Title: Flashback

Part: Three in a series of vignettes

Author: September's Nobara

Fandom: Trigun

Characters: the usual core suspects!

Pairings: Subtle Meryl/Millie, Pre-Vash/Wolfwood

Rating: Teen

Genre: Drama, Romance, you get the idea. The attempt at humor reigns as supreme as ever.

Warnings: The ol' one-two dreaded High School AU!

Disclaimer: I would write five-thousand words, and I would write five-thousand more, just to see VashxWolfwood go in canon lore! Oh, wait, what was that? You wanted a disclaimer, you say? Er, sorry. Can't help but proclaim the fangirling, here.

Archiving: Yeah, sure, go ahead. Just ask first, is all.

Feedback: Would make me a happy writer, indeed.

Author's Note: I couldn't help it. It's like a hazing ritual, or something, for a fanfiction writer to go through the whole "Hey, I went to high school for a spell! Lessie, here... how'd my fave characters deal in a socially demanding, academically stressful environment?" (proceeds to smack and/or flail away at a keyboard, is rushed offstage by a bear).


Health Class.

The words stare up at me like a morning erection. Not going anywhere, but at least with the arousal, I can—usually—ignore or will it away enough to carry out a morning routine. The words are so... clean, too. Clinical, almost, even though they're supposed to be evocative of shiny happy people running around with water bottles and exercise equipment—

Shiny with sweat, happy to be with you

Woops, no. Cannot go down that route, now, can we? I distract myself by checking out the seating chart projected up onto the screen via the doc. cam. Okay, so... right in the front row! Is our teacher trying to embarrass me or what? Besides, 'health class' is school code for Sex Education, anyway! I pass by Meryl and Millie, who wave to me with their free hands, the ones closest to each other linked by little fingers. Sitting down, I realize my seat partner is already flipping through the syllabus lying out on the desks. Pushing my own collection of as-of-yet unmet expectations away, I rest my head against my folded arms on the desk. I peek out at my seatmate. His dark sunglasses are perching on his head, while the leather jacket is taking up residence in his chair.

"Jeeze, don't look so thrilled, will ya?"

I look up to the guy next to me, and take in the messy, but still somehow organized groupings of papers. A cough of surprise escapes from my mouth when I realize he's got a club application... and it's just the first week back. His class nametag is already in production, for crying out loud. Nicholas D. Something-or-other; he's not done yet: Nicholas has paused in his showing off to play "Poke the Sophomore" apparently. A frown decorates my face.

"I know this class seems awkward, but, hey," the guy says to me, in what sounds suspiciously like a jovial, conspiratorial tone, "at least it's not requirin' a practical." The statement is followed by a snort of laughter. His words ring in my ears before sinking in.

Not... requiring... a... practical...

I blush, thinking that maybe, just maybe, this won't be as awkward as I first figured it could be.

It isn't until later, during roll call, that I learn Nicholas's last name. I also learn, right after that he's seventeen, one year older than I am, and the teacher's assistant.


Secondary Author's Note: Well, huh. Here we go with the High School Alternate Universe. Fear not for a second continuity within the already-a/u story: this could be seen as a flashback of sorts, maybe as to how Vash and Wolfwood met?

-"Rushed offstage by a bear" is a stage direction from Shakespeare (or later editors of Shakespeare's work), I believe.

-The "shiny happy people" line is a rather irreverent nod to the song of the same name by R.E.M., without intended name-related irony.

-"Doc. cam" is short for "document camera". It's an updated, two-piece, glorified over-head projector.

-"Poke the Sophomore" is a reference to the phrase "Poke the Bear", something I learned by reading Taiki Matsuki's and Ori's Digimon fanfiction (specifically, My Brother).