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Author Topic: A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours (holy crap, Part III, 2009)  (Read 6510 times)

Offline OTN1

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This story has absolutely nothing to do with anything else I've written!  It's a bit of an experiment.

(Also, this story is not part of that semi-promised "10 chapters of fluff."  That'll be... maybe later...)



A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours

I'm sitting alone in the foyer, twiddling my thumbs, twiddling my thumbs, twiddling my thumbs.

Bored, bored, bored.

Sigh.

Koharu-chan walks out of the elevator and I immediately release my hands, putting them in my lap and staring straight ahead, doing my best impression of Fujimoto.  You know when she stares off into the distance as if she's pissed off or just really deep in thought?  Yeah, like that.  That's what I'm copying right now.  I'm pretty good at it.

But of course!  It's, like, my birthright.

The young girl waves at me, but I pretend not to notice.  To her, it must look like the wall across from me is fascinating beyond belief.  More worthy of attention than her precocious little ass.

Okay, so I'm not just bored, but also in a bad mood.

I imagine Koharu-chan shrugs it off.  She's a bit like this puppy named Piko that my friend used to have when we were much younger.  Really cute, but really dumb.  You could kick him viciously, and he'd just think you were playing.  Not that I ever kicked him.  I'd never do that, and I'd abhor anyone who kicked a puppy.  I'm just saying he was that stupid.

And Koharu-chan is exactly like him.

She can't imagine someone genuinely not wanting to see or talk to her perpetually cheerful self.  If I were ever to punch the living daylights out of her, she'd brush it off as my hand slipping.  Even if I punched her ten times, it would just mean that my hand slipped ten times.

Not that I hate her!  Not at all.  But like I said, I'm in a bad mood.

No, not bad.  Foul.

If I could, I would go out and burn down a village.  That fire-loving side of me stirrs, and I almost take out my cell phone to check out a map and find the closest desolate village around here.  I don't, though, because it would probably take me a few hours to get there.  Tokyo is disgustingly urbanised.  I'd have to travel to, like, Ibaraki, and it's too cold now to go out into the middle of nowhere.  I'll stay here in my heated (albeit boring) workplace.

Pathetic!

I'm a bored, thumb-twiddling, pissed off, Fujimoto-wannabe pyromaniac with a weakness for puppies and a penchant for warm buildings.

It's not my fault that I got the times mixed up and I came to the studio two hours early.

No, wait.  It is my fault.  And that makes me feel the rage even more.  I'm so angry at myself!  Stupid me.

But it's too cold to leave, so I've been sitting here all this time watching people, and when there are no people around, objects.

A few minutes pass and three girls round the corner.  Abe, Ishikawa, and Goto.  They're dressed in their street clothes, and I wonder if they're meeting for some Def Diva thing.  I thought that unit was essentially defunct, but who knows.  Maybe it'll be revived?

I stare ahead and pretend not to notice them, but Abe is too jolly for her own good.

"Good afternoon!" she calls out to me.

I have to be polite.  Besides, Goto is there, and she's pretty cool.

I turn my head and flash a winning smile.

"Good afternoon," I say back.

We nod our heads at each other, and the three keep walking.

That brief interlude cheers me up for some unknown reason.  I don't think any bad thoughts about them.

"AAHHHHHHH!!"

A blur runs by.

"Hi! Bye!" yells a familiar voice.

Gaki.

What is she running off to?  Practice doesn't start for, like, another half hour.

I like her, but she's weird.  I liked her better when she was a little more on the shy side.  She was so much funnier back then.  Funnier because we could laugh at and with her and she didn't mind.  Now she's all about the planned funniness, if that makes sense.  Does it?  Makes enough sense to me.  She's a quick one on her toes, but now she thinks before speaking, which ends up filtering out half of the funny things she could potentially say.  She plots out her humour, and as a result, it's gotten a bit old to me.  I think she should go back to her old style of saying whatever comes to her mind.  I guess those days are gone, though.  She's got oodles of self-confidence now, so there's no going back to those lollipop-head days of hers.

I look around to make sure I'm alone and then let out an exasperated sigh.

Screw this.  Stupid boring afternoon.  I'm going to get up and go somewhere.

But at that moment, the elevator doors open, and just to make my life more miserable, out walks the Project's most infamous and disgusting couple.

Well, I call them a couple because they're all over each other all the time, but they're not actually like that at all.  But oh my god, if they were, I think I'd hate them even more.  Those two and their "perfection".  But they'll never be (a couple, that is) because Fujimoto likes men way too much to go after some strange-looking girl soloist who treats her the same way an asshole would treat Piko (may his soul rest in peace).

How do I know this?  I have good information.  Firsthand evidence.  I'm a witness.

What did I see?

Well, just the other day, I caught our dear sub-leader making out with a stagehand in my change room.

Yeah.  My change room.

Like, what the fuck, right?

Their faces were all but glued together.  I could tell there was tongue action, and his hands were totally up her shirt.

I freaked out inside, but I kept my cool exterior because that's who I am, you know?  I just walked in and put my crap down on my table, making sure it jingled a bit (I have a billion things attached to my cell phone, so it's like a natural noise-maker).  They heard and pulled apart to look at me.  I just looked at them coolly, grabbed my practice clothes, and started to change right there in full view of them.  I don't care about changing in front of Fujimoto 'cause we work together and change in the same room all the time.  The stagehand, on the other hand... It was a bit of a gamble to change in front of him.  Fujimoto's tastes are such that she'll go for almost any type, so he could have been a total perv who would have wanted to sit and watch, or he could have been a gentleman who would insist on averting his eyes.

The dude freaked and ran out the door when my shirt started to come off.

But Fujimoto?

Oh, Fujimoto.

She had the temerity to stand there and looked pissed off at me.

So I scowled as I wiggled into my sweatpants and said to her, "Don't look pissed off at me.  This is my change room."

And you know what she growled at me?

"You ruined my chance with him."

She then turned around and stalked off without an apology, slamming the door before I could think of a good comeback.

You see how mentally unbalanced our sub-leader is?  What a crackhead.

So that's why the "rabu rabu Aya times Miki, love times infinite" thing is a load of bullshit.  They think they're so cool with their trendy girl-on-girl action image, but that's just what it is.  Trendy bullshit.

But...

The real reason that I can't stand them is that I'm frustrated beyond belief.  I can't stop thinking about boys.  Every corner I turn, there's a hot one there.  At the convenience store, backstage, in the supermarket, at a family restaurant... Boys everywhere I go.  Hot ones.

And I can't approach them because, like... Just imagine.  I approach a guy and suddenly the next day I'm fired from my job.

Is learning a guy's name worth that?  I don't think so.  Although there are some times that I have let that philosophy slide...

But how is it that I equate hot boys with Fujimoto and the even more enigmatic Matsuura?  It's not that far of a stretch, actually.

I said I'm really frustrated now, right?  I need action now.  Like now.  Damnit, I'm seventeen years old.  I'm young and nubile and ready to go.

But it's really hard to get any when all the members of the management have metre-long sticks stuck up their butts.

So in the end, the Ayamiki phenomenon doesn't help.  They walk into a room, and they ooze sex out of their pores... and it's like, "Why can't I have some of that??"

They make it seem so easy.  I mean, hell, they make it look like nothing can stop them.  If all else fails, they can turn to each other.  That is the kind of fantasy they paint for the people watching them (and they know people are watching them).  Then I let their sexiness get to me.  I start to think about it too much, and suddenly I'm thinking about all the boys I can't have but that I want.  I end up cursing those two seniors of mine for getting me all worked up with all their vibes.

Oh, there I go again.  I'm taking my frustrations out on everyone walking by.

Actually, I really like Fujimoto.  A lot.  I look up to her in many ways, and I've learned a lot about how to behave from her.  It's just that when Matsuura is factored into the equation, Fujimoto totally changes, and she's no longer that same strong girl that I secretly idolise like crazy (but if she or anyone else ever figures out the true extent to which I idolise her, I think ritual suicide will be in order).

I guess I don't understand what she sees in that freaky soloist.  Nice girl, Matsuura.  I guess.  But she seems so removed from us.  Like she's too good for us, or like she's in some other world.  She is good, and as an artist, I do respect her, but as a person, I'm just not sure.  I guess she's a mystery to me.  A mystery that I may never get around to solving.  But that's no skin off my nose.

"Hey, Tanaka.  You have the time?" Fujimoto's voice erupts in my mind, dispersing all my thoughts about her and her friend and making me look up from my contemplative trance.

I glance at my watch.

"Ten past two," I reply in a neutral voice.

I watch Fujimoto as she eyes her companion.

"You think we have enough time?" she asks.

"Sure we do," Matsuura replies with a smirk.

Fujimoto giggles.

Ug, gross.  Giggles.

"Thanks!" she calls out, not even looking at me because she's making ridiculous googly eyes at her precious little soloist chum.

Matsuura treats Fujimoto like a dumb dog, and Fujimoto treats Matsuura like some trophy girlfriend.  Why doesn't anybody else see how screwed up that kind of relationship is?

"Don't mention it," I mutter, not even trying to hide my disgust since she's no longer paying attention to me.

I watch them as they grab hands and make their way hurriedly down the hall and to the emergency stairs.

"What the hell?  God, you two.  You act like a couple, but you're not.  Stop it already!  It's so gross!"

I don't actually yell that, but I want to.  I just watch their receding figures, wondering what they're going to get up to in the emergency stairway.  I'm not stupid.  I know what it looks like, but I'm pretty firm in my belief that there's absolutely nothing like that going on between them.  It's all an act.

I let out another sigh.

"Something bothering you, Reina-chan?" asks a voice from behind me.
 
My shoulders jerk slightly with fright.  Oh, but no.  That's no good.  I'm calm, I'm composed.  I'm the queen of cool.  I'm Reina.  I can't let anyone know I'm scared.

In a brilliant move that would put all famous split-second decisions made by the renowned military leaders of history to shame, I turn the slight twitch into a shrug.

"Not really, Eri-chan.  Just a little bored."

My best friend in the Project comes and sits beside me.  Or rather throws herself onto the couch.  It causes some bouncing, and for a minute, I forget my irritated mood and laugh, shoving her aside and telling her to stop causing such a ruckus.

"What were you thinking?" she asks, crossing her legs and looking at me intently.

What was I thinking?

Far too much to explain to her now in the mere twenty minutes we have before rehearsal.

But maybe I wouldn't even explain it to her if we had five hours.  They're just my wandering thoughts brought on by the things I see in front of me.  No need to rehash them because they've been purged from my system. 

And when I really think about it, it's true.  They've been flushed out.  I no longer feel angry and frustrated.  I guess sitting here and thinking for so long has worn my anger out.

I smile at Eri.

"I was just thinking about how nice life is," I say, not a hint of sarcasm in my voice and meaning every word of it.

She smiles back.

"You're weird."

Oh, she should talk.

I laugh, and all angsty thoughts forgotten, I snap back to reality and enjoy that life that I claim to like so much.

The end of part 1
« Last Edit: March 14, 2009, 03:00:16 AM by OTN1 »

Offline rokun

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Re: A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours
« Reply #1 on: May 22, 2007, 03:28:13 PM »
Haha! A sexy Reina fic from "OTN"... Awesome. :lol: Of course, there had to be a decent amount of GAM in it too.

Maybe I should read your other stuff too... but I just happened to catch this right when you posted so I only had to read one chapter... Oh well. XD

You and your writing!!!

Offline OTN1

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Re: A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours
« Reply #2 on: May 22, 2007, 05:25:02 PM »
Haha, sorry, it always ends up being about Aya and Miki!  I guess I can't help it.

I wouldn't rest until I wrote part 2, because I felt like I had to resolve some things.  Here is the second part.  The conclusion, if you will.

A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours II

Eri and I chat for ten minutes about her mom, the cold weather, and Sayumi's latest rehearsal disaster (she tends to have bad luck in rehearsal, and she does all these funny, spazzy things that keep us happy and entertained for days with laughter).

But the truth is that even though I'm no longer in my sullen mood, I still can't get the dynamic GAM duo out of my head.

How do they relate to each other?  I mean, what have they got in common besides their jobs?  They seem like completely different sides of the coin.  Not likely friends, let alone best friends.  The way they treat each other, too, seems so off.  It's not a normal kind of friendship.  If I had to use one word to describe them, I'd say dysfunctional.

No.  That's not quite right.  If they were dysfunctional, I'm sure there'd be more arguing, but I've never heard them raise their voices at each other.  I've only noticed tension between them a few times in the years I've known them, and even then it's been controlled and has seemed to disappear without a trace by the next time I've seen them together.

I guess it all boils down to this question: what do I really know about them?

The truth is that I know next to nothing about them.  I've never hung out with the two of them, and I've never talked to either of them about the other.

So while Eri is sitting there yakking about the wonderful dinner her mother made for her last night, I'm starting to think about what I want to do in the next few minutes before rehearsal starts.

I put a hand on Eri's knee to get her attention.

"Hey, Eri-chan," I interrupt her.

She stops talking and listens attentively to what I have to say.  Such a nice girl, she is.  I really do like her, and I'm lucky to have her as a friend.  I'm not about to get all mushy and tell her that, though.

"I have something I need to wrap up before rehearsal starts.  Can I meet you up at the room?" I ask, presenting my words in my nicest, most well-behaved tone.

"Sure," Eri cheers, chipper.  "I have to change anyway.  See you up there!"

And with that, she's gone.  I shake my head and chuckle at how easy that was.  I do try to think about her feelings, and I have to admit that I'd feel pretty cruddy if I hurt them and offended her.  But she's so understanding and trusting that she'll give me my space.  I'm a cool loner, and she knows it.

With that done, I collect myself and get up with determination.  I walk down the hallway that Fujimoto and Matsuura walked down just moments ago, and I see nothing but the doorway to the emergency stairway.

Whatever they're doing in there, I think that'll be what I need to know about them.  Behind closed doors and away from the prying eyes of other people, they'll surely be themselves.  No pretences. 

But wait.  What am I doing?  I'm just going to walk into the stairway and... stare at them?  Ask them if they know the time?  What kind of half-baked plan is this?  Did Sayumi secretly steal my brain and fill up the space in my skull with hers?

I can't stop walking, though.  I'm drawn to that door like a piece of metal to a magnet.  I put my hand on the cool handle and push gently, making as little noise as possible.  I open the door a crack and slip in, closing it behind me with the utmost care.

I stand perfectly still in the dimly lit space and listen carefully.  I can hear sound coming from below.  I tiptoe carefully, holding onto the banister and looking down at the floors below me.  There aren't many since we're on the main level.

I finally see them.  Since the stairs twist, their sides are facing towards me and they can't see me unless they look up and to the side.  I observe everything about the scene.

The first thing I notice is that Matsuura is sitting a step up and leaning her side against the wall, while Fujimoto is sitting in front of her but a step down, resting back between the other girl's legs as if she's an armchair.

Oh god.  They even sit like that when they're alone?  Maybe I was wrong in thinking there's nothing going on between them.  This is just not normal.

I strain to listen to what's going on.  I hear them talking quietly.  If I stay very still, I can hear all of what they're saying.

"... a good kid, but too much like you," Matsuura says in a teasing voice.

I wonder who they're talking about.

"Nah, Tanaka's different.  She's got her own style.  She's not a carbon copy of me," is the reply.

So they're talking about me.  And Fujimoto thinks I have my own style?  I smile despite myself.  It feels nice to hear that coming from her.

"Whatever you say," Matsuura huffs, and from my vantage point, I can see Fujimoto loll her head back and look up at her human armchair.

I really hope nothing happens between them at that moment, because I'd feel mega-awkward.

To my relief, nothing weird happens.  Matsuura looks down at Fujimoto and laughs at the face she's making.

"But I think I might have pissed her off the day before yesterday..."

What?  Oh, does she mean when she almost had sex in my change room?  Yeah, I was damned pissed off about that.  Still am.

"How so?" the younger of the two asks.

I see Fujimoto lower her head in a show of embarrassment, and I gape.  How is this the same girl that glares into cameras without a single thought about her behaviour?

"Well, you know that guy who helps out with the performances on Hello! Morning?  The one I thought was cute?"

"Mmhm.  Mizushima-san, was it?"

"Yeah, him," Fujimoto confirms hesitantly.  "Well, I kinda dragged him away from work and we got a little, um, busy, so I took him to my change room."

Her change room?!  What a liar!

I watch as Matsuura puts her hands on Fujimoto's shoulders and squeezes.  Probably not too hard.

"How did that annoy Tanaka-san?"

It annoyed me because it was my damned change room!!

"Well, um, it turns out it wasn't my change room, but hers.  I made a big mistake."

So that's why she was there?  It wasn't because she was too horny to control herself long enough to walk a few metres to her own room?

I kind of take pity on her.  It must have been really embarrassing for her when I walked in and saw them.

"It was so embarrassing!" she groans as if I've projected my thoughts into her and made her speak them aloud.

"What were you and Mizushima-san doing?"

"Well, you know..." Fujimoto trails off.

I see Matsuura's hand tighten on her shoulders, and for a second, I wonder if this is like a lover's quarrel.  The unfaithful admits her horrible indiscretion, and the pain and yelling starts.

But no such thing happens.  I've just got an overactive imagination sometimes, you know?

"How far?" comes the unexpected question.

"What do you think?" Fujimoto sneers back.

"Oh, I don't know.  You?  You're such a nice, patient girl.  I'm going to go with a hug and a peck on the lips."

Matsuura bursts out laughing before she can finish her sentence, and I stifle my own laughter.  Fujimoto reaches her hands up and over her head and grabs at any part of her friend that she can.  She's lucky and catches her entire head, and she doesn't let go until Matsuura cries out for her to stop.

"You wouldn't want to be made fun of if some kid walked in on you while your boyfriend had his hands up your shirt," she huffs.

Matsuura laughs again, this time at the predicament that Fujimoto was caught in, and I bristle up a little.  I'm not just some kid.  I'm Tanaka Reina.  I'm strong.  I don't let anyone weaken me like Fujimoto lets Matsuura do.  Sure, I have a soft spot for my fellow sixth generation audition winners, but in the end, I'm alone, and I look out for Number One.  Me.

"I'm sorry," the laughing girl apologises after her outburst.  "I guess it's just too... cute!"

Fujimoto then turns sideways and rests her head on Matsuura's leg, looking up with an innocent, almost babyish, expression.

"Embarrassing," she repeats.

They sit there silently like that for fifteen seconds.  I count.

"Is that what he is now?  Your boyfriend?" Matsuura asks curiously.

Do I detect sadness in her voice?  Or is that the good old Tanaka imagination working overtime again?

"I don't know," Fujimoto says, squirming uncomfortably and closing her eyes with a sigh.  "I like him..."

Matsuura runs a hand through the older girl's long hair and strokes her head gently.

"Then go for it," she says, and I can see a smile play at her lips as she looks down at the head on her thigh.  "But I hope it doesn't mean that you'll talk to me less."

Fujimoto opens her eyes and grins, rubbing her cheek (which is probably covered in make up.  Smooth move, you idiot!) on Matsuura's leg.

"I'll probably have even more to talk about!" she says enthusiastically.

Matsuura throws her head back and laughs.

"I'm so jealous!" she exclaims.

"Don't worry, Aya-chan.  You'll find yourself a boy someday," is Fujimoto's reply.

"No, not jealous of you.  Of Mizushima-san!" laughs Matsuura, and Fujimoto snorts out a few notes of laughter.

"Hey, you guys'll have to share me from now on."

They're quiet for another twenty seconds, during which Matsuura's hand doesn't stop playing with Fujimoto's hair.

"I love you.  You're my best friend."

The statement comes out of the blue and from my sub-leader.  It's so... mushy.  So not Fujimoto Miki.

"I know.  And right back at you."

Another half a minute passes by, and once I finish counting to thirty, I think that my job here is finished.  I slowly and silently make my way back up, opening the door with the same care as before.  Once I feel it click shut, I walk quickly away and to the rarely used washroom around the corner.  It's empty as usual, and I sit on the counter, not caring that I'll be late for rehearsal if I dawdle.

What I've just witnessed is not what I could ever have expected.  There they sat, the famous Aya and Miki, with as little space between them as possible.  But it had nothing to do with sex or whatever other people might think when they see them hanging off each other like mating... oh, I don't know.  Mating squirrels.  It had been a tender moment of friendship.  A kind of moment that I would never let myself have because I would see it as weakening myself.

And yet there was Fujimoto Miki, the girl under which I've polished my stoic ways, dropping her guard completely and telling embarrassing things about herself while acting like a sweet little child.

And Matsuura... She's the one that's really surprised me.  I've always thought she treats her so-called best friend so unfairly.  But in the stairway, behind that closed door, she was sweet, caring, honest, and protective of the girl at her feet.

Maybe they're not dysfunctional.  Maybe that's what close friendship is supposed to be like.  They can act all they want in public, but in private, they let their true selves show.  Maybe that's not weakness.

To be perfectly frank, I like the two people that I just saw. 

Saw?  Er, watched.

No?  Okay, fine.  Spied on.  There.

They seem to really like each other and be concerned about each other's well being.  That's what friendship is, is it not?  They don't have to be exactly the same.  As long as they get along.

...And see??  I knew it!  There's absolutely nothing dubious going on between them.  They love each other, but not like that.

I gloat and gloat and gloat.  I'm happy to have found all this out, and I happy that I was right.

Most of all, though, I'm happy because I think I've learned a lesson about friendship.  I still need some time to decipher some of it, but I think that maybe - just maybe - Eri and Sayu can help me out with that.

THE END.


That's it.  I cannot possibly write anything that doesn't include a mushy thing or three.  And it always has to involve those delectable two - Aya and Miki.  Poor Reina.  The narrator of the story, and she gets shafted.  Sorry.
« Last Edit: May 23, 2007, 06:10:56 AM by OTN1 »

Offline Estrea

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Re: A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours
« Reply #3 on: May 22, 2007, 05:51:46 PM »
Oooh interesting. I love how you can never seem to get away from GAM. XD

Interesting take on Reina, I like how she idolises Miki but would sooner commit suicide than admit it. XD And her spying on their moment makes me weirdly happy. I have no idea why. :D

GAM is just one of those couples I don't mind as either lovers or just friends. Either way is fine with me, cos they're GAM. XD I love how you write them. :D

Do more, do more!! ^_^ *is greedy* Haha.

永遠に咲き続ける花なんていない、すべてはいずれ枯れて朽ち果てしまう。

Currently writing:
- Lilium-related things. God save my soul.

On Hold:
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I'm also on AO3!
http://archiveofourown.org/users/Estrea

Offline deviousmind

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Re: A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours
« Reply #4 on: May 22, 2007, 06:13:55 PM »
ha, i liked =). like the way u write too.

more more? <being greedy like Estrea> :hee:

Offline Amarghetta

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Re: A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours
« Reply #5 on: May 22, 2007, 06:27:18 PM »
So, it was Tanaka? For a moment, a very brief moment actually, I thought it was one of the Berryz... Lol!

Offline glcorps2002

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Re: A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours
« Reply #6 on: May 22, 2007, 06:51:00 PM »
See, you can do nice and touching. Now you need to write about people other than GAM. Just ween yourself off.

Offline Yuuyami

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Re: A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours
« Reply #7 on: May 22, 2007, 08:59:38 PM »
Cute story xD Even though Miki winded up being making out with a guy here o_O (Not fond of H!P fiction with straight couplings >>...) ... Anywho xD GAM friendship is very very cute here <3

Love Reina's strong image you wrote of her, not admitting that she admires Miki and whatnot xD

So is this... Your miscellaneous stories thread? xD I know you said this isn't your ten fluffy things thread, but you know, that thread title could be taken as 'a multitude of fictions' or something xD.

I look forward to more! <3

Offline rokun

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Re: A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours
« Reply #8 on: May 22, 2007, 10:13:33 PM »
LoL, so it ended up being an outsider's perspective on GAM. I shoulda known. ::) You're such a GAM nerd...

Still, it was a sweet story. And many others seem to be taking up Reina's tales, so I suppose you're allowed doing this to her. ;)

Offline Kreuz_Asakura

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Re: A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours
« Reply #9 on: May 23, 2007, 01:05:13 AM »
I like this story!!!

It's soooo interesting how you write about GAM's relationship

Reina is really cool and the way you describe her thoughts is awesome!

Offline JFC

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Re: A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours
« Reply #10 on: May 23, 2007, 01:43:24 AM »
Quote
This story has absolutely nothing to do with anything else I've written!  It's a bit of an experiment.
Something completely new? Neat-o. ;D


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(Also, this story is not part of that semi-promised "10 chapters of fluff."  That'll be... maybe later...)
No "semi" shit about it! Your readers NEED those 10 chapters of fluff!!!


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She's a bit like this puppy named Piko that my friend used to have when we were much younger.  Really cute, but really dumb. 

...

I'm just saying he was that stupid.

And Koharu-chan is exactly like him.
Ouch. That stings.


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I'm a bored, thumb-twiddling, pissed off, Fujimoto-wannabe pyromaniac with a weakness for puppies and a penchant for warm buildings.

...

Besides, Goto is there, and she's pretty cool.
I'm guessing...Reina?


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Well, just the other day, I caught our dear sub-leader making out with a stagehand in my change room.

Yeah.  My change room.

Like, what the fuck, right?
WHAAAAAAAAAAAA???  :eek:


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I just looked at them coolly, grabbed my practice clothes, and started to change right there in full view of them. 

...

The dude freaked and ran out the door when my shirt started to come off.
What a wuss!


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Oh, Fujimoto.

She had the temerity to stand there and looked pissed off at me.

So I scowled as I wiggled into my sweatpants and said to her, "Don't look pissed off at me.  This is my change room."
Whoever the girl is (I'm still thinking it's Reina), she DOES have a point there.


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when Matsuura is factored into the equation, Fujimoto totally changes, and she's no longer that same strong girl that I secretly idolise like crazy (but if she or anyone else ever figures out the true extent to which I idolise her, I think ritual suicide will be in order).
Oooooh, NOW this is getting interesting. It's like Reina is all semi-(or even full-on) eyeing Miki.  >:D


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"Hey, Tanaka.  You have the time?"
Score one for me. ;D


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I smile at Eri.

"I was just thinking about how nice life is," I say, not a hint of sarcasm in my voice and meaning every word of it.

She smiles back.

"You're weird."

Oh, she should talk.
It's like the whole "pot calling the kettle black".


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Haha, sorry, it always ends up being about Aya and Miki!  I guess I can't help it.
Well, not really. It's still about Reina. Aya & Miki just happen to be in it.  ;D


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I still can't get the dynamic GAM duo out of my head.

...

It's not a normal kind of friendship.  If I had to use one word to describe them, I'd say dysfunctional.
Sometimes, there's something to be said about being dysfunctional.


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I collect myself and get up with determination.  I walk down the hallway that Fujimoto and Matsuura walked down just moments ago, and I see nothing but the doorway to the emergency stairway.
Oooooooooooooooooooo...Reina's really curious now, isn't she? She's gonna have to be pretty slick.


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The first thing I notice is that Matsuura is sitting a step up and leaning her side against the wall, while Fujimoto is sitting in front of her but a step down, resting back between the other girl's legs as if she's an armchair.
KAWAII!!!  :heart:


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"How far?" comes the unexpected question.

"What do you think?" Fujimoto sneers back.

"Oh, I don't know.  You?  You're such a nice, patient girl.  I'm going to go with a hug and a peck on the lips."

Matsuura bursts out laughing before she can finish her sentence, and I stifle my own laughter.
As much as it sucks trying to picture Miki with another dude, this was funny. I can just picture Aya trying to keep a straight face, and then failing miserably.


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"I'm so jealous!" she exclaims.

"Don't worry, Aya-chan.  You'll find yourself a boy someday," is Fujimoto's reply.

"No, not jealous of you.  Of Mizushima-san!" laughs Matsuura, and Fujimoto snorts out a few notes of laughter.

The guy IS one lucky bastard if he's gotten Miki's attention.


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"Hey, you guys'll have to share me from now on."
A guy can dream.  ::)


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"I love you.  You're my best friend."

The statement comes out of the blue and from my sub-leader.  It's so... mushy.  So not Fujimoto Miki.

"I know.  And right back at you."
AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!


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Maybe that's what close friendship is supposed to be like.  They can act all they want in public, but in private, they let their true selves show.  Maybe that's not weakness.
When you can do that with someone, it shows an incredible sense of trust and closeness. To be this in sync with a friend is rare. While many friendships can be strong, not as many can be as close as this. If one finds it, it's one of those TRUE treasures in life.


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To be perfectly frank, I like the two people that I just saw.

Saw?  Er, watched.

No?  Okay, fine.  Spied on.  There.
Meh, to-MAY-toes to-MAH-toes.  The end result was good.


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Poor Reina.  The narrator of the story, and she gets shafted.  Sorry.
I don't think she got shafted at all, actually.  Even though they were a pretty big part of the story, in the end we're still seeing things the way Reina sees them. So it wasn't about GAM, per se. 


In any case, it's still a really good story dude.

JPH!P :heart:'s kuro808, Fushigidane, ChrNo, Jab & marimari. Always.

Offline OTN1

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Re: A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours
« Reply #11 on: May 23, 2007, 06:07:07 AM »
Thank you!  I'm relieved to see positive feedback (well, not that I often get negative feedback, but haha, I guess that's because nobody wants to hurt my feelings, huh?).  I was a bit worried about taking Reina and doing this story, but I couldn't resist putting her point of view of AM out there since (at least in the first part) it was quite different from the other POVs I've written.

I enjoy writing (and reading) Aya and Miki as friends.  Probably more than as anything else.  There's something so potentially innocent and cute about their friendship in different scenarios that it's kind of fun to let the imagination run wild.

Yuuyami's suggestion has some good points to it.  Maybe this can be my miscellaneous story thread.  But... maybe I'll have more to say from Reina's point of view one day.  I'd better not make any decisions yet, because I've been know to quite suddenly churn out a hundred pages after saying "The end" at the end of a one-part story.

And yeah yeah, JFC.  All right, already.  Geeeez.  :D  You know, nobody exactly fulfilled the requirement to merit those 10 chapters of fluff (the requirement being having to guess what happens at the end of WNTDB).  But I guess... some of you came close enough, and besides, I secretly like writing fluff too much.  So stop wasting your time in here if that's what you're looking for, and check that other thread that's going to pop up in a minute.  Hahaha.

Offline rndmnwierd

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Re: A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours
« Reply #12 on: May 23, 2007, 05:22:32 PM »
GAM friendship love=Yay!. It was a cute little ficlet.

Offline JFC

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Re: A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours
« Reply #13 on: May 23, 2007, 06:20:18 PM »
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You know, nobody exactly fulfilled the requirement to merit those 10 chapters of fluff (the requirement being having to guess what happens at the end of WNTDB).
There was a requirement?

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But I guess... some of you came close enough, and besides, I secretly like writing fluff too much.  So stop wasting your time in here if that's what you're looking for, and check that other thread that's going to pop up in a minute.  Hahaha.
WOOOOT HELLZ YA!

JPH!P :heart:'s kuro808, Fushigidane, ChrNo, Jab & marimari. Always.

Offline OTN1

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Re: A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours
« Reply #14 on: March 14, 2009, 02:58:45 AM »
I don't know if anybody will care to read this after a year and a half since the original story, but some more came to my mind last night.  And like I said:

... maybe I'll have more to say from Reina's point of view one day.  I'd better not make any decisions yet, because I've been know to quite suddenly churn out a hundred pages after saying "The end" at the end of a one-part story.
And for once, it has nothing to do with the usual 2.

When we last left our heroine, she had just been enlightened about friendship.  Let's see what kind of lesson she has learned and what changes she's made in her life...


A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours III

Screw the freaking world. 

Ya know?

If anybody could hear my thoughts right now, they'd make some lame joke about that being Yoshizawa's favourite line.  The "Ya know?" bit.  They think 'cause she said it in one song, like, twice, it's her trademark.  The stupidest things develop from the stupidest things.  Not that it's a stupid line.  It's cool.  It works.  It's English!  But just, arg.

But I'm even angrier at myself.  I made great headway two weeks ago when I accidentally (um, yeah, accidentally...) listened in on a conversation between two of my seniors.  They were all friendly and I was all pessimistic.  Then I actually listened to what they were saying and I realised that I could be more like that with my friends and get more out of life.

And I tried!  I really did.  I came to work the next day with food to share with Eri and Sayu, and I was extra nice to everyone, and I even complimented Koharu on getting a dance right (although it was a total lie 'cause she did, like, eight million things wrong).  It felt good for the first few days, and everyone kind of noticed something different about me.

But then I gave up.  I saw my seniors - the undefeatable GAM duo that had inspired me to be nice - fighting like dogs, screaming ridiculous things at each other (and just when I thought they'd never argue in their lives), and Eri started doing strange and stupid things that pissed me off.  Then Sayu got on my case about this and that, and I just said screw it all.

Ya know?

The next day, GAM wasn't speaking to each other, Eri was on drugs and meditating (or at least that's my theory), and Sayu was all hurt and offended because I'd ignored her when she'd started whining about not having time to shop the previous weekend.  Koharu kept doing the wrong thing.  I thought a little encouragement was supposed to help someone, give them confidence, and get them to do things correctly.  But she stayed as terrible as usual.  And to add to everything, I fell down during dance practice, something that never happens (falling, not practice), and everybody laughed.  I wanted to kick them all, especially Gaki, who falls all the time.

I can't believe that these are my friends and people I work with.  They drive me insane.

Because, okay, all that shit happened.  And then everything reversed.  GAM got married again (or at least, you know, they stopped fighting and started talking), Eri bought me a super awesome wallet that is exactly that kind of wallet I've always ever wanted, and Sayu brought me food.  Koharu, while she was still tripping all over the place, finally got her placement in the dance right, and Gaki ran into a door made of glass (this had me in stitches for hours).

So I was in a good mood again, my faith in human beings and friendship renewed.  I went back to being nice.  I paid compliments, gave out candy, and smiled at my friends.

And then they got on my nerves again.  For some reason Fujimoto started targeting me with scathing comments that were supposed to be jokes but sounded pretty bitchy to me, Eri ruined the orange scarf I lent her, and Sayu barged in on me while I was on the telephone with my mother and then wouldn't stop teasing me about how my personality changed when I was on the phone with family (which is totally not true).

So I've given up.  I can't keep up with all this.  Why do people have to be so wavering?  Why can't they just be one way and never change so drastically as to make you hate them?

I love my friends, but I don't think I will ever be nice to them.  If I am, they'll just make me want to rip my hair out and scream.  Again.

***

"Tanaka-san, could you-"

"What?!" I yell, swivelling around sharply in my chair, coming face to face with... not Fujimoto but my manager.

I'm sitting in the common area on the third floor of a studio that we basically own.  For the past twenty minutes I've been holding a television script in my hands and facing towards the window.  I already memorised my lines last night, but I've been using this script as an excuse to sit quietly and alone with my thoughts.

Fujimoto was on my case yesterday evening about being a better leader for the younger ones (there's only one in our group, and she's hopeless!), and so mostly I was just thinking about how nice it would be to put her on one of those medieval torture machines where they stretch a person out from tip to bottom.  She'd beg forgiveness, and since I'd be the ruler of the world, I would not grant it.  The offender's arms and legs would slowly be ripped off.  But there'd be no blood because spilling blood would cause an unsightly mess.  There'd just be a few stray fibres from the tearing of the tendons and muscles, but nothing more.  And then the armless and legless Fujimoto would be carted off to a special home as a bearer of an important message. ("Hear ye, hear ye!  I cometh here to deliver this message to thee: Do not mess with Tanaka Reina!")

Okay, I got a tad involved in my fantasy.  So when someone called my name, I assumed it was the person I was thinking about and I reacted appropriately (and yeah, one can argue whether or not it's appropriate to yell "What?!" at your senior, but given my mood (as well as hers), I don't think it would have endangered any already-soured relationships).

Alas, it is my manager who is not Fujimoto.  Alas, alas.  She is usually slow to anger, but I think I've been a bit insane the past week (not my fault, everybody else's).  She snaps in the head and delivers a speech about my attitude.  I listen with boredom and contempt.  I make sure to show both on my face, although to keep up images, I throw a bit more boredom on there, just to show her that while her words bother me, I would much rather be gnawing off my own arm than listening to the same old tired speech.

But... something different..?  I feel a hand grab my shoulder, and it pulls at me roughly.

"You're coming with me to talk to the discipline officer," my dearest manager growls at me.

Violent physical contact?  Growling?  Surely this must be a dream.  Ishibashi is a kind woman, a patient woman, a... a... someone who would never do what she is doing right now!

She hauls me to my feet, drags me to the elevator, and slams her hand down on the button for the highest floor - twelve.  My mind is mostly fixated on the fact that my manager has gone insane and might very well be taking me up to the roof to push me off of it, but about ten percent of my brain wonders who this 'discipline officer' is and why I've never heard of him or her.  I try to open my mouth to speak, but my shock has made time pass differently within my mind and out in reality.  What has felt like twenty minutes to me has in fact been only several.  So when I start to ask where we're going, the lift doors open and Ishibashi shoves me out, grabbing me by the back of my shirt (maybe she doesn't want to push it and grab the scruff of my neck, although personally, I think she's already taken this all way too far) and leading me down the hallway.

I do manage to make a sound.  It's not very sensible.  Kind of a low "Rgh" with a bit of a questioning "Errhg?" thrown into the mix.  Perhaps when this episode is over, I'll belong in the imaginary home to which I've sent the imaginary, limbless Fujimoto.

In one minute (or in my mind's time, about thirteen) we reach a regular door situated three units away from the end of the hallway.  Ishibashi knocks with her left hand, her right hand still holding on to (and no doubt wrinkling) my top.  I don't hear any kind of reply, but Ishibashi places her hand on the doorknob and twists it, pushing the door open slowly.  She walks in first, which results in my being turned around and drawn into the room backwards.  Not exactly the best way to make a dazzling entrance.  But I'll work with it.  I put on my bored face, still confused out of my mind but desperate enough about keeping up appearances to slip into my routine.  Ishibashi somehow kicks the door closed without turning around, and she drags me forward while turning me to face into the room.

It's pretty dark with the door closed.  The light has some kind of dimmer installed on it and it's turned down to the lowest level.  The curtains are also drawn shut, which is obviously the sign of a sick freak because it's a beautiful day out today, and natural light would do the job better than this strange light fixture.  In front of the curtained window is a desk with nothing on it, and behind that desk is a forty-ish man in casual business wear sitting calmly.  He's utterly unremarkable.  One of those countless nondescript salarymen you walk by in the morning to get to school.

"Tanaka Reina," Ishibashi announces, pushing me forward as I try and maintain my cool.

What's going to happen?  Is this man going to strap me onto a torture machine and do unto me what I have imagined doing to Fujimoto?  And why do I get the distinct feeling that Youtube and Mixi will become involved?  Seeing video footage of a forty year old torturing a teenaged idol would probably get a lot of people off.  But Ishibashi is there to keep me safe.  Then again, she might be of the mind to leave, quietly closing the door after her.  Revenge, perhaps, for the bitchiness I serve up to her on a dish daily.

The man extends a hand out to the chair on the opposite side of the desk.  The client's side.  On my side.  On... the victim's side..?

I start to sweat.  Is this what I'm here for?  Torture?  The carrying out of severe punishment against the Project's most volatile member?  Oh, why oh why did I ever idolise Nakazawa-san when I was younger?  I sweat some more.

Ishibashi forces me to sit in the chair, and I grip the arms.  It's all I can do to keep from screaming out my questions, from screaming out in fright.  If this were any other situation, if these were any other people, I wouldn't be so scared.  Or at least I'd be able to effect a strong face.  But the fact that it's my trustworthy Ishibashi-san that has snapped and brought me to this torture chamber relays to me the gravity of the situation.  Reality has changed, and those that could be trusted before are no longer worthy of that honour.  This is a world of opposites.  What would never happen in the world as I knew it before will now happen.

And it's all my fault.  It's entirely my fault.   I've been a terrible person, and because I yelled out at Ishibashi one time too many, I will now pay.  I am the straw that broke the camel's back.

So I do what any girl my age, tough or not, would do in such a situation: I faint.

***

I awake to a few nudges and a sprinkling of cold water on my face.  I begin to mutter about the injustices of life when I remember my situation.  My eyes shoot open, and I regret doing that.  While I'm still in the strange room, someone has had the sense to open the curtains, and the sun just happens to be glaring in through the window and into my eyes.  I turn my face away and take in my surroundings.

The salaryman is now standing, rather than sitting, behind his desk, looking at me with concern.  Ishibashi is standing just to my left and holding a glass of water, watching me with the same concern.

"What..?" I croak out weakly.

"I'm sorry.  We didn't mean to scare you that much," Ishibashi apologises, somehow reverted back to her regular, soft personality.

I frown.

"You wanted to scare me?" I ask, confused still.

The salaryman goes back behind his desk and folds his hands on the surface, looking at me with a calm expression.

"I'm the leader of the disciplinary committee associated with your Project.  It's my job to make sure everyone behaves properly."

His voice is an octave lower than I expected it to be.  It booms in a deep but friendly way, and it only makes this situation all the more strange.

"You're not the first girl to be brought here, but you are the first to faint," he explains.

Is that a twinkle of amusement in his eye?  I'm the first of the girls to faint?  He'd better not be laughing at me, because if he is, I'll jump out of this chair, grab that stupid collar of his, rip it up and stuff it in his mouth and then open the window-

No.  I can't think like that.  I need to remain calm.  That kind of vivid daydreaming was what got me in this chair in the first place.

"Although to your credit, we've never quite dealt with a mischief maker the way we have with you."

Well, at least that's a bit of a comfort.  I'm so big 'n scary that they had to use extra terrifying tactics.  It makes me feel a little better.

"Who else has been here to see you?" I ask, gaining confidence and losing fear as each second passes.

They're not going to hurt me.  Now I know they're just trying to scare me back to being a good girl.

"Of the girls you know?  I can't name names, but the ones you might expect," the man says knowledgeably, "and a few you'd never suspect."

Now I'll never rest until I've found out who the latter group of girls are.  Probably Gaki's one of 'em.  I'm sure there's a naughty streak in that goody toe shoes.  I'll have to invite her out for lunch and pry in my special Tanaka way.

"So... can I go now?" I ask nonchalantly, or at least as nonchalantly as I can manage, still not quite used to this situation, though secure with the knowledge that I won't be harmed.

"Tanaka-san, we need you to understand that we've got our eye on you."

And that's all he really needs to say.  Message received.  Tanaka shall henceforth be a good girl.

And that's all he does say.  He swivels his chair around to face the window, and I take that as my dismissal.  I look up at Ishibashi, who has been standing off to my left silently the whole time.  She acknowledges me with a nod, and we both move off to the door together.  We exit in a far more distinguished manner than when we entered.

The elevator ride is eerily silent.  I'm a bit scared of my manager now, even though she doesn't look like she could hurt a fly.  I want to ask her just exactly what happened simply out of want for something to do during those awkward minutes heading back to the third floor.  But I don't really need to ask anything.  I know what it was all about.  I crossed a line with my attitude, they used their scare tactics to knock some sense into me (or at least knock me out), and they let me go with a warning.

Maybe now is a good time to start thinking about people and how they change from one thing to another day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute.  Maybe I should be a little more forgiving, especially when it comes to my friends.  Whether they want to fight or be pleasant with one another, nag me or buy me things, praise me or ignore me, they are who they are.  We're all just human beings.

And maybe - just maybe - Sayu is right about my personality undergoing a change when I'm speaking to my family.

Pfft, not.

The End.
« Last Edit: March 25, 2009, 03:29:05 AM by OTN1 »

Offline Amarghetta

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Re: A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours (holy crap, Part III, 2009)
« Reply #15 on: March 14, 2009, 03:08:48 AM »
Ohmahgaaaah! You're back!  :w00t:
Now I must read this all over again...  :lol:
Read it all and loved it.  :muffin: Reina's imagination is full of win!  :twothumbs
« Last Edit: March 14, 2009, 06:00:34 AM by Amarghetta »

Offline Haruka

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Re: A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours (holy crap, Part III, 2009)
« Reply #16 on: March 14, 2009, 03:23:24 AM »
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Now I'll never rest until I've found out who the latter group of girls are.  Probably Gaki's one of 'em.  I'm sure there's a naughty streak in that goody toe shoes.  I'll have to invite her out for lunch and pry in my special Tanaka way.


Jajajajajjajaja I really really laugh with this xDDDDDDDDDDDDD


Nice fic =)


God!! She knows she's HOT!

Offline ShikyoxYaiba

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Re: A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours (holy crap, Part III, 2009)
« Reply #17 on: March 14, 2009, 04:33:36 AM »
I actually just read that all in one go. :twothumbs Loved all three parts. <3

Offline JFC

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Re: A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours (holy crap, Part III, 2009)
« Reply #18 on: March 14, 2009, 05:06:45 AM »
I'm like Reina now. I want to know who else has been "called up" to this guy's office. :lol:


Welcome back OTN!! :rockon:

JPH!P :heart:'s kuro808, Fushigidane, ChrNo, Jab & marimari. Always.

Offline Fenrir

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Re: A Fraction of a Cathartic Couple of Hours (holy crap, Part III, 2009)
« Reply #19 on: March 14, 2009, 05:36:41 AM »
Wheeee!! OTN~! You're back!!!

Yesh~!! :heart:

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