Meet the Hakamichis –A USM Summer Series Conclusion Update

[Hoitash]

Do you wanna learn some signing~?
Are you tired of this reference~?
Okay, bye~…

I still prefer Tangled. Huh? Oh, right. Chapter. Oh the second half of this chapter has some minor explicit content, because I'm a lying liar who lies.

Previous Chapter

Chapter Six: Language Barriers


Tuesday afternoon, Lynda was once again out in the gardens, once again under the shade of the cherry tree. Instead of lying on the concrete bench, she was sitting, poring over a book on intermediate Japanese Sign Language. Next to her on the bench was an extremely bulky Japanese to English dictionary, along with her laptop and phone, both of which were open to dictionaries and web videos of sign language.

Lynda sighed and looked up from the book in her lap. Glancing at her laptop, she looked at the time and sighed again; her tutoring session would be starting soon. As she shut down her laptop and started organizing her impromptu study room, she started feeling like she was being watched.

“Hideaki,” Lynda called, “I know you’re out there. I can smell the Lemon Pledge.”

“I was cleaning the tool shed,” Hideaki called back.

Lynda looked around, but the young man was nowhere in sight, “Where are you?”

“I am everywhere and nowhere,” he replied.

Lynda sighed, “Hideaki, I’m not really in the mood for this.”

Hideaki appeared from behind a neatly trimmed hedge, “You okay?”

Aware that he seemed to ask her that a lot, and that she wasn’t being a very polite guest, Lynda sighed and rubbed her forehead, “Yeah. Sorry for snapping at you, it’s just… never mind.”

Hideaki shrugged, “If you say so. If you’re sure you’re okay, I’m gonna go to the convenience store and grab some pizza rolls.”

Lynda smirked, “Yeah, I’m good. Just a little overwhelmed mentally right now.”

Hideaki glanced at the books and electronic devices surrounding her, “Understandable. Looks like a lot of work.”

Lynda nodded, “Yeah, but I think I’m getting the hang of it.”

“That’s good. Well, good luck, see you at dinner, possibly before.”

“’Bye. Oh, did you find that… package, behind the ice?”

Hideaki nodded, “I did. I’ll have to thank that anonymous benefactor, if I ever meet them.”

Lynda winked and watched as Hideaki wandered back inside, smirking the entire way. With the hour of reckoning approaching, Lynda continued to sort her plethora of books and electronics, sorting and stacking them under the bench for safe keeping.

A few minutes later Hisao and Misha arrived, each one holding several books of their own. Misha sat down next to Lynda on the now cleared bench. Hisao preferred to stand, taking a position a few paces in front of Lynda.

“Ready to start?” Hisao asked.

Lynda nodded, and the three dove in.

By the time they had wrapped up for the day, Lynda was mentally exhausted –not helped because Hisao refused to speak in English- with sore wrists. She was pleased with her progress, however; Misha and Hisao had both complimented her skills throughout the tutoring session.

When they had finished, Lynda sighed and sat on Misha’s lap, closing her eyes and groaning.

“I’m having Cyrillic flashbacks from all this,” she muttered.

“Still, you did great work,” Misha declared.

Hisao nodded, “I agree, both your JSL and Japanese.”

Lynda opened one eye and turned her head toward Hisao, “You two planned that whole language shtick, didn’t you?”

“It was my idea~!” Misha declared.

Lynda looked up with the one eye, “I’m not sure if I should feel sorry for your future students, or glad to know they’re in excellent hands.”

“Same here,” Hisao remarked, “Since we’re done for the day, I’m gonna go take Shizune into town for dinner. Hideaki’ll fix something up for you guys.”

“See you in a while~,” Misha said.

Hisao nodded, made sure he had his books, and headed back inside.

“We should give Hideaki the night off,” Lynda mused, closing her open eye, “Maybe just eat some leftovers or something.”

“I’ll see what I can stir up,” Misha said, “How do you feel?”

Lynda shuffled a bit to be more comfortable on her thigh pillow before replying, “Like someone turned my brain into a margarita mixer.”

“Are your wrists okay?”

“They’re a little sore.”

Misha gently took one of Lynda’s hands into her own and started gently massaging the wrist, carefully rubbing along the joints and tendons.

“Sorry about that,” Misha said, “Hisao said we shouldn’t go for so long, but I wanted you to get in a good amount of tutoring while you had the chance.”

“It’s cool,” Lynda stated, “Especially if you decided to go lower with those fingers.”

Misha smirked for a moment, but it didn’t last as she worked on Lynda’s wrist. When she moved to the other one, she asked, “You’re on a low, aren’t you?”

Lynda sighed, “You noticed?”

“Mmhm~,” Misha replied, “When did it start?”

“Early last week.”

“I’m sorry,” Misha stated.

Lynda shrugged, “Not like we coulda rescheduled or anything. Besides, I’m fine –that’s what the meds are for, remember?”

“But you hate them.”

“I don’t hate the meds, I used to hate how they made me feel when I was hypomanic. Unfortunately, being off-kilter for weeks at a time isn’t very healthy, and, funnily enough, trying to self-medicate my depressive episodes with sex and booze turned out to be a bad idea.”

“So… you’re okay?”

Lynda nodded, “Stability has its price, and it’s better now that I keep at it regularly, anyway.”

Misha nodded, even though Lynda’s eyes were still closed, “So you’re enjoying our time here?”

Lynda nodded again, “Shizune and Hisao are good people, and Hideaki’s a decent kid and a good cook. I do wonder what Mr. Hakamichi does, to have such weird hours.”

“Some sort of consultancy work,” Misha replied.

Having finished with the other wrist, Misha gently kissed it and set it to rest on Lynda’s lap. When she had, Lynda opened both eyes and locked them on Misha’s own.

“I was serious about moving your hands lower,” she stated, “It’s just the two of us here; everyone else is out. Please?”

Misha spent a couple moments looking around her, but the two were alone, everyone else off on their own errands and tasks. Looking down at her tired, worn partner, Misha smiled, nodded, and carefully covered Lynda’s mouth with her right hand. No sense taking chances, after all.

Misha placed her other hand under the hem of Lynda’s dress and panties. She spent some time gently warming Lynda up. Lynda closed her eyes and gave an occasional, quiet moan as Misha’s efforts quickly did their job. Lynda tried her best to move as little as possible, clenching her fists and keeping her legs locked straight. Though this gave Misha less room to work with, it also kept either of them from possibly rolling off the bench.

When Lynda’s quiet moaning became less quiet and more like pleading mewling, Misha adjusted her hand to bring Lynda to climax. Already lubricated from her efforts, it was relatively easy for Misha to focus on Lynda’s clitoris, gently building her up for release. As she got closer, Lynda’s body tensed, her knuckles white as she kept her fists clenched, while she fought as hard as she could to keep from moaning louder, or biting Misha’s hand.

Misha’s own body was reacting to her efforts, but she ignored it as she inserted two fingers into Lynda, earning her a muted moan. Once Misha started working her fingers in conjunction with her thumb-work, it didn’t take long for Lynda to come to a climax. Her body tensed and arched in release. While Misha gently brought her down from her orgasm, Lynda’s body slowly relaxed, shuddering a few times as Lynda gave a contented, muted sigh. When Misha was finished, she removed her fingers from Lynda, licking them clean and wiping them on the inside of Lynda’s thigh.

When Misha removed her hand from Lynda’s mouth, Lynda opened her eyes, a contented smile lighting her worn, but now relaxed, features.

Misha looked down at Lynda, who looked more relaxed than she had seemed all day, and asked, “Better~?”

Lynda nodded, “Very. Thank you. I owe you one.”

Misha returned Lynda’s smile, “Any time. Go clean up; I’ll make something for dinner.”

“And after dinner, I pay you back?”

“Sounds like a plan… although~…”

Lynda raised an eyebrow, “What?”

Misha’s smile formed into an eager grin as she replied, “I wouldn’t mind playing a rematch with Shicchan and Hicchan~.”

Lynda chuckled and stated, “I don’t see why we can’t do both.”

“Good point,” Misha said, nodding to herself as the plan for the evening took shape, “I’ll text Shicchan to set it up while I cook, okay~?”

“Sounds good to me,” Lynda reached up with one and gently stroked the side of Misha’s face, “I love you.”

“Love you, too,” Misha returned, leaning down and gently kissing Lynda on the forehead.

Once Misha straightened up,” Lynda hefted herself up, gave Misha a quick kiss on the cheek, grabbed her stuff from under the bench, and headed back into the house.

+++
Next Chapter

…I regret nothing.

Anti-psychotic meds are rarely completely effective, usually have annoying side-effects, and don’t interact well with alcohol.

It didn’t help that until she and Misha became serious that Lynda’s usage was rather sporadic.

[Mirage_GSM]

Hisao nodded, “I agree, both you’re JSL and Japanese.”

I don't need to say more, do I?

[Hoitash]

Hisao nodded, “I agree, both you’re JSL and Japanese.”

I don't need to say more, do I?

...Why the frak do I keep doing that....

Thanks, fixed, and sorry 'bout that.

[griffon8]

Oh, sure, Mirage can grab the low-hanging fruit, while I have to actually work to find errors.

While Misha gently brought her done from her orgasm,

[Mirage_GSM]

You can have that one - I only skimmed over the H-scene

[Hoitash]

Oh, sure, Mirage can grab the low-hanging fruit, while I have to actually work to find errors.

I'll take that as a compliment, if only to salve my fragile sense of self-worth .

[Hoitash]

For the glory of the insane sheep packs that roam the streets of Melbourne, or whatever Australia is.

I'm kidding of course. Sheep are far too stupid to form any sort of coherent fighting force.

Unless their being ridden by hobbits... wait, where was I? Oh. Right.

Previous Chapter

Chapter Seven: Ash Heap of History


After dinner, Hisao, Shizune, Lynda, and Misha once again assembled for a game of Risk. Hideaki was sprawled length-wise over a nearby chair, bored enough to watch the game rather than surf the internet or haunt his room.

[“So,”] Lynda said when they were all assembled and ready to begin, [“Standard method to pick countries?”]

Everyone else nodded and rolled a single die to determine who would pick first. Shizune rolled a one, which doomed the used die to a severe glower and banishment to the box for the entirety of the game. Hisao and Misha rolled a three, while Lynda managed a four. Misha and Hisao rolled off to break their tie, resulting in a five for Hisao and a four for Misha. Thus, the order of players was chosen: Lynda, Hisao, Misha, Shizune.

As the first to choose, Lynda spent several minutes looking down at the map and considering her options. Her natural predilection was to take North America, but she had a feeling Misha wanted it so she could assault Shizune head-on -presuming she took Asia, as usual. Rather then claim the massive continent for herself, Lynda decided to stay close to her future ally, and so chose South America.

Hisao quickly chose Africa for his base, both because it was close to Shizune's likely choice of Asia, and because it gave him several angles of attack. It as made him vulnerable, but that was the risk of, well, Risk.

Cottoning on to Lynda's plan, Misha quickly chose North America for herself. Between the two of them, they could muster their forces to match even Shizune. The trick was making sure she and Hisao couldn't support each others Empires.

Shizune took some time to pick her continent. Asia provided a large land base, large army supply, and several angles of attack. It was also big; defending it to maintain the continent control bonus would be a daunting task indeed. Unlike the earlier game in the week, Misha and Lynda seemed determined to support each and achieve victory together. To combat the couple, Shizune would have to fight fire with fire. Even if it meant a smaller army allotment to start with.

[I pick Europe,] Shizune declared.

Everyone else raised an eyebrow at her choice. Hisao was the first to see the benefit, but he was close enough geographically to see it. It didn't take long for the two women to figure it out, either, and they two exchanged a brief glance while Shizune prepared her armies. within that glance was a simple statement; united they stood, divided they fell.

The team-up had generated an aura of excitement in the room, which had managed to draw Hideaki from the horribly fact-checked copy of Cosmopolitan he was researching. Once Shizune was ready, the game began.

“Hisao was quick to advance into southern Africa, clearly intent on claiming Australia, as he ignored the northern lands as he advanced. This allowed Shizune to secure the northern provinces with little difficulty. Meanwhile, Lynda, completely ignoring Misha, also moved for Australia hoping to head off Hisao's southern march to the island continent. Misha spent some time building her forces, before unleashing them on the Siberian tundra. The lands of Russia became soaked with blood as Misha and Shizune fought-”

“Hideaki,” Lynda asked, “What are you doing?”

“Shout-casting,” he replied, “I’m thinking of starting a Youtube channel where I narrate Sis’ game activity.”

“Um, okay….”

“Thanks to proximity and some lucky rolls, Lynda was able to claim the fertile emu farms of Australia for her Empire. This allowed her to unleash a horde of emu-riding cavalry upon southern Asia, pushing Hisao back and coming to Misha’s aid in the north.”

Misha stared at Hideaki, “Can you even ride an emu~?”

“You can ride an ostrich,” Hideaki retorted, “and the Russians ride bears into battle, so….”

“I am reasonably certain Russians do not ride bears into battle,” Lynda stated, “and if anything, Australians would ride rockets fueled by grain alcohol.”

“So they’re ork Stormboyz?” Hisao interjected.

Glowering at the distraction, Shizune glared at Hideaki and snapped her fingers. Everyone except Hideaki flinched.

[Don’t distract the players!] Shizune snapped at Hideaki.

Hideaki shrugged, [It’s not my fault if they don’t share my vision.]

[“You know,”] Lynda remarked, [“Generally when you shout-cast, the players can’t hear you…”] Lynda smacked her forehead and quickly added, [“Sorry.”]

Shizune waved away the comment, while Hisao was focused on Misha, who had become visibly dazed from the snap.

“Misha, you okay?” he asked.

Misha shook herself as she recovered from the inner ear-induced daze, nearly smacking Shizune and Lynda with her hair in the process. When she had come back to her senses, she nodded and said, “I’m fine.”

Eyebrows furrowed in concern at her friend, Shizune signed, [Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that with you so close to me.]

[“It’s fine,”] Misha stated, [“My ears are a little sensitive from the flight still, I guess. Now, whose turn was it?”]

“As the war raged on, it became clear that Shizune and Misha were at a stalemate; Misha’s forces had weight of numbers and luck, while Shizune had superior tactics and deployment. Still, the situation in Asia was desperate, so, to relieve the pressure, Shizune launched a desperate invasion of North America. Now facing a war on two fronts, both empires were determined to show no mercy.

“Meanwhile, Lynda, after a fortunate turn of events, was able to fully drive Hisao out of Asia. With Shizune distracted fighting her northern ally, Lynda picked at the poorly defended underbelly of Shizune’s Asian colonies, cutting them off from their European masters. Isolated from reinforcements, Misha was able to drive Shizune from Asia entirely.

“The tables had truly turned for Shizune. Having overextended herself in Asia, her invasion of North America was quickly halted. Seizing the advantage, Misha pushed Shizune back into Europe, before launching her own counter-invasion. What had once promised to become a massive empire was now a rump state struggling to survive.

“In Africa, Hisao mustered his forces to come to his ally’s aid. Lynda, determined to prevent this, launched a massive invasion into Africa, heavily depleting her defensive forces elsewhere in order to utterly crush Hisao’s forces. The tactic succeeded, and it wasn’t long before Africa was added to Lynda’s massive empire.”

[“Looks like I’m out,”] Hisao said, [“Avenge my defeat!”]

Shizune smirked and retorted, [Really, because I was planning on sitting on my butt and letting them beat us.]

Lynda smirked at Shizune’s sarcasm; a rare sight as sign language made it difficult to properly convey.

“Despite their leader’s confidence, the war was lost. Shizune’s forces fought on until the bitter end, making Misha’s armies fight hard and pay dearly for their victory. Yet a victory it was, and, as the last vestiges of the Old Regime were swept away, the people of Europe welcomed their new leaders as liberators from the oppressive heel of Emperor Shizune.”

“You’re pretty good at that, Hideaki~,” Misha remarked.

“Although that last bit was a tad much,” Hisao remarked. Turning to Shizune, he explained, [He called you oppressive.]

Shizune shrugged, [I’ve been called worse.]

[So we’re cool?] Hideaki asked.

Shizune nodded, [Just part of the game, after all. Continue; the others seem to find your idiocy entertaining.]

[Wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure,] Hideaki retorted.

“Now only the two allies remained,” Hideaki continue, “What would happen next would depend entirely on them. Each one had a strong position and a mighty army. Would diplomacy triumph over violence? Only they knew.”

Lynda looked to Misha and stuck out her arm, “Call it a draw?”

Misha grinned, nodded, and grabbed the proffered hand, “Okie-dokie~!”

[No fair!] Shizune declared, getting both women’s attention with her rapid arm movements, [You must fight on to the bitter end, alliances be damned!]

Lynda smirked and replied, [“All’s fair in love and war, and this is both.”]

“Ew,” Hideaki declared.

“I thought it was romantic,” Misha remarked.

Shizune crossed her arms to at least put up a show of being upset, but quickly gave it up. Smiling and rolling her eyes, she lowered her arms and said, [It was. Good game, everyone.]

[“And good narration,”] Misha added.

“I question the embellishment,” Lynda remarked.

“Artistic license,” Hideaki retorted.

“I for one,” Hisao stated, “enjoyed the bit about emu cavalry.”

Lynda smirked, “Let’s hope you enjoy the bit where the losers clean up, too.”

Hisao turned to Shizune and translated Lynda’s statement. Shizune smirked and wiggled her eyebrows.

Hisao grinned and remarked, “I think we’ll manage.”

+++
Next Chapter

Semper Victoria!

Ooh, that reminds me, there’s this really cool fanfic where the United Nations sends an army to Pandora to pound the ever-loving shit out of those self-righteous jumbo smurf tree-hugging bastards. I’m gonna go read that and then play some Call of Duty.

[Mirage_GSM]

[“Standard method to pick countries?”]
...
[“I choose North America. Any objections?”]

Uh... I hesitate to ask, but have you ever played Risk?

Hisao and Misha rolled a three, while Lynda managed a four. Misha and Hisao rolled off to break their tie, resulting in a five for Hisao and a four for Misha. Misha and Lynda played a quick game of rock-paper-scissors, which Misha won, deciding the order for the game: Misha, Lynda, Hisao, Shizune.

Ignoring the fact that this has nothing to do with Risk... Why is Misha playing RPS with Lynda, when Lynda already won the initial dice throw?

Hisao chose Africa for its size and proximity to Asia, which Shizune quickly declared as her own. As it was her default, no one was really surprised when Lynda objected.

And why is Lynda allowed to object, when she already chose another continent?
Or for that matter, what is the purpose of rolling for the order to pick, when you are allowed to object anyway?

Shizune had superior tactics and deployment.

You know; i've always held that you don't really need tactics to play Risk, but the notion of superior deployment made me laugh out loud.

[Hoitash]

[“Standard method to pick countries?”]
...
[“I choose North America. Any objections?”]

Uh... I hesitate to ask, but have you ever played Risk?

Yes, though it has been a long, long time. And the people I played with were usually stoned.

Hisao and Misha rolled a three, while Lynda managed a four. Misha and Hisao rolled off to break their tie, resulting in a five for Hisao and a four for Misha. Misha and Lynda played a quick game of rock-paper-scissors, which Misha won, deciding the order for the game: Misha, Lynda, Hisao, Shizune.

Ignoring the fact that this has nothing to do with Risk... Why is Misha playing RPS with Lynda, when Lynda already won the initial dice throw?

Because otherwise she would've tied with Lynda. Technically Lynda should've just gone first by having rolled higher first, but I figure Shizune is anal enough to demand a duel to break the tie for her own personal amusement (and keep things fair.)

Hisao chose Africa for its size and proximity to Asia, which Shizune quickly declared as her own. As it was her default, no one was really surprised when Lynda objected.

And why is Lynda allowed to object, when she already chose another continent?

Or for that matter, what is the purpose of rolling for the order to pick, when you are allowed to object anyway?

Short answer: they got tired of Shizune always picking Asia and steamrolling them.

Long answer: because they knew they were gonna go for teams this time around, and wanted to mitigate Shizune's ability to claim Asia and steamroll them.

Basically Team Misha got a handicap in their favor. Whether or not they needed it is debatable, and it's entirely possible Shizune did it just for the extra challenge.

If it means a bigger challenge or more interesting game, even if it means nearly certain defeat, she'll still be for it. The game itself is more important than winning or losing.

Honest answer: I may have over-thought things a bit.

And I still maintain the importance of skill and tactics in Risk, but that may be because I'm used to tabletop wargames (which are a whole other argument.)

[Mirage_GSM]

but I figure Shizune is anal enough to demand a duel to break the tie for her own personal amusement (and keep things fair.)

How is it fair to have the one who won the roll do another game to see if they really won?

Short answer: they got tired of Shizune always picking Asia and steamrolling them.

They could have easily picked Asia themselves then. If you are allowed to pick continents in Risk, you'd be stupid to choose any BUT Asia in the first place...

[Hoitash]

but I figure Shizune is anal enough to demand a duel to break the tie for her own personal amusement (and keep things fair.)

How is it fair to have the one who won the roll do another game to see if they really won?

Fair point. Let's see if I can cajigger that a bit (because the fun thing about the internet is you can edit just about anything .)

Short answer: they got tired of Shizune always picking Asia and steamrolling them.

They could have easily picked Asia themselves then. If you are allowed to pick continents in Risk, you'd be stupid to choose any BUT Asia in the first place...

A second fair point, though I can't help but feel there's a psychological factor her; choosing Asia themselves would be stooping to her level.

Although all's fair in love and war (I guess the Geneva Convention doesn't apply to board games.)

[bhtooefr]

Unless their being ridden by hobbits...

They're is an error. (Yes, mine is intentional.) Oh wait, this isn't actually part of the story...

My ears just a little sensitive from the flight still, I guess.

You accidentally the verb.

[Hoitash]

My ears just a little sensitive from the flight still, I guess.

You accidentally the verb.

Indeed. Hopefully my edit was a successful verbectamy (if not, at least it's a good edit.)

Thanks for that.

Also, I heavily edited (rewrote) the first half of the chapter. for the better, I think.

[Mirage_GSM]

Hisao and Misha rolled a three, while Lynda managed a four. Misha and Hisao rolled off to break their tie, resulting in a five for Hisao and a four for Misha. Thus, the order of players was chosen: Hisao, Lynda, Misha, Shizune.

That's still not how it works.
Lynda won the roll, so no matter what Hisao and Misha roll in their tie break it still only determines whether the get second or third.

[Hoitash]

Hisao and Misha rolled a three, while Lynda managed a four. Misha and Hisao rolled off to break their tie, resulting in a five for Hisao and a four for Misha. Thus, the order of players was chosen: Hisao, Lynda, Misha, Shizune.

That's still not how it works.
Lynda won the roll, so no matter what Hisao and Misha roll in their tie break it still only determines whether the get second or third.

Ah, simple logic. The bane of my existence.

Well, that and high schoolers. Anyway, that was a simple enough fix, so hopefully everything is copasheshy.

I think we all learned a valuable lesson here: I fail at board games. But I win at having a patient and dedicated audience.