[mekakuni] fic: Memories of the Future ch.12
It's been a while since my last post. ^^ I've been wasting my time watching stuff on nicovideo as well as spending too much time playing TCGs. Then there's class too. Bah.
This video make me laugh a lot:
Tsukimori, Koi no ABC. Yamato from Over Drive and Tsukimori from La Corda d'Oro have the same seiyuu (Taniyama Kishou). Here, Tsukimori has Yamato's dialogue...it is so out of character for Tsukimori. XDDD
And now, some fic that would not get written. This is my sad attempt at writing romance.
Memories of the Future
A Namiki-centric fic for 30_kisses
Disclaimer: Mekakushi no Kuni belongs to Tsukuba Sakura. I'm making no profit from writing this piece of fanwork.
archive: lj | ffnet
word count: 1929
-----chapter 12: kilohertz-----
The setting sun bathed the classroom a piercing red, the long shadows stretching across the room until they almost touched the other side of the room. Masahiro gracefully took two steps backward, completing their impromptu dance. He leaned back against his left foot, pulling their hands taut in front of them.
She stepped back at the same time, her hand tightening on his. Kaichou's long hair, strawberry blond in the dying light, shadowed her face completely. He could not see what expression she wore, and that did not help calm his nerves.
The sudden flapping of wings as some passerby disturbed a flock of birds outside roared loudly in the silence that hung over the classroom. Kaichou jerked up at the unexpected noise, pulling her hand loose from Masahiro's, her hair trailing in a graceful arc behind her. Dark patches blotted the two of them in alternating patterns, until at last the glowing sunlight splayed over them without hindrance once again as the last beats of the birds' wings grew faint.
When she turned away from the window, he saw that her face was flushed, or was that just from the dying sun?
It felt like it had been hours for Masahiro, but he knew that it had been mere seconds since they stopped dancing. The classroom had fallen silent, but he couldn't tell for his heart was beating furiously, the beats loud and fast, in frequencies that rarely ever overtook him. Why was his heart beating so fast? Many people had found out about his power before, all of whom he had never sweated about their reaction. There was no reason for him to be as nervous as he was now about his current situation.
But even when his mind told him so, his body said otherwise.
"You..." came the soft murmur, almost a whisper, so quiet that he almost thought it was his imagination.
Had he spoken out loud? No, no he hadn't...it was Kaichou who had spoken.
"...you're not going to confess to me, are you?" finished Kaichou, her tone light.
"That's the idea..." he said without thinking. He trailed off when Kaichou's eyes widened, an audible gasp escaping her lips. She flushed even redder, red enough that he knew it wasn't a trick from the setting sun. His mind did somersaults before finally catching up with his words and their implications.
He felt a ton of bricks hit him.
He blanched.
He waved his hands frantically in the air. "Wait! It's not what you think! I'm not confessing in THAT way." He covered his face with his hand as he felt himself flushing bright red. When was the last time he had ever felt this embarrassed? His mind immediately flashed back to the time when he had accidentally stumbled upon a very naked Kanade coming out of the onsens. THAT was different though. Any sensitive guy would get embarrassed in a situation like that, and if not, there was something wrong with that guy!
Why in the world was he feeling embarrassed now? He didn't recall feeling like this when Kaichou had given him those cookies last year or when they had stolen a secret dance at the end of the Christmas party. It didn't make sense.
As he tried to puzzle through his feelings, a soft laugh reached his ears. Masahiro peeked through his fingers at Kaichou. She still had those white sheets tied around her waist in a makeshift dress. Her supposedly pristine dress had a sticky stain next to where her right hand rested, courtesy of the goma dango Masahiro had brought Kaichou . The sheets were halfway dragging on the floor, a better mop than the one currently stashed in the corner, forgotten in the wake of their dance. It was surprising that neither of them had tripped on those much too long sheets. Masahiro raised his eyebrow at Kaichou, only managing to make her laugh harder. She doubled over, clutching at her stomach and shaking as she laughed.
Laughter was infective. A chuckle came first, and soon after he found himself laughing along with Kaichou's hearty laughter. She wiped a finger at her eyes and nodded apologetically at him.
He didn't know how his sudden urge to cheer Kaichou up had led to where they were now. It wasn't supposed to have turned out romantic or even the slightest bit silly, but somehow it did. Of all the times to finally decide to tell Kaichou, why had he chosen to do so in the middle of a dance? With timing like his, it was bound to cause misunderstandings.
"So, what did you want to confess to me, if not your undying love?" asked Kaichou, one finger held to her lips thoughtfully.
"I wanted to tell you that..."
He felt his heart calming, his throat loosening. Their shared laughter had been therapeutic, helping to soothe his frayed nerves. He caught her eyes, capturing her full attention.
"I have the power to see the future," he said without further preamble, as calmly as if he were talking about something as ordinary as the weather for the day.
The words were out.
They hung heavily in the air. There were no beating wings or noisy students loitering outside the classroom to break the silence this time. She stared at him, her eyes wide. She definitely had not expected him to confess such a thing.
"What?" She exclaimed finally, the pinkness in her face receding, only to leave confusion in its place. Hers was not an unexpected reaction. They didn't see each other that all that often, and when they did, he had never given her much reason to suspect--other than the time at the basketball game--and who really would make such a leap of logic when his slip of tongue could have easily been ascribed to astounding deductive reasoning instead? Or just plain good guesswork? Or maybe even insider knowledge? Anything was more believable than the truth.
He knew that Kaichou was a very logical person who dealt with things as they came, one hurdle at a time. While that might stop her from believing him, he also knew that it would help him persuade her if only he provided her with the right evidence.
"I can see a person's future if I touch them," he explained, which really did nothing to help clear her confusion. "It's a power that I've had since I was young."
He had been young then, too young to realize that pointing out people who were going to die soon was just not done.
"...oh." She blinked, not knowing what to say to that. "You're...serious about this. You really are trying to tell me that you can see the future. Or am I reading things wrong?"
"I really am trying to tell you that I can see the future," he replied. "I know it might be hard to believe, but it's true. I can show you if that helps."
He held his hand out, fully prepared not to feel her warm clasp around his.
"You mean, you're going to try to read my future?" she asked. She glanced at her own hand, her only hesitation before she lightly laid her hand on top of his. Her soft touch warmed his entire being. He was grateful that she was willing to suspend her disbelief even it it was only for a moment.
"...yes, all I have to do is concentrate..."
He closed his eyes.
He found himself in a familiar environment. He had only been there once, but once was enough to feel the warmth and peace the house exuded, thanks to the family that lived there.
He was in Kaichou's house.
Her little brother was taking off his shoes at the door and putting on some slippers when Kaichou herself came through that very door. She glanced at the clock before her eyes zeroed in on the slippers in Shiya's hand.
"Shiya, you knew? She exclaimed.
"Knew what?"
"He said you knew about his powers!"
Shiya's jaws almost dropped, his mind immediately jumping to the wrong conclusions. "Sis! Did something happen to you? Are you hurt?"
Kaichou blinked at his query. "What? No, why are you asking?"
"How else would you find out? Why else would he need to reveal it?"
Kaichou, if anything, was not slow. Now that she knew that such a power existed, it was so much easier to make that leap of logic. "You mean you knew because he had to reveal his power to you or else something bad was going to happen to you?"
"Yeah, pretty much. If he hadn't told me, I'd have gone out with my friends and injured myself. I wouldn't have been able to play in any of the basketball matches last year. He's a good guy, Sis," he said earnestly.
She laughed before placing a gentle kiss on Shiya's forehead. "I don't need you to tell me that. I'm so glad you weren't hurt even though this is all in the past already."
Shiya squirmed, rubbing his forehead where she had kissed him. "So nothing happened? He told you, just like that? Why would he do that?"
Like Shiya noted, he had told her just like that. There had been absolutely no reason...other than the fact that he wanted her to know.
He licked his lips. He had tried to gleam as much as he could from the memory, but the actual conversation had been distracting. Shiya thought he was a good guy. And so did Kaichou. Hearing it directly from them was oddly touching.
"If all goes accordingly," he started, "you'll arrive home at 7:10. Shiya will be at the doorway, taking off his shoes. He'll be putting on a pair of slippers...I think they were green. With stripes."
Kaichou blinked several times. "Those slippers are new. I just bought them yesterday. Shiya doesn't even know about them yet. So how do you..."
It seemed that luck was on his side. He had hit upon just the right thing. "I said that I can see the future, didn't I? I saw those slippers in my vision." Replaying the scene in his head, he added, "If you're still skeptic about my power, you can ask Shiya about it."
"What? Shiya? Shiya knows?"
Masahiro nodded. "Yes, he knows, but only because I had to tell him then. I'm telling you now not because I have to, but because I want to."
He was going to say more when the door opened. It was Arou.
Masahiro quickly dropped Kaichou's hand, wondering why he had still been holding onto her hand even though the memory was long over. Kaichou glanced at Arou frantically before she hastily said her goodbyes and grabbed her schoolbag as she made her way out the door, bumping into Arou in the process. She bowed briefly in apology, and then she was gone.
The dark haired boy stood rooted at the doorway. He briefly touched his shoulder where Kaichou had bumped into him.
"Well, that was bad timing on my part," he said dryly.
Masahiro covered his face with his hand. "That is totally an understatement."
Arou closed the door behind him, bending down to pick up the white sheets that Kaichou had dropped in her haste to leave.
"Still, congratulations on telling her."
Arou was also a know-it-all bastard.
Incredulous, Masahiro lifted his hand from his face. "What's there to congratulate? I don't even know if she's going to believe me yet."
The other boy clasped Masahiro's shoulder.
"Don't worry, Kaichou will come around."
Together, the two boys finished tidying up the classroom. Their last step was putting the tables and chairs back to where they were supposed to be. While doing so, Masahiro noticed a photo that was faced down on the ground. He bent to pick it up.
It was photo of Kaichou, paperwork held in one hand, melon bread in the other.
He smiled at the photo.
-----to be continued----
Next chapter: In a good mood
This video make me laugh a lot:
Tsukimori, Koi no ABC. Yamato from Over Drive and Tsukimori from La Corda d'Oro have the same seiyuu (Taniyama Kishou). Here, Tsukimori has Yamato's dialogue...it is so out of character for Tsukimori. XDDD
And now, some fic that would not get written. This is my sad attempt at writing romance.
Memories of the Future
A Namiki-centric fic for 30_kisses
Disclaimer: Mekakushi no Kuni belongs to Tsukuba Sakura. I'm making no profit from writing this piece of fanwork.
archive: lj | ffnet
word count: 1929
-----chapter 12: kilohertz-----
The setting sun bathed the classroom a piercing red, the long shadows stretching across the room until they almost touched the other side of the room. Masahiro gracefully took two steps backward, completing their impromptu dance. He leaned back against his left foot, pulling their hands taut in front of them.
She stepped back at the same time, her hand tightening on his. Kaichou's long hair, strawberry blond in the dying light, shadowed her face completely. He could not see what expression she wore, and that did not help calm his nerves.
The sudden flapping of wings as some passerby disturbed a flock of birds outside roared loudly in the silence that hung over the classroom. Kaichou jerked up at the unexpected noise, pulling her hand loose from Masahiro's, her hair trailing in a graceful arc behind her. Dark patches blotted the two of them in alternating patterns, until at last the glowing sunlight splayed over them without hindrance once again as the last beats of the birds' wings grew faint.
When she turned away from the window, he saw that her face was flushed, or was that just from the dying sun?
It felt like it had been hours for Masahiro, but he knew that it had been mere seconds since they stopped dancing. The classroom had fallen silent, but he couldn't tell for his heart was beating furiously, the beats loud and fast, in frequencies that rarely ever overtook him. Why was his heart beating so fast? Many people had found out about his power before, all of whom he had never sweated about their reaction. There was no reason for him to be as nervous as he was now about his current situation.
But even when his mind told him so, his body said otherwise.
"You..." came the soft murmur, almost a whisper, so quiet that he almost thought it was his imagination.
Had he spoken out loud? No, no he hadn't...it was Kaichou who had spoken.
"...you're not going to confess to me, are you?" finished Kaichou, her tone light.
"That's the idea..." he said without thinking. He trailed off when Kaichou's eyes widened, an audible gasp escaping her lips. She flushed even redder, red enough that he knew it wasn't a trick from the setting sun. His mind did somersaults before finally catching up with his words and their implications.
He felt a ton of bricks hit him.
He blanched.
He waved his hands frantically in the air. "Wait! It's not what you think! I'm not confessing in THAT way." He covered his face with his hand as he felt himself flushing bright red. When was the last time he had ever felt this embarrassed? His mind immediately flashed back to the time when he had accidentally stumbled upon a very naked Kanade coming out of the onsens. THAT was different though. Any sensitive guy would get embarrassed in a situation like that, and if not, there was something wrong with that guy!
Why in the world was he feeling embarrassed now? He didn't recall feeling like this when Kaichou had given him those cookies last year or when they had stolen a secret dance at the end of the Christmas party. It didn't make sense.
As he tried to puzzle through his feelings, a soft laugh reached his ears. Masahiro peeked through his fingers at Kaichou. She still had those white sheets tied around her waist in a makeshift dress. Her supposedly pristine dress had a sticky stain next to where her right hand rested, courtesy of the goma dango Masahiro had brought Kaichou . The sheets were halfway dragging on the floor, a better mop than the one currently stashed in the corner, forgotten in the wake of their dance. It was surprising that neither of them had tripped on those much too long sheets. Masahiro raised his eyebrow at Kaichou, only managing to make her laugh harder. She doubled over, clutching at her stomach and shaking as she laughed.
Laughter was infective. A chuckle came first, and soon after he found himself laughing along with Kaichou's hearty laughter. She wiped a finger at her eyes and nodded apologetically at him.
He didn't know how his sudden urge to cheer Kaichou up had led to where they were now. It wasn't supposed to have turned out romantic or even the slightest bit silly, but somehow it did. Of all the times to finally decide to tell Kaichou, why had he chosen to do so in the middle of a dance? With timing like his, it was bound to cause misunderstandings.
"So, what did you want to confess to me, if not your undying love?" asked Kaichou, one finger held to her lips thoughtfully.
"I wanted to tell you that..."
He felt his heart calming, his throat loosening. Their shared laughter had been therapeutic, helping to soothe his frayed nerves. He caught her eyes, capturing her full attention.
"I have the power to see the future," he said without further preamble, as calmly as if he were talking about something as ordinary as the weather for the day.
The words were out.
They hung heavily in the air. There were no beating wings or noisy students loitering outside the classroom to break the silence this time. She stared at him, her eyes wide. She definitely had not expected him to confess such a thing.
"What?" She exclaimed finally, the pinkness in her face receding, only to leave confusion in its place. Hers was not an unexpected reaction. They didn't see each other that all that often, and when they did, he had never given her much reason to suspect--other than the time at the basketball game--and who really would make such a leap of logic when his slip of tongue could have easily been ascribed to astounding deductive reasoning instead? Or just plain good guesswork? Or maybe even insider knowledge? Anything was more believable than the truth.
He knew that Kaichou was a very logical person who dealt with things as they came, one hurdle at a time. While that might stop her from believing him, he also knew that it would help him persuade her if only he provided her with the right evidence.
"I can see a person's future if I touch them," he explained, which really did nothing to help clear her confusion. "It's a power that I've had since I was young."
He had been young then, too young to realize that pointing out people who were going to die soon was just not done.
"...oh." She blinked, not knowing what to say to that. "You're...serious about this. You really are trying to tell me that you can see the future. Or am I reading things wrong?"
"I really am trying to tell you that I can see the future," he replied. "I know it might be hard to believe, but it's true. I can show you if that helps."
He held his hand out, fully prepared not to feel her warm clasp around his.
"You mean, you're going to try to read my future?" she asked. She glanced at her own hand, her only hesitation before she lightly laid her hand on top of his. Her soft touch warmed his entire being. He was grateful that she was willing to suspend her disbelief even it it was only for a moment.
"...yes, all I have to do is concentrate..."
He closed his eyes.
He found himself in a familiar environment. He had only been there once, but once was enough to feel the warmth and peace the house exuded, thanks to the family that lived there.
He was in Kaichou's house.
Her little brother was taking off his shoes at the door and putting on some slippers when Kaichou herself came through that very door. She glanced at the clock before her eyes zeroed in on the slippers in Shiya's hand.
"Shiya, you knew? She exclaimed.
"Knew what?"
"He said you knew about his powers!"
Shiya's jaws almost dropped, his mind immediately jumping to the wrong conclusions. "Sis! Did something happen to you? Are you hurt?"
Kaichou blinked at his query. "What? No, why are you asking?"
"How else would you find out? Why else would he need to reveal it?"
Kaichou, if anything, was not slow. Now that she knew that such a power existed, it was so much easier to make that leap of logic. "You mean you knew because he had to reveal his power to you or else something bad was going to happen to you?"
"Yeah, pretty much. If he hadn't told me, I'd have gone out with my friends and injured myself. I wouldn't have been able to play in any of the basketball matches last year. He's a good guy, Sis," he said earnestly.
She laughed before placing a gentle kiss on Shiya's forehead. "I don't need you to tell me that. I'm so glad you weren't hurt even though this is all in the past already."
Shiya squirmed, rubbing his forehead where she had kissed him. "So nothing happened? He told you, just like that? Why would he do that?"
Like Shiya noted, he had told her just like that. There had been absolutely no reason...other than the fact that he wanted her to know.
He licked his lips. He had tried to gleam as much as he could from the memory, but the actual conversation had been distracting. Shiya thought he was a good guy. And so did Kaichou. Hearing it directly from them was oddly touching.
"If all goes accordingly," he started, "you'll arrive home at 7:10. Shiya will be at the doorway, taking off his shoes. He'll be putting on a pair of slippers...I think they were green. With stripes."
Kaichou blinked several times. "Those slippers are new. I just bought them yesterday. Shiya doesn't even know about them yet. So how do you..."
It seemed that luck was on his side. He had hit upon just the right thing. "I said that I can see the future, didn't I? I saw those slippers in my vision." Replaying the scene in his head, he added, "If you're still skeptic about my power, you can ask Shiya about it."
"What? Shiya? Shiya knows?"
Masahiro nodded. "Yes, he knows, but only because I had to tell him then. I'm telling you now not because I have to, but because I want to."
He was going to say more when the door opened. It was Arou.
Masahiro quickly dropped Kaichou's hand, wondering why he had still been holding onto her hand even though the memory was long over. Kaichou glanced at Arou frantically before she hastily said her goodbyes and grabbed her schoolbag as she made her way out the door, bumping into Arou in the process. She bowed briefly in apology, and then she was gone.
The dark haired boy stood rooted at the doorway. He briefly touched his shoulder where Kaichou had bumped into him.
"Well, that was bad timing on my part," he said dryly.
Masahiro covered his face with his hand. "That is totally an understatement."
Arou closed the door behind him, bending down to pick up the white sheets that Kaichou had dropped in her haste to leave.
"Still, congratulations on telling her."
Arou was also a know-it-all bastard.
Incredulous, Masahiro lifted his hand from his face. "What's there to congratulate? I don't even know if she's going to believe me yet."
The other boy clasped Masahiro's shoulder.
"Don't worry, Kaichou will come around."
Together, the two boys finished tidying up the classroom. Their last step was putting the tables and chairs back to where they were supposed to be. While doing so, Masahiro noticed a photo that was faced down on the ground. He bent to pick it up.
It was photo of Kaichou, paperwork held in one hand, melon bread in the other.
He smiled at the photo.
-----to be continued----
Next chapter: In a good mood