Tales from the Club Room
Episode 4: Oguie Learns the Truth
Lance woke up at 11 am with a headache and the strange feeling that only a vivid dream could do. He had to teach English as a Second Language course at twelve, and that was required of him in his scholarship so he just decided to suck it up and teach hangover or no hangover. He turned on his CD player, he couldn't have picked a worse time to play his mix CD, in his haste he forgot the first song on the CD was Tokio Hotel's "Don't Jump" he switched discs and played another mix CD. Kid Rock was singing about smoking weed and drinking during a summer in Northern Michigan, the song put him at ease. He showered, had a quick breakfast and walked over to the University. He taught his class, as usual but he couldn't help remembering last night's dream. Occasionally he would pause and think in between a student's questions that made some of them frustrated, when he finished the class he assigned homework. "Read pages twenty two through thirty-three about comma splices, I would like three examples of comma splices and how to fix them. Also translate those sentences I wrote on the board, use what you know!" And he walked out into the blinding sun. "Yoo Hoo, Lance!" yelled a far off voice, Lance spun around and glanced in the distance, it was Kuchiki, "Great, this prick wants to talk to me, why do you mock me god?" Lance shot off a wave and walked towards the club room, barely giving him the time of day, his head was pounding when the pretentious little prick caught up to him. "I heard you and Kasukabe-kun's toilet are pretty friendly!" Lance looked at him, "What! Do you even realize how ridiculous you sound?" Kuchiki laughed "She was talking about it in the library today. When's the wedding?" Lance turned and looked at him, "Didn't your Mamma give you any toys to play with when you were young?" And brushed him off, he was singing "Lance loves a toilet!" over and over when he reached the club room, he was out of ear shot, "Stupid bastard, I am getting tired of listening to him, and I just got here two weeks ago!"
Walking into the club room, Lance saw Oguie there reading a manga, she was the only one there. "Hey you, what's up?" he said, Oguie looked up "Oh, Lance san. I forgot to give your manga back yesterday." Lance smiled "Thanks, I hope you enjoyed it, it seems right up your alley. I generally as a rule don't read yaoi but my brother must have snuck that one in there." She nodded, "I was thinking we could work on a dojinshi for comi-fest together? I mean you look like the story writing type." Lance looked at her puzzled, "How did you know I write stories?" Oguie laughed, "Kasukabe looked through some of them last night while you were passed out. You got pretty shitfaced huh?" Lance rubbed his head "Yeah I got a little too drunk! What is today's date, I forgot my watch?" Oguie looked at the calendar, "November, 14th why?" Lance sighed and sat down, "Of all days to have a nightmare! God damn it!" And he began to cry. Oguie looked at him "Lance-san? Are you okay? You can tell me, I mean I already shared my secret with you. Please you can tell me anything?" Lance composed himself. "A month ago today, my ex fiancé killed herself. We were supposed to get married after I came back. A month ago we got into a fight and I walked out to clear my head, when I got back she had taken my razor and slit her wrists. I tried everything, the paramedics tried everything but she didn't survive. I had a nightmare last night while at Kasukabe's; I dreamed I destroyed the relationship of two of the members of this club. One of them was you, the other was Sassahara. He attempted suicide the same way my girlfriend did. In the end I jumped off the hospital roof, and that was it! I don't know how my mind dreamt this up but it did and now being in this room with you, at this moment makes me think of her and that dream." He got up "I am going to take a walk. I'll be back in ten, you didn't hear anything." Oguie nodded and Lance walked out.
Lance stood there, his head down, thinking of all the comic festivals they went to. Himself dressed as Koga sometimes she would be Sango or Kagome, they were a hit. Lance his IPod headphones in and played some Coldplay. It was a song he had gotten used to listening to after he got here; it summed up his life now in the opening lyrics "I used to rule the world." Every time he heard Chris Martin sing that he would think in his head "Amen, brother preach to the choir!" He used to be in love, or at least know what love was, he had a good life and a future as a clinical psychiatrist but when she died, nothing seemed to matter. Not even being here mattered, nor did making Kasukabe understand otaku, or making Oguie open up more to the club members, all life was to him a dark void. Life, in general, sucked. The guitars began kicking up on the next song "Violet Hill" as he walked out of the hallway down to the courtyard, god how he wished she was there with him, calling him "Spaceman" and he in turn calling her "Earthgirl" as if they were characters on the new Dr. Who. He found a bench, pulled out a copy of Inuyasha and read, unaware of what was going on in the club room.
"Cosplay, are you serious? You've never wanted to cosplay before?" Ohno said as she and Kasukabe sat down, "Well," Kasukabe said "I guess I've had a change of heart. Tell Tanaka that I want a Shippo costume made up for this year's comi-fest." And sat down and picked up a dojinshi and read, Ohno looked at her in shock. "And since when do you read dojinshi!" Madarame walked in, "Since who reads dojinshi?" he said and stared at Kasukabe, mouth agape, he fumbled for his words "When? How did she? It's a miracle!" He shouted Sassahara walked behind him and hushed him. "What in the name of Hayao Miyazaki is going on here, why is," he paused and looked at Kasukabe "Holy shit! No way she couldn't have changed overnight?" It was at this time Lance had finished moping and walked in. Calmly picking up his copy of Inuyasha Volume One he read on. Kagome had met Inuyasha when he felt eyes staring all around him. "Uh, did I do something wrong? I mean if I offended anyone by my sudden entrance I apologize. Is Kasukabe passing around a picture of me hugging a toilet bowl from last night? I swear to god Blondie, if you have any incriminating photos you better hand them over!" Madarame fell to the ground like a Muslim at Five A.M prayers, occasionally raising himself up before bowing again. "Okay, who gave Madarame- san some drugs? Are any of you holding? Got squirt guns full of LSD ready to dose me from twenty meters? God Damn it cut that shit out!" Madarame stood up, "I am certainly not worthy of being in the presence of such a master! Please teach us how you Americans get people to become otakus!" Lance was shocked "Okay all this over a little experiment I did last night, come one people let's as in the immortal words of the greatest man to ever come from Minnesota, Prince, act our age not our shoe size!" Madarame got down on his knees and began to beg Lance, "Please Lance-sensei, tell us all you know!" Lance was getting frustrated "I was passed out for most of the night, I barely remember hugging a toilet which after talking with Kuchiki before coming here in the courtyard a few moments ago, I apparently did. All I did was make her realize that otaku like more than just eroge and dojinshi. There, are you happy!" he shouted and returned to his manga. Madarame was still at his feet, "God damn you, either quit acting like an idiot or I will make you wish you never were born!" he said and the bespectacled otaku backed off. Sassahara sat down and started the meeting, "Now as you may know, in less than a month we have comi-fest coming up. Our own Chika Oguie has offered to draw the dojinshi this year; does anyone have any story ideas?" He said Madarame raised his hand and spoke. "I feel another Kujin one, only this time one we get more hardcore! I mean our last one was pretty tame!" Sassahara looked at Oguie, "You don't mind doing some hardcore drawings do you Oguie?" She looked up, "Only if Lance writes the story." She said her voice almost deadpan; Lance looked up, "Now wait just a god damn minute here! I don't know anything about this show so how in the hell am I going to create a story based on something I've only seen once. And by the way, anyone that likes a show where someone is jacking off fungi has some underlying sexual repression. I think it would be better if I wrote about something I know." He said Sassahara looked at him, "Well, what do you know?" Lance looked at him, "Inuyasha for example. I have seen every episode of that show and own all four of the movies on DVD. I feel that if Chika is willing we can create something here that not only will be entertaining but also sell a few copies." Madarame looked at Lance, "That show hasn't been on for years, I still say we stick with Kujin!" Lance looked at him, his eyelids looked like slits, "And maybe some of us should stop pulling our pud and save our money for, I don't know, two months! It's no wonder you wear glasses. You must spend a lot of time in the bathroom of your apartment, or in front of your computer just looking at naked cartoon characters. Tell me Madarame, how's the lawsuit coming. You know the one where you're suing the dojinshi company for giving you carpal tunnel syndrome!" Madarame stood up, "Take that back!" Lance stood up, "You want to fight me, is that it? You want to beat me up? If you're feeling Froggy go ahead and leap, damn it!" Chika held lance back while Kasukabe stopped reading her dojinshi and helped Sassahara hold Madarame back. Kousaka walked in and saw the fray, "Uh, Is everything okay?" He said Lance sat down, "Yes everything is fine. You can let go now Oguie-san. Kousaka settle a bet, what should we do a dojinshi about this year, Kujibiki Unbalance, or Inuyasha?" Kousaka smiled, "Inuyasha of course, I mean after all Kasukabe-kun is going as Shippo this year to comi-fest! She could help sell it!" Sassahara sat down, "I never thought about it that way! Okay it's settled we'll do an Inuyasha dojinshi!" Lance smiled "Great, I'll get the story written and then we will get together to work on the art. Sound good Chika?" She nodded, and gave him her e-mail address. Lance pulled out his wallet and stuck it inside. Sassahara stood up, "Now barring any further interruptions, Lance-san, we were wondering if you would like to come with us for dinner, you know to welcome you into the club?" Lance smiled "Sure thing that is if Madarame doesn't mind." Madarame laughed "Sticks and stones Lance-san, sticks and stones. " Ohno pulled out her cell phone "I'll give Tanaka-kun a call and tell him to meet us there." They all walked out of the club room barely giving Kuchiki any notice in the courtyard.
Lance sat down and ordered a steak, and some sushi, before ordering a draft beer to wash it all down. It was a festive party, people were chatting about the new leaf that Kasukabe had turned over, she in turn was discussing with Tanaka, her Shippo costume. Lance felt at home he forgot about his fiancé, his life in America, everything seemed to fade away. It was after his second beer, that he began to notice how much Ohno, who was seated next to Kasukabe, had been drinking. It seemed like every second she had another beer. Kasukabe was no different. He could hear Kousaka tell her to slow it down but she brushed him off. It was when Lance got his steak that it happened. He was cutting into his steak when all of a sudden he heard audible gasps and shouts of, "Oh shit" Lance looked at Madarame seated next to him, he had what they would call in his hometown a "shit eating grin" Lance spoke, "Is something wrong?" Madarame pointed at Ohno and Kasukabe. There, he saw Tanaka trying to pull Ohno off of the blonde otaku newbie because they were making out. Lance was shocked, "Does this happen often?" Sassahara blushed, "No not at all! They are just too drunk." Lance smiled "I'll say!" Tanaka had finally pulled Ohno off of Kasukabe, when Lance though of an idea. "Note to self," he said, "Next time I'm out, challenge those two to a drinking contest!" He said, and returned to his steak.
Waving goodbye to everyone, Lance walked home from the restaurant. When he arrived home he checked his answering machine, no messages just the way he liked it. He knew he didn't have much time before comi-fest so he sat down in front of his computer and wrote. He felt a little bit of contentment, all was right in the world, the world he would soon rule again. When he finally slept that night, he dreamt of Chika, of them walking in a field, hand in hand. Lying in the grass, they talked of comi-fest and how fun it would be, how Lance felt free now that he had found her, and how they would tell Sassahara about their love. Meanwhile in an apartment, not too far away, Oguie was going to bed, she had kissed Sassahara and told him how much she loved him, and he said he loved her. Yet when she opened her diary, she drew a heart, inside she wrote "Lance and Chika, always and forever" she had only known him for two weeks, and she wondered how Sassahara would take their working relationship if she decided to take it further. She decided not to dwell on the future, picking up a dojinshi, she sat in her bed and read until she got tired. "Lance Ryan, someday we will be together!" she whispered and fell asleep.
To be continued. . .