"For the five HUNDREDTH time, I do not know that crazy girl!" Tsukasa roared, knocking a vase of carefully arranged flowers from their perch beside his bed. The vase shattered with a loud crash, and Soujirou jumped away in alarm. He shook his head sadly.
"At this rate Tsukasa will be doing more than just forgetting Makino," Soujirou whispered to Akira, who was leaning against the wall beside him. "He's going to develop a complex against her."
"But what can we do?" Akira responded, his eyes dark with disappointment. "Tsukasa's so pigheaded, if we don't push her on him he'll be perfectly happy to just go on living his life without her."
"He has to want to remember," Soujirou conceded. "And I don't think we can convince him to do that."
"And with Christmas coming and everything. Makino's got to be miserable."
"Rui's got the patience of a saint to stick by her."
"Would you two stop standing there and whispering right in front of me!?" Tsukasa bellowed, interrupting the pair's consultation. "I'm not a THING, you know!"
Soujirou sighed. "Look, Tsukasa," he said, raising both hands palms-forward in a display of acquiescence. "We just want you to try and remember Makino. She was very important to you."
"IS very important," Akira chimed in.
"Like hell!" Tsukasa spat. The two boys shivered in unison.
"Can't you at least try!?" Soujirou said, his eyebrow twitching in annoyance. Akira glanced uneasily at his friend, fearing another explosion of temper.
Tsukasa seemed to calm for a moment, and Soujirou and Akira leaned forward hopefully. "Even if she was," Tsukasa said, the beginnings of a grin twitching at his lips as he looked down at the bedsheets, "even if she was my girlfriend or whatever..."
"She was!" burst out Soujirou, before Akira nudged him into quiet.
Then Tsukasa's gaze flew upwards, and the two gasped. The grin they'd staked their hopes on was one of maniacal rage, and blood vessels stood ready to pop on Tsukasa's forehead as he scowled. "...Even if she was, the wench HIT me!!" His voice rose to fever pitch. "I don't want anything to do with that goddamned violent girl!! Don't mention her name to me again!!"
"But... Tsukasa!!" Soujirou was cringing as though fearing an onslaught of pillows, but still he tried.
"No 'But Tsukasa's!" raged his livid friend. "Get out!"
"Y.. yeah! You got it!" Akira pulled Soujirou out of the range of fire and pushed him out the door. "Sorry to bother you, Tsukasa!" he grinned shakily as he withdrew. "Merry Christmas!"
"BAH!" came the enraged snarl as Akira and Soujirou ran for their lives.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Hanadan Carol
the closest thing Jennifer A. Wand has ever written to a Christmas fic, being the nice Jewish girl that she is
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was some sort of Christmas Eve celebration in the hospital wing that night. That blonde twit Umi, or whoever, was singing carols at the top of her lungs. Tsukasa covered his head with a pillow and tried as hard as he could to get some sleep.
Outside his window, snow fell silently. It was gorgeous, and perfectly timed at that - snowfalls were rare in Japan, but this year it seemed like a "White Christmas" was in the cards for all the children and happy couples out there....
Happy couples.
"Bah," repeated Tsukasa, wondering why his chest hurt anew. Somewhere, a church tolled midnight, and with each ringing tone, he felt as though the weight of the air around him grew heavier. Grayer. Stranger...
A clinking sound seemed to be approaching him, and he assumed it was a nurse decked out in high heels for the celebration. Burying his head in the gulf of pillows, he waited for the jarring noise to fade. But it didn't, and when Tsukasa became so aware of the jangling that he couldn't take it any more, he spun over and sat up, pillow in hand. "Shut the hell..."
"Come on now," said Shigeru, laughing gently. "That's no way to treat a girl when she's come all this way to visit you!"
"Shigeru!?" Tsukasa said incredulously. "Why the hell are you here?"
"That's the question I want to ask YOU, Tsukasa," she grinned, her eyes sparkling. "Why AM I here? I shouldn't have met you until we both graduated from college. But somehow we know each other. Do you remember how we met? Better yet, WHY we met?"
"Of course I do!" Tsukasa started, raising a fist. Why was everyone playing with him? "The bitch dragged me to a hotel and made me put on that idiotic getup, and then..."
His voice faded. As though surprised at it himself, he clutched briefly at his throat. "And then..." he repeated in a weaker voice. He had hit a patch of white haze in his memory, something terribly significant but unreachable. The snow fell outside just as silently, and Tsukasa felt as though it were mocking at him. Laughing at his mind for suddenly being filled with the same white oblivion. Shigeru gazed at him silently, the smile still placid on her face.
Eventually, Tsukasa lost patience. "Never mind that!" he shouted, making a sweeping motion with his hand as though to brush away the unnecessary confusion. "What the hell's with those chains?" For Shigeru was, indeed, wearing what looked like tons of heavy metallic chains - draped around her neck, attached with handcuffs to her wrists, wrapped around her whole body and dragging heavily on the floor. The same clinking noise that had first roused Tsukasa accompanied her every movement, and the dull gleam of the metal lit her face eerily and made her look not quite human. Like... an apparition.
"These?" Shigeru lifted a hand with a chorus of clinks and gazed at the bonds. "These are the chains of your own memory, Tsukasa. They're so tangled up now, they're keeping everyone around you prisoner. You're hurting people who love you, and every time you try and deny Tsukushi's existence, they weigh us all down more."
"Oh, God..." Tsukasa buried his face in his hands. "Not more about that annoying crazy woman..."
Shigeru gave a sharp cry, and Tsukasa's eyes flew up just in time to see another chain rise from the coils at her feet and snap a ferret onto her upper arm. She winced for a moment, then relaxed. "See?" she said, her eyes hollow and sad. "You're shutting her out. But I'll give you a chance, Tsukasa."
"A chance?" he echoed stupidly.
"Tonight you'll have three more visitors, and each one of them will show you how Tsukushi has changed your life... all our lives. So watch and listen well, Tsukasa." Her figure began to take on a transparent hue. "You have to make the choice to break out of these chains and catch your future."
"Shigeru, what the hell!?" Tsukasa burst forward from the bed where he sat, trying to grab onto her. But his hand couldn't seem to reach her - even as she grew paler and clearer, like a mere reflection in a window, while the chains remained solid all around her.
"Remember Tsukushi," Shigeru whispered before she faded away altogether. The chains holding her fell limp onto the floor, then dissolved themselves into a shimmering golden mass. The apparition was gone.
~ to be continued ~
"At this rate Tsukasa will be doing more than just forgetting Makino," Soujirou whispered to Akira, who was leaning against the wall beside him. "He's going to develop a complex against her."
"But what can we do?" Akira responded, his eyes dark with disappointment. "Tsukasa's so pigheaded, if we don't push her on him he'll be perfectly happy to just go on living his life without her."
"He has to want to remember," Soujirou conceded. "And I don't think we can convince him to do that."
"And with Christmas coming and everything. Makino's got to be miserable."
"Rui's got the patience of a saint to stick by her."
"Would you two stop standing there and whispering right in front of me!?" Tsukasa bellowed, interrupting the pair's consultation. "I'm not a THING, you know!"
Soujirou sighed. "Look, Tsukasa," he said, raising both hands palms-forward in a display of acquiescence. "We just want you to try and remember Makino. She was very important to you."
"IS very important," Akira chimed in.
"Like hell!" Tsukasa spat. The two boys shivered in unison.
"Can't you at least try!?" Soujirou said, his eyebrow twitching in annoyance. Akira glanced uneasily at his friend, fearing another explosion of temper.
Tsukasa seemed to calm for a moment, and Soujirou and Akira leaned forward hopefully. "Even if she was," Tsukasa said, the beginnings of a grin twitching at his lips as he looked down at the bedsheets, "even if she was my girlfriend or whatever..."
"She was!" burst out Soujirou, before Akira nudged him into quiet.
Then Tsukasa's gaze flew upwards, and the two gasped. The grin they'd staked their hopes on was one of maniacal rage, and blood vessels stood ready to pop on Tsukasa's forehead as he scowled. "...Even if she was, the wench HIT me!!" His voice rose to fever pitch. "I don't want anything to do with that goddamned violent girl!! Don't mention her name to me again!!"
"But... Tsukasa!!" Soujirou was cringing as though fearing an onslaught of pillows, but still he tried.
"No 'But Tsukasa's!" raged his livid friend. "Get out!"
"Y.. yeah! You got it!" Akira pulled Soujirou out of the range of fire and pushed him out the door. "Sorry to bother you, Tsukasa!" he grinned shakily as he withdrew. "Merry Christmas!"
"BAH!" came the enraged snarl as Akira and Soujirou ran for their lives.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Hanadan Carol
the closest thing Jennifer A. Wand has ever written to a Christmas fic, being the nice Jewish girl that she is
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was some sort of Christmas Eve celebration in the hospital wing that night. That blonde twit Umi, or whoever, was singing carols at the top of her lungs. Tsukasa covered his head with a pillow and tried as hard as he could to get some sleep.
Outside his window, snow fell silently. It was gorgeous, and perfectly timed at that - snowfalls were rare in Japan, but this year it seemed like a "White Christmas" was in the cards for all the children and happy couples out there....
Happy couples.
"Bah," repeated Tsukasa, wondering why his chest hurt anew. Somewhere, a church tolled midnight, and with each ringing tone, he felt as though the weight of the air around him grew heavier. Grayer. Stranger...
A clinking sound seemed to be approaching him, and he assumed it was a nurse decked out in high heels for the celebration. Burying his head in the gulf of pillows, he waited for the jarring noise to fade. But it didn't, and when Tsukasa became so aware of the jangling that he couldn't take it any more, he spun over and sat up, pillow in hand. "Shut the hell..."
"Come on now," said Shigeru, laughing gently. "That's no way to treat a girl when she's come all this way to visit you!"
"Shigeru!?" Tsukasa said incredulously. "Why the hell are you here?"
"That's the question I want to ask YOU, Tsukasa," she grinned, her eyes sparkling. "Why AM I here? I shouldn't have met you until we both graduated from college. But somehow we know each other. Do you remember how we met? Better yet, WHY we met?"
"Of course I do!" Tsukasa started, raising a fist. Why was everyone playing with him? "The bitch dragged me to a hotel and made me put on that idiotic getup, and then..."
His voice faded. As though surprised at it himself, he clutched briefly at his throat. "And then..." he repeated in a weaker voice. He had hit a patch of white haze in his memory, something terribly significant but unreachable. The snow fell outside just as silently, and Tsukasa felt as though it were mocking at him. Laughing at his mind for suddenly being filled with the same white oblivion. Shigeru gazed at him silently, the smile still placid on her face.
Eventually, Tsukasa lost patience. "Never mind that!" he shouted, making a sweeping motion with his hand as though to brush away the unnecessary confusion. "What the hell's with those chains?" For Shigeru was, indeed, wearing what looked like tons of heavy metallic chains - draped around her neck, attached with handcuffs to her wrists, wrapped around her whole body and dragging heavily on the floor. The same clinking noise that had first roused Tsukasa accompanied her every movement, and the dull gleam of the metal lit her face eerily and made her look not quite human. Like... an apparition.
"These?" Shigeru lifted a hand with a chorus of clinks and gazed at the bonds. "These are the chains of your own memory, Tsukasa. They're so tangled up now, they're keeping everyone around you prisoner. You're hurting people who love you, and every time you try and deny Tsukushi's existence, they weigh us all down more."
"Oh, God..." Tsukasa buried his face in his hands. "Not more about that annoying crazy woman..."
Shigeru gave a sharp cry, and Tsukasa's eyes flew up just in time to see another chain rise from the coils at her feet and snap a ferret onto her upper arm. She winced for a moment, then relaxed. "See?" she said, her eyes hollow and sad. "You're shutting her out. But I'll give you a chance, Tsukasa."
"A chance?" he echoed stupidly.
"Tonight you'll have three more visitors, and each one of them will show you how Tsukushi has changed your life... all our lives. So watch and listen well, Tsukasa." Her figure began to take on a transparent hue. "You have to make the choice to break out of these chains and catch your future."
"Shigeru, what the hell!?" Tsukasa burst forward from the bed where he sat, trying to grab onto her. But his hand couldn't seem to reach her - even as she grew paler and clearer, like a mere reflection in a window, while the chains remained solid all around her.
"Remember Tsukushi," Shigeru whispered before she faded away altogether. The chains holding her fell limp onto the floor, then dissolved themselves into a shimmering golden mass. The apparition was gone.
~ to be continued ~