Katawa Shoujo Forums

Petermeter wrote:Then again, that would presumably be okay for me, being german (ah the irony with being grammar-nazi and german at the same time) and all.

I know exactly how you feel
Anyway, here is the long expected explanation of the incongruity you noticed:

Chapter Thirteen – Zero to Hero
The march to the principal's office is a silent one. Neither of us dares to antagonize Mr. Kanzaki further by talking or even asking a question. When I glance sideways at Shizune, she is wearing a resigned expression, as if she had already come to terms with being expelled from Yamaku.

When we enter the office, most of the chairs around the conference table are already taken. Mr. Kanzaki gives the assembly an annoyed look. “This is supposed to be a disciplinary committee. This doesn't concern the other students. Who called them here?”

Hanako tries to sink into her chair and it is obvious she would have bolted from the room if Lilly had not placed a comforting hand on her arm. Rin doesn't react to him at all and continues staring holes into the air. Emi is giving me a wink and mimes a kiss. Apparently gossip travels as fast as usual around here. Kenji is sitting near the head of the table, clearly uncomfortable with being in the room with so many women.

Takeshi looks up from his conversation with Ms. Miyagi. He looks a bit tired as if he's gotten too little sleep last night. “I did. I told them to come, because I have another topic for this meeting – one that does concern all of them.”

Mr. Kanzaki glares at Takeshi. “Can't this wait until tomorrow? This is a very serious matter, and don't think I've already forgotten your aiding them earlier.”

“I'm sorry Kozo, but I believe this is important, too. And it is something we should take into account before making any decisions regarding Ms. Hakamichi.”

Mr. Kanzaki walks to his chair at the head of the table. “Well, Takeshi, this had better be good.” He crosses his arms in front of his chest. “The audience is all yours.”

“Thank you.” He motions for us to sit down as well and waits until we have all taken our places.

“As you all know this year's magic class is exceptional both in it's size and in it's composition. All eight students have the potential to become very powerful mages, and most of them have made unbelievable progress in not even a week's time.”

“As you all know, there is one student here who is not only extraordinary but unique.” All eyes turn to Kenji, but Takeshi continues talking. “But for some time now, I have been suspecting that there is another among the students who might be unique.”

He walks over to the blackboard hanging on the wall and grabs a piece of chalk. Then he draws two short vertical lines and connects them with a longer horizontal one. “Now I know that it is not possible to accurately measure magical potential, but please humour me.”

He points at the line. “Let's say this is a scale from zero to ten, zero being a human without magical talent and ten being a council mage. Kozo, where would you put Hisao?”

Mr. Kanzaki sighs. “Takeshi, we've been over this. Hisao is a gifted student. On your scale I'd rate him a seven, maybe an eight, but from what I've seen him do in our lessons, his power is nothing out of the ordinary.”

Takeshi takes a deep breath. “What if I told you I estimate his magical potential at fourteen – give or take?”

There is a collective gasp from everyone in the room, including myself. He can't be serious. I haven't even been able to do all the exercises I've been given on my own.

Mr. Kanzaki snorts. “That's ridiculous. He's not the first student I've been teaching, and I would have noticed if he had that kind of potential.”

“I didn't expect you to just take my word for it, so I prepared something. You know that magical potential is something only Diviners can perceive. I've been trying to find a way to make it visible to other mages as well, and together with Mr. Nomiya I've found a way to turn the results of my Divination into visible light.”

He turns to the nurse. “Is it okay to use you for a first demonstration?”

The nurse nods sheepishly. “Sure.”

A few seconds later the nurse is surrounded by a soft blue glow. Takeshi marks an 'x' on the line where the two would be.

Mr. Mutou nods appreciatively. “Nice trick.”

Takeshi turns to Mr. Kanzaki. “Can we do you next, Kozo?”

“I still don't know what you're getting at, but go ahead.”

Soon Mr. Kanzaki is surrounded by a bright white light. I have to squint a bit when I look at him directly. Takeshi puts a second marker on the line approximately at nine.

Then he turns to me. “Hisao, would you mind if we tried the same with you?”

I feel a bit uncomfortable with all eyes trained on me, but I manage a nod. Takeshi and Mr. Nomiya share a glance and the next moment there is a bright flash bathing the room in brilliant light. Blinded I squeeze my eyes shut. I hear Hanako scream somewhere to my left and Misha is holding on tightly to my arm.

When the light subsides, I try to open my eyes cautiously, but for a few seconds more I can see nothing but bright stars. I look around the room and it seems to be the same for most people. Hanako still has her eyes tightly shut and her face buried in Lilly's sleeve. Mr. Mutou is staring at me, blinking heavily, his mouth hanging open. Only Takeshi and Mr. Nomiya seem unaffected, probably because they knew what to expect and kept their eyes shut.

Mr. Kanzaki rises from his chair and clears his throat. “Well, Takeshi, that was a very... impressive demonstration.” He walks over to the black board and picks up another piece of chalk. “So we have established Hisao's magic potential to be somewhere around here.” He puts an 'X' somewhere to the right of the rightmost line. “How is it possible that he has so much potential and is not showing any of it during our lessons?”

Takeshi smiles. “Oh, he has been showing it all the time, just not the way we expected him to. I've been talking to all the teachers, and it's really obvious if you know what to look for.”

Everyone is staring at Takeshi, a big question mark on their faces. Apparently he didn't even tell Mr. Nomiya about this.

“You see, you're wrong. Hisao's potential isn't here.” He erases the mark Mr. Kanzaki has drawn on the board. “In fact your estimate of seven is probably quite accurate.” He adds another mark, while everyone is getting more and more confused.

Ms. Miyagi speaks up. “But what we just saw...”

Takeshi holds up his hand. Then he puts the chalk on the zero line and extends the line towards the left. “That's because his potential probably starts around here.”

Mr. Kanzaki frowns, then his eyes go wide with apparent realization. He seems to be the only one in the room who understands what Takeshi is getting at, though.

“Care to explain that in a way the rest of us can wrap their tiny minds around as well?” Akane is getting more than a little impatient.

“Of course. Didn't you tell us earlier that Shizune shouldn't be able to use magic on the level she showed this afternoon?”

“She shouldn't, but what does that have to do with...” She trails off. “You mean...?”

“Exactly. Usually an Abjurer can remove or dampen the effects of magic. Hisao's talent seems to work both ways. He can also strengthen other people's magic. He is not only an Abjurer, he is an Amplifier.”

“You just made that up on the spot, didn't you?”

Takeshi shrugs. “I had to. This is absolutely unheard of, so there is no word for such a talent. Feel free to come up with a better one.”

Mr. Mutou doesn't look like he is completely convinced yet. “And what makes you think Mr. Nakai possesses such a unique talent?”

“Well, there was this discrepancy between Hisao's potential and the skills he displayed, so I asked around a bit. Do you remember what you told me about Misha destroying those two petri dishes during her first lesson? Didn't that happen just after Hisao entered the room?”

He turns to the nurse. “Do you remember when Emi tried to levitate a book and smashed it halfway through the ceiling? Rin started painting colours a few minutes after Hisao arrived to observe her lesson. Lilly was able to see through Hisao's eyes when she was just trying to mind-talk to him. I was almost certain when I saw that with my own eye.”

“And of course there is the incident with Shizune. It all adds up; I can't think of any other explanation.”

“So... What you're saying is that others can do magic better when I'm around?”

Takeshi opens his mouth but Mr. Kanzaki is faster. “If Takeshi is correct with his assumptions, then you have been using that talent only subconsciously so far. If you learn to control it, you should be able to add your strength to the magic of others at will. We don't know anything for certain though, so we will have to experiment.”

He looks at his wristwatch and rises from his chair. “This is very unexpected. I have to contact a few people. This meeting is adjourned. Takeshi, Ms. Miyagi, Mr. Mutou, please stay here for a while. All students, you are not to use magic of any kind around Hisao unsupervised until further notice. Hisao, you are excused from tomorrow's morning classes. Please report to Mr. Nomiya in the art-room instead. Ms. Hakamichi, I will leave the matter of your punishment to Ms. Aikawa. Good night everyone.”

Damn, I had hoped he would forget about Shizune. As everyone leaves the principal's office, Shizune, Misha and I quietly follow Akane to the corridor.

*********************

Please look forward to chapter Fourteen:
Can You Feel The Love Tonight

Le Gasp!!!
The plot thickens like the honey mixed with the syrup on the pancake of your imagination

Still lovin the disney song references by the way

Yeah, I totally approve of the development. Makes me feel like I can try pretty good at guessing where the story goes, as Hisao still should kinda be in love with Misha, and being the "Amplifier" he should be quite able to help Kenji by being around him.
Nice to see there are other germans in the vicinity, by the way

I like the story so far, but atm it might be easy to envision what will happen later on.
Plus points for your organisation: this story seems to be made up right in the beginning and you only need to express what you have in mind.

Petermeter wrote:Nice to see there are other germans in the vicinity, by the way

Whether in the holidays or here on the internet, seems to be that we Germans always like to have others of us around

Morph wrote:I like the story so far, but atm it might be easy to envision what will happen later on.

Let's wait and see... I hope I still have one or two surprises for you up my sleeve...

Plus points for your organisation: this story seems to be made up right in the beginning and you only need to express what you have in mind.

Not entirely, but I had the general outline of the story prepared by the time I finished writing Chapter five. Of course a few things had to be changed and/or expanded along the way. That's why I like to keep two or three chapters ahead of what I post here - that way I can retcon some stuff without anyone noticing.
Regarding the current discussion on "Canon", I have notes about all kinds of stuff like mage 'politics', character backgrounds etc. but so far there's nothing but some throwaway mentions in the story, and currently I don't plan to significantly expand on that. It's just a help for me to keep things consistent.

Well, after that last chapter I went back and reread the whole thing.

Brilliant.

Next Chapter. Bonus points to those who recognize the dog

Chapter Fourteen – Can You Feel The Love Tonight
We wait until the others have left. Emi tries to linger behind a bit to eavesdrop, but she's dragged away by the nurse.

Please tell me what my punishment will be! Shizune's 'voice' doesn't show any anxiety, but her lips are pressed tightly together.

Akane looks confused for a moment. “Punishment? Oh right, I almost forgot. You're grounded for a week.”

She must have noticed our incredulous looks. “What? You thought I'd have Makoto turn you into a giant toad for a few days? Just for failing to control more magic than most students wield after half a year?” She continues in a conspiratorial whisper. “Besides, I kind of see where you're coming from. He really is a cutie.”

I feel the blood going to my head again, so I'm glad when she changes the subject. “But let's make it formal in case Kozo follows up on this. Shizune, you are not to leave the school-grounds without permission until the end of next week!”

The violet glow emanating from her shows me that Shizune probably couldn't disobey if she wanted to.

Akane winks at me. “If you decide to remove that geas from her, you'd better not let Kozo find out, or you'll really be in trouble.” Then she turns back to Shizune. “And the two of us are going to have a remedial lesson right now. I'm going to show you a trick or two so something like today doesn't happen again. You don't usually learn those until much later, but... heck, I never liked being bound by a curriculum anyway.”

With that she grabs Shizune's arm and drags her away towards the student council office.

***

Suddenly Misha and I are alone in the corridor. As the day's tension leaves me, I realize just how tired I really am. I look at Misha and realize she is close to exhaustion as well. No surprise, as she has the effects of the chemotherapy to cope with in addition to all the other stress.

She leans against a wall, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. I take her hand and press it reassuringly. “Tired?”

She nods weakly. “Yes, very. Let's get back to the dorms.”

I put my arm around her waist and together we make our way out of the auxiliary building. By the time we reach the school-yard, Misha is leaning heavily on me. She must be even more exhausted than I thought she was. When we finally arrive at the dorms, I am breathing hard as well.

As I start to say goodbye, she interrupts me. “Please don't go. I don't want to be alone right now. Will you come up to my room for a moment? Just until Shizune is back.”

It's still before curfew. Shizune probably won't be back before it begins, but what the heck... I nod and together we enter the girl's dorm.

***

The girl's dorm looks exactly like the boy's dorm on the inside. Misha's and Shizune's rooms are on the second floor. We both eschew the stairs and ride the elevator instead. Living in a dorm for disabled people has it's benefits.

Misha unlocks the door to her room and lets me in. “I'm sorry, it's been some time since I last tidied up my room.”

I enter the room and look around. Pink is the prevailing colour here. On the walls, there are a few posters of some pop group. A nightdress is carelessly thrown onto the ruffled bed. A small cupboard holds a stereo and a large collection of CDs.

The desk is a mess of schoolbooks, notebooks and CDs with some papers spilling over onto the floor. The wall above the desk is papered with photographs. Most of them show Misha together with Shizune or Misha with a middle-aged man and woman, probably her parents, some show our other classmates and a few show Misha playing with a large Golden Retriever dog. None of the photographs seems to be older than two or three years...

God, there's so much I don't know about Misha... Actually I really know next to nothing about her. But I do know that I love her and that I want to learn all the rest.

I turn around. Misha has closed the door behind her and plops down on the bed, sighing in relief.

I sit down on the chair, taking a deep breath as well. I try to find a subject other than magic and illnesses of any kind to talk about and remember my resolution to learn as much about Misha as I can. “You have a dog?”

Misha breaks into a smile. “Yes, that's Ribati. She is about four years old now. It's too bad Yamaku doesn't allow any pets, but it probably can't be helped.”

“Has she been with you very long?”

“A few months after I was released from the hospital, my parents took me for a vacation to California. We found her tied to a post at a highway. She was almost starved... She looked a lot like I did back then. We took her to the next town and on the way I begged my parents to let me keep her until they relented.” She chuckles. “I think they would have given me a pet alligator if they thought it would make me happy. I remember it was a huge mess getting the necessary papers to take her with us back to Japan.”

“Isn't Ribati a strange name for a dog?”

That was my mother's idea. Ribati's an American, and apparently one of their presidents or car manufacturers or whatever had a dog just like her that was also called Ribati. I liked the sound of it, even if I didn't know the meaning. What about you? Do you have any pets?”

I shake my head. “No, my father is allergic to anything that has a pelt and a good many other things as well. And my mother would throw a fit, if a dog salivated all over her carpets. She's really into having everything clean. Might be because of dad's allergies – I don't know. Don't you miss her?”

“Ribati? Yes, I do, but I don't live very far from here, so my parents usually take me home for the weekends. Shizune usually comes as well. Her parents are very busy even on weekends and they don't have much time for her. At the moment, mum is caring for an aunt who has fallen ill, so they didn't come to the festival last sunday.”

She frowns. “Of course, I don't know if that will be possible, if I have to do this chemotherapy thing every day from now on.”

No. That is a topic I don't want to breach tonight. I move over to sit on the bed next to Misha and put my arm around her. She leans her head on my shoulder.

“So, who's that band on the poster?”

“Orange Range. You don't know them?” She sounds surprised.

“I've heard from them, but I rarely watch the Music Video Channel, so I didn't recognize their faces.”

Time flies by, as we talk about our respective families and hobbies. Soon I notice Misha getting more and more sleepy until she finally falls asleep in my arms. Carefully, so as not to wake her, I lay her down on the bed and pull the blanket over her. After a brief kiss to the forehead, I sneak out of the girl's dorm and back to my own room, where I soon fall into a deep sleep as well.

**********************

Please look forward to chapter Fifteen:
Supercalifragilisticexpialigocious

Ribati => リバティ => Liberty
:3

now i visualize Lilly with a umbrella floating over London... hisao as the father guy (cant remember name) emi as the little girl..... and im stopping here...

excellent read as always Mirage

Shades of gray wrote:now i visualize Lilly with a umbrella floating over London... hisao as the father guy (cant remember name) emi as the little girl.....

You mean Bert, the guy played by Dick van Dyke...each name as bad as the other, the poor dick.

Anyway, great read once again, can't wait for the next installment.

Mirage_GSM wrote:
Please look forward to chapter Sixteen

I guess I'm gonna wait for chapter 15 before waiting for 16 Anyways, nice chapter as always.

Seems I was getting ahead of myself... Fixed.

ChaoticGrowth wrote:Ribati => リバティ => Liberty

I'll have to strive to make even more obscure references, but then it wouldn't be fun if nobody noticed at all...
Anyway, you won. Your reward is the following chapter being dedicated to you, because you're

Chapter Fifteen – Supercalifragilisticexpialigocious
“So what happened to Shizune?”

It's the first thing out of Emi's mouth when I arrive at the track the next morning.

I roll my eyes. “She's been grounded for a week, but don't go spreading this juicy information all over school. You'd have to explain why, and you don't want to do that.”

Emi looks disappointed for a moment but brightens again immediately. “And?”

“And what?”

“How does she kiss? Did you like it?”

Thinking back, it is a miracle Akane didn't ask me that before... It is still embarrassing, so I try to avoid a clear answer. “Emi, I don't remember. I was too busy wondering what my body was doing without my consent.”

That's not quite true. I do remember. But I'll be damned if I admit that to Emi. Thankfully, Emi doesn't press the point, but I'll have to come up with an answer in case Misha asks me one day...

We finish warming up and start a running around the track at a leisurely pace... Well, that's what Emi would probably call it. Time and again she starts to get ahead of me and has to visibly restrain herself to stay at my side.

“Anything on your mind, Emi?”

She stops abruptly. “How do you know?”

“Otherwise you'd have lapped me twice already by now.”

She grins sheepishly. “Actually... The nurse taught me how to use my magic to run faster. When he timed me, I almost beat the Japanese record for the 100m dash. I was wondering how fast I could go if you...”

“No, Emi! Absolutely not!” Next time I see him, I have to ask the nurse what the hell he was thinking to teach Emi something like that.

She gives me her best rendition of a puppy dog. “Oh, come on, Hisao. Pretty please? Mr. Kanzaki definitely won't find out, I promise.”

“That's not the problem.” I sigh. “Remember the book the other day? Now imagine that book being you. You may choose whether the ceiling should be represented by me or that tree over there.”

Emi gulps visibly. “Ooookay... I guess we'll put off that experiment until after some more training, won't we?”

I sigh again. Louder this time. But I didn't really expect her to give up on her plan completely. “We will.”

With that we start our run again and this time Emi goes at her own pace, rapidly outdistancing me. I keep at my light jog. I'm not sure, but I feel like a week of continuous training already has some kind of effect on my endurance. I complete two more laps and then return to the dorms for a shower.

***

Half an hour later I enter the art-room. It is empty... Really empty this time. Well, I'm a few minutes early. I walk over to the windows and look down at the school-grounds. A steady stream of students is heading from the dorms towards the main building, some walking, some running.

I look over towards the track to see if Emi is still out there, but a thin line of trees is obstructing the view from here.

I think back to the last evening in Misha's room. It's only been a few hours, but already I miss her and find myself wishing...

“Ah, you're here already. Good, good. Then we can begin immediately.”

I turn about abruptly. Mr. Nomiya is standing in the door, his jacket carried casually over his arm. “Oh, I'm sorry, did I startle you?”

“It's okay, I was just spacing out. Don't we wait for Mr. Kanzaki before we start?”

He raises an eyebrow. “I thought Kozo was in your class right now teaching history. Didn't you know?”

Right. The second history lesson is on Saturday. I forgot, because I spent last Saturday with Misha and Shizune down at the Shanghai. I probably shouldn't tell Mr. Nomiya about that though...

“Oh. I don't have our time-table completely memorized yet. It's only been my second week and neither week was what you'd call regular.”

He waves my apology away like an insignificant insect. “No matter. Kozo might join us later if he has time, but what we're going to do shouldn't be dangerous.” He frowns for a moment. “No, not dangerous at all.”

If that's supposed to fill me with confidence, it fails horribly.

“Now listen closely.” He holds out his hand, palm upturned, and a small ball of orange light appears a few centimeters above it. “This is about the simplest thing Illusion can do: A magical light. First of all, I want you to douse it.”

I concentrate for a few seconds and the light grows gradually dimmer until it fades out completely.

“Very good.” He creates another light. “Next you're going to try something no other mage can do: Make it shine more brightly, but first...”

He rummages through the pockets of his jacket, leaving the light suspended in mid-air. I guess his hand wasn't really needed. Eventually he produces a pair of sunglasses. One is a clip-on that he places over his own glasses. He hands the other to me.

“Just a precaution, really. I don't expect we'll need them but better safe than sorry, eh?”

I put on the sunglasses and return my attention to the light. I have no idea how to do this. Should I do whatever I did earlier in reverse? Should I do the opposite thing? I concentrate exclusively on the floating light, ignoring it's visible orange colour and focussing on the rainbow-coloured aura surrounding it, imagining it becoming stronger...

“I think this is enough for now, Hisao.” Mr. Nomiya's voice pulls me back into the present.

I look past the aura to see the light glowing in a bright blue light. “Did I change the colour as well?”

He chuckles. The sound is like someone shaking a jar of dried peas. “No, that was me. I converted some of the energy you added to prevent the light from getting too bright. That's why you're practising with me instead of Rin. Her control isn't that good yet...

“This is really remarkable though. I'd say Takeshi is right. Your potential to amplify magic is at least the same as your potential as an Abjurer. Next step.”

He dismisses the light and creates a third globe. “Okay, this time, I am going to adjust the brightness up and down, and you're going to try to keep it at the level it is now...”

***

Mr. Nomiya keeps me doing these exercises the whole morning, and when it is finally time for lunch, I am quite exhausted.

I can't deny it was a lot of fun, though. While Mr. Kanzaki's lessons are very methodical and thorough, Mr. Nomiya has a much more hands-on approach. Practising my magic with an experienced mage is also a challenge. Of course there's not much two Abjurers could do to test their skills...

I head to the cafeteria to buy a boxed lunch for myself and a second one for Misha and continue to the nurse's office.

When I enter, the nurse is absent, but Misha is lying on the bed in the back like yesterday. Shizune is sitting on a chair next to her, eating her lunch.

As I walk over to them, I notice that Misha is fast asleep. I pick up another chair and sit down next to Shizune, being careful not to startle her.

She nods a greeting and then lowers her gaze embarrassedly. I take a notebook and pen from my bag and scribble a question. How are you?

She manages a weak smile. A bit better, thank you.

I notice a second lunchbox on Misha's bedside table. You brought lunch for Misha as well?

Shizune glances at the two boxes on the floor next to my bag. You too? It's okay, I'll take mine back with me.

I shake my head. No, you cooked that yourself, didn't you? It's bound to be better than the stuff from the cafeteria. Mine will keep until dinner. Another question comes to mind. You had history this morning. Did Mr. Kanzaki say anything regarding yesterday?

When he saw us, he asked about my punishment. When Misha told him, she heard him mutter something like 'Should have seen that coming' and he didn't say anything else.

I am a bit relieved. I had feared, he would object to the lenient punishment, but apparently he is not going to.

Shizune continues writing. Hisao, I just wanted to tell you again that I'm sor...

I put my hand over hers, interrupting her, and when she looks up, I just shake my head.

She nods and changes the subject. Misha's been asleep ever since I got here twenty minutes ago. The nurse told me to watch her, and that he'd be right back.

Did you two have a chance to talk?

All morning. I doubt we got much from Mr. Kanzaki's lesson though. She pauses for a moment, obviously unsure of what to write next. Finally she manages I'm happy for the two of you. I really am.

I can see in her eyes that she means it, even if she herself is not happy at all. I wish I could do something about that, but I really can't.

When the ensuing silence – or rather lack of conversation – threatens to become too embarrassing, Shizune picks up her lunch again and continues to eat. I open my box as well and join her.

When Shizune is finished, she reaches for the notebook again. What about Setou? How is his training progressing?

I choke down the bite I was just chewing and take the pen from her. Not good. Mr. Kanzaki says he doesn't know how to train him. So far he has made little progress.

When I return the pen to her she hesitates, clearly uncomfortable about the next question. Do you think he would help Misha, even if he learned how to do it? He hates women, doesn't he?

I want to reply what I've always told myself: That if necessary, I would force him to heal Misha, but looking into Shizune's eyes I realize that this plan was kind of... well, very foolish. You can't force people to do stuff like that. It would only make them resent what they're doing even more.

A cold knot is forming in my stomach, when I think about Kenji simply refusing to use his magic on a girl. Then I have another idea. What about an Enchantment? Couldn't you or Akane make him heal Misha?

Shizune shakes her head even before starting to write an answer. Don't think I didn't ask Akane about that already. Even if he was willing to learn how to heal cancer - that would take some time, and no-one can be controlled for so long without serious side-effects – he'd still be aware of what was done to him. Afterwards he would be one very angry Necromancer and nobody is going to risk that. They're barely risking his training as it is.

Shizune looks as frustrated as I feel. She continues writing. If only we knew why Kenji was so misogynistic.

I start when I read that and hastily take the pen from her. Are you telling me he wasn't always like that?

She thinks about this for a moment. Well, he has always been a paranoid recluse, but he started to specifically hate women only about half a year ago.

Do you know what happened back then?

I don't think he ever told anyone. He's even been sent to a psychiatrist, but the best that guy could come up with was “Beaten by his mother with a telephone as a child.” She hesitates a moment. Don't ask me how I got to read the report.

Suddenly I am very anxious to be on my way. I wolf down the remains of my lunch and repack my bag. Before leaving I write a short explanation to Shizune. I'm going to find Kenji. I have to find out what happened. Maybe then I can reason with him.

Shizune's expression tells me what she thinks about my chances for success there, but she just nods. Okay, I'll tell Misha you were here. Good luck.

On the way out I almost collide with the returning nurse, but I don't even pay attention to his admonishment and all but run towards Mr. Kanzaki's office.

********************

Please look forward to Chapter Sixteen (This time for real):
Circle Of Life

Still liking this, one of the best fics here.

Apart from the story, the next thing I can't wait for is when you run out of appropriate Disney songs to use as titles.

Don't worry. The rest of the story is more or less planned out. I've got the chapter titles up to Chapter 19 and the Epilogue. If I happen to need one more chapter, I'm sure I'll find a suitable title somewhere^^

i dont think it is possible to run out of disney songs... they release new films all the time, and have been doing so since 1937...

i'm just wondering if Mirage will use "Fantasia" as a title for a rin-centric chapter