From Shizune's Perspective

[Goldilurks]

Wow, I drop a comment on this thread and would-be editors spring out of the woodwork. Thanks to all who have PM'ed me. I'll give everybody a turn to edit the work.

[Goldilurks]

This new sports bra proved damn difficult to take off. I glared at the sight of Shiina laughing at me. “Need a little help, Shicchan?”

“Eat me,” I signed back. And I had just been about to ask her for help, too. Tired of fighting with this thing, I reached down my cleavage, grabbed the lower strap from the inside, and pulled away from me. With a bit of a gap between the bra and my chest, I could try to lever the thing over my shoulders and head, pulling my breasts out one at a time. It was as awkward as you’re imagining it to be, but by that point I had little dignity left to salvage.

Shiina smirked at that, replying as I struggled to escape. “No thanks. I already told you I don’t go that way.”

“Your loss.” I paused to fling the offending garment into my bag. Never again was I buying a no-latch sports bra. “Too late for you anyway; I'm over my big girl phase.” She gave me one of her hands-on-hips belly laughs as I pulled out my regular bra and put it on. For all the crap I give her, she still knows I’m eternally grateful for not abandoning me after my initial confession years ago.

“What about little girls?” She smirked as I finished changing. “You and Emi seem to get along fine.”

“She’s cute, but as far as I can tell she’s straight. Though I did not ask.” The problem with being a bisexual deaf-mute is that when you come out of the closet, most people don’t notice. I put on my glasses. “Besides, you know I don’t care much for relationships with speakers anymore; they’re just conquests.”

Shiina shrugged expressively as I picked up my bag. “Maybe as the last speaking girl to turn you down I shouldn’t talk, but why not branch out? Your last deaf boyfriend was a total jackass.”

“That’s why I’m bi.”

“And your last deaf girlfriend was even worse.”

I grimaced at those memories. Fucking St. Pfil’s transfer students. “That’s why I’m cautious. Please, Shiina. Ibarazaki doesn’t even know any sign.”

Another belly laugh. “I could teach her.”

“You’d be wasting your time. I’m positive she’s straight.”

She was done getting ready now. “It’d still give me an excuse—” here she coughed, interrupting her signs, “—an excuse to skip these stupid runs.” Her perpetual complaints got a roll of the eyes from me as we left the changing rooms. Hisao was already waiting for us outside. He waved hello and asked how we were holding up.

“I’m great, though Misha here is gradually dying.”

It was fun to watch her get most of the way through translating, before “…Wait, I’m Misha!” appeared with a hasty glare. She promptly informed Hisao that she was handling the runs just fine.

“What’s that, Shiina? I thought this was torture from the way you were going on.”

“You wouldn’t have told him, if our situations were reversed,” she replied in secret as we started heading to class. “Let’s just have Hisao think I’m okay with this and finish your stupid bet as soon as possible.”

I conceded reluctantly. While I was looking forward to lording my victory over Emi, I had to secretly admit this running thing was fun. After being terribly out of shape, some exercise was nice, and Emi could only lap me once per morning now. I would miss this after I won. “But what about—oh, there’s Ibarazaki. Say hello, Shiina.”

Hisao, not distracted by my signing as Shiina was, had already noticed her. That was damn fast, even for Emi; she’d finished her routine and made it all the way to the changing rooms by the time we had finished changing. She exchanged hellos with us in her usually cheery manner, and looked me straight in the eye after Shiina was done translating her usual hope that we’d had a good time. “See you tomorrow, Shizune!” she signed.

“Yes, I’ll see you then, good day,” I absentmindedly signed back. She smiled and jogged off for the changing rooms behind us. I got two steps further before stopping cold and doing a double take so hard I nearly sprained my neck muscles. She signed?!? Obviously practiced, and rather sloppy signs, admittedly, but she had signed! Emi, who had her back to us, didn’t notice as she quickly slipped into the ladies’ changing room. I could see Hisao and Shiina in my peripheral vision, and their expressions said they had been too surprised to catch Emi on that. Slowly, Hisao turned to stare at me. Slowly, I turned to stare at Shiina.

“Don’t look at me!” she signed, frantically. “Didn’t teach her a single word, honest!”


Opening Sprint
The second chapter in a Katawa Shoujo fanfic


Emi began to pull matching lunches out of her bag as she climbed the stairs, oblivious to the three of us spying on her from around the corner. Lunch on the roof again, apparently. I was so intent on observation that it took me a moment to notice that Shiina was translating something. Apparently Hisao had a question. “Come again?”

“He said, ‘Remind me why we’re tailing Emi?’”

“To figure out her game,” I responded. “Whether she’s self-taught or someone’s showing her sign, I want to know why she’s picked it up.”

“Yes, yes,” Shiina nodded, switching from my translation to her own words. “The blockiness of her movements says she might be copying them from a book or the Internet, but if she has a teacher we should find out who.”

Hisao gave a visible sigh. “Because you think she’s learning sign just to understand your secret conversations? That’s ridiculous.”

“You shouldn’t let your guard down, Hisao. I thought you’d know better.”

He gave me a raised eyebrow at that. “Now you’re sounding like Kenji.”

“Setou from 3-2? What does he mean by that?”

“I don’t know Shicchan, now let me finish! ‘Anyway, I have a much simpler way to figure out her motives.’”

“And your master plan is?” I responded curtly. But by the time Shiina started translating, Hisao had already rounded the corner and was heading for the stairwell after Emi. I barely caught Shiina’s translation and response out of the corner of my eye. “‘I’m going up there to ask her nicely.’ Hey, wait Hicchan!”

Hisao had quite a head start, and the stride length to take the stairs two at a time. Shiina wasn’t in the shape to catch him, so I raced on ahead. It was rather awkward when I got to the top of the stairs, opened the door to the roof, and found myself with no translator and Emi signing a cheery “Hello!” to me.

There was no conversation I could take part in until Shiina showed up, panting and coughing. Her lungs didn’t appreciate the work. Hisao had grabbed a sandwich at the cafeteria before our spying mission commenced, but Shiina and I had forgotten to pick up lunches. Fortunately, Emi had made lunches too large for her and Tezuka to finish, so they were happy to share. I couldn’t discount the possibility that she had planned as much, but I was too hungry to refuse, so I accepted the stir-fry and watched her carefully as I ate. She proved too inexperienced to understand what I tried to sign to her, so Shiina put the question forward.

“Oh, I picked up a little after taking your bet,” she answered, her usual cheery expression turning mischievous. “Figured that if you were going to show up at the track regularly, I might as well learn a little sign. Make you feel welcome.”

I smirked a little at that; she played her hand too easily. Hold translation. “So she’s trying to get me to relax my guard?”

“That’s being a little paranoid, Shicchan.” I kept my eyes on Emi; her expression was friendly but blank. Good. She didn’t know anything beyond some basic greetings.

“No, it makes sense. Knowing the bet is mine to win, she looks for ways to butter me up now, the better to negotiate for Hisao’s time in the future.”

Shiina couldn’t decide on disagreeing with that or not. She was taking too long to respond anyway, so I redirected my gaze to Emi. Resume translation. “That’s very thoughtful of you. If you want to learn sign seriously we’d be glad to help.”

Emi clapped her hands in pleased affirmation, and Hisao raised an eyebrow at my apparent generosity. He wasn’t alone in his suspicion. “She’s thanking you. What’re you thinking now, Shicchan?”

I smiled at Shiina. Hold translation. “This makes her think she’s succeeded in befriending me, and there’s no better position from which to gauge her progress than as her teacher.” Resume translation. “It’s the least I could do for you sharing your lunch.”

It’s nice when the wording carries over well between sign and speech. As ‘least I could do’ crossed Shiina’s lips, Emi’s expression changed. It looked like the start of those puppy dog eyes Hisao had spoken of before. “Well, I wouldn’t want to impose on the Student Council… but I’ve had some difficulty getting the other track team members to come to morning practice… and some of them are starting to skip afternoon practice too. With the big track meet coming up, it’s kind of important…” Ah, I get it.

Silly girl. It will take more than puppy eyes to convince me. I signed my response to Shiina. “If we’re exchanging favors, I think an agreement can be reached.”

-

“I still don’t get how your mind works,” Shiina commented as we walked away from Miura’s room. Miki, along with some other errant members of the track and field club, would be on the track tomorrow morning; being in the same class, we could annoy her considerably more often than Emi could. Members from other classes had required more old-fashioned browbeating. “You agreed to play enforcer in exchange for food?”

She started coughing again as I responded. “I thought of her as just another piece on the board. A mistake on my part; she’s a negotiator, a player in her own right. Which is why getting her approval could work in my favor.”

“What.” Shiina raised an eyebrow. “You’re relapsing into Supreme Overlady mode again. Is another intervention in order?”

“Give it a rest. Where’s my ‘thank you for getting us free homemade lunches every day until the meet, Shicchan’?”

She gave me another belly laugh for that. “Well, she is a good chef, even though her stuff’s a little low-carb for my taste. See, Shicchan, you really do like her!”

I sniffed indignantly. “I like her cooking. And what she might be able to do for us. Think about it, Shiina; remember all that paperwork we had to do for the meet?”

An expressive frown as we returned to our room. I entered before her, watching her response over my shoulder. “How could I forget? If we’d done it at a sane hour I wouldn’t be spending my mornings running around that stupid track.”

“That was not the only work related to athletics and physical activity we have done, now was it? Adds up quite quickly. I was thinking: given what it adds to our workload, it may be time for the Student Council to appoint a sports representative…”

Her eyes brightened at that. Our workload had dropped significantly since Hisao joined, although having the festival over and done with was part of that. The idea of cutting it down further was mighty tempting. “Normally I’d tell you off for not trying to become her friend honestly, but that IS a good idea, Shicchan. If we could—” and here she started coughing again. I gave her a look of concern.

“I did tell you to see the Nurse about that.”

“I said I was fine,” she returned stubbornly. She’d been coughing all day. Hisao and I had called her on it in the afternoon, but she’d insisted she could stay until it was finished. I now regretted not dragging her to the Nurse’s office anyway. No matter; we were going to bed earlier to compensate for the running routine, and early sleep would do her good.

“Whatever you say,” I answered before pulling off my shirt. I found her coughing when the clothing left my field of vision. It wouldn’t bother my sleep, but I still felt bad for my roommate. “You know, I can be a slave-driving bitch sometimes, but you’re allowed to ask for a break, all right?”

“Now you tell me.”

“Shiina.” I put an arm on her shoulder, and waited until I caught her gaze. She was halfway into her pajamas at this point. When our eyes met I continued signing. “Take care of yourself, okay? I don’t want to push you when you’re sick.”

“I’ll be fine, really,” she signed hastily as she put the last of her PJs on. “I’m not sick!”

-

“Yep, you’re sick,” I signed as I pulled my hand away from the lump under the covers, having placed it where I thought a forehead might be. The skin had been burning to my touch. Not sure if she had seen it, I signed that again, with some clarifications. “Coughing, fever, exhaustion, and headaches as you tell me—that counts as sick. Ready to take it easy now?”

No response from the lump. I shook her a bit. Two hands emerged from under the covers. “That’s called a groan, Shicchan.”

I pulled the covers back just enough for the lump to see my hands. “This is called being deaf, silly. I’m sorry, okay? I feel terrible about this, really.”

“Not as terrible as I feel,” signed the lump. A pair of eyes glared at me from behind a pink mess of hair. “Tell Emi I’m sorry I can’t run this morning.”

Unspoken was the distinct lack of apology for compromising my bet. I didn’t mind; she had all the right to be mad and no reason to apologize. “I’ll tell her myself. Stay in bed. I’ll get a nurse to come by and check on you, and a note to get you out of classes for the rest of the day.”

“I can get to the Nurse’s office myself in a couple hours, just lemme sleep.”

“Not happening, Shiina. You stay in bed. We’ve got this highly trained medical staff on call, might as well put them to use.” With that, I threw the covers back over the lump, to no signs of protest. First order of business was to get the bottle of water she would have taken to the run and place it on her bedside table. The lump protested when I reminded her to keep hydrated.

Second order of business was to adapt to the situation with Emi. Shiina failing to show technically cost me the bet, and there would be a communication problem. Best to prepare a message in advance. I sat down at my desk and began a memo.

I must unfortunately inform you that Shiina has come down sick, and is in no shape to come to our morning run. She will probably be staying in bed for the next few days. She sends her regrets and wishes that she could make it.
As for our bet, I will admit this counts as my defeat. The terms of our challenge did imply that we would take care of ourselves enough to stick to the allotted time, and as I am indirectly responsible for Shiina’s situation, I cannot plead mercy. But I am not going to surrender to a twist of misfortune so easily. If you are amenable to renegotiating the terms now, I am willing to serve the difference in days: ten days longer than agreed on, to make up for the ten days Shiina had yet to run.

Hisao read the note over Emi’s shoulder as she went over my proposal. They had joined me over at the side of the track; Miura and the other prodigal club members were busy making up for lost time. I had also brought a pen and pad of sticky notes for communication. The pen was currently in Emi’s right hand, as she perused the bottom of the page she was reading. The most important part of the message I gave her was there, two check boxes marked Acceptable and Not acceptable.

With a smirk, she marked one of the boxes with a flourish, scribbled something under it, and passed the memo back my way. The smirk had me nervous, but I found the Acceptable box checked, with a comment underneath it.

I still half-expect you to quit.

You wonderful little bitch. I’d show her.

Still, it counted as a small victory. Hisao rolled his eyes at my grin and said something. He must have been asking for the sticky notes, as Emi passed them and the pen before signing something to me. Oh, that was supposed to be a ‘Come on!’; she wanted me to start running. After I corrected her, Hisao handed me a sticky note. You’re going to awfully long lengths to control my free time.

I started into a power walk towards an unoccupied lane as I wrote my response, handing it to him just before we began. You thought you had free time?

Hisao’s reply was to make an exaggerated biting gesture, then point at himself. Emi laughed, and I had to smile approvingly. So some fight remained in him after all.

-

The days passed. I kept going in the mornings while Shiina was sick. Emi and Hisao showed up twice, each time with a Tupperware container full of rice balls and a get-well card. After five days, she was well enough to rejoin us on the track.

I was settled into the running routine by then. It was disconcerting at first to find that Emi was lapping me easily when she had to keep pace with the other team members; she had been taking it easy for our sake. No matter. The worst of the track team could beat the pants off of Hisao or me, but we were no longer completely out of breath at the end of a routine, and that counted for something. I was getting sick of that sports bra, though.

Sometimes we would go up to the roof to have lunch with Emi and Tezuka; sometimes they came down to eat in the cafeteria with us. Tezuka continued to make absolutely no sense whatsoever. In our spare time, Shiina and I taught Emi what sign we could. Her grammar was good but her jerky, excited movements were not always clear. I was staying longer at my runs. Misha and Hisao began leaving before me. Days became weeks, and the track meet approached.

One morning I had finished my routine to find my cellphone vibrating. I had a text message from Emi, who had given me a wink the last time she lapped me. I don’t know how she managed to carry her cellphone with her in her gym clothes. check ur bags, the text read.

I did, and found a new sports bra in there. It was a different make from the one I had bought recently, with a magnetic latch in the back. There was a note with it.

Let me guess, you got that other one after finding out how comfortable and supportive it was, and you thought it was great how it did that without cutting off your breathing because of how it shaped around your breasts, right? That brand has a reputation for being impossible to take off. Try this instead. It’s a gift for celebrating your bad memory. Did you forget that you won the bet two days ago?

I took a moment to examine the gift and the note, smiling at her bad handwriting. I had honestly lost track. Dangerous—I’d given her leverage. But this running thing had turned out to be too enjoyable to quit. Still, it was a nice gift. As I put the note away, my cell vibrated again. like it?

I waved at her on the track as I walked away. She waved back, still running. Since her routine had considerably longer to go, I decided to continue the conversation in text as I left the field. You didn’t have to buy it for me; the recommendation would have been enough.

I was coming out of the changing room when she answered. ur txts r 2 long. its not a gift f u dunt buy it silly

Thanks anyway. I do appreciate it. On a whim, I decided not to go straight to class, where Misha and Hisao would be waiting; I had a few minutes. I returned to the field; sure enough, Emi still had a bit to go. The other track members were already leaving. Slackers. Emi was actually typing a response as she ran.

I waited, sitting on the bleachers. She looked up from her phone and waved at me again. I felt my cellphone vibrate. Her response read u gon keep running each morning?

I looked up to find her passing my spot with a smile. I returned the smile and held up one finger, then pointed to the phone. She nodded and kept jogging on. Her slower pace meant she was finishing up. I thought carefully and typed in a response. Let’s make a deal.

I hit send, and watched her go around the track. She’d slowed down to a power walk now, and I could see her send a look of confusion back my way as she turned the corner. Her reply arrived as she turned onto the far side. a deal??? O_o

I had to keep from grinning as I composed and sent the next text. She was past the furthest point on the track from me when she received it. The Council needs a sports rep. Join and I’ll keep showing up.

It was this point her behavior started to confuse me. She started turning the corner, and began crossing lanes. To my surprise she walked right off the track and kept walking straight for the school, phone in hand. I stood up to follow her when her next text message arrived.

screw u

That I hadn’t expected. Nor did I get an explanation that morning. Needless to say, I didn’t match her pace. By the time I got to the changing rooms she was already leaving. She blew past me in the hallway without making eye contact.

---
Author's Notes

I grimaced at those memories. Fucking St. Pfil’s transfer students.

“What.” Shiina raised an eyebrow. “You’re relapsing into Supreme Overlady mode again. Is another intervention in order?”

I refuse to explain the circumstances behind these comments any further. However, other fanfic authors are welcome to pen their speculations. (And yes, I had to give Kosher's fantastic series a shout-out.)

This was hard to write. I was torn between the Elements of Style, which tells me to cut unnecessary words, and the character of Shizune as narrator, who tends to be verbose and wordy. I tried to strike a balance, making her more informal in private conversation with Misha. Hopefully I hit the right tone.

Many thanks to leotrak, Mirage_GSM, and griffon8 for their editing assistance.

[Leotrak]

You're welcome ^_^ I'm liking very much how this is turning out

[Esquire]

Well done again, I have to say! The ending with Emi there was exactly how I picture Shizune trying to snare Emi into the council, and exactly how Emi would respond to a strong arm tactic, especially after being so nice to her.

Keep it up!

[Devon]

lolemilikesshizune

[Goldilurks]

Flattery will get you nowhere...actually, wait, flattery will get you the next chapter. Cancel that first line.

Devon, if you don't mind me asking, does Shizzy still remind you of your ex? I'm wondering if I stumbled onto a personality type.

[Devon]

Flattery will get you nowhere...actually, wait, flattery will get you the next chapter. Cancel that first line.

Devon, if you don't mind me asking, does Shizzy still remind you of your ex? I'm wondering if I stumbled onto a personality type.

Oh hell yes, she still does. My ex had a tendency to go into Supreme Overlady mode, although probably more frequently than Shizune. Furthermore, she was also notably bisexual although she had a thing for chicks with no tits as opposed to Shizune's penchant for Misha-type girls. To be honest, if you mix Hisao and Misha personality-wise, with a little more emphasis on Hisao's lack of free time and a lot less on Misha's ditziness and 'WAHAHA~', that'd be me. All you would have to do to Shizune is add more Goth, drop her by a cup size, give her razor-sharp nails, a sharper tongue, and a sex drive like a cat in heat and they'd be closer to carbon copies than you'd ever get.

The major difference between them that I've noticed up to now is that Shizune treats this like a game whereas my ex would have treated that bet like open war. Still, doesn't take from that fact that Shizune's way too close to being like my ex for my own liking. -_-* God, I wanna destroy Shizune so much more now.

[Goldilurks]

God, I wanna destroy Shizune so much more now.

Don't you worry, as the last chapter's ending indicated, over the rest of the story Shizzy will get the shit slapped out of her a rude awakening humiliated a lot of character development that will change her outlook and behaviour.

Oh, and to be specific, it's not that my version of a bisexual Shizune favours big girls. She's an ass woman. Just so happens Misha has what Shizune likes.

[GG Crono]

Oh, the drama! The tension!

Do keep up the good work, 'Lurks.

[kosherbacon]

I am... all kinds of okay with Shizune being a bisexual chubby-chaser ass-aficionado.

[Wan-wanniche]

All hail Shizune, the shmexy bi-sexual ass-chaser. You, my friend, are a genius.

[Goldilurks]

All hail Shizune, the shmexy bi-sexual ass-chaser. You, my friend, are a genius.

I am... all kinds of okay with Shizune being a bisexual chubby-chaser ass-aficionado.

She cannot lie.

As for the state of the story, don't worry. 'Lurks is puttin' in work. I was stalled for a long time but now it's coming along. I'll send out the PMs when it reaches an editable state. I need a quick plot check though: what time of the year does Act 1 take place? I was assuming it's some sort of late summer festival, but if there's any clarification it'd be appreciated.

[kosherbacon]

what time of the year does Act 1 take place? I was assuming it's some sort of late summer festival, but if there's any clarification it'd be appreciated.

Early June.

Something just dawned on me. I think I know why Shizune is such a bitch. She's into butts. She is in Japan. Misha's "disability" must be round not-flat asscheeks.

[Goldilurks]

Thanks for the info. In that case this should be taking place in...hmmm...damn, when does the Japanese school year have its summer vacation?

Something just dawned on me. I think I know why Shizune is such a bitch. She's into butts. She is in Japan. Misha's "disability" must be round not-flat asscheeks.

lol harsh. You're going to write Shizune as a frustrated ass-fetishist from now on, aren't you?

[Mirage_GSM]

when does the Japanese school year have its summer vacation?

More or less the month of August.