Shiina Stories
It was another week. Another insane operation. And another chance for Yurippe to laugh like an evil villain. After hearing this laugh for the hundredth time, I'm convinced that she's practiced it. Also, as one of the founding members of the SSS, I've known Yurippe for more than a while, so I can say that this is (sadly) a normal occurrence. Except it's a bit early, the laugh usually comes after the operation briefing, not before.
"Yurippe? Shouldn't you at least explain to us what we're doing before you cackle?" I asked.
She stopped abruptly, "Right. You're right Hinata. For this week, all of you are going camping in the mountains."
As she spoke, a schematic of the mountain appeared on the screen behind Yurippe. Surprisingly enough, we had a schematic of the mountain.
"Well, that's not so bad." Ooyama said.
"Without permission."
Fujimaki shuffled in his seat, "Still waiting for it."
"And you're going to lure out Angel."
"There we go!" I said at last.
"Angel will hear that you guys have snuck out of the school, and assume you're up to no good. The rest of the time, Shiina, Lusa and I will sneak about and look for clues about what gives Angel her power."
"Wait, why are only the guys going to get slaughtered?" Noda protested.
"Because you're good at it."
Noda wished he could deny that.
"Operation Camping Trip... STARTO!"
I eyed Yurippe cautiously as I left with everyone else. Even though sending all of us to our not-deaths was normal for the "Still Alive and Kicking Battlefront", the method seemed too simple. Why would just sending us out into the wilderness attract Angel? It's not like anything's out there, except trees I guess.
"I am most excited for this trip." Takamatsu said as he pushed his glasses up. I'm pretty sure he did that every time he spoke.
"Same. Maybe we can catch some deer to eat!" Matsushita added.
"It'll be all fun and games until we get ripped to shreds."
"Don't say that, Fujimaki. Maybe we'll run away this time."
Ooyama's naiveté was refreshing.
When the day came, we all had packed our bags and headed out at the crack of 9:00 in the morning. The hike up to the camp site was relatively uneventful. Otonashi, who remained remarkably quiet throughout the briefing, walked beside me. We struck up some small chat to pass the time.
"So, just out of curiosity, who's Lusa?" he asked.
"Wait, you've never met her?"
"No..."
"Well, I guess that makes sense. She's essentially Yurippe's eyes and ears everywhere. If you even see her then that's an impressive feat of perception in its own right." I remember when I first met Lusa. I walked into the Anti-Angel Headquarters, and she was standing next to Yurippe. I gave her a strange look, which she didn't respond to. Yurippe introduced us and then I only ever saw Lusa in the field after that. Strange girl.
"And why isn't Shiina joining us? She doesn't seem like the kind to stay back and search with Yurippe and Lusa." Otonashi asked.
"You should be thankful that she isn't here." Matsushida replied from in front of us.
"Yeah, I don't know if I could sleep if she was here." Ooyama added.
"What's so bad about her? Sure, she seems quiet, but she's probably a nice person." Otonashi said.
I leaned in close and asked him quietly, "Have you heard any of the stories?"
"What?"
"The Shiina Stories."
"No..."
"Guys, I know what we're doing tonight!" I shouted, "We're telling Shiina Stories." The rest of the SSS cheered. Why? Because Shiina Stories is a synonym for Scary Stories. Because all good Shiina Stories are scary as hell. All of the guys started smiling a Yurippe-esque evil smile. Everyone has at least one good Shiina story.
"Otonashi, my friend, you're about to get learned in the way of the raconteur."
"The what?"
"Raconteur. Storyteller. Same thing."
"Oh. Ok."
"It appears that we have arrived." Takamatsu announced from the head of the group. We set our tents up in the middle of the open area that was our camping site. The trees were spread out far enough for us to have a place to both set up our tents, and have room for a bonfire. We collected tinder and rocks and stumps for chairs until the sun began to set. Matsushida cooked beef udon (of course), while we talked and laughed around a roaring campfire. Then, the sun set fully. We finished our meals. An eerie feeling settled in.
"I believe the time has come, for our Shiina Stories." I announced, "Who will be our first?"
"I guess I'll tell the scariest one first." Fujimaki said. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck in anticipation.
"It was early in the morning, and I had to go to the bathroom. I opened up the door to the men's room in the hallway. And, when I stepped inside, I could feel hair brush against my neck and someone said 'how unwise'..." Fujimaki waited for us to respond. He got crickets.
"That was a valiant effort, Fujimaki. Next?"
"I'll go." Matsushida volunteered, "It was during lunch, and I had my favorite: beef udon. I was just about to dig in when, I saw it was empty. And Shiina was sitting across from me finishing off the last noodle!" This story received a collective sigh.
"I will tell a story so Shiina, you will not stop shivering for days." Takamatsu said as he pushed up his glasses. Again.
"We were in the middle of Operation Tornado, and Angel had come again, right on cue. I was about to call for back up when I felt someone rush past me. There was a flash of sparks, and Shiina's blade was up against Angel's Hand Sonic. The ensuing battle was so magnificent, that I forgot that I could even help in the first place. I was star struck until I felt something wet hit my leg. I looked down and... It was Shiina's hand. I glanced back at the fight, but I could barely see either of them in the through the rapid movements. Then, in a pause between charges, I saw that Shiina and Angel still had both her hands." Takamatsu pushed up his glasses for effect. No one said anything, but I could see Ooyama visibly shiver. Everyone else nodded in appreciation.
"Ooyama, you got a good one?" I asked.
"N-n-no thanks." He replied, "I'm g-good."
"How about you TK, think you can top that?" I don't know what I expected, but I was surprised when TK started stomping, and clapping. Everyone around the campfire joined in. Then, TK started to sing.
"On a dark, school day morning, I know Angel was there. Warm smell of beef udon, rising up through the air. Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light. My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim. I stepped back from the fight. There she stood in the doorway. Heard the gunfire sound. And I was thinking to myself this could be heaven or this could be hell..." Then, TK started to beat box, and we picked up our pace. The stomping and the clapping escalated, and he moved his voice up an entire octave.
"She's three steps from the edge. Whoa-oh. Don't push her over it. Don't you know, don't you know? Every girl is capable of murder. If you desert her. Watch out you don't push her any further, any further. You're not the only one, walkin' round with a sharpened knife. This Shiina girl is capable of murder, ('cause you desert her)."
Then he motioned from us to stop our stomping,
"Mama mia, let me go. Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me. For me... for me!" TK paused. We all leaned in close. He almost whispered the next lines.
"But then I thought I heard it loud. Because I thought I felt in my bones. In this moment, I can feel my heart is tremble. But then I felt it come again, some million stars vanish in to the dark. And I was one." He started clapping and stomping by himself, "'Relax' said the Maker, 'she is programmed to deceive, you can challenge her any time you like, but she'll always reave!"
We all stopped and took deep breaths. TK sat down, now finished with his story.
"One and done." he said.
"Well, I think that's a winner." I declared, as I stood up, "We all know the night watch schedule. We should get to bed."
Everyone moaned as they went to their tents. We had to share, so I was tent mates with Otonashi. We got in our sleeping bags and slept until someone woke us for our shifts. We slept. And we slept. The pitter patter of rain helped overcome the awkward feeling of sleeping on the ground. I was three fourths of the way to Dreamville AFL (Afterlife) when... I was awoken. And not for my night watch shift. I heard screams of all different pitches come from the other tents. Otonashi and I scrambled out of our sleeping bags. A knife ripped through the tent wall. There she was. Lightning struck behind her, illuminating that long black hair and emotionless expression. We were done for. Dead. She darted toward us, and...
She froze.
Inches away from the wind-up puppy dog that Otonashi held out like a cross. Shiina blinked a few times, and then sheathed her knife. She slowly took the puppy dog and walked away, petting its inanimate head.
"W-what?" I asked.
Otonashi turned to me with a gigantic smile on his face, "My story wins."
And, as I stared at Otonashi in disbelief, I could hear Shiina squeal, "Cute!"
When we got back to Anti-Angel HQ the next day, I stormed inside (remembering to say the password of course) and started shouting at Yurippe.
"Why the hell did you do that? Shiina was supposed to stay with you guys!"
"Well, you see... I realized that Angel wouldn't leave to go chase you guys down for just camping, so I had to cause some sort of trouble. I sent Shiina to do that. Sadly..."
"Sadly..."
"That didn't work."
"Well, great. I had to sleep in a broken tent all for nothing? And that's just me. Most of those guys had it much worse."
"Speaking of which, how did you live anyways?"
Otonashi stepped forwards, "Let's just say you shouldn't send a ninja to do an angel's job."
And, from behind the door, a shadowy figured muttered, "How unwise."
Note
TK's story does consist entirely of modified song lyrics. For those of you who want to get a better idea of what it sounds like, here are the songs in the order they're used.
Songs in TK's Story:
Hotel California - Eagles
This Little Girl - Cady Groves
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
My Soul Your Beats - Lia
Hotel California - Eagles (again)