Greetings those in the Elfen Lied fanfic sphere, it has been quite a while since I've written an Elfen Lied story, my last one being Elfen Lied: The second Verse. Now I have for you not just one, but a series of Elfen Lied one-shots dedicated to some of the forgotten characters of the Manga (oh and the Anime as well I guess). They won't be long but I certainly hope they make up for it in quality.
A brief thanks to Gojirob whose own Elfen Lied stories have given me some inspiration for this. Also, there might be some things outside the canon mentioned but I'll be otherwise basing these mostly on events in the Manga canon. So here's the first of the Elfen Lied obituaries. Enjoy!
Elfen Lied Obituaries: The Loveless Spy
Shino Shirakawa. A woman played by both sides of the Diclonius Facilities intelligence wars. A woman taken down by her own hesitations and miscalculations. A woman who had fallen victim to love's bite.
Envy and hatred for the Room Monitor's child would see her degrade into a spiteful but determined woman, driven to gain the Room Monitor's attention and love.
Shino never had the chance to tell her Room Monitor that she too was given a red mark on her life, unable to bear children of her own. Yet once she discovered that the one she adored had a Diclonius daughter, she sought all means to make that child suffer, the very same way he had to suffer with this reality...The same way she had to suffer for not being able to reach the Room Monitor's heart.
But when she saw that peach haired child crying in severe pain, her legs severed and bleeding at the stumps, she felt something truly odd and unexpected. Was it a mother's instinct? Or was it just shock at the sight of blood?
No it couldn't have been the latter. Shino had already gotten used to the sight of blood at that facility. Why she even made good friends with some of the window cleaners who would come by after each 'experiment'. She knew one or two by name.
With the Room Monitor's child crying in pain, and the Queen menace laughing over her, Shino had felt it – empathy.
And it was only then that she realised that was what had been driving her obsession with this child all along. She wanted to be Saito – no she wanted to be Hiromi. She wanted to feel that experience of being a mother, of having something worth protecting in this world. As independent and capable as she was, she wanted to know that feeling of being cared for and to share the joy of another life with that someone. To care and be cared for; to hold a child and be held in his arms. And just as she finally awoke to this revelation, the timer was beeping down to its final few minutes. Every beep, every second closer to destruction.
Shino knew a long time ago that she couldn't be a mother. She now knew that she couldn't be with the Room Monitor either. But if she sacrificed herself, she believed that she might be able to save that horned child and save the daughter she could never have.
She had one simple request for the Room Monitor. A man she never should have gotten close with. Her role was to gain information, not succumb to fleeting crushes. Yet she had, and she might have even failed or severely compromised her mission for doing so. And she didn't care anymore.
She only cared about the hard exterior yet soft interior that made up the Room Monitor.
She had one simple request...
She never told him that request.
It would die with her that day. The day she finally got the chance to breathe on the Room Monitor's neck.
...Shino Shirakawa...
Died on page 186 of Volume 7, Chapter 70
Died from decapitation and a broken heart...
*Shino was the name found on the Elfen Lied Wiki. I had thought of a first name of my own for Shirakawa if she needed it but went with the slightly more plausible name instead.
So how was it? The next one will be another taken-for-granted character who needs a hug - or at least his belt back. That should be a big enough hint for the next one. Hope you'll read that one too!