Katawa Shoujo Forums

Chapter 5 is complete, I'm formatting it for these boards and will PM it out to my noble editors asap.

8D

Let the editing commence!

I have sent my edit back to Goldilurks.

It's a good tale.

A good tale, indeed ^_^ I stand by my earlier statement that this place has somehow pulled a lot of decent fanfic writers to one location...

“Goodnight.”

The smile she gave me as I closed the door made up for the whole crazy day. Maybe tomorrow’s date wouldn’t be half bad. I gave a deep sigh of exhaustion and turned to my bed.

The sheets were freshly made. I couldn’t help but stare quizzically when I realized this. The thought was just too absurd: to imagine a nervous Shiina making my bed while waiting for my text message response. I checked the laundry basket to find the old bedsheets hastily stuffed in, reeking of sweat and sex. Well, you couldn’t fault the Yamaku Student Council for lacking in responsibility.

I checked my cellphone on a whim and found another text from Shiina waiting for me. We r almost back 2 the school gates. R U OK?

I started to undress with one hand and began texting with the other. You went into town? You didn’t need to, you know. I’m fine.

Even in the air-conditioned dorm rooms, it was too hot a summer night for pajamas. I settled for a big, baggy t-shirt and the panties I was wearing. I was crawling into bed when Shiina’s response arrived. I M so sorry. Plz dont be mad.

I yawned. That more or less dictated my response. Too tired to be mad. Don’t worry, I’m okay now. Goodnight.

A few minutes later: Ill be right there.

I took the cellphone out from under my pillow and left it on my nightstand, exhausted but still slightly annoyed. Forget the emotional roller coaster; I had taken the emotional stunt plane ride, and I wanted off. Sweet Shiina, in her concern, was going to cost me a decent night’s sleep. I could convince her that I did not hate her in the morning.

I had a lot to do tomorrow.

The Finish Line
The fifth chapter in a Katawa Shoujo fanfic

I opened my eyes groggily, the world blurring slowly into focus. That had been a… surreal dream, to say the least. I couldn’t recall the details, save for it having something to do with pizza. Fading sleep and nearsightedness weren’t helping my vision, but I was pretty sure I hadn’t rearranged the furniture in my room before going to bed last night. I groped for my glasses on the nightstand, next to where I’d left my cellphone, and felt something else just beyond them. Putting the glasses on revealed that the relocated furnishing was actually a sleeping Shiina.

She was sitting on a stool next to the nightstand, arms folded under her head. From her position, it was obvious that she must have fallen asleep watching me. My dear, dear Shiina. She really liked Hisao. She had to, because I knew that she wouldn’t have slept with him just to try and hurt me. Nor would he, for that matter. Maybe this idea people were telling me to try, of not suspecting everyone of potential deceit, might be worth a shot after all.

She began to stir when I sat up in bed and stretched. I levered my legs out of bed and started to stand up, and that’s when I noticed the clock.

Crap! It was 10:37 already?

I cursed myself for forgetting, in my fatigue, to set my cellphone to a vibrating alarm last night. I should have kept it under the pillow. No matter, it was time for haste. Change quickly and leave Shiina to sleep? No, I needed to move her to get at my makeup and bath supplies, and there was no way I would go without showering first. Besides, we did need to talk. If I wanted to convince her I did not hate her and start a new phase of openness and trust between us, leaving her to wake up next to an empty bed probably wasn’t the best course of action.

Best to make this as quick as possible, then. I gently shook her shoulder.

She started to wake, yawning. Her groggy eyes caught me, blinking. The first thing she did was smile sleepily as she sat upright and sign, “Good morning, Shicchan.”

“Good morning, Shiina,” I responded.

Still half-asleep, she grinned at my response. Then she seemed to remember why she was sitting in a chair next to my bed instead of in hers, and her eyes opened wide. I started to sign. “Now, the first thing I want you to know is that I’m not angry—”

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” Nope, she wasn’t looking at my hands. This was just kind of pathetic to watch; it reminded me of when she was interpreting for Yuuko. “We got carried away and I wound up on the wrong bed by mistake! Please don’t hate me!”

“Shiina, I don’t hate you, really—”

“I know you must be really angry, and Hisao wanted to tell you, don’t blame him, I was just waiting for the right moment, and I’m honestly sorry—”

At this point she was signing too fast and too frantically for me to make out what she was trying to say. I’m not sure she could have either. Her lips were moving, and she almost never forgot herself and spoke when it was just the two of us. “I’m not angry at you Shiina, honestly.”

No good. She was still looking at my face. The unintelligible torrent continued. I held my hands up next to my face to make my signs as salient as possible. “Shiina, please calm down. You’re not seeing what I’m signing here.”

Damn it, that just made her sign faster. From the heave of her chest she looked to be nearly hyperventilating. I sighed and stopped her hands manually, taking them in mine. She just looked at me, eyes beginning to tear up.

Shiina was out of luck; Emi had built up my resistance to watery eyes last evening. I hated to be forceful, but Shiina was not paying attention, and I needed something to slap her awake. Patting her hands gently before I let them go, I told her the most blunt thing I could think of. My signs were slow and clear, and my meaning unmistakable.

“I am meeting Emi for lunch at 11:30.”

The look of anguish on her face turned to puzzlement, then to bewilderment when she took a moment to look at the clock, and finally to determination when she looked back at me. “Quick, you go take a shower,” she signed seriously. “I’ll get your makeup and an outfit ready.”

“Thank you. Something casual, relaxed.” I knew that would work on her.

Shiina nodded and went into hardcore mission mode at that, tearing through my wardrobe. I grabbed my toiletries and a towel and made for the showers. Fortunately no one else was as late a sleeper as me that morning, and I didn’t have to face any competition. I was rinsing my hair out when a plastic hairbrush thrusted over the shower stall door caught my attention. A recognizable hand was waving over it. I opened the door with a pissed off expression and kept rinsing my hair as Shiina signed at me.

“You’ve got those nice khaki pants that go just before the knees, and I’m down to two choices of top to wear. The green short-sleeve or the black tube top?”

“The green, of course! What were you thinking with the tube top? I’m not going clubbing, dammit!”

“It is a date.”

“It’s a lunch,” I answered stubbornly, turning to finish off rinsing my front. “And the green top is a little low cut, too. You couldn’t choose something less flirty?”

Shiina raised her eyebrow at me, visibly unimpressed. “It’s a date, Shicchan, and it’s decided: the green short sleeved. Now hurry up so you can finish your breakfast and have time to brush your teeth. I brought up some croissants and an apple.”

“Just the apple. I’m going to have lunch with her; I only need the energy to get there. What time is it anyways?”

“11:02. Have at least one croissant! It won’t do to starve yourself. And don’t leave them for me to eat, I do NOT need more carbs.”

I reached back to turn off the water. Shiina, with perfect timing, took my towel down and made to pass it to me. “Give them to Hisao, then. That boy is too skinny.”

As I took the towel and started drying myself, she began signing. “But I like him skinny! And you shouldn’t skip breakfast!”

I wrapped the towel around my torso, grabbed my toiletries, and exited the stall. Shiina was already moving to the sink where she’d left my dental and cosmetic products. “Just the apple for me. Seeing that much of him wasn’t bad, but I didn’t need to see his ribcage. Get some meat on that boy, already. Now, what’s the makeup situation?”

-

Shiina had walked me as far as the school’s front path before we parted ways. She told me she felt my relationship with Emi was such that I didn’t need a chaperone. I told her I didn’t need her biased translations making this outing into something it was not.

“You keep telling yourself that, Shicchan.”

“I’m not going to dignify that with a response.”

“Well then, dignify yourself by having a good time, okay? Go enjoy yourself!” And there was the belly laugh.

It was 11:28 on the dot when I made it to the front gates. Emi was already waiting there. She’d gone with a sleeveless long white sun dress under a short sleeved denim coat and a straw hat. Certainly classier than the tight pants and low shirt Shiina had picked out for me. The weather was sunny, but with a few clouds to provide shade. She turned to smile at me, and I got the general feeling that today was going to be a good day.

“Good morning!” she signed.

“Good morning to you,” I signed back. “Can I ask you a question? You must answer truthfully.”

To my pleasant surprise, she understood all that. “Yes?” she responded, with a look on her face that I’ve read speakers describe as ‘breathless’.

“Is Shiina following me?”

She gave a little smirk and pulled a notepad out of her coat pocket. Yeah. She’s hiding behind the bushes over there. She shouted, ‘Go get her, Emi! She’s ready for you!’ just now.

“Thank you. Excuse me a moment,” I signed back, smiling sweetly, as I pulled out my cellphone.

She gave me a puzzled look as I began texting. She was about to start writing something when she thought for a second, put the pad and paper away, and attempted to sign it. “What are you doing?” Not bad, actually.

I turned my cellphone so she could see the message I had addressed to Shiina: As soon as I’m back from lunch, you’re a dead woman.

Emi didn’t stop giggling visibly until we were halfway to town.

-

My original plan had been to return to Yamaku by two. By four thirty I was wondering what the hell had gone wrong.

Lunch had been at a favorite restaurant of Emi’s that specialized in obnoxiously healthy fare. Brown rice should be the exception and not the rule, I felt. She felt that Shanghai’s sandwiches and appetizers packed too many calories and that she had put on too much with yesterday’s pizza. I wanted to know if she was on drugs, but I could bear to try a new restaurant and went along with minimal protest. It was worth it to see the look on her face when I got the closest thing to a greasy beef stir fry they had, involving some sort of meat substitute product. She seemed betrayed by the fact they even offered such dishes.

Of course, that had gone off into a written conversation about how much restaurants should care about their customers’ health, and then the conversation had gone other places. By the time we left the restaurant it was ten past two and the lunch itself had only taken about thirty minutes. We’d gotten there hours ago; where had the time gone?

After lunch, though, she pointed out that we might as well do some shopping while we were in town, it being the weekend and all. I agreed; her reasoning was sensible. And then there was that pet store we passed on the way out, and puppies that cute deserved no less than twenty minutes of adoration. On that there was consensus. And then she challenged me to a race back to the main intersection, and I wasn’t going to turn that down, not when I was in tight pants while she had a dress and her casual prosthetics. But after that, of course, we were thirsty and a little tired, so a smoothie break was entirely justified. And now we were in the park at the foot of the hill, a few minutes from the road back to the Academy, and not in any rush to return. What had happened to my afternoon?

This park was smaller than the Academy grounds, and not as nicely maintained. It had a stream in its favor, though, and several nice benches. I signed this opinion to Emi, and got a blank look in response. When I sighed and pulled out my cellphone to text the message, she motioned for me to move over to one of those benches to sit.

tru enuf, she texted, when she was done reading. its the benches I like most when runnin to town. good place 2 rest after d hill.

Ah. That made sense. I see. But wouldn’t you prefer to rest inside a café or somewhere you could enjoy a drink?

She shook her head and began typing her response before I finished. its the view here. i like the reward for havin run so far.

She finished texting, and gave me a look. I gave her a look back, and started texting myself. That was a rather loaded message.

She shrugged and put her cell away. “You had a good time?” she signed. I had not been playing my cards close enough to my chest, apparently. I nodded, adding nothing more. She went on. “So, now, what are we?”

I thought my response out carefully before signing. “We are in need of further communication.”

She looked frustrated. “What ‘further communication’?”

“As in, we haven’t spoken enough. Did you not understand –”

“I understood!” Her signs were short and impatient. “What do more you want?” She realized her temper was starting to compromise her signing and pulled her cell out once more, texting at furious rate.

i trid bein nice, i trid keepin away, now i try to fite for u bcuz u seem to like that. wat else?

I raised an eyebrow. “You’re… arguing with me to convince me you’re worth being my girlfriend.” I shook my head at her. “Fighting and flirting are not the same thing. That’s not how it works.”

Narrowing both eyes, Emi pocketed her cell once more before signing.

“Then why do you smile?”

I put my hands up to my face. Crap. “I wasn’t smiling.”

“You smiled. Blushed too. But less than now.” She couldn’t keep a grin of her own off her face.

“No, I didn’t. You were mistaken.”

“How cute!”

“Don’t you sign down to me!”

“Then answer please. What are we?”

Double crap. I preferred discussing my sudden amnesia regarding how to hold a poker face. “You’re great,” I began, “and I had a good time. But you want a girlfriend, which means you want me to need you, and I value my freedom.” The answer sounded lame, but I wasn’t going without putting up more of a fight.

She looked clearly annoyed at this and put her hands on her hips. “What?” I signed back.

“‘Want me to need you’?”

“That’s the definition of a relationship.”

At ‘definition of a relationship’ she raised a quizzical eyebrow at me. Damn language barrier. I took out my cell again and texted in the word, signing it once more. She shook her head and took out her own cell. i get that word too duh. most fucked up definition of relationship i ever heard.

It remains true.

BS

This was getting out of hand in the written medium. I put my cell phone away and returned to sign. “So you’re saying you don’t want me to need you?”

“No, I just want you to be there.”

I sighed and closed my eyes, massaging my temple. This girl was clearly not getting my point. Sure, she said that she didn’t want control over me, and she probably didn’t think she did. That’s how it always starts out. I was going to have to explain this slowly.

When I opened my eyes to start signing this to her, she was gone.

That was it. She simply wasn’t there. I stared dumbfounded at the space she had been standing in for about two seconds before starting to panic.

No. Oh hell, I couldn’t stop myself from screwing things up again. No. I had pushed back too hard. No. She had been committed to an argument, how was I to know that she’d lose patience right there and she probably had the same look on her face, the same damn look as she had when she walked by me in the hallway outside of the locker rooms.

Wait, what was I doing still standing here? I looked to my right and left, spun around. Nothing. She was still fast enough in her casual prosthetics, she could make some distance and I’d spent too many seconds with my eyes closed. I needed to get some higher ground and see in what direction—

A tap between my shoulder blades made me jump about two feet in the air. I spun around to see Emi, crouching on the ground behind me. She was not tall, even with her prosthetics, and it would not have been difficult for her to duck out of my field of vision if she could stay at my back. I felt my face flush hot and tears start to sting the corners of my eyes. Of all the indignities…!

My knuckles popped as I signed. “What the fuck!?”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’ll bet you are! Did you get a good laugh off that prank, bitch? Realize how absolutely inconsiderate and manipulative that was?” In case you were wondering, no, the irony hadn’t struck me quite yet. “I can’t HEAR you dammit, and while you might think it nice to try proving a point and getting a good laugh off the deaf-mute at the same time, I—”

“Am I smiling?”

I stopped cold. She was not smiling. She looked wistfully sad, but very… attentive, if you will. I remembered that I had been trying hard not to grin on the track when I sent her that stupid text trying to make her the Council sports rep.

I couldn’t think of anything to sign. She waited, like she had waited after my outburst over the pizza box on the rooftop, and began to sign. “Don’t want you to need me. Maybe you do. Maybe you don’t. I don’t like you upset.” She thought for a moment, shook her head, and corrected herself. “No, don’t like… seeing you upset.”

The tears of humiliation threatened to spill over. I quickly wiped my eyes, and on impulse, grabbed her by the shoulder, one fist raised. If she thought me ready to strike her, she didn’t flinch. It didn’t matter. I dropped that fist softly on her flat chest, just below her collarbone, my entire body shaking as I tried to let go of my anger finger by clenched finger. Slowly, as she didn’t move, I leaned forward until our foreheads met.

I didn’t want to be upset, especially not at her. That was the most humiliating part of it all.

As my grip on her shoulder relaxed, she raised her hands and began to sign. She was looking at me, while I, trembling with shame and fury, was looking down at the ground. She adjusted the angle of her signs to compensate, and I saw her phrase was a familiar one.

“Walk with me?”

I gave a little nod, our foreheads rubbing together, still touching. “I’m still mad at you,” I responded, scowling as I signed. She smiled. I scowled even harder. She was still smiling.

I’m not sure to this day which one of us initiated the kiss. Forehead to forehead it wasn’t a difficult thing to turn our lips closer to each other. Suddenly I tasted her like a starving woman getting her first bite in weeks. My glasses were pushed to one side, only to fall off when I clumsily reached up to adjust them and decided to cup her cheek instead. I couldn’t breathe, and I didn’t care.

When we broke away from each other I was still trembling, though no longer from shame. Emi was still smiling, although it was more of a goofy grin than the slightly sad expression she’d shown me moments before. She reached down to pick up my glasses. “Thanks,” I signed when she stood up and offered them to me, and that’s when I noticed she was giggling.

“What’s so funny?”

She thought for a moment, still giggling. I guess she could not come up with the signs, because she held up one finger to wait and pulled out her cellphone. A quick text and she showed me the screen.

we r so messed up

I flushed. Admittedly true, but I didn’t need to hear that from her, especially after a kiss. “Don’t flatter yourself thinking that you’re as messed up as I,” I began haughtily as we started walking out of the park. “You can’t hope to compete.”

-

“See you after class!” signed the Student Council’s sports representative, after giving me a peck on the cheek.

“You too!” I waved Emi off as she ran down the hall. Something about having to meet with the track coach before class today. Always in a hurry, that girl! I walked away from the changing rooms with the rest of the Student Council at a more leisurely pace. Hisao, who always finished changing quickly, had been waiting outside.

This morning’s run had been a good one. Hisao had been glad to see Shiina back on the track, and I think she even enjoyed the exercise. Returning to running had been tough on her the last few days, but she seemed to be in a groove now. The two of them had been snickering behind their hands every time I spoke with Emi, as they were now. “Hey, Shicchan! Hicchan’s been practicing his signs! He wants to show you!”

Hisao had a cocky smirk on his face as gave me a well practiced, “Get a room.”

“See, Shicchan, his signing’s not half bad now huh?”

“Looks good to me, Hisao,” I replied without batting an eyelid. “I was thinking of borrowing yours without asking.”

That replaced his smirk with a guilty grimace rather quickly. Shiina stumbled deciding whether to translate his apologies first or sign hers. I dismissed the apologies breezily; I didn’t need to hear them once more. Point to me. Miura and the rest of the track team caught up with us as we all walked to class. I had been on their case to keep showing up to morning practice, and it was paying off in their times. When I greeted them, their replies were deferential but friendly. Damn, but it was nice to be the alpha female again!

We sat down in class with our gym bags under our seats; there’d been no time to return them to the dorms. First period science with Mutou was textbook review, and Shiina was having a little difficulty with organic chemistry. As Hisao explained what Mutou was droning on about, I reached into my book bag and found two surprises. One was my cellphone, with a new text message. The other was a pair of bear logo panties, too small for my size and stuffed into the bottom under my books. I brought my fingers to my nose for a sniff test. Slight smell of sweat: those were used.

I gave Shiina and Hisao our discreet ‘cellphone cover’ signal, and they nodded in understanding. The Student Council raised their books to stand on the desk, and now I could appear to be deeply interested in the textbook while I was responding on my cell phone. Worked on Mutou every time. The message, predictably, was from Emi.

check ur bags

Taking a second to make sure I was on the right page with Mutou’s lecture, I started to text my response. I’m noticing a pattern here.

I watched Shiina translate Mutou’s explanation of hydrocarbons for about a minute. She kept tripping over the big words; it was kind of depressing. Then the responding text arrived.

like it?

“Shicchan, pay attention! You need to know how to identify that diagram of a propane molecule!”

“That’s a butane molecule, Shiina,” I responded drily, before firing off my next message. The last one was clean.

“What do you mean, that’s a—wait, you’re right. They all look the same!”

Hisao helpfully scribbled something onto a notebook page that seemed to switch on a lightbulb over Shiina’s head.

ur forgetin 2 say thank u again

“Great, now he’s starting on plastics. I didn’t understand that last bit he said about combustibility and molecule length!”

When did you slip me this gift anyways? I swore you had them in your hands when I put my bag on.

Mutou stopped drawing on the board. The giant molecule diagram seemed to be taking up much more room than he’d planned, and the teacher was at a loss.

those were my bloomers, lol

I almost slapped my forehead. Of course.

“Shicchan, you’re on the wrong page now!”

I adjusted and sent my response. Right, stupid of me. But I didn’t see your replacement panties. When did you put them on?

Mutou had redrawn his molecule at an acceptable size and continued his lecture, satisfied with himself. A few sample problems were raised.

“Pretty straightforward, just need to memorize how many carbon atoms there are in each, right?”

“No Shiina, the shape of the connections is also important. That’s what he’s been saying.” Then I noticed Emi had replied.

i didnt put on any replacement

“How the hell am I supposed to remember—ohmygod Shicchan! You’re bleeding! Mr. Mutou, we need some tissues!”

-
-

As you may have noticed, I like to end every chapter with an implicit question. The question at the end of this one is "Does Shizune set up a rendezvous in the ladies' bathroom, or does she march into 3-1 and take Emi in the middle of class right there?"

Some folk indicated dismay at the title and the end of this series. To be honest, I don't have that much more story to write. I had a notion for a lemon epilogue wherein they do the nasty, but to be honest cripple erotica isn't my strong suit. Besides, after lines like this:

eat kosher bacon 10:07 pm
(10:07:19 PM): yeah i was going to do a shizune x emi story but that inevitably ended with emi being humiliated and ridiculed.

I have half a mind to just let the more experienced writefags cover this anyways.

A note on cliches: I honestly didn't like having to rely on a nosebleed and used underwear for the end there. Well, the used underwear made sense as a throwback to Emi's last present, but I kind of wish I could have thought of a reaction besides a nosebleed. I've never seen the arousal nosebleed outside of anime, and am skeptical of its existence in reality until proof is supplied.

sexy XD

Goldilurks wrote:I kind of wish I could have thought of a reaction besides a nosebleed. I've never seen the arousal nosebleed outside of anime, and am skeptical of its existence in reality until proof is supplied.

That's because the reaction doesn't actually exist. But it's a convention that works. I certainly had no problem with its presence.

Large sweat drops to indicate nervousness don't exist either. Or cross popping veins for anger. Used more in the visual media than written, but the way you wrote it makes it perfectly understandable.

Well, I just read 5 chapters of a Shizune X Emi fic more than I thought I would tonight.
And the weirdest part is it was pretty good. I only groaned once, at the end of the first chapter.

I'd consider this a triumph. Good job.

This tale is Glorious.

Glorious, I tell ya!

Ahh, another fantastic chapter. One of the first things I would do when logging onto the forums would be checking to see if there was a new chapter in this story. Makes me both happy and sad to see it done. Keep up the great work

Man, I feel like a moron for taking a step back from the forums for a while and letting the ending to this one slip past me. Seeing this as a tsundere-esque narrative where the primary love interest is well uh ...my favorite character... I really didn't know what to expect and yeah, I'm all kinds of impressed. You certainly pulled off what I couldn't.

Heh, nosebleed. Were her panties THAT rancid? I kid, I kid.

Praise from Caesar is praise indeed. Good to see you back, kosher.

lol @ my fic and how far off it is after playing the Shizune route.

Goldilurks wrote:lol @ my fic and how far off it is after playing the Shizune route.

The things that surprised me most about Shizune's route is THAT joke about Misha's disability being true, Hideaki being real, and Misha getting rid of her drills.
Good to see you back on the forums Goldilurks.