Post
by Extremist_Line » Thu Apr 15, 2010 9:55 pm
Hmmm, I dunno about you guys, but I hate being left with cliff-hangers, and I bet you do too, so here's chapter 8.
This is it. This is why Luke is at Yamaku.
I in no way mean any kind of offense to the victims of Columbine. Luke's opinion is not my own. Those two kids were psychos.
******************************************************************
Chapter 8: Painful History
“I…I lived a normal school life for several years at first. I was a little different than I am now. Happier, more outgoing, I even had a lot of friends. I had a lot of fun, sure I slacked off a little, but everything was nice for most of Elementary School…
Until, one day…he transferred in.
Heh, he was a little prick. Always picked on me, especially for my love of video games. I also was…a little pudgy at the time, that was a target of him too. I remember one day, I was sitting there playing my Gameboy with my headphones on. The little bastard came over, picked the earphones right up off my head, and snapped them in two. I didn’t really have the strength to fight back, and the teachers didn’t give two shits about what was happening. Ever seen a cartoon or TV or something where there’s an obviously evil little kid but the parents or teachers don’t notice it for some ungodly reason? I was living that.
It might not have been so bad if it wasn’t just him. But, before I knew it, he wasn’t the only one anymore. Soon, people that I had just before called my friends, turned on me. Stabbed me in the back. Soon it went from simple verbal abuse to where they were actually beating the shit out of me every now and then for the hell of it. They started stealing stuff from me too, money, games, you name it. Eventually, the entire fucking class was against me. The girls even got in on it too, spreading rumors and the like. I isolated myself from everyone. I sat in the back of the room in every class, I always ate by myself, and I spent most of the time in recess in a secluded corner of the playground. My grades started dropping, so my parents started beating me. It never stopped. Year, after year, after year, after fucking year, it never stopped. Ruined the rest of Elementary School and the beginning of Middle School.
Then, one day, I’d had enough.
Have you ever heard of Columbine? It was a High School in America. In 1999, two shooters killed 13 people, wounded an additional 24, and finally killed themselves. Their names were Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. They became my heroes. They were the symbol of what students could do when pushed to the brink. They were the face of people like me. Some people claim that violent video games or music or shit like that caused them to go on a rampage. They were bullied, like me. People didn’t want to admit that though, that their faculty had failed to keep a lookout on their students. They wanted to shift the blame away from themselves. Fucking assholes.
I’d show them. I’d show them all.
I…I took one of my dad’s pistols that he kept for home defense. Stole it from right under his nose and put it in my backpack. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I considered going on a rampage like my Heroes had done, but instead of simply killing myself when the cops showed up, I’d fight them too. Suicide by cop. I also considered simply walking into school and shooting myself. Well, whatever I was planning to do, I had the gun, I was gonna decide when I got there.
I never got to find out what I would decide to do. Me, not thinking clearly, happened to grab my dad’s favorite pistol. The one he loved to clean and mess with all the time. Went looking for it and couldn’t find it. Asked me if I had seen it, I told him I hadn’t. Well, they decided to check my backpack anyways, and they found it. Freaked the hell out. Started screaming that they hadn’t raised me right, that I was fucked up in the head, stuff like that. Pulled me right out of school and sent me to a mental institution.
A fucking institution. At 13 years old.
Despite my age, I was treated like dirt. No, dirt can sometimes be useful. I was treated like shit. Only thing shit’s good for is to put it out on the grass to fertilize it. Human bodies are good fertilizer too, or so I heard. Anyways, they treated me like a dangerous criminal, like at any moment I could snap and try to make a shiv from one of my own teeth. When I so much as complained it was a bit hot or cold, they thought I might try to hang myself and put me in solitary. Do you know what it’s like to be in solitary? Cushy walls so you don’t kill yourself, no windows or cracks of any kind so they couldn’t hear your yelling or insane ramblings. I didn’t ramble, I just screamed. I screamed for death, screamed to go back to a normal life. I lost a lot of weight.
I eventually had to start playing nice guy, maybe they had a good behavior thing like prisons do. I guess they did, I got let out eventually. I don’t know whether I was in there for a few weeks or a few months, but I got out. The sun…it felt great.
I went back to school not too long after being discharged. Did I get treated any better? Nope, just different. Instead of picking on the fat, loser gamer kid, they shunned the ‘freak’, the ‘psycho’. I tried to be nice, but they wouldn’t have any of it. People stayed away from me, hell even the bullies didn’t mess with me. They messed with a few of the other kids though. Some of the new kids.
I got sick of that too, so I worked out, got stronger, got more aggressive. I started beating the shit out of those bullies. Got in trouble a lot as well. And what did I get out of it? Some detentions, a few Saturday Schools, maybe a suspension here and there, and that’s it. The kids I helped never thanked me, a lot of them ran from me. Didn’t want to get killed by the freak. I began to re-consider suicide.
But, one faithful day, my parents decided 'You know, maybe a normal school isn’t for our boy. Let’s send him somewhere we can be sure he’ll be safe. We can’t send him to a reform school because he’d get into fights there too. How about a special needs school? They won’t question why he’s there, he’ll be completely anonymous.' Well, they found Yamaku eventually, and why not send him there? He’s always wanted to go to Japan, plus the American educational system is a piece of crap. So, here I am. Abridged version: I’m here because I snapped and almost shot up my school.”
I looked up. She had covered her doubtlessly wide open mouth with her hands and was staring straight at me.
Sigh.
”I knew it. You too huh? You think I’m a freak too. Go ahead, say it. Say I’m a freak, say I’m a psyc-“
But I was interrupted by her wrapping me in a hug.
You ever see an anime or game or something where a guy is letting off a lot of steam, he’s really pissed off or upset, and then all of a sudden, someone gives him a ‘cooldown hug’? That’s what I just got. They work pretty well.
“No Luke. You’re not a freak. You’re not a psycho. You’re a regular human being who’s had a lot of things happen to him.” She was hugging me pretty tight…
“H-hankao…” I wrapped my arms around her as well.
“And…I know how you feel.”
I broke the hug “Huh?”
“…I was bullied a lot too.
After my house burned down, I was left with these scars. A horrible memory of the worst tragedy of my life. My dad…h-he died in the fire. People at school…they didn’t care. They just loved making fun of me. T-there was even one time where they…almost raped me. I isolated myself from my class too. I...I almost...killed myself too. My mom decided to do something about it and sent me here…” She started to tear up and sniffle “I…I miss m-my dad…I miss him s-so much…” She started flat out crying.
If you had seen this girl cry, it would have broken your heart. I couldn’t stand to see her like this. I grabbed her and pulled her into a hug, returning the favor she had done me. She cried into my shoulder.
“Hanako, come on now, don’t cry. I’m sure your dad is out there somewhere, watching you. I don’t think he’d want to see his beautiful daughter crying like this, it might break his heart.”
She slowly stopped crying and looked up at me.
“Y-you think so?”
I reached down and brushed her hair that was covering the scars away.
“I know so. And I can tell you, he’s proud of what you became.”
She smiled “Thanks Luke. Y-you don’t know how much it means to me to hear you say that…”
We just stared into each other’s eyes for a long time. Have I mentioned how beautiful they are? Well, I’m going to mention it again: her eyes are freaking beautiful.
"...Luke, there's s-something I want to tell you."
"What is it Hanako?"
"...I love you."
"Hanako...I love you too."
This is just like some kind of sappy romance story or movie. But you know, it’s not so sappy when you’re actually a part of it.
She started gently leading towards me. I started to lean in too. Before I knew it, our lips were touching. As soon as they did, I instinctively wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her tight. She wrapped her arms around my neck. I was experiencing my first kiss. It wasn’t one of those sensual make-outs either, it was a long, emotional kiss.
And by God, it was awesome.
After...what felt like forever, we finally broke apart, but still held on to each other.
“Hey Luke?”
“Yeah?”
“A-are we…a couple now?”
“I don’t know why you’re asking me, I’ve never dated anyone. Do you think we are?”
“Y-yes…”
“Then we’re in agreement, so I’d say yes.”
We smiled at each other.
“Hey, did you h-have anything planned for Golden Week?”
Golden Week? Oh! That’s right! The next several days are Golden Week! I had almost forgot!
“We get the whole week off from school, right?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Well, no, I didn’t really have anything planned, why?”
“Well…I was planning on going to visit my mother, and…I wanted to k-know if you’d like to come…”
A family visit huh? Aren’t you supposed to wait until you’ve been a couple for a while before you do that?
Ah, whatever, there's nothing I'd rather do during my week off.
“Of course, I’d love to come.”
“Thank you so much Luke! Not just for that, but…for everything.”
Another hug.
You know what, I take it all back.
I’m glad I snapped, I’m glad I went to an institution, I’m glad I fought, I’m glad I’m here now.
Know why?
If all of that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have met Hanako.
And to me, that makes all of my previous pain and suffering completely worth it.
***************************************************************************************
This chapter is the one I had to edit the most after pulling it back out. Why? I realized that I had totally forgotten to have either Hanako or Luke say during the entire story "I love you". I also added more detail to the kissing scene.
The end is in sight.
Or is it?
"Anyone can say they're your friend, few can prove it." -Me
Hanako >/= Lilly > Shizune > Emi > Rin
Currently:Finished all but Rin. Taking a break for now.
http://extremistline.deviantart.com/
