[Bokurano] fic: Those Left Behind: You are all I know
These are getting weirder and weirder. XD; This one was going to be about Sasami or another one of the military guys, but I don't think I'd be able to write about them very well, so I went with something else that piqued my interest.
Title: Those Left Behind: You Are All I Know
Day/Theme: Aug 26 You are all I know
Series: Bokurano
Character/Pairing: the other Machi
Rating: PG
Notes: for 31_days. Manga canon. Spoilers up to chapter 60.
Archive: LJ | ffnet
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"I'll say one more thing now so you don't start having any funny thoughts once you start fighting. Having something like "another self" existing in a parallel world almost never happens."
-----
An alternative self almost never happened, yet she existed as a special case. She just didn't know about it.
Machi's dad was reeking of booze when she got home. She was appalled and quickly got him to sober up, because really, who drank so much in the middle of the day? Her dad was such a hopeless case. Beer bottles and empty wrappers littered their tatami floor when Machi clearly remembered she had left the place spotless right before she left. She didn't know what in the world her dad had been doing to make such a mess in such a short time.
She sighed at his hopelessness but got him to help her clean. Equipped with a garbage bag each, they started picking up the trash that had accumulated.
Moving around helped her warm up. She had been freezing while she made her way home, but she didn't get why it was so cold in the summer. A glance at her dad, however, showed that he was bundled up just as much as that strange boy had been at the beach. She frowned but continued to pick up the empty bottles. When she bent down again, she accidentally bumped into the television behind her, toppling the small calendar they had perched on top of it.
When she picked the calendar up, she tilted her head at all the crossed out dates. Something wasn't adding up.
"I'm so glad you're back, Yoko," sniffed her dad.
"Huh? What do you mean?" she asked as she placed the calendar back in its place. Her dad had been acting funny, but she thought it was just because he was drunk. Now that he was slightly more sober, his words still didn't make sense.
His next words were even more confusing.
He told her that she had been missing for days, but that wasn't what shocked her the most. When he started rambling about how she had been caught up with some kind of alien invasion, she felt like she was going to faint.
"Dad," Machi said, stopping him in the middle of his ramble. "You're...not going senile, are you?"
Alien invasions? Piloting a giant robot? Her dad really must've gone round the bend this time.
-----
Okay, maybe she had been quick to judge, but it wasn't her fault her dad had sounded crazy. When he realized she didn't believe a word he said, he even found recordings of the shocking news that had overtaken the nation for the past few months. The black robot looked fake, but the death toll was very real.
It was all so bizarre.
"I don't remember a single thing," Machi said in confusion. "Yet you're trying to tell me that I'm one of the pilots?"
Her dad stared at her and grabbed her shoulders.
"Machi, have you lost your memory?"
"Eh?" she squeaked.
-----
Machi really didn't know. If she had lost her memory, that would explain the lost months and how what she remembered didn't add up with what others like her dad or her classmates remembered. As she contemplated this, she pulled on a jacket and rubbed her arms. She remembered it being summer, but it clearly wasn't summer anymore.
Even though she didn't understand what was going on, she wasn't all that curious. She was somewhat baffled, but she'd live. She had her family. Her dad was a little spooked but otherwise healthy. She was perfectly fine too, not at all affected by whatever those alien invasions had been. After all, she didn't even remember a single thing about them. Except for those lost months, she'd be able to go on living just like before.
As support for victims of this event that she didn't remember but was supposed to have been part of, her dad donated money to charities whenever he could. He was thankful that she had come out unharmed. He even bought a photobook that showcased one of the pilots, a pretty blonde who looked around the same age as her. In that photobook, Machi saw a picture of...herself next to the blonde.
The girls in the photo were wearing some weird outfit. Cosplay? But what was freakier was how the girl next to the blonde looked just like Machi, only with longer hair.
Had her dad been telling the truth all along? Had she really lost her memory?
The next photo, however, showed the girl with a burn on her cheek. Machi touched her own, unblemished face.
That girl wasn't her.
Who was she?
Machi blinked and closed the photobook. She didn't need to know. Maybe she was naive for thinking this way, but whatever had happened didn't concern her. If anyone thought otherwise, the only way she could reply was that she didn't know a thing about what they were talking about.
That was all she knew...the fact that she didn't know.
-----
the end
Title: Those Left Behind: You Are All I Know
Day/Theme: Aug 26 You are all I know
Series: Bokurano
Character/Pairing: the other Machi
Rating: PG
Notes: for 31_days. Manga canon. Spoilers up to chapter 60.
Archive: LJ | ffnet
-----
"I'll say one more thing now so you don't start having any funny thoughts once you start fighting. Having something like "another self" existing in a parallel world almost never happens."
-----
An alternative self almost never happened, yet she existed as a special case. She just didn't know about it.
Machi's dad was reeking of booze when she got home. She was appalled and quickly got him to sober up, because really, who drank so much in the middle of the day? Her dad was such a hopeless case. Beer bottles and empty wrappers littered their tatami floor when Machi clearly remembered she had left the place spotless right before she left. She didn't know what in the world her dad had been doing to make such a mess in such a short time.
She sighed at his hopelessness but got him to help her clean. Equipped with a garbage bag each, they started picking up the trash that had accumulated.
Moving around helped her warm up. She had been freezing while she made her way home, but she didn't get why it was so cold in the summer. A glance at her dad, however, showed that he was bundled up just as much as that strange boy had been at the beach. She frowned but continued to pick up the empty bottles. When she bent down again, she accidentally bumped into the television behind her, toppling the small calendar they had perched on top of it.
When she picked the calendar up, she tilted her head at all the crossed out dates. Something wasn't adding up.
"I'm so glad you're back, Yoko," sniffed her dad.
"Huh? What do you mean?" she asked as she placed the calendar back in its place. Her dad had been acting funny, but she thought it was just because he was drunk. Now that he was slightly more sober, his words still didn't make sense.
His next words were even more confusing.
He told her that she had been missing for days, but that wasn't what shocked her the most. When he started rambling about how she had been caught up with some kind of alien invasion, she felt like she was going to faint.
"Dad," Machi said, stopping him in the middle of his ramble. "You're...not going senile, are you?"
Alien invasions? Piloting a giant robot? Her dad really must've gone round the bend this time.
-----
Okay, maybe she had been quick to judge, but it wasn't her fault her dad had sounded crazy. When he realized she didn't believe a word he said, he even found recordings of the shocking news that had overtaken the nation for the past few months. The black robot looked fake, but the death toll was very real.
It was all so bizarre.
"I don't remember a single thing," Machi said in confusion. "Yet you're trying to tell me that I'm one of the pilots?"
Her dad stared at her and grabbed her shoulders.
"Machi, have you lost your memory?"
"Eh?" she squeaked.
-----
Machi really didn't know. If she had lost her memory, that would explain the lost months and how what she remembered didn't add up with what others like her dad or her classmates remembered. As she contemplated this, she pulled on a jacket and rubbed her arms. She remembered it being summer, but it clearly wasn't summer anymore.
Even though she didn't understand what was going on, she wasn't all that curious. She was somewhat baffled, but she'd live. She had her family. Her dad was a little spooked but otherwise healthy. She was perfectly fine too, not at all affected by whatever those alien invasions had been. After all, she didn't even remember a single thing about them. Except for those lost months, she'd be able to go on living just like before.
As support for victims of this event that she didn't remember but was supposed to have been part of, her dad donated money to charities whenever he could. He was thankful that she had come out unharmed. He even bought a photobook that showcased one of the pilots, a pretty blonde who looked around the same age as her. In that photobook, Machi saw a picture of...herself next to the blonde.
The girls in the photo were wearing some weird outfit. Cosplay? But what was freakier was how the girl next to the blonde looked just like Machi, only with longer hair.
Had her dad been telling the truth all along? Had she really lost her memory?
The next photo, however, showed the girl with a burn on her cheek. Machi touched her own, unblemished face.
That girl wasn't her.
Who was she?
Machi blinked and closed the photobook. She didn't need to know. Maybe she was naive for thinking this way, but whatever had happened didn't concern her. If anyone thought otherwise, the only way she could reply was that she didn't know a thing about what they were talking about.
That was all she knew...the fact that she didn't know.
-----
the end