Katawa Shoujo Forums

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Links:
The Collector
Walls
Call Me Lilly
Treading Water
Unfamiliar Gestures
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Treading Water

The infinite probability drive assures me that normality is restored. For now. This is a more normal piece compared to some of my others here, just a short scene involving Hanako and Hisao in more normal circumstances than last time...

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My whole body tenses up on contact with the cool water, so contrasting to the warm air outside. As I slowly lower myself into the pool I let out an involuntary shudder, gasping a little as my shoulders become submerged. There’s the hardest part, now to warm up a bit.

I push off from the edge of the pool, arms and legs moving in perfect sync to propel me through the water, the splashing and my deep intake of breaths echoing off the walls of the empty room. As I swim my lengths I keep an eye on the large clock on one of the walls, making sure I stick to my schedule.

Losing track of time would be a disaster.

Turning my head to the side I notice a figure standing at the edge of the pool, looking down at me. In my shock I swallow down a mouthful of chlorine filled water, coughing and spluttering as I swim to the edge of the pool on the other side from the figure, hanging onto the edge while drawing in deep breaths.

‘Hanako?’ the person watching me asks, not keeping the surprise out of his voice.

‘H…Hisao?’ I ask uncertainly, noticing the owner of the voice as the new boy from my class. He came and had tea with me Lilly and me a couple of times in the past too, but I guess we weren’t interesting enough for him really. Lilly still mentions him occasionally, teasing me for describing him to her as ‘cute’.

‘What are you doing here Hanako?’ he asks, still not having moved judging by the lack of slapping footprints or splashes.

‘S-swimming.’

PleasegoawaynowHisao.

‘Oh…mind if I join you?’ he asks carefully.

As I turn around to look at him, keeping my body firmly underwater, I notice him staring at me. Could he see my back out of the water earlier?

‘U-uh, y-you can c-come in! I gotta g-go do s-something!’ I tell him, making my way to the steps at the end of the pool. So far away.

‘Oh, don’t worry about that Hanako.’ He says, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. ‘I’ll just come back later; to be honest I thought it would be empty here, what with most people being at the cafeteria.’

The comment surprises me. Why wouldn’t he want to swim in front of other people? Catching a glance at him in his swimming shorts I notice he certainly doesn’t have a bad body, the arms crossed awkwardly in front of his chest framing some decent abs. The thought makes me blush a little.

‘I-I haven’t s-seen you here b-before.’ I say, something between a question and a statement.

‘Ah, no, I didn’t even really know this was here to be honest.’ He replies, taking the opportunity to jump into the pool, keeping his arms crossed until he’s underwater. ‘It’s just that my running partner isn’t very well right now, and it didn’t feel right running without her. So I decided to check this place out, only I wanted to come when nobody would be here because…’ he trails off near the end, staring into space.

‘B-because…?’ I ask, breaking perhaps one of the biggest taboos of the school. But he brought it up, and me and Lilly never did figure out what his reason for being here was.

He seems to contemplate his response for a bit before sighing and swimming a bit closer to me. Lifting his chest out of the water a bit I notice the thin line running down its centre, several inches long and a slightly off flesh colour.

‘It’s the scar from my heart surgery.’ He tells me, noticing me staring. Oh god was I staring?

‘O-oh.’

‘Yeah, you’re the first person here I’ve shown actually…even Emi.’ As he says this I notice his gaze slipping down, locking onto the blurry forms of my right arm and leg underwater, the pink web of scarring on them still all too visible.

Swimming pool is not a good place to have a panic attack Hanako. Calm down. He showed you his scar, after all, it’s only right he might try to get a better look at yours. Breathe. Deep breaths.

‘Are you okay?’ he asks concerned, swimming over to me.

I move my mouth but no sound comes out so I snap it shut again, better than looking like a fish after all. Regaining my composure, taking a few more deep breaths I utter a small. ‘Y-yes.’

Smiling at my response he says, ‘Shall we get on with swimming then? I guess we don’t have long?’

‘A-about another fifteen m-minutes.’ I tell him, met with a smile.

‘Wow, you’ve really got the timings down huh?’ he asks me, breaking into a gentle swim down the pool.

‘Y-yeah!’ I shout after him, setting off parallel to him and overtaking him in no time, big practised arm movements pushing me through the water.

‘You’re fast’ he says to me a bit later in passing between deep breaths.

‘Y-yeah.’ I say, slowing down a little to his pace. ‘I used t-to go s-swimming with…with…’

I can feel the tears coming unbidden to my eyes as I remember the great days we all had out at the beach together when I was younger. Swimming out with dad while mum watched fretting on the shore. Dad lifting me up onto his shoulders and flinging me backwards in a squeal of delight. He taught me to swim all those years ago…

‘Are you alright?’ Hisao asks, swimming closer to check on me.

Dipping my head underwater to hide the tears, I bring it up again a little too fast, my wet hair spraying water everywhere. Including Hisao.

Looking at me from under a wet fringe he has a surprised look on his face, before it gets replaced by a menacing smile.

‘O-oh Hisao, I’m s-sor-‘ my words are cut off when I get hit in the face by a splash of water, followed by Hisao laughing and swimming off.

I debate chasing after him, all my inhibitions strangely dropped, when I notice the clock on the wall. And the time.

‘H-Hisao!’ I shout, grabbing his attention and pointing to the clock. Nodding at me, we make our way over to the steps, which I stay a few feet from gently treading water. Taking the hint he gets out first, pulling himself up the steps and out onto the edge of the pool. After taking a few steps he turns to me smiling. ‘I enjoyed that Hanako, we should do it again sometime.’

‘Y-yeah, I’m usually h-here at this t-time.’ I tell him, watching him walk back to the changing room before pulling myself out of the pool, smiling to myself as I get dried and head for the cafeteria, hoping that not all the good food is gone this late.

Cute scene.

It would have been interesting to have crossover moments like this between the various paths in the game so you can jump from route to route, but then I suppose that would compromise the integrity of the narrative.

If I may...

BlackRockHanako wrote:
I move my mouth but no sound comes out so I snap it shut again, better than looking like a fish after all. Regaining my composure, taking a few more deep breaths I utter a small. ‘Y-yes.’

That may be because English isn't my primary language, but I didn't understand this passage.

Other than that though, great little fic ! I quite like the writing, and you reminded me of the existence of that swimming pool. I totally forgot about it.

I'm also amazed by the rate at which you write this. I hope you're not haunted by outlandish beings who force you to write these at the expense of your health. Because those are a pain.

Ascended Flutist wrote:If I may...

BlackRockHanako wrote:
I move my mouth but no sound comes out so I snap it shut again, better than looking like a fish after all. Regaining my composure, taking a few more deep breaths I utter a small. ‘Y-yes.’

That may be because English isn't my primary language, but I didn't understand this passage.

Other than that though, great little fic ! I quite like the writing, and you reminded me of the existence of that swimming pool. I totally forgot about it.

I'm also amazed by the rate at which you write this. I hope you're not haunted by outlandish beings who force you to write these at the expense of your health. Because those are a pain.

I imagine someone in a swimming pool, moving their mouth like they were talking but with no sound coming out would look like a fish's mouth gaping opening and closed.

Also, I am unfortunately haunted by such things. Unfortunately, they never hit me when i'm actually at my PC, preferring to hit me at, oh, 8:30 in the morning when I get to work, so I go crazy with it locked in my head all day before I get home 11 hours later and can write it.

Also also, I have no goddamn idea what made me think of the swimming pool, as it's mentioned like once in the whole game in passing, and it's not like I was thinking of any real life swimming pools or swimming at work. Strange.

That was a cute story, people probably forget that Hisao's condition does have physical signs and that he is self-conscious about it. Like the other(s?) said, it's always neat to get a look at how the girls are doing during someone else's route, too. It makes me wonder how much little stuff like this (with places mentioned but never touched on like the pool) could have been in the game if there had been more time.
Anyway, that was good, thanks for posting it.

Thread renamed, same old stuff.

_________________________________
Links:
The Collector
Walls
Call Me Lilly
Treading Water
Unfamiliar Gestures
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Unfamiliar Gestures

Just a very small scene, shorter than the others. Real life sucks, mostly, taking away all my time. Sigh

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Shizune will be home soon. I don’t think this will go perfectly, but it at least has to be recognisable. I have to show her somebody in this house is making the effort, a certain somebody else sure isn’t.
The loud thumping on the door alerts me to her presence, and after scanning the page quickly once more, I head to the main room of the house, taking a seat on the sofa. Waiting, while my mind races with pictures from the book and various websites spinning round and round.

From down the corridor I can hear dad’s booming voice shout, ‘OH, SO YOU THOUGHT YOU’D COME HOME FOR ONCE DID YOU?’ What the hell dad, she comes home fairly often. Far more often than you go and see her, anyway. ‘OH, AND YOU BOUGHT HER HERE TOO? GREAT, WHY DON’T WE JUST SET THIS PLACE UP AS A HOSTEL FOR DELINQUENTS?’
I find myself smiling as the door slams shut, quickly wiping it off my face as footsteps make their way towards me. By the time they all arrive in the room my face is glued stiffly in its usual indifferent pose.
‘Hi Hideaki~’ Misha yells across the room as dad heads off through a side door to the kitchen. In response I raise a single hand to her, not quite a wave. She just laughs, coming over to ruffle my hair. Surely she of all people understands how much time and effort doing your hair takes?

Next comes Shizune herself, drawing me into a tight hug before turning to the bag slung over her shoulder, digging around inside it for her little notepad and a pen, I assume. Taking a deep breath I reach out to her, resting a hand on her arm. She looks up at me, the surprise on her facing giving way to a questioning look.
I slowly raise my hands, eyes fixed firmly on their forms in front of me.
[Hi…Shizune.] I sign, slowly and carefully.
Her eyes widen in shock and recognition, and for the second time in a couple of minutes she pulls me into a tight hug, eventually letting me go and adjusting her glasses.
[When…learn…sign?] she asks me, or something to that effect. I can’t quite catch all the words even though she’s slowed down a hundred fold from her usual lightning speed conversation with her friend.
[Misha…show…me…and…book.] I respond, improvising her friend’s name by holding my hands in the air in front of my shoulders, index fingers outstretched and making twirling motions.
Shizune covers her mouth to muffle her laugh, while Misha lets out a boisterous ‘Wahaha!’, mimicking the gesture with her fingers entwined in her drills.

Shizune suddenly turns to Misha and begins her rapid movements through the air, her friend’s eyes glued firmly on her hands. I manage to catch the odd word, such as [when] and [tell me]. Misha just shrugs in response, her hands still tangled in her hair.

Shizune turns back to me and signs something I can’t catch. Apparently seeing my blank stare she reaches into her bag, finally pulling out the pen and paper.

WHERE. IS. FATHER?

Showing me the note, she points to each word in turn and carries out the appropriate gestures, pausing after each one for me to copy. Once I’ve repeated the whole sentence she nods, looking thoughtful for a bit before pointing to the last word again. Instead of signing the word, she takes a step back and juts out her chest, one hand on her hip while the other hovers at her waist. Her eyes take on a familiar intense look and her mouth opens wide and snaps shut repeatedly.

Not a bad impression, all in all.

Yay, another one of those ! \(°jj°)/
I like your fics, ah, Si-, er, Mad-, er, yes. They're always nice, light and sweet. Like floating islands for brain. The touch of humor can be the caramell on top.

Hmmmm, floating islands.

I'll edit this post when I've found something worthwhile to say.

Hideaki is best trap

Strange Tastes

Something I quickly wrote up, it's just silly. I don't even know what's going on in my head anymore. Somebody help.

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Hanako stared wide-eyed at the object in her hands. She’d seen pictures of one before, of course, and even heard people talking about them, but she’d never imagined they would be this…big. The size of it intimidated her, to be honest, and she had no idea how she would fit it in her mouth. Looking to Hisao for reassurance he offered her a shrug, a look that might have been worry or uncertainty on his face.

Experimentally opening her mouth the widest she could, stretching the corners where her lips met, she realised it would never be able to pass by her lips as it currently was. Debating the matter for a minute, her eyes lit up with recognition, and she repositioned herself to the side of the shaft. Sticking her tongue out she slowly, hesitantly leant forward and gave it a quick lick, surprised that it didn’t really taste of anything…she gave it another lick, and then another.

‘…What are you doing, Hanako?’ Hisao asked, watching the spectacle before him.

‘J-just trying to m-make it fit in my m-mouth easier.’ She replied, her voice slightly muffled.

‘Uh…ok.’

Satisfied that the outside was lubricated enough now, Hanako faced the object head on once again, staring at it as if in a contest. She blinked first. Opening her mouth as wide as she could go, she moved forward and felt the object force its way past her lips inch by inch…and then it was in!

Her eyes lighting up, she probed her tongue along the surface once again, sucking gently while she did so. Hisao watched her expectantly, knowing himself that it wouldn’t be long now. As her cheeks curved inwards with the pressure of her sucking, the thing in her mouth….well, exploded would be the best word for it.

Her eyes widened in shock as her mouth and throat got filled up, the object in her mouth starting to sag limply. As she pulled it out of her mouth a trail of white fluid followed along behind it, running past her lips and down her chin, small drops forming and falling onto her skirt.

‘If you’re gonna start choking, just swallow it all, it’ll probably help.’ Hisao advised her, watching as small white bubbles formed at the corner of Hanako’s mouth.
Nodding at him she tilted her head back and swallowed, the gulp both audible and visible in her throat. Raising a hand up she used her dainty fingers to wipe the white substance from her chin, popping the fingers in her mouth and sucking them clean.

‘Was it good?’ Hisao asked.

‘Uh-huh!’


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‘I don’t want to, Hisao. I don’t like the way it tastes.’

‘I know, Rin, but I’m not giving you a choice, so open up.’

Keeping her mouth firmly shut, Rin shook her head from side to side, her mop of hair waving wildly along with it. Hisao just stared at her with a look of disapproval. She was like this every time.

‘You know I’ll get my way eventually, Rin, so you may as well do it sooner rather than later. I’ll grab you some orange juice straight after to wash away the taste, I promise.’

‘No.’

‘Do I have to go get Emi to hold you down? She’ll do it you know, do you want to disturb her?’

‘No, but…it tastes horrible!’ Rin said, still shaking her head from side to side.

‘Well, I wouldn’t know as I’ve never tried it myself, but I said I’d let you wash it away after, didn’t I?’

‘But I still have to taste it. Can’t we mix it with juice and I can swallow it like that?’

‘That would probably be pretty horrible Rin…it would just be orange juice with bits of thick goo on the surface…they might even get stuck in the straw.’ Hisao said, trying to reason with the girl in front of him. He’d hold her down if he had to, but he hoped it wouldn’t come to that. They had to do this little act every time, but she always ended up giving in.

‘Just open up, Rin.’

‘…Okay, but get the juice first. I want it straight after.’

Sighing, Hisao got up and made his way to his bag, rummaging around for the small carton of juice he had bought with him, prepared for an event like this. Pulling the straw out of its plastic sleeve he used the pointed end to pierce the seal on top of the carton, placing the carton down next to Rin. As she leaned over to take a drink, Hisao moved it just out of reach of her mouth.

‘Not until after.’

‘…fine.’ Rin said, looking miserable as she tilted her head back, scrunching her eyes up and opening her mouth.

Taking the opportunity while it was present, Hisao leaned forward and deposited the gooey load into her mouth, biting back a smile at the look of disgust on her face as she swallowed it down, coughing and spluttering.

‘See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?’ Hisao asked her, pushing the juice carton closer to her, which she promptly leaned over and emptied in one go.

Gasping for air she sat up straight, staring at Hisao.

‘I wish you didn’t make me do that.’

‘I know, Rin.’


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Flopping back onto his bed in his room, Hisao flipped his phone open, sending two texts.

[Hey Akira, Hanako really liked the giant chocolate éclair you gave her, once she found out a way to eat it, anyway – I don’t think she’d had one before. I think the cream inside was her favourite part. She said thanks, and thanks for mine too!]

[Hi Emi, I managed to make Rin take her medicine, eventually. She seemed more reluctant than usual today – don’t they do orange flavoured medicine? It would save a lot of trouble. See you later!]

Meh. Immediately obvious troll fic and serves no other purpose. 0/10

nemz wrote:Meh. Immediately obvious troll fic and serves no other purpose. 0/10

Sometimes a retelling of a classic joke takes a little more time to build up to the pun than one might think.

nemz wrote:Meh. Immediately obvious troll fic and serves no other purpose. 0/10

I said beforehand it was silly, i wasn't trying to make some kind of 'xD epic troll trap!' Thanks for posting, though, I appreciate it, really valuable insight from someone whose opinion I care about.

Fortunately, fanfics have little purpose asides from being read.

That is, unless it has been stated otherwise.

...some of these man, just...I don't know what to say about them. Others did make me feel fuzzy inside, which is a definite plus. And I actually enjoyed the troll chapter, hadn't seen one of those in a while.

The Letter

Not much to say about this one, it is what it is. Constructive criticism always welcome, and indeed it feels needed on this quick piece. Thanks.

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• Hanako,
  
  I don’t really know how to start this. I guess ‘hi’ is as good a place to start as any…Hi. So you’re twenty now, I hope you had a nice birthday…I guess I should explain who I am, before you start worrying you have a stalker or something. (Well, I’m sure you’re a beautiful girl and probably have a few anyway, but at least know that I’m not one.)
  
  I’m sure that by now you know that Daiki and Airi aren’t your real parents. They promised me they would tell you on your sixteenth birthday, not that they owed me anything. I’ll never forget the look in Airi Ikezawa’s eyes when she saw you, only a few months old and yet you had a full head of purple hair, almost a match to her own albeit a bit lighter. Her husband Daiki stood back and watched as his wife held you in her arms with his face composed, but I could see from the look in his eyes that he was as excited as she was.
  
  I never asked them why they couldn’t have children of their own, it’s hardly my business is it? If it was my business once then I gave that up the day I picked up a bottle again. Your mother falling pregnant…your biological mother that is, not Airi, was the reason I gave up alcohol. I’d been in and out of trouble my whole life, and the only way I had to forget that was drink, but then when the woman I loved became pregnant I knew I had to give it up. And I did, stayed sober for the last 4 months of her pregnancy. It never goes away you know, the itch for alcohol. It’s always there gnawing at the back of your mind, whispering seductively, ‘one drink won’t hurt, just a little sip’…ah, but I’m rambling.
  
  I don’t know if your parents (I’ll refer to them as they are, I gave up any right to that claim long ago) will have told you what happened to your mother. After giving birth to you…she died.
  
  I don’t blame you for that now, I didn’t back then, and I won’t in twenty years time. She had a weak heart that could have given in at any time, it just so happened to be that situation that pushed her past the limit. They say things like that go undiagnosed all the time and that she could just have easily collapsed in the middle of a jog. The most important thing is that she managed to hold you in her arms and see your face, one time, one short time…
  
  It broke me. At the time when I should have been at my best, at my strongest, for my new-born daughter and my wife’s family, I couldn’t be. I don’t want to make excuses for what I did, but the whispers in my head were seductive, and I gave in. I’m weak. I left you at the hospital while I went and had my first drink in months. I felt like scum.
  
  Shortly after that you were put up for adoption. I didn’t even have the strength to fight it, to fight for you, my daughter who was born only months beforehand. I watched them take you from my arms and could only worry about where my next drink was coming from. I’m not proud of it, the way I was. Daiki and Airi didn’t have to let me see you, either, while the process was happening, but they did. The visit was supervised and subject to me passing a breathalyzer test, and to be honest I don’t know how I even managed it, but I did. I got the chance to say goodbye to you, and to ask Daiki and Airi some favours, although as I said, they owed me nothing. It was their suggestion that when you turned sixteen they would tell you that they weren’t your real parents, but they said they wouldn’t mention the state I was in when they saw me or what happened to your mother.
  
  That’s why I’ve written this letter, to be delivered to you shortly after your twentieth birthday. I hope it reaches you okay, and I hope that you can find it somewhere in your heart to forgive me, although I don’t deserve it. Daiki and Airi are good people, and I’m sure they’ve been fantastic parents to you all these years, so you don’t need me. I’ll never forget the way you looked when you were born, and I wish I could see you now as a grown woman, but I can’t do that. I don’t know what state I’ll be in when you read this, probably still a hopeless drunk.
  
  I’m just glad that I got to say all of this to you, and when you next see them, tell your parents, the ones who raised you, that I say thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, for giving my daughter the chance in life she would never have had with me.
  
  I hope that your life is everything you could ever want it to be, and that you’re happy with your family. Sorry I wasn’t there for you, but it’s for the best.
  
  
  All the love in the world,
  
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The paper cuts off just above the name. The hand holding it shakes uncontrollably, tears falling onto the paper and smudging the two decade old ink, making small black swirls over the page. The hand’s grip loosens, the paper fluttering slowly to the floor, rocking back and forth through the air.