Disclaimer: See that first chapter of this thing, in which I have written.
Yes, the story is, indeed, mine. But what isn't mine is clearly stated in
chapter 1, along with some warnings.
There's going to be less Uwaki and Shuran for a while *yay!!!*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The rest of Autumn was rather uneventful. Winter came; frost and fog put the outside world into an unreal perspective, and inside any building was a recluse from the cold. Snow would fall heavily one night. It began as a pleasant dusting, but come close to closing time, the wind and fall had picked up, ever-growing and not showing sign of end. Some people left early, and it was bad enough that Nama locked up before the hour.
"I walked alone; the weather posed no difficulty to me. Upon entering the apartment, Jin (she had the day off) promptly asked my reasons for returning so early. I only gestured to the window. She then wished to know if I would watch some movies with her since a few marathons were on. I nodded and sat beside her on the couch. We proceeded to watch several programs and films of different varieties, at one point fighting over a bag of popcorn. But regardless, we spent a few hours this way.
"Several hours later, a great snap, followed by a sudden absence of sound and light, woke me. I realized that one of the movies had lulled me into sleep and--."
"Which movie?" Chi-Chi seemed to be expecting a Romance title.
"Umm... 'The Exorcist', I think. Such a boring movie. To continue, I felt Jin stir on my shoulder a bit. With a sigh, she went back to sleep. It took me a moment to understand that she was (inadvertently, I'm sure) reclining against me. Now, unable to relax, I tried to figure out what had happened. The T.V. and lights were off; I couldn't even hear the refrigerator hum. So, I carefully pushed myself away from Jin and made for the window. The gale was howling, beating at the glass in a pulse. Outside, I could only see darkened white. There was no moon or star. The street- lights were off on one side of the road. Across the powdered ground was a contrasting object: a fallen pole with severed power-lines.
"I heard Jin move again, her heartbeat picking up a bit. From what I could see in the dark, she was searching around her. I couldn't determine if she was looking for me or the answer to why the light was gone.
"She recognized my form and went to me. With her side against mine, she looked through the pane herself. 'Electricity is out then?' She stretched. 'Well, we can't watch anything, and I'm sure that all the places are closed from the blizzard.' We stood there for a moment in silence, then she went for the door.
"'Where are you going?'
"'Just talking a walk.' She pocketed her key.
"'Really?'
"'Want to come with me?' She put on a jacket.
"Without another word, I grabbed my own wrap and left with her. After walking through the black air in the corridors and down the steps, we opened the entryway and a blast of cold rushed into our faces with flakes, moving at such a speed that it would sting the skin. But this didn't keep us from going out, almost blindly, into the street.
"As far as I could tell, Jin was moving ahead of me, pushing around the snow as she crossed between alabaster bumps that represented the cars underneath. She was fully accepting the weather without complaint, even enjoying the freezing gusts, not pausing for a breath, not slowing to determine her surroundings. She was used to it. This presented me with a thought. Kouseki Island is in a temperate zone, is it not? A winter season shouldn't be enough to condition such an adaption. How much is she hiding?
"I came to the conclusion that I should test her. I ran by her, tripping her as she sprinted. She didn't avoid it, however she tumbled and stopped herself in a fighting stance.
"'You can be a brassy guy, Dorai. What's this? You want to play a game?'
"'Maybe, unless you have a better suggestion.'
"She seemed to find amusement in this. 'Fine then.' she grabbed a handful of snow and formed it into a sphere, which was thrown into my face. I sneered, but before I could clear my eyes of the frost, she had already disappeared. It was difficult searching for her. She must have been suppressing her ki, and her heartbeat, as well as any other sounds, were drowned out by the wind. Without other options, I hid myself as well and waited for her move.
"We pretty much performed a small war in the road. She didn't seem to care that she was revealing her strength, but, then again, I must have been revealing a lot as well. Neither of us would allow the other to win, so we were both 'fighting' pretty hard.
"I managed to find an opening as she attempted to roll another snowball, and I tackled her to the ground, pinning her down into the snow under me.
"'Ready to admit defeat?' My voice betrayed my feeling of triumph.
"'You have me under you in an immobile position. If your enemy would deny handing you the victory willingly, what kind of punishment would you administer in such a situation?' The way she said this, even though she was yelling, was in a rather a-matter-of-fact tone. However, the phrase still made my heart race as much as it was while we were running around.
"She noticed my floundering and turned the tables on me by pushing me off into a large snow mound. Once again, battle reigned and we continued our attacks until the blizzard began to die and the clouds gained light from the coming of the sun. We called a cease-fire and agreed on a truce, going back to the room.
"As soon as we entered, I was overtaken by weariness. I resolved to sit back on the couch, my hands still frigid and wet.
"Jin would sit beside me, close. 'As Stephen Crane says, "War is Kind".' She emitted a tyrannical crow from her throat and leaned back as far as the cushion would allow. 'You are a strong and fast man, Dorai. Why weren't you in the tournament?'
"'Why weren't you?'
"'Too busy, I suppose. You're excuse?'
"'The same, I suppose.'
"She laughed again. 'We really have too much in common.'
"I made a bold statement: 'I'm interested to see how far our similarities go.'
"'It's an intriguing subject, however, I fear that upon finding those boundaries, I might pass too far over other lines between us.' That was where that portion of the conversation would end, though we spent the rest of the day together, talking. Confidentially, the conversations I had with her have always been the best in quality and meaning, even if we did so just to pass time."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This chapter was actually kind of short (in comparison with the others). Well, I wrote it out in a notebook first. Handwritten stories and chapters tend to be shorter than typed at times. BTW, I don't own the Exorcist or Crane's poem.
There's going to be less Uwaki and Shuran for a while *yay!!!*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The rest of Autumn was rather uneventful. Winter came; frost and fog put the outside world into an unreal perspective, and inside any building was a recluse from the cold. Snow would fall heavily one night. It began as a pleasant dusting, but come close to closing time, the wind and fall had picked up, ever-growing and not showing sign of end. Some people left early, and it was bad enough that Nama locked up before the hour.
"I walked alone; the weather posed no difficulty to me. Upon entering the apartment, Jin (she had the day off) promptly asked my reasons for returning so early. I only gestured to the window. She then wished to know if I would watch some movies with her since a few marathons were on. I nodded and sat beside her on the couch. We proceeded to watch several programs and films of different varieties, at one point fighting over a bag of popcorn. But regardless, we spent a few hours this way.
"Several hours later, a great snap, followed by a sudden absence of sound and light, woke me. I realized that one of the movies had lulled me into sleep and--."
"Which movie?" Chi-Chi seemed to be expecting a Romance title.
"Umm... 'The Exorcist', I think. Such a boring movie. To continue, I felt Jin stir on my shoulder a bit. With a sigh, she went back to sleep. It took me a moment to understand that she was (inadvertently, I'm sure) reclining against me. Now, unable to relax, I tried to figure out what had happened. The T.V. and lights were off; I couldn't even hear the refrigerator hum. So, I carefully pushed myself away from Jin and made for the window. The gale was howling, beating at the glass in a pulse. Outside, I could only see darkened white. There was no moon or star. The street- lights were off on one side of the road. Across the powdered ground was a contrasting object: a fallen pole with severed power-lines.
"I heard Jin move again, her heartbeat picking up a bit. From what I could see in the dark, she was searching around her. I couldn't determine if she was looking for me or the answer to why the light was gone.
"She recognized my form and went to me. With her side against mine, she looked through the pane herself. 'Electricity is out then?' She stretched. 'Well, we can't watch anything, and I'm sure that all the places are closed from the blizzard.' We stood there for a moment in silence, then she went for the door.
"'Where are you going?'
"'Just talking a walk.' She pocketed her key.
"'Really?'
"'Want to come with me?' She put on a jacket.
"Without another word, I grabbed my own wrap and left with her. After walking through the black air in the corridors and down the steps, we opened the entryway and a blast of cold rushed into our faces with flakes, moving at such a speed that it would sting the skin. But this didn't keep us from going out, almost blindly, into the street.
"As far as I could tell, Jin was moving ahead of me, pushing around the snow as she crossed between alabaster bumps that represented the cars underneath. She was fully accepting the weather without complaint, even enjoying the freezing gusts, not pausing for a breath, not slowing to determine her surroundings. She was used to it. This presented me with a thought. Kouseki Island is in a temperate zone, is it not? A winter season shouldn't be enough to condition such an adaption. How much is she hiding?
"I came to the conclusion that I should test her. I ran by her, tripping her as she sprinted. She didn't avoid it, however she tumbled and stopped herself in a fighting stance.
"'You can be a brassy guy, Dorai. What's this? You want to play a game?'
"'Maybe, unless you have a better suggestion.'
"She seemed to find amusement in this. 'Fine then.' she grabbed a handful of snow and formed it into a sphere, which was thrown into my face. I sneered, but before I could clear my eyes of the frost, she had already disappeared. It was difficult searching for her. She must have been suppressing her ki, and her heartbeat, as well as any other sounds, were drowned out by the wind. Without other options, I hid myself as well and waited for her move.
"We pretty much performed a small war in the road. She didn't seem to care that she was revealing her strength, but, then again, I must have been revealing a lot as well. Neither of us would allow the other to win, so we were both 'fighting' pretty hard.
"I managed to find an opening as she attempted to roll another snowball, and I tackled her to the ground, pinning her down into the snow under me.
"'Ready to admit defeat?' My voice betrayed my feeling of triumph.
"'You have me under you in an immobile position. If your enemy would deny handing you the victory willingly, what kind of punishment would you administer in such a situation?' The way she said this, even though she was yelling, was in a rather a-matter-of-fact tone. However, the phrase still made my heart race as much as it was while we were running around.
"She noticed my floundering and turned the tables on me by pushing me off into a large snow mound. Once again, battle reigned and we continued our attacks until the blizzard began to die and the clouds gained light from the coming of the sun. We called a cease-fire and agreed on a truce, going back to the room.
"As soon as we entered, I was overtaken by weariness. I resolved to sit back on the couch, my hands still frigid and wet.
"Jin would sit beside me, close. 'As Stephen Crane says, "War is Kind".' She emitted a tyrannical crow from her throat and leaned back as far as the cushion would allow. 'You are a strong and fast man, Dorai. Why weren't you in the tournament?'
"'Why weren't you?'
"'Too busy, I suppose. You're excuse?'
"'The same, I suppose.'
"She laughed again. 'We really have too much in common.'
"I made a bold statement: 'I'm interested to see how far our similarities go.'
"'It's an intriguing subject, however, I fear that upon finding those boundaries, I might pass too far over other lines between us.' That was where that portion of the conversation would end, though we spent the rest of the day together, talking. Confidentially, the conversations I had with her have always been the best in quality and meaning, even if we did so just to pass time."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This chapter was actually kind of short (in comparison with the others). Well, I wrote it out in a notebook first. Handwritten stories and chapters tend to be shorter than typed at times. BTW, I don't own the Exorcist or Crane's poem.
