Asoko Desu's one-shots and short pieces ( September 12 / 2023 - Shake, Shake, Shake )

[Asoko_Desu]

Three years late to the party, but found this on Reddit today - seemed germane:

[Mirage_GSM]

First one was nice. Didn't even think the "other"'s send-in could be anyone other than Kenji...
The reason for Rin's birth defect was Thaliomide poisoning, not misuse of medicamentation - at least in Raita's concept drawing. IIrc it was not specified in the VN itself.

Dust Bath is a very interesting take on Rin - and one I don't think has ever been done quite that way.

[Asoko_Desu]

First one was nice. Didn't even think the "other"'s send-in could be anyone other than Kenji...
The reason for Rin's birth defect was Thaliomide poisoning, not misuse of medicamentation - at least in Raita's concept drawing. IIrc it was not specified in the VN itself.

Dust Bath is a very interesting take on Rin - and one I don't think has ever been done quite that way.

Yes, Kenji was my pick too, but brythain had some very interesting comments that made me think (e.g. Nomiya, as a negative influence, certainly works to undermine good outcomes for our cohort.)


About Rin - IRL, Thalidomide was prescribed to pregnant women for nausea (and still is, as long as you're not pregnant / going to get pregnant), but could cause horrible birth defects.

In my head, Rin's mother had Rin unusually late in life and was being treated for pregnancy-related nausea before they even realized she was pregnant - and by the time they did, the damage had been done. She feels dreadful over what happened and has lasting trauma because of it (again, IMH - In My Head.)

Of course, not everything is mentioned in the VN, fortunately - it's in those unspoken places that fan fiction truly flowers. IMO this ability to tell a coherent tale without spelling everything out is one facet of the VN's genius.

re: Dust bath - thank you! Of all the characters I empathize the most with Rin, I think, and that leads to interesting places.

[Mirage_GSM]

You're right...
In my head I had Thaliomide sorted as some environmental disaster that happened in Japan and caused a number of birth defects.
I don't recall where I got this notion from or who told me this, as it must have been quite a while ago, but it was obviously wrong.
It doesn't help that Thaliomide is known by a completely different name in my native language (Contergan), so I didn't make the connection.

[Feurox]

Apologies, my comment is long overdue! I adore your little collection here! You know you're doing something right when you draw the compliments and attention of the lovely Brythain ha! In all seriousness, your style is fantastic - and I find that your titles in particular are so punchy and brilliant. For my favourite, (aside from my wonderful secret santa submission), I'm torn between 'Infinitely More Than We Can Ask or Imagine' and 'Dust Bath'. Rin's internal vibrancy in Dust Bath is really spectacular, and I find a sort of poignant sadness at the final teasing line - Rin really is misunderstood, and I am a extreme lover of a little bitter-sting that can also be interpreted as humour.

I think that 'Infinitely More Than We Can Ask or Imagine' takes the crown for my favourite though. I can't help but picture the actors and executors pacing back and forth, with their calculated indifferences (leaning towards love) as they place little figurines of fate upon the stage. Truly a superb image. A truly wonderful debut onto the forums my friend!

“The grief of the world stops at our door.”

Gosh, what a fantastic line.

Anyway, a true pleasure to read! Thank you!

[Asoko_Desu]

Please - no apologies!

Thank you.

I don’t think I have the words to express how welcome you've made me feel, and how much I value your feedback on my writing.

The grief of the world may stop at our door, but it is our choice, through our words - yours included - to invite it in and put it to rest.

Grief, after all, is love, unable to reach its destination.

[Asoko_Desu]

S13 Secret Santa Story Submission - No Time Like The Presents - for Feurox

[Taihennami]

I find it interesting that, of the people I’ve met in person who are Rin-like in their verbal capacity, those people are often highly eloquent writers online - an option that’s denied to Rin since she can’t type - at all, assistive technologies being somewhat lacking in the KS universe.

I don't see any reason whatsoever why Rin wouldn't be able to type, using an entirely standard computer keyboard placed on the floor. At most, she might decide to use a pencil or stylus to make pressing individual keys a little easier. (And yes, I just did verify that by trying it myself. Slow, clumsy, lots of mistakes, but I don't have anything like Rin's experience with using my toes for fine manipulation. I'm sure I'd have better luck if I used a standard keyboard instead of a low-profile one, too.) She would even be able to use a normal mouse, again placed on the floor (well, on a mousemat), though a trackball would likely be easier. Probably she wouldn't even consider this inconvenient.

Finding the right words to use would be the main difficulty, as ever. I think this is only easier in written form than in speech because there is more time (and the ability to edit) to organise everything before it is perceived by the recipient.

Of course, she would need to actually have a computer to use. I've heard that general computer literacy is surprisingly poor in Japan, with everyone using their phones for consumer-oriented things that most of us would do on a full computer. It doesn't surprise me at all that giving the seemingly-retarded artist girl with no arms a computer wouldn't be the first idea that springs to mind. I wonder how well she'd take to graphic design…

For contrast, Lilly's canonical difficulty with computers is much easier to explain. Standard human-computer interfaces are intensely visually oriented, and have been so at least since the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984 (the Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines having been the gold standard for mouse-driven GUIs ever since). Even the nominally "text mode" interface on a PC contemporary to an early Mac still relies on primarily visual cues, and doesn't translate cleanly to an auditory or tactile interface. She would have to learn to interact with a special "assistive mode", which a sighted computer user wouldn't normally be familiar with themselves.

Evidently nobody has taken the time to teach her this, rather focused on providing her with blind-specific writing tools (ie. Braille in both its Latin-alphabet and Japanese kana forms) and painstakingly teaching her how to handwrite text which she cannot then read herself. Just what I'd expect from a mainstream private Catholic school, TBH.

[Asoko_Desu]

You make a lot of good points - it was ableist of me to assume that because it would be almost impossible for me to type with my feet that she couldn't; slow and painstaking, but you're right - still possible. I'd be interested in seeing what, were she real, Rin would have to say via the agency of a computer. I'm going to try to be careful not to assume what's true for me is true for everyone, but I do find I'm better able to express myself in writing than verbally (even then I make a mess of it!) As you point out, perhaps part of it is being able to walk away from a text message for a bit until the right words arrive.

About access to a computer, It's not mentioned (probably because it didn't add anything to the story line), but I have to wonder if a bunch of the students didn't have computers, or if there wasn't a nascent computer lab in the basement somewhere. The alternative would be for a bunch of students to have typewriters, word-processing typewriters (if you remember those), or simply write out everything longhand.

About Lilly - I'm going to have to fall back on Helen Keller's observation that being blind cuts you off from things; I think there's a great opportunity to write something about Lilly struggling to come to grips with new technology - they're all graduating soon and their universities (I think it's a fair assumption to say that Lilly's going on to university) are likely to be more computer-focused and better resourced..

Lilly poked at the keyboard - it was something like a brailler, but larger - and with much less tactile feedback.

"Where does the paper come out?"

"There's a shared printer on the other side of the lab - it doesn't output in braille, unfortunately," said her teaching assistant.

"Hm. Not very useful for me, unfortunately." Lilly had tried to be upbeat and polite, but the frustration of trying to master this new technology was starting to show.

"Tell me again what this - " she tapped the CRT in front of her with her nails " - is for?"

"It's a display - it shows you what you're typing and what applications you're using. They're laid out on the screen as if it was a desktop in front of you - there's a notepad, there's a garbage can, and so on," the TA pointed each icon out as she mentioned them.

Lilly reached out to touch the screen - ".. and I'm supposed to be able to feel them? The screen seems perfectly smooth .."

"No you, ah-ah, they're meant to be seen, unfortunately. There's an assistive mode where the computer will talk to you - will give you audible cues - but it's not very good unfortunately and you still need to work within the metaphor of a desktop."

Lilly sighed quietly. She'd had plenty of experience dealing with a world designed for sighted people - this was just one more hurdle that she would overcome. At least it wasn't as bad as the time Akira had tried to teach her to drive - nothing could top that, but this was close.

.. like that.

--

[Taihennami]

It is canon that the Student Council has access to an ancient (even for 2007) and somewhat decrepit laptop which is normally used only to store document archives, and is basically hauled out at the end of each school term for data entry. That's what Hisao gets roped into doing towards the end of Lilly's route, while Lilly uses the Brailler for a similar purpose. I think it's also mentioned that the newspaper club has a computer (probably a Mac) for editing and laying out the issues, and that's Hanako's niche if she gets enough courage to join, since apparently she has used computers before.

I can entirely believe that some students have their own computers (I did at that age, about a decade prior), but none of the main cast do. There is an additional consideration that the pulsing of CRT refreshes or LCD backlights, though usually imperceptible, might be an epilepsy trigger - which would at least explain why any school-owned computers are not kept in any of the obvious public spaces, such as the library.

[Asoko_Desu]

Story Title: Weekend at Hakamichi’s (complete)
Author: Asoko_Desu
Type: Side-Story - part of "Adventures in the 'Emiverse'"
Status: One in a series
PoV-characte: Tetsu
Pairings: Shizune x Tetsu, but not really
Warnings: Verbal abuse, suggestion of physical violence
Remarks: It’s Jigoro at his finest - what do you expect?


October 06, 2007 - Saturday


“You kids ready to go?” A blonde woman sitting in the driver’s seat of the car called out — this must be Akira, Lilly’s sister, thought Tetsu.

Tetsu interpreted for Shizune and they nodded affirmatively. Lilly was already in the front passenger seat and Shizune hopped in behind Akira; Tetsu was left to load their luggage into the trunk — Lilly couldn’t be expected to, and Shizune said lifting things wasn’t ladylike.

Tetsu and Shizune sat in the back seat together — Tetsu looked at Shizune, but she signed [ Not here ] then proceeded to ignore him for the rest of the trip.

“`Not here`? What `Not here`?” Tetsu was confused, but Shizune seemed to have that effect on people — like she ran on an entirely different set of expectations from the rest of the world.

After a short drive, they arrived at their destination and parked — “We should share phone numbers in case we need to get in touch,” suggested Akira - that done, they exited the car.

“Have fun,” said Akira - her face flat and betraying no emotion. Tetsu raised an eyebrow — “Oh - we’re coming in, we just won’t be staying long.”

Tetsu noted that Akira wasn’t one much for explaining themselves just to fill a void in conversation.

Getting out of the car, Tetsu ran straight into an androgynous child with green hair, dressed like a doll you’d win at a carnival - yellows, reds, and nothing matching.

“I’m Hideaki — Do you even talk or are you mute like my sister?”

Tetsu inhaled — he closed and re-opened his eyes while exhaling slowly.

“Did you just imagine facepalming?”

Tetsu shrugged — this is going to be a long weekend if we’re babysitting Shizune’s precocious little sister.

“That’s so,” Tetsu allowed, being either too annoyed or unimpressed for his clinical shyness to bedevil him.

“People do that a lot around me. Come inside - Father is waiting.” Hideaki turned and and went back inside - his step had little spring to it.

Inside, Akira and Lilly made a business-like greeting — polite, but brief — to a short-ish man. They then disappeared into the house.

Tetsu caught a name - `Jigoro`. “I guess that’s `Father`,” Tetsu thought — a man, about 5’7”, wearing a garish short-sleeved shirt; he looked like he worked out obsessively, but also looked like he regularly skipped leg day. He sported a blue mullet and eyebrows like twin ink drawings of Mt. Fuji. He carried around a katana in his left hand - as much as Tetsu had seen, at least - constantly.

Shizune was standing off to to the side — [ Did you get any of that? ] asked Tetsu.

[ Some - I wish I had not - I was tutored in lipreading throughout my childhood and punished if I got it wrong - it’s hard not to despise a skill which - while useful - was learned under duress ]

Tetsu nodded.

[ Let me know if you want me to interpret for you ]

[ No need - I find ignoring my father to be the best - indeed only - winning strategy - as you’re about to find out .. ]

“What kind of wastrel has my daughter dragged into my house this time? At least it’s not that loudmouthed fool that usually follows my daughter like a lost puppy.”

“What a tool,” thought Tetsu.

“You - with the sour face - what’s your name? Do you talk? I assume you can hear, but your manners are uncouth.”

Tetsu raised one eyebrow slightly, but said nothing.

Jigoro paraded up and down the living room, holding the katana in its saya upside down, warming to his rant.

“What a world is this where children feel entitled to openly wear expressions of disdain for their betters? What insolence!”

Tetsu turned to Shizune —

[ Does your father ever wind down? ]

[ He’s just getting started ]

[ Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re lucky you can’t hear him ]

[ That’s not funny - also, there’s no escaping him when he’s on a roll ]

“You can stop trying to cosy up to my daughter any time you like, impertinent child!”

[ If I try to talk to him he’s just going to make fun of my Japanese, isn’t he? ]

[ He speaks English, they tell me ]

“What the hell,” thought Tetsu - “I clam up in front of people who’s opinion I care about; let’s see how far the flip side of that will go.”

Tetsu looked down, having at least five inches on Jigoro —

“My name is Tetsu - nice to meet you too” said Tetsu, flatly, in English that felt surprisingly rusty - it had been months since he last spoke it, Tetsu realized, and had to think a moment to get back into it.

“Oh! It can talk! Please, favour us more by introducing yourself!”

“It,” Tetsu thought, aware Shizune was watching the two of them at enough of a distance to see both at once.

“Can she lip-read English from the side?” Tetsu shrugged mentally - he’d tell her about it later if she couldn’t.

“Thank you for having me over.”

“Over? Over what? You mean inviting you into my house? Well I didn’t - my daughter invited you; not me.”

This fellow did a remarkably good job of pushing all of Tetsu’s buttons in rapid succession —

“Shizune. Her name is Shizune.”

“You think I don’t know my own daughter’s name?”

“Fuck it.” Thought Tetsu.

“I was starting to wonder.”

That got Jigoro’s attention - Jigoro’s hair bristling, he stopped cold and stared at Tetsu.

“What did you say?”

[ Your daughter’s name is Shizune ]

“Don’t wave your hands at me - you’re not some parlour magician!”

“Ah, he utterly doesn’t sign - doesn’t recognize his own daughter’s name. Colour me surprised,” Tetsu thought, without surprise.

“That’s a lovely katana you’ve got.”

“Yes — it’s mine and I’m sure you’ve never seen one of such quality up close - or ever.”

“Too bad you’re holding it wrong.”

“I — What??”

“It’s upside down - draw the blade holding it like that and you’ll slice your fingers off.”

“You would presume to instruct ME??”

“Not at all — I just want to get my camera before you do.”

Jigoro was apoplectic — face beet red and speechless, he opened his mouth and closed it with a snap, twice, then turned and stormed from the room - knocking his laptop off of the arm of a savagely over-stuffed armchair as he did.

[ That was a record - I didn’t get all that - what did you say to him? ]

[ I told him he was an idiot - in not so many words ]

[ No you didn’t - he loves when people call him an idiot - that’s when he attacks because he thinks his opponents are under-estimating him - leaving is the last thing he’d do ]

Tetsu sighed - he’d enjoyed the verbal slap-fest, especially since he appeared to have drawn first blood, but it was depressing - he felt his skin had become thinner, dealing with decent people as he’d done over the past several months. Well, whatever — the world outside of Yamaku hadn’t changed a bit it seemed.

[ In English I’m told I have what’s called a ‘smart mouth’ — do you know the idiom? ]

[ It means someone who taunts, teases, and is generally irritating with words, I believe ]

[ Sort of - it mostly means someone who’s insolent and sarcastic - and good at it; don’t forget that last part ]

[ I won’t ]

[ I told him he was holding his katana upside down and - holding it like that - he’d slice his fingers off if he drew it ]

[ And? ]

[ That I wanted to get my camera if I was going to be there when he did ]

Shizune looked at Tetsu in absolute shock, eyes wide — [ And he didn’t threaten to punch you? ]

[ Good luck with that - I don’t meet up with Miura every morning in the weights room before class to play chess ]

Shizune turned a shade of pale — she had respected Tetsu’s willingness to stand up for himself, but hadn’t anticipated he might have a temper. Nothing in Tetsu’s file suggested anything of the sort, but nothing in Tetsu’s file said much about his time before Yamaku, other than his medical condition and his marks. Her father worked out regularly, but Tetsu had height, weight, and youth on his side. It dawned on Shizune that, despite having done her research, she didn’t know Tetsu well at all.

Unexpectedly, her sense of unease passed quickly; a thought came to her unbidden — “Be nice to see father on the receiving end of a beating for a change.” She savagely repressed the giggle the idea brought.

Tetsu looked over at the armchair and changed the topic — [ I hope nothing important was on that laptop; it took quite the hit ]

[ His memoir is on it ] Shizune offered, flatly. [ He’s been working on it for a year ]

Tetsu looked over at the laptop - one corner had cracked open where it had hit the floor.

[ Was, you mean ]

Shizune fidgeted with her fingers — this was unusual for her. Tetsu looked at her questioningly.

[ This is not good ] she signed, slowly [ If he’s lost his memoirs there’ll be hell to pay for everyone ]

[ Big deal - he can just recover from backup .. he doesn’t have a backup, does he? ]

[ He says backups are for the weak ]

Tetsu facepalmed.

[ Now what? ]

[ I had hoped he’d be away on business - now — who knows? ]

Tetsu shrugged. Noon was past and he was hungry — [ Anything to eat? ]

[ Maybe? We sometimes have a cook, but they keep quitting - the kitchen’s over there - help yourself to what you find - Father usually just orders in anyhow ]


Tetsu found a couple of cold spring rolls and some dubious sushi in the fridge — “At least the spring rolls won’t kill me if they haven’t gone off - probably.” He was going to offer Shizune one, but she’d left - possibly to patch things up with her father, if that was possible.

Tetsu wolfed the two spring rolls down, dry - no plum sauce to be found — “Beats leaving them for Darth Dipshit” he rationalized. He decided, rather than traipsing through the house - who knew what other members of Shizune’s family he’d run into - he decided to wait for Shizune to re-appear in the living room.

Sinking into a very expensive, soft, and uncomfortable sofa, his eyes were drawn to the cracked laptop where it lay at the foot of Jigoro’s chair.

“I’m going to get blamed for that aren’t I?” and for about the third time in as many minutes, he sighed.

—

Tetsu must have fallen asleep on the sofa because when he was startled by the sound of feet, the sun had gone down appreciably.

Jigoro had returned - sans sword and with his left hand in a bandage.

Tetsu plumbed the depths of his tact and managed not to point and laugh.

“My daughter tells me you repair computers for a living.”

“For a hobby — yes.”

“Can you fix this?” Jigoro dropped the busted laptop six inches to the coffee table - a couple small pieces flew off and wound up under one of the chairs.



“Probably not.. ” Tetsu said listlessly.

“I told her you were good for nothing and I was right.”

“.. but I may be able to recover the data off of the hard drive — provided you don’t keep dropping it.”

Jigoro opened his mouth quickly - then shut it again very slowly.

“What do you need to do that?”

“A desktop PC or another laptop - mine should do - and assorted parts; I’ll know more once I get into the thing ..”


“Then get started!”

“.. Assuming I get into the thing.” Behind Jigoro Shizune had entered the room.

“Are you trying to hold me to ransom boy? Do you know how many technicians I could have right here right now working on this - better people than you?”

“I don’t know - why don’t you tell me how many technicians you’ve already called and how many turned you down.”

Jigoro’s face coloured — Shizune signed [ Five ]

“Get out,” said Jigoro coldly.

“Gladly.”

[ Your father is kicking me out ]

[ Figured he would - I texted Akira; she’ll be by in a few minutes to pick you up - she and Lilly were heading back to Yamaku anyhow ]

[ Will you be .. ok? ]

[ I know how to handle myself ]

[ You didn’t answer my question ]

“You haven’t left yet - do I need to throw you out bodily? I’d enjoy that.”

“I’m sure you would.” Tetsu was surprised by the tone of menace in his own voice.

[ Coming? ]

[ I .. no ]

Jigoro turned to look at Shizune standing behind him — Tetsu took the opportunity to shoot Jigoro a look that left no question Tetsu would relish treating with Jigoro the way a Pinscher would deal with a rat.

[ If your father wants his manuscript recovered, he knows where to find me ]

With that, Tetsu fetched his overnight bag and left without another word.

—

Back at Yamaku Sunday evening there was a knock at Tetsu’s door —

Tetsu raised an eye at the uninvited spectacle of Jigoro in his doorway, Shizune standing behind him and to his side. Tetsu stood and bowed politely — he spoke and signed with what formality he could muster - “Welcome, please come in - may I offer you tea?”

If Jigoro recognized Tetsu’s insult he didn’t let on, which didn’t seem like his style, so in all likelihood it simply went over his head.

“We won’t be staying - you’re going to fix my computer.”

Shizune, standing behind him, signed — [ He tried re-typing his manuscript into his PC, but it’s hundreds of pages long ]

[ Doesn’t he have anyone who can do that for him? ]

[ His latest biographer - but she quit - and the temp agency won’t send any more ]

“Will you quit that arm waving! Tell me what you charge.”

“I said it’s a hobby.”

“Not even a professional — why am I wasting my time with you?”

“Because, at a guess, I’m your last option without having to go as far as Tokyo, and that would take more time than you’re willing to wait.”

[ Don’t antagonize him — do you know how long it took to calm him down after you left? I don’t want to have to go through that again .. ]

Tetsu neither knew, nor cared - but something in Shizune’s body language suggested Jigoro was likely to make her pay for any overt insolence from Tetsu. Taking advantage of the break in antagonism, Shizune slipped past her father and into the room. It seemed she expected to be ignored, but tried to avoid quick attention-getting movements anyhow.

Seeing the veins standing out on Jigoro’s temples, Tetsu muted his approach somewhat — “If it’s my status that bothers you, then pay me - then I’ll be a professional.”

“Of course I’m paying you - I refuse to be in debt to a child. How much do you charge?”

“How much do you?”

“Ha!” Jigoro scrawled a figure on the back of his business card and flipped it across the table to Tetsu.

“I charge this much per hour - 4 hour minimum,” Jigoro said proudly.

“Fine, then so do I.”

“I’m not paying a boy a man’s wages!”

“The longer you wait, the longer you wait. I’m in no rush - are you? I’ll make you a deal - if I can’t get the data back, don’t pay me. If I can, then pay me my full fee - is your manuscript worth that much to you?”

Jigoro fumed, then snapped — “Fine - agreed. Do it.”

Shizune closed her eyes and thought — “Mother, I wouldn’t have missed that for anything in the world.”

With that, Jigoro dropped a laptop bag on Tetsu’s bed and stormed away. Tetsu took the laptop out and laid it gently on his desk - careful to not let the fragile broken parts wind up on his carpet for his bare feet to find.

Her father gone, Shizune cast a dubious eye at the broken laptop — 

[ Are you sure you can do this? ]

[ Absolutely not - I have no idea how damaged the drive is ] Although, Tetsu suspected that the internal shock absorbers had spared the drive from the impact that had ended the display’s life — [ I am absolutely sure I can try ]

Shizune had a pensive look on her face - not concern, but not total calm either. Tetsu had seen that look on Rin’s face - Shizune seemed to be having an internal debate about something.

[ Tetsu .. ]

[ Yes? ]

[ .. What do you think of my father? ]

[ He gives me no reason to believe he’s a not scoundrel — sorry ]

[ No apology needed .. be careful ]

And with that Shizune left.

—

Before long Jigoro’s cracked laptop lay open and exposed like a mussel in sauce; a stained but clean coffee cup with a magnet at the bottom of it held a handful of screws and Jigoro’s hard drive was nowhere to be seen. In its place was a small black box with blinking LEDs, a power cable, and a data cable plugged into the back of Tetsu’s laptop.

“Man, I’m glad Jigoro was too impatient to wait, this was too easy — if by too easy you mean years of time and effort spent to learn how to extract a drive from a broken machine and mount it in an external IDE to parallel chassis. Drive’s in fine shape - and barely used. It’s mostly empty; just two folders on the desktop - ‘Manuscript’ and ‘Jigoro’s Internet Beauties’. Let’s just leave that second one closed, shall we?”

“I’ll let Shizune know I can install the old drive into a new laptop for him.”

—

Duly delivered by Shizune, Tetsu dusted off the new laptop - he had installed the old hard drive and tested it to make sure the folder was readable. He thought of making a backup of the manuscript for Jigoro as a favour, but that wasn’t part of the contract.

Jigoro hadn’t asked for the old laptop back - perhaps believing it to be worthless - so Tetsu salvaged the memory - both newer and better than what was in Tetsu’s laptop, but compatible. He also kept the new hard drive from the new laptop - Jigoro hadn’t asked for it back either and Tetsu wasn’t about to offer.

—

At the agreed-to time, Jigoro strode up to Tetsu’s room - Shizune was already there, sitting on the edge of Tetsu’s bed, swinging her legs.

“Here you go - all done and tested.”

An altogether disturbing glint was in Jigoro’s eyes; Jigoro snatched the laptop away from Tetsu —

“Ha - I’m not paying you; a child isn’t worth a man’s wages. Let this lesson in adult’s business be your payment.”

Tetsu raised his hands to his cheeks, opened his mouth, and opened his eyes widely - the look of horror on his face was grotesque; Jigoro turned and left - he could be heard laughing all the way down the hall.

Tetsu dropped the look of comic horror the moment Jigoro’s back was turned — looking out his window, Tetsu waited until he saw Jigoro’s car leave the parking lot before turning to Shizune.

Shizune looked at Tetsu in anger, her body shaking. She signed with vehemence —

[ I’m disappointed - you said you thought he was a scoundrel, why did you trust him - you shouldn’t have trusted him! ]

Tetsu looked at Shizune flatly — [ Who said I trusted him? ]

[ .. What do you mean? ]

[ Just swapping out his old hard drive for the new one was free - I said it was a hobby - the password to unlock the BIOS is what he’s paying for ]

[ You locked him out of his new computer .. ]

[ I did him a favour - it’s insecure to not have a password on your computer ]

[ He’ll be furious ]

[ He’ll be back ]

Shizune paused - a secretive, almost childlike look spread over her face —

[ Can I be here when he comes with a cheque? ]

[ Sure - and you can be here when he comes back with cash too — no way I’m taking a cheque after that little stunt ]

A shiver ran up Shizune’s back; Tetsu was right - in comparison to life, played well, chess lacked drama.

[ We could be friends, Tetsu-kun .. good friends ]

Tetsu nodded and looked down at his hands. “Yes — friends,” but he didn’t see himself holding her hands.

[ Tetsu-kun? ]

[ Yes? ]

[ It’s been a difficult weekend — will you comfort me? ]

[ OK .. ]

Tetsu leaned over and gave Shizune a hug around her bony shoulders.

[ Now, let’s go get something to eat - I’m starving ]

--

[ broader context: Two Body Problem ]

[Taihennami]

One small quibble: canonically the Hakamichi residence is in Saitama prefecture. This would make Tokyo actually closer than Yamaku (in Sendai) is.

[Asoko_Desu]

Thanks - I wasn't aware / had forgotten there was a canonical location for their mansion - need to do my homework better

Perhaps we can file this under Tetsu not having a great grasp of Japanese geography. I suspect Jigoro ends up not correcting Tetsu / having Tetsu working on his laptop primarily because he wants to humiliate someone close to Shizune - and by extension Shizune. He's hoping Tetsu will fail; if Tetsu fails, then he's drawn Tetsu into his web and can brow-beat Tetsu with the fact forever after.

[edit: Assuming Tetsu stays in Shizune's life - driving him away would be good too, from Jigoro's perspective, because that isolates Shizune from friends / support, which is a characteristic behaviour of abusers.]

[edit 2: Dang! I remember what I was thinking re: Tokyo - it wasn't so much the distance, it was the time - Jigoro had to bring Shizune back to Yamaku on Sunday night - he could have spent all day driving about, or he could kill two birds with one stone by bringing the laptop with him when dropping Shizune off. I knew there was some internal logic behind that line - like Rin, I always have my reasons (even if I don't remember them!)

--

[Asoko_Desu]

Story Title: To Know You Intimately - No, Not That Way (complete)
Author: Asoko_Desu
Type: Side-Story - part of "Adventures in the 'Emiverse'"
Status: One in a series
PoV-character: Rin, sorta
Pairings: Rin x Tetsu
Warnings: Weird, cute(?), weird
Remarks: How could it not be?


2008, plus or minus


“Tetsu - what’s it like to have hands?” Asked Rin.

“That’s a short question with a very long answer. It’s like having feet, I guess — they do mostly the same things if you let them.”

“But people don’t talk about feet so poetically as they do hands - and I don’t think my feet are actually as sensitive as hands.”

“People don’t rhapse poetic about feet because they already have hands and they use hands for all manner of romantic touches, whereas their feet never get the chance to. I can see feet being less sensitive because you walk on them and maybe they get numb - I don’t know; stepping on small things with my feet is still pretty intense.”

“But are your toes as sensitive as your fingers?”

“Hmm .. no, not really - but I’ve never given them the chance to be; maybe they could be - as sensitive - if I’d never had fingers?”

“I’m not convinced - I want to compare. You have both; tell me where else on your body it would feel the same as washing your hands?”

Tetsu paused to think; this was not necessarily an easy question to answer - where on your body are you as sensitive to touch and temperature as your hands? After thinking a bit, he thought he had an idea.

“I have two answers for you,” Rin nodded for him to continue — “First is - your face. Holding your hands under a tap of running water is almost the same as running a shower straight into your face, but your face’s sensitivity is not as `detailed` - like, the whole of my face together is about as sensitive as the palm of my hand, if that makes sense.”

“It does if you mean a full shower in the face is like a full faucet against your palm.”

“Yes - exactly!”

“And the other answer?”

“My tongue’s sensitivity is about the same as the tip of a finger; I can count the number of tines of a fork just as easily with the tip of my tongue as I can with the tip of my finger; maybe more so - the `resolution`, for want of a better word, seems higher with my tongue, and it’s about as wide as two fingers. Not only can I count tines, but I can feel tiny imperfections in the surface of the metal, so maybe it’s better? Anyhow, If you want to know how something feels to the tip of my finger, lick it with the tip of your tongue.”

Tetsu looked thoughtful - like he was doubting what he’d said to Rin - or wanted to prove it for himself. Tetsu stuck a knuckle in his mouth, then took it out and ran a finger over it “.. Yep - tongue is definitely way more sensitive than a single finger.”

“OK”.

Rin proceeded to spend the better part of the next hour gently touching Tetsu’s face with her tongue; it felt weird - it tickled. He shuddered, grimaced, giggled, and laughed, but he couldn’t complain - it was his fault after all.

“How was that?” Asked Tetsu.

“I .. learned a lot about the feel of your face - I liked it! But I’ve got so much more work to do - so many textures to sample! Also, did you know you have hairs in your ears?”

“Thank you, Rin - I do now.”

--

[Asoko_Desu]

Story Title: A Day In The Life (complete)
Author: Asoko_Desu
Type: Side-Story - part of "Adventures in the 'Emiverse'"
Status: One in a series
PoV-character: Aiko
Pairings: Rin x Tetsu
Warnings: cute, weird(?), cute
Remarks: How could it not be?


2018, plus or minus


“Aiko - your teacher called today.”

“It’s not my fault!”

“You don’t even know what she called about.”

“Yes I do!”

“Why don’t you tell me what happened then?”

“We were painting in class today and I wanted to paint with my feet like mommy does!”

“That doesn’t sound too bad - anything else?”

“Mrs. Hashimoto said that I couldn’t paint with my feet — she said nobody does, and I said my mommy does and she’s a famous artist and Mrs. Hashimoto isn’t.”

“Well, you’re right - but I’m sure Mrs. Hashimoto didn’t appreciate being told that. She’s trying her very best you know.”

“She’s on her phone all the time - when Itsumori pulled my hair she didn’t even notice!”

“Itsumori - that’s Kiki, yes?”

“Hmph” Aiko crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked stubborn; her curly dark-red hair shook with the motion.

“You call her Kiki when you’re friends, like you did yesterday, and today she’s Itsumori. Well, then.”

Tetsu considered briefly, mostly for effect —

“I’m afraid you’ll have to apologize to Hashimoto-sensei none the less - you weren’t very respectful to her.”

“But .. she wasn’t respectful to mommy by saying nobody could paint with their feet.”

“That’s fine - that’s between me and mommy to discuss with Mrs. Hashimoto. I don’t think she’s ever met mommy - mommy was away touring her art when we enrolled you.”

“I remember - we talked on the computer every night! I missed her so much!”

“And she missed you too, persimmon. Anyhow, we enrolled you under my name, and Kaiyou is hardly a famous name.”

“And you work hard to keep it that way - right daddy?”

“That’s right, pumpkin - it’s never good when I’m in the news.”

“Why is that daddy?”

“Well, it’s because I fix problems and sometimes some people don’t like knowing that there are problems that need fixing.”

“Why?”

Tetsu - and Rin - had been down this road with Aiko before; the spiral of never-ending `whys`. They blamed each other for being the source of Aiko’s stubborn inquisitiveness - because, of course, neither of them were stubborn or inquisitive.

“That’s a story for another time, beach-glass. Anyhow, I think Mrs. Hashimoto will be much more understanding once she meets mommy. Most people who meet Tezuka-san generally are.”

“Why daddy?”

OK - just one more `why` Tetsu thought to himself; “I really shouldn’t be indulging this behaviour.. but she’s so sweet.”

“Because mommy is very famous and, for some reason, people are more respectful to famous people.”

“But you said everyone deserves respect!”

“They - we - do. It doesn’t always work that way though little bird. Anyhow, time for you to start getting ready to greet mommy - she’ll be home from the gallery soon and she’ll want to see her little cherry blossom.”

“Daddy ..”

“Mmm-hmm? Something else on your mind, kitten?”

“Some of the kids saw you walk me to school yesterday and now they say you don’t have a job and that we’re poor and that you’re lazy because you don’t work.” Aiko’s words all came out in a rush and she looked at the ground. It broke Tetsu’s heart to see her start to grow up and understand the grotesque ways of the world.

“We’re not poor are we daddy?”

“That is something that little people shouldn’t need to worry about - but I’ll assure you that we’re not. I hate to do this, but when we go to school tomorrow I think we’ll have to put on a bit of a show for your `friends`.”

Aiko was a little afraid when Tetsu used the tone of voice he did when he said the word `friends`. He was always kind to her, even when she did something wrong, but she had eavesdropped on some of his work calls and had heard how he could be when dealing with people other than her or mommy. Never loud - never shouting - but something in his voice was scarier than shouting - if she had the words, she’d describe it as `uncompromising`.

“Are you going to wear your good suit tomorrow daddy?”

“Yes .. I think I will. And we’ll drive.”

“But .. we can walk to school, can’t we?”


“Of course we can, peanut - but the car’s like the suit; I want people to understand certain things before I even say a word to them, and if I drive you and mommy in the Panamera, they’ll understand those things very clearly.” Again, her daddy used that tone of voice that made her a little afraid - she definitely didn’t want to do anything that would make him speak to her in those tones, but small people have short attention spans and right then mommy came home.

—

Coming in the door, Tetsu picked Rin up in a huge hug just as she got her sandals off.

“Could you wait for me to change out of my work clothes? I guess not.. love you too!”

“Dinner’s on. Also, Aiko needs a hug - she’s worried about something not-to-bad that happened at school today, but we’ll have to take a break from our schedule to go in tomorrow after work and meet with Hashimoto-sensei. And - I’m afraid we’ll have to put on a bit of a show to part the waters on a certain other matter.”

Tetsu held Rin by the waist while Rin fussed Aiko’s hair with her foot - “Is it about you being a lazy, no-good, no-account, unemployed bum and that we’re broke?”

“I see she’s briefed you. Yes - the concept of consulting on contract and working from home hasn’t reached this sheltered corner of Japan yet - or at least if it has, it’s bypassed our school district.”

“Fine, I’ll wear my show dress - it matches the car and your suit — I take it we’re driving the car?”

“That is so - I think I’ll park it in the pick-up zone in front of the school.”

“That would be wrong.”

“Regrettable. They won’t dare tow it — it could be someone important,” said Tetsu with a smirk.

“But you are important, dear.”

“Only once you peel back several layers of NDAs unfortunately - several government ministries and corporate cliques would be very upset if I started talking out of turn I’m afraid. You're the important one in this little drama, I think.”

“Anyhow, if I park the Porsche right in front of the main door I think it’ll dismiss any rumours about our solvency.”

“I hate that we have to do this, but -” Rin glanced at Aiko, playing on the carpet “- I’m glad you know how to. Just don’t block the handicap parking.”

“Never. Of course, it could be worse - we could let word reach auntie Shizune and let her loose on them. She’d be the president of the school board in no time and have all the teachers running laps around the school to teach them discipline.” Rin smiled - that is exactly what Shizune would do.

“Whoop! That smells like dinner’s ready - go get changed and I’ll set the table.” Tetsu kissed Rin on the neck and they headed off in opposite directions.

“Aiko, come help daddy set the table - you can play after dinner.”

“Yes daddy.” Aiko ambled over to help set out cutlery and napkins at everyone’s place.

—

One day in the not-to-distant future Aiko would be taller and more independent, but she’d always remember the look on Hashimoto-sensei’s face at the after-school meeting when sensei and the school principal met her mother — the mortification when Hashimoto-san realized where Aiko got her artistic talent - and technique - from.

Mommy, Aiko thought, had looked like a monsoon cloud in her flowing black dress as they walked into the principal’s office — a cloud like the ones that come from afar and even though you can see them coming, you feel a certain inevitability to their arrival. Daddy walked with the grace of a bull elephant - they’d taken Aiko to see them at the zoo; how something so large could walk so softly and still project the essence of its power baffled little Aiko. Tetsu had spent hours at the zoo watching them by himself, studying the elephants’ grace and had made it his own. Gently though he moved, Aiko did notice small things on shelves quiver as daddy walked by.

Mommy and daddy had let Aiko wear her `power dress` too - the pink one with the ladybugs and the shoes to match. Aiko didn’t think Ms. Hashimoto could bow as low as she did when she apologized for correcting Aiko’s efforts at painting. Childish though Aiko’s skills may be, mommy and daddy were very supportive of her art, as Rin’s parents had been of hers. In time Aiko would come to understand what the words `Intangible Cultural Property` meant, and why people referred to Sofu, grandfather Tezuka, as `that Tezuka`.

Expressing their goodbyes in cordial, yet cool tones, daddy took Aiko and mommy out for dinner as it was rather late and neither he nor mommy felt like cooking after that. Daddy said Aiko had been very good sitting quietly and listening to every word - better, watching every movement, every quiver of a muscle, every emotion that briefly crossed sensei and the principal’s faces, only to be quickly suppressed - but not quickly enough to escape notice of someone watching for it, as daddy had taught her. For that, Aiko got two servings of chocolate ice cream - her favourite!

—

“Well, maybe they’ll be a little more open-minded now,” thought Rin after they got home, and was pleased when Aiko reported that the next day’s art lesson had involved the class painting with their toes. “Not bad,” Rin thought, as she hung up her `office clothes` and got into her far more comfortable overalls - going into the office to meet prospective buyers was an unavoidable evil, but, as Tetsu said, it paid the rent.

—

“Tomorrow’s another day - sleep well dear.” Tetsu reached up and turned out the light.


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