuke, who once thought of Ayane as his ‘rival’, eventually falls madly in-love with her.

We all know who Kosuke is, of course, so let’s skip him. Let’s get to know his ‘gang’.

Sato Yuken is Kosuke’s best friend – a computer genius, son of a renowned physician and hospital owner, Okamoto Shizuki’s biggest crush in Book 1 and “boyfriend” in Book 2, becomes a photographer in Book 2. After a series of events, we learn that he’s not just a photographer but actually a physician (Chapter 44 of Book 2: Solution), specifically a neurotoxicologist (an expert on the effects of drugs to the human nervous system). In the same chapter, it was revealed that he has a certain ‘link’ to a female hacker only known by the codename ‘Black Widow’. This mystery is still yet to be revealed. Also in the same chapter, it was revealed that Yuken was the one responsible for everyone’s apparent immunity to the Oblivion Vapor’s amnesic (memory erasing – “amnesia”) effects through the Silver Laudanum (a chemical substance disguised as ‘tea’ Yuken gave to everyone as a Christmas gift). I will explain again the Silver Laudanum later in this author note.

Tomohiko Kagure or simply Tomo is a band vocalist from Book 1 and a popular rock star in Book 2. He is Nagahara Makiko’s boyfriend in Book 2. So far, no detailed explanation had to be done for him at this point of the story, so let’s just leave him first in this author note for now... again, for now.

Suzuki Akio! I doubt it if anyone has forgotten who this crazy dude is. He’s the weird one. Yeah, you know him of course. His stupidity is natural, in-born, innate, and self-explanatory. He’s the one who found the battered and gas-shackled Lin Chen/Siren floating around a lake in Kyoto. He brought her to the hospital and while he examined Lin’s shackles out of curiosity, he passes out in the hospital because of the amnesic gas emitted by the shackles. Good thing Yuken and Shizuki came just in time to save both him and Lin.

Yamada Hidemi had a couple of important appearances lately. Again, he’s the owner of the coffee shop, the Concorde, where Kosuke’s high school gang usually hangs-out in. We remember him as the sports prodigy in Book 1 and he has already wrecked 2 cars in the story – a one in book 1 and another in book 2 (courtesy of Yuken’s Gundam Wing driving skills, hehe.)

Ayanami Fuuko suddenly came out in the story and began showing interest not only in Hidemi but on Lin Chen’s gas-shackles. Ayanami Fuuko, again, is Tsuzuya Academy’s female bully we met in the very first chapter of Book 1. She stopped being a brat (or at least became a lesser brat) when her mother was indirectly killed by the Spectra during the hospital power failure incident in Yuken’s family hospital, which cost Miyazawa Aya’s life as well (Chapter 66: Aftermath). Take note that she also gave a video tape of the attempted murder of her mother to Ayane (also in Chapter 66). She came back to the story in Book 2 as an architect.

Okamoto Shizuki is Ayane’s nerdy female classmate in Book 1. She wears thick-framed glasses (which Fuuko slammed a bag on) and is in-love with Sato Yuken. In Book 2, her role is very important – as Yoshida Ayane’s psychiatrist. Chapters written with the title ‘Sessions’ are told by Shizuki in first person, narrating Ayane’s condition.

Nagahara Makiko is Tomo’s girlfriend and manager. We remember Makiko as the ‘money thief’ in Book 1, where she stole the money the students made during the school festival to pay for her tuition fee. Ayane helped her with her financial problem by joining a motorcycle race, where she won 250 grand in the bets (Chapter 30: Speed for Need). Also, when Ayane and Kosuke went out for their first REAL date (Chapter 63: Real Gangster Date), Makiko and Tomo were the ones left in the hospital to watch over Miyazawa Aya.

Now, for clarifications of the other essential characters and facts:

To remind everyone who Yamazaki Daisuke is – he is Kosuke’s father, who turns out to be the Grand Lord of the Spectra Gang (Chapter 71: Slaughter).

When I say 'Grand Lord' or Kumichō (in Japanese), it means that the person referred to is the ‘Big Boss’ or the ‘Primary Leader’ of the mafia organization. The Grand Lord controls ALL affiliates all over the world. Remember that the Spectra isn’t just a rival bike ‘gang’ or a random street ‘gang’. It’s a ‘mafia’ organization or a ‘Yakuza’, meaning it is run by a family for generations.

When it was told in the beginning of Book 2 that Kosuke was the ‘new leader’ of the Spectra, it meant that he was in charge of only the Spectra Gang faction in Japan. Daisuke, his father, remains as the Grand Lord, although his identity is kept top-secret, especially now that he is the current prime minister of Japan.

Kosuke’s position as the Spectra leader of the Japan faction tantamount to being Daisuke’s ‘right hand’, but he was ousted (Chapter 24 of Book 2: Locked Doors and Promises) and replaced by Dmitri Williams, Crosse’s father.

Now, as we go forward to the latter chapters (Chapter 50 of Book 2: Fixed), we read a scene where Crosse is asking for the position of his father in the Spectra Gang as ‘right hand’ in exchange for the Vault keys. The reason will be explained later in the story. The explanation about the Vaults will come later in this author note.

Going back to the explanation for the gang titles – we recall that the men in pink suits referred to Yoshifumi Rei as the 'Grand Lord' when he proclaimed himself as the new leader of the Silver Crescent Gang in Book 2 (Chapter 42 of Book 2: Probabilities and Commandments). Same principle applies as the Spectra Gang. Before Rei’s self-proclamation, however, Ayane was the leader of the Silver Crescent Gang.

In the Silver Crescent Gang, a female leader isn’t called a ‘Grand Lord’ but rather as ‘Empress.’

To remind everyone again, the new Silver Crescent Gang is Yoshida Ayane’s newly-formed gang during her mysterious disappearance for eight years. She came back to Japan with a new identity as the rich and glamorous Chinese hotelier, Lady Nu Huang. The old Silver Crescent Gang was the one led by Lily Akiyama thirty years ago (or in Book 2, make that 38 years ago). Lily Akiyama (as revealed in Chapter 73: Keiko’s Secret) is no other than Miyazawa Keiko, Miyazawa Aya’s blind stepmother, who coincidentally turned out to be Kosuke’s ‘biological mother’.

You can think about the Crescent Gang as the ‘Father organization’ – the original mafia organization that has run for generations. The last known leader of the Crescent Gang before it separated into two factions (for a reason that would be explained in detail later in the story) is a man named Yanagisawa Gendou, who is actually Kosuke’s biological father. In Book 1, Miyazawa Keiko mentioned that Daisuke killed Gendou and took over the Crescent Gang – changing the gang’s name to Spectra (Chapter 74: Bloodstains).

An allegoric (symbolic) narration of the story behind the tragedy that befell the Crescent Gang was told by Ayane in Chapter 38: Fairy Tale – the story of how the “Emperor ran away with the Empress”. The tale in Chapter 38 may be vague for you at this point in time, but if you’re vigilant for clues, you can get what the allegories mean for sure. Again, a more understandable narration about the original Crescent Gang will be told later.

For now, I made a table of the factions of the Crescent Gang below.

If you’re not really in the mood for some clue hunting, all you needed to know and remember for now to be properly guided is just this table above. ^


Also, there’s confusion about the real names of who is who so here are some clarifications:

(name they are known) = (their real name) (description/alias)

Miyazawa Keiko = Lily Akiyama (Empress)
Yamazaki Daisuke = Toriyama Zakuro (Kosuke’s stepfather, current Japanese prime minister, and Grand Lord of the Spectra Gang)
Yoshida Akira = Hoshiyomi Taka (Ayane’s genius father)
Chris Glasgow = Dwayne Lindstrom (Spider)
Kim Yoon Jae = Choi Woo Seok (Smoke)


Let’s get to know the new Silver Crescent Gang members again:

QUOTE

Quote from Chapter 43:

“Choi Woo Seok – 21 years old from Seoul, Korea – Codename: Smoke; bomb expert,” she started. “Originally coming from a poor family in South Gyeongsang Province, he changed his name to Kim Yoon Jae after murdering hundreds of people, including the Korean godfather himself – Han Ji Won, with a self-made time-bomb. He disguises himself as a transfer student in Fuyu University majoring in Physics and works part-time as a bar tender in a club called The Decks.”

“Lin Chen – 26 years old from Beijing, China – Codename: Siren; poison sniper. She came from a family of cultural performers. She’s the daughter of a famous pipa manufacturer that was involved in smuggling and importing illegal drugs in and out of the country. She killed the Chinese godfather Yang Zhou with a bullet aimed on the center of his forehead. She disguises herself as a concierge in the Empire Hotel.”

“Chris Glasgow – 31 years old from the New York, United States of America – Codename: Spider; hacker. We tried looking for other information about him but found nothing.”

“Why is that so?” Dmitri Williams spoke from the crowd.

“It seems that information regarding him have been obliterated for some unknown reason,” the spokesperson replied.

“I’ve already ordered an investigating team to see through this further,” Crosse added.

“Ah,” Dmitri was pleased with his son’s enthusiasm. “Well done. Well done.”

“We are currently in the process of investigating why his details are missing in the data bank. Rest assured that the intelligence team will report any new information found ASAP,” the spokesperson said.

“Proceed,” Dmitri gestured.

“Yoshifumi Rei – 29 years old from Zürich, Switzerland – Codename: Sting; katana wielder. He’s the son of Yoshifumi Shigeo, member of the original Silver Crescent Gang led by Lily Akiyama. Originally from Tokyo, he and his father left Japan after his mother’s brutal death. He disguises himself as a hotel chef in the Empire Hotel.”

“The leader of the Silver Crescent – Lady Nu Huang – 25 years old from…”

Of course, we all know who Lady Nu Huang is, so let’s skip her.

Yoshifumi Rei / “Sting” is the son of Yoshifumi Shigeo. Remember that Yoshifumi Shigeo was the plane pilot who brought Ayane from Japan to Switzerland to escape from the Spectra during the airport bombing incident 8 years ago (Chapter 75: The Escape). Rei, his son, is a culinary student in Switzerland when Ayane first met him. He was the one who trained Ayane to use weapons (Chapter 15 of Book 2: Sessions (Part 3)). Lately, he took over Ayane as Grand Lord of the Silver Crescent Gang (Chapter 42 of Book 2: Probabilities and Commandments). Now, he’s stuck in Switzerland with his father after the Japanese prime minister’s suspension of all flights from Europe to Japan (Chapter 50 of Book 2: Fixed).

Kim Yoon Jae / “Smoke” is that Korean guy who always smiles, remember? He joined the Silver Crescent to get revenge for his slaughtered family back in Korea. His side story was told in Chapter 36 of Book 2: Lullaby, where he was sexually-abused by the pedophile Spectra leader of the Korean faction. He’s a bomb expert and works as a part-time bartender in the Decks. Also, remember that he was the one who took that scandalous picture of Yuken and drunken Ayane kissing.

Lin Chen / “Siren” is the Chinese girl Akio became obsessed with after he found her floating on the lake and shackled in Kyoto. She uses the melting darts as weapon. She was the one who threw a dart towards Kosuke while he was on the Concorde café with Saori – and she ended up being chased by Saori (Chapter 6 of Book 2: Champagne). She played the pipa during the Cultural Festival in the scene where Kosuke first saw Ayane in Book 2 (Chapter 19 of Book 2: Perfection). She was also that girl who rescued Kosuke in the Empire Hotel (Chapter 40 of Book 2: Save the Queen). Now, after she was nearly killed by Rei for treachery by injecting a drug on her (Chapter 42 of Book 2: Probabilities and Commandments) and thrown to the lake unconscious, she was saved by Suzuki Akio, who was there in Kyoto coincidentally for a girl-hunting escapade.

Because of the injected drug, Lin has lost her ability to feel emotions – a “zombie-like state”. Later in Chapter 44 of Book 2: Solutions, Yuken revealed himself to be a doctor and presented a cure to this zombie-like state in the form of the Silver Laudanum.

The Silver Laudanum is a drug in tisane/powder form. That’s why Yuken managed to guise it as a tea, which he gave to almost everyone during the Christmas season (Chapter 32 of Book 2: Christmas Presents). If given as tea, it renders immunity to the ‘zombiefying’ effect of the Oblivion Vapors.

*The Oblivion Vapors is a more detrimental variety of the Lethal Lily Vapors. These two are both smoke bombs (used primarily by Yoon) – but they also come in liquid form and can be injected to produce more adverse effect, just like what happened to Lin.

The Lethal Lily Vapors can erase one’s short term memory. It was used by Yoon on Yuken when he stole his camera to erase Ayane’s picture (Chapter 8 of Book 2: Bomb Out), used by Ayane on Kosuke during the Nakashima Business Tower scene (Chapter 14 of Book 2: Lost Memories), and used by Kaoru Hiro lately on Rei (Chapter 49 of Book 2: Foxed) . The extent of the amnesic effect of this drug only reaches up to one’s last sleep. So for example, I last woke up from sleep at 3pm and I inhaled the drug at 6pm. When the drug wears off and I wake up, I would remember everything except for those events that happened between 3-6pm.

The Oblivion Vapors can erase one’s emotions. This was the drug injected into Lin, that’s why she would ‘phase out’ and act as though she can’t see, hear, or feel anything. This same drug, this time in gaseous form, is incorporated inside Lin’s shackles. This is why when Akio snooped around and accidentally pushed a button on the shackle, it emitted gas.

But because Akio drank the ‘tea’ Yuken gave before he inhaled the gas from the shackle, he was immune to its effects. Now, this leads us back to the explanation regarding the Silver Laudanum.

To explain the mechanism of action of this antidote in layman’s terms, the Silver Laudanum is a “drug to make someone depressed become not depressed”. The drug Rei injected into Lin’s neck was a depressive drug – the only way to counter it is by administering a euphoric drug. The problem is that the Silver Laudanum has a side effect – and that side effect is excessive euphoria.

However, for this substance to work as a CURE (and not like a vaccine for prevention as the ‘tea’ is per se), it had to be ‘amplified’ to increase its effect 100 fold. This is done by mixing the powder form of the Silver Laudanum to an alcohol – specifically to champagne. This is the reason why Lin has become one champagne addict too and ended up having weird Akio-like behavior.

Like Lin, Kaoru Saori is a Silver Laudanum-dependent person too. The next chapters would explain more about the mystery behind Kaoru Saori’s past.

Chris Glasgow (not Chris Brown, hehe) / “Spider” is the Silver Crescent Gang’s African-American computer hacker. He is the guy manning the Spider Web, the supercomputer/hacking program created by Yoshida Akira (Ayane’s father).

I have received feedback from readers expressing confusion about who Chris is, especially after Chapter 51. It’s like this: Chris’ real name is Dwayne Lindstrom. He is actually a prisoner. He was imprisoned in New York when he was 15 years old because he hacked a big time international bank. He is good at hacking because he was actually Yoshida Akira’s apprentice. So, he spent 9 years in jail and when he was 24 years old, Ayane and Rei came to visit him in jail, asking for his help to fix the Silver Disk.

Readers still are confused about the Silver Disk, so let me explain once again. If you would look at it, there is only ONE Silver Disk, but it has two parts: 1) Disk; 2) Reader. The disk doesn’t work without the reader, meaning the ‘real’ Silver Disk is the disk + reader.

The one under Ayane’s possession in Book 1 which was in constant pursuit by the Spectra is the disk. It was only later in Book 1 when Ayane found out that the reader was actually there inside her Circa Constellation all along (Chapter 68: Silver Secrets).

The Silver Disk is a silver device that looks pretty much like an external hard drive of a PC. No, it’s not a CD. Aside from the important data inside of it, the Silver Disk also is a key to the Vault.

Now, about the Vault – As told in the chapters that have been written so far, we have heard not just one but TWO Vaults. One Vault is actually the Silver Crescent Vault, which is hidden in Switzerland (Chapter 49 of Book 2: Foxed). Now, if you would read Chapter 50: Fixed, Yamazaki Daisuke (Kosuke’s prime minister stepfather and Grand Lord of the Spectra Gang) mentions a second Vault, the Golden Crescent Vault in China.

Now, Crosse is offering Daisuke the Keys in exchange for being his new ‘right hand’ in the Spectra Gang. Meaning, Crosse is offering to give Daisuke the keys to open the Golden Crescent Vault, NOT the Silver Crescent Vault, which is now empty.

Is the Golden Crescent Vault empty too? If not, what is inside the Golden Crescent Vault in China? Why is Crosse giving Daisuke this suspicious offer? These questions are still bound to be answered in the next chapters.

Also, there’s confusion that arose regarding Chapter 51 about Ayane opening the Vault in Switzerland. To re-explain it, it’s like this:

Ayane attempted to open the Vault three times.

FIRST ATTEMPT TO OPEN THE SWISS VAULT: The attempt failed because the Silver Disk didn’t work. Remember that part in Book 1 where Yuken and Shizuki cracked the Silver Disk open in Tsuzuya Academy (Chapter 68: Silver Secrets)?

To understand it better, look at it this way: the Silver Disk works like a cellular phone where you need to input a code to unlock it. If you input the code incorrectly for a certain number of times, the cellular phone with lock automatically.

Now, what happened to the Silver Disk that time is that Yuken and Shizuki used a conventional unlocking device used by the police – but Yoshida Akira’s inventions just couldn’t be cracked by an ordinary means that easily, right? It’s Yoshida Akira after all. They may access the information inside the disk, but the disk’s ability to open the Vault had been locked the moment Yuken and Shizuki cracked it. It’s the Silver Disk’s security mechanism.

Now, in order to access the Vault, the Silver Disk had to be restored/reformatted back to its original, uncracked state. Only one person can do this – that’s the reason why Ayane and Rei sought Chris Glasgow’s (Spider) help.

SECOND ATTEMPT TO OPEN THE SWISS VAULT: The attempt was successful and happened 1 year after the first attempt (Ayane was 18 years old that time. Remember that she left Japan at 17 years old and stayed with the Yoshifumis for a couple of months before the first attempt to access the Vault). Ayane was able to open the Vault. However, Chris stopped Ayane from reporting to Rei about it. While Ayane was accessing the Vault, Chris overheard Rei and Shigeo’s (his father) conversation where they are actually plotting to seize the Vault from Ayane.

THIRD ATTEMPT TO OPEN THE SWISS VAULT: Another successful attempt, but this time Ayane didn’t let anyone know about this visit. This is when she partitioned the wealth inside the Vault, informing Rei about only half of the Vault contents (¼ of the wealth allocated for re-establishing the Silver Crescent and ¼ deposited in Japan, which she used later to purchase hotels and businesses as Lady Nu Huang).

The other half of the wealth – Ayane hid them somewhere. We are only reaching this part of the story so far. This is where the latest chapter, Chapter 51 ,ends.

If you have any more questions regarding the Vaults or about anything just in case I missed explaining something, feel free to send me an e-mail.

Regarding the peculiar conversation between Fuuko and Kaoru Hiro in the start of Chapter 51, the next chapters would explain why they acted as such. For now, the important thing to take note of is that Fuuko admitted that she is a part of the Spectra Gang. Kaoru Hiro, based on his communication with Crosse in Chapter 49 of Book 2: Foxed, hints to us that Hiro is also part of the Spectra Gang. So the common question as to why they had to ‘stage an act’ at the first part of Chapter 51 would be revealed in the next chapters. These explanations would also include why Fuuko needed those hotel blueprints.

Now, if you want me to give a clue regarding the relevance of the blueprints, I’ll give you one BIG clue - Read Chapter 17 of Book 2: Cookies - Just read the first part of the chapter. The clue is very obvious and you’d probably be so surprised why you didn’t catch it early on, hehe.

Yeah, that’s it. Told ya.

Now, link what you discovered to Fuuko. What was she again? An architect? Good at floor plans?

Floor plans look cool on paper, but they look cooler when they’re on something more hi-tech, eh?

Now you’re grinning.

Hehe. Welcome to the hyena club.

See, the clues scattered around F&L can be hidden discreetly (like the ‘tea’) or can be as bright as day… you just have to have the eye to catch them, hehe.

Now, if you want more clues, this is my suggestion: read the posts of the readers in our thread, especially those with analysis. Who knows, some, if not most of them, have hit the jackpot?

Again, I apologize to the readers if the information I have given off for the past chapters overloaded you. This is the reason why I am controlling the chapter lengths to the best I could and updating as often as possible (in addition to placing Akio scenes to balance out the chapters). I hope that this author note at least helped you one way or another into putting the fact fragments together to reconstruct the story in your mind fittingly.

The next chapter wouldn’t have so much ‘brain frying’ by the way, but it would be… crazy.

Also, expect me to post a side-story chapter starring Hidemi-Fuuko, Yuken-Shizuki, Tomo-Makiko, and Akio-Lin. These side stories won’t be listed in the index as one of the numbered chapters and reading them will be completely OPTIONAL. For Fictionpress, I would be posting them as a separate story (thus, not included in the chapter list of the F&L2 thread). I’m posting these side stories to fill in plot holes, but the events in the side stories WILL NOT contain clues to the mysteries in the main story, thus they are optional reads.

I am flying to the Philippines 6 hours from now for my annual Holy Week vacation in my grandma’s place in Makati. Then, I’d be on Hongkong and Macau on Sunday till Tuesday. I would be away until Tuesday just to let you guys know. I’m not so sure if I would be able to answer your emails once I’m there because we’re going to the beach (where I’d flaunt my non-existent abs replaced by adiposity. Boston hamburgers are triglyceride builders!).

I’d be back NEXT WEEK with an update plus the first few chapters of my new story, Vena Cava.

I’ve said this a million times but THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT NOT ONLY FOR THIS STORY, FISTS AND LIPSTICKS, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY TO MEIA, AND I. The support we’ve been getting, the thousands of posts, the numerous emails I’ve been receiving everyday showing their respect and support, EVERYTHING down to the littlest gestures of encouragement that drive this story to where it is today (more than 100 chapters and ongoing) – thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Just a few more chapters and brain-frying and we’re getting there to the finish line. Actually, I have finished writing Fists and Lipsticks 2: The Silver Crescent last night and when I typed in the last word, I couldn’t explain what I felt. It was like running a marathon for almost 3 years that seemed to never end but on my last turn, I finally saw that finish line. Lots of revisions to be done, though – including Book 1, which I am in the process of re-writing. I have to re-read everything I’ve written from the start to edit out inconsistencies and add to the story parts that I’ve missed explaining or scenes that have plot holes.

Again, there would be no Book 3, but I’d be hanging around longer in Soompi for Vena Cava. It has a lighter plot in terms of the mystery/brain-frying aspect but it’s gonna be fun and different.

Regarding translations requests, again I would give you guys the go signal AFTER I finish the revisions. Thank you so much for the offers (Thai, Vietnamese, and Korean) and thank you for the courtesy you showed by asking my permission first before taking this story out of Soompi and Fictionpress. I really appreciate it.

After I come back from my Holy Week vacation, expect faster updates (it would depend on my revision time, though). If not twice a week, expect an update at least once a week.

Sincerely,
Your official Hyena-Grinning-Brain-Frier,
Mark

P.S. I realized that this Author note is about a chapter long! Hehe.

PS again – to Miss Alice: Meia made me read your PM about the Baby Names! Hehe. Now you made me realize that it’s about time to think about baby names, right Meia?

I want to have Chinese babies like Akio

Vena Cava - to be launched this April

Yup, it's finally here.

Since I'm now tweaking the final chapters of Fists and Lipsticks 2: The Silver Crescent, I have decided to have my new full-length fic launched this April.

Credits to Vincent Leung for the poster

As I've said, Vena Cava (coming this April 2009) will be completely different from Fists and Lipsticks. Although still under the MYSTERY genre, I will blend it this time to SUPERNATURAL. I've started constructing the plot and twists from start to end but I have to admit that I'm a little bit unsure with the other details at this point in time, including the volume of characters I would include for this project. I will be posting it as some sort of "jumpstart" and by experiment (which hopefully will work just as much as F&L did). While my other story is still being posted in Fictionpress and Soompi Forums, I may not be able to update this as often as F&L.

Also, I made a decision to revamp the names of the characters and YES, once again use Japanese names for this story. I am more comfortable writing with Japanese names and the dialogues, scenes, and setting is pretty much similar to F&L so the transition wasn't that difficult as I thought it would be. Initially, the plan was to set it up in the United States, but for some reason I am not 'feeling' the fic just as much as I do whenever I write F&L. We'll go with Japanese, and yes, I've decided to put it up in Soompi as well.

Again for a sneak preview, Vena Cava is about a female medical student who has a peculiar "talent". I don't want to spoil it yet. It's a mystery fic with a supernatural twist, with action, drama (although to a lesser degree compared to F&L), comedy (this will have more of comedy since the lead character is quirky like Kaoru Saori, hehe), and suspense. Point of clarification = NO, VC is NOT about vampires. It will also have badass gangsters, crazy twists, and love webs.

I'm very excited to share this one with you guys. It's going to be fun and it's going to be different, hehe.

To the Fists and Lipsticks readers - Thank you so much for your continued support. We still have a couple of chapters more to go before F&L ends (estimated on May/June). Also, I'm planning to re-write Book 1 of F&L in an attempt to fix and refurbish my horrible writing and dense, high-schoolish descriptions, hehe. I will finish the revision of Book 1 before releasing the final complete .doc/PDF version of Fists and Lipsticks Book 1 + Book 2 combined.

Author Notes from Chapter 49

Copy pasted from our Soompi Thread:

REPLIES FOR CHAPTER 49
(A/N: I highly recommend that readers going to Chapter 50 ahead would take time to read this first
so that you'll be properly guided of who's who and what has happened, especially to those who are tad confused.)

Hi F&L readers! Hehe...

First up, I'm sorry if there has been a delay on posting Chapter 50. This chapter was supposed to be up 2 days ago but unfortunately my internet connection was intermittent so I couldn't post the chapter properly without being disconnected midway. Thank you for your patience and continued support.

I read all your replies, including those sent via e-mail and PMs and I'd like to say thank you for sending them in because I'm very happy to answer them. Actually, I was so amazed of the replies that came in for this chapter. A great number of them were intelligent and analytic to the point that somewhere in the way I kinda felt threatened, hehe. I thought my trail of bombs was bound to be detonated by the guesses, yikes...

Anyway, here are some of your points/inquiries that I'd like to put emphasis on at this point of the story:


I. FUUKO & HIDEMI = COUPLE?

akito&agito
Fuuko! I am shocked. She wants to go on a date with Hidemi!?
Did see it, but didn't expect it. Man... speechless here.
lil^jenniie
WOW. that is something new.
myxlove101
This chapter was too awesome. Fuuko + Hidemi = Date?
Woah. Big twist there.. Wonder if they are gonna be a couple.
VOV
Aww Fuuko makes a comeback!
I like how you make everything tie together so well.
leebabe007
Fuuko wants a date with Hidemi? Aww how cute. I couldn't help but to gush like a crazy fangirl.
5imply_5wt
Fukko & Hidemi = cuteness aah~
paola_grace_27
fuuka has interest with yamada? hmmm... that is something, you know...
did she already recovered from her heartbreak with kosuke? lol

For purpose of recall, Yamada Hidemi is one of Kosuke's high school friend. He's the Tsuzuya Super Athlete if you would remember, the one who drives a car to school, the captain of all the sports team blah blah blah. Also, Hidemi is also that guy who would always be spotted in his coffee shop, the Concorde (think about the Concorde as the real-world Starbucks, you get the idea). Another thing we can recall about Hidemi is that he was the one who saved Kimura Ruriko (one of Ayane's friends) when she was attacked by a group of motorcycle-riding gangsters in Book 1 too.

Ayanami Fuuko, on the other hand, is Tsuzuya Academy's notorious female bully. If you have read Book 1, she's the b*tchy character you hated. She bullied Makiko, Shizuki, and Ayane too (at least she attempted to).

Now, why is Ayanami Fuuko back suddenly back in the story? For a purpose, most likely huh? She suddenly showed up, saying that she knows of a way to remove Lin Chen's gas shackles. Also, she suddenly shows interest on Hidemi.

benchi101
Why does she want to go on a date with Hidemi? o.o

Good question. Maybe it's because Fuuko suddenly realized that she 'likes' Hidemi...

... or maybe there's something else?

You can try continue and read Chapter 50 for a sneak peak of the 'answer' for this question.


II. SECOND BOMB REGARDING KAORU HIRO'S IDENTITY

Again, for purposes of recall, Kaoru Hiro is Kaoru Saori's older brother. We first met them in the earlier chapters when Saori was whining about handling the Dasera Bombing investigation case herself. In one chapter also, we could recall that Kosuke contacted Hiro ordering him to search for his biological mother.

undeniablystubborn
finally...
kaoru hiro's identity is finally revealed...
simpleangel
so it was actually kaoru hiro.
vivi_dee
Wait... what????? The guy was Hiro?
sentuhmentalfo0l
it all makes sense now! haha
no wonder hiro and saori were weird and suspicious
sweet_rose_20
so kauro-san was part of the spectra gang o_O
muchLove
Hiro is the Vault Man, never expected that.
iced_
Kaoru-san is actually part of the spectre...

Bomb number two detonated for Kaoru Hiro - Yes, he is a 'part' of the Spectra Gang.

And because he was talking to Crosse during the Vault siege, then the next one is pretty obvious:

theLOSER
Hiro is working for Crosse? WOW! Didnt see that coming but
wow!
akito&agito
And Kaoru Hiro, he's working with Crosse?!

Yes, Hiro and Crosse are on one boat.

But of course, there's still the question of Hiro's suspicious profound knowledge:

Silent Serenity
His actions are very suspicious too, especially the fact that he seems to know so much. If he is in Crosse's side and he's also trying to help Kosuke (assuming that Saori is keeping Kosuke to keep him safe), does that mean that the Spectra is actually helping Kosuke??? But isn't the Spectra trying to kill Kosuke???

^ Above is a very good observation. Sorry if I can't elaborate about this at this point in time because if I did I would end up spoiling big time info, but I wanted to emphasize this one.

Now, this leads us to one short but very good question:

nha93
how did they do it so easily?

By 'they', Miss nha93 meant the Spectra Gang. How did the Spectra Gang make their way into the Vault too easily?

Other similar observations, some going into subtle details that I am happy that people were actually able to point out:

x3_b3b3
if Kauro Hiro was pretending to be the vault keeper...how did he manage to get to the vault if he had to use a fingerprint scanner? did he use some kind of glove thingy or something?
OR OR was HIS parents part of the Silver Cresent too? so he too, has access to the vault?
shinexshine
Wait a sec, I was wondering how come Kaoru Hiro was able to go in and out of the Vault with such ease? The fingerprinting security system, how was he able to bypass them if he was only there to ambush Rei? Was it the doing of the Spider Web or is it because Kaoru Hiro is affiliated with the original Crescent Gang too? His parents maybe? Or he himself?
stephieyeung
After reading shinexshine's post, that had me wondering too. Rei had to wait for one month for them to come up with measures to access the Vault. But apparently, Crosse, Kaoru Hiro, and the Spectra gang was able to access the Vault too easily. Kaoru Hiro's role is beginning to intrigue me more and more. Also, he knows too much about the Crescent Gang. He could fight damn well too that he was able to take down Rei in a single slam!

Take note of these observations. All I could say now is that they may come REALLY handy in the next couple of chapters.

Hehe, I love mysteries.

fairy~dream
Hiro is a part of the Spectra, but I am doubtful of their true intentions, especially that Hiro seems to know a lot of secrets Rei had no idea about. Hiro's existence in this story makes my head hurt from all these brain storming.
shar0nsaurus
Hiro dude huh? Totally wasn't expecting that. What is he really? Every time he appears he always surprises me with things. How does he know so much and capable of all these things?
syndryx
so, Kaoru Hiro’s position was high enough since he knows about this secret? But Hiro was only in his, what, thirty’s? So how did he come across this secret? Maybe passed? But who really is Hiro? What’s his real role here aside from being a fraudulent senior police investigator, masked Vault Keeper, Crosse’ subordinate, and a member of the Spectra?


Who is Kaoru Hiro?

BIG questions have BIG answers.

Stay tuned for the bombs, hehe.

Again, take note of the reviews I noted here, especially the ones I tagged in bold characters


III. CONNECTIONS?

Now, for a little break down of the possible connections. Brilliant guesses from you guys, hehe.

Let's see what you guys have:

ronicabeee
Now that it is revealed, then Crosse must know Saori too!
And by that means Crosse knows where Kosuke is!
And by that means Crosse is hiding both Kosuke and Ayane!
And by that means Crosse and Hiro and Saori are all members of the Spectra!
And by that means the Black Widow is working for Crosse
And by that means Yuken is working for Crosse because the Black Widow helped Yuken before!
akito&agito
then Crosse knows where Kosuke is?!
Is Yuken working with Crosse?
redbutterflytree
Unless Black Widow knows both of them separately, Yuken and Crosse must be working together, right? So then, is Yuken part of the Spectra? And with Kaoru Hiro & Saori! Hiro must be working for Crosse, ergo, Saori is connected to Crosse, and Crosse has something to do with Kosuke (unless Saori and Hiro acted on their own to save him). OR WAIT! Crosse could be protecting BOTH Ayane and Kosuke
shelleybeans
If Crosse and Hiro (and the Black Widow) are in contact, then it must mean that they are all in the same side... the Spectra!
HYPERGURLY^^
is the black widow ..saori? and yuken is a part of spectra huh? so is fuuko...... omg... all of these people.... WOW.... crazy

I see that you guys have found the puzzle pieces yourself. The only question left now is that if these pieces fit with each other.

Once again, take note of the ones I tagged in bold characters. I'm not saying that they're all confirmed to be correct, but I'm not saying they're wrong either...

Maybe there's just one or two puzzle pieces lurking around that no one was able to notice, unfortunately.

Haha. -#-grins in glory-#-


crossroadblues
So, Sato was working for Crosse the whole time?
Does he know he is working for crosse? No, Sato probably thinks he is working for spider web.
Is spider web Hiro's sister? I got too many questions that I need to be answered lol.
So the new gang consist of Crosse, Hiro, Saori, Fuuko, and Sato.....

You might mean 'Black Widow', not 'Spider Web'.

For purposes of recall, the Spider Web is the supercomputer/hacking program used by the Silver Crescent. It was created by Yoshida Akira for the original Crescent Gang, but it was never used by the Crescent Gang. Chris Glasgow a.k.a. Spider controls this program for the Silver Crescent's use, but it was stolen by the Spectra.

'Black Widow' is the mysterious female hacker in Crosse's team. I will discuss further in the next section of my review replies.


yannie_nguyen
Hir0 and Cr0sse are allies! C0uld it be that they were the 0nes t0gether
during th0se eight years?

It could be.


Now, this is an interesting observation by Miss loveme100x:

loveme100x
Hiro is working for Crosse, so therefore Hiro is protecting Kosuke. Crosse and Hiro are said to be working for Spectra. Fuuko (just cause I think she's the Black Widow ) and Yuken are affiliated with Crosse and so therefore Hiro as well. So if Yuken and Fuuko and affiliated with Crosse and Hiro, they're with Spectra. Fuuko and Yuken's families were ruined by Spectra. Crosse also despised his father, his brother, and Spectra in book 1. It just doesn't make sense that they'd turn around to side with the one group they want dead. And it doesn't make sense that Spectra would willingly let them join after all the bad blood. Unless this is one of those situations where they join the enemy to kill them from the inside? Spectra aint that dumb right?

Lots of speculations about the suspicious affiliation of Crosse to the Spectra. He hated the Spectra, right? Same with Fuuko. So why work for the Spectra? They join the enemy to kill them from the inside - that's a very likely possibility. The Spectra isn't dumb, true. Also, Daisuke is aware of who Crosse is, obviously. Why does he take him in the gang?

I'd give a little bit of clue by throwing a question:
--- What if Crosse had something all along that the Spectra wanted all these times that made even Daisuke unable to refuse his joining-in?

Read between the lines, hehe.


IV. WHO IS THE 'BLACK WIDOW'?

Diverse votes coming in for who the infamous Black Widow is.

debbiex33
who is black widow?
i think i've heard of her before but i cant remember who she is.

Recall that Black Widow first came out in the story during the Kyoto siege - the scene where Yuken and Shizuki went to Kyoto to fetch Akio and Lin then they were chased down by Rei's men. To find their way out, Yuken was helped by a so-called 'Black Widow', whose voice sounded from his hi-tech SLR camera. You can read back to the chapter called "Solution".

Now, Black Widow revealed herself to be actually a girl. The big question is, who is she?

The votes/guesses were diverse, but with only two prominent suspects:

littlemisstiny
black widow is either fuuko or saori xD !!!!
akito&agito
And the Black Widow, who is she?
Can't be Fuuko...
RHAINE
i reread that part where the black widow asked for swiss choco LOL
can't be saori cause the hacker called him "kaoro-san" hmm, who is that?
fairy~dream
The Black Widow sounds somewhat "childish". Is Saori the Black Widow? Her character seems to fit, but Fuuko's entry to the story gives us an option number 2.
AsianL0ve
haha is saori the black widow?
or uhh Ayanami Fuuko
patty412
I'm going with the guess that Fuuko is the Black Widow. It has not been revealed yet but I think several clues pointed to her, like the mention of "steel" in this chapter for instance.
nganrinat0r
the mystery with the Black Widow. Saori had crossed my mine when Hiro revealed himself but her comments exchanged with Rei were too 'normal' that, that guess seemed unrealistic.
renchew
FUUKO is so suspicious... she seems most fit to be Black Widow except.. the way the Black Widow talks seems to be like Saori.
maizakichi
i think Fuuko is Black Widow. like her being an architect...so she knows the structure of the buildings
and it would be easy for her to study the blue prints and all..hehehe
mangoes-dbsk
Maybe the black widow is Saori... (that's her name, right? I forgot. Hiro's sis or something. The one that locked Kosuke in the bottle room) since her brother is also in the Spectra, it's possible that she's in it too. And she's a police person or something. She should know how to do all these cool technology stuffs.
benchi101
I'm only guessing but sounds like the famous Black Widow is Saori. At first I thought it was Fuuko but then you know at the part when she told Hiro to buy her white chocolates or whatever to her when he gets home sounded what Saori would say.
dreamer88
i'm almost sure that annoying saori is the black
widow she's doing something good thank the lord
VietHoney
I think the black widow is Saori... o.o;
She asked for Swiss white chocolates which reminds me of when she asked Kosuke to buy her all that champagne. =T
aνєc aмσυr
So, does that mean Saori is also part of spectra...is she the black widow?????? Because the black widow did ask Hiro for Swiss white choclates on his way home. I think that was a pretty big clue.
linnienguyen
i think the black widow might be saori too! the cheese cake part really seems like something she would say.
loveme100x
the choices are limited to Saori and Fuuko. But I crossed
Saori off cause if it was her on the other end of that line, she would have asked Hiro to bring wine, not white chocolate. Fuuko's timely appearance, as well as her being possibly able to open that god damn gas shackle just kind of screams Black Widow.
xradiostarx
omg is black widow.. saori? ;D
but ohmy.gif haha i love how the begging went for fuuko xD haha or is she the black widow? o.o
~Tropical.Mists
at first I thought it was Fuuko, I mean COME ON! introducing her again at such a pivotal moment? and the fact that she knows about the shackles and is reintroducing herself to Akio and Hidemi? So well... point proven. But then I thought it could be Saori too cuz of well... *coughHiro*cough haha =P Considering how the black widow talks and reacts? It SOUNDS like something that Saori would say or react to.... and maybe I'm thinking on a different timeline.... but if Rei is at the Vault at the same time that Hidemi and Akio are with Fuuko in the coffe shop, then wouldn't that mean that Fuuko CAN'T be the black widow? o_O She can't be at two places at once? Unless of course it's hours later? >_>
MarieY
I think Black Widow is Saori. She sounds so childish and she reminds me of Saori a lot.
mabelinda
there's black widow too, who I am
thinking is most likely to be Saori because of how he asks for swiss chocolates in the end it is so like Saori!
syndryx
Black Widow is really a girl… and a jolly-sounding girl, in that case, like Saori….but I’m really having doubts if that’s really Saori….
jaja13
i think that the black widow is either fuuko or kaori.

So, Saori or Fuuko?

Again, Kaoru Saori is Kaoru Hiro's weird younger sister. She's the champagne addict, Kosuke's annoying stalker who proclaims that she's the best detective in the world. She also owns that bottle-filled house where Kosuke is currently staying.

Fuuko is the Tsuzuya bully who asked Hidemi out on a date in exchange for removing Lin's gas shackles.

Very good guesses up there, especially those presented with evidences. For a recap of the common observations, it can be Kaoru Saori. Black Widow sounds 'childish' and a little bit 'whiny'. She played Rei like a sarcastic wicked kid. She also asked Hiro to bring home Swiss chocolates for her.

But on the other side, she referred to Hiro as 'Kaoru-san' rather than 'onii-chan' (what Saori usually calls Hiro). Also, Saori is presumed to be with Kosuke when the Vault scene happened (take note that I said 'presumed'... This information may change in the next chapter, you know, hehe...). So if it wasn't Saori, then it could be Fuuko.

Fuuko entered the story in a 'pivotal moment' (as Miss ~Tropical.Mists mentioned). She appear to know a lot and became interested when she heard about Lin's shackles. Is there a possibility that the shackles, the Spider Web, and the Spectra all had something to do with her? It could be her. In fact, there's a big chance that it might be her after all. But then again, will someone like Fuuko be likely to work with Yuken? They are unlikely to be allies, but if Yuken is indeed affiliated with the Spectra, this is a possibility.

But there's an interesting outlier among the guessers:

kc_chua
I'm going to try to be different from the rest of the readers by saying that I don't think that Black Widow is either of the two. It is either a new character or someone we simply missed.

Who knows? Maybe you're right, Miss kc_chua

Black Widow could be a character everyone just missed.


V. 'STEEL?'

RHAINE
who is in rei's team whos in charge of making the silver slayer?
its a male & steel and all is his business. i seriously have no idea i think. dmitri? nuhhh, he made motors but not steel.
Silent Serenity
Kaoru said in the first quoted text -- "HE". Meaning, the person knowledgeable about this steel that apparently is similar to Lin's shackles is a male. And he said that the metal was used in making the katana? Aren't the Silver weapons made by Yoshida Akira? Then he said next that the metal is used in motorcycle detailing - therefore, more evidence to point to Yoshida Akira! Fuuko said that she can help Lin, right? Then Fuuko must know something about this steel! Hiro knows about this steel too, so Fuuko and Kaoru Hiro must know each other???
VietHoney
and Fuuko... Does she have access to that special steel or something...? o.o;
or is there another way to break through the shackles...? ;O

I highly recommend that everyone would take note of the conversation Rei and Hiro had inside the Vault regarding the so-called 'steel'.

I will quote it so that you guys wouldn't have to find it:

QUOTE

Rei gasped upon seeing the Vault Keeper standing by the lift, holding his katana that was extended to its full length.

“Did you know that this kind of steel has been manufactured only for three purposes?” the Vault keeper swung the sword in a manner that did not, in any aspect, look amateurish.

As Rei witnessed this, he felt a lump form on his throat. His previously flushed face turned white in an instant. His eyes widened in disbelief.

“One, for this sword… lightweight, sharp, retractable, unbreakable… Two, for detailing… Detailing of what, you might ask?” the Vault keeper continued, retracting the sword back and putting it inside his pocket. “Are you curious?”

“Why don’t you ask me more?”

“D… D-Detailing… of w-what?” Rei began stuttering.

The man smiled, “Circa Motorcycles.”

“W… What?!”

“And number three? Do you want to know it? Are you so curious now?” His voice was beginning to become more and more provocative

“Why don’t you ask me more?”

“W…What is… n-number three?”

“Gas Shackles,” the man replied. “You know what I am talking about, don’t you?”

Now, for this point raised by Miss fuuko-chan

fuuko-chan
Fuuko knows how to take off Lin's shackles... how? Maybe she'll be using something similar to Rei's katana?

By the principle of 'diamonds-cut-diamonds', above is a brilliant guess. Let's see how things would work in the future chapters.

How will Fuuko remove Lin's shackles? The clues above are brilliant guesses, but I'll make sure that after you read that revelation, you'd all be dead shocked how it will go, hehe.


VI. WHAT HAPPENED TO REI?

crossroadblues
Is Rei really "gone"?

Nope, Rei just passed out. He's a rather important character and he couldn't just die in a lame way...

Not that I'm saying that he'll die but... he might, he might not, hehe.

mygurl mia
So Rei wouldn't be able to remember what transpired inside the Vault then?
Just like how Akio forgot about the hotel receptionist in the past chapter?
Why didn't Hiro just kill Rei off?
Rin Li
What happened to Rei after he was drugged out? Will he be amnesic like Lin and Saori are? But he just "inhaled" the fumes right? Not injected, so he wont end up as a "zombie"?


Yes, glad that you guys still have the facts straight. The vapor Hiro used is that kind Kim Yoon Jae usually uses. Remember that Hiro asked Rei what time his last sleep was. It is because the Lethal Lily Vapor could only erase recent memory from the victim's last sleep.

We recall that incident when Yoon used the smoke bomb on Suzuki Akio in the earlier chapters. When Shizuki woke Akio up, he could still remember who Shizuki and Makiko were, but NOT the hotel receptionist. Why? Because he just met the hotel receptionist that day. His memory of the receptionist is recent - after his last sleep, therefore vulnerable to the drug's effect.

teddybear01
so... rei's emotions and memories are wiped?

The Lethal Lily Vapor (which erases recent memory from the victim's last sleep) is different from the Oblivion Vapor (which can 'deactivate' a person's ability to feel emotions), which Rei used on Lin to "zombiefy" her. Apparently, Saori has been affected by the same drug too, making her and Lin dependent now on the 'antidote' - the Silver Laudanum.

The question is, will Rei still be able to remember everything that happened inside the Vault?

Well, you'll find out in the next chapter.

debbiex33
did they just leave rei there after he fainted?

You'll find out what became of him in the next chapter.


VII. THE SWISS VAULT

PSiloveyu
I KNEW THERE WAS GNA BE NOTHING IN THE VAULT !
I JUST KNEW IT !
mygurl_mia
I'm curious = If the Vault is now empty, where are the contents?
Are they with Ayane? Where did she keep them?
shinexshine
One more thing, it was mentioned before that there are a bunch of money and weapons
inside the vault right? If Ayane was the one who moved the contents to some other place, when and how did she do it?
Kathy88
Of course, the Spectra had their nose on the Vault even before Rei could lay a finger on it.
Speaking of the Vault, where did the money and the weapons go?
The last person to access it was Ayane, right? So was she the one who transferred the contents
to some other place without Rei's knowledge?

Another big mystery revealed here - The infamous Swiss Vault is actually empty. Where are the contents? Of course, judging with how the things had gone since Chapter 1, we are aware the Ayane HAS the Vault. If she didn't have the Vault, she would have all the money and power to buy off hotel and run big time businesses in Japan, can she?

I can't give a clue, but if you would re-read some of the previous chapter (or even JUST this chapter 49 or 48 - you'll actually catch a very subtle but VAST clue to HOW Ayane was able to transfer the contents to some other place.

Another question is that where is that 'other place' that Ayane moved the Vault contents into?

Well folks, that's for the next chapters, hehe.

loveme100x
Assuming that Spectra's main man, Daisuke, never gained access to the vault, and has never been to
the vault, just how on Earth would Spectra be able to gain that much access and power?

^ Very, very good observation. Another point that I couldn't elaborate on but I would greatly emphasize.

mabelinda
But but but but but.......... what will happen now that the vault keys are with Crosse? Is he planning to get the vault himself?
fuuko-chan
I think the Vault in this chapter is a fake and the real one is somewhere... out there. O.o And the Spectra knows where it is... I guess. Will Crosse really give the keys to his father despite knowing it's Ayane who's supposed to own the Vault? ):

Regarding Crosse's 'plans' with the Vault keys, I'd leave the answers in the next chapter.

syndryx
The protection still lingers up to this moment, and the existence of that protection serves as a warning to all those who are interested in taking the riches of Crescent gang…but then again, how come that that protection is still existent? And for it to serve as a warning….is it possible that though the Crescent has been disbanded, its members still protect the Vault? Or something like that? I mean, for the protection to still linger for the last sixty years with the Crescent already gone, there should be someone or a group of someones still doing the protecting part, right?

This is a another very good observation. Can't elaborate, but at this point, bear this in mind, especially the ones I tagged in bold characters ^.


VIII. SPECTRA vs. SILVER CRESCENT

emfkrx
now crosse and the spectra seems like the "good" guyyys!
maizakichi
it's as if Spectra is ruling everything now. hehehe
chng234
kinda surprised that crooses is capable to take down rei.

That's my plan - a reversal of protagonist-antagonist roles...

But then again, that reversal may not be permanent.

loveme100x
I have yet to see Yamazaki Daisuke
make his official appearance in F&L2 as Spectra's leader. Unless he's dead? O.o But that's some-what
impossible. I just find his non-appearance a bit too suspicious.

Very good point. In fact, coincidentally, the next chapter would cater to this little request, hehe.

~Tropical.Mists
So that leads up to the whole Cross/Hiro/Black Widow tie issue with Spectra >_> Are they really WITH the Spectra? Haha =P I HIGHLY doubt it....
I love Cross and I refuse to believe that he is evil >=( Like I REFUSE with a PASSION to believe that he's into gangs and killing people and working with his good-for-nothing father =S ugh! So yes.... I'd like to secretly think that ALL 3 of them are good =) They're good because they're going AGAINST the Spectra and what better way to beat them than to join them? and destroy them from the inside >=) wakakaka! That's what I WOULD like to think =) Of course I could be wrong...
kc_chua
Reading between the lines, Crosse's so-called "grand revenge plan" must include teaming up with his father Dmitri Williams in double both the Spectra and the Silver Crescent. Is that the reason why Crosse is "working" for the Spectra?
syndryx
I mean, if Crosse will really tell Dmitri about the keys and the Spectra will go and check the Vault and see it empty, won’t they think that someone (Crosse) might have hidden its contents from them?
cambochinkanese
I wonder what Crosse's motive is o_o

Well as I've said, we've yet to see what Crosse has in mind. I promise to not let you guys be disappointed (or at least I'd try to.)

But this I can say: Heck, it's gonna be cool.


IX. The SPIDER WEB

kc_chua
That leads me back to think about that incident back in the Nakashima Tower (yup, that part where Kosuke jumped off the building to rescue Ayane!!! <3).>That was the Black Widow's doing, right! I suddenly had this mindboggling question in my head. That time, the Spider Web wasn't stolen yet, but the Black Widow was able to interecept their system. This leads me to the assumption that maybe there is a pre-existing computer system more powerful than the Spider Web? The Spectra probably stole the Spider Web later on in the story, but to access the Swiss Vault security system, they MIGHT be using another hacking program powerful enough to infiltrate. Because if the Spider Web was powerful enough to do that job, then Chris and Rei wouldn't have to wait too long just to find the perfect moment and opportunity to steal the Vault away from Ayane, would they? Then again, this theory might be going too overboard. I may be wrong. But... I MAY be right too, right? ;p

I won't comment on this yet but wow...

I never expected that someone would actually catch this one as early as this point of the story. Good job, kc_chua.


X. OTHER QUESTIONS / ASPECTS / RANDOM STUFF

morphine99
Believe it or not, while reading the part where Rei was being chased, the scene played on my mind with matching sound effects and background music

Haha.

fairy~dream
What's up with 'Hiro's being brain friers anyway? Both inside and outside this story, 'Hiro's TWISTS minds. YOU KILLER AUTHOR!!! L0L

Errr... another haha.

curiousitykills
I feel pity for Crosse-kun but why can't he just let go in order to get rid off the pain in his heart? how long can you hold on and wait Crosse-kun if Ayane's heart belongs to Kosuke? arggh....
xherodbskx
I demand aya and kosuke back together!!
noona
i'm really happy that ayane and kosokue loves each other....
poor crosse, but i really want ayane and kosokue to be together
amandahs
good chapter but also sad at the same time

Like I said, I'm not a fan of sad endings.

nganrinat0r
did Saori also have shackles? if yes this story is further twisted @.@

No, she didn't. It's much more than shackles.

benchi101
I'm now wondering again of how Crosse got out of his trap 8 years ago. Did somebody help him out?

One of the biggest mysteries in both Book 1 and 2 of F&L. I have a chapter that would narrate this in full detail.

loveme100x
Why would Crosse escape from Spectra only to return as their assassin?

Another big question. This would be included in the narration just like what I've said to Miss benchi101 ^.

VietHoney
YEESS. DIVORCE PLEASE! ;D lmao.

Let's see how Rei would be pushed to do this voluntarily.

5imply_5wt
such an amazing description of the swiss bank. makes me want to go there someday ^^

I wanna go there too someday, hehe. I haven't been there. I wanted to but man, the plane ticket it heck expensive!!!

new_faith
I'm missing Tomo and Makiko! Where are they?

They'll be back very soon... with important roles.

genna
There were too many clues for my head to handle though. lol, thinking at this hour gives me a headache...

Welcome to the Brain Frying F&L Adventure, hehe.

silent_regrets
i just came across you story today i finished the first one and here i am reading the second one
can i just say OH MY FREAKING HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!!! I LOVE YOUR STORY!!!!I cant believe i didnt read your story till now *slaps herself*
i love you story so intense i was practically on the edge of my seat throughout the whole two stories....
xxcoco_puffxx96
*Silent reader that JUST turned into active reader*
HI! I must say that your story is absolutely amazing! So fiery and exciting. It keeps me wanting more and more. Keep up the hard work and I'll be waiting!
maya16
i've been a silent reader for a while now and i just wanna say WOW x 3!
you're a great writer and you're fanfix is one in which i can't wait to read

Hey miss silent_regrets, xxcoco_puffxx96, and maya16 - - Welcome to F&L! Thank you for reading and hope you have a wonderful brain frying adventure with us, hehe.

To Mey Pazela, xxx Queen Of Slayers xxx, Rife, Snowy_angel, and the rest of the new readers from Fictionpress, welcome to F&L and thank you for your kind words, PMs, and e-mails. To the old readers in Fictionpress, especially to CLOUDSTRIFELOVER4ever, Benozir, and the rest who have stayed with us from Chapter 1, thank you very much for the continued support.

Thank you for your continued support to me, Meia, and F&L!
Thank you for being with us in this journey, hehe (turning into a drama king).

-Hiro