Apologies for no update. Victoria Day weekend was spent at AnimeNorth. Memorial Day weekend was spent partying and getting my hair cut. In between I've been obsessively playing Zoo Tycoon before I have to return it this Friday.
...Cut me some slack, I can't write all the time...
The coolest thing happened to me. I got the fourth volume of the ROD manga! I can't read a bally word of it, but it's still wickedawesome. (Woo, that didn't sound like me at all...) And I found a scanslation to part of the second volume! Yah!
To CuriousDreamWeaver: I love Donii. (Which I learned this weekend is supposed to be spelt 'Donny'. Mrph.) If one showed up somewhere, I'd latch onto his arm and not let go for a very long time - as in however long it took a real life Yomiko to beat me off with a giant paper tessen.
Chapter 8: The Road to my Heart's Home
It had been several months since Yomiko had returned to Tokyo. The British Library had cleared her accounts with STN-J: they they had been aiming to erase her records with the unit, but the best they had been able to accomplish was getting her listed as a Government Craft User. Registered with a government organization, Yomiko was technically untouchable, but from then on she had this eerie feeling that she was always being watched. She was under orders to downplay her ability as much as possible, so STN-J wouldn't have an excuse to capture her, and Yomiko followed them dutifully.
The Library had purchased for her a little apartment building in Jinbouchou and moved all her belongings there. They had gotten into records and given her a certificate saying that she was now a licensed teacher (as a sort of make-up for the interruption in her training). They were even as so kind as to build lots and lots of shelves for her books and give her a nice paycheque to start buying books with.
Of course, it wasn't all fun and games. She got a few side teaching jobs to make ends meet (after one DISASTROUS weekend where she ran out of money to buy food) and she was always on call for the British Library Special Forces. Yomiko did get a few assignments from them, mostly local investigations to retrieve books, but nothing to seriously interfere with her life.
And then there were times when she got to see Donii. Sometimes when she came back from shopping or teaching she'd find a little paper airplane resting on her window. It was an amazing display of power, especially when he enclosed something from wherever he was - a stamp, a postcard - she couldn't get hers to fly more than a couple of blocks before losing it from sight. Yomiko always meant to ask Donii how he did it, but she kept forgetting whenever she saw him.
Today, apparently, was one of those days.
"Readman-san, is something wrong?" a teacher asked later that day in the staff room. Yomiko was substituting for a sick teacher at an all-girls' school for a few days, a job that she had been hired on for many times in the past; currently she was staring dreamily into a cup of tea. Another teacher shook her head as she added cream and sugar.
"Readman-san is always like that whenever her boyfriend is coming to visit," she teased.
"Nani?" Yomiko jumped, nearly spilling her tea. She set it on her lap as she felt a blush come on. "Ano, he's not really my boyfriend..."
"But you always get this look on your face whenever he's coming to visit!" squealed the first teacher. She plopped herself down right next to Yomiko. "Why didn't you tell us? How does he look? What's he like?"
"No, no, no!" wailed Yomiko, waving her hands frantically. "He - he isn't my boyfriend! We're just good friends!"
"He's tall, wears thick glasses and speaks Japanese with a slight British accent," the second teacher said without turning around. "And if you're just 'good friends' why are you always hanging onto his arm?" She paused for a moment. "And why is he always carrying a briefcase?"
Yomiko thudded loudly onto the ground, stunned by her colleague's knowledge. "When...did you see him?"
"Last month, by the park," she answered, turning around and sipping her tea daintily. "What's his name?"
"Ano..." Yomiko sat back down on the sofa, poking her fingers together nervously and the tea now forgotten. "He..." The bell rung and Yomiko leapt to her feet. "My class starts now!" she yelled. Saved by the bell! With that, she vanished down the hall in a cloud of dust.
- - - - - - - - - -
"Ano..." Yomiko put her arms behind her head, staring up at the sky as her briefcase dangled from one hand. She ignored the calls of, "Oyasumi, Readman-san!" as she exited the school grounds. "Donii never told me where we're meeting..."
From her vest Yomiko pulled out the letter, carefully folded.
Yomiko:
I've been given a short holiday from duty for a few days. I'll be in Tokyo tomorrow.
Donii
Yomiko sighed. The paper fluttered anxiously, then allowed itself to be refolded and placed back into Yomiko's pocket. "Where is he?"
"Yomiko!"
"Donii!"
On the other side of the street Donii, dressed in a black suit and holding a briefcase in his hand. Yomiko's eyes sparkled and she raced across the street, heedless of traffic. Donii's face crumpled and he stared in shock as the woman tore straight through the intersection, ignoring the honks and tire-squealing from outraged drivers.
"Donii!" Yomiko yelled, hugging Donii tight. The Paper just stared at the path of destruction his student had just weaved - stalled cars, smoking engines and a lot of angry drivers.
"Uh, Yomiko?"
"Hai?"
Donii started to point, then thought better of it and took Yomiko's arm. "Let's get out of here - an emergency's come up."
As the two bibliophiles hurriedly walked back to Yomiko's building, Donii filled her in on the details. A book called The Book of Knowledge had been offered for sale to the Library. Written by scholars around the world at the time, the book supposedly gave people power and knowledge in whatever they wanted - naturally, the Library was most interested in this book.
"So who has this book?" Yomiko asked after they left her building, a suitcase of her own trailing behind her on wheels.
"A man who calls himself Taylor," Donii answered. He set a brisk pace down the street again and Yomiko scrambled to keep up. "He wants to appraise it, but I have a feeling that he just wants confirmation that it's the real thing. It's likely stolen - this book would've stayed in someone's private collection indefinitely. In a way, you could say that we got lucky."
Just then a limo stopped at the corner; Donii and Yomiko got in and were driven to their destination, a large dilapidated building. All through the ride Yomiko could see that The Paper was extremely tense. She would be too, she guessed, if she could even begin to understand how powerful a book like this could be. Inside the building they found a large well-lit room, perfect for the book examination, and sat down in a few chairs to wait. Yomiko immediately pulled out a book; Donii settled for sitting still.
Finally, several men arrived. At a glance The Paper could tell that this was definitely a stolen book case - they resembled more of a bike gang than educated men. Stereotypical mohawks, leather, chains... Donii inwardly groaned. One of them, presumably Taylor, was carrying a briefcase - Donii didn't need powers to guess what was in there.
"Yomiko, duty calls," Donii said, nudging Yomiko.
"Mmm."
"Today, dear."
"Oh!" Yomiko's head jerked up and she looked at the men. Her face crumpled. "The book..."
"Yeah, we have it," Taylor said, slamming the briefcase on the table and snapping it open; both bibliophiles winced in unison. "Take a look, but no funny business!"
Donii shrugged, then gestured to Yomiko - he didn't want to admit it, but right now her powers were more accurate than his ever were. The girl got up and dragged her own suitcase over to the table in question and peered into the case.
For a great book containing powerful knowledge, it looked pitiable. The Book of Knowledge was covered in what appeared to be cardboard, bound up with twine. Black ink had long bled off of the cover and the pages were cracking. But by running a gentle finger over the edge, Yomiko's mind was flooded with information - so much that she took a step back and gasped with shock.
"Yomiko, what's wrong?" Donii said, getting to his feet.
"Ano, nothing," Yomiko answered, not taking her eyes from the book.
"Well, is it the book o'knowledge?" Taylor demanded.
"I'm sorry," Yomiko apologized, strangely confident, "but you need to give me a few minutes to make sure that this is the right book. It is a very important discovery."
Taylor snorted. "Continue." Mentally bracing herself, Yomiko touched the book again.
The unmistakeable sound of paper crackling filled her head, blocking everything out again. Wind, a gunshot, then the rapid fire of several guns smashed into her hearing -
Na - nani? What's this?
What do you think, The Paper? This is what you want to know.
Yomiko frowned. She picked up the book and ran her palm around the edges, deaf to the yells of the men. Hearing...sound?
Even more, Yomiko Readman. Do you choose to read or die?
I...
Donii touched her shoulder, bringing Yomiko out of her reverie. She stared at him with shocked eyes. "Donii?" she gasped, quckly putting the book back down. Immediately her hearing returned.
"Is it the book?" Donii asked. Worry filled his eyes.
"Ano, yes!" Yomiko yelped. She stepped away from the book, staring at it in confusion. No books had ever spoken like that to her before! Taylor slammed the suitcase shut, causing Yomiko to jump in shock.
"Well, now that we cleared that up - "
The Paper Masters spun around, now surrounded by several black-clad men aiming guns at them.
" - I'll just be on my way." With that, Taylor walked out the door, carrying the book with him. More gunmen followed him, but the overwhelming majority stayed back in the room. Taylor was determined to have no one else know about this book.
"Yomiko, get the book!" Donii ordered, dropping open his own suitcase. Index cards fluttered into the air noisily.
"Donii - "
"DO IT!" Donii yelled as the first shots were fired. The cards flew around, easily deflecting them. Yomiko gulped, then raced down the doorway. A man tried to follow her, but was met by a card to the throat. Donii smirked as he blocked the path.
"Don't worry about her - you've got me."
- - - - - - - - - -
Yomiko ran down a narrow hallway, closely trailing Taylor and his thugs. She could hear their rapid footsteps, and guessed that she was only a dozen metres behind them, though by the twisting halls it was hard to see.
Finally Yomiko emerged into a tight room, bearing only a small spiral staircase. She could see Taylor running frantically up the twisted steps, and she launched a page at him. He dodged, and the paper lodged deeply into the rail.
"Shoot her!" Taylor ordered the three who were covering him. With that, he vanished up to the roof.
Gunfire erupted around Yomiko, but paper swirled from her suitcase as she rushed the stairs. Yomiko rapidly climbed the stairs, pausing every now and then to block an awkwardly-made shot with a piece of paper. A few deft slashes near the top, and Yomiko was forced to climb over a couple of corpses before emerging onto the roof.
"Please give me back that book!" Yomiko yelled as Taylor fled.
"No way!" Taylor yelled. He spun around and fired a quick shot at Yomiko. Yomiko yelled as she easily deflected it.
"Paper will never forgive you!" Yomiko yelled. Still running towards Taylor, she let the paper fly at his chest, scoring a direct hit as it lodged into his chest. With a gurgle Taylor fell to his knees, shocked at what had just happened. A tentacle of pages streaked out and latched around the handle of the briefcase, then returned it to Yomiko. With trembling hands the girl opened the case. There was The Book of Knowledge, still safe.
"My book," Yomiko sighed, picking it up as she fell to her knees.
Would you rather read or die, Yomiko Readman?
Yomiko blinked in surprise. What?...I would rather read!
Then read, Paper Master.
Curious, Yomiko opened the book. It had a few lines of Japanese written down the centre.
You would rather read books than save the life of the man you cherish so much? I give you the title of The Paper, but at a price...
Yomiko stared. She was now The Paper, but what -
"DONII!"
Reviews will be most graciously accepted. Constructive criticism always appreciated.
May 19, 2004/June 1, 2004