The Headlines: Ch 11 [Updated 19/7/15]

[Mirage_GSM]

I've been working on my homework and reading almost solidly for the last few days, and now it's the day after tomorrow. I suppose going with the only people I can call close friends is the best course of action.

He met them on Wednesday, now it's Friday, but this sentence - as well as Naomi's inner monologue - feels like they've known each other for weeks... It still works but just barely... I suggest preparing a rough timeline and referring to that while writing.

"You were going to eat vending machine food for dinner?" Her face is contorted with a mixture of shock and confusion.

"Sure, why wouldn't I?" She clicks her tongue and thinks for a second.

It's not really clear who is saying what in this section. Both lines seem to be spoken by Natsume.

[Sharp-O]

Still pretty interesting and the character interaction is really engaging, especially with the switching POV

[swampie2]

Get Miragified

Thanks for the corrections again, don't know what I'd do without you

I'm glad it's not spelling and grammar any more thought, I'm happy with that!

Still pretty interesting and the character interaction is really engaging, especially with the switching POV

Have you read sisterhood? It's written from various points of views and I really enjoyed it, in fact it was the story that made me want to write something in the first place

Either way, Thanks!

[Sharp-O]

I haven't but it seems to be well received so I'll give it a look at some point

[swampie2]

I haven't but it seems to be well received so I'll give it a look at some point

It's a long read, but it filled the hole that Hanako's good ending left for me.

[Alpacalypse]

I haven't but it seems to be well received so I'll give it a look at some point

Don't read it unless you've got a free week at some point - that thing is monstrously long.
Good read, though.

Anyway, onto the thing that I'm supposed to be commenting on - it's good
Your Hisao is a little wittier than I'm used to (outside of Tomorrow's Doom), but it definitely works here. Natsume doesn't seem to be anywhere near as interested in Hisao as Naomi is, but I shall wait and see how it develops.
Also, Naomi's little stunt from chapter 3 - I have a feeling that it's gonna bite her in the arse at some point.

[Sharp-O]

I haven't but it seems to be well received so I'll give it a look at some point

Don't read it unless you've got a free week at some point

Duly noted.

that thing is monstrously long.

[swampie2]

This might be a short chapter, and It might be an awful chapter, but I just threw everything at the wall to see what sticks. Tell me if you like it or not!

✩★ The Headlines ★✩

Chapter 5: Maybe Kenji was right?
POV: Hisao



♫

"Hey Natsume!" I shout out after pulling my headphones out and jogging over the road with my shopping in hands. She sees me and instantly turns away, guess it's her turn to be strange today. "Nausume?"

"Hey Hisao!" She says while spinning around to face me once again, completely stone-faced. In fact, no, there is a little bit of shock there, but It's totally faked. "What're you doing down here?" She asks, and I bring out the big guns by giving each bag a quick bicep curl and Natsume a grin. Christ my arms are feeble. I play it off with a half attempt at a strongman pose without my arms, I end up looking like and old statue.

"What about you?" I ask over the sound of her giggles flowing through the air like notes.

"Y'know, just looking for stories." On our afternoon off? In the town? Something is up here. "Not finding much though, wanna grab a bite to eat?"

I do feel pretty hungry actually, and it sets back the time that I have to walk up the hill with these bags and quite possibly kill myself; I need to limit myself on these trips. "Sure, what were you thinking?" After my response, I search for one in her face. For less than a tenth of a second, something shows but I can't quite pin it down. I shrug the thoughts away, perhaps time will tell? Before long we arrive at the Shanghai.

"Very original." I jest.

"I'm too busy to scout locations." She retorts in a hair of a second. Scouting location? If guards weren't up then they are now, what's she trying to rangle me into? I already agreed to go to the festival with them tomorrow, what other horrors could await me? That's putting it a bit strong, I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow, about as much as I'm looking forward to putting down these bags.

I slam the bags down onto the table with all the subtlety of a rhino before slamming myself into the seat beside it. We order, I get my usual coffee and Natsume goes for some over the top tea that includes far to many words.

"You said "not finding much", so you found something?" I flex my arms, hoping to regain feelings.

She holds her arms above her, as if reading the headline from our large print papers;

♫

"New student attracts almost every female in Yamaku." I cut her off, looking smug.

"You're feeling cheeky today." She observes, both her hands politely crossed on the table. She's never been this formal, to be honest I'm starting to feel kind of scared. Maybe Kenji was right, they're out to kill me? No. No. Bad thoughts, go away.

"The story was pretty crappy to be honest." Her facade cracks as she shows off that smile that she only gets when she not happy with an article, that means she's not lying about that for sure.

"What was it?"

"Not Important... really." She checks her watch, almost impatiently.

"That hungry?" I attempt to disperse the quickly building tension in an attempt to save myself, she doesn't seem to mind.

"No..." She murmors before adding to her previous statement "Yes- yeah actually." A chill make it's way up my spine as I feel the pink lazer dot making it's way to my head. Luckily the sniper holds off on the bullet until our orders arrive, and I dig into the sandwiches. Natsume simply sips at her tea while checking her watch and the entrance in equal measure.

Once I settle into the quiet atmosphere, It's ruined by an explosive "Wahaha" bursting her way into the shop. I turn to see the damage, a couple teacups and Yuuko now lie on the ground, all in various states of dis-repair. After making their serious apologies in Misha's bubbly tone, they make their way over towards a free table, stopping short when the see me.

So that was the pink lazer.

"Hiya Hicchan~"

"Hey girls." I offer, taking a tentative sip of my coffee that I'd neglected since it was placed on my table.

"And Natsume as well?~" Her tone almost jumps an octave, and I immediately stutter for words. Natsume doesn't seem to have a problem filling her in though.

"We're on a date." I almost choke on my coffee and quickly meet her gaze in search of an answer. Her eyes are impassive and her smile is accentuated by her head being slightly tilted to the side.

Oh fuuuuuck.


---

♫

Here it is. They day of the festival, or more well known as "The day Hisao dies via newspaper club." I calm my morbid thoughts to choke down my morning medications and think about what I'm going to be doing today. Most likely attempting to stop Naomi and Natsume tearing each others throats out. Perhaps they'll both leave me alone for fear of seeing eachother and I'll end up taking up Kenji's offer on the roof.

When Natsume said "We're on a date" realization hit me like a bus. She wanted to get back at Naomi for creating her fair share of rumors in the cafeteria, so she found out when the person most likely to spread gossip (Misha) would be somewhere she could get me (The Shanghai) and drop the bombshell that I was taking her on a date. As an unwelcome side effect I had many knocks on my door from the various track team members congratulating me. If only you all knew.

Aside from the few rumors that I'm dating two girls at once, most of them seems to be revolving around possibility of a cat fight at the festival. Guess I'll be playing the diplomat today.

I take a deep breath, and get a pack on the back from someone I don't think I've ever even seen before, and It gives me that little something that I need to step outside. I push the door open, and before me stand both Natsume and Naomi. Both with their backs to each other and angry pouts adorning their faces. I blink for a second to make sure I'm awake, and I'm sure I am; I was sure there was going to be bloodshed. Though by how they're treating each other it doesn't seem like i'm out of the woods yet. My point is almost instantly proven as the two see me, and both open their mouths to speak, or rather, shout their minds.

Here goes the first of many hard steps I will take today.


---


Author notes:
Sorry for the cliffhanger

[Mirage_GSM]

This might be a short chapter, and It might be an awful chapter, but I just threw everything at the wall to see what sticks. Tell me if you like it or not!

Well, it is short, it is not quite awful, but seeing as that strategy is rarely optimal when writing it could have been worse...
Regarding the cliffhanger, Natsume dropping the bomb at Misha would have been a more organic point to end the chapter.
The bigest problemt, though, is the speed at which things develop in this story.
In other fics I would complain if a girl falls head over heels for a guy in just three days - in this story not only do TWO girls fall head over heels for Hisao in just three days, they also apparently intend to fight their best friend over him and in Natsumes case resort to underhanded tactics to win.Her little stunt here could be interpreted as an attempt to blackmail him into a relationship - not cool at all.
...if it really WAS planned that way. So far we only have Hisao's suspicions, though they seem quite justified...

[swampie2]

Werds

It's not that they are fighting over Hisao, it's just that he's come along at a stressful time and ended up being this catalyst for all the little problems that the two had between eachother before Hisao arrived, and he has ended up in the middle (As a way to back, specifically) by bad luck. I'm hoping the next chapter can show this off a little bit.

[swampie2]

✩★ The Headlines ★✩

Chapter 6: Goldfishing is food if you're heartless enough.
POV: Hisao

♫

Though both girls open their mouths to speak, nothing follows for a couple of seconds.

"Hey Hisao!"
"Hello."

They both speak at the same time and then glare at each other before turning away again.

"Hey girls..." Time for my piece, I'd by lying If I said I hadn't practiced it. "I know you two aren't exactly happy with each other, but you both turned up, so that's a good step. Even if you want to be angry at each other; we're going to have fun today." I stand proud, having not messed it up. The both stare back at me, almost shocked. "You don't have to shake hands and put everything under the bed just yet, just enjoy the day." I add, I hadn't practiced that bit but it sounded okay.

Both give me a nod and we make our way towards the main festival activities. Both are silent the whole trip, and I decided to mirror that. I wonder if they'll make up today? I know that I was a major part in their fallout, but I don't think I was the reason. While both girls have told me that we're dating, neither have made any effort to make that a reality, so I think I was just the unfortunate catalyst for a bunch of other problems the two had.

"Food first?" I ask, and both simply nod. At least It's not "Tell Natusume X" and "Tell Naomi Y". I lead us over to the nearest booth and order myself something fried, then turn to the others to see if they've made their minds up. Both scan the menu, but they aren't just thinking about food, they're each shooting glances at one another when they think they're clear. Eventually Natsume decides on the same as me and me and Naomi asks for noodles.

While we eat I observe my surroundings, only because I have nothing better to do. Some people are wearing school uniform, but many people seem to be older. Many of the students dart their eyes around, looking for the next stall to visit while the older part of the crowd seem to be scanning the rest of the crowd, most likely attempting to guess "what's wrong with that one." I put that thought to the back of my mind and finish my meal, as do my silent company. Now for part two of my devious plan.

"What do you girls wanna do?" Now they have to decide. Both shrug and I sigh in exasperation.

"You've been to two festivals more than me, who has the best stalls?" Still nothing. I wait them out, and eventually someone speaks up.

"2-2's stall looked good." Natsume keeps her eyes on me while Naomi speaks. Then it's settled, I begin walking, hoping that either will point it out.

"Does our class have a stall?" I ask, half out of curiosity and half attempting to get my news buddies to speak.

"I think we had some game planned, I was too busy to help thought."

"As was I" I mirror Natsume's enthusiasm for helping build stalls. Naomi nods in agreement, but that's good, at least they're listening to each other.

"I think Shizune and Misha got it sorted though. A goldfishing game." Naomi mentions.

"We should check it out, I love that kind of game." I grin to myself and begin pondering goldfish names.

"Me too!" Naomi holds the same enthusiasm as I. We both turn to Natsume, she gives a shrug.

"Never been a fan, I prefer the food over the games."

"Goldfishing is food if you're heartless enough." I retort, luckily drawing laughs from all of us.


---


Before I know it we've checked out over half of the stalls at the festival, and decide to take a little break under a fairly large tree nearby the track meet. We sit in near silence until Natsume's phone goes off, she quickly checks it and makes her excuses before dashing off to meet someone, leaving myself and Naomi.

"Enjoying the festival?" She asks, revealing herself from her shell now that Natsume has left us alone for a bit.

"It's pretty great, we didn't have anything like this near the city."

"Oh, a city boy then?"

"Mhm." I nod "What about yourself?"

"I was born in Tokyo, but we moved west not long after so I grew up in a little town. Then we found out about my epilepsy..." She hesitates for a second "...and we had to move to the city nearby here, that's where my parents live and why I ended up here. What about you?"

"I lived in a city, found out about my heart in my second year at school." I keep the description brief, but can't help remembering how silly it must sound to have a heart attack after a girl confesses to you.

"You chuckled, funny story?"

"In a way." I offer, I don't really like telling people about my heart in case they start treating me like a porcelain doll or something.

"I'll tell you how I found out about mind if you tell me about yours?" She offers, and I hesitate for a second. She wants to tell me about hers, so it'd only be fair if I told her about mine.

"Well... I had my first attack when a girl confessed to me." She looks on with her mouth slightly open before bursting into laughter. Despite the morbid situation, I find myself laughing along as well. It's been a long time since I've been able to laugh at myself, maybe things are changing after all.

"You're kidding?" She regains her breath.

"Nope, dead serious." I wince at my use of the words "dead serious" but end up pushing it to the back of my mind. "Your turn." She goes bright red as I ask. This is gonna be good.

"Don't laugh?"

"I'll do my best."

"Alright. When I had my first attack... I was sorta... looking at smutty websites." I feel my mouth beginning to pull up at the edges and a laugh trying to make it's way out of my chest. After a second or two I crack, but luckily we both laugh. "And don't you dare tell anyone! I know where your dorm is!" She threatens as I wipe the tears from my eyes.

"As long as you don't tell anyone about mine, we've got a deal." I put my hand forward, and we shake on it.

"I'm Naomi's phone and I'm getting a call." A tinny recording of Natsume rings out from Naomi's pocket. She closes her eyes and releases a sigh before pulling her phone out and answering it.

"What's up?" She sounds slightly unhappy that she called her, but she was willing to pick it up at least. "Sure, we'll meet you there." She snaps her phone shut and stands. "You coming?"

I shrug, nothing else to do. "Sure."


---


♫

With most of the stalls visited, the girls have loosened up to each other, at least sharing a couple words. Now we're sat under the large tree nearby the running track, nursing the two goldfish I caught.

"What should I call them?"

"Misha and Shizune."

"Rika and Saki."

"Both applicable pairs. I think I've decided." They both look onwards goading me for an answer.

"Natsume and Naomi of course." They both sigh and cover their smiles as their exasperation turns to laughter.

"That one is Naiomi." I point out the lighter of the two fishes "And that one is Natsume." I point the one speckled with darker spots. "I think little Natsume and Naomi should make up and cry all over each other in happiness." I say in a mocking high pitch voice while holding the two jars up together. The both giggle but then look to me with a serious edge in both their eyes. "Really though. You guys are like best buddies." The both look to the grass below us in unison.

"I'm sorry. For always making you write stuff for me, and trying to make you jealous, and for not being a good freind." Natsume speaks up very quietly.

"I'm sorry too. For all that jazz" Naomi returns.

"Yaaay!" I cheer, almost dropping Natsume (the fish) from my lap. They both turn to me, and I feel like a deer in some headlights.

"Sorry to you too Hisao, you kinda got stuck in the middle." Naomi says and Natsume murmurs an agreement.

"I'll survive, most of the track team congratulated me for dating two girls at once." This draws a laugh from them both. "What about you guys?"

"About fifty thousand people telling me that you were "Cheating" on me. Shizune was the first in line to create some drama." Naomi laughs, and we do too.

I'm surprised they made up that quickly, I've heard that these two fall out quite often so perhaps it's that. Either way, I'm happy that the newspaper club is re-assembled.

[Mirage_GSM]

Nice chapter.
Them being that venomous towards each other when fight and make up are so common is... well it's a lot more plausible than them fighting that hard over a boy they just met.

A few more mistakes than usual this time around, e.g.:

Some bodies don the school uniform

"Some people are wearing"?

Before I know it we've checkout out over half

we've checked out

[swampie2]

Nice chapter.
Them being that venomous towards each other when fight and make up are so common is... well it's a lot more plausible than them fighting that hard over a boy they just met.

I'm glad, that was really what I wanted to put forward, happy you liked it!

Thanks for corrections, as always.

[swampie2]

Been a while since I wrote for this story, I've been working on my one shots a lot!

Thanks again to Guestposter for allowing me to use Jun in my story, thanks guest!

✩★ The Headlines ★✩

Chapter 7: Nothing flashy, but it's something new
POV: Naomi

♫

Today is the day. Not only newspaper club day, but also the day Jun is finally back. With Natsume and me sweeping our quarrels under the rug once more, this couldn't be a better time. Luckily Jun isn't the kind of person that gets mad when they find out that they had you replaced while you where in hospital. Homeroom, the last lesson of the day, drags on incredibly. We were learning about time distortions or something the other day, perhaps we're in one right now? It feels like it, the clock seems like it ticks back a couple of seconds each time I look back at it. Perhaps I'm in groundhog minute?

My quarrels are quickly put to rest when the bell signalling the end of the day rings out, releasing me from my torturous time loop. I poke Natsume in the arm to wake her up and look ahead of me for Hisao, who is now engaged in a full fledged debate with Mutou, most likely about science and other boring topics. Once Natsume is sufficiently awake, we make our way over to them.

"... read that. If it's interesting then we can talk about it." Mutou says while handing Hisao one of the thickest books i've ever seen.

"What's it about?" He asks, mirroring my own thoughts.

"Time. Space. Space-time. Black holes and such." That whole book is about that? I'm not sure how long we'll have Hisao kicking about, he might fry a circuit. perhaps it's good that Jun has returned...

"And it's not that dense, Just to see if that sort of thing's interesting for you, you understand. Hang around after class, and we can either discuss it, or I can show you how to make explosives in the lab." Excuse me? With Natsume finished packing her things, we make our way to the front of the class. Mutou sees us and quickly backpedals.

"Joking, sorry. Still, I've kept you here long enough for now. Think about "science" for a career path Nakai. I think you'd enjoy it."

"Uh, Okay. I will. Thank you for the book." Hisao murmurs back before seeing us approaching. We greet each other and make our way outside of the classroom and Mutou's earshot before I begin to tease Hisao.

"So you're planning on being a terrorist after you're done at Yamaku?" I giggle, and he sighs.

"No, no. That's just Mutou's sense of humor I guess?"

"I don't believe you." Natsume chips in, making him deflate for a second, before standing up tall again with a goofy grin on his face.

"I've been working on something I want to show you guys."

"Is it a bomb?" I reel off almost instantly, and he just looks even more frustrated. He is cute when he's frustrated. Plus that little bit of hair that he can't get to stay down just adds to the picture. He reaches into his pocket a I jokingly reel back, as if expecting him to pull a weapon. He sighs heavily before opening his palm to show a small USB stick.

"It's not a bomb. I've been working on some designs, nothing flashy..." He winces, I wince, we all wince together. "...but it's something new."

"That's great Hisao!" Natsume either completely missed that foot in mouth situation or doesn't care. "You'll have to get is past Jun first though." She waves a finger in the air while speaking, making it sound like Jun is the gatekeeper for newspaper designs. He racks his brain for a second before speaking again.

"Jun, I was her replacement, right?" He asks, sounding a little sheepish.

"Right, she's back today!" I announce happily, It's been too long since I've talked to Jun properly. As I say this I realize that we've reached the room we've taken over to produce and print the newspapers, and we make our way inside. In the centre of the room sits Mr.Sasada who is chatting with Jun, who is resting her casted arm on a desk.

"Jun!" Natsumi and I rush over to her and embrace her in an enormous, very careful hug.


---


POV: Hisao

♫

I can't believe I said flashy. Damn I'm an idiot. I take a deep breath and push the door open, following shortly after Natsume and Naomi who are now hugging someone in the centre of the room. I give Mr.Sasada as nod as I enter and he returns it from behind his desk, then turn my attention to who I can only assume is Jun. I make my way over to the desk they're at and place my bag down, hoping to be introduced, luckily someone speaks up before me.

"So this must be Nakai?"

"Call me Hisao, Jun right?" Going well so far.

"Sure, nice to meet you." I offer a hand to shake and see that her arm is covered with a white cast, adorned with various pen drawings. I quickly offer my other hand and we shake. "I hear you've been putting some designs together?" Right! I almost forgot.

I quickly make my way over to the computers and switch one on before placing my USB stick in the correct port. It's surprising how quickly these computers boot up given their age, luckily for me that means less time I have to stall for. The desktop opens and I quickly navigate the menus to open my files. The program whirs to life and I feel the presence of 4 other people over my back, ready to pick apart my work and tell me what I've done wrong.

"Ooh!" Naomi releases a sound as the document is finally displayed.

"Like I said, It's nothing groundbreaking, but-" Jun cuts off my self deprecation.

"I like it." I sit in silence for a second. For some reason I had the idea that Jun was a perfectionist, and my designs were far from perfect. "Front and back page design are yours Hisao, I'll take the inside pages?" She asks, but it's more of a statement than a question.

"Sounds great, I just need something to fill it with." I offer my opinion, and Natsume and Naomi quickly take their cue, each pulling a notepad from their bags to begin comparing notes. While they're busy, Jun slides closer to me and all but whispers.

"I heard they fell out again?" I simply nod, then decide to expand.

"It was kind of my fault, but they're okay now." I whisper back.

"Don't worry, these two get angry at each other every full moon." She chuckles. I'm glad to hear that, even though it's a bad thing, I was feeling guilty about their argument for a couple of days.

"Welcome back Jun." I offer as I stand from my leaning position at the table.

"It's good to be back. Now let's get to work, we got a newpaper to print." And with that we all split apart and begin working on our respective pieces of work while Mr.Sasuda sips on a coffee and reads a large newspaper. Naomi and Natsume sit at a large table, formed with four smaller ones in the centre of the room, animatedly discussing if they should put an astrology section in the newspaper while Jun and myself sit at the computers, making sure our pages are spaced right and looking good.

---

POV: Jun

♫

[Naomi][Meet me outside? I've got food.]

I step into the cold night air, and make our way to the usual meeting spot. It's nice to walk this route again, even If I was only in the hospital for a little while. I reach the stairs and find Naomi to be absent. Trust her to be late to a meeting she made. I quickly scan the area to look for her and. Oh fuck-

♫

There she is, lying face down in the grass and shaking wildly. Oh fuck, oh fuck. I quickly pull my phone and hammer the "call last" button, come on Nat, I can't go near her or I'll wind up in hospital again.

"Hello?" That's not Natsume. I quickly look at my phone, the display reads "Hisao." That's right, we traded numbers and I called him to be sure I had the right one.

"Hisao? Get outside, Naomi is having an episode!" I almost shout into my phone. I can almost hear his blood drain from his face.

"I'll be out in a second." And he hangs up. Naomi is still moving, oh fucking fuck, come on Hisao. I open my phone again and call Natsume. Nothing. I keep my eyes pinned on Naomi, making sure she's not hurt as best as I can while being made of paper tubes. I hear the door behind me swing open and footsteps running over, Hisao quickly runs over to me.

"Where is- oh shit." Hisao stands beside me. I look to him for a second and then regain my ability to speak.

"Get over there! You need to make sure she doesn't hit her head or anything." I've seen Natsume pull this off so many times, he should be able too right? But he's still stood beside me, a shocked look on his face.

"I can't! I have a heart condition, if she hits me in the chest then it's lights out for me too." Fucking fuck Hisao. Of course it's the two weakest people in the school here right now. I can see Hisao running the situation over in his head.

"Okay, I'll watch her, go get the nurse." He releases with a sigh before jogging over to her. "Go!"

"What about your heart?"

"Well then at least the nurse will be here if it does go out, right?" Wow.

With that, I wish him the best of luck in not dying and set off for the nurse as fast as my bones allow. Please don't die Hisao, I've only known you for a day, that'd be an awkward funeral.

---

Will Naomi be okay? Will Hisao survive? Will Jun make it to the nurse? FIND OUT NEXT TIME

[Sharp-O]

I'm really liking Jun! She seems like a cool character and her reaction to Hisao's condition is hilarious