All credit for Katawa Shoujo goes to 4 LEAF STUDIOS. Read, review and enjoy.

Yamaku.

A strange word. A foreign, alien one. One that you don't want to be in the same room with. A place tucked withing the hills and mountains of Japan, out of sight and out of touch.

A world where normal is a strange thing to consider, and what appears to be normal is little more than a façade. In it, the ones whom society would rather not see, the ones whom "normals" would rather smear with invisible paint, to make them vanish, for the mere purpose of forgetting of their own dear vulnerability, find a home.

And while each student tries to keep an appearance of normality, people in the close-by town know. The uniform inveriably draws attention. A tag, an unspoken badge for "Cripple walking. Make way".

Here, seasons drift apart, and each graduation gives the world a new reminder of what it desperately wants to ignore. Of what it may not be able to deny, but it tries to imagine far away, burried in the autumn leaves.

Chapter 1: Blackout

Small, shuffled voices could be heard from the occupied classes. It was a bit over 10 AM, and most students were in their classes.

Hanako stood in front of class 3-3, gripping her school bag. She extended her hand to tap on the door, but stopped a few centimeters short. She couldn't. Even though it was her choice to come here, she couldn't bare herself to do it. She stood in the middle of the hall, looking emptily into space. She was afraid. Not of the school, which was but a pile of bricks and mortar. She feared what lay beyond the doors. The eyes that would stare at her, that would innevitably point at her appearance.

She heard the door open, and a man, most likely in his fourties, stood before her. Hanako, making her visibly twitch. The teacher looked at her, scanning her from head to toe. Hanako's grip on her bag became so severe, her knuckles were close to snapping.

"You're miss Ikezawa, I assume?" asked the teacher.

Hanako gave no reply, merely nodding quickly. The empty hall made her encounter all the more fearful.

"Good to hear that. I'm Akio Mutou, your science and homeroom teacher. I've got your papers from Tamyia orphanage, so you're ready to go."

He handed her a paper.

"This is your timetable, and my phone number, in case you need it. Now, do you want to present yourself to the class, or should I do that for you?"

Hanako opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Only a small sigh, followed by a barely audible "no".

"Excuse me?" asked Mutou.

"I…I s-said no." replied Hanako in a stammer.

Mutou nodded and opened the door, pointing to Hanako to enter. The girl took one step, then froze. Her feet felt like lead, stuck to the floor. After a few awkward moments, Mutou placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a gentle push inside. Hanako barely reacted, her breathing clearly quickening.

The teacher sighed, and entered himself, before beckoning Hanako to enter. By now, several class members were staring at the girl who seemed frozen in the door frame. Sixteen pairs of eyes looked at her. Hanako felt like a frod pinned on a board, waiting the scalpel of the disectionist. From her position, she saw a pink haired girl, signing something to her deskmate, a short haired girl with glasses. Was she talking about her? Some of the students were now whispering among themselves. Bits and pieces of information: how weird…what's wrong with her?...she's just standing there…were reaching her ears.Hanako's eyes began to roll back, as she fell her limbs go numb. The bitter taste of bile reached her tongue.

Mutou coughet loudly, drawing the attention of the class from the now petrified Hanako.

"Everyone, this is Hanako Ikezawa. I trust you'll make her feel welcomed, and act around her as you would with a friend. I'm sure she can find her place among you, if you open yourself to her."

The teacher waved to Hanako to enter. The girl took one step, then stood still again. The eyes. The eyes of the class seemed to pierce her like daggers. The hushed talks of the class became farther and farther, until her head became full with only static noise. Her face became flushed, then the pink tinge began to vanish under a cover of white.

Feeling the embarasement, Mutou moved forward, taking Hanako's hand. Feeling her scarred hand in Mutou's palm was the last straw. Blackness hit her like a lightning bolt, and she felt the ground under her vanish. The last sounds reaching her were shoot…nurse…quick.

0000

Hanako opened her eyes. The room smelled of medication, and the light seemed artificial. Moments later, the reality of what had happened sank in. She felt embarassed. And most of all shocked. It was the school she wanted to come to. And she wasn't even unable to enter her own class. The feeling of being a rag doll flowed into her like a ghost.

"Glad to see you're awake."

She turned, seeing a man in a doctor's coat. He was clearly younger than Mutou, and his blue hair shielded a broad smile.

"You did gave us a shock back there. Thankfuly, Mutou rushed you here. There are no medications that you need to take, so you're pretty much ready to leave."

Hanako's hands covered her face, her head sagging. She wanted to sob. To collapse and cry.

"Hey, it's okay", smiled the nurse. "There's nothing to be embarassed about. I mean, there's a girl in Mutou's class who fell asleep for two days. Right while he was giving a lecture on photons if I remember right."

The joke got no reaction from Hanako. She just stood motionless, face burried in her palms.

"Tell you what" added the nurse in a sly tone. "You can have the rest of the day of. Your things have been taken to the girl's dorm, so you can go there. Just…take it easy for now. The dayrooms are neat. You've got TV, a library, even board games. You'll find your place here."

The girl gave no reply. Her palms were now by her sides, revealing her face. The nurse looked at her, not sure where to begin. The pain of the mind was harder to deal with than any scar in the body. Hanako felt his eyes on her, and covered her scarred side with her palm.

"P-please…don't look at me."

The nurse turned his back, out of modesty. Hanako took this opportunity to pick up her bag and leave, staying close to the walls.

0000

The girl's dormitory was clearly bigger than her formar orphanage. The two floor building, much like the rest of the school had an antique feel to it. Hanako took a deep breath. The sooner she would be in her room, the better. She looked at the key in her palm. No more doubts were now in her mind. The orphanage was behind. Yamaku was ahead.

She entered the building, and climbed the stairs to the first floor. It was empty, except for the day room. The girl carefully moved ahead, and peeked inside.

On the floor there were spread several tubes of paint and brushes. A canvas was set up, and a short haired girl was painting on it. What shocked Hanako was that the girl was holding the brush between her toes, due to the lack of arms. The artist noticed her, and stood up. The two girls looked at eachother for a short moment.

"Umm…hy there. I'm Rin Tezuka. I'd shake hands with you, but keep your shoes on. I think people would find it weird if you would start taking of your clothes in front of me."

Hanako was at a loss of words. The girl in front of her was stranger than any person she had meet at the orphanage.

"…"

Rin rocked on her heels.

"Nothing? Guess we have another mute here. Hope you're not like that Hakamichi girl. She's got balls of steel. Or she would have them, providing she had a schlong to go with it."

"I...I'm not…" began Hanako.

"So you can speak. Then there must be something else wrong with you."

She approached Hanako, and her eyes caught sight of her scarred face. Her eyes widenned, as did Hanako's, but for other reasons. A cold chill ran down her spine, as she fell the world around her narrow down, until it looked like the barrel of a gun. Rin's stump reached up, pushing in part the hair that covered Hanako's scarred face. Hanako's lips were slightly opened, a small trickle of saliva forming on the right side.

"Cool. What a great idea for a new painting. I'll call it…Lines in the face. No, even better, The two faces of Yamaku. Just come and stay over there, until I…

Rin turned, only to realise she was talking to herself. The only sound that reached her was the sound of a door slamming.

0000

The orange sunset was barely vissible though the drawn curtains. Hanako stood on her bed, her forehead touching her knees. She was silent. Unlike the nights when she would stay awake, afraid that someone would come and play a prank on her. So many children had done that to her. But now, she had the room to herself. The door was locked.

She was safe.