Mentioned Characters: Koishi, Kokoro

Hata no Kokoro is one of the evil villains residing in Villain Castle. As the enforcer of "dark justice," she uses the Noh of Darkness' power stored in her hidden eye to battle the Dark Villains. However, she has no idea who or what they are.

Hata no Kokoro was feeling uneasy. The reason was a comment from her sister, Koishi Komeiji, who also lived in Villain Castle. "You've got it easy. You can mess around without a care." Kokoro and Koishi spent their time in Villain Castle roleplaying. They spoke and acted like true villains. Koishi's comment had come during one of their many roleplay sessions, but it lingered in Kokoro's mind. Deep down, she felt that perhaps she was too carefree to be a true villain. So, she decided to try something new.

*pant* *pant* The fairy maids of Villain Castle looked on with puzzled expressions as Kokoro trained. Standing in the center of the dojo, she practiced stylish motions to dramatically remove her half-mask. It wasn't long before one of the curious fairy maids asked her what she was doing. "Hm? Oh, this," said Kokoro. "I'm trying to learn how to act like a true evil villain." The fairy maids began murmuring among themselves. Then, a different one stepped forward and whispered some advice. "Just taking off the mask isn't enough? I need a big weapon to make me look tougher and more villainous? You might have a point..." Kokoro dashed off, a spark of inspiration in her eye.

*grunt* *grunt* In the dojo, Kokoro was now training with a halberd. As the Villain Castle phantoms gawked at her, she gripped her menacing weapon in her right hand and dramatically removed her mask with her left. Because the halberd was so heavy and because she insisted on using her far hand to take off her mask, the seemingly pointless training was surprisingly hard on her body. One of the concerned phantoms drifted over to her. "Hm? I look super cool?" said Kokoro. "But I could make it even cooler?" The phantom droned some advice into her ear. "If I made my big entrance by smashing through a window, you'd all want to copy me? ...You guys can't smash through anything, but the point still stands? You might be onto something." Once more, Kokoro's eye lit up and she darted away.

"The mask... It whispers to me, telling me to fight." With those words, Kokoro hurled herself through one of Villain Castle's stained glass windows. Colorful shards shattered on the stone floor. Just as she had practiced, she swiped off her mask with stylish precision. "To defeat evil... I must taint myself with darkness." The fairy maids and phantoms broke out into thunderous applause. Kokoro had nailed her entrance. Suddenly, her sister arrived. "Oh no, the window's broken," said Koishi. "What are we gonna do about this glass? If you think I'm gonna clean this up for you... then you're right! Where's that broom?" "Y-You've got it all wrong. I―" "Shh, Kokoro. Keep it cool. I'm roleplaying." "Oh... Seems I still have a lot to learn." With Koishi having schooled her once again, Kokoro went back to her training with renewed vigor.