Apology
By steelphoenix
Disclaimer: I don't own MegaTokyo, or any of its characters. Neither do I own 'Egao No Mirai E'.
Author's Notes: Apologies to anyone waiting for another chapter of Games… it just won't let itself be written…
This was inspired by a great webcomic, MegaTokyo. If you don't know it, go and read it, at www. megatokyo. com (take out spaces).
Written in frustration at slowness of storyline (MT readers will know what I mean here), and in hopes of waffiness for the aforementioned.
'Egao No Mirai E' is from Love Hina, and was sung by Naru in Episode 11 (The Idol Shooting for Tokyo U. is a Prep School Student: Sing). It's a very sweet song, and works for Erika, too. I think you can see why I chose it. /smile/
Fueled by chocolate, green tea and WAFF. Apologies for any OOC-ness. You have been warned.
Language Notes: To distinguish between Japanese and English, the Japanese text has triangular brackets around it. Thus:
">This is speaking in Japanese.> And this is speaking in English."
Warnings: Waff and l33tsp34k.
"I told you, I don't want you or anyone else protecting me! What part of that don't you understand?"
"No. I will do it myself."
Strong. Independent. Hot-tempered, but with self-control. Those were characteristics that Erika had taken, and appropriated as her own – at least in Largo's mind.
Loyal. Intelligent. Realistic.
Realistic. "If I sleep with you, will you go away?"
Largo winced. Somehow, thinking about Erika always seemed to come back to that. But then, everything seemed to… despite how much he tried to distract himself. Even the l33test components, which he had built into T3h Ultimate Box, failed to hold his attention completely.
The back plate was the only thing left to be screwed on, but there was a problem with that. "Dammit…" he muttered, as the screw slipped from his fingers, disappearing with a series of faint tink-tinks into the depths of the box. He got off his chair, peering through the fan grille to see where it had ended up.
Apparently, it had lodged somewhere on the fan assembly… or maybe the power coupling… or perhaps the drives… because it wasn't on the floor of the box.
"Dammit," he muttered again, picking up the screwdriver again and beginning to undo the side plate.
I'm acting like Piro does when he loses one of those dating games… The thought struck him suddenly, and he blinked. Even though he could just reload from his last save point, Piro always claimed that it was cheating, and he could mope around for days.
"Acting like Piro… yeah right. I need a b33r."
Putting down the screwdriver, he wandered over to the fridge that sat in the corner, fishing out a can. As he picked his way back through the jungle of old cases and components (and b33r cans that hadn't been cleaned up yet), his mind flicked back a couple of days.
---
"Um, Largo…" The redhead spun his office chair, to see Erika standing behind him. Oddly for her, she was not in her usual confident posture, but was instead half-turned-away, almost as if she wanted to run.
She took a deep breath, obviously to steel herself. "Largo, I wanted to –"
"So, you still desire T3h Ultimate Box?" Largo grinned up at the woman. He didn't care that he'd interrupted her, he just wanted the conversation to start off on a light note. Her attitude worried him – the hunched posture and tentative voice was not a normal, Erika-like approach. He was also trying desperately to hide the awkwardness of their first conversation since the one in the NIA burger bar.
The awkwardness factor was not helped by the fact that he was wearing nothing but heart-print boxers. Around Erika, he felt very, very vulnerable in that little clothing.
Almost immediately, he wished he was able to take back the words. Her eyes widened and she stared at him in horror. Then she whirled around, with a sniff that was almost a sob.
"Erika, I didn't mean…" His words died as he watched her blonde ponytail flick around as she turned back, her face furious and tears in her eyes.
"If you're not even going to listen to what I say, then why should I say it!" she snapped, her Japanese accent showing more strongly in her anger.
Well, that's more Erika-like, Largo had time to think, before a feminine hand smacked hard across his face. "Owww…" he moaned, then yelled, "Look out –!"
Erika had spun on her heel and stepped out. Her step had been longer than she estimated, and there was nothing beneath her foot except the empty air of the trapdoor.
Her weight came down, and she fell. There was a crash as the ladder-that-worked-as-a-staircase toppled.
Largo sprinted to the side, and there she was, clinging by one hand, the other reaching and catching the edge as Largo slid to a stop beside the hole. Immediately, he leant forwards, sliding his hands under her arms and beginning to lift.
"Ack! Largo! Let go! I can just drop! Leave it!" Erika cried out in shock as the man lifted her upwards.
"Can't… leave… you… that… way… Not… you…" replied Largo, the way his breath was coming in gasps the only indication how hard he was working to keep a hold on her.
Her face jolted between several different expressions, and eventually settled on something that was trying to be expressionless, but was more a smile than anything else.
Largo continued to lift, and as her waist passed the edge of the hole, she gave a push of her own. With the addition of her effort as well as his, she shot up from the hole, keeling over forwards.
There was a thump, and Largo was on his back, staring up at Erika, whose face was very, very close to his own. There was utter silence.
The silence was broken by a clatter from below, then a tousled blonde head poked up through the hole. A pair of eyes, largely hidden behind cute round glasses, widened at what first met them: a view of the pink panties beneath Erika's skirt.
Piro cautiously pulled himself a little further out of the hole, one hand over his eyes. "Can I take my hand away, or will I be scarred for life?" he asked, obviously wary of Largo's state of dress. He knew that Largo had been building, and that the other man had some rather interesting customs – namely, 'building n4k3d'. It was supposedly to prevent static discharge.
There was a jolt from both the people on the floor, and they both immediately jumped away from the other. Erika immediately headed for the trapdoor, and disappeared.
Largo watched her go.
---
Dammit… dammit… dammit…
Every time he remembered that, it ended the same way. With him cursing himself for an idiot.
Later on, he'd tried to apologise, but that was met with nothing but icy silence and an equally arctic glare.
After yet another futile attempt at apology, he had slumped down in his workspace, clutching yet another b33r.
That was when he saw the bag of computer components that had been dumped by the trapdoor. Apparently, Erika had brought them home after their fight in the burger bar. And someone assumed that they were mine… prob'ly Piro, Largo realised.
Perhaps… an idea was entering Largo's head. It could get him killed if she didn't like it, but it could also help him…
T3h Ultimate Box.
And so construction began.
---
A tall, blonde girl strolled through a park, occasionally kicking a stone or stopping and gazing at nothing-in-particular. Her head was most often bent, and she sighed sadly.
Sitting down on the fountain that was at the centre of the park, she trailed her hand through the water. Its cool liquid caressed her hand, almost as gentle as another person's hand in hers.
">Hayasaka-san?>"
A call behind her didn't catch her notice, and so when another blonde girl put her hand on Erika's shoulder, she nearly jumped out of her skin.
Kimiko jumped back as Erika spun, fists already curled for a punch. ">Whoa, wait, Hayasaka-san! I didn't mean to scare you… sorry…>"
Erika dropped her hands, sighing again. ">Sorry, Nanasawa, it's just that I've been so jumpy lately…>"
">Yes, you have.>" Kimiko agreed, then continued, ">Is it about what happened between you and Largo-san?>"
">WHAA…! How… why did you…! Who told…!>" spluttered the elder girl, a blush creeping onto her cheeks.
Ah, so Piro-san was right. And she isn't taking it very well, either. Kimiko's eyebrows lifted slightly, but then she smiled lightly. ">Ah, Piro-san told me that something happened between you two a few days ago, and that Largo-san didn't take it very well. He had to rescue Largo-san from a party. He was very drunk, Piro-san said.>"
He was… drunk? But Largo's got a very high tolerance… Erika knew that much from when they had gone to the beer garden. So he must have been drinking very heavily.
">Did he say...?>" Erika was about to ask whether or not Largo was alright, but then she realised that if that had been a few days ago, then Largo had tried to talk to her since…
Kimiko watched as Erika's face drew into a frown, then remembered what Piro had told her about Erika falling through the trapdoor.
">He's been trying to apologise for the trapdoor incident, you know,>" Kimiko said, smiling across at the older girl.
">I know,>" replied Erika, and then did a double-take, ">How did you know I was thinking about that!>"
">It's obvious, Hayasaka-san,>" Kimiko smiled. ">Your face is angry, but your eyes smile.>"
Erika looked down at the younger girl, half-shocked, half-amused. ">Nanasawa, just how much ad-libbing have you been doing on scripts lately?>"
---
Piro looked up, calling "Irasshaimase!" as the two girls entered. When he saw that it was Erika and Kimiko, he smiled, and called out a greeting as they came over to the counter.
">Hello, Piro-san! How are you?>" asked Kimiko, smiling and blushing slightly.
Piro returned the smile, blushing more than the girl had. ">I'm well, thank you, Nanasawa-san.>"
Erika rolled her eyes. "You don't have to blush so much, Piro. Or is it because it's Nanasawa that you're blushing?"
"Um… Er… I… Hayasaka-san…" Piro was lost for words, and his face became even redder as he tugged nervously at the tail of the Degiko outfit he was wearing.
">Er, Hayasaka-san… can you talk in Japanese…?>" asked Kimiko, nervously. ">I don't understand, and you're talking about me…>"
One of Erika's eyebrows rose, then she said, "Feisty one you've got here, Piro. Better watch out. >Don't worry, Nanasawa, it wasn't anything bad. It was Piro anyway… I was teasing him.>"
Piro's face became even more red, and she waited for an answer from either of the two. When there was none forthcoming, she turned, walking back past the counter.
As she walked past the ladder that led to Piro and Largo's room, a shock of red hair caught her gaze. Largo grinned down at her from where he hung through the trapdoor.
"What the hell are you doing there, Largo?" she snapped, annoyed that he could be grinning so cheerfully when he'd rejected her so pointedly only a couple of days ago.
The man's face fell slightly, but then he said, "Come up here, there's something for you."
Bemused and intrigued by Largo's uncharacteristic lack of l33tsp34k, Erika shrugged, and began to climb the ladder.
---
When she reached the top of the ladder, Erika emerged into a room she barely recognised.
The living area was practically spotless: the table was actually visible, and the kitchen area didn't require an entire mountaineering team to reach it. The floor appeared vacuumed (probably recently, given that the vacuum cleaner was still in the corner), and the fusuma dividing the two halves of the room were actually white, instead of the muddy cream they had been for the last decade. And a half-open cupboard revealed two neatly-folded futons.
The other half was considerably cleaner as well. There were no random computer components, boxes and beer cans scattered over the floor: the beer cans were in a (huge) sack in the corner, along with the numerous boxes that somehow always ended up here. The computer components were filed neatly in a huge metal rack of labelled slide-out plastic boxes, and the toolboxes that Largo usually had open (and strewn across the floor) were neatly stacked by them.
However, there were still four tables in the room, three of them scattered with various assemblages of Largo's bastard children: his computers. The B3OWULF cluster and its associated cooling system still gave off a faint cereal smell, but all the computers had been dusted and straightened – at least where cable reach would allow.
Largo had strolled across the room to the fourth table. It sat a little away from the others, and had two office chairs placed in front of it, one of which Largo shoved over towards her. Erika waited for the chair to stop spinning before she sat down, rolling the chair over to the table and looking at the computer.
"Right, Erika, I've gotta tell you, this one's been –"
Erika nodded, her suspicions confirmed. "Who are you, and where have you put Largo?"
---
Largo gaped at the woman on the chair in front of him. "Gwha?" was his very intelligent reply.
"You can't be Largo." stated Erika, glaring at him, arms folded across her chest. "First: no l33tsp34k. Second: tidy room. Third: I'm near your bui1ding equipment, and you haven't told me to strip."
Largo ducked his head, and Erika was surprised to see a slight blush on his cheeks at her last statement. He was still uncomfortable in nothing but heart-print boxers – at least around Erika – and if she stripped…
"You don't have to," he replied, "This is a complete system. It is s34led against all 3vil."
He reached over to the tower, and pressed the power. The computer hummed to life, the screen flickering to life as it received signal. White lines of code began to run across the screen, and as Largo quickly typed in some commands, Erika stared at the monitor. It looked strangely familiar.
There was a flicker of insight as she realised where she'd seen it before: in its packaging.
"Largo… that's the monitor I bought in Akihabara, right?"
"Ehh!" The redhead looked up with a guilty start. "Yes, that is the monitor you bought. These are all your components… this is your computer…" his voice dwindled to a mere string as he saw anger begin to rise in Erika's face.
"Dammit, Largo!" her voice spiralled high as she stood up, yelling down at him. "I said I would make this by myself! I wanted to do it on my own! Why did you…!"
Her voice trailed off as Largo rested his elbows on his knees, and let his head slump into his hands. "I knew this was a bad idea…" he muttered, then lifted his head to reply.
"I wanted to apologise… for… well… for everything…"
---
There was a sudden burst of music from the computer screen, and Erika quickly turned to its source, recognising the song.
Ashita e mukau zikan ni makenai yoo ni
Kaze o kiite kakedasoo yo motto
Kokoro ni kui no nokoranai mainichi okurinagara
Gambatteru kimi ni ageru
Egao no mirai o
(At times you face tomorrow, unrelentingly
Cut through the wind and sprint a bit more!
In your heart, there remains no regret. As you live everyday,
You're doing your best.
I'll give to you a future of smiles.)
"I sung that…" her voice was soft and sad, remembering.
Largo nodded, smiling. "It was the most 4w3som3 of your songs."
Then a picture flicked across the screen.
Erika barely even noticed the appearance of the menus and icons that indicated that an OS was present, and the computer was ready. She just continued to stare at the computer's desktop.
It was a picture of Erika, obviously drawn in pencil. But it had been touched up, given colours and an abstract background of kanji and swirling colours.
"What is that?" Erika's voice had taken a slightly apprehensive tone.
"It's a picture of you," replied Largo, slightly stunned at being asked such an obvious question. "Piro drew it ages ago… and I scanned it."
She nodded, still staring at the screen. "I meant the words in the background."
Largo ducked his head, an uncharacteristic blush showing itself on his face. "I know what they mean. I found a dictionary on the Web."
Erika's eyes flickered over the kanji, scarce believing some of the words she found there.
Kirei (Pretty)
Kigatsuyoi (Strong-willed)
Bijin (Beautiful woman)
Eimei (Intelligent)
But it wasn't those ones that caught her attention most. It was the simple sentence in the centre of the screen that her eyes remained stuck on.
Aishiteru (I love you)
"You do know what that means, right?" she stabbed at the words, staring Largo in the face, torn between hoping that he did know what it meant, and hoping that he didn't know what it meant.
The redhead nodded, then replied, "I 10v3 u."
A smile flickered across the woman's face.
The redhead stood, and moved to face her. Then he leaned forwards, carefully, giving her every chance to escape or hit him if necessary.
She came to meet him.
---
">Where's Hayasaka-san?>" Kimiko asked, coming out of the cosplay section.
Piro looked up, thought for a minute, and replied, ">I think she's still up there with Largo. She hasn't come past here, anyway.>"
">Ah, right. I wanted to talk to her,>" the girl explained, then asked, ">Do you think I could go up there and talk to her?>"
Piro shrugged in reply. ">I'm sure Largo wouldn't mind. They're probably mucking around with computers, or something.>"
Kimiko flicked him a smile – to which Piro blushed, as per usual – and quickly ascended the ladder. Her head was above the lip of the trapdoor for a second, then – apparently forgetting she was on a ladder – she abruptly tried to sit down.
Piro grabbed her as she fell, stumbling as he received her full weight. ">Kimiko! Um, Nanasawa-san? Are you alright?>"
Kimiko blinked at his voice, then shook her head hard. ">I never, never want to see something like that, ever, ever again…!>" she shuddered, grabbing around Piro's neck and hugging hard, obviously petrified by something. Or maybe embarrassed, because she was traffic-light red.
"Urk!" Piro stumbled again, having trouble remaining upright with the combination of Kimiko's grip around his neck, the awkward position that put them in, and her weight. Finally he gave up, and sat down on the ground, ">That hurts, Nanasawa-san… can you let go a little?>"
">Ah, sorry, Piro-san!>" she replied, and let go a little. Oddly enough, she didn't move from where she was cradled on the blonde man's lap.
">So why did you try to sit down when you were on a ladder?>" Piro asked, intrigued and not a little worried.
Kimiko shuddered again. ">Um, Hayasaka-san and Largo-san… they were… um… they were… um…>" She blushed deeply, then whispered, ">They were… ah, they were making out…>"
Piro's eyes widened, and he winced. "Ew… Now I want to poke out my mind's eye… >I can see what you mean… Are you alright, Kimiko-san?>"
">Almost…>" she replied, then realised how Piro had addressed her. ">You called me Kimiko…>"
">Ah, sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to…>" Piro's blush was even more fiery than it usually was. He would have looked down, but that would have meant that he was looking at her breasts, so he settled for staring out across the store.
Kimiko smiled, ">No, that's okay…>" and burrowed her head into Piro's shoulder.
---
From her vantage point on a nearby shelf, Seraphim watched Piro and Kimiko, smiling serenely. "Ah, so it finally happened."
"Squeek," agreed Boo, making a love-heart symbol in the air with his paws.
There was a light thump, and Asmodeus landed beside the two, and wrapped an arm around Seraphim's shoulders. "So, Miss Prissy-wings, enjoying the show? Makes you feel romantic, doesn't it?"
The female conscience rolled her eyes, and extricated herself from the devil's hold. "No, Asmodeus, it does not. And certainly not in conjunction with you."
"Oh, come on, Seraphim. You know you want to do it to me… you can try if you like…" The devil had sidled up beside her again.
There was a quick flurry of movement as Seraphim placed a hand between the devil's wings and shoved hard. He fell for a few seconds, then regained control and fluttered back up.
"What the hell was that for!"
"You said I could try 'doing it' to you," replied Seraphim. "You didn't specify what 'it' was."
An annoyed "Hmph!" was Asmodeus' only reply as he fluttered off.
Boo gave Seraphim a thumbs-up, and she grinned at him.
"I must admit… it does make me feel a bit romantic… Piro's been pining over Kimiko for far too long," she said, watching her charge's smile as he enjoyed hugging the girl in his lap. Boo simply nodded in agreement.
"By the way, how are Largo and Erika?" she asked.
Boo's eyebrows (if hamsters have eyebrows) rose, and he waggled one paw wildly in a 'hot' motion. Then he crossed both forepaws over into an 'X'.
"Hm. X-rated, huh? I suppose we can forgive them…"
There was a thump from upstairs, and both consciences winced.
"I'll amend that: but not if they bring down the roof."
Author's Notes: Well, how was that? I tried to keep to the spirit of the MegaTokyo webcomic – with both humour and waff – but I don't know how well it worked.
Please note: none of the consciences were a planned appearance, and neither was the PiroxKimiko waff. But these things happen…
Battousai: Of course they do… /snickers/
…when I have a rogue, inconsistent Muse like YOU!
Anyway, please review and tell me whether or not you liked it!