Secret Santa 2017 - Story collection

[FrauPerchta]

So, sorry for the delay, here’s my story for the Secret Santa thingy. I got Mirage_GSM’s prompt, which threw me off a bit-
"The Christmas Party of the Yamaku Anime&Manga Club"

I know very little about Anime clubs (I do watch plenty of anime and read manga, but have never been part of a club for that) and as I understand it Christmas in Japan is radically different from Christmas here. To help me, I decided to set my story after any character in KS would have graduated, simply because they aren’t needed and no such club is referenced in the game. Its my first bit of writing on here, and the first writing I’ve done for anyone other than myself, so I hope its at least mildly entertaining. It kinda... transformed itself into the ramblings of an OC character complaining about things, in that psuedocathartic way that seems natural enough for me. Naturally, its pretty bad and disorganized, as well as being edited horribly (well, not really any editing at all) on top of being pretty damn short, which I hope is okay. At the bare minimum it was different enough that it was a moderately decent learning experience for me.

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

Keeping my eyes open is such a pain in the ass. I’m lucky I got to pick the movie- Tokyo Godfathers, an actual good Christmas animated film unlike some of the dribble the others wanted to play. I admit, I did exploit my seniority a bit- there aren’t many third years in the club, and I used that fact to bully my way into getting what I wanted. To be fair, though, it’s not unreasonable- it’s not like there aren’t some of us who can’t sit through an hour and a half with their eyes open. I mean, as far as I know it’s only me, but at least I can recall the bits from memory while listening to the movie when I couldn’t watch it, so… lucky me!Naturally, my role in setting up our little holiday get-together was pretty big- I paid for the privilege of picking our primary entertainment quite literally, seeing as I bought the food I’m sure everyone is unceremoniously devouring. The smell of fried chicken is indeed appetizing, but given my already aching jaw I stick to less messy sources of nutrition instead. Some less tasty and less interesting nutrition. The fact that anyone complains about me not allowing a newer movie or leaving it up my vote only serves to frustrate me.

I really don’t expect much from the club- I mean, it’s the prototypical otaku club, and some of the membership shows it. There are a few people I get along with well enough, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I seriously question why I’m here. I mean, yes, I am an avid fan of quite a few anime and manga, and quite a few movies, but few people here seem to have even remotely similar tastes, instead opting for what I can only describe as the very mundane drivel any studio can pump out without even considering artistic integrity. Perhaps that’s a product of being one of only a few girls in the club, or me being a third year amongst mostly younger students, but I think above all it’s my… for lack of a better word, pretentious tastes. I like the medium for the art- what it can do that others can’t, for those classics that appear in the midst of the mediocre garbage- the bizarre and avant-garde. Yes, I admit to being one of those fans that will chastise you for not seeing Angel’s Egg or not understanding Evangelion, or dismissing Lain for its dated animation. I admit this but I can’t help myself- I need to advocate for them, add a few converts to my little cult within a cult.

I can’t say I enjoy losing myself in thoughts like this, but it’s hard to do so when the lines of a move you’ve seen a hundred times are delivered from a screen you can’t see- but it’s better than listening to some shitty crap, or, even worse, it’s good and I am unable to watch it in full. I’ve had too busy a day setting this party up for me to be able to force myself to keep my eyes open… I’m sure I look like a complete mess, and that would explain why no one has so much as said a word to me. Some of them probably think I’ve even fallen asleep. I mean… I probably couldn’t even talk right now, but I’d love it if someone hung out with me. Its… close to Christmas. And, as much as I hate to say it, it’s pretty disheartening to be alone again this year. I mean, who wants to be with the girl who looks like she’s sleeping half the time, drools, and gets crabby all the time because her face hurts? I don’t blame anyone for not having interest in me, but I still wish I had someone.

I hear Christmas isn’t as much of a couple’s holiday in other places- especially those closer to where it’s from. They have other holidays for that, and right now I kinda wish I was celebrating some other version of the holiday- because for me, it’s always been a lonely holiday. One I keep telling myself that I’ll change, that I’ll find someone next year, and yet here I am, a damn third year, and this Christmas is going be as bitterly boring as ever. I don’t even have any friends to hang out with- they’re all busy with their significant others. I try not to let on that I’m bitter. The movie is all but forgotten in my mind- at this rate, I may as well be asleep. I’m getting there, and I do want to have some rest so that I can make it through the rest of the day… or I may just sleep the rest of the day away.
But that’s interrupted by a tap to my shoulder. Who…

“Uh, hi… I think everyone’s left. We cleaned up and everything!” I barely recognize the voice. Some first or year girl, I think.

I mumble thanks and stretch my hand out, gesturing for her to help me up. She obliges, thank goodness- that'd be embarrassing.

I get my eyes to begrudgingly open, deciding to look upon the person who tried to wake me. I’m surprised by her height- she’s definitely a second year at least. She’s plain but pretty; besides the fact she seemingly only has one arm. After looking at her for a moment, I decide to speak with her and at least thank her for getting me up, despite my body’s protests. I’ll at least try and make the season enjoyable, and being negative and seeming standoffish isn’t going to make me any new friends. Anyway, it’s not like I have anything better to do, so, as always, I mumble out a greeting and do my best to make a smile that looks nice instead of creepy. I sure hope I look okay.

[Mirage_GSM]

To help me, I decided to set my story after any character in KS would have graduated, simply because they aren’t needed and no such club is referenced in the game.

That was kind of the point of that prompt. Since I figured most other prompts would be Hanako this or Shizune that I intentionally picked one that would be good for OCs.
And you did a pretty good job of creating an interesting one. Despite not even learning her name I'd definitely read more about her if you decided to continue this story elsewhere.
All in all this is one of the best first stories I've read over here, so thank you for this gift!

P.S.: Are you by chance German, or does your name have other reasons?
P.P.S.: I haven't seen Angel's Egg (though it does look interesting), and I "don't understand" Evangelion either, but I rather liked SEL. Have to rewatch it sometime soon...

[FrauPerchta]

To help me, I decided to set my story after any character in KS would have graduated, simply because they aren’t needed and no such club is referenced in the game.

That was kind of the point of that prompt. Since I figured most other prompts would be Hanako this or Shizune that I intentionally picked one that would be good for OCs.
And you did a pretty good job of creating an interesting one. Despite not even learning her name I'd definitely read more about her if you decided to continue this story elsewhere.
All in all this is one of the best first stories I've read over here, so thank you for this gift!

P.S.: Are you by chance German, or does your name have other reasons?
P.P.S.: I haven't seen Angel's Egg (though it does look interesting), and I "don't understand" Evangelion either, but I rather liked SEL. Have to rewatch it sometime soon...

I like the idea of using the character again- only reason she has no name is because I'm terrible with names, especially for languages I dont know.

I'm half-austrian by my dad, and spent several years of my early life there, so I'm very familiar with traditions like Perchtenlauf. Frau Perchta is almost... A key figure in my cultural identity, thus the name.

And yeah, the show references all come from my favorites. Naturally, Tatami Galaxy is near the top of that, but I channelled a light bit of my personal tastes.

Anyway, glad to see I didnt dissapoint

[monkeywitha6pack]

Im gonna toss mine in this thread since I feel its not long enough to justify its own thread.

Hey guys, I took a bit of a break from my usual fics to join the secret Santa! My prompt was from Feurox and it was “Shizune’s silent night” I feel bad that it's not super long, but I had a tough time coming up with a premise for the prompt, coming up with several different ideas before settling on this one. I hope you guys enjoy it!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The winter has always bugged me, the colder it gets the harder it gets to sign. My fingers get painful and numb in the brisk cold. It's already hard for me to communicate and it only gets harder. For me, a pair of mittens is like a muzzle, but when Hisao saw my hands start to turn blue in the cold he pulled out a pair and insisted on me putting them on. Saying he didn't need to talk and just being with me would suffice. I felt a twinge of guilt when he said that, we are supposed to be enjoying our Christmas eve and now I can barely even communicate with him. He wanted to visit the city at night, see the lights and the snow.

At the current moment, we are stopped on a bridge looking over at the lights reflecting in the water as the snow falls, my mitten-covered hand held in his. I look at his face, it’s just so… peaceful. This ‘silence’ is killing me, its only been minutes but it feels like hours. Its moment like this that fill me with self-doubt. He would be better with a normal person, one he can normally talk to, one that isn’t stopped by a piece of cloth.

I’ve had enough, I take my hand back at start to take the mittens off and he covers both my hands. He lets go and signs

[You don’t need to hurt your hands just to talk to me, I’m fine with just you, me and this wonderful view]

When he’s done he flashes me a beaming smile. Almost warm enough to melt the snow around us. I look at the view in front of me, the snowfall landing in the water, the reflection of the lights in the water, the small trees slowly getting covered with a white blanket. I think sometimes I get a little too tough on myself. I mean this boy learned sign just to be closer to me. While he might be better off with someone normal, he still chose me, and who am I to complain, I love him.

I look back to him and see him looking at me. When our eyes lock he leans in and gives me a kiss. Startled at first, but quickly it starts to warm my heart.

He showed me that our relationship doesn't need words. It just needs to two of us.

[Feurox]

Absolutely adore this story! I know the prompt was a bit ambiguous and didn’t give you much, but I love the idea of Shizune’s literal silence again being silienced, and how for someone without words, actions are the closeness she clearly desires! I think you did a wonderful job and thank you very much for this gift!

[Oddball]

Short, but remarkably sweet.

[Oddball]

Don't blame me, blame StilesLong.

(Prompt: Give one of the KS girls a surprise Christmas present: a puppy! You pick the breed, the sender, etc BUT they must receive the puppy while on campus. Oh, and Yamaku doesn't allow non-service animals. Oh, and whoever gifted the dog didn't include food. And the girl is snowed in on campus for the week but the new caretaker, Takeshi, isn't a fan of dogs... )


Pet Story


I think I'm starting to hate snow. Between last winter's confession and this winter trapping me at school I wouldn't be upset if I never saw any snow ever again. The school has done a better job than I could have expected at keeping the walkways between the dorms, cafeteria, and medical building clear, going anywhere else would almost require snowshoes... or mountain climbing gear.

The dorms themselves are much quieter than usual as well. Most of the students were going home for the holidays and managed to sneak out before the snow started coming down. As for the ones that were planing on leaving a few days later, well, we're stuck. Thankfully Rin never left for the holidays; I still have her to keep me from going insane.

I go to knock on Rin's door only to have it open right before my hand strikes it. Standing there is an older man wearing a beat up brown jacket, jeans, and a ball cap. His jacket is open revealing a t-shirt with English writing on it. In contrast to his more casual appearance is a think pair of mittens and a long striped scarf. The slight wetness of all his clothes, tells me he's been outside for a while.

He enthusiastically gabs my hand and quickly greets me. “Hey there, man. How it going? Please to meet ya'. Gotta be going. It's been fun. Watch out for ninjas.” Somehow while shaking my hand, he manages to turn me around so he's out ion the hall way and I'm standing in the open door. Then, just like that he's gone before I could even introduce myself.

“Who was that?” I ask Rin when I finally have a chance to process what just happened.

“B.C.” she says flatly.

“What's the B.C. Stand for?” I ask.

“His name,” she replies.

“I mean-” I stop to think how to ask her a question without having her give me an answer that's almost meaningless. “--how does he know you and why was he visiting?”

“B.C. is my adopted uncle,” she says. “and he was giving me this,” she says nodding her head towards something on the floor. It's not until the head nod that I notice she's been watching something on the floor by her bed.

Walking over to where she's sitting, I see a small puppy playing with one of her winter uniform jackets. “He gave you a dog?” I ask.

“Puppy,” she smiles at me.

I watch it for a moment as it tried to crawl into one of her sleeves.

“It's cute. What kind is it?” I ask.

“Fluffy,” she says. She pokes it slightly with her foot which catches the puppy's attention long enough for it to lick her big toe a few times before loosing interest and returning to the coat.

“I meant what breed is it?” I press for further information.

“I don't know it that well yet,” she says. This is going to turn into one of those conversations. I can already tell.

“It's your dog and you can't tell what kind of dog it is? Didn't your uncle say anything?” I try to phrase the questions with as humorous a tone as I can.

“Fluffy. Plenty.” Rin replies. She's now tilted her head and is watching the little dog with head held sideways. The dog continues playing, oblivious to her observance.

I make a note to get to the library once it opens again and try to figure out exactly what kind of dog this is. For now, I guess it being a fluffy dog is good enough. Naturally the next question would be “What's it's name?”

“My Dog,” she says.

“You've named it 'My Dog'?”

“No. My Dog.”

“Your Dog?”

She sighs and looks at me. “It's My Dog. It's not Your Dog. It's not YOU Your Dog. As in, when you are you, you would say You that it's Your Dog. If I was being you, and I'm not except in that one dream where I/You could fly and had to try to stop the color yellow – I can't fly can I?”

“No.”

“Good then this isn't a dream,” she smirks at me like she's just told some clever joke. Maybe I've gotten too used to her because she way she says it actually does sound almost funny. “Then I was you and saying it. It would be Rin's Dog. As I am Rin. Almost always. This is my dog.” She seems quite satisfied with her explanation. It's actually quite adorable. I'm just not sure it's the best name for a dog.

“Maybe you should name him something else,” I say.

“Should I?”

“I think you should,” I say.

“I'll trust your judgment. You sometimes know things.” The expression she gives me is one it took me a long time to decipher. It's the look she gives me when she knows she's being stranger than she has to be just to mess with people.

After several minutes of trying to figure out a name that name that meant the feeling of sunset or what color was soft and fuzzy, the dog ended up a name.

Rin laid down on the floor next with her face right up next to it. “You are Mellow. Mellow the dog. Hello doggy.” The small tan colored dog started licking her face. Even more remarkable is that Rin actually seemed to laugh. I don't think I've ever actually seen her laugh before. It looks really cute, but I'm not sure the expression fits her face, if that makes sense.

Watching a person watching a dog might not sound like the most interesting thing in the world, but most people aren't Rin. The dog runs around the room chewing on various things and Rin watches it with all the wonderment of a person that's discovered one of the great secrets of the universe.

Then of course, Mellow ruins it by peeing on the carpet.

“Clean that up,” Rin says. She doesn't take her eyes off the dog, so I'm unsure if she's talking to me or Mellow. I answer anyway.

“It's your dog.”

“I know. I'm delegating responsibility,” she says. At least she's turned to look at me this time.

“I don't think it works that way,” I tell her.

“Why not?”

“It's your dog. You need to take responsibility for it.”

She pauses a for a moment and closes her eyes. Once she opens them again, she looks straight at her puppy. “Find me some cleaning supplies. Like the kind you clean carpet with. Or the kind somebody else cleans carpet with if you don't.”

“I'll find the stuff, but you clean it up. Okay?” She doesn't answer that one, but I take it to mean she agrees with that arrangement. I hope she agrees to that arrangement. I'm not cleaning up after somebody else's dog.

… I'm probably going to end up cleaning up after it.

Well, it's not like I can just leave her in a room with pee stains all over the floor. Emi would kill me later when she comes back and has to clean up after it.

In the men's dorms, there's a janitor's closet full of cleaning equipment that they never lock only a few rooms down from where I stay. I was hoping that I'd find something similar in the girls dorms, but I'm not having any luck so far. Do they not except the girls to clean up after themselves? I know it's not a budget thing, because no matter how many times Kenji raids ours for “supplies” they always have it restocked a day or two later.

Finally, after turning more hallways than I thought this building had, I run across Ms. Takeshi, the caretaker of the girl's dorms. To say she's not my favorite of the Yamaku staff would be a bit of an understatement. It's mutual though. I don't think she likes anyone either.

“What are you doing in the ladies dormitories?” she asks. I suppose that's about as nice of a greeting as I can hope for.

“I'm visiting a classmate,” I tell her. Her expression says that she doesn't like it, but at the same time there are no rules preventing it. “I was actually looking for -” my mind briefly panics as I try to think of the appropriate name for a janitors closet, “- custodial office.” I'm not sure that was it. “I just need to clean up a mess a dog made.”

“Why was there a dog in the ladies dormitories?” from the way she says this, I can tell two things. First, there are not supposed to be dogs in the building. That would explain why I haven't seen any of the blind students with seeing eye dogs. The second thing I can tell is that she hates dogs more than she hates people.

“I don't know. I'm just trying to clean up a mess one made,” I lie. I should probably tell Rin about dogs not being allowed. I'm not sure she knows about it either.

She gives me a look that tells me she knows I'm lying and would like nothing better than to catch me but doesn't want to put forth the energy to do so. A blue haired girl starts to walk past us wearing a puffy winter's jacket that makes her upper body look three times bigger than her lower body. Takeshi reaches out and grabs her by the arm, nearly scaring the poor girl to death.

“Fetch some cleaning supplies for our guest, please” she instructs the girl. “And if you see anyone walking a dog, let me know and I'll call someone to have it removed.” I don't know who she would call in this weather nor do I expect that anyone would show up if she did call, but she gets the point across. She doesn't want to see any dogs.

The blue haired girl leads me down another hall. “Sorry about getting you dragged into this,” I say. She grunts a reply making it obvious she doesn't feel the need to talk to me. We continue walking and stop in front of the ladies' room. She tells me to wait there and goes inside. This does explain why I couldn't find the janitor's closet myself. A moment later she returns with a small basket of cleaning supplies, hands it to me, and leaves without saying a word.

I start going back to Rin's room and meet her halfway. She's got her winter coat and boots on now, as well as the bag she normally carries for school. Her dog's head is peaking out from it.

“You might not want to let the woman in charge of the dorms see Mellow. She doesn't seem to like dogs,” I warn her.

“He hasn't done anything yet,” Rin says. “Except on the carpet.”

“We should probably get that cleaned up,” I say.

“Already did. You were gone. I think you were getting that,”she says motioning her head towards the basket I'm carrying. I'm just going to take her word for it that it's clean. Time to move on to the next question.

“Still, I really don't think you should let Takeshi see it. Where are you going anyway?”

“I don't have any dog food, so I was going to get some.” She stops and looks at her new pet then excitedly says “puppy! Should I get puppy food? Is that different?”

“I … don't know, but you're not going to find dog food anywhere on campus. Maybe we could get something out of the cafeteria,” I suggest.

“Yes, dogs would enjoy that,” Rin says. I think she may have just told a joke. It's hard to tell.

“Why did your uncle give you a dog and not give you any food to go with it anyway?” I ask.

“It's cold and I'm snowed in, so I get a dog. He's visiting for a week while we're snowed in and then he'll be waiting for me at home,” Rin explains. “Like a little doggy vacation.”

Then for the first time since I've seen the pet, it barks. There's a moment of panic where I expect Ms. Takeshi to come racing around the corner.

“Let's just get going,” I say. I reach down and ruffle the fur on the little things head. “Try to behave yourself.”

It's going to be a long week.


















“How did your uncle get here anyway with the roads being closed?”

“He does that sort of thing. He's like a walking, flying, appearing, going places person that's always showing up somewhere. He's good at it.”

[StilesLong]

Don't blame me, blame StilesLong.

Thanks, Oddball. I don't blame you at all. I blame that Stiles guy! What a nerd!

I enjoyed the story though. I hope your holidays went well and thank you for the laughs. I wouldn't have guessed Rin would be getting a dog, but it sure worked well.

[Mirage_GSM]

Who else but Rin?

On reading the promp I was thinking about a different Takeshi.

Oh, and your autocorrect seems to think a literary is a place to look things up.

Oh, and her uncle reminded me of Kenji...

[Oddball]

It's a little bit after Christmas at this point.

I think we're still missing a few.

[Mirage_GSM]

According to the Prof there should have been 18 submissions in total.

We know gibzx, WillDFly and Visionary have received a story but have not yet submitted any; there should be one more.
I think WillDFly should have written the one for monkey, because apparently there were three late applicants.

Not sure if we can yet expect those submissions at this point...

[Oddball]

Kinda sucks if some people aren't getting their stories. Maybe we should ask for anyone whop wants to volunteer to finish them off.

[brythain]

Kinda sucks if some people aren't getting their stories. Maybe we should ask for anyone whop wants to volunteer to finish them off.

I'd volunteer, if that's acceptable.

[ProfAllister]

According to the Prof there should have been 18 submissions in total.

We know gibzx, WillDFly and Visionary have received a story but have not yet submitted any; there should be one more.
I think WillDFly should have written the one for monkey, because apparently there were three late applicants.

Not sure if we can yet expect those submissions at this point...

Confirmed - I received 18 prompts (15 on-time submissions, and 3 late submissions). The following participants have not received their story yet:

ProfAllister
scratchminus
QuietlySomething
monkeywitha6pack

Of the participants who have yet to submit, 2 have provided excuses, 2 have provided radio silence.

On balance, 18 volunteers to participate is itself amazingly successful. A 78% completion rate is also a pleasant result. A couple people have contacted me privately volunteering to cover the delinquent prompts. At this point, I figure I'll most likely release (i.e., give to a volunteer) the silent prompts; still trying to decide on the excused prompts.

Anyway, my take on what we do have completed:

Fresh Snow - Considering the number of attempted pseudoroutes, I have trouble swallowing HisaoxMiki as "unusually paired", but I leave it to the prompt writer to cry foul on that point. A standard does of the cute sugary sweetness we expect this time of year.

Our Holiday Vacation - I personally prefer my own Secret Santa-Prompted Shizune Proposal fic, but it's amusing that something so specific happened more than once. It's fun, and sweet, and has a few nice touches here and there. Like a few others, I was distracted by the idea of expensive jewelry being given for free as an apparent impulse, especially something as specific as a sapphire S, but there are worse things than a little bit of Hollywood here and there.

Unlikely Shopping - It's always fun to jump into Misha's head (unless Doomish is writing). Shizune seemed a little "off", but not too bad.

From Time - It's always refreshing when someone takes a simple, straightforward prompt, and takes it new and interesting places. The idea is excellent. The execution was a little rocky with clarity and readability, but overall very well done.

The Christmas Party of the Yamaku Anime&Manga Club - You took a rather challenging prompt from a very demanding reader, and did a good job with it. Not much I can add to what Mirage said.

Better Than A Blanket - I've said before that Lilly and Hanako fluff isn't exactly my cup of tea (geddit?), but this is probably strongest for its look at a healthier Hanako.

Shizune's Silent Night - Short and sweet. You may feel bad about not writing a novel, but bite-sized is often all you need. That and it's a clever twist on the prompt.

The New Year - Nothing like obsessive stalkers spying on you from the bushes to get you in the Christmas spirit. Taking open-ended prompts in an unexpected direction is half the fun of this format, so good on you.

Pet Story - Rin is one of the most inconsistently-written characters from author to author. That's part of what makes her so fun/interesting. Lots of typos, but that's almost your "thing". It pretty much hits the main notes of the prompt and nothing more, but it fleshes everything out so much that there's no reason to complain - it does what was asked for, and does it well.

Lights Out - A few of the prompts were practically begging for sexytimes, but no one bit. This one throws a bit of a curveball by going AU on us, but no harm done. Well-written, and different enough to catch your attention, kind of leaving you wanting more.

Dark Winter Sky - Plenty of praise for this one, and all well-deserved. A bit of a rollercoaster, especially the several unexpected swerves, but that's hardly a bad thing.

Two Turtledoves - Blind POV and dealing with the ever-popular phantoms of Hisao's past. Very nicely done. My only complaint, and a mild one at that, is that it almost feels that every encounter between Hisao and his past is nearly identical, no matter who's writing it.

Truth and Consequences - I'll be honest: I read the prompt and thought "How the hell would I work with that? Glad I didn't draw it." Natsume's presence and semi-prominence threw me off a bit, but I must say that I'm impressed with how you pulled off a difficult prompt in a very satisfying manner. Hat's off to you.

And with that, I feel we can safely formally adjourn the 2018 Seasonal Solstice Secret Santa Short Story Sharing Session. As for what that means, just that I'm done with any formal organization duties. People are more than free to finish their submissions if they're late, write consolation submissions for the prompts that are released, and (of course) continue to comment on the stories.

[brythain]

Hi Mirage,

I've managed to respond to the QuietlySomething's prompt, in the piece called 'Festival'. I think it gets slotted in before 'Cripple Your Enthusiasm' in your list in the first post.

Thanks, and enjoy!