Leaving the Past Behind

[Extremist_Line]

I suggested the idea of it, you guys said go ahead, so here it is. More adventures involving our dear friend Mr. Lucas Fisher.

This is essentially a "What if?" take on my previous fic, Thank God for Hangovers.

I am assuming that you've already read Hangovers, but just in case you haven't, here's some basic info on Luke, the main character.

Name: Luke Fisher
Gender: Male
Birthday: March 30, 1990
Height: 6 ft 5 in
Weight: ~200 lb
Blood Type: O
Hair: Black/Dark Brown
Eyes: Blue
Appearance: Tall, large build, curly medium-length hair, sometimes has a five o’ clock shadow
Interests/Likes: Video games, reading, browsing the web, Japanese culture, firearms, military
Dislikes: Bullies, being the center of attention, unfaithful people, backstabbers
Trademarks: Always wears a wristwatch on his left wrist, a cross necklace, and glasses (nearsighted)

In addition, I have included the first two chapters mostly unaltered as the prologue. If you've already read Hangovers, you can skip over to the next post for the first bit of new content.

Any criticisms, questions, or comments are always welcome.

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Prologue Part 1: Welcome to Yamaku V.2

It wasn’t too far of a walk from the airport to the town. Like my old town back in America, this town appeared to have a smaller local airport not too far outside the city limits. Maybe ‘airport’ was too generous, it was more of a landing strip. It was still two miles to the school, quite a while to walk with three bags strapped around you. I wish I could have gotten a taxi or something, or better yet, I wish my parents could have come with me.

They weren’t with me though. Helped save money they said. Yamaku’s enrollment fee wasn’t very high, not as much as my old school; the brunt of the expenses were just from the travel costs. And when you could save quite a bit by simply having one flight down, why not take it? After all, who would mess with the 6 foot 5 inches tall kid from America? Well, they might if they thought they could get a hold of his bags, and I did have three rather large bags on me. A duffel bag around each shoulder plus my laptop case strapped across my chest. Seemed like a good haul if you could gang up on me. I fingered the knife in my pocket. I read up on it before I left: Japanese law doesn’t prohibit the carrying of a concealed knife as long as the blade length and overall length were under a certain amount. They were. Thankfully, it seemed that, in fact, no one wanted to mess with the huge kid. I got a few funny looks going through town, but nothing too serious.

After a while, as well as a stop about half-way for some water and rest, I finally reached the top of the hill that The Yamaku High School for Disabled Children was perched upon.

“For Disabled Children”…

Ugh, I had convinced myself before I even left: It’s not a High School for disabled students. It’s a school for students with special needs. There’s a difference.

I’m not sure I still believed that.

I don’t have any “special needs”. I’m just a little…shy, and a little violent sometimes, maybe slightly depressed….

Damn it, I’m just depressing myself here.

I’m not disabled, I have my own reasons for being here.

I sighed deeply and took a look past the rather nice gate.

The school looks really elaborate. It doesn’t even look like a High School, it almost looks like a small college.

Of course, there were reasons it was so big.

I reached into my pocket and took out a crumpled piece of paper, unfolded it, and read it. It was all in Japanese. If you could talk to the me from about a year ago, I would have told you that there was no way I could read all these random lines. Countless hours of hard work with programs and tutors fixed that though. I started to re-read the paper. I skipped past the directions to the school and read the bit after that:

“…After you reach the school gate, proceed to the main lobby. It’s the largest building directly forward after you enter the gate. Tell someone in the main office that you are the new transfer student, and they will give you a key to your dorm room.

After you drop off your things at the dorm room, keep a lookout for a female student with short blue hair and glasses. Her name is Shizune Hakamichi, and she is the class representative for 3-3. Any questions you have can be addressed to her.

Before the end of the day, you need to visit the head nurse. You can find him in the auxiliary building”

I shoved the paper back into my pocket and started straightening out my necklace, I guess I wanted to look nice. For a moment, I wondered if I should even display it. I wasn’t sure how the staff would consider my display of a cross necklace. Japan wasn’t a country that was big on Christians. But, surely they wouldn’t care? It’s just jewelry. Man, I’m already thinking too deeply about stuff…

I sighed again and pushed open the gate, making my way in. Maybe this won’t be so bad. I mean, I have always wanted to go to a boarding school, but I miss not having any familiar faces to help me out...I feel like I've just started a new life. Some might think this as a good thing. Not me, I despise change.

The courtyards were nice and big, with grass everywhere. There weren’t many students around. It was a Sunday after all. Still, with this being a school for dis….er, students with special needs, I might have expected some of the students to be required to stay on school grounds.

I made my way to the specified building. The main office was just inside the lobby, and as I came in, a young woman behind the counter turned to greet me.

“Hello, may I help you?” she said in the foreign language that I was used to by now.

“Um, I’m the new transfer student…” I uttered in the same tongue.

“Name?”

“Fisher, Luke Fisher.”

“Ok, just a second.” She started typing on a computer in front of her. “Alright, you’re in room 118. Do you know how to get to the boy’s dorm?” she said as she handed me a key

“I have directions, thanks.”

“Ok then, don’t forget to visit the head nurse before the end of the day.” She said. I nodded and turned to leave the room. I made my way back into the courtyard and followed the instructions I had memorized from the sheet.

As I approached the boy’s dorms, I noticed two girls sitting on a bench just in front of the dorms. They seemed to be making gestures to each other. One of the girls has long, bright pink hair that formed into a strange spiral shape at the ends. The other had short blue hair and glasses. They were both pretty eye-catching, not just because of the one girl’s hair color, but from where I was standing, they both looked fairly cute, especially the one with the glasses.

…Wait, short blue hair…that must be the class representative I was supposed to see! Ah, what was her name again….?

I didn’t really have time to think about it, the pink-haired girl seemed to notice me and turned to look at me. The other girl followed. Well, it’d be rude to just stand here and stare at each other, so I approached them. Some fear was creeping through my body, but I pushed it out of the way.

“Uh, hello.” I muttered as I brought a hand up in greeting. “Um, are you….” Damn it, what was her name, what was her name? “…the class representative for 3-3?” whew.

The blue-haired girl looked at me for a second, then turned her attention to the pink-haired girl, who made some more of those gestures I saw them using. I got a closer look at the blue-haired girl, and I noticed she had awfully pretty blue eyes that looked a little darker than mine.

I guess they were using sign language. I’ve never been around someone who was deaf, so I don’t really know…

“Yes, I’m Shizune Hakamichi, are you the new transfer student? Well, Sicchan, he must be! Why else would he have all those bags?” the pink-haired girl said, in a rather loud voice. Deaf and mute? But, why did she say that second sentence out-loud if Hakamichi can’t hear her? I guess I gave off a look about the same as my thoughts, because the pink-haired girl started talking again.

“WAHAHAHA!” her sudden laughter caused me to jump and do a quick scan with my peripheral vision to see if anyone was staring at us. I hate getting attention drawn to me. “You look a little confused. Sicchan is deaf, so I act as her interpreter. I’m Misha, nice to meet you! So what’s your name?”

“Luke Fisher. I’m the new transfer student, and I was told to meet with Shizune Hakamichi if I had any questions or anything…”

“Ok! Have you looked around the campus yet? Me and Sicchan can give you a tour if you want.” I notice that she’s not only signing everything I say to Shizune, she’s signing everything she says as well. I guess that’s so everyone can get in on the conversation, so to speak. That’s awfully considerate of her…

“Um, I wouldn’t mind a tour, but I need to drop my things off first….” I actually was looking forward to being on a tour with these girls.

“Ok! We’ll be right here when you get done!”

I made my way through the dorms. At the end of the initial entrance corridor, I see what looks like a common room, with TVs, couches, vending machines and the like. There are a few students watching TV and talking. I decide to get moving before one of them spots me.

At the end of a hallway, I find rooms 117, 118, and 119. There are actually four rooms, but what I guess is room 116 doesn’t have a number plate on it. I guess they only put the plates on when a student moves in. I reach down into my pocket, past my PSP, for the room key, but just as I pull it out, I hear the unlatching of way more locks than I feel are necessary on the door to room 117. I quickly try to slide my key in and turn it before he can come out, but it’s no use.

A bespectacled head pops out of the doorway, looking in my direction and yells “Freeze! Who is it!?”

Well, that’s not the kind of welcome I was expecting.

“I-I’m Luke Fisher, I just transferred here….”

“Are you really? Or are you just using that as an excuse to get into his room and jack his stuff? Huh!?” what the hell is up with this guy? Is he messing around or what?

“Uh, no, I’m really Luke. Can I please go into my room now?”

“How am I supposed to know you’re Luke? Is there some kind of proof you can give me?”

I sighed. Maybe this guy’s the hall monitor or something. Personally, I’m still amazed he could simply hear me walk down the hall.

“Uh, I have my directions sheet…” I said, reaching into my pocket as he approached me.

Now that he has his full body out, I can tell he reminds me of someone…

“That will have to do, let me see.”

I hold out the sheet and he snatches it from my hands. He puts the sheet right up to his face and reads it. I guess he has really bad eyesight, like to the point where even those huge glasses don’t help. I push my own glasses up onto my nose. I have bad eyesight too, but my glasses make it 20/20.

“I don’t have the necessary materials at the moment to test for a forgery, so I’ll let you go for now.” He said, handing the sheet back to me. “Can’t be too sure.”

I wanted to ask why he was so strict with the identification measures, but I held my tongue.

He stuck his hand out to me. “Name’s Kenji.” I give him a firm shake. One of the first things I remember learning when I was younger was to always give firm handshakes. Gives off a good first impression.

“Nice to meet you Kenji.” I said, finishing up the shake.

“There is one thing you need to be careful of. I noticed that you’re supposed to meet with Hakamichi. Be careful with the women of this school Luke.” He leaned in close to me “They can stab you in the back, just like that. Watch yourself brother.” He turned around and headed back into his room. I finished turning the key in my own lock and walked inside. Not really sure if I should heed that warning or not…

The room was a fairly nice size, about as big or a little smaller than my room back home. There was a desk and a window on the far wall, right next to a bed with a nightstand. The bed was large, my parents had sent me the same bed I used to use at home. The staff had let them, which was nice. It’s a queen size, I really needed the space because I shift a lot in my sleep. The closet was on the opposite wall. There was an additional bag next to the bed, which contained arguably the most important part of my luggage. My parents had done me the favor of sending it on ahead. Sitting up against the wall near my bed was a dresser, and on top of that dresser was a TV, also sent on ahead of me. It wasn’t too big, nor was it too small. It’s not the size that would go in a living room, rather one that would go in a bedroom. Not real sure how my parents were able to get those things in, but I’m not complaining. I sat down my two duffel bags on the floor and sat my laptop case on my desk, then I opened the pre-sent bag next to my bed to check it’s contents.

Sony Playstation 2 console, Xbox, GameCube, as well as a couple of the old-school consoles: SEGA Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and the classic NES. Assorted controllers for each were also present. I’ve really got to thank my parents the next time I can.

I zipped the bag shut. I’ll set everything up tonight, after I finish with the tour.

I notice on my nightstand my usual assortment of vitamins and over the counter allergy pills.

I slipped my PSP as well as my knife out of my pocket and laid them on the nightstand. No need to carry those things around.

This place really doesn’t seem too bad so far. I wonder what the rest of the place is like…

Seeking to meet that curiosity, I stepped outside my room, locking the door behind me, and set off to go find Shizune and Misha.


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Prologue Part 2: Settling in

“Ready?” Misha asked as I walked through the door out of the boy’s dorm.

“Yeah, let’s go.” And with that, the three of us made out way towards the main building

“So, you’re from America, huh? Misha asked me as we walked

“Yeah, I lived in the southern part of it.”

“What made you want to come all the way to Japan?”

“Well, to be honest, both me and my parents don’t really like the American educational system. It wasn’t just that though, I had always wanted to visit Japan, and I had always wanted to enroll at a boarding school. Why not take care of all of that and send me to a school so highly regarded for special needs students?”

“Why do you even need to go to a special needs school? You look fine to me.”

I swallowed. I have no idea what the school’s policy was on asking about disorders…

“Uh…I…” I looked down, then looked over at them. Both her and Shizune were staring at me intently.

“….I don’t really want to talk about it. Isn’t there some kind of policy against asking students why they’re here?”

“Well, there isn’t really an official rule…I’m sorry, I was just curious as to why an American would come all the way here…” She looked down. Shizune gave me an apologetic look.

I felt a little bad, maybe I would tell them when I got to know them better.

“So, how did you learn Japanese?” She asked, obviously trying to kill the awkwardness in the air.

“Well, thankfully my school was offering Japanese lessons the year right before I left….”

We continued talking and walking until we got inside the main building. The two of them lead me through the first floor corridors, showing me the cafeteria, then lead me to the second floor halls.

“…and here’s the library. It’s open most of the day every day, even Sundays.” We walked a little more until we reached a room that caught my attention for…some reason. I can’t quite put my finger on it.

“What room is that?”

I looked over at them, I noticed Shizune had a scowl on her face. Misha wasn’t quite as pronounced, but she didn’t look like she wanted to be here either.

“That’s just a room for one of the students from 3-2 and her friend in your class to hang out.” They looked like they wanted to move on.

“What are their names?”
“Lily Satou and Hanako Ikezawa, now come on, let’s go see the third floor!”
Something told me that there wasn’t exactly good relations between that pair of girls and this pair.

We walked around the third floor corridors, with Misha pointing out our classroom. Thankfully, the classrooms are all marked, so it wouldn’t be too easy to get lost.

After that, they pointed out the girl’s dorm, explaining that students were allowed into opposite gendered dorms as long as it wasn’t past 21:00 (9 PM). I guess that would make sense, seeing as some of the students might need assistance. After that, we headed to the auxiliary building. The sight of a swimming pool there really made me perk up. Good thing I had remembered to bring my trunks.

We parted here, as I had to go visit the head nurse. After saying goodbye, I headed into the building. The head nurse’s office was easy enough to spot. I knocked, and a voice on the other end told me to come in.

I immediately noticed that the nurse wasn’t the only one in here. A girl with light brown hair tied into pigtails was talking with the nurse.

“Ah, hello, could you give me just a second?” I nodded and leaned up against the wall. “So, he has been getting plenty of exercise as well as changing his diet habits?”

“Yeah, he’s been doing well for the past week and a half. He’s not grumpy about it anymore either!” I noticed something rather striking about the girl as I let my eyes wander: she didn’t have any legs. Well, that’s not really true. She has legs down to the knee, but below that was a fairly thin piece of metal that extended to the floor. It kinda surprised me, most of the people I’ve seen that needed prosthetic legs have full on human leg-shaped prosthetics. Maybe they are too expensive for this girl or something.

“That’s great to hear, keep at it Emi, and don’t let him slack off.”

“Yes sir!” She said as she turned around. I immediately noticed her bright green eyes. She looked kinda younger than me, but she was still pretty cute. She gave me a friendly nod as she left.

“Sorry about that. Take a seat?” He asked, pointing at the chair directly in front of his desk.

“No problem.” I said, taking a seat.

“So, I assume you are Luke Fisher, the new transfer student, correct?”

“Yes sir.”

“Alright then, I’m the head nurse, everyone just calls me Nurse.” He said extending his hand for a shake. “So, have you already had a tour? Finding everything alright?”

“Yes sir, everything looks really nice. I especially liked the swimming pool out front, is that freely open?”

“Well, it’s mostly meant for physical therapy, but students who need to get aerobic exercise are free to use it if I approve, and…” He turned around and picked up a folder from the top of his file cabinet “If I’m not mistaken, you have had asthma for a while and aren’t in the best shape, so I give you full permission to use it as you please to improve your condition. I recommend you use it regularly. You can also use the track if you want. We have rescue inhalers and treatments available if you need them.”

“It’s ok, it’s not really all that bad. I haven’t had an attack in over five years.”

“Well, we have them here if you need them. Also, we have several re-fills for your vitamins and allergy medicine available, so if you run out, you can get more. Also, if I’m not mistaken, your…previous events were brought on because of constant bullying, right?”

I winced. I was kinda hoping he wasn’t going to bring that up. I looked down as I answered.

“…Yeah.”

“Well, as far as we know, there is no bullying going on here at Yamaku. We do ask that if you witness any bullying to report it and…don’t take matters into your own hands, ok?”

“…Yes sir.” At least the staff here didn’t treat me like… them.

“Alright then, if there’s anything else you need, feel free to ask me.”

“Ok, thank you.” I said as I got up.

“I assure you, things here won’t be like at your old school. The student body here has a lot of understanding and respect.” I nodded. Maybe they did, but how many students here have had a past like mine?

I wondered if there really were any like me. Maybe if we met up, we could be friends.

I glanced down at my watch after I left the office. It was getting fairly late. I made my way back to the boy’s dorms.

As I approached the hallway with my room, I heard something from down the hall.

“…Come on man, why not? It’ll be fun! It’ll be like a manly picnic!”

Kenji’s voice.

“For the last time Kenji, I’m not going to drink with you on the roof! It seems a little dangerous, why can’t we drink somewhere else?” That voice I didn’t recognize…

“But dude, the roof is awesome! What’s so dangerous about drinking up there? Surely we won’t fall off or anything!”

“I’ve already said no Kenji.”

I decided to round the corner and see what was going on. Kenji and another student were talking in the hall

The other student was one I hadn’t seen before. He had medium length brown hair with a strand that poked out from the rest. He seemed pretty normal, no missing legs or anything.

Kneji noticed me. “Hey, who is that?” The other boy turned around to look at me.

“Uh, hey Kenji, it’s me, Luke.”

“Oh, hey man! Hey Hisao, this is the guy I was telling you about!” He said as he put his hand on the boy’s shoulder and led him over to me.

“You must be the new transfer student, Luke right? I’m Hisao Nakai, nice to meet you.” He said as he extended his hand. “I’m in room 119 over there.”

“Ah, I see.”

“So, how does Yamaku look to you?”

“From what I’ve seen, it looks really nice. Kicks the hell out of my old school, that’s for sure.”

“Heh, well I’m glad you like it. I’ve been here for a few weeks now, so I can help you if you need it. I’m in class 3-3, you’re in that class too aren’t you?”

I nodded. “The school day begins at 8 and lasts until 3 right?”

“Yep.”

“Alright then. Hey, would you mind giving me a heads up when you’re about to leave tomorrow? I’d like to walk with someone to class tomorrow.”

“Sure thing.”

“Alright, thanks.”

Hisao turned to Kenji “Hey, you planning on going tomorrow?”

“Maybe, I must make some calculations, and I might not finish by tomorrow. Besides, I was thinking about ordering a pizza.”

Hisao frowned. “You know, you still haven’t paid me back that 1,000 yen for the last pizza you ordered.”

“I shall have it eventually! Anyways, I need to go get some work done, so if you’ll excuse me…” He said as he made his way back into his room.

Hisao rolled his eyes and spoke to me in a low voice: “He’s not all there. He believes there is a vast feminist conspiracy going on and that Yamaku will be the site of the first battle.”

“Sounds interesting, that would explain why he asked me to be careful of Hakamichi…”

“Actually, there’s a tad bit of truth in that. Shizune can be a little hard to along with, but she’s a lot of fun when you get to know her.”

“Mm hm. Well, I need to set up some things, so see you tomorrow.”

“Ok, see you tomorrow.”

I spent a good hour or so setting up everything. I liked to personalize my stuff, so I went on ahead and did that with my room. I put up some posters on the walls that I had brought with me, set up my laptop and game systems, and filled out my closet and dresser drawers. There were enough drawers that I could place my games and spare controllers in a few of them.

I decided to head to bed early. I wanted to wake up early in the morning to take a shower, earlier than any of the other residents would use them. I set my watch alarm to 6:00. After taking my nightly doses of vitamins and medicine and changing into my night clothes, I slipped under the covers, laid my glasses on the nightstand, and shut off the light.

I had a big day tomorrow.

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[Extremist_Line]

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Chapter 1: The Big Day V.2

My watch alarm’s piercing beeps woke me from my slumber. I groaned and hit the button to disable it. I reached over and slipped on my glasses.

Welp, today’s the day. My first day of school at Yamaku High School.

….Damn I’m nervous.

At least Hisao agreed to walk with me, so I have someone to help show me the ropes.

I hate going out into public without a friend or someone to latch onto.

Whatever, I need to hurry up and get into the shower before some of the other guys get it. Thankfully, I managed to get up early enough to be the only one in the showers.

Back at my room, I opened up the closet and took a look at one of the uniforms. A basic long-sleeved collar shirt with a green jacket and tie, with long green pants. Back at my old school, our uniforms were simply a collared shirt and khaki pants/shorts. I always liked how Japanese schools appear to have much cooler uniforms than American uniforms. This one wasn’t quite as cool as the ones I saw in, say, Persona 3, but they were still nice. I slipped one on.

I still had a few minutes until Hisao was supposed to come around, so I passed the time checking a few things on the internet through my laptop. The school had wireless internet, which was nice. It was pretty fast too.

At about a quarter to eight, I heard a knock at my door.

“Hey, you up?”

“Yeah, hold on.” I closed down my laptop and opened up the door.

“You ready?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

We talked a bit as we made our way to the school building. Turns out Hisao is somewhat into video games too. Maybe we could play a round of Halo or something later.
As we made our way into the main building, I saw a tall man with messy black hair and a brown coat in the lobby. He noticed and approached us.

“You’re Luke Fisher, aren’t you?”

“Yes sir.”

“I’m Akio Mutou, you’re homeroom teacher. Welcome to Yamaku.” He extended his hand. This is, what, the fourth shake in two days?

“Nice to meet you sir.”

“Please, the formality is not necessary. Now then, do you want to introduce yourself to the class?”

“Well, do I have to option not to?”

“Yes, not every student likes being the center of attention. You don’t, right?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Ok then, I assume you do not want to introduce yourself?”

“No, not really…”

“Very well, come on, we’re going to be late.”

This guy didn’t seem too bad. He kinda reminded me of my mathematics teacher back home. Laid back and friendly. They even look slightly similar, although Mutou’s 5 o’ clock shadow wasn’t nearly as thick as my old teacher.

We reached to door to 3-3 soon enough. “You can just go on straight in and sit down. There should be an open seat near the back, you can sit there.”

As he opened the door, I took a look around the classroom. The room and the students themselves looked pretty standard. I noticed a cane leaning against the wall, as well as one student who didn’t seem to have a hand. I noticed a girl with long dark hair near where my indicated seat was, but I was more focused on the familiar blue and pink haired girls that my seat was near.

I made my way over to my seat. I felt several sets of eyes upon me, but tried to ignore it as I took my seat. Hisao took his seat near Misha.

“Alright class, just wanted to remind you that we have a new student with us today. Luke Fisher is from America, so don’t rag on him too hard if he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Anyways, last week we left off….”

A few heads turned in my direction when he mentioned me, but I expected that. Mutou is the science teacher, which is good, because science is my best subject.

I managed to get into the swing of the class fairly well, taking notes on the somewhat familiar subject. The class seemed to fly by, and before I knew it, the lunch bell was ringing. As I began packing up my stuff, I noticed that Hisao was talking with Shizune and Misha.

…Crap, I guess he’s going to eat with them. I don’t have anyone to eat lunch with, and I don’t really want to intrude on them…Damn it….

Hisao finished talking with them and made his way over to me.

“Hey, did you have any plans for lunch?”

That made me perk up a bit “Well, not really, why?”

“I was wondering if you’d like to come with me and the girls to go eat.”

“Really? You sure I’m not gonna bother you guys?”

“Nah, they’re totally fine with it.”

“Well if that’s the case, sure, I’d love to eat with you guys.”

“Alright then, come on.” He led me over to Shizune and Misha and told them I was coming with them. Misha gained a nice smile after being told this, while Shizune gained a very subtle one.

However, to my surprise, rather than going to the cafeteria or somewhere outside, we made our way outside of the school gates, heading toward the town.

“Uh, where are we going?”

“Oh, right, I probably should have told you, Shizune, Misha, and I sometimes eat at a tea house in town. Are you alright with that?”

“Eh, I guess, but will we be able to make it back to class in time?”

“Even if we don’t, the three of us are Student Council members, we can bail you out.”

Student Council huh? I never really got involved with that kind of stuff. I stayed out of any kind of extracurricular stuff I could and spent my free afternoons playing video games.

We eventually made our way into town and to this tea house they were talking about. The sign over it read “Shanghai”. As we walked in, I noticed it had a sort of traditional Japanese feel, the kind that I really like. We made our way over to a table and took our seats. A girl that looked like she was in her early 20s and wearing glasses came over and greeted us.

“Hey Yuuko. Usuals for the three of us. What about you Luke?”

Great, just leave me hanging here Hisao. I don’t know anything about what to get…

“Um, well, what do you serve here?”

“Mostly tea and coffee, we also have different types of sandwiches and soups available…”

“Eh, I’m not all that hungry. Can I just get some tea?” I’m more used to iced sweet tea rather than hot tea, but whatever.

The girl then set off to get our things. For most of the time we just talked about pretty standard stuff; my interests, asking things about Yamaku, things like that. The tea was pretty good, even if it wasn’t what I was used to. I did notice that Shizune seemed to intently staring at me for most of the time, with her chin cupped in her hand and an elbow on the table. I guess she’s just somewhat interested in me. You know, in terms of me being the huge gaijin from America.

Our eyes met a few times, but she just blankly returned my stare. She really gave off the impression of being the somewhat harsh and professional type, perfectly suited to a leader.

Which is a bit ironic, considering she’s a leader that can’t adequately communicate with her subordinates without assistance.

I was eventually asked something by Misha:

“So Luke-chan, are you considering joining any clubs or anything like that?”

“Well, not really, I haven’t ever really been involved with any kind of extra-curricular stuff like that.”

“Aw, that’s a shame. we were wondering if maybe you would want to join the Student Council?”

“Eh, I just got here, I’m foreign, and I’ve never really had any kind of experience with it before…”

“Well, maybe you could come to a meeting or two, maybe help us with a few things. That’s what Hicchan started out doing, and he ended up joining the council!”

“Hmmm…I’ll tell you what; I’m always for helping people out. I’ll help you guys every now and then, and maybe I’ll join the council later on if I think I can handle it, ok?”

“Ok! Thanks Luke-chan!” Misha seemed pretty excited, and Shizune seemed a little happy too. Again, it was subtle.

I glanced down at my watch.

“Uh…I know you guys said you would cover for me if we were late, but it is my first day here, so maybe we should start heading back?”

“Oh, alright, just for your sake Luke-chan!”

So, we finished up the rest of our drinks and made our way back up to school.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. They didn’t have any work to do today so I went back to my dorm room and played some video games and worked on my homework for the rest of the day.

I don’t think my first day was all that bad.
*****************************************************************

[neumanproductions]

Nice to see the Shizune series but sorry to say she moved to #5 on my list recently. Emi made a comback with me because...

[Wren]

Nice alternate path. Can't wait to see where this leads to.

[kosherbacon]

Emi made a comback with me because...

...because I torture, defame, and abuse her so much?

[neumanproductions]

Emi made a comback with me because...

...because I torture, defame, and abuse her so much?

No, not the only reason, hence my several pictoral reasonings. It's like a a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup; you love it because of the chocolate and peanut butter

[Member22]

Good to see you Extremist_Line... looks like the wait for a new fic from you was definately worth it! I'd like to see how this alternate fic ends up relative to the original one... good job!

[Extremist_Line]

Thanks for all the positive response guys.

Most of that was just re-hashing the older chapters with some changes. Here's the first true original piece of this fic. Unfortunately, like with my previous fic, I ended up slightly rushing the first couple of chapters so I could get to the good stuff. This chapter and the next one are kinda short.

Also, does anyone know if you can add a poll after you've already posted a topic?


*************************************************************
Chapter 2: Risk vs Reward

As I walked into the classroom on my second day, I was greeted by my trio of ‘friends’. Just after sitting down, I was asked something by Misha:

“Hey Luke-chan, we need some help with just a little bit of paper-work today after school. Would you mind helping us out? We can do something fun afterwards.”

“Sure, I’ll help you guys out. That’s what I agreed to isn’t it?”

The class passed by at a ‘standard’ rate. I paid attention as much as I could. It’s math, can you blame me?

Anyways, we didn’t go to Shanghai again for lunch, we just ate in the cafeteria. Which is fine by me. Shanghai was nice, but I’d rather not risk being late.

After the final bell rang later in the day, Misha and Shizune came to me as I was packing up.

“Ready to go Luke-chan?”

“Yeah, but isn’t Hisao a member too? Where’s he?”

“…”

“Hicchan said he had something he had to go do, so it’s just the three of us!”

Eh, whatever.

We made our way over to the council room. The place is pretty much the same as a regular classroom, just with a different arrangement of desks. I noticed there weren’t many people here.

“Huh, are we early or something?”

“No.”

“…Well then, where is everyone?”

“Two-thirds of the council are already here!”

Then it hit me.

“Wait, the only people in the council are you two and Hisao?”

“Yep!”

…Ouch. Well, with Shizune’s personality, I can kinda understand that.

I helped them do a little work with the council, like I had promised. Pretty much all it was is filing away some papers, filling out a few things, basic stuff like that. Misha says that it can get a lot more hectic around certain times of year. Apparently I missed out on a festival here by a few weeks. Lucky me, I hate festivals.

Eventually we managed to be done with the work.

“Ok! I think that’s it. Now, do you want to do something fun Luke-chan?”

“Uh, sure. What did you have in mind?”

“Ever heard of a board game called Risk?”

“Yeah, I’ve played it a time or two. I thought that was mostly an American game though.”

“You’d be surprised.”

As Misha and I continued talking, Shizune walked over to a nearby bookcase and pulled out a familiar looking board game from the shelf.

Despite the fact that Risk can support more than two players, Misha decided to sit on the sidelines and watch me and Shizune battled. It’s been a while since I played, so I didn’t really do too well.

Shizune looked pretty happy to have won. Or maybe cocky would be a better word. Misha even did the favor of translating her victory shouts for me. Not that it wasn’t totally obvious.

“Yeah, yeah, you beat me. I haven’t played in a long time, cut me some slack. I bet I could kick your butt at my type of game.”

“…?”

“Oh? What kind of game is that Luke-chan?”

I smiled and pulled my PSP out of my pocket and laid it on the table.

“Electronic video games. Any game, any system, any time.”

I think Shizune saw this as a challenge. An aggressive glint appeared in her eyes.

“…!”

“WAHAHAHAHA! Sicchan accepts your challenge! She says that we shall meet tomorrow and settle this!”

Hm, I think my initial impressions of Shizune are wrong. I immediately got the impression that she’s a harsh controlling sort of type, but she’s actually got a playful competitive side. It’s cute, really.

“Very well, we will go to my room tomorrow after school!”

Shizune nodded after receiving the sign from Misha.

I headed straight back to the dorms after we parted. Got all my typical nightly stuff done and hit the sack.

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

[Member22..]

Also, does anyone know if you can add a poll after you've already posted a topic?

I am not sure... you could post a new thread with a poll of the same name as the thread.

Nice chapter BTW.. having Shizune play a game other than risk (where Luke has a significant advantage) is a very innovative move... I liked it!

[kosherbacon]

To add a poll in an existing thread, you edit the first post. Below the field where you edit the text, there should be some tabs, "Options" "Upload Attachment," and "Poll Creation"

[Extremist_Line]

To add a poll in an existing thread, you edit the first post. Below the field where you edit the text, there should be some tabs, "Options" "Upload Attachment," and "Poll Creation"

Found it, thanks. I'll put the poll up after the final chapter is posted.

[Extremist_Line]

Not much of a response for chapter 2. Oh well. Here's chapter 3.

**************************************************************************
Chapter 3: Plugged In

School day proceeded as normal. Nothing really to say about it. The lessons aren’t that hard, the only thing that makes them difficult is the fact it’s in a foreign language.

Regardless, after school I was once again approached by the duo.

“Are we still gonna play, Luke-chan?”

“Yep, come on, let’s go to my room.”

Inviting two girls to my room. Not really the way I would have imagined it, but whatever.

When we got to my room, both girls seemed stunned by the number of games and game systems I had. Shizune looked a bit nervous. I could tell she was probably regretting her boast and falling into my challenge.

“C’mon Shizune, you’re not gonna back down are you?”

She gained a new look of grim determination.

“…”

“No! Of course not!”

“Alright then, pick a game and let’s get this started.”

She browsed her way through the various cartridges and DVD cases, eventually settling on a game and pulling it out.

“…That’s a single-player only game Shizune. Here, I’ll tell you what; how about we play the most popular competitive game in America? I promise I’m not, like a master at it.” I ran my fingers through the DVD cases until I found it.

“Alright, let’s do this. You’re in my territory now.”
***********************************************
A couple of hours later…

Well, not only did I beat her on the first game, but in the many subsequent games afterwards. Even if I was kicking her tail, she looked like she was having fun.

“And I do believe that marks another victory for me. I’ve lost count now.”

Shizune playfully punched me in the arm after Misha signed her that.

“…”

“You’re awfully good at these games Luke-chan. Don’t you have anything better to do than play games all day?”

“Ehhhh…nope. Not really.”

“…”

“You seem to get along fine with people, and whatever caused you to have to be here doesn’t seem to bug you all that much.”

“…Well, it…does kinda affect me. I don’t really have a disability, per say. I’m here because of something I did, or rather, something I almost did. Something I was stopped from doing.”

They were looking at me intently.

“Let’s just leave it at that. I might tell you guys about it some other time.”

“Oh, ok Luke-chan.”

I glanced down at my watch.

“Curfew’s coming up soon. You guys should head out. It’s not gonna look good if I get in trouble for having two girls in my room past curfew.”

“…”

“Luke-chan’s so moral…Ok, but can we come and play again tomorrow?”

“Of course. You guys are welcome to come to my room any time you want.”

“Alright then, see ya!” The two said as they made their way over to the door. Shizune gave me a friendly nod on the way out.

As I was laying in my bed a few minutes later, I really began to think.

Shizune is a real fun and nice girl to be around when you get to know her. She’s pretty cute too. From what I can tell, she’s already beginning to take somewhat of a liking to me.

I wonder…if I could maybe make her my girlfriend at some point?

Just…maybe?

I mean, it’ll be quite strange dating a girl that has a disability like she has. I guess I never really thought that the students at Yamaku would be all that attractive.

Looks like I was wrong. And I like that.

I’m fantasizing of course. There’s no way that Shizune or any other girl at this school for that matter, would want to date me. I’m not really all that take-charge, I’d be very nervous to ask anyone here out. I haven't dated a normal girl, let alone a disabled one.

And God knows what would happen if they found out the reason I’m here.

Eh, who knows. Maybe my shyness will change and I’ll ask Shizune out eventually.

Heh, that’ll be the day…
***********************************************************************
From here on out, the chapters will be longer. Sorry these first three were short.
Oh, and because at least some of you are probably wondering, the reason Luke beat Shizune but lost to Hanako is because he was going competitively against Shizune and probably let Hanako win.

[Extremist_Line]

Heeeelllloooooo?
Anyone there?
Alright guys, if you need to mention something, do it. I need you guys to tell me stuff like "These chapters are boring, go ahead and post the next one!"

Here's chapter four. Yay.
The clothes Shizune is wearing is the same one from the 100% completion image.

**************************************************
Chapter 4: One Step Too Many

A few days later…

I remember, last night…I had a dream. I dreamed of Shizune.

We were sitting together, watching a typical but still beautiful woodland scene. Misha wasn’t there, it was just the two of us.

I looked over at her and she smiled back. She has a really cute smile…

At some point, I worked up the nerve to loop my arm around her and pull her close.

It felt good, sharing our warmth together like that. I began to run my fingers through her hair, and I smelled the fruity shampoo she had used.

I looked at her, and she looked at me. We each looked into each other’s eyes.

Eventually I took the risk and went in for a kiss.

It was nice, passionate. It felt so real…the two of us just melting in each other’s arms.

…Of course, it was all a dream. I was pretty pissed when I was awoken by my alarm.

“Awww, DAMNIT.”

I went through my typical morning routine. When I got to school, I was immediately drawn to looking in the direction of Shizune. I noticed she was here, but Misha was absent.

I sat down in my regular seat near her. She greeted me with a nod.

“Uh…” I was going to ask the whereabouts of Misha, but I realized the futility of it.

Shizune noticed that I wanted to ask something, so she reached into her bag and pulled out a small pocket notebook. She took her pencil and wrote out to me;

‘Hello Luke. If you need to talk to me, we can use this.’

‘Oh, ok. Where’s Misha?’

‘Out sick. I think she’s got some kind of stomach virus or something.’

I shivered. I hated having those.

‘Well, do you need any help or anything?’

‘Acturally, yes. Would you mind if I could copy down your notes?’

‘Normally I write my notes in English, but for this time, sure.’

‘Thanks Luke.’ She also gave me a smile.

So, during the class, she kept looking at my notes and writing down what I wrote. Occasionally she wrote out questions she had about things that were on the board or to clarify things that I had failed to make clear in my notes.

I was a little nervous the whole time, having Shizune so close. Especially after that dream…

Eventually the bell rang for lunch. Shizune and I went to the Student Council room to eat. It was nice really, not having Misha around. I feel kinda bad for that, but could you really hold it against me?

I helped Shizune with notes next period too. The bell rang later, and as I was packing my things together, Shizune tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention as she wrote something out for me;

‘Hey Luke, did you have any plans for later tonight?’

‘No, not really, why?’

‘Well…I was wondering if maybe you’d like to come to Shanghai with me tonight.’

‘Oh, sure, I’d love to.’

‘Great, is 6:30 good with you?’

‘Yeah, that’s fine.’

‘Ok, see you tonight then.’

‘Wait, this isn’t like, formal or anything is it? I don’t need to wear anything fancy?’

‘No, you can just wear something casual. We’re just hanging out.’

‘Oh, ok. See you later then.’

I was pretty happy, but nervous at the same time as I made my way back to the dorms. I don’t know whether she thinks this is a date or just a little visit between friends.

I thought about it the whole day as I did my homework, played some games, stuff like that. Eventually the time came along and I started getting dressed.

She said that I should just wear casual clothes, so I put on some jeans, a black ‘Old Navy’ T-shirt, and my zip-up hoody. It may seem a tad trashy, but it’s my standby clothes set. I’m sure she’d be fine with it. I sprayed on a little Axe too.

Jesus, I’m treating this like a date. It’s not a date, we’re just going to hang out. I think.

I glanced down at my watch to ensure I had the time right, and set out to the gates.

As I approach the gates, I saw Shizune leaning against the brick wall the gates were attached to. She was wearing a greenish colored over coat, long enough to go down to her legs. She also wore some stockings and boots. She looks pretty nice…

Man I’m getting really nervous…

Gah, you’re just going to visit with her. It’s not a date or anything. Pull it together…

She saw me approaching and came over to me, pulled out her notebook and pencil, and wrote out to me;

‘Hey Luke, are you ready?’

‘Yeah, let’s go.’

So, we made our way down the hill Yamaku was perched upon, down to the town, and to the familiar café. When we went inside, I noticed that Yuuko was still working.

“Hey Yuuko. Working late?”

“Yeah. Is it just you two?”

“Mm-hm.”

“Would you like some tea?”

“Sure.”

“The usual Shizune?”

Shizune looked over at me and handed her notebook to me. I wrote out ‘She wants to know if you want the usual?’

She looked over at Yuuko and nodded. Yuuko then went off to get our drinks.

I still had the notebook in my hand, so I wrote out something I had been meaning to ask her.

‘So, why did you just want to two of us to come here?’

‘No reason, I just wanted to hang out and visit. Is that ok?’

‘Of course, I’m just a little curious is all. I don’t normally have people asking me to go to a café with me to just chill.’

‘Aw, that’s a shame. I think you’re a lot of fun to be around.’

At this point, Yuuko came in with our drinks. We each started taking sips.

I smiled. ‘Thanks Shizune. I haven’t had someone tell me that since…’ I scratched ‘since’ out and continued ‘…in a long time.’

‘Why not? I mean, aside from playing a lot of games, you seem fine to me.’

‘…The same reason I’m here.’

After reading that, she gave me an understanding look and nod.

‘So…what’s it like in America?’

Our conversation continued for a while. After about an hour and a half, maybe longer, we made our way back to the dorm. Shizune seemed to enjoy our ‘conversation’, and I did too.

After we reached to dorms, Shizune wrote out on the notebook:

‘Thanks for this Luke. I had a lot of fun visiting with you tonight. We should do this again sometime. Just the two of us.’

I blushed a little bit. I hope she doesn’t notice…

‘I’d love to. Thanks.’

After she read that she looked at me and smiled. Then she did something totally unexpected and wrapped me in a light hug.

It was nice. I don’t usually get hugs from girls my age. I pulled the hug a little lighter. She thankfully didn’t seem to mind.

My heart is throbbing in my chest, and fear is creeping up to my throat…

After we broke the hug, I looked down at her. She stared back. Instead of that neutral look she usually had, she had a look of…happiness?

Man, she looks so nice. I’m reminded of my dream, how great that kiss was…

My desires started taking control over my body, and soon I felt myself leaning towards her.

If only I could feel that same bliss I felt in the dream…

But I was shoved back. Normally I wouldn’t stumble, but I was totally off-guard, so I stumbled back a bit.

Shizune’s look changed from a look of happiness to one that pretty much said “What the hell Fisher?”

She whipped out her notebook, wrote out something, and thrust it out to me.

‘Fisher, this isn’t a date! What are you thinking?’

‘I-I’m sorry…I just…’

She snatched the pad back.

‘Luke, did you only agree to this thinking you would score with me tonight!?’

‘No!’

‘I’m not entirely sure I believe you. I’m going to bed. I won’t ask for another one of these meetings. Goodbye.’

After I skimmed over that, she grabbed it from my hand and shoved it into her bag. She left without doing anything more.

I was left standing there in shock, next to the gate. Thankfully, no-one was around to see our little argument. Saves me from being embarrassed.

Didn’t really make me feel any better.

I mean, it wasn’t a date, I told myself that several times! What the hell was I thinking!?

I just…I wanted to feel love. The emotion I rarely felt.

But, so much for that. The girl that had the most chance of loving me now apparently hates me.

............

“FUCK!”

I yelled the obscenity in my native tounge as I punched the brick wall in frustration. It hurt somewhat. I tend to punch stuff in anger, so I’m used to it.

Sigh.

Well, I’ve lived without love all my life. What’s a little longer going to change?

…This isn’t making me feel any better.

I started making me way back to the dorms, keeping my hands in my pockets and watching only the ground.

I didn’t even bother changing into my pajamas. I just fell on the bed. I reached into the drawer in my nightstand and pulled out the knife I had brought with me. I flicked the blade open and closed with one hand a few times. I tested the blade sharpness with my finger, causing a little blood to be drawn.

…No, I’m not going back to that.

I close the blade and toss it back in the drawer. I fell asleep soon after.

I had a dream.

I was standing in front of Shizune.

I brought a metallic object up from my side and pressed it against my temple.

I saw the shock in her eyes.

I pulled my finger in.

I felt the sharp pain go through my head.

Then I fell to the ground.

I woke up, surprisingly not screaming.

…Is it strange that I don’t find that dream alarming at all?
****************************************************************************

[Member22]

Nice chapter Extremist_line!

That outing/date/whatever went on so well, it was unusual to see Luke acting like that... but then it was understandable, if only he fought the temptation... anyways, I'm looking forward to see how Luke would deal with this situation/misunderstanding.

[Shadjrik]

grrrrr i love you fics keep them going!!!