Notes & Errata: So, you know, Ohtori Academy is not the real world. It's not even close. *This* is the world we know, and these are the people that inhabit it.
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Julie was cooking, maybe for the first time ever. The music on the radio was bright and pleasantly old-fashioned, bass guitar and piano moving up and down the scales. Julie hummed and moved her slim hips in time with the singer. She thought about how happy Ori would be to have something other than microwaved ramen for dinner.
She thought about Ori, bouncing through the front door, violet hair fluttering in the breeze from her bone-rattling door slam that would have the neighbors up later, tentatively asking, could they keep it down just a little? Ori yelling a line from a 50's sitcom, tossing an imaginary briefcase against the wall, hanging an imaginary fedora by the door. Ori's shock as Julie came out of the kitchen holding a pot and wearing a frilly apron, playing the housewife a little too well. A little witty banter, Ori congratulating her for finally venturing into the kitchen, Ori kissing her hello.
Ori's lips, a touch redder than her hair and sugar-sweet. Her face turned up to meet Julie, lips parted and ready. The slight indentation in her lower lip which fit Julie better than anyone she'd ever kissed. Ori's tongue, always hesitant at first, growing bolder the longer Julie held her...
She realized the stir-fry was burning. The phone rang, and Julie turned off the radio and tried to simultaneously toss the stir-fry in the loose, casual manner she saw on cooking shows. Peppers and bits of chicken flew everywhere. Ignoring this, Julie picked up the phone and cradled it against her shoulder.
"Hello?"
The silence after she hung up seemed suddenly deafening.
It had been a strange call. Someone who said they were from the police, telling her that Ori had been hit by a car while walking home, that Ori was dead.
It wasn't nice to say things like that. It was cruel. She couldn't think about that now, since Ori would be home in just a few minutes. Ori was awfully late today.
Ori was...
Julie dropped the pan and screamed. She fell against the counter and slid to the floor, screaming until her lungs cracked and burned. She lay curled on the kitchen floor, still screaming, though she could no longer make a sound.
The door to the apartment opened tentatively. The neighbor from downstairs peered in and looked worriedly around.
"Are you all right, dear?"
----
Julie was cooking, maybe for the first time ever. The music on the radio was bright and pleasantly old-fashioned, bass guitar and piano moving up and down the scales. Julie hummed and moved her slim hips in time with the singer. She thought about how happy Ori would be to have something other than microwaved ramen for dinner.
She thought about Ori, bouncing through the front door, violet hair fluttering in the breeze from her bone-rattling door slam that would have the neighbors up later, tentatively asking, could they keep it down just a little? Ori yelling a line from a 50's sitcom, tossing an imaginary briefcase against the wall, hanging an imaginary fedora by the door. Ori's shock as Julie came out of the kitchen holding a pot and wearing a frilly apron, playing the housewife a little too well. A little witty banter, Ori congratulating her for finally venturing into the kitchen, Ori kissing her hello.
Ori's lips, a touch redder than her hair and sugar-sweet. Her face turned up to meet Julie, lips parted and ready. The slight indentation in her lower lip which fit Julie better than anyone she'd ever kissed. Ori's tongue, always hesitant at first, growing bolder the longer Julie held her...
She realized the stir-fry was burning. The phone rang, and Julie turned off the radio and tried to simultaneously toss the stir-fry in the loose, casual manner she saw on cooking shows. Peppers and bits of chicken flew everywhere. Ignoring this, Julie picked up the phone and cradled it against her shoulder.
"Hello?"
The silence after she hung up seemed suddenly deafening.
It had been a strange call. Someone who said they were from the police, telling her that Ori had been hit by a car while walking home, that Ori was dead.
It wasn't nice to say things like that. It was cruel. She couldn't think about that now, since Ori would be home in just a few minutes. Ori was awfully late today.
Ori was...
Julie dropped the pan and screamed. She fell against the counter and slid to the floor, screaming until her lungs cracked and burned. She lay curled on the kitchen floor, still screaming, though she could no longer make a sound.
The door to the apartment opened tentatively. The neighbor from downstairs peered in and looked worriedly around.
"Are you all right, dear?"