Moments in Time [Not Quite One Shots]

[Skeeve]

Moments in Time, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Yamaku

This is going to be (hopefully) a bunch of semi-connected short stories, with no particular theme to them; they seem to take place in some kind of amalgam of Emi's route with plot elements from the other routes. Parallel Works... who knows when and where they happen? I encourage commentary, criticism, and conversation, so if you've got anything to say, I'd like to hear it!

Links

Counteroffensive (Just scroll down!)

Escalation

Parallel Works: Satou Lilly Challenged

Aftershocks (Warning: NSFWish)

Crossed Wires, Pt 1

Crossed Wires, Pt 2

Crossed Wires, Pt 3

-----

Counteroffensive


My footsteps echo as I trudge up the rather dilapidated stairwell that leads to the roof, grumbling the whole way. Although I’m pleased to note that climbing the stairs no longer affects my heart rate, a fact I attribute to the morning runs I’ve started taking with Emi, I can think of plenty of more entertaining things I’d rather do with my evenings. Plenty of less entertaining things, for that matter; I’ve got a mountain of homework waiting for me.

“This better not have anything to do with that ‘Manly Picnic’ crap he was babbling about last week,” I mutter, pushing open the door to the rooftop itself.

It’s a rather odd sight that greets me.

A number of the benches that are normally scattered across the gravel rooftop are stacked against the fence in a precarious pyramid. Standing atop them, his scarf fluttering in the light breeze, is Kenji, and one hand balances a plastic laundry basket, filled to the brim with bulging balls. It takes me a moment to recognize them as water balloons.

Bemused, I scratch my head. “...Kenji… uh… what are you doing?”

Kenji doesn’t look away, peering down at the ground, just outside the front doors of the school. “It’s a test. And a pre-emptive strike. A pre-emptive strike test.”

My expression is deadpan as I cross the roof, staring at him the whole way. “No, seriously, what the hell are you talking about?”

Kenji turns, roughly glancing in my direction, his voice as grim as he can make it. “It’s the Student Council, man. They’ve come up with some kind of immunity to airborne agents or something, and they were testing it out in the halls. Thankfully I got away before I was exposed, but I gotta do something before they kill us all!”

For once, Kenji correctly interprets my slack-jawed stare for the incredulity it is, as he impatiently continues, “It’s Lewisite! The smell was rolling off the pink one earlier. Smells like flowers; it’s unmistakeable. But if I rinse off their barrier agent, they’ll succumb to their own poison! It’s the perfect plan!”

It takes a couple of moments, but I finally manage to stop sputtering and speak again. “Kenji, you idiot, that’s Misha’s new perfume, not nerv-” I cut off, staring at the basket of water balloons with renewed horror. “You are not seriously considering throwing those at Misha and Shizune.”

I realize how stupid the statement is before it’s fully left my lips. Of course he’s seriously considering it.

Before Kenji can retort, however, I hear the sound of a door opening and a very distinctive “Wahaha~!” Most curious, however, is that the sound doesn’t come from the stairwell behind us, but from Kenji; my baffled stare tracks the sound to a walkie-talkie, clipped to his belt.

Ominiously, Kenji’s glasses glint in the setting sun, and he reaches into the basket. “Now’s my only chance!”

I just know that somehow I’m going to take the blame for this. Well, screw that. Suddenly angry, I step up onto the first bench to take the basket away from him. “Kenji, don’t be a jerk.” As my hand touches the basket, he jerks it away, startled, and two things happen.

The first is that Kenji tumbles off the side of his pyramid, landing with a dull thud on his back. The second is that the basket is thrown in a wide arc off the side of the roof. I can only stare, in horror, as some of the balloons fly free of the basket, drops of moisture glittering in the light.

Then the moment is over.

The water balloons crash into the sidewalk and the girls, Misha’s piercing shriek cutting through the stillness of the evening; if Shizune makes a sound, I certainly can’t hear it from up here. The entire sidewalk is drenched, and the basket has bounced into a shrubbery, a handful of unbroken balloons dropping gently to the grass below.

Shizune almost looks angry enough to spit fire, and Misha doesn’t look much calmer. As they crane their necks up to look at the roof, I realize in a sudden burst of clarity that they can’t see Kenji from where he lies; just me. And I know they won’t calm down enough to hear my explanation before getting their revenge.

“HIICCHAAAAN~~!!”

That’s enough to break me. Panicked, I run back into the stairwell, hoping beyond hope that I can get back to the safety of my dorm before they catch me.

I think I surprise all of us by managing to get to the first floor lobby before they corner me, pelting me with the rest of the water balloons.

[swampie2]

A nice little story in a little over just 700 words. I can't imagine Misha getting too angry at a random water balloon attack, more that she'd be momentarily shocked before cheerily joining in on the fun, as I think you meant by the fact they got Hisao back. I can see Kenji thinking perfume was nerve gas though, I liked that detail.

All in all; good job!

Also welcome to the writer-sphere, you're one of us now.

[Sharp-O]

One of us! One of us!

A very nice short, Skeeve. Looking forward to the other connected parts.

[Skeeve]

Thanks! It feels good to belong.

And sometimes a scene just grabs me and runs through my head for a while. I'm just glad I managed to polish this one a little and get it out before it got away.

[Decadent Albatros]

Omg this was so effin good
Kenji in this one reminded me of how Sousuke overthinks everything in Full Metal Panic!, so that's a plus in my book! I like your style and I surely hope to read more of your stuff in the near future.
And as the 2 guys before me said, welcome!

Also welcome to the writer-sphere, you're one of us now.

Dw, it's not all that bad... except the selling your soul thing, but at least you get sick red haid out of it!

[dewelar]

Good to see you took my advice! This board can always use some more fun little stories like this. Nicely done .

[Oscar Wildecat]

This was a nice little one-shot. Although, it seems that Hisao ended up taking more than one shot in this...

BTW, welcome to the dark side... we have pie and french vanilla tea.

[Skeeve]

Omg this was so effin good
Kenji in this one reminded me of how Sousuke overthinks everything in Full Metal Panic!, so that's a plus in my book! I like your style and I surely hope to read more of your stuff in the near future.
And as the 2 guys before me said, welcome!

Dw, it's not all that bad... except the selling your soul thing, but at least you get sick red haid out of it!

Pfft, what soul? ^^: I just snuck in while the bouncer wasn't looking.

Good to see you took my advice! This board can always use some more fun little stories like this. Nicely done .

Thanks! I figure the best way to get engaged is to start giving back immediately, so to speak.

This was a nice little one-shot. Although, it seems that Hisao ended up taking more than one shot in this...

BTW, welcome to the dark side... we have pie and french vanilla tea.

All's fair in love and water balloon war. And... what kinda pie?

[Skeeve]

Escalation


Poking my head around the corner, I glance furtively both ways down the corridor before putting my head down and scrambling for the classroom, not straightening up until I’m through the door and Mutou can see me. I’m safe now. Letting out a sigh of relief, I head over to my desk, setting my books down with a soft thump, and myself not much gentler.

Although Shizune, once she calmed down, took the water balloon incident in relatively decent humor after she had her revenge, and Misha, as usual, was completely good natured about the whole thing, I don’t think either of them really believed that it was Kenji’s fault. So in retrospect I probably shouldn’t have been all that surprised when Misha smuggled a water pistol into class, and soaked me on the way to lunch one day.

Only thing is, Misha has really bad aim. In her excessive zeal to drench me, she must have splashed at least eight other people. They retaliated the next day, but with more casualties. That was a week ago, and now at any given time half the third year population is packing a water pistol of their own.

Needless to say, getting to and from class has been its own workout lately.

Mutou’s lesson proceeds without much incident… or class engagement, for that matter, and we’re all quietly relieved when the lunch bell rings. As I’m collecting my things, Misha and Shizune sidle up to me; well, Misha sidles, at least. Shizune’s hands fly in a flurry of sign before she reaches into her backpack, pulling out a small package wrapped in brown paper.

“Hiii, Hicchan~! We forgot to give you your mail earlier. You got a package!” As I take the package from Shizune and begin to tear off the paper, Misha leans in excitedly. “Open it, Hicchan! I wanna see what you got!”

I can’t help but smile a little at her enthusiasm, and chuckle a little, digging my fingers to crack open one end of the plain cardboard box. “Relax, Misha, I’m open-”

There’s a soft pop and suddenly my vision is obscured, as a cloud of… dust? is thrown into my face.

Misha starts laughing uproariously as I wipe the accumulated grit out of my eyes, and stare, a little stunned at what I’m seeing. A small cloud of craft glitter is slowly drifting down, half of Misha’s face is covered in the shiny stuff, and a steady stream of it is pouring out of one of her drills, like sands from an hourglass. As for me… I’m covered in the stuff. It’s in my hair, all over my face and clothes… I’m pretty sure far too much of it has gotten into my shirt, as well.

Although I can see they’re taking great amounts of amusement out of this, at least Shizune and Misha have the decency to help me clean it all up.

---

I decide to join Lilly and Hanako for lunch today, because even after ten minutes of scrubbing, I still can’t get all of this glitter off of me; it’s stuck in my hair, on my arms and face, and I gleam faintly in the light. It’s embarrassing, and I hope that they’ll be kind enough to leave well enough alone, or maybe Hanako won’t even notice. It’s a thin hope.

The stream of sunlight coming through the tea room window as I step inside is enough to snap said thin hope. I have to shade my eyes a little bit as I call out, “Hello, Lilly, Hanako.. is it alright if I join you for lunch?”

I seem to have caught both of their attentions as Hanako looks over. She doesn’t immediately say anything as Lilly says with her usual smile, “Of course, Hisao. Please feel free to join us. Would you like some tea?” I gratefully reply in the affirmative as I take a seat.

As I start to pull my lunch out of my backpack, my heart sinks, just a little, as Hanako asks, “H-Hisao? Why… w-why are you s-sparkling?” I can hear the hint of a smile in her voice, and it warms my heart as much as it causes it to sink, which is thoroughly confusing. When I look up at her, she seems to be turning just a little bit pink.

Lilly’s smile turns a little confused; it’s a subtle change, but I’ve gotten better at reading her moods over the past week or two. “Sparkling?”

I sigh lightly. “Someone sent me a box full of glitter. I washed as much of it off as I could, but it seems like it’s impossible to get all this crap off of me.”

Lilly puts a hand to her mouth, clearly hiding a smile. “Oh my.”

Hanako actually summons the temerity to giggle a little bit. “It r-reminds me of a silly b-book I r-read about v-vampires…” I’m not entirely certain how to take that, but my expression must be unpleasant enough, as Hanako feels the need to add hastily, “I-it was v-very s-silly… I’m s-sorry, H-Hisao…” Her blush gets a little bit brighter, which is, honestly, just confusing.

I shake my head a little bit. I’m not angry at her, and Hanako is so prone to taking things personally that I want to comfort her before she gets too uncomfortable. “No, it’s okay, Hanako. I guess it is kinda funny. Nothing got hurt, after all… except maybe my pride.”

Really, it is ridiculous when you think about it, and doing just that is enough to make me chuckle about it. That in turn sets Lilly off into giggles, which in turn gets Hanako to join us, and before long we’re all laughing cheerfully.

The rest of the lunch period feels very comfortable after that.

[AntonSlavik020]

This was fun. A third of the students carrying water pistols is hilarious.

[Sharp-O]

Loved this chapter too! It was really cute!

[Skeeve]

Thanks! Despite my own personal love of melodrama, I seem to be good at the cutesy one-liners. It's a little frustrating, because I feel like I want to build up to something... I just have no idea what yet.

[Hesmiyu]

It is quite a fun read . I'm curious to what else you will come up with.

[Skeeve]

Parallel Works: Satou Lilly Challenged
(With apologies to Shintaro Katsu, Kenji Misumi, and, really, everyone who reads this)


The snow fell softly, wreathing the grounds of Yamaku in a peaceful blanket of white as Lilly hurried me around the outside walls, Hanako’s arm wrapped around one of my own. Suddenly, the air was split by a high, cheerful voice. “Lilly, there you are!” We turned to look, and saw that from around the corner, a pair of warriors had appeared, one with pink hair and a perpetual grin, the other with hair of blue and a stern gaze. I could feel the intensity rolling off of them, and it made Hanako and I clutch each other for comfort.

Although I knew that Lilly was blind, she seemed to sense the presence of both of the samurai, directing her comments to the blue-haired one. “Mistress Shizune, Mistress Misha. Is there something I can do for you?”

The pink-haired one (Misha, I supposed) flashed her hands, and then - Shizune’s, I guessed - signed back, and only then Misha spoke, still with that cheerful grin. “Shicchan wants you to hand Hicchan over to her.”

Lilly laughed a little, a sound born out of incredulity. “I beg your pardon?”

Misha and Shizune exchanged signs again before Misha replied with a pout, “Aw, just hand him over, okay?”

Lilly didn’t seem convinced by it, turning her head back and forth between Shizune and Misha as though meeting the eyes of each in turn. “Why this, all of a sudden?” Misha’s hands dutifully translated Lilly’s words, but Shizune’s hands did not sign in response.

Over her shoulder, Lilly called out, “Hisao, do you have some history with this samurai?”

Not expecting to be addressed so abruptly, I shook my head a little too rapidly, forcing myself to not stammer. “No, I've never seen her before.” Hanako clutched me a little tighter, and I could feel her trembling with fear.

Lilly clearly turned all of her attention back to the two samurai. “What is your business with Hisao, Mistress Shizune?” Again, Misha translated, and again Shizune did not reply. Weakly, Lilly smiled, and continued, “If you won't even tell me that, how do you expect me to comply?”

Abruptly, Shizune signed, with harsh, choppy strokes, and Misha replied, “I'm going to kill him. Really, Shicchan? That seems excessive…”

I felt the blood drain from my face, even as Lilly cried out in response, “Have you gone mad?”

Shizune’s face set in a thin, hard line, as she signed her reply, and Misha spoke. “I'm on official Student Council business. When I cut down Mutou, that, too, was official business. I would have killed Setou as well, but you saved me the trouble. Perhaps now you can understand our position.”

Misha didn’t sound like she understood it herself, but she translated dutifully as Lilly spoke again, trying to sound as reasonable as possible; I suspected the gesture was lost on Shizune. “I can understand why you would go after Kenji and the corrupt officials, but Hisao's only crime was being forced by Kenji to…”

Shizune started signing before Lilly was done, and Misha spoke over him. “Forced or not, he's guilty of creating designs for the forbidden items. It was his misfortune to have been born with such a gift. My orders are to destroy all traces of the plot, whether man or object, to prevent it from becoming a scandal.”

Lilly took a deep breath, and tried her last tack, her last gambit to solve this without violence. “Mistress Shizune, though they only met today, Hisao is that girl's father. This is their first chance to live happily as a family. Please just look the other way and let them go. Please have mercy on them.“

I could practically hear Shizune’s words through her sharp, curt signs even before Misha translated. “The law has no mercy. If you refuse to turn him over, I will have to kill you as well.”

Suddenly, Hanako broke free of my embrace, fell to her knees in front of Shizune, bowing deeply. “Please let Hisao go! I beg you!”

Shizune didn’t spare her a glance, and Misha sounded on the verge of tears as she replied, “Stand in my way and I'll not hesitate to kill even an innocent.”

Terrified though I was, I couldn’t let this happen. The first step was the hardest, but they got easier as I lurched forwards, intent on interposing myself between Shizune and Hanako. “Wait! Mistress Lilly, I'll accept this as my fate. Please… please look after Hanako.”

Lilly thrust out a hand roughly, grabbing me by the sweatervest, and pushed me backwards. I stumbled a little, and Hanako scurried over to make sure I was okay, while Lilly issued her challenge. “Hisao stays with me. You student council are so full of yourselves. So long as you've got orders, you don't care what you do to people.”

Shizune gritted her teeth as she signed, and Misha sniffled once as she replied, “Step aside.”

Lilly’s grip shifted on the handle of her cane, the cane that I knew contained her deadly blade. “You'll have to take Hisao over my dead body.”

Actually growling a little under her breath, Shizune gestured once, and Misha replied, “I'm warning you.”

In response, Lilly shifted her feet into a fighting stance, clasping her canesword in its proper grip. In a soft, neutral voice, she called back to me, “Don't let Hanako see this.” I held Hanako against me, letting her bury her eyes in my chest. I wanted to turn away myself, didn’t want to watch… but I knew that Lilly deserved better than that.

Suddenly they moved, a blur of steel and motion, the sound of their blades clashing against each other as they twirled and struck in the dance of steel, Shizune’s measured, precise style seemingly the equal of Lilly’s reverse-handed style, and they lashed out at each other again and again. It seemed like their contest was destined to be a stalemate until Lilly dodged into a fence and tumbled over it. My heart caught in my throat, and I stared, unable to breathe, until I realized that as she landed, Lilly had thrust the tip of her blade into Shizune’s stomach, who had checked her slash to avoid from hurting herself further.

Instead, Shizune signed furiously at Misha, who replied, “Y-you want me to kill Hicchan!?” Dubiously, she drew her sword and turned towards me. “Sorry about this.” I cringed as she charged, turning Hanako away from the pink-haired samurai, knowing there was nothing I could do to prevent my fate.

Abruptly she stopped, letting out a short croak, and then fell to the ground. Lilly had scrambled to her feet and hurled her blade, impaling Misha through the back. Now without her weapon, she lunged, intercepting Shizune’s furious charge for me. The two grappled for a moment, and Shizune finally broke free, raising her blade over her head in one hand.

Her other hand flashed in sign, and we all waited, until impatiently, Shizune did it again, staring at the fallen form of Misha, who weakly raised her head and murmured, “O-out of Shicchan’s way, Lilly…”

Lilly didn’t move, except to stand up a little straighter. Folding her arms across her chest, she bowed her head, knowing that she had lost this contest, and waited for the final blow to fall.

It never came.

Slowly, very slowly, Shizune lowered her sword, and sheathed it again, signing once more before moving to help Misha up. As she helped her pink-haired friend to her feet, Misha croaked, “Lilly, you… win.”

Lilly sank to her knees, exhaustion battling with emotion in her expression, as Shizune and Misha limped away, leaving twin trails of blood in the soft white snow.

[Sharp-O]

Intriguing, compelling and epic as all hell. I loved it!