Katawa Shoujo Forums

Oh man, only proofread twice, and written in one day. Not boasting, I just really wanted to post, so my nerves got the best of me. Oh good god, I hope this doesn't suck. I should also stop being so self-depreciating.

Thanks to mirage_gsm for pointing out all my astonishingly stupid mistakes I've made so far. Hey, hopefully I'm getting better, and I really do appreciate it.

Part 4!

Emi stood in the doorway, fidgeting. She didn't know a damn thing about art. She only hoped her ignorance wasn't splashed all across her face. It was, but no one seemed to mind, or at least, they didn't interpret it as ignorance. So she was doing pretty good, really. She still wasn't happy though. She felt like she was the invisible woman, except she had a stain on her. Like she was odd, but they only noticed the oddity of the floating stain, and that's it. Business as usual. She tried to put a word to it, but only came up with weird. Maybe a little annoying. She sure felt annoyed.

The teacher, whose name she couldn't remember for her life (she had him dubbed as "that creepy old guy"), saw her from his desk and gave her a warm greeting. Emi was flustered by the look he gave her. She half-expected him to run over and give her a huge hug. Yeah, his name was staying "Creepy," even if the plaque on his desk said "Nomiya."

"Ah, Tezuka! I was wondering where you were! I haven't seen you at all today! I was starting to get worried!"

Emi was worried that she was going to go deaf. No one else seemed to be bothered by the Nomiya's excitement. It was then she knew that her newness was way too obvious. She thought of Rin trying out her new opposable thumbs on a tray of sweets, and attempted to sober up her expression. "Um... hello." Yeah, that was Rin-ish.

She was doomed, wasn't she?

Nomiya now was walking over to her, "Tezuka, are you feeling well?"

Emi stammered, "Y-yeah, I'm fine, everything's okay. Why?" Why, why the hell was he walking over to her now? Good God, how much cologne do you need to wear to school? It covered up the usual smell of the art-room, which was almost as impressive as hoisting the whole world onto your shoulders.

"Well," Nomiya scratched the back of his head, "You've been standing in the door for a few minutes, now."

Oh, yeah, you walk through doors. Silly Emi. She looked at Nomiya, noticing that his clothing was as loud as his excited voice. She had never looked at him from this close. You never really pay attention to an accident on the freeway until you slow down to look at it.

They stood there in silence for a few seconds, with Emi dedicating everything she had to figuring out what to say. She settled on, "Um, I was just trying to figure out where my... uh, painting was."

Nomiya clapped his hands together and laughed, "Why Tezuka, it's right where it always is!" He didn't point anywhere until he noticed how confused Emi was. "Or did you mean... where it is progress-wise? Or artistically?"

Emi was almost quivering now, "All... all those things. Yeah, all that."

Nomiya laughed it off again, and Emi wondered if her distress was really that amusing. "Ah, I know how you feel!" Nope, he didn't. He probably wouldn't want to, either. He pivoted around and paraded back to his desk, "Well, I'll let you do what you do! Don't let this old fart get in your way!" He chuckled to himself again. Boy, he sure was funny, or at least his intended audience thought so.

Emi slithered past the other club members, giving them slight nods of nervous acknowledgment. She finally found her spot, and sat in front of "it." "It" defied definition. Kinda like Rin. She had looked at Rin's paintings before, but for the first time she really gave it a good once over. She had thought it was weird that Rin had been so defensive of her painting earlier that morning, but now she was so tired that she stared into it, astonished by its complexity. She always thought that Rin was just a good artist, and a little weird. She never had the time to just sit there and study one of Rin's works, though, even as she was painting them. Emi always found herself getting a little fidgety; she was never one for staying in one place too long. The school day had really drained her, though. Rin wasn't in good shape at all, at least compared to Emi. She kept feeling like she was missing ninety percent of everything that was going on around her, that the people she had walked past in the hallways were just a constant stream of gray, the colors of their clothes all bleeding together, contrasting with the cream colored walls of the school. It was all unreal, all abstract, completely surrounding the sleepy Emi, like she was strolling through one of Rin's paintings. The entire day, she had been looking for something or someone to anchor herself to, to stop this endless floaty feeling. Rin didn't talk to many people, though. Emi would get nods, like the ones she had been politely handing out like finger food to the other art club members.

She re-focused. There was no way she could touch that painting. She couldn't do it any good. She would end up damaging it. That made her feel a little ashamed, especially when she asked one of the other art club members to move it for her.

The blank canvas made her feel a little bit better, until she realized that she was going to have to put something on it. It felt like Rin's painting was staring at her, almost accusingly.

Emi stretched her legs out, letting herself get distracted by how flexible Rin was. She then fumbled for a brush, and randomly stabbed it into the first color she managed to squeeze out, which happened to be green. She was able to do everything easily enough from memories of watching Rin. She assumed Rin's usual position, and touched the brush to the canvas.

She knocked it over. How in the hell was a girl that wore a boy's uniform to school more delicate than her?

Nobody really seemed to notice, and that froze her, shock on her face. Luckily, Nomiya came over to her and picked it up. Well, about as lucky as snake eyes to someone with their house deed on the table. His voice oozed into her ear, "My, my, my, feeling rather passionate today, aren't we?"

Emi couldn't think of anything to say. Nomiya nodded, "Well, keep trying. Don't let anything get in your way, even gravity. If you want it on the floor again, go ahead. Just... try not to make a mess, alright?"

"Y-yeah..."

Nomiya flitted away, flowing around the other students and making comments. Emi tried again, concentrating on being gentle. She couldn't just rush through this. She started to feel dizzy, but at the same time, welcomed it. She could feel some small part of her brain slowly start to turn on. Sure, it was sparking, and maybe running a little loud and hot, but something was stirring to life.

She bit her lip, and touched the brush to the canvas. She didn't release her lip as she started to make progress. She squinted her eyes, trying to see something far off in the horizon. She couldn't make it out just yet, but she was slowly getting closer. And closer. And closer.

Nomiya's little patrol carried him back over. "So... um, what is it? I mean, I know that's cheating, but that's... that's... just... well..."

Emi put the brush down, and they both looked at it. Emi tried to explain, "Well... you see... it's... it's a..."

"... it's a doggie."

Nomiya's head was slowly cocking to the side at a constant speed. Emi almost expected it to rotate a full three-hundred and sixty degrees. She got worried. It had started out as... she didn't remember. It turned into that. She decided that she should try to elaborate, hoping that it would do more than just excavate, "Well, you see, it's like, a... young, little dog... puppy! Yeah, a puppy! And," she was absolutely terrible at this, "...and it's, like," burying her in a shallow grave while she was still breathing, "Just, doing, puppy like things. Like a puppy." She tried smiling. It felt like smiling at the hangman.

Nomiya was deep in thought. "So, childish." Emi gulped. Nomiya kept going, "So... innocent. Am I right?"

Ibarazaki wasn't in at the moment, but you could leave a message.

He did just that, "Hmm, this is very interesting. Well, I'll interrogate you no further! I was really hoping you would finish your other piece, but I am very interested in seeing where you go with this. Keep at it!" He floated off. Emi hoped that he wouldn't be back for a while, partly because she was running out of words to describe his bizarre stride.

There was nothing else to distract her, so she kept painting. She tried to keep calm, but her agitation was slowly gaining momentum. Every once in a while, she would hear whispers, "Damn, Tezuka's doing it again." "I know. She just always charges in headfirst. I always feel so amateurish." "It's all she can do. She was born for this."

Born to what? Flounder helplessly in the water? Did her splashes look pretty or something?

She drew a breath between gritted teeth. "Calm it," she growled softly to herself. She mashed up her face into Rin's usual cool look. The whispering didn't stop, but the face never fell. Was it always like this? Or did Rin just not hear them? Well, wait, was it really that bad? They were complementing her, so she must be doing something right. She pulled the brush away from the canvas, and thought hard. Emi wasn't doing anything special. She was trying her hardest to get through the class without problems. She didn't want to screw things up for Rin. Yeah, Rin threatened her, but she probably wouldn't go through with it. That wasn't like her. So she was trying her hardest.

She was trying her hardest to fit in.

Emi lost track of everything around her. It suddenly felt like time had ceased to exist.

What did she mean by that? She was trying to fit in. That's all. By being like them. But she wasn't. She wasn't like them. She looked at Rin's painting. Rin had told her something once, something weird. But in this place where time stood still, it didn't seem so strange, "Painting's like talking, but I don't mess up my paintings. Not often. I mess up talking. I always come up with new words, because I forget the real ones. That's bad, though. You don't have to do that with painting."

She asked Rin why she didn't have a boyfriend once. Rin just gave her a shrug. Emi had jokingly accused her of having her expectations too high. Rin just shrugged again, and walked away from the lunch Emi made for her, saying that she was just going for a walk. Emi just chalked it up to Rin being Rin. She should have realized Rin was being human.

She shook her head, and while she heard the seconds start to tick again, she couldn't quite clear it. She turned back to the canvas, and started to paint, albeit a little distracted.

The rest of the time went by just like that. Everyone was done before Emi. As they left, she put some finishing touches on and let out a tired sigh. Nomiya sidled up to her and looked at the painting. As he studied it, Emi got up, stretched, and made for the door. Nomiya called after her, "Tezuka, I hate to bother you, but does this one have a name?"

"Yeah," Emi said over her shoulder as she left, "It's 'Basket Full of Puppies That Won't Shut the Hell Up.'"

Oh shit my sides. I just can't. "Basket Full of Puppies That Won't Shut the Hell Up". I'm dying here.

Aaaaaaaaaaand here we are, the ending! Hope you all liked it! If not, throw all your tomatoes and stuff at that guy over there that's not paying attention and has no idea what's going on! He did it! Though, if we had some bread, some cold-cuts 'n such, we could have a lovely picnic and talk out our differences, the weather is pretty nice today, where I am, at least...

Okay, I'll shut up now. Here we go!




Emi was completely drained. She kicked open the door and stumbled into her room. Rin was lying on the floor with the lights out, looking up at the ceiling as if all the answers were written there. Emi flopped down beside her, feeling like she had been fired out of a cannon into her own glass house.

"How was the art club?" Rin asked, keeping her stare upwards.

"Aggravating. How was track practice?"

"Mystifying."

"I bet." Emi looked up at the ceiling with Rin. "What'cha doin' now?"

"Watching my thoughts float away."

"Mind if I join you?"

"Go 'head."

They lay there in silence for a while.

"What do yours look like?" Rin asked.

"My thoughts?"

Emi felt Rin's nod more than she saw it. She shifted around on her back, trying to get comfortable, "Kinda ugly, actually. I sorta wanna to see them go."

"Why?"

"I don't like them very much."

"Why?"

Any other day, Emi might have started to get annoyed or weirded out. Instead, not only was she speaking Rin-ese (albeit with a thick accent), she answered with a shrug.

"You don't know?"

Another shrug, "They were weighing me down."

"But if they weigh so much, they won't float away."

"That's what I'm afraid of. How 'bout you?"

Rin thought on this for a while. Emi tried to help, "Do they look like clouds?"

"Not really. I wish they did. If they did though, they'd be all stormy. Though that's not so bad, I guess. I like the rain. But it can't rain inside. Not unless we light matches and stand in the hallway under those little silver things."

"You know, they're still trying to figure out who did that. And I'm still trying to figure out how you did that."

"A good magician never reveals his secrets."

"Her."

"What?"

"Her secrets. You're a girl."

"I guess. If we want to be proper. But then I'd have to saw you in half."

"Already happened once. What's the worst that can happen?"

That actually got a chuckle out of Rin. Emi steered the topic back, "So, what do they look like?"

"Bright. They hurt to look at." Rin rubbed her eyes roughly. "So I do that. But then everything looks weird." Rin did it again. "It looks strange, I've been trying to figure that out, too."

"You haven't been doing that all day, have you?"

"It's been taking a lot of thought."

"So, in short, I'm gonna need glasses after this."

"You have straws too, right?"

"Nope, I have to get some."

"Some host."

"Hostess."

They quieted down again.

"Emi?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you run?"

Emi squirmed some more, then lay still. "Because... because I have to."

"For...," and then Rin shut her mouth tight, not letting the words escape. She started squirming herself. Emi asked, "What's up?"

"I... I don't know."

"Go 'head, ask."

"That would be... shallow. Mean. Not nice."

"No, really. Go 'head."

Rin swallowed. It was off-putting to see Rin so nervous. Usually she would just say it, but it was really eating at her. She knew that it was a lot more complicated than it seemed, and for some reason, it unnerved her. Words wouldn't be able to really answer, and she wasn't good with those to begin with. Still, she managed, "It's for your dad, right?"

"Yeah."

"But why?"

Emi pursed her lips and thought. "Dunno. I guess I don't wanna let him down."

"Would he be mad?"

Emi shook her head with a smile. "I just... I just need to." The feelings were there, but the words weren't. "After everything, I just... just can't stop. It would be a waste. Every step, I feel like I get a bit closer to him." She blushed. "Wow, suddenly I'm all romantic."

"And you feel good and things are a little bit easier and stuff, right?"

"Uh-huh. The perks of emotional trauma."

Rin sounded sad, "And you get somewhere."

Emi nodded. "Hey, Rin?"

"Yeah?"

"Your new painting was awesome. I don't really know what it is, but I couldn't stop looking at it."

"Because it's weird?"

"No. I never realized how hard you work on those things. I mean, yeah, I've watched you and helped once or twice, but I really didn't notice until I was up close. It's amazing."

"But it's weird."

Emi giggled, "A bit. But I really do like it. Even if I don't get it." She paused. "And... I appreciate it. It's not bad. Not a bad thing, I mean. Maybe someday, I'll get it. I'll have to keep trying. I want to get it. I really do. I mean it."

"That's nice." Rin paused, and thought on her words. "And, uh... Thanks, Emi."

"No problem."

Another silence.

"Emi?"

"Yeah?"

"Are we friends?"

Emi clammed up. She swallowed hard and thought. "Well, we see each other every day. And we eat lunch together. And I help you in the morning. And we hang out."

"So, this is friendship?" Rin closed her eyes with a sad sigh.

Emi followed suit, "No, it's not."

"We're just kinda here, aren't we." Rin's voice got lower as she said every word, with the last being almost a whisper.

"Yeah." Emi felt like she was sinking into the floor. "I'm sorry, Rin. For everything."

"That's okay. I'm sorry, too. I don't know if I tried, and if I did, I wouldn't know what to do."

Emi choked a little, "It's alright." She sniffed. "I guess I'll just see you in class, then. Unless you ever need some help."

Rin let out a breath, "Yeah."

Emi kept her eyes closed and didn't move. She heard Rin struggle to get up, and shuffle towards what she figured was the door.

Then, she was poked in the side. Hard. "Ow! Watch it with those things!"

"I'm sorry." Rin looked gloomy and pulled her hand back. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't asleep."

"Well, I'm not. What's up?"

Rin bit her lip. "Do you... do you wanna be friends?"

Emi was shocked for a few moments, but then it was all broken up by a wide smile, "Yeah, sure. I'd love to be your friend."

Rin had a small smile of her own, "That's nice." Rin then suddenly looked blank as usual, "So can I sleep here? I can't find your legs."

Emi started laughing, not even caring, "Y-yeah, sure. It'll be a sleep-over. Just like friends."

Rin got serious, "You're not going to hit me with a pillow or something now, are you?"

Emi got mischievous, "Maybe. If we end up doing this properly."

The ending of the ending! IT HAS BEGUN staring Christopher Walken as Jason Statham



The sun hit Emi in the face. She yawned, stretched, and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Her back was a little achy after spending a night on the floor. At least one of them had the sense to drag a blanket down at some point. She threw it off, and saw that her legs had somehow gotten kicked under the bed...

She just rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. With her hands.

She gasped, and jumped to her... stumps. She shrieked in pain.

Rin rolled over, "Five more minutes."

"Rin! Rin get up!"

"Five more. Pretty please?"

"No! No, look!"

"Alright, alright." She sat up and looked at herself, now back to normal. "Huh. Look at that."

Emi hugged her. Rin twitched, but managed not to kick. "Um, good morning," she mumbled into Emi's shoulder. "So, what do you want to do now that I'm up?"

Emi pulled back, and thought hard. Then, she smiled, "You needed help with something, right?"

"Help?" Rin was the puzzled one for once, but then, "Oh yeah..."

Emi couldn't carry the mirror by herself, but she was quick enough (and apparently cute enough) to recruit some of the boys before they wandered into their free-time. She could, however, help Rin hang the doggie painting in it's stead.

Heh. Excellent, funny, short piece. Actual pictures of Emi work killed me.

Mader Levap wrote:Heh. Excellent, funny, short piece. Actual pictures of Emi work killed me.

Thanks, glad you liked it.

It's certainly interesting. The bit where they talked about if they were friends seemed especially well done.

Fairly cute fic. Emi's art pushed it over the top though.