Katawa Kijo

[Mirage_GSM]

So, this is it: the final part of Katawa Kijo.
What started out as a somewhat more serious take on a rather silly fanfiction soon grew out of proportion - with the final wordcount now at 47.911.
Originally I thought it would end up at a fourth, maybe a third of that.
A final thanks to Snicket and especially to Leotrak who proofread all of this (and who would be a rich man, if he could keep a dollar for each comma he took out of my texts).
I hope you all enjoyed Katawa Kijo.

Epilogue – Perfect World
A cold wind is blowing in our faces as we leave the gym and step into the schoolyard. Though the sun's rays are still weak, the sky is clear, and they are warm enough to feel comfortable once the wind has let up a bit. Slowly we make our way towards the dorms. Our parents stayed behind to chat with Mr. Mutou for a while.

Misha is holding my hand. “Can you believe it's almost been a year since we first met?”

I shake my head. “How could I? So much has happened since then that I feel like it's been an entire lifetime.”

“Really? I hope you're not getting tired of me after a whole lifetime.”

I know she's just teasing me, but no matter what I say in this situation, she will use it against me. Luckily I spot a chance to change the subject. “Look who's come to visit!”

Misha follows my gesture, breaks into a smile and waves. The two figures are still a ways off, but the tall silver-haired man and the dark-skinned woman are unmistakable – probably the reason they didn't attend our graduation ceremony. We change direction slightly to meet the two.

As expected Misha greets them loudly as soon as they get in earshot – which is quite a distance, if Misha is calling. “Hello Mr. De Gasperi! Hi Martine!”

In the months following the incident Mr. De Gasperi frequently visited Yamaku to keep track of Kenji's progress. It is probably due to his influence with the Mediterranean Council that they never sent anyone else to take him away.

The rest of us exchange greetings and handshakes when we have closed to a more reasonable distance.

“Ah, Hisao, Misha, good to see you. I hope the graduation ceremony went well?”

Misha snickers. “Yes, except for when Rin wandered off sometime in the middle, because she thought it was too boring.”

“And when you decided to embellish on Shizune's speech a bit. You should pray that Takeshi never tells her just what you translated.”

“Hey, everyone liked it, and it wasn't as boring as the stuff Shizune planned to say.”

Martine laughs. “I see, you 'ave not changed at all. 'ow are Shizune and Lilly?”

“Well, Shicchan complained a lot that Lilly was seeing more of her boyfriend than she did, but that should change now that she's not his student anymore. Besides, they should better get along now that they both decided to enter the diplomatic service.”

“They were both accepted to the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, by the way. Shizune enrolled in International Law and Lilly in Linguistics.” I hesitate and look at Misha. “It was English and Chinese as majors and Russian on the side, wasn't it?”

Misha shrugs. “I think so. She's so lucky she can read people's minds no matter what language they think in. Why does she even bother?”

“Sat is because she also 'as to be able to talk to people. Most people don't know about magic. She cannot just mind-talk to anyone. But in a meeting where sere are only mages are present, a Diviner is some kind of universal translator.”

“Yes, and Enchanters are highly sought after in diplomatic service to make sure no one is magically influenced during negotiations,” De Gasperi interjects. “You gave her the idea, Martine, didn't you?”

“We just 'ad a talk about my work. I would 'ave to be stupid to suggest this to such a talented Enchantress. If she starts working for se Pacific Council, she is bound to talk us out of New Mexico.” Despite her words, she is smiling.

Martine had taken a bit longer to warm up to us, but once Kenji had fixed her two broken ribs, she also became quite friendly – especially with Lilly and Shizune. Both of them developed a strong interest in politics - both regular and between the seven councils – after hearing Martine talk about her work.

“She's saying the Southern Council should be more concerned about Australia.”

Takeshi's voice startles me. I turn around to see him walking up to us together with Shizune. To be honest, I was quite surprised when Shizune told us that she and Takeshi had started dating, but Misha told me she'd seen it coming all along. I have to admit they make a nice pair, not only because they don't even need sign language to communicate. Back then Takeshi has proven himself a schemer to rival even Shizune...

“Ah, sere you are. 'isao already told us se news. Congratulations on your acceptance!”

Shizune smiles and takes both Martine's hands before greeting Mr. De Gasperi. She then returns to Takeshi's side, who puts his arm around her waist.

Mr. De Gasperi turns back to Misha and me. “So, what about you? Do you have any plans for the future?”

“We both got accepted into Gakudai.” Misha beams at him.

When his face doesn't show recognition, I elaborate. “It's a short for Tokyo Gakugei University, a school for teachers. I'm going for a major in Literature. If I'm lucky Mrs. Tsukamoto is going to retire around the time I'm finished, and I can return to Yamaku with Misha.”

“For now we've rented a small place about halfway between our University and Nippon Medical school where Hanako and Kenji are going to attend. Misha still needs regular treatments for her cancer so we decided rooming together would be a good idea.”

Martine looks at Misha with concern evident in her eyes. “'ow are Kenji's treatments progressing?”

“It's come to the point where the nurse said we could substitute his treatment for the chemotherapy. I got my last infusion three weeks ago, and the cancer hasn't grown since. It's still going to take a long time to completely cure it, but at least without the chemo, my hair is starting to grow back.” Misha points at the bandanna she is still wearing.

“Speaking of se devil...” Martine points towards the gym where two more figures are just leaving the building.

Sometimes it is still jarring to see Hanako's new look. Well, 'new' might be the wrong word, since she's been wearing her hair short ever since most of it was burnt away in that fireball. It makes her look more mature somehow.

The changes in her personality have been much more gradual, even after the scars on her face were hardly noticeable any more. By now, Kenji has assured me, there is not a single scar left on her body. She is now easily the most stunning girl on campus and has had no shortage of suitors – all of which were devastated to learn that she was already taken.

Kenji... Well, he is still mostly Kenji, but apparently Hanako has managed to convince him that garlic is not really effective against vampires.

More greetings are exchanged, then Mr. De Gasperi turns to Kenji. “I've been told you are going to study medicine. What field are you going to turn to?”

Kenji puffs out his chest proudly. “I'm going to be an ophtalmic surgeon!”

Both Mr. De Gasperi and Martine are taken aback by this statement. “An ophtalmic...?

“I am literally and figuratively going to open people's eyes about the demonic threat looming over us all!”

“But a surgeon? Pardon me, but your eyes...”

“Ah, don't worry about that, I've been working on that, and I'm sure it's going to be fine by the time I'm doing any actual surgeries.”

Mr. De Gasperi looks dubious, but Martine changes the subject by addressing Hanako. “What about you? Are you going to do se same sing?”

Hanako smiles, a sight that would have been unimaginable when I first met her. “I'm not sure yet. Ms. Miyagi suggested trauma surgery or internal medicine. I can't use Transmutation to actually heal people, but what it can do is stemming bleeding until regular treatment is finished or dissolving blood clots, temporarily widening arteries and many more things that can save people's lives.”

Mr. De Gasperi nods approvingly. “And Ms. Tezuka and Ms. Ibarazaki?”

Misha is the first to answer. “Rin is going to an Arts College of course. If she has any plans beyond that, she hasn't told anybody yet. Emi got into Tokodai...” This time she notices the blank looks she's getting herself. “Tokyo Institute of Technology. She's going to major in bioscience and biotechnology and wants to go into prosthetics research afterwards.”

Hanako continues for her. “Emi said she was lucky that she lost her legs below the knees, because there are no decent prosthetics for people who lost their legs above. She said she was going to fix that.”

“So, since you are all going to Tokyo, you are all going to live together?”

“No, it's just the four of us. Shicchan is going to move in with Takeshi, and Emi's and Rin's universities are a bit far away, so they got themselves a flat of their own.” She laughs, a clear sound I've been hearing more often again lately. “Doesn't matter much, though. She's gotten so good at Teleportation, she's probably going to be at our place more often than not.” She jabs her elbow into my ribs. “And a good thing that is, or Hicchan would never keep to his training schedule.”

“Hey!” I rub my smarting side. “Anyway, Lilly wasn't sure yet where she was going to move. She has relatives in Tokyo, but the commute would be very long. She might decide to stay with us after all. Hanako has been offering several times.”

Takeshi disentangles himself from Shizune. “I'm sorry, but I have to go now. There's a final meeting going to start in a few minutes. Kozo says you two are welcome to attend as well.”

Mr. De Gasperi looks at his wristwatch. “I think that would be a good idea. There are a few things I have to talk to him about as well.” He turns to us. “I think...”

He doesn't finish, because Shizune has started signing something. I'm still not any good at sign language despite Misha trying to teach me, but I can guess what this is about.

“I... that is Shicchan wants you to come to our graduation party tonight. Her dad reserved seats in a tea house in town, and there's going to be so many people two more won't make a difference.”

Martine and Mr. De Gasperi look at each other. “I sink sat we will find se time,” Martine says smiling.

The two leave together with Takeshi, heading for the auxiliary building. Hanako and Kenji also excuse themselves to grab something to eat in the cafeteria, leaving the student council to make their way to the dorms.

As Shizune walks ahead, Misha takes my hand, and we fall in step behind her. As I look over my shoulder and see the by now familiar Main building and park-like school-grounds, I am reminded of the day I first came here, the day my 'new life' was going to begin.

“You know, I'm really going to miss this place.”

Misha stands on her toes and places a kiss on my cheek. “I know. That's why we're going to come back.”

********************

Thanks for reading !

[scott1and]

One word, only one small often overlooked word is needed here:

Win

[Petermeter]

I loved this fanfic. Easily within the top ten of stories I have read - and I'd like to say I read rather a lot.
Thanks a lot for letting us in on that story, Mirage. If you find the time to write other stories, I'd spend my time on reading them anytime.
And btw: my respect for nearly 50k words o.O

[Leotrak]

A final thanks to Snicket and especially to Leotrak who proofread all of this (and who would be a rich man, if he could keep a dollar for each comma he took out of my texts).

You're welcome So, when can I expect the first deposit?

Kidding, kidding ^_^" I had a blast proofreading this, and laughing in my fist when people made wild guesses about what was gonna happen next :3

[Petermeter]

Just on a sidenote here - maybe you would like to update the OP with the links to the last four or five chapters ( btw: there is a typo in the OP in the number eightteen - not that it really matters). Just in case there are new people to this story.

[Mirage_GSM]

Just on a sidenote here - maybe you would like to update the OP with the links to the last four or five chapters ( btw: there is a typo in the OP in the number eightteen - not that it really matters). Just in case there are new people to this story.

Thanks, fixed.
By the way, I'm looking for a second proofreader for my next story.
Interested?

[bintoy]

damn, Mirage, this is loads better than Harry Potter. For me that is.

First of all, I like Misha the best, and second, your insertion of magic in the story was smooth. I even made this forum's pages 1-7 available offline so I can read it even without internet.

You did your homework with those social problems and stuff.

Sometimes though, sometimes, I wonder if the dialogues are in character. I kind of found it hard to imagine Misha using words like 'hell' or 'bloke' on ending of chapter twenty.

but I don't really care. you write awesome. Amazing work.

[Mirage_GSM]

Thanks for the praise.
But what do you mean by research into "social problems"?
I don't remember doing any research besides Disney songs and universities in Tokyo.
If you're talking about the politics of the mages and the councils... I did make a lot more notes about that than I actually got to use in the story. If I ever decide to write a sequel I might find them useful

Also, You're right about the bloke thing... Changed to "brute".
I don't think Misha is saying "hell" anywhere in that chapter, and if she did I'd probably be okay with it.

[bintoy]

"social problems" like how Shizune would've reacted to a part of Misha she cannot take part in. Nice presentation.
sequel would be most wonderful.

oops, Misha said 'hell' in chapter 12 when they confronted Shizune..

[powerdrive3]

Really awesome work there. It was really good. Enjoyed it greatly. Might want to think of getting it published for real

[Mirage_GSM]

Thank you for the praise!

If you happen to know of a publisher who would accept a FanFiction to a not-yet-existant H-VN, please give me a call

[StudyOfWumbology]

This fanfic. This fucking fanfic. I loved it so much for two main reasons. The first one is MISHA. I love Misha if you haven't figured that out yet. The second one is just because how well written it was. I really enjoyed you taking the time out of your day to do this. I salute thee fine sire.

[CptSalsa]

From the depths of the realm of the shadowed areas of the place they call many names, couldn't think of one a story lies in wait for a traveler to seek out its knowledge and tell the world how much they loved it, and in doing so bring it back from the dead. That traveler was called StudyofWumbology, and this person went though a great many pages and scrolls to find the true meaning of life, but never did. But when a story called out to StudyofWumbology, s/he could not resist the temptation of remembering an old friend, a friend who was there to cheer him/her up in times of need and in times of sorrow, but a friend s/he could not help in its dying hours, a friend s/he, StudyofWumbology could not call a friend anymore. And so Katawa Kijo was brought out of the darkness and into the light. THE END.

That is why I will probably never write a story.

I liked this fan fiction too, and I don't even like mag/jic/k. But Hisao should have been paired with Kenji, as all Hisaos should.

[Mirage_GSM]

Ah, someone has gone on an archive binge
Thank you for your kind words.

[StudyOfWumbology]

From the depths of the realm of the shadowed areas of the place they call many names, couldn't think of one a story lies in wait for a traveler to seek out its knowledge and tell the world how much they loved it, and in doing so bring it back from the dead. That traveler was called StudyofWumbology, and this person went though a great many pages and scrolls to find the true meaning of life, but never did. But when a story called out to StudyofWumbology, s/he could not resist the temptation of remembering an old friend, a friend who was there to cheer him/her up in times of need and in times of sorrow, but a friend s/he could not help in its dying hours, a friend s/he, StudyofWumbology could not call a friend anymore. And so Katawa Kijo was brought out of the darkness and into the light. THE END.

What the fuck?