Ladder to Heavens (Hanako one sho(r)t)

[Ascended Flutist]

There are ripe cherries in my garden, so juicy and sweet they explode in your mouth in a savory concerto for taste buds. :3

This isn't in And to Live In Peace because fuck you, that's why it's doesn't really connect with anything else in the series, even though it fits in the timeline.



Today was a beautiful summer day, with a fresh breeze cooling down the warmest hours, and a sun warming up the early hours of the morning. There were maybe days more suited for study, but even the warm sun couldn't dispel the looming shadows of the upcoming exams.

And so we decided, Hanako and I, to go to one of the most quiet corners of Yamaku's expansive garden, and spend the afternoon under the shade of a tree, going over the most mazed chapters of Mutou's lessons. Which is, as it turns out, the majority of them.

"I don't really see how he gets to this equation from this..."
"Well, simple enough," I tell her. "You just use the fact that...wait, uhm...no, that's not it...uh..."
Damn, I thought I had nailed this stuff. Good thing we did go over it.
"Oh, wait, no!" I continue. "There. You take that hypothesis into account, so the other members disappear and there you go."
She frowns, then smiles ever so slightly and nods.

"Heyo~ over there~!" a very familiar voice calls. "I hope we're not bother- Oh, hi Hicchan~! Hanachan's there too~! What are you two lovebirds doing~? Wahahaha~! It's okay if you don't tell. Wahaha! Hahahahaha!"
...And it was so peaceful too.

"Hey Misha. Hello Shizune. We were studying, as you can clearly see. What are you- what is that?"

How I didn't notice the metallic ladder they're carrying, I'm not sure.

"That's a ladder, silly Hicchan~!" Misha grins.
"I see that, but what is it for?"
"Cherries~!"
"Cherries?"
"Cherries~!"
...
"Hum, Can you elaborate?"
Misha doesn't answer, pointing instead to the branches of the tree we're sitting under.

There are visible light-red dots spread around its leafy mass. Cherries. Many of them. They look as ripe as it can get.
"Oh. Oh, I see."
"Yep~! We're here to collect them." She explains, showing the two baskets Shizune is also carrying. "And eat them all~!" She booms ecstatically. Shizune looks rather excited too.
"Oh okay...wait, do you mean here?" I ask, confused.
"Of course, why would we be carrying a ladder all the way ~here~, otherwise?"
"Hum...isn't it against school regulations or something?"
"Ah...uhm..." Misha looks lost. she signs to Shizune, lifting the ladder with one hand and moving her other hand frantically. It looks hard.

Shizune signs back in the same fashion, her face bearing radiant triumph.
"There isn't any reglementations concerning the collection of fruits, so it's okay. Really, Shicchan? That's great~! You'd think with that many cherry trees...well, great~!"
Misha turns around even though Shizune isn't done signing. Our class rep glares at her bubbly companion, and stabs her shoulder with her fingers.

"What? Uh...oh...that's right," Misha says in a much less upbeat tone. Her grin thins out. "Shicchan says we shouldn't be bothering your studies, so we'll go pick another tree...Bye Hicchan, Hanachan."
I look at the cherries. Back at the manual. Back at the cherries. Back at the manual.

Sadly, science isn't cherries. I look at Hanako. She smiles and nod.
"It's alright, Misha," she utters.
"Huh? Really?"
"Yes...we were done with this chapter anyway," she continues, smiling at the drill-haired girl.
"Yay~!" She shouts, raising her fist in the air, then translating to Shizune. She shrugs at our answer, but smiles and signs something else.
"...Uh...right. Hicchan, this is a modular ladder, so you can take one of the parts and you two can climb on that. The tree isn't that high, so we wouldn't need all of it anyway...that's true, Shicchan...and there's enough cherries for all of us...Hehehe, I'm not so sure about that~!"

I stand up, taking the part of the ladder while Hanako packs our manuals. It's surprisingly light. Must be made of aluminium of something.

As we set up the ladders on opposite ends of the trunk, Shizune frowns, then signs again.
"Hey, Hicchan. Shicchan asks if Lilly is back yet, since she hasn't seen her in a while."
"Uh...no. I don't think she's back from Scotland yet. Hanako?"
"No, she isn't. I had her on the phone... a few days ago. She was still at her family's house."

Our answer makes the Council President fume almost literally. She signs her answer so fast Misha is having trouble keeping up.
"It's completely irresponsible...uhm, to abandon her duties as a class representative for so long and for dub...dubious? reasons. It's truly ou-tra-geous...outrageous? Ah...slow down Shicchan...don't-translate-that-plough-the-lillies...no, that's not it, it's... Oh, Shicchan, I'm not gonna say that~!"

Shizune makes the closest thing she's got resembling a sigh, hands us a basket, and we finally begin to climb up and collect the fruits.

As it should have been expected, Shizune jumps on this opportunity to make gathering cherries a competition, with the 'team' haversting the most being the winner. Her idea backfires spectacularly when she realizes Misha is eating most of the fruits on the spot. Her expression when Misha hands over her meager haul, mouth dripping with cherry juice, is priceless.

We go back to the dorms together, making small talk...and signs, I suppose.

"Good bye Hicchan, Hanachan~! Don't do anything against School Regulations this evening~!" she winks when we part way, then : "Wahahahahaha~!"

The color of our faces when we make it to Hanako's room matches the cherries' almost perfectly. We don't bother making dinner that evening, and eat the fruits right out of the basket instead. They're like snacks, but sweet and sent straight from heaven.

Hanako's mouth tastes like cherries the next morning.



Cherries are sweet. You know what isn't in the word 'sweet'? 'bitter'. You can't find 'bitter' in 'sweet', it just isn't possible. You can in 'bittersweet', but fuck that word and everything it represents.

I don't always like bittersweet stories, but when I do, I prefer cherries.

[Brogurt]

First two paragraphs were ossim, then it appeared to tank, with many typos and text that did more in the way of telling what happened rather than showing what happened.

I don't mean to be offensive, but between the varying quality, the quips at the beginning and end, and the very idea behind this, is there some chance you were high at the time of writing this?

[Ascended Flutist]

High on cherries. Oh, and I found only one typo in there.

Edit : found more. derp, maybe I am high.

[lolawesome]

I like it, short and simple and (pun intended) SWEET

[Beoran]

With any luck, I'll be able to buy a crate of cherries on the cheap tomorrow... hmmm... cherries.

[Hacksorus]

If nothing else, the author's notes at the end were hilarious.

[Henry Spencer]

The narrative's cool, but you're writing the dialogue as if we're watching the scene unfold on the big screen. Well, we're not; we're reading their story, on a page. The spice does not flow that way.

I am dunecat.

[Ascended Flutist]

I like it, short and simple and (pun intended) SWEET

Thank you sir, I am quite pleased you liked it. :]

With any luck, I'll be able to buy a crate of cherries on the cheap tomorrow... hmmm... cherries.

I can find no flaws in that shrewd reasonning of yours.

If nothing else, the author's notes at the end were hilarious.

The amount of bittersweet Hanako stories is too damn high.

The narrative's cool, but you're writing the dialogue as if we're watching the scene unfold on the big screen. Well, we're not; we're reading their story, on a page. The spice does not flow that way.

I am dunecat.

We are the Feminist overlords Bene Gesserit and we demand you elaborate.