ushio , Happy Thoughts
darthcourt10
Well worn.
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NotHimAgain
Anyhoo. I was trying to write from Yae's perspective this time, so I'm not sure how it came out.
Happy Thoughts
-----
One of the facts of pregnancy that Yae had learned early on was that, once it turned out you had a little person growing inside your tummy, everyone was going to want you to not do stuff. Really—she gently poked her stomach—the curve that her stomach was beginning to develop didn't even count as showing yet—at least, not in her opinion. If you asked Mamiya, she would probably have a very different opinion. She should at least be allowed to hit a practice dummy with a stick or something, work off some stress. Instead, people treated her like she was made of glass—no, wait, glass wasn't delicate. She had once split her forehead open against a glass window without even cracking it—but maybe one of those little glass vases that everyone dropped? Yeah, like one of those.
Mamiya was as nice about it as possible, but there was always an element of fear in her voice when they spoke, one that she couldn't hide no matter what. Her younger brother, Tatsuya, was a frantic ball of high-school aged energy, with an unfortunate tendency to come home smelling of smoke and sewage while refusing to speak about it—probably had something to do with the "adventures" Mamiya spoke of. Anyhow, he tried the best he could, but he also tended to act like she needed help standing up from the dinner table. Mr. and Mrs. Haneda… well, they were the problem and a half. Especially Mrs. Haneda. Yae would never admit it to Mamiya, but her mother was treating her like a toddler only learning how to walk. And every time she attempted to talk to her, it would come back to…
No. She banished the thought. Not thinking about that. Thinking about… Kamen Rider. Yes. She had forgotten to bring any of her DVDs with her, leaving her apartment when it became clear to her that the distress it gave her was starting to make her feel nauseous. She would have to go back and retrieve a few of them. Mm, that was a nice thought. Sitting on this nice couch, watching Fourze, drifting off… to…
Yae blinked awake to the sound of voices somewhere around the door. She raised her fingers to her eyelids, rubbing sleep away. She had been lying there since early that morning, drifting in and out of sleep. She blamed it on the couch—it was the sort of furniture that looked like it may have once been a masterwork, but had been turned by years and living into a shapeless, comfy mass. The perfect couch, in her opinion.
The door slid open, and Mamiya stepped in, slipping her sandals from her feet. Following her was a short woman with thick rimmed glasses, black hair in a messy braid, and one of those cat-eared hoodies that were typically associated with middle-schoolers.
"Tadaima!" Mamiya shouted, her voice reverberating through the house. From the kitchen, Mr. Haneda called out the customary response. Yae, arms still limp from rest, tried to push herself into a sitting position, but found rolling onto her side easier to accomplish. She resorts to trying to slide up the side of the armrest, and then pushing herself the rest of the way up.
"Ashida-san," the newcomer greets her, and her voice is very familiar—what was her name, something about snakes? "How you doing?" Yae presses a hand to her mouth, stifling a yawn—whoops, gotta smile! Think happy thoughts, happy happy happy. Pushing the corners of her mouth upwards, she turns looks up at the woman standing before her.
"Hebi…" she begins, searching for the second half of the name, but her old schoolmate gives her an awkward smile and shoves her hands in her pockets.
"Hebihara," she completes, "but these days people usually just call me Ichika." Yae thinks a moment more, and calls to mind a studious girl who obsessively categorized and chronicled. The woman before her looks rumpled and as if she had been sleeping under her bed—a bit of a far cry from the person in her memory.
"You look different," she said, catching herself before her words turned into a yawn again.
Ichika shrugged, her face half a grimace. "High school wasn't good to me," she admitted. "But I'm past that now. Mostly. More importantly, how've you been?"
"I'm doing a lot better!" Yae replied brightly as Mr. Haneda entered the room carrying a tea tray. Going by the look on Ichika's face, her attempt crashed and burned before it had even left the ground. Ichika accepted a cup of tea, and slowly lowered herself down on the couch next to her.
Mamiya looked between the two of them, as if considering something. "Well," she said, "I was thinking of going back to… the apartment. There are some things there that I think Yae will probably be wanting, and… Seo and Hikawa will probably come by later today, and…"
"Could you get my Fourze DVDs?" Yae asked almost immediately. She had been planning on going herself, hadn't she? Why was she being so weak about this? It wasn't like… like… like there was some kind of sadness there, so deep and great that there were no words for her to describe it with.
"Yes! Sure! I should probably be back before they get her, and…" Mamiya sighed, the verbal equivalent of throwing her hands up in defeat. "Well, take care, alright? Tatsuya will probably be home from school soon, you can ask him and my parents if you need anything." Then she was gone out the door with a cry of "Ittekimasu!"
"She's a real go-getter, isn't she?" Yae said contemplatively. Ichika leaned back into the couch, drinking deeply from her teacup, and nodded.
"So, then. How've you really been doing?" she asked.
"I'm… not sure what you're talking about?" Yae replied. Really, what was she talking about? She was fine. Very fine. No room for sadness and grumpiness meant none of those, right?
"I know what trying to make yourself be happy sounds like, okay?" Ichika said. "I've never been where you are, but… But I know that much."
Yae drew in a breath, and it came in ragged. Why? That was ridiculous! "What's there to be sad about?" she asked, holding her voice together. "I've got friends helping me out. A place to stay. I've got it a lot better than a lot of other people out there! I'm fine!"
There was a minute's silence, and Ichika finished her tea contemplatively. Placing the cup on the small table in front of the couch, she clasped her hands in her lap, looking down at them.
"You know," she said, a studied calmness in her voice that Yae, was, of course, completely unfamiliar with, "After middle school, and that business in Yokosuka, my mom didn't let me join another club. All through high school it was go to school, study, go home, study. Weekends? I studied. She told me all the time that it was for my own sake, for my own future, that I was smart and deserved the best." She was smart, Yae gave her that. She had consistently gotten scores that were, if not perfect, darned close to it. "And I ate it up. It didn't matter that I wanted to go to karaoke on my way home, or maybe see what the girls were doing after classes. My mom knew what was best for me, right? So what if I felt like I was trapped, like my life was being torn away from me. At least the people doing it were doing it for my own good.
"Well, all the emotions that I kept telling myself I wasn't feeling started building up. I started having trouble in classes that should have been easy, and my temper started getting shorter. And then, one day, I just lost it in the middle of class. Start screaming at the teacher, and ran out of the classroom." She smiled humorously. "Fortunately, they caught me before I could get over the fencing on the roof."
"I have a feeling this is leading to something?" Yae asked. As the story went on, the grinding hurt in her stomach had been picking up.
"Just… I know what it's like lying to yourself and pretending that everything's okay. So please, don't do that." Yae looked down at her stomach again. At something so full of joy, that it had cost her another.
"Can't say I'll make any promises," she said. "Telling myself the truth isn't really all that pleasant, you know?" Ichika 'hmm-ed,' and quiet returned. Yae broke it a bit impulsively--maybe it was just that there was finally something to do?
"So, how's your mother?" Ichika laughed bitterly.
"Who knows?" she asked, voice slightly sardonic. "I haven't spoken to her in years."
-----
"… so we should be there tomorrow afternoon. Oh right—can you tell Mamiya to expect us? Rather not arrive unannounced. Thanks." Saki snapped her cell phone closed and pocketed it with a habitual snap of her wrist.
"What do you think we should pack?" Ushio asked, sitting on her bed. "Just an overnight bag? Umi and I can't really be off-base for too long."
"That sounds good," Saki agreed. She reached up, pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "And that tone of voice means you have something on your mind, doesn't it?"
"Quite definitely," Umi agreed.
Ushio smiled ruefully. "It's nothing, I just… I was thinking that Yae will need a way to support her child once she's born. So, I was thinking…"
"You're right!" Saki jumped as Umi crowed abruptly, hopping in place. "Of course! I think that could work! We'll have to talk to some people, but—"
"Don't yell like that!" Saki snapped in return. "But yeah," she added, subsiding, "I think I have an idea where you're going with this." Ushio's smile grew.
-----
Well what do you think, sirs?
RBomber said:
NotHimAgain , can I post your snippets to SV in meantime, in close future? Thank you for your answer.
I see no reason why not. I actually remember Harry referencing the Ushio snippets a while back, so that would have been a little confusing to anyone reading them on SV...NotHimAgain , can I post your snippets to SV in meantime, in close future? Thank you for your answer.
Anyhoo. I was trying to write from Yae's perspective this time, so I'm not sure how it came out.
Happy Thoughts
-----
One of the facts of pregnancy that Yae had learned early on was that, once it turned out you had a little person growing inside your tummy, everyone was going to want you to not do stuff. Really—she gently poked her stomach—the curve that her stomach was beginning to develop didn't even count as showing yet—at least, not in her opinion. If you asked Mamiya, she would probably have a very different opinion. She should at least be allowed to hit a practice dummy with a stick or something, work off some stress. Instead, people treated her like she was made of glass—no, wait, glass wasn't delicate. She had once split her forehead open against a glass window without even cracking it—but maybe one of those little glass vases that everyone dropped? Yeah, like one of those.
Mamiya was as nice about it as possible, but there was always an element of fear in her voice when they spoke, one that she couldn't hide no matter what. Her younger brother, Tatsuya, was a frantic ball of high-school aged energy, with an unfortunate tendency to come home smelling of smoke and sewage while refusing to speak about it—probably had something to do with the "adventures" Mamiya spoke of. Anyhow, he tried the best he could, but he also tended to act like she needed help standing up from the dinner table. Mr. and Mrs. Haneda… well, they were the problem and a half. Especially Mrs. Haneda. Yae would never admit it to Mamiya, but her mother was treating her like a toddler only learning how to walk. And every time she attempted to talk to her, it would come back to…
No. She banished the thought. Not thinking about that. Thinking about… Kamen Rider. Yes. She had forgotten to bring any of her DVDs with her, leaving her apartment when it became clear to her that the distress it gave her was starting to make her feel nauseous. She would have to go back and retrieve a few of them. Mm, that was a nice thought. Sitting on this nice couch, watching Fourze, drifting off… to…
Yae blinked awake to the sound of voices somewhere around the door. She raised her fingers to her eyelids, rubbing sleep away. She had been lying there since early that morning, drifting in and out of sleep. She blamed it on the couch—it was the sort of furniture that looked like it may have once been a masterwork, but had been turned by years and living into a shapeless, comfy mass. The perfect couch, in her opinion.
The door slid open, and Mamiya stepped in, slipping her sandals from her feet. Following her was a short woman with thick rimmed glasses, black hair in a messy braid, and one of those cat-eared hoodies that were typically associated with middle-schoolers.
"Tadaima!" Mamiya shouted, her voice reverberating through the house. From the kitchen, Mr. Haneda called out the customary response. Yae, arms still limp from rest, tried to push herself into a sitting position, but found rolling onto her side easier to accomplish. She resorts to trying to slide up the side of the armrest, and then pushing herself the rest of the way up.
"Ashida-san," the newcomer greets her, and her voice is very familiar—what was her name, something about snakes? "How you doing?" Yae presses a hand to her mouth, stifling a yawn—whoops, gotta smile! Think happy thoughts, happy happy happy. Pushing the corners of her mouth upwards, she turns looks up at the woman standing before her.
"Hebi…" she begins, searching for the second half of the name, but her old schoolmate gives her an awkward smile and shoves her hands in her pockets.
"Hebihara," she completes, "but these days people usually just call me Ichika." Yae thinks a moment more, and calls to mind a studious girl who obsessively categorized and chronicled. The woman before her looks rumpled and as if she had been sleeping under her bed—a bit of a far cry from the person in her memory.
"You look different," she said, catching herself before her words turned into a yawn again.
Ichika shrugged, her face half a grimace. "High school wasn't good to me," she admitted. "But I'm past that now. Mostly. More importantly, how've you been?"
"I'm doing a lot better!" Yae replied brightly as Mr. Haneda entered the room carrying a tea tray. Going by the look on Ichika's face, her attempt crashed and burned before it had even left the ground. Ichika accepted a cup of tea, and slowly lowered herself down on the couch next to her.
Mamiya looked between the two of them, as if considering something. "Well," she said, "I was thinking of going back to… the apartment. There are some things there that I think Yae will probably be wanting, and… Seo and Hikawa will probably come by later today, and…"
"Could you get my Fourze DVDs?" Yae asked almost immediately. She had been planning on going herself, hadn't she? Why was she being so weak about this? It wasn't like… like… like there was some kind of sadness there, so deep and great that there were no words for her to describe it with.
"Yes! Sure! I should probably be back before they get her, and…" Mamiya sighed, the verbal equivalent of throwing her hands up in defeat. "Well, take care, alright? Tatsuya will probably be home from school soon, you can ask him and my parents if you need anything." Then she was gone out the door with a cry of "Ittekimasu!"
"She's a real go-getter, isn't she?" Yae said contemplatively. Ichika leaned back into the couch, drinking deeply from her teacup, and nodded.
"So, then. How've you really been doing?" she asked.
"I'm… not sure what you're talking about?" Yae replied. Really, what was she talking about? She was fine. Very fine. No room for sadness and grumpiness meant none of those, right?
"I know what trying to make yourself be happy sounds like, okay?" Ichika said. "I've never been where you are, but… But I know that much."
Yae drew in a breath, and it came in ragged. Why? That was ridiculous! "What's there to be sad about?" she asked, holding her voice together. "I've got friends helping me out. A place to stay. I've got it a lot better than a lot of other people out there! I'm fine!"
There was a minute's silence, and Ichika finished her tea contemplatively. Placing the cup on the small table in front of the couch, she clasped her hands in her lap, looking down at them.
"You know," she said, a studied calmness in her voice that Yae, was, of course, completely unfamiliar with, "After middle school, and that business in Yokosuka, my mom didn't let me join another club. All through high school it was go to school, study, go home, study. Weekends? I studied. She told me all the time that it was for my own sake, for my own future, that I was smart and deserved the best." She was smart, Yae gave her that. She had consistently gotten scores that were, if not perfect, darned close to it. "And I ate it up. It didn't matter that I wanted to go to karaoke on my way home, or maybe see what the girls were doing after classes. My mom knew what was best for me, right? So what if I felt like I was trapped, like my life was being torn away from me. At least the people doing it were doing it for my own good.
"Well, all the emotions that I kept telling myself I wasn't feeling started building up. I started having trouble in classes that should have been easy, and my temper started getting shorter. And then, one day, I just lost it in the middle of class. Start screaming at the teacher, and ran out of the classroom." She smiled humorously. "Fortunately, they caught me before I could get over the fencing on the roof."
"I have a feeling this is leading to something?" Yae asked. As the story went on, the grinding hurt in her stomach had been picking up.
"Just… I know what it's like lying to yourself and pretending that everything's okay. So please, don't do that." Yae looked down at her stomach again. At something so full of joy, that it had cost her another.
"Can't say I'll make any promises," she said. "Telling myself the truth isn't really all that pleasant, you know?" Ichika 'hmm-ed,' and quiet returned. Yae broke it a bit impulsively--maybe it was just that there was finally something to do?
"So, how's your mother?" Ichika laughed bitterly.
"Who knows?" she asked, voice slightly sardonic. "I haven't spoken to her in years."
-----
"… so we should be there tomorrow afternoon. Oh right—can you tell Mamiya to expect us? Rather not arrive unannounced. Thanks." Saki snapped her cell phone closed and pocketed it with a habitual snap of her wrist.
"What do you think we should pack?" Ushio asked, sitting on her bed. "Just an overnight bag? Umi and I can't really be off-base for too long."
"That sounds good," Saki agreed. She reached up, pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "And that tone of voice means you have something on your mind, doesn't it?"
"Quite definitely," Umi agreed.
Ushio smiled ruefully. "It's nothing, I just… I was thinking that Yae will need a way to support her child once she's born. So, I was thinking…"
"You're right!" Saki jumped as Umi crowed abruptly, hopping in place. "Of course! I think that could work! We'll have to talk to some people, but—"
"Don't yell like that!" Saki snapped in return. "But yeah," she added, subsiding, "I think I have an idea where you're going with this." Ushio's smile grew.
-----
Well what do you think, sirs?
