bhtooefr's one-shot and drabble thread

[sanduba]

I mean, I think I know why you think so, but if I'm right in what I think you're thinking, then a think you're wrong. (If that makes any sence...)

It really doesn't.

[bhtooefr]

I think Lianam was thinking I went down a Hanako x Lilly yuri route in which Lilly x Hisao was cheating on Hanako, or something?

I dunno. (That's definitely not where I was going with that.)

[dewelar]

Unfortunately I have a hard time liking something that involves someone getting an abortion. It's actually one of the things I'm most passionate about. I don't want to start a political debate on the KS forums though, so I'll leave it at that.

Actually, even within the drabble it's left open-ended. All Lilly says is that she's not keeping it. While I can definitely see Lilly's parents wanting her to have an abortion (which would fit well with Akira's view of them wanting to keep up appearances), I can't see Lilly agreeing. Lots of opportunity for drama there.

[Oscar Wildecat]

Actually, even within the drabble it's left open-ended. All Lilly says is that she's not keeping it. While I can definitely see Lilly's parents wanting her to have an abortion (which would fit well with Akira's view of them wanting to keep up appearances), I can't see Lilly agreeing. Lots of opportunity for drama there.

In fact, Bloighdich and Sìol-ghinidh could tie together in the sense of swinging Lilly around to Akira's view of her biological family. But that would be a dark road to travel, story-wise.

[bhtooefr]

I'll note that my opinion of Lilly's parents is that Akira's opinion is 100% correct. So, that'll leak into anything I write around the Satou clan.

And, Oscar, that is a fantastic idea, although it'd require a rewritten version of Bloighdich to actually fit (given that it's a Hanako bad end story, and includes several elements that cannot occur in a post-Developments Katawaverse, even if Hisao manages to trigger a Hanako bad end within Developments).

And I like dark roads that recover. I might have to play with that some time.

[bhtooefr]

I decided to do something a little... different... here. I'll expand some after these two parts are posted.

----------

As the bell rings, the classroom empties out, leaving me behind to study. Normally, I'd go to the library, but I don't want to break my concentration.

Mutou is still in the classroom, working on his lesson plans or something. I hear him mutter, "damn computer..."

I look up, surprised at Mutou's indiscretion, and see him grimacing at the screen. "T-T-Teacher, wh-what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, sorry to bother you, Ikezawa."

I nod, and return to my studies. Mutou continues to grumble at the computer, though.

"S-Sir, if I can help..."

Mutou sighs. "I can't save this file for some reason."

I step over behind him, and see the problem instantly. "T-T-Try saving it to the C: dr-dr-drive, i-i-instead of the D: drive." I can't help but giggle a little at Mutou making that mistake.

Mutou smacks his forehead. "Of course it was something so simple... Thanks, Ikezawa."

"Y-Y-You're w-welcome."

This isn't the first time I've had to help a teacher with a computer problem, although Mutou usually gets along fine with computers.

Mutou takes a sip of coffee. "Ikezawa, would you say that you're good with computers?"

"A l-little."

"The administration is looking for someone to help out with their computers. I could put in a good word for you, if you'd like."

It's certainly not a bad idea, as I get along with machines better than people. And computer work isn't a bad career. I was considering becoming an editor, as I like doing that with the journalism club, but it's a good idea to keep my options open.

"S-Sure."

----------

Turns out that Yamaku's "network infrastructure" was less reliable than my class attendance. I've been thrown into the deep end here, but when I'm not in class, I'm fixing up the computers, and things are actually starting to run better now.

Now that I've got a chance to take a breather, I decide to swing by the library. Yamaku decided to hire an assistant librarian, and he's in today. Given how much time I used to spend in the library, it wouldn't be a bad idea for him to know who I am, if Yuuko hasn't told him already.

Here goes nothing.

Eye contact... the flick to the scars... the flick away from me... and back to the eyes. No other reaction. Huh.

"Hi, how can I help you?"

"J-Just checking to m-make sure y-y-you're all set w-with your c-computer."

"Yup, they just gave me my password this morning, and Yuuko showed me how to use everything yesterday." Now that I'd have paid to watch. "So they've got the students working on the computers here?"

"Y-Yeah. W-Well, it's j-just me."

"Huh. I guess I should introduce myself. Mutou. Satoru Mutou." Wait, did he say Mutou? He must see the shock on my face, as he continues, "and, yes, before you ask, I am Akio Mutou's son. Please, call me Satoru."

"I-Ikezawa. H-Hanako Ikezawa. And Hanako is fine."

"It was nice to meet you, Hanako."

"S-Same here, Satoru."

We say our goodbyes, and I head over to class 3-2, they need a new braille device installed on their computer.

That was interesting.

----------

Over the next few weeks, I find that I'm spending more and more time in the library. Satoru is... surprisingly easy for me to talk to. Or maybe it's just that I'm that desperate for human contact since Lilly left. Sometimes I surprise even myself.

Satoru comes in from outside the library, obviously angry.

"W-What's wrong, Satoru?"

"It's nothing, Hanako. Just some girlfriend trouble."

Girlfriend trouble? Hmm. Wonder why he's telling me that. "O-Oh."

"Eh, all she wants to do is hang out with her friends, but when I hang out with someone, she tries to rip me a new one."

"T-That's not fair."

"No, it really isn't. And we try to talk about it, and she doesn't friggin' listen."

A thought flashes through my mind that maybe I should tell him to break up with her. I mean, it's not like he couldn't get any girl that he wanted, he's not exactly bad looking.

"Honestly, I've considered breaking up with her over this... if someone else asked me out, I just might do it." He winks after saying that.

Wait, WHAT? He can't possibly be asking that of me. There's no way. Me? The ugly burn victim, that's still in high school? No. Un-friggin-possible.

Besides, it's a bad idea. He's Mutou's son, he works here, and I'm a student. I shove all of those thoughts to the back of my mind.

But, huh, he actually thinks of me that way?

Damnit, I said to the BACK of my mind!

----------

I didn't expect to still be working here at Yamaku, after graduation.

Honestly, it works out nicely, I get a paycheck doing something I'm good at. Doesn't hurt that the people that I have to deal with know me, and if I have a panic attack, I'm not gonna get fired for it.

Yuuko ended up leaving Yamaku and Japan altogether, she somehow managed to get a scholarship for the University of Athens. Satoru became the head librarian.

Speaking of which, somewhere along the line, I might've gotten a little bit obsessed with him. Last time I talked to Lilly, she wasn't sure whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to make any moves, and I have a panic attack every time I try. I can't even invite him to the damn Shanghai for a lunch date. Damn, I'm pathetic.

And he won't make a move, because apparently he won't break up with his girlfriend unless he has a reason to.

This is getting nowhere. I need to step things up, damnit. Even if I can't actually ask him out, though I can ask him to hang out with me more, and I've got the perfect excuse.

I just got my provisional driver's license, but I don't have anyone to drive with. I know he's got a full license, and he just got a new Mazda Axela that I'd love to take for a spin. And, for whatever reason, it's got the learner plates on it, maybe he intended for his girlfriend to drive it?

"H-Hey, why d-does your car have l-learner plates?"

"Eh, I got them in case I was going to teach my girlfriend to drive it. Unfortunately, I don't exactly trust her with my car right now..."

Interesting...

"You know, I heard you got your provisional license... I wouldn't mind taking you out for some lessons, I was gonna take the whole day off work tomorrow anyway, and I know you said you were gonna take the first half of the day off."

He asked me, he asked me! Erm... OK, Hanako, your name is not Raymond Luxury-Yacht. I've really gotta stop watching those Monty Python DVDs that Lilly keeps sending me.

Anyway, my heart is running at about ten thousand beats per minute. If I were that Nakai kid that I graduated with, I'd be dead right now. Hmm, that was pretty morbid.

----------

"You know, you're the first person other than me to drive this car. Haven't even let my girlfriend drive it yet."

Damnit, Satoru, don't SAY things like that when both of our lives are in my hands!

Once I calm down from nearly crashing his car, Satoru tells me to pull into a parking lot down the street. He got some trash cans set up, and I'm supposed to pull through that course. It takes me a dozen or so tries, but eventually, I'm able to get through the course forwards and backwards without hitting any trash cans or stopping.

"Great job, Hanako!" Satoru grins.

I let out a sigh of relief. "H-Hey, you mind driving back? I'm just... w-worn out from all that."

"Sure, not a problem. We can grab a bite to eat on the way."

Yeah, definitely glad I'm not driving back now, I'm in no condition to do so.

Turns out that "grab a bite to eat" just meant swinging by the convenience store and grabbing a couple sandwiches. Oh well, can't complain too much, and he insisted on paying for them.

Anyway, we get to Yamaku, and he drops me off for my half-day. He mentions something about having to talk to his dad about something, and we part ways.

Hmm. It's wrong, but I'm curious about what he's gotta talk about.

Interestingly, Mutou sends me an e-mail right then, saying that he's got a computer problem. So now I've even got an excuse to overhear that conversation.

As I walk up to class 3-3's door, I hear a snippet.

"...so, she's pregnant, dad."

W-What? How... why? Weren't they about to break up? And why didn't he tell me?

DAMNIT!

Somehow, I manage to force myself through my panic attack, and fix Mutou's issue. But, they could tell. I could see the way they looked at me when I walked in.

[bhtooefr]

A year has passed, and I'm still working at Yamaku. They're finally upgrading all of their old computers. Guess whose job it is to image all of them?

And I think I've finally gotten over Satoru, especially with all this work, and the distance I kept ever since I heard about his girlfriend being pregnant. They had their kid a couple months ago.

I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Oh well, the overtime helps. They're running the heat awfully high, which means that I'm sweating even at this time of year. Frankly, it's not good for the computers, either.

Suddenly, some flashing appears before my eyes, and a wave of nausea passes over me. I figure this is bad, and I drink a bottle of water. I nearly collapse, but make it to my office, and sit down, slumped over the desk.

A few minutes later, a wave of pain surges through my head. Right as this starts happening, I hear a knock at the door.

"Hey, Hanako, you OK? You look terrible."

"S-Satoru? N-No, I'm not OK. I've got an a-awful headache. Think I pushed myself t-too hard." That's an understatement. With my burns, overheating is even more of a concern than normal, and I hadn't been paying attention to my hydration.

"Hey, listen, let's go to Nurse."

I silently nod, and follow Satoru. It takes everything I've got to stay standing, but I somehow make it there.

Apparently I suffered a dehydration migraine. Nurse gives me a lecture about staying hydrated, hands me a couple aspirin, and lets me rest in his office for a while. I slowly fall asleep.

A few hours later, I wake up to the sound of someone knocking on the Nurse's door.

"Come in," Nurse says.

"Hey, Nurse. How's Hanako doing?"

"She was sleeping last I saw, let me check."

I clear my throat. "H-Hey, Satoru. I-I'm doing a lot better, th-thanks."

"Glad to hear. Hey, I saw you were unboxing those computers, so I went ahead and finished that for you."

Why are you so kind, Satoru? You have a girlfriend and a son, why are you like this with me?

----------

Well, damnit. Now I've fallen in love with Satoru, there's no other word for it.

For the past few months, ever since his kindness when I had that migraine, I've been latched onto him, we're practically inseparable at work, unless he's got some books to sort, or I've got a computer to repair. And he's back to bitching about his girlfriend.

"You know, I never told anyone this, but... she poked a hole in that condom."

Oh. Oh shit.

That... that's bad. But what do you say to that, when the love of your life is telling you that his obviously crazy girlfriend sabotaged their protection, to trap him into a relationship?

"Oh."

Damnit, Hanako, you can come up with something better than that.

...

Guess not.

----------

I head to the library after it's closed to students, with a mission. I know Satoru's unhappy with his relationship, and I'm going to ask him out, panic attack or not, damnit.

We make some small talk for a while, while I try to convince myself that now's the moment.

A wave of nausea passes over me. Damnit, now I know I'm too worked up. I look around for the nearest safe place to unload my stomach contents, and see the window, I open it up just in time for the vomit to land outside of the building. Poor groundskeepers.

"W-W-Well, th-that was just S-SO att-attractive..."

Wait, did I just say that out loud?

Satoru chuckles darkly.

Damn, I did.

Well, I've got nothing else to lose now.

"S-S-Satoru, I-I-I w-was w-w-wondering s-s-something." I'm stuttering every word? THAT badly? I mean, that's bad even for me. "Y-You kn-kn-know ab-about m-m-mixed s-s-signals, r-r-right?" Wait, that sounds like I'm accusing him of something...

"Um... I'm not trying to send you any, if that's what you're asking?"

"Th-th-then h-h-h-how d-do y-y-you f-f-feel ab-ab-about m-m-me?"

Satoru sighs deeply. "I... Hanako, I like you a lot." And the roller-coaster goes up... "As a friend." And it comes crashing down off the rails. Hundreds die.

"O-Oh."

"I'm sorry, Hanako. You know I've got a son, and I'm with his mother."

"Y-Yeah. I-I'm sorry, I sh-shouldn't have asked."

Before he can reply, I leave.

----------

Why am I doing this to myself?

Why do I let Satoru do this to me?

He's nothing but kind to me, and even tries to help me get over him.

And then he tells me about his problems with his fiancée. For whatever reason, she convinced him to put a ring on her finger. I tell him that they can still break up, I'm not even ashamed of saying it. He says that they can't, because of their son. I know he doesn't want to be in that relationship.

And then he rips my heart out, and flirts with me. Lately he's even admitted that he would rather be with me, and that had I asked him out when I was still a student here, he'd have dumped his girlfriend in a heartbeat.

I've even met his kid. Cute kid. And, usually kids are evil, but this one barely even reacted to my scars, just like his dad did when we first met. I could totally be his mom, if they ever broke up.

But they won't.

Lately, I've been hearing whispers that the Yamaku rumor mill suspects that there's something going on between us. This is bad. I know his girlfriend's crazy, and if she hears something, she might hurt me or something. And, my career could be jeopardized if it makes it back to Mutou, after all, I have a rather inappropriate relationship with his son, and do it on company time, even if it's never actually been sexual.

And I can't stand seeing Satoru every day, and not be with him. He isn't intentionally hurting me, but I'm in constant pain due to him.

And I'm hurting Satoru, by hanging onto him like this.

I decide that I need to make a change. And, I can't make this change at Yamaku, not with Satoru here every day.

Two years after I should have, I leave Yamaku for good.

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[bhtooefr]

Alright, I wrote Hanako POV, something I didn't think I could do. Consider this an experiment to see if I could write Hanako, as well as a couple other things.

Worse, I did Hanako x OC (although the "x" is debatable), which is the great sin of this forum. Don't worry, Satoru Mutou isn't a self-insert. And I won't do a wish fulfillment character (it's not like any wishes are getting fulfilled - Satoru is stuck in a loveless and potentially abusive relationship, Hanako just lost everything she knows except for Lilly and never actually got into the relationship that she wanted). (There is a twist that isn't in the story, though. I wonder if anyone is going to figure it out. Oh, and my naming system for male OCs, I think, is grab a story-relevant last name, then grab a first name from a Nintendo big-shot. What the hell, it works.)

[sanduba]

Twist that there isn't in the story?

Couldn't find it.

[Sea]

Alright, I wrote Hanako POV, something I didn't think I could do. Consider this an experiment to see if I could write Hanako, as well as a couple other things.

Worse, I did Hanako x OC (although the "x" is debatable), which is the great sin of this forum. Don't worry, Satoru Mutou isn't a self-insert. And I won't do a wish fulfillment character (it's not like any wishes are getting fulfilled - Satoru is stuck in a loveless and potentially abusive relationship, Hanako just lost everything she knows except for Lilly and never actually got into the relationship that she wanted). (There is a twist that isn't in the story, though. I wonder if anyone is going to figure it out. Oh, and my naming system for male OCs, I think, is grab a story-relevant last name, then grab a first name from a Nintendo big-shot. What the hell, it works.)

OC'S?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

[Mournful3ch0]

Open speculation time? Open speculation time.

1.) The abandonment of Yamaku leaves Hanako in search of a job.
I.) She finds work at Hisao's research lab.
II.) She finds work in the tech industry and somehow meets another Mutou.
III.) She makes a very embarrassing phone call to Lilly to ask for money.

2.) Hanako lives for a while on her savings.
I.) She runs into classmates at the market.
II.) She finds herself abandoning the tech industry and works elsewhere.
III.) She somehow manages to run into Hisao somewhere somehow and things progress.
IV.) She winds up back at Yamaku after being unable to find work.

3.) Mutou Jr. Attempts to reconnect.
I.) [CENSORED]
II.) [CENSORED] but with Hisao instead (No, I will not let go).
III.) Dual Seppuku.

I have much more and little time. We shall see where this goes [Option 2:III is my favorite :3]

[TheGoatman]

A year has passed, and I'm still working at Yamaku. They're finally upgrading all of their old computers. Guess whose job it is to image all of them?


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Erm. what?

[dewelar]

A year has passed, and I'm still working at Yamaku. They're finally upgrading all of their old computers. Guess whose job it is to image all of them?


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Erm. what?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_image

[bhtooefr]

Specifically, the rapid deployment of clone systems section.

I may have an IT background.

Also, this is a one-shot, no sequels. The twist is actually in how the story was written, and it's subtle. (Rather, if I did it right, it's subtle. If I did it wrong, it's obvious.)

(If you must know... Hanako lived off her savings for a while, might've mooched off Lilly a bit, then got her ass in gear, and got a job doing desktop support for a defense contractor.)

[dewelar]

I may have an IT background.

Same...which probably explains a lot .