Katawa Shoujo Forums

My Pastebin:
http://pastebin.com/u/YourFavAnon

I write lots of stuff for all of you to read, criticism is welcome. Enjoy, and feel free to contact me with questions.

Table of Contents:

- The Counterattack: 1/2/3

- Yamaku's Class Commencement Speech

- Inner Beauty

- Take Me

- Walk

- Rin "teachs" Shizune how to paint.

- Don't Hide These Feelings

- Summertime

- Belong

- Always, Like This (Contains Erotic Content)

- Really? (Kind of contains erotic content, but not really)

- Color The Sky

- Withdrawl (This one is grimdark)

- Affirmation (Contains a lot of erotic content)

- Nuvole Bianche

- Leave The Lights On (very short scene)

- The Challenge of a Lifetime (more erotic content!)

- The Best Best Man

- Snow Day (even more erotic content)

- I'd Rather Have You

- Brothers in Arms

- The Love We Shared

- Rejuvenation

- Smile

- Arcadia

- Sleep Well, My Little Angel

- Good Morning, Sunshine (Follow up to Sleep Well, My Little Angel)

- Clairvoyance

- Curveball

- An Interlude

- Arabesque

- Galaxy

- Snowflakes

- The Next Step

- A Dream

- A Sweet Competition (Halloween Special) (erotic)

- The End Isn't What You'll Be Expecting

- Katamari Taromacy

- A Breath of Fresh Air: 1

- Have You Seen My Bear Tibbers, Hisao?

- But... How On Earth Will This Ever Work?

- Tornado Warning

- 3159khz Transmission

Thanks for taking an interest in my writings.

-YourFavAnon

The Counterattack

Part One: The Plan

A single light hanging over the low sitting table. A shade of yellow seeps out of the glass cage surrounding it, sending out waves of dim color across the table. The rest of the room is eerily dark and quiet, almost it was meant to be used for a police interrogation. What could Kenji possibly want from me at this hour? I reflect back on what events lead up to me sitting in this dark room, feeling like a criminal about to get hammered with a ton of questions. Maybe that's what this is; maybe Kenji is just going to waterboard some answers out of me. But what the hell is he looking for from me? What was the point in him knocking on my door at 2 in the morning and grabbing, forcefully I should say, my wrists and dragging me over here?

Out in the early morning, I can faintly make out the sound of wind beating against the side of the male dormitory. Occasionally, you can hear a little clanking sound, as sleet connects with the concrete paths below us. Then, there's the sound of Kenji pacing back and forth on opposite side of the table. I'm sitting here thinking about what he's going to ask me, preparing for the worst. He's prancing around with this villainous grin arising on his lips.

"Hisao, I'm going to go ahead and assume you're questioning why you're here," Kenji begins, still pacing around at the other side of the table. "I'm sure as you can see, there's a fuck ton of snow outside. I've been planning this shit out since the start of winter, man, and I've finally come up with the most genius plan..."

As he trails off, I figure he's giving me a chance to speak.

"Kenji, can you please just tell me why, under any circumstance, you had to wake me up at two in the morning?" I make sure my anger and frustration is easy to hear, even though he obviously doesn't care. I can't believe this couldn't have just waited until the morning, seeing as it's our day off.

Kenji releases a gentle sigh, turning his voice almost into that of a disappointed parent talking to their child.

"Oh Hisao, Hisao, Hisao... just what am I going to do with you? Always so willing to get straight to the point," He chimes, in a bit of a mocking tone. He adjusts his glasses, causing some light to reflect off of them into my face. "Fine. Here's the plan, bro: we've got a good 9 inches of snow outside. I've been keeping tabs on this shit since the storm started two days ago. Now, let me ask you something. What do you think we could do with this massive amount of snow that mother nature has been so gloriously dumped upon us?"

I'm not following. Not one. Single. Bit.

"Kenji, it's two in the morning. I haven't got a damn idea what you're plotting, planning, scheming, or whatever else you've called your ideas." I ramble this out with a yawn. I'm absolutely exhausted. After running with Emi through the ever gaining amounts of snow on the ground yesterday morning, I holed up in my room and stayed warm, trying to fend off the risk of having to walk down into town with Lilly or Hanako. Actually, I shouldn't even say "with" Lilly or Hanako. I would have been churning through that snow all by myself, bringing back things that they put on their grocery list. Good thing nobody bothered to come pay me a surprise visit yesterday.

Kenji decides the passing moments of silence really do confirm that I have no idea what he's planning. He slows his pace now, looking more as if he's trying to focus on some extremely serious matter at hand. "We're going to go on the counter offensive, man. We're going to show all of those damned feminists what we're made of, that we're truly the ones in charge around here!" His face looks like one of triump, his pose almost exactly mimicking that of the famous Captain Morgan stance.

If this wasn't Kenji talking, I would be confused and call the person a psychopath. But, because it's Kenji, I breath out a heavy sigh of remorse. I now completely regret answering my door at two in the morning, and I should have figured out by now that Kenji is the only person who, in their right mind, would wake me up at this hour. I peer over at his digital clock beside his bed; it's beaming out the numbers 2:34 AM in it's bright red color. I've been sitting here in a chair, at a table, with a single dim light illumnating a small portion of the room for over a half an hour. I think it's about time I rush him to the point, because there's obviously no way I'm getting myself out of this now. I take a deep breath before I finally force out the question.

"So what's your 'brilliant' plan, Kenji?"

He stares at me with an even larger grin. Maybe I should have just left rather than sitting through this, because now he's got me cornered and thinks I'm really interested in participating in this.

"I'm glad you've come to your senses and decided to embark on this mission with me," Kenji gibes, treating me as I'm the insane one. "Here's the deal: we're going to wage a snowball war with them that they'll never, and I mean NEVER, forget. With a little bit of preparation tonight, there's no way we will lose, and the feminist agend will once again suffer a staggering defeat!"

At first, I all I can think about is when he mentioned preparing tonight. Was he implying I wasn't going to go back to sleep tonight and was going to have to go out, in the middle of this snow storm, with no real thick winter clothing?

"Wait wait wait, Kenji," I say in a disappointed tone. Not like he'll notice anyways. "Are you saying we're going to be starting this right now? Like, we're going to go outside at..." I peer over at the clock: it reads 2:40 AM. "...2:40 in the morning? Are you being serious right now?" I'm still baffled. This blind bastard is really going to drag me out here and start this 'operation' right now. Great. Now, not only am I not going to get to sleep in, I'm not even going to get a good amount of rest at all.

"Do you have a problem with that, Mr. Nakai? I'm beginning to second guess my initial thoughts on your dedication to this operation." Kenji is becoming upset with me at this point. Not quite sure where to go from here, so I figure I'll let him continue with talking. "Now, are you with me or not? Because if you're not, I'll have to kill you."

He's obviously joking about the killing part, at least I hope. I don't have to worry about getting killed by him, though, because at this point, with a little bit more time to think about this 'operation', I'm actually beginning to like the idea. Oh god, wouldn't it be great to get all of the girls out there, just to surprise them and bombard them with a ton of snowballs? The more I think about it the more I'm thinking about how I could actually end up enjoying this. There is one slight problem though, a hole in the matrix.

"How are we going to get all of the girls to come to the location at the same time?" I question. "I mean, it's going to be extremely difficult to get a bunch of girls who all do participate in completely different activities and don't talk to each other all THAT often to-" That's all I can manage to get out before I get cut off.

"Silence, Hisao. You think I haven't planned this shit out already? I've thought through every possible scenario, every little crease and every little detail is ironed out. You act like my brain isn't constantly filled with golden ideas." Kenji really is one cocky bastard. He is full of shit, but I will commend him on his dedication to his cause. "The plan here is this: You're going to call them all up. Don't try and avoid this shit, because I've already browsed through your contacts and saw which of their names were in there. You've got all of the ones I want: Shizune Hakamichi, Shiina Mikado, Lilly Satou, Emi Ibarazaki, Rin Tezuka, Hanako Ikezawa, Miki Miura and Suzu Suzuki. I've been watching the actions of these 'lovely young women' for quite some time, and I think it's safe to say they're all key parts in the plotting of the feminist agenda. It's your job to get in contact with the enemies and convince them all to gather in the war zone. In fact, the more girls you gather, the more of a long term effect this battle will have on their morale!"

Well this just turned for the worse. Not only does Kenji believe that all of the girls that I've managed to become somewhat close to here at Yamaku are psychopath feminists, I also have to arrange the whole thing. He's got this master plan, and a part of the master plan was to have me create a plan to get these girls outside, in the middle of a snow storm, at the exact same time. Before I can even begin planning how in the world I'm going to get all of the girls to gather at one place outside, Kenji lays another completely frustrating part of his plan on me.

"But, before you get your brilliant plan together to get their crazy asses down here, we've got a bigger piece of the puzzle to attend to: the creation of our fortress. The work on that part of the plan starts right now."

Glancing over at the clock, for what seems like the hundredth time, I read the bright red numbers to myself.

2:52 AM.

This could prove to be more difficult than I thought.

The Counterattack

Part Two: Preparation

I don't know why I even decided to participate in this. I mean, I was originally forced into Kenji's room, just to have this whole plan involving his feminist conspiracy viciously crammed down my throat, but I could have just easily declined and went back to the warmth of my bed right? But yet, here I am, at 3:30 AM, creating the most beautiful and well planned out snow fortress I've ever laid eyes upon. When Kenji said he had this 'shit planned out already', I was assuming that he actually had put minimal thought into it.

Well, it turned out to be just the opposite.

The fortress is well underway now. With a good foundation and walls spanning upwards a good two feet so far, I'm actually starting to enjoy this. The only problem is that we actually need to commence the plan. How the hell am I going to get all of these girls to show up and be here at the same time? I could just send out a text saying "Hey, come to the park around 2:30 and don't be late!", but how many of them would actually take the initiative to show up? I've got to think of something much, much better than that.

I figure I should give Kenji a bit of praise, though. Other than having a solid plan for this fortress, proving to me with mathematical evidence and loads of charts as to why it was a good idea to get out so early and do this, he actually gave me ten minutes to get my shit together and prepare to fight the cold. When I was on my way out the door the meet Kenji at the park, I peered over at the thermometer that was mounted on the wall right next to the double doored entrance to the dormitory.

It read 16 degrees in Fahrenheit.

There was no two ways about it, I wasn't going to feel warm for about another 17 hours. Hopefully, by then, this will be ended and I'll be able to hole up in my bed. I guess I shouldn't expect too much, though, considering Kenji could wage this 'war' for more than one day. I guess we'll find out when those moments come up.

I made my way down onto the concrete path and remembered that Kenji said we would be creating the fortress in the park. The park is a good walk across the campus of the academy, so I put my hood up and trudged through the ever growing amount of snow. When I first arrived, Kenji had already drawn an outline in the snow, having perfectly measured out marks of where the walls needed to go, as well as how long and wide they needed to be.

As I continue to think through what had led to me working on this glorious fortress at what was now almost 4:00 AM, I realized how much I actually enjoy being around Kenji. Sure, the son of a bitch is crazy. There is absolutely no other way to put that. But, beyond his craziness and insanity lies a dude who you can't really hate being around, simply because he never stops being himself regardless of who he's around.

My thoughts are quickly interrupted by Kenji's voice.

"Bro, this shit is turning out great. In fact, it's almost exceeding my expectations." He remarks with a complementary tone. I think, in fact, that this may have been the first time since I've arrived at Yamaku that he's given me a complement. Well, that's disregarding all of the 'you're such a bro, Hisao' stuff that he throws around almost every day. "If we keep this load going for another hour, we may have some time to reinforce the outside span of the walls. This shit is fucking gold, bro, we're going to show those feminist bitches who they're dealing with!"

With that, I remember that he, indeed, does believe that all of my friends are in on this 'feminist agenda'. It's kind of depressing, actually, simply because I know I'm going to end up tricking all of them into getting pelted with snowballs. Hopefully they dress warm, because if they don't, I have a feeling I'm never going to hear the end of it.

As I'm going through the motions of packing snow together, creating grooves and cuts to create a solid structural and good looking wall, I can't help but to think of a question for Kenji.

"Kenji, you do realize that this 'battle' here is going to the two of us versus eight of them, right? This is going to end up being a lot more difficult than we're expecting it to be..." My voice trails off. I know for a fact that, if this doesn't end up the way he wants it, the girls will have both of us on the ground while shoving mounds of snow down our clothing.

Well, shit. This could end up really bad now that I think about it.

"Kenji, it's not too late to-"

"Bro, are you seriously terrified of some crippled girls?" He cuts in, attempting to give me a short motivational speech. "I thought you were more of a man than that. How the fuck can they overpower us if the two of us together have the strength of 20 of them?" He pauses for a moment, gathering himself to deliver a grand speech. I honestly wouldn't have been surprised if he prepared this in his plans, just in case I was having second guessing the operation at hand.

"Son, we've been on the defensive for far too fucking long! They've sent wave after wave of attacks on the male race, trying to wipe us out, trying to degrade us and weaken our troops. Well, I'll tell you something man. If we pull a victory out of our asses against these feminist forces, we will go down in history as the greatest two men to ever set foot at Yamaku. We, Hisao Nakai and Kenji Setou, will go down in history as the men who, as a combined force, took down the evil opposition! We will be-!"

I cover his mouth with my hand. He's, at this point, yelling his motiviational speech,at about 4:30 in the morning. I figure if he keeps it up much more, we'd just end up getting in trouble and all of this would be for naught. He struggles and squirms his head away from my arm and hand, looking shocked and extremely pissed off. I figure I have a bit of explaining to do.

"Sorry man. I just don't want you to, uh..." I pause for a moment. I figure he honestly doesn't care about waking up others, so I need a better excuse for interrupting his 'motivational' speech. "...inform the feminist spies of our operation. You never know when one of them could be hiding out in the trees, or if they've planted listening devices all around the school." I don't think that came out right. As if he wasn't paranoid enough around women, I think I may have just given him another reason to be locked up in his room with his blinds closed.

"You think I don't know this shit already, bro?" Phew. That's a relief. He was already... wait. He was already under the belief that they had spying devices planted around campus? "Boy, I've been here for a long, long time. I've always kept my eyes open for suspicious activity from the opposing front, looking out for people trying to plant shit. Trash cans, benches, trees, anything. They've got shit EVERYWHERE that could give away our plan. Luckily enough, I have some insider information. None of the girls we'll be waging war with have listening devices with them. I can scream as loud as I want, and those bitches still won't know what hit them."

I should have figured this out by now. Kenji is consistent in his efforts against the 'opposing front'. He probably was out here around midnight, scourging the area for implanted devices that could listen to us while we prepare our fort.

After the completion of that little rant, he fell quiet. I guess my interruption made him forget completely about delivering the rest of his speech. So now, at 4:45 AM with light beginning to creep up over the horizon, we fall silent and continue our work into the fast approaching dawn

Before reading, please check out this wonderful piece of art that Drawbro drew and colored for me. It's a perfect representation of how to imagine all of this going down: http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/6606/h ... uation.jpg

=========================================================================================================

Hanako delivers Yamaku's graduation commencement speech

My heart has to be beating a thousand times every second. I think I finally understand what Hisao has to cope with his condition. I feel like I'm about to publicly humiliate myself. All of those parents and students out there... just staring directly at me and my scars! But Shizune and Lilly agreed on something for the first time in a very long time, and it's that I should deliver our class commencement speech... just as a test of me finally starting to come out of my shell. I know I've been starting to open up to other people, ever since I joined the newpaper club during the school year... trying to overcome my fear of them looking at my scars, even if it still bothers me. But... that was such a much smaller scale than this! I'm about to stand up in front of hundreds of people! Parents, students, faculty and staff, all of them! I have to give this speech to officially welcome our graduating class into the real world... and now, only 15 minutes before I give the speech, I'm not even sure if I can do it...

But I have to! There's absolutely no turning back now... I have to do this for Lilly, for Shizune, for everyone who wanted to me to do it!

I just need to relax.

I sit quietly along the side of the massive stage. Lilly is currently up, doing her speech on behalf of class 3-2. As I stare out into the crowd, I see a face that I've grown so familiar with: Hisao Nakai, my first love and the young man who's been so supportive of me this year. It's so hard to come to grips that we're all moving onto the real world sooner rather than later. Sure, we'll all be together for a brief stint after graduation, but when that's over and done with, we'll all be moving onto our respective universities. I won't be going on alone, however. Hisao and I are both going to be attending the same university, and with a little bit of convincing, he talked his parents into allowing me to stay in an apartment with him. That's a story for another time, though.

I can feel a cold sweat starting to come on. I steal a peek at my phone to check how much time I have left before it's my turn to speak.

Five minutes. Five minutes until I'm up at the podium, delivering a speech that will propel us all forward into the adult years of our lives. I don't think I can handle this. Maybe I can talk to Lilly when she comes off the podium. Maybe she won't make me go through with this and will just have someone else read the speech for me... there's no way I can go through with this!

Just as I nearly break out into a panic attack, my phone lights up and vibrates quietly. Who could be texting me at a time like this?

'Smile. Everything's going to be okay, I promise. You'll deliver the greatest speech anyone has ever given at Yamaku. I love you, and I'm rooting for you from the stands! Have a little faith in yourself!'
From: Hisao.

Now, rather than blowing up into a full blown panic attack, I can feel my cheeks turning into a burning red color, hoping terribly that nobody notices. That sort of goes out the window though, when I take a look out into the crowd. There sits Hisao, accompanied by Kenji, Emi and Rin. I feel like my face has lit on fire. He's staring right at me, as if nobody else is around him or nothing else is going on. He catches me off guard as he puts his fingers up to the corners of his mouth and moves the corners to shape a smile, using it as a sign to tell me what to do. He's such a dork, always doing some form of a childish antic to make me laugh or smile. We've only been together for months, but in those months he's managed to completely change my outlook on life. I was just a girl that was terrified of others and her past, and now...

I'm still that little terrified girl. Just a lot less terrified.

"...and with that, I congratulate our class on moving onto the real world, on to the next big stage in our lives. I know that normally a valedictorian or class president would give the final speech to propel us out into our lives, but this year we've gotten permission to change it up. I will now introduce Hanako Ikezawa as our next and final speaker of the evening. Thank you, and congratulations."

Lilly is quite a public speaker. Very eloquent, but not to the point where it distracts you from what she's talking about. But, besides that, I'm now on the verge of freaking out. I slowly shuffle my way up towards the podium, getting enveloped in the process by Lilly. Her hug calms my nerves a little, but not enough to make a significant difference. She whispers a few words of encourment in my ear, ending with "I know you'll do great."

As I complete my trek to the podium, I pull out my note cards and sit them down on the slight incline before me. I slowly move my head up, and it's at this point I realize I'm staring out into a vast sea of people. Students, parents, faculty members, all of them.

I'm frozen up. I practically am on the verge of having a panic attack right now, in front of hundreds of people. I look around blankly through the crowd and try to force out words, but nothing's coming out. I look around for Hisao. He's staring right at me, eyes wide open, mouthing something to me. I think he's trying to say 'Talk, Hana!' His concern helps me relax a bit, jogging my memory of the text he sent me just a few minutes ago.

'Everything's going to be okay, I promise.'

"G-good evening, fellow students and parents." An expression of relief washes over Hisao's face. I've got to do this for him, for Lilly, for everyone who's ever helped me break my barriers down and start my life anew!

"M-my name is H-Hanako Ikezawa, a s-student of class 3-3." God damn this stutter. I just need to relax, pronounce my words. I'm making myself look like a fool up here.

"I'd like to start off by congratulating the parents, w-who have come here tonight to show their undying support for their children and their future. Know that your support for your chldren does not go unnoticed." I just realized how difficult it was for me to put that down as something to say. Mom and Dad... I wish you could be here to see me today more than anything else.

"This y-year was a year of change for many of us. Finding out about w-what we want to do with our future and keeping it close to our hearts and minds, while also gutting out l-large amounts of work and studying. Just as we think that everything is c-coming to an end, that we'll be parting ways with our f-friends and aquaintances, we should be realizing that, in truth, everything is just beginning. The next s-step in our lives are the biggest ones we will ever take. The jump into adulthood, I'll a-admit is quite a scary thing to come to grips with. Knowing we may be splitting away from the people we've come to know and l-love..." I gulp at the word love. The concept still gets me, knowing someone actually managed to fall in love with me this year. The great thing about it is that we won't be splitting apart and going on separate paths, we'll be taking the road into adulthood together.

"...can be a difficult t-thing to come to terms with. Some of us may still stay together after we g-graduate, while some of us may even stay together for the rest of our lives. Nobody knows what the f-future holds, but the fate of our lives in our own hands. Not our parents, not our peers, just our own t-two hands. Every single day and every s-single night, I think about what's going to happen to me in the future. I already have a somewhat good idea w-what's going to happen in the short term..." I peek at Hisao. His face is flushed red, knowing I'm talking about him. Some of the people who know about Hisao and I in the crowd give a small 'Aww' before falling silent once again. "...but the long term is still a mystery. It's a mystery f-for every last one of us. At points, it can feel o-overwhelming, maybe even overpowering. But, we've got to march forward on our p-paths, not worrying about what lies beyond."

"As I stand b-before all of you, you may know me as that girl with scars who used to always run out of class." This caught a lot of people by surprise. I just realize that I never actually did share my speech with Hisao or Lilly, so they both just sit there with their jaws slowly falling towards the groud. "That used to b-bother me. A lot. Knowing that my physical deformation got the best of my m-mind is frustrating. Sometimes, it still does, and I still get u-upset with myself more than anything else. You know w-what though? I've worked really h-hard to gain enough courage to stand up here, b-before you all today, and give you a speech as a parting gift from Yamaku. I am living p-proof that you can overcome your fears and anxieties with a little bit of work!"

To my surprise, a deafening eruption of applause and cheers erupt from the crowd. Students and parents alike are standing up, cheering for me, willing me on. I now understand what I've missed by segregating myself off from the rest of the world. I may still be that shy little girl who runs out of the room to go to the library, but my confidence right now is skying towards the moon. As the applause and cheers die down, I decide it's time to do something I've needed to do for a long time.

"Before I finish up my speech for you all and allow you to m-move on into your future, there's one thing I need to do. I would like the f-following two people to please join me on stage." This is unscripted, not a part of my speech. A few people have puzzled looks on their faces. "Hisao Nakai and Lilly Satou, will you please join me on stage?"

A few little laughs pop out from the crowd, notably from the direction of Hisao. It appears that Misha and Shizune had joined them in the crowd of students, and Misha's laugh just rang out over the entire audience. I watch Hisao as he takes nervous and quick strides to the stage. His face is a bright red, almost pink in color. I've managed to flatter him, but I believe more than anything I've made him nervous. I feel bad for doing this now, but I feel the pay off in the end will be for the better. As Hisao and Lilly make their way up onto the stage, they take position on both sides of me. I grab Hisao's hand and grasp it with a firm grip. This draws another round of people going 'Aww' from the crowd.

"This isn't s-scripted, but it's something I've needed to do for a very long time. These two people, Lilly and Hisao, are the reason you see me up here today. Lilly has been h-here for me from the time I started at Yamaku, being my first friend here and one of the friends I have promised to myself to never lose. Hisao was a new student this y-year, but he made one of the biggest impacts on my life. He's shown me what it means to be myself and nothing else, and t-that you can't hide from yourself and your past forever. He is also the boy who I've managed to fall in l-love with." This draws a few whistles from the students, mainly Emi and the one girl named Miki. This makes me blush a good bit, but I can't let that distract me from what I want to say.

"I just wanted to let you both know that I l-love you both dearly. You both have shown me what it means t-to live, and to be the person that I want to be! No longer am I Hanako, the girl who runs out of class b-because she's scared of people looking at her funny. I am Hanako, the adult who has a b-bright future and isn't as afraid to show the world w-who she is!" Massive rouds of applause and cheers erupt from the crowd. Nearly everyone is on their feet, clapping or yelling senseless cheers in our direction. I can really feel my face lighting up now, but I don't even care anymore. This is such a good feeling that it doesn't even phase me.

"Now, to this year's class, I congratulate you as all graduates of Yamaku Academy. We finally did it!" Caps are now flying straight up into the air. Everyone is cheering, crying, embracing and high fiving. I turn and give Lilly a heart felt hug after tossing my cap up towards the sky, before turning to Hisao. We embrace, and I can feel the tears starting to stream down my face. For once, they aren't tears of sadness or anguish, but tears of happiness. I bring my face in front of Hisaos and lock my lips with his.

He's the first to pull away. "Hanako, I'm beyond proud of you and am proud to be considered the one that you 'managed to fall in love with'." Ouch, a shot at me for maybe not wording that the best.

"Well, maybe it's b-because I was too nervous to say 'He is also my one and only love who I hope to live the rest of my life with'." He blushes a light red color at my words. I pull him into a kiss once again.

I don't think there's another way I would have wanted my journey in life to begin.

Rin "teaches" Shizune how to paint.

"You've got to become one with the brush. Imagine yourself being the brush and just act like you're rubbing yourself up against the canvas.." Rin trails off, closing her eyes. She really is bad at communicating with people, especially Shizune. I glance over at her face, and it is an absolute look of terror. The two of them are sitting opposite of each other, their works facing in opposing directions as well. Me? Well, it was decided that I was to be the mediator for the two, as you could call me a friend of both of theirs. Shizune decided one day that she really wanted to pick up a hobby, something she may be able to do sometimes when she had nothing else to work on. She asked me if I could go 'talk to that weird girl with the short hair and no arms' to see if she would teach her a few things about painting. Of course, though, the result of her 'lessons' so far have been nothing shorter than tragic. Shizune has been desparately trying to take her advice and apply it to the best of her ability, but there's a major disconnect between the two of them. Probably because Rin barely makes any sense to anyone except for Emi and I.

[Hisao, what do you think of this? I'm trying so hard to do what Rin says and I think I've just made something an elementary student would have a good laugh at..] Shicchan signs at me, a disappointed expression rising onto her face.

She turns her canvas to the side slightly so I can get a better look at it. Well, she certainly wasn't very far off; it looks absolutely terrible, like a bunch of random lines and colors were just spit out by a tornado and just so happened to land on the canvas.

[Shizune, what is this even supposed to be?] I'm trying to hard not to laugh. Her face looks like it's about to catch on fire, and I can't quite tell whether it's from embrassment or anger about me asking that question. She's so cute when she's upset. She continues to pout and whine until I finally decide to just ask Rin if she has any other advice. If you can even call it advice at this point.

"Hey, uh, Rin? do you have any other tips that you could give to Shizune? She's getting quite upset over here." I figured I might as well ask. What good is it going to do for Shizune if her paintings look so awful? "Her painting looks... well, it looks very interesting to say the least."

"She needs to find the beauty of inspiration deep within her mind," Rin drones out, her voice as dry and plain as the Sahara Desert. "With no inspiration, she'll never succeed in creating anything beautiful or unique."

Huh. That actually... that actually made a lot of sense. I sign what Rin said over to Shizune, which prompted a surprised response.

[Did she really say that? That's the most sense she's made since we started these sessions.] Shizune curiously signs back to me, almost not beliving what I had just told her came out of Rin's mouth.

[She can be wise when she wants to. The trouble is...] I pause for a moment. Why isn't she like this all the time, and only at very rare and selective times? [...I think the trouble is that she just doesn't want to.] I figure that's a fair enough conclusion to draw; she just doesn't want to be wise. Maybe it has something to do with it getting in the way of her thoughts of clouds and various other things that are 'important' to her.

[She just doesn't want to? Hisao, you're an idiot.] Shizune furiously signs at me. What else am I supposed to say? Is she trying to get me to tell her that she's working with a girl that's borderline insane and makes no sense to the general population? I shoot her a look of anger, but she doesn't seem to catch it. She sticks her tongue out at me and continues to work on her 'masterpiece'.

A few minutes pass by with nothing being said. Shizune's piece still looks like someone took a bunch of condiments and sprayed them all over the canvas. She quickly turns to me and signs at me, asking if I could get Rin to come over and look at her piece. I was going to tell her that Rin believes that you're not supposed to let anyone see your piece before it's finished, otherwise you'll have bad luck. But, considering how terrible it is already, I don't think there will be any possible way for Shizune to get bad luck. Not to mention, if I don't ask, she'll probably smack me.

"Rin, Shizune wants you to come over and take a look at her piece."

At the sound of this, Rin lets out a heavy sigh and jumps up from her chair. "Doesn't she know she'll get bad luck from me looking at her unfinished work?"

"I don't think it matters at this point," I quickly shoot back, which surprisingly causes Rin to giggle a little.

Rin quickly walks around to the other side of the work area, where Shizune and I are sitting. She ceases movement immediately at the sight of Shizune's piece of 'art'.

"What the hell is that?" Ouch. That is really, really going to set off Shizune.

[What does she mean 'what the hell is that'? It's my painting that I've created while using her damn advice!] Shizune signs at me furiously. In one swift motion, Shizune stands up, grabs the canvas and drives her knee straight through the middle. She slams the remnants of her 'masterpiece' on the ground and storms out of the art room. I swear, if I wouldn't have known better, I would have almost bet a little bit of steam was coming out of her ears during her grand exit.

Rin and I both turn to each other, staring without any clue what to say. Rin breaks the silence with a simple statement.

"Why did she do that? I never said I didn't like it..."

Walk


It's been just a few days since the accident now. I don't even remember what happened. All I remember is waking up in the hospital, both of my legs missing. I sobbed, but there were no tears to come with them. I was emotional, but the feelings were all so dull. Dad's gone. My legs are gone. All I have left is Mom and the various medications that I'm on, being used to keep me stablized after just recently coming out of surgery. The last memory I have of the accident is what happened right before it. A pick up truck swerving left an right on a country road, coming in the opposite direction of us. Dad was busy talking to me about our daily run that we took together every morning, apparently not seeing the drunk driver approaching on the other side of the road. Next thing you know, well... I'm sure you can figure out what happened next. After that, I simply blacked out until about four days ago. I haven't been able to get out of bed or anything, not even in a wheelchair; the doctors are too worried it could create an issue with the current medications that I have in my body.

So, as hours tick by, I'm still not moving around. I haven't even spoke to my Mom yet, as the nurse told me that she refused to see me in my current condition. I really wish she would just come see me anyways, even if it pains her to see me like this. It would be more satisfying than laying in bed, staring at this white textured ceiling with absolutely no emotion. That's all I've really done since I woke up; force myself to eat a little bit of food, then stare somewhere. That somewhere could range from out the window to the ceiling that has me trapped in this damn hospital. I just want to go back to my old life, the life where I could actually run, a life where I knew I wasn't going to have to wake up everyday knowing that my father's dead instead of me. Why couldn't it have been me? Sure, it would have been more emotionally painful for him and Mom, but they could have easily just moved on with their lives. Now... now I have to grow up, learning to walk again, without Dad there to help me every step along the way.

As thoughts continue to flood my mind, my room nurse comes in, tapping her fist gently on the door to make sure that I was awake and alert. She enters and sees that I am indeed up, looking at her with some curiosity as to why she was here so early in the morning.

"Hello there Ibarazaki, how are we feeling this morning?" She really is a nice, kind hearted lady. Konachi, the name she introduced herself with, generally comes in and checks on me and my medication a good two to three times a day. She's a very busy lady though, as she covers the majority of this floor of the hopsital. She always comes in after her shift is over for the day and talks to me for a good ten minutes before heading home. I guess that's really the only thing I've been looking forward to every day that I've been here.

"I'm feeling good this morning, Konachi. You always make my day much better when you walk through my door!" It's an honest answer; as soon as I hear that gentle knock on my door, a grin, even if I'm in a bit of pain, finds its way onto my lips. As weird as it sounds, her little questions go a long way. Maybe that's because Dad would always ask me simple questions on days that I was down, sick or just in an awful mood. Those small things just happen to always help me feel better about myself, knowing that someone actually cares about me. Now, back to the matter at hand.

"What brings you here so early this morning, Konachi?" A legitimate question. She generally doesn't come in for at least another two hours, mainly because that's when I need to take my medications. But this morning, she's really early, so I'm not sure whether she's bringing me good or bad news.

"I'm here to bring you some good news, dear!" She takes a quick pause to make sure she's getting the news 100% correct, simply because if it wasn't right, her job would be at risk. "You've been cleared by the doctors and surgeons to begin your rehabilitation today! Isn't that wonderful?"

Hmm. Rehabilitation. A word I thought people only really correlated with drug abusers and alcoholics. I guess it's used for more than just that. But, what am I going to be doing in rehab? I mean, I had my legs removed, am I going to just learn how to use a wheelchair for the rest of my life?

"Konachi, what exactly am I going to be doing in rehabilitation? Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to finally be able to get out of this bed, but... what exactly is rehab supposed to mean to me?" I don't really get it. I figure I might as well get the answers out of her, rather than just go into this thing blind.

"It means, Ibarazaki, that you'll be learning to walk with prosthetic legs. In a couple of weeks, you'll be out of here walking on your own again!" I normally would say this sounds great, but at the current time, it makes me feel terrible. I'll be learning to walk with artificial limbs, something used to replace what used to be there... something that could have been avoided. All I had to do was just tell Dad what I saw happening on the road that night, but I just assumed he saw it. Turns out that I was dead wrong. "Also, your mother is ready to see you now that you can finally leave your room. She's been sleeping out in the guest waiting room for the past few days until you would finally be able to come out and actually see her."

"Can we go see her now? I... I really want to talk to her again." I'm on the verge of tears. I can't stand to face Mom, knowing that I'm the reason her husband is dead. There's that word again. Dead. I still can't come to grips that he'll never be here with me again, not here to-

"Of course we can. Let me help you into a wheelchair. We'll go visit your mother, then she can come along with us to your rehab assignment. Just think, Emi, in a few weeks you'll be walking naturally again!"

There's nothing natural about walking with prosthetic legs. Looks like I'm just going to have to start from scratch again.

==========================================================================================================

"Walk" is a song by the Foo Fighters.

Before reading, please take a look at this painting. It gives a good description of how to expect the girls to be dressed for the snow. This whole series was a joy to write, and I'm proud to call it my first ever complete writing series.

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/6145 ... winter.jpg
========================================================================================================

The Counterattack

Part Three: Follow Through, Friendship and Finales

Kenji's chomping at the bit to get this thing going. It's about 9:30 AM now, and I've managed to contact all of the girls and gave them various reasons as to why they needed to come down here, to the park, in sub freezing temperatures to meet with me. I asked Lilly and Hanako if they would be willing to fight the cold and go into town with me for groceries. I pleaded with Emi to come for a nice jog through the park today, rather than going out and having a run on the track. I also had to come up with some obscure reason for her to drag Rin along, as there was no real explanation to her needing to be with us while we 'jogged'. It was easy to get Miki and Suzu to make the trek down here; I just simply inquired about making a snowman and they were all over it. Shizune and Misha, though, they were a tricky pair to get to come down. I actually ended up just walking my way over to the student council room and politely asked if they would meet me in the park at 9:40 AM. Before they could ask any questions about the strange request, as well as the very specific time, I was already on my way back to the park.

Our fortress is now completely built, a good four feet up off of the ground and reinforced all around the outer portion of the walls. Kenji insisted we build up a stockpile of snowballs, to give us an early edge in the battle. So, as the minutes tick by - it's now 9:37 AM - we have completed our mountainous pile of snowballs, have our fort ready for a full scale attack and are prepared to wage war against the 'enemies'. Kenji takes a quick glance down at his watch, before turning to me.

"Today, brother, we will overcome the tyranny and brutality of the feminist agenda. When all of the girls arrive at the checkpoint, we will immediately open fire, and fucking light them up. Give them no chance to retreat, give them no opportunity to hit us back. We are outnumbered in bodies, but not in spirit! We will be victorious!" There goes Kenji again, off on another one of his typical military frontline type motivational speeches. I can't say it doesn't inspire me, though. Maybe it's because once you look past his crazy, mentally unstable mind, he can actually be a really great guy to be around. His absurd and explicit speech, his awful outfit that he continuously wears, even down to his bad drinking problem; they all make him into that unique person that everyone needs to have at least one of in their life. I'm kind of glad we're neighbors now. But, as I continue to think about other convincing reasons as to why he's a good friend to have, my train of thought is interrupted by a harsh whisper.

"Shit bro, here they come!"

As I peek through a tiny hole that we made in the north side wall, I can make out the figures of various confused and freezing cold girls. The common expression on their faces appears to be one of confusion, as if they have no idea why they're supposed to be here or as to why all of them showed up at the same exact time. Kenji motions me to move away from the window so he can give me some quick instruction.
"Alright bro, here's the deal. First thing we need to do is fire off a warning shot," he begins, acting every movement out with his hands. This will send them into a state of utter confusion. When this happens, you wait for my command. When I give you the green light, we start raining snowballs down on them as if this is our last time together! If this would happen to be the last time we ever see each other, I just wanted to let you know-"

"Kenji, we're not going to die man. Relax. Just get your warning shot out there and give me the signal when you're ready. We can do this!" I still laugh at the fact that I'm getting all worked up over a simple snowball fight. I obviously don't share his belief on the 'feminist agenda', but I do think I'll get a good laugh out of a bunch of wet, freezing cold girls, standing around having no idea what's going on. Although, I'll probably catch hell for the rest of eternity for doing this.
Sometimes you have to make sacrafices in life.

Kenji fires off the warning shot. It connects with the modest chst of Miki, who immediately lets out a screeching, girly scream from her throat. All of the girls are in an immense state of confusion now, looking around in every direction, looking for who could have possible just hit one of them with a freezing cold projectile. As they continue to turn in all directions, still for the most part huddled up together, and look for the culprit that's at large, Kenji turns to me.

"On my command, soldier!"

"Ready..."

"Aim..."

...

"FIRE!"

With a brutally loud yell of the word fire, we're now taking this battle and escalating it into a full blown war. Kenji and I are raining down snowball after snowball onto the targets, making them wet and ice cold in the process. Once the girls turn and see where the snowballs are flying from, a unison yell of an all too familiar word finds its way out of their parting lips.

"HISAO!"

This prompts them to bend down and start crafting snowballs of their own. They're all smiling, barring Shizune who looks like the devil has taken control of her body, and appear to be having a great time despite being out in the freezing cold. That's actually somewhat of a relief, as I now know that they, at least, won't hate me for doing this to them. It was just too good of an opportunity to pass up!

As the battle continues to escalate, the girls begin to develop little plans and tactics. The girls have split up from their respective partners that they arrived at the park with, sort of scrambling out at random. Miki and Hanako have managed to get their way around to the south side of our fortress, throwing snowball after snowball at us. Lilly and Emi have seemed to found their way over to a group of that lies out to the west, using it for cover while also returning some sparse, yet accurate return fire. Emi also has probably yelled the words 'Hisao, you're an asshole!' at me about 20 times now. I'm sure she isn't happy that I tricked her into believing that I wanted to run in these sub freezing temperatures. Shizune and Misha, who are obviously inseparable, are on the north side, creating a small wall that they can use for cover. In the process of that, though, they've thrown a few snowballs in our direction, one of those actually managing to connect with the face of Kenji. Rin is seemingly just sitting down on a bench with a passed out Suzu resting on her shoulder. I don't even quite know when Suzu went down for the count, but it must have been practically immediately at the start of our battle.

As for Kenji and I, though, we've be getting bombarded from three directions. Our fortress is holding up great, no structural damage or anything like that. Kenji has probably managed to get nailed in the face a good three or four times now throughout the fight, and every time it happens, he doesn't even flinch. He just keeps on chucking those snowballs with the dedication and heart of a thousand soldiers.

"Hisao, we've got them in a stalemate. It's time for the final push! On your feet, soldier!" Kenji is blaring this out as if we've got bullets flying past our heads, like you see in the movies. We discussed this part of the plan briefly; the idea is to basically run out of the fortress, rush at the girls and continue to fire snowball after snowball at them. The goal of this is to drive them away from the area, and after that, we will propose that they give up the battle, with us claiming the victory. With that in mind, we jump the walls in opposite directions and push forward with our final effort. I'm heading in the direction of Miki and Hanako, as Kenji runs in a straight line towards the wall that Misha and Shizune had built earlier for cover. As I run through the snow, mounds of the white substance ending up inside of my pair of boots, I bring the hammer down on the two girls.

"Hisao, you gaylord, why did you have to trick us into coming down here!" Miki yells as me, tossing a snowball at me in the process. Hanako is quiet, but a smile seems to be fixated on her face, almost something I would call a devious grin. They both continue to throw heaps of snow at me, but to no avail. I push forward, and as I continue towards them, pelting them with the white, frozen substance beneath us, they start running. Even though Miki's on the track team, I don't think I've ever seen someone run as fast as she did. Miki and Hanako tail it back to where the battle all began; right by the bench with Rin and Suzu, who just now happens to be waking up from her slumber. I look across the pale landscape and notice Kenji has managed to flush Shizune and Misha out from behind their wall, giving me an open window to push them back to the location of the rest of the girls. I flank in from behind, connecting with every toss that I make. Shizune, looking pissed as ever, turns and starts to run. I believe this may just be the first time she'll ever have to admit defeat, because there's not way we're going to lose now. Misha quickly follows her over to the bench. As Misha moves away, she yells back at me "Why did you trick us, Hicchan?~" Well, if I had an answer for that, I'd tell her, but I honestly don't. I just thought it'd be an entertaining activity to participate in on our day off.

"Nice shootin', Tex," Kenji calls out. "Bro, we've almost done it! We got that blind chick and the no legs one left-" Before he can even finish what he's saying, Lilly and Emi bolt out from behind the tree and run away, knowing that they were the last hope for winning the forced fight. "We did it, bro! We've finally defeated those feminist bitches!" He's jumping around and cheering like a maniac. Maybe me participating in this meant more to him than what I had originally thought. I'm glad I can be a good friend.

Well, at least sometimes.

As we approach the girls, who are all seemingly ice cold and drenched from being hit by so much snow, they all give me the most evil looks I've ever seen. Not even looks of being mad or anything of that sort, just sort of villainous stares. It's as if they've got a plan for me once this is all said and done with. Kenji is the first to speak up.

"Alright feminists, listen up! We've got a treaty proposal for you," he begins, with some malice in his shaking tone. "You girls stop with your feminist agenda involvement and we'll let you go. If not, we're going to have to end your liv-"

"Kenji, we're not going to kill them. Don't even say that." I had to throw that in there, because they might have ended up actually believing that he was being serious.

"Fine, bro. If you don't agree to the terms of this treaty, then we'll find some other way to ruin your day. Sound good?"

"Whatever, assholes. We'll accept your little 'treaty' if you give us permission to do one thing. If you don't then we'll have to decline." Emi obviously has taken up the role of group spokesperson for them. I think I might have made her upset by dragging her out here in the cold, just to not go running with her. In fact, I'm now terrified to know what this condition is that we must meet.

"We request permission to pin Hisao to the ground and shove snow down his shirt for tricking us all into coming out here." You bitch! Oh my god, this is exactly what I had predicted to happen if we lost, not if we won! I turn to Kenji, looking for an answer from him, an answer that will save me from this terrible agony that I'll have to face.

"Sorry bro, but sometimes sacrafices need to be made. We accept your condition. Hisao, take one for the team." The logic of the blind bastard has struck once again.

As Kenji walks away, with a little hop in his step from being in a fantastic mood, the girls surround me on all sides. As they begin to close in on me, I can't help but wonder something out loud.

"What did I ever do to deserve this?"

Inner Beauty


My dearest Hisao,

Where do I begin? Today is our 10th wedding anniversary, and my passion for you has not yet dwindled. Something about you has managed to keep me around, you know? I could have left you at various points in our relationship, but because of you being you and your willingness to accept me as a person... I could not even imagine doing so. My love for you has been great, ever since that moment that I shared my first ever 'gift' with you. You looked past my problematic past and my extremely shy personality and just kept showing me in many different ways that none of that could affect how you thought of me. Your mindset was stuck in fifth gear, and it was never going to come out of it. I can't believe that I can say today we've been married for ten years. All of those memories, starting at Yamaku and leading up to where we are today... well, they're just emotionally captivating. You're the father of my first born child, and there's no possible way that anyone else could be a better father than you. You've cared for our little bundle of joy through sickness and health, just like you promised you'd care for me when we stood at the altar all those years ago.

It's been an emotional roller coaster for us. We've had ups and downs, with jobs lost and money gained. We've fought through what I thought would have ended in years of debt and rebounded, with you gaining your job at the medical research facility and myself returning to Yamaku as the school social worker. Hasn't it been wonderful? Together, in love for 15 years of our young lives, and we've managed to pull through all of our hardships together. I can't begin to thank you enough for what you've done for me in my life so far. Just thinking back to high school, thinking back to the day that we graduated, the day that we were up on stage together in front of a crowd of nearly a thousand people... We were two kids who had a plan for our future. A plan that involved us being together for our lives, however long they end up being. A plan that had us living together, starting our young lives off on a joint path that we had paved for ourselves. Of course, obstacles were to be had on our path. Arguments, money problems, sickness... things that couldn't be helped. But, the day you propsed to me, the day you came to Yamaku while I was doing an intership to become a social worker... I will never forget that day. In front of all of the people who knew us, including some who were with us during our high school years, it felt as if we were just falling in love again.

Then the day actually came. Walking down that aisle, the magical scene with the sun setting behind us... It was all I could ever ask for in life. I could have easily died happily right after that moment, knowing that this was one of the many picture perfect moments of our time together. The birth of our beautiful daughter was another of those many. So much raw emotion from the both of us, the fact that we knew we had brought someone into this world had brought both of us so much joy after all of the pains that lead up to our moment. That moment was one that made me realize something about us; we had no real goal with our love. It knows no bounds. All we wanted for each other was happiness, tranquility and a family that we could be proud to call our own. Our moments together, from our wedding, to the birth of our child, even our first anniversary, all of them have one thing in common: Us being together for the rest of our lives.

I told you the day that you proposed to me, if you'd happen to recall, that I wasn't joking around up on that stage at graduation. When I told you I was embarrassed to say I wanted to spend my lif with you out loud, it's because I was. I was afraid that everyone would call me crazy, saying it was just some form of puppy love that would end in a few years from an argument or something stupid. But, I knew at that exact moment that there was no window of opporunity for anything else to get in the way; we were going to be together forever. That may sound a bit harsh, maybe even sound like 'that overprotective girlfriend / wife who has no sense for what their partner wants'. The thing is, you agreed with me. When you agreed with me on that stage, sealed with a kiss, I knew our love was eternal. While eternity is an unknown amount of time, I know my love for you will never go away. After we move on from this life, the love will still exist in my heart, even when it has stopped beating.

Hisao, it's beyond belief that I'm even sitting here, although bedridden, writing my annual love letter to you. It just feels natural to me now, like I have to put no thought into what I say; I can just throw it out there because I know how I feel about you.

Happy 10th anniversary, my love, and may we look forward to the many more in our future.

Forever yours,
Hana

---------------------------

I stare at the simple piece of paper, covered with a little dust and wearing from its old age. If I would have known that our 10th would have been our last anniversary together, I would have attempted to do something more for her. Her illness that she come down with was destroying her, from the inside out. Her organs were beginning to fail within weeks of our anniversary, her bones were beginning to become brittle, her body was in so much pain that eventually... well, she decided it was best if they just took her off of life support. She gave me a farewell kiss, knowing that one day we would meet again. Shortly after, she was gone.

Today would have been our 30th wedding anniversary. My tears stain this final letter of her anniversary tradition, as well as the other nine that are spread all across my office desk. Everyone thought I was going to be the first to die because of my heart problems. Turns out, with the medical advances made by my very own medical research company, I can live as long as double what my life expectancy once was. I can live my life to the fullest, continuing research and living happily. I've lived to see my daughter grow up into a beautiful adult and start off on her own adventure in life. If I so choose, I could live until my daughter has children of her own. The trouble is, I don't know if I want to live that long anymore.

"Dad!" I hear my daughter call out from downstairs, with what sounds like a lot of joy in her voice. "I'm home! Also, you would never guess! Hiro proposed to me today!"

I delicately place down the final letter from my love. Maybe, when the time is right, I can join her once more.


"Inner Beauty" is a song produced by Hybrid Minds.

Take Me


It's been a real pain. Over the past five months, I've gotten a job at a medical research facility not too far away from home, but that's not the annoyance in my life. My biggest problem is that the hours I work give me minimal chances to spend some valuable time with my soon-to-be wife. It's actually really heartbreaking, simply because I still love the woman after all of these years. So, in honor of me being desparate to spend some time with her, I've decided to use up four of my vacation days from work. It's been really nice so far, waking up this morning knowing I wasn't going to go and labor in a lab for hours on end, just to come home and sleep once again. Hanako doesn't have a job, but she has an unpaid internship with a local social worker's office. That's truly something she's always been passionate about; giving people a chance to talk their problems over with someone who has fought through a variety of her own. It's insane to think that in about two months we'll be getting hitched.

I wake up this morning to the always heart warming aroma of coffee. I crack my eyes open to see Hanako standing at the side of the bed, teasing me by lowering her mug below my nose. Always with the playful attitude around me. That's got to be one of the biggest reasons that I love this woman. I sit up straight and scoot over, making some room for her to join me in bed. She takes the invitation with a cute smile, sitting her mug down on the end table and crawling back onto the mattress with me. She snuggles up nice and close to me, resting her head on my chest and encasing my body in her arms.

"I really wish we could do this more often..." Hanako begins before trailing off, obviously showing some slight annoyance with my work hours.

"Well, we've got four days to do this all you want you know." I give off a little hint with that statement. I want to be able to do this every morning while I'm off from work. It's been so long since we've been able to just do something so simple as this, but it feels so wonderful to just have the warmth of her body and the soft texture of her nightgown up against my skin. I begin to slowly stroke her long, dark hair with my hand, which draws a light blush to her face.

"You used to always do this when we were back in high school, you know?" Hanako is always one to remember something like that. Now that I think about it, I remember doing this all the time back in our days at Yamaku. She would come over to my room some mornings to wake me up with the always attractive aroma of tea, then she would join me in bed for quick cuddle session or... erm, well, other things.

I figure that I should probably get up and take a nice, relaxing bath this morning, something I haven't been able to do for months now. I give Hanako a nice kiss on the lips before throwing myself out of bed. It feels good to finally have a day off, a day where I don't have to sit in my cubicle and can spend some quality time at home with my fiancée. I head into the bathroom and figure there's no reason to lock the door, just incase I would happen to recieve a 'surprise' visitor. I fill the tub with warm water and lower myself in slowly, all of the wear and tear of work slowly, but satisfyingly, lifting out of my body. Beside the tub, Hanako and I keep a little shelf of various books and magazines. I haven't really had a chance to read anything we keep there honestly, it's mostly just things that she reads.

As I browse through, looking for something to spark some interest, there is one book that catches my eye. The book is entitled 'Pregnancy: What To Expect and How To Have a Healthy Baby'. Wait, what?

Before I can even act a bit surprised at what I'm holding, the knob to the bathroom turns and the door is tossed open.

"Hey Hisao, do you mind if I jo-.." She stops abruptly, dropping her towel and staring wide-eyed directly at me.

"OHGODWHYDOYOUHAVETHAT!?"

She quickly runs over an snatches the book from my hand, her cheeks burning with an extremely bright shade of red. I can't help but do two things: laugh, because my naked fiancée is standing in the bathroom, blushing profusely with a book on pregnancy in her hands, and stare, because I'm completely confused as to why she has the book in the first place. Unless...

"H-Hana... are we having a..?" A simple question, but a very strong one. I can only imagine what the answer to it is.

She looks down at the ground, an embarrassed smile forming on her lips.

"S-surprise, Hisao. We're having a b-baby..."


"Take Me" is a song produced by Martin Mittone.

Nice stories.

The snowball story is fun, but I'm most interested in "Walk" since it's something that hasn't been done before.
Just my luck that it's the only unfinished one.

Mirage_GSM wrote:Nice stories.

The snowball story is fun, but I'm most interested in "Walk" since it's something that hasn't been done before.
Just my luck that it's the only unfinished one.

I have plans on completing a second part this week. Not entirely sure yet if I only want it to go two or three parts. The first part of The Counterattack was my first ever writing piece, so thank you for the kind words. I promise Walk will get done soon, I enjoy writing too much to not finish it.

Don't Hide These Feelings

My eyes slowly peel open, rubbing off the crust of sleep. Sunlight is streaming in through the single window on the left side of the bedroom, cascading through the blinds and laying softly on our bed. Lilly is cozily snuggled up against my side, arms around my waist and head nuzzled into my chest. It's day two of our little seven day break from university, and the first morning seemed to have went by just the same. I still don't know how I managed to successfully begin dating such a gorgeous woman back in high school. She really must have taken a hard look through some of my childish antics and personality to find something worth loving. I cock my head to the left and peer at the digital clock on my nightstand.

It reads 10:21 AM.

Well, that gives me at least a little time to get ready before my parents get here. They haven't visited the apartment yet, even though they're paying for part of the rent. But that's beside the issue. The biggest issue is that they have no clue that I have a girlfriend, or that she's living with me, and they'll be arriving around one in the afternoon. Lilly is well aware that they're coming over, and we sort of devised a plan that she'll leave before they come visit, and come back while they're still over. I'll introduce her as my girlfriend, and of course, they'll have no clue that she's been living here the whole time.

I roll my body to the right and wrap her in a massive hug. I just love the feeling of her warm, soft skin in my arms, it makes me feel as if I'm the luckiest guy on the face of the Earth. As I lean in and give her a passionate kiss on the forehead, a small giggle escapes from her lips. Her cloudy, pale blue eyes make themselves visible to me briefly afterwards.

"Good morning, sunshine," I whisper in her ear, giving her a kiss on the lips and reeling her in closer to my body. I won't lie, I'm feeling a slight bit frisky this morning; maybe there's a possibility that I can get some morning love making in before my parents arrive. Well, that shouldn't be a problem anyways, as we've got a good three or so hours before they're meant to arrive. Lilly gives me a sinister smile after our lips part, a smile that tells me she knows exactly what I'm thinking.

"Hisao, you naughty boy," Lilly giggles, running her finger down the length of my nose. "Are you sure we should try something like that right before your parents show up? I should probably be leaving to go shopping soon as well..." She trails off, probably wondering what she's going to buy. In fact, I wonder if she's just thinking about how she'll know if something looks good considering I won't be going shopping with her. Nevermind that though, more important matters are at hand right now.

I completely disregard what she said about not doing this right now. I begin planting kisses down the length of her neck, drawing some surprised, yet satisfied moans. She doesn't bother speaking out against my doings, so I continue on, slowly undoing the top portion of her nightgown. This draws a few grunts of disapproval, but no real resistance. I slide my hands along her generous curves, down to her thighs as she works on taking off my shirt.

As we both lay on the bed, half undressed and kissing passionately, things decide to abruptly come to an end. There's a loud knock on the front door of our apartment. Who in their right mind would come by this early in the morning? Giving a quick peck on the cheek to Lilly, I get out of bed, throw my shirt on and stumble out of the bedroom. I quickly retract the lock on the door, only to open it and find two very familiar faces standing outside.

"M-M-Mom? D-Dad?" I stutter out, my eyes wide with fear and mouth hanging partially open. "What are you doing here, I thought you said you wouldn't be here until around one!" I'm almost panicking at this point. I have my blind girlfriend in the bedroom, who has absolutely no idea that they're here. If she steps out of the bedroom at any point now, I'm completely screwed.

"We decided to take the early train today! It's so good to see you again!" She laughs out enthusiastically, always a woman with a positive attitude. It's still strange to me how her and my father managed to connect on any level, as he's always been that tough as nails, strict rule follower type of guy. As my mother envelops me in a hug in the doorway, I hear the noise I was hoping I wouldn't hear with these two standing in front of me: the bedroom door creaking open.

"Hisao, dear, who's at the door?" Lilly calls out, stepping out of the bedroom. She's standing there in front of my parents, in a nightgown that's not even completely done back up. My heart nearly gives out right there, knowing I have a bit of explaining to do.

"Erm, L-Lilly... would you m-mind going back in the bedroom for a few minutes?" My voice is trembling with fear. I can feel two pairs of glaring eyes searing into my back as my parents stand behind me in the doorway, switching glances between me and the attractive blonde girl standing before them. Lilly's eyebrow forms a slight arc, and I can tell she's slightly confused. My dad decides that this was as good a time as ever to clear his throat, startling Lilly a little bit and causing her face to flush completely red. She recognizes the noise from the various times that he's done it while talking to me over the phone.

"Oh, p-pardon me then.." She trails off while retreating in behind bedroom door, rushing it to close. The door slams with a quick, loud bang, leaving me to face my parents alone. I slowly pivot on my heels, turning to meet my makers once again. What I see when I turn around is actually somewhat surprising: two faces that are more surprised that disappointed. That impression is thrown out the window in a hurry though.

"So, you're bringing whores and sluts in your spare time, son?" My father bellows out, some slight rage building in his voice. "Do I need to remind you that we pay for a portion of your rent, and that-"

"Dad! She's not a whore or a slut! Holy shit, what is your problem?" I'm furious. I generally don't get angry if someone says something demeaning about Lilly, particularly because most people who do so are jealous, but this is just unbelievable. "She's my girlfriend, how is that the equivalent to being a whore?"

My mother gives me a sort of surprised look. I can't really tell if it's because of how loud I've raised my voice at my dad, or because she's shocked that Lilly is my girlfriend. Before she can get out a word though, my father continues on his rant.

"So what's wrong with her then? She couldn't see us or something? Are you taking advantage of a blind girl now? Why can't you just-"

"Get out." Two simple words, both with a common goal: to tell my father to leave my apartment. "I don't care if you pay partially for this place, I'll pay for the whole thing if this makes you that mad. Just leave me alone. Mom, you can stay, but Dad, please. Get out of my apartment. Now." I'm stern with my words. I feel really bad for kicking one of my own parents out of my home, but this has gone on far too long, and he's only been here for about five minutes. Without a word, he turns around and walks out of the door, heading over to the car. My mother stays put, with a concerned look on her face.

"Hisao, is that any way to treat your father? Look, I know he can be harsh, but he's just looking out for his son. Let's let him cool off a bit, then I'll bring him back in, okay? I really would like to meet your girlfriend!" My mom is always such a saint. Always playing the role of the mediator in an argument.

"Okay, mother. Let me go get Lilly out here so that I can formally introduce you to her," I reply, forcing myself to sound angry just so I can save a little bit of dignity. I can never get upset with her, for whatever reason. I show her into the living room and have her take a seat on the couch, before pacing towards the bedroom.

"Hey, Lilly? Can I come in?" I ask while gently tapping my fist on the door. I'm sure she's completely embarassed, even with how much of an outgoing person she is. I hope she doesn't think that she ruined her first impression from my parents, because they really haven't even had a chance to make one yet. I hear some shuffling and a somewhat quiet 'yes' as her response. I open the door to see her sitting there on the edge of the bed, changed into a nice blouse and skirt; a very motherly looking outfit, if I do say so myself. Her eyes look a little bit red, as if she was crying a little bit. About what though?

"Lilly, why were you crying?" I begin, sitting myself beside her and wrapping my arm around her shoulder. Her head now rests gently on my shoulder with her eyes closed, her warm breath bounding into my chest.

"I just wanted to make a good first impression, Hisao. I feel like I really haven't accomplished that, and now your parents may never accept-"

"Lilly, stop right now."

She lifts her head off my shoulder and faces me, her eyes drooping with sadness and curiosity.

"Listen to me. My parents have no opinion of you yet. If anything, they're frustrated with me. You have every opportunity right now to show them how you treat me, silly." My little speech earns me a kiss on the forehead from her, a sign that I've reassured her a slight bit.

"Alright dear, then how about you actually put some decent clothes on?" She really loves teasing me, doesn't she? I completely forgot that I was still wearing my bed clothes, so this question causes my cheeks to start burning. Lilly gives out a girlish giggle as her hand brushes across my firey cheeks, before quickly getting up and tossing me clothes off of our clothing hooks mounted on the wall. A sweater vest and a pair of khaki pants is what lands on my lap. For a blind girl, she knows what I love wearing.

I quickly get dressed before locking Lilly's arm in mine and leading her out of the bedroom. My mother is still waiting patiently on the couch, only this time as I enter the living room, another person sits with her. It seems like he came to a realization of what he had said to me really quickly, because he's got some damn nerve coming back into the apartment this fast. I find it almost hard to believe that he came back in already though, knowing how stubborn of a man my father is. We step into the center of the living room and stand before the two of them, as if we are just about to give a presentation in front of a panel.

"Mom, Dad... this is Lilly Satou, my wonderful and loving girlfriend," I say with some enthusiasm in my voice. "She's been living with me here since the day that I moved in, and we both met back at Yamaku when I first arrived. I can tell you, it's honestly been a joy with this girl, every single moment." As I finish my speech, I lean in and give her a quick kiss on the cheek, drawing a light blush to her face. I give her hand a little squeeze, indicating that it was her turn to introduce herself a little bit.

"Oh, hello there. As Hisao said, my name is Lilly and I'm his girlfriend. He tells me I'm just like you, Mrs. Nakai, in terms of being a great motherly figure and my ability to cook." Lilly giggles a little, as my mother blushes and gives me a large grin. It's true though; that was one of the very first compliments I gave Lilly when we moved into the apartment. Her motherly qualities are a completely different league than most girls her age.

"In any case, I figure I should address something that you may be wondering about. I am, indeed, blind," she speaks out very abruptly. I feel like this could be really hard for her to talk about, because I still don't even know how my parents necessarily feel about me dating a blind girl. It's not as much responsibility as it looks to be, to be quite honest. Sure, a little bit more work and you have to be a little extra cautious, but that's about it. "In any regard, Hisao has been a wonderful help for me since the day he set foot at Yamaku. I praise you both for raising such a wonderful gentleman."

Now I'm the one blushing in full. My mother stands up and gives Lilly a giant hug, a large grin still on her lips from Lilly's earlier compliments. Lilly embraces the hug naturally, as if I was the one giving her the hug; gentle, sweet and motherly, as always.

"Hisao, let's make a nice lunch for your parents. I'm sure it's the least we could do for... well, not telling them that I was living with you..." She quickly trails off before making what she was saying slightly more awkward. I invite my parents to have a seat or take a look around the house, which ever they wanted to do. They both actually decided to come and take a seat at the table in the kitchen as Lilly and I got to work on a generous lunch.

----

A little bit of time passes by, as my mother and father sit in amazement at how good Lilly is at cooking. Although just a simple dish of chicken, rice and vegetables, she makes everything she does look like a work of art. I think the more impressive thing to them was that she could cook with very little guidance from me, mainly just using me for measuring out spices and such. As the meal is finally finished cooking, we dish it out onto some glass plates and present it to my parents.

"I hope you both don't mind it being such a simple dish, but we haven't gotten a chance to go out shopping this week," Lilly says cheerfully. Towards the end, though, she sort of mumbled, as she probably was planning on doing a little bit of grocery shopping today.

"Lilly, this looks wonderful. Thank you for teaching my son how to do a little bit of cooking," my father bows out graciously. This is the first thing he has said since coming back into the apartment after our minor fallout, even though he did smile a good bit as Lilly introduced herself to them.

As we all dig in, your typical discussion between parents and newly met girlfriend ensues. My parents tossed various questions in her direction: things like 'What are you studying for at university?' and 'Has Hisao been taking good care of you?' She generously and professionally replies to all of their questions, making me extremely relieved that I had chosen a bright and traditional girl to fall in love with.

As my father finishes his dish, he places his empty plate off to the side of the table before facing Lilly and my mother.

"Do you two mind if Hisao and I step outside for a few moments? I promise I won't keep him long." This draws a somewhat worried look to both of their faces, but they simply just say 'sure' and 'not a problem' before my father and I excuse ourselves from the table.

As we walk out the door and close it tightly behind us, my father turns around and faces me. His expression isn't one of anger anymore, almost one that looks like a mix of happiness, sadness and regret all in one. We stand their awkwardly for about a minute before he speaks up.

"Son, listen to me. I am extremely sorry for what I said when we first came into the apartment today," he begins, his voice unusually soft. "I was just sort of upset to see a woman dressed in a nightgown in the bedroom. It sort of took me by surprise, mainly because you never mentioned anything about her to us. But that's beside the point. I was far out of line, considering you go to university and work hard to pay for your portion of the rent, and now I realize that you're also supporting a woman who you truly love. I was a bit skeptical when I first saw that she was blind, but I think she handles herself very professionally, as well as very sweetly. I can't congratulate you enough, as your father, for doing what you're doing." He's practically tearing up at this point.

My father.

Tearing up.

This is quite a sight, but I'm more stunned that he actually is giving me his approval to continue having Lilly live with me. His first impression may have been justified had I not defended her, but I think I made it very clear what my stance was on the situation. I step forward and give him the biggest hug I think I've ever given him. He's got tears running down his face now, and I have a few coming down mine as well. After years of not ever gaining his approval, years of him being stubborn and a strict rule type of parent, he's finally giving me the green light to do as I please.

"Thanks, Dad."

"For what?"

"For finally giving me your approval."

He gives me a big slap on the back for that one.

"Well, should we go join the party again?" I ask somewhat awkwardly after we break up our hug.
"I don't see why not!" He exclaims, a huge smile arising on his face as he puts his arm around my shoulders and leads me back inside.

----

As the night begins to finally wind to and end, my parents pass along their final goodbyes to Lilly and I. The night was actually a fairly enjoyable one; we played various games, had some snacks and a nice dinner prepared in a joint effort by my mother and Lilly, and shared some stories. I'd rather not go into detail about those stories though, as some of them were embarrassing childhood stories that my mother conveniently brought up. Overall though, it was quite a better night than what I was originally expecting. Not to mention, I don't have to worry about hiding Lilly from my parents anymore.

My mother gives both Lilly and I massive hugs, as well as a kiss on the cheek for both of us. My father embraces Lilly for the only time of the night, whispering something in her ear that makes her giggle before they release their grip. Then he turned to me, first extending his hand for a handshake, as he normally does, before taking my hand and pulling me into a suffocating hug.

"You better treat that woman right boy, or you're never going to hear the end of it from me!" That's what he yelled back at me as him and my mother crossed the street, heading off towards the train station with the night sky gleaming with various stars. As Lilly and I turn around and head back into the apartment, I wrap my hand around hers and feel like crying. For whatever reason, my parents approval has really gotten me emotional today. A tear rolls off my cheek and falls onto her hand as we walk into the living room, startling her a little bit.

"Hisao, what's wrong my dear?" She asks in a soothing tone, obviously confused by the tears rolling down my face. As we sit down on the couch, she lifts her hand and wipes away the few tears that I've shed in the last few seconds.

"I think it's just that my parents f-finally approve of something that I've done in my life," I start off, stumbling over my words a little bit. "I don't think they could have a-approved of something more important to me than what's sitting before me now, wiping away my tears." I think I managed to catch her off guard, because her face has turned a very bright red, while a very embarrassed smile rises on her lips.

"Hisao, you never needed their approval. Why would you? You are who you are, and there's absolutely nothing that they can change about that. Even if it means you end up dating a blind girl, it's all up to you to decide what's right and what's wrong at this point in your life.." She's running her hand down the side of my face, a very soothing gesture. The tears stop coming after a short time, before a giant smirk arises on my face.

"Well then, my darling, what we were doing this morning was completely right." I quickly lean in to give this gorgeous woman a passionate kiss. She shoots me a look of disapproval, before giving in to her own desires.

As our lips lock, the outside world seemingly disappears.



"Don't Hide These Feelings" is a song produced by Nuage.

Hold up one minute.

*BackRound Noises*
FUCK TO THE YEAH WOOH
*End Background Noises*
Ahem, That story was well built and followed a good path. I like how you gave Hisao some Balls to stand up for Lilly.

LOL WUT wrote:Hold up one minute.

*BackRound Noises*
FUCK TO THE YEAH WOOH
*End Background Noises*
Ahem, That story was well built and followed a good path. I like how you gave Hisao some Balls to stand up for Lilly.

I'm glad you liked it. After my first edit of the piece, I sort of questioned the section because it was unintentionally similar to one that Mehkanik has written with Lilly and Hisao. I figured that there was enough of a difference though to let it stay in.

I think this story would have benefited if it had been a bit longer.
The introduction of conflict felt forced and unnatural.
For example, why would Lilly walk out of the bedroom half-naked, if Hisao just went to open the door? Could have been anyone. And that's not even considering, that Lilly's hearing is very good...
The resolution is also too quick and doesn't really fit with the extreme behaviour of his father in the beginning.
To sum it up in one word: Pacing.