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No. 144952
I WROTED A STORY
its an epilouge for Shizune's bad end
It’s hard to believe it’s almost been 18 years been since I set foot in this sleepy little town.
I can’t say for sure what convinced me to make the detour to stop here, but it’s not far off my planned route. I briefly consider going to the school to see if any of my teachers still work there. I’m sure Mutuo would be pleased to hear from me if he’s still around, but I’m probably too late since it’s after school hours already. Instead, out of curiosity, I head to the Shanghai. To my amazement it’s somehow survived and is still open. As I enter, it’s clear that the place is completely deserted. As usual”
“”I can’t believe this place still turns a profit after all these years.” I quietly think aloud.
“Heh, on days like this neither can I” says a voice from inside the booth directly to my right. With a flick of her legs, the source of the voice rights herself. “What can I get you?” she asks as she straightens her uniform, but I’m instantly distracted by the teenager’s shoulder length, bright pink hair.
I manage to order a coffee after my brain catches up with me.
“Sure. Just take a seat, any seat and I’ll be right back.” She says with a smile.
I take a seat in a booth and she returns a minute later with a pair of drinks.
“Mind if I join you? It’s either this or I go back to taking a nap”
“No that’s fine” I say as I go to take a sip of my coffee. Not particularly bad but still not particularly good. Just like old times. I can’t help but look at her bizarrely coloured hair.
”so you’re from around here?”
“Yeah. Not for a really long time though. I went to high school here”
“Mmmhmm. And let me guess, my hair reminds you of someone from back then?”
“Yea- what? How did you know that?”
“Pfffthahaha, you have no idea how often I get that from people around here” She laughs. Something about the laugh sends a shiver down my spine. I think a part of me knows what is coming”
“My name’s Shizune Mikado. I’m going to assume you knew my mother”
Eventually I manage to pick my jaw up and start forming coherent words again
“y-you... you’re Misha’s daughter?” she just giggles at my shock and nods
”well in that case, I’m Hisao Nakai”
To my amusement she almost perfectly mirrors my own shock
“WAIT, WAIT. You’re /the/ Hisao?”
“...I think so?” I guess I must be.
“God, whenever mom talks about her time at school she never shuts up about you and Shizune. The other Shizune of course”
“Yeah I kinda figured that” I smile at the idea that Misha still thinks of those times fondly. Sometimes I find it hard to do. The decision to go our separate ways put a real dampener on the good times we had together.
“Hoooooly shit! Mom is going to flip her lid when she hears about this.” Shizune seems to be as excited as I am shocked at this chance meeting
“So what is Misha doing with herself these days?”
“She teaches sign language at the Academy”
“Huh... well I’m glad some of us have managed to chase our dreams” I can’t help but notice a slight bitterness in my own words. I’m happy with the way my life turned out, aren’t I? I shake the thoughts out of my head
“It is, isn’t it?” She smiles”I go there too, y’know.”
“Oh? The perks of having a parent teaching there I guess?” she goes quiet and I realise I’ve touched on something I probably shouldn’t have
“Yeeeeahh not exactly.” She nervously fiddles with her hair. “I was there before she started teaching. I’ve always known I’d end up there because of my... condition...”
I can’t resist studying her to try and work out what she’s hiding. She instantly sees this and starts laughing
“It’s not the kind that you can see, so don’t bother “she says and waves off my morbid curiosity. She makes a blatant attempt to change the topic “Now, tell me more about what you and Mom got up to at school. I don’t get to talk to many of her old friends”
I drain the last of my coffee.
“How about some cake first?”
http://youtu.be/8rKTgtvH8u
The conversation draws on for nearly an hour. By now she opens up to me like a long lost uncle.
For every story I have from school, she has one from Misha’s time as a mostly single parent
“Are you doing anything for dinner, Mr Nakai? I’m sure mom would love to see you”
“Hisao, please. Don’t make me feel older than I already do. And I’d be delighted.”
A troubling thought occurs to me
“Your father won’t mind you bringing home a strange man from your mother’s past for dinner
She gives me a strange look, but I can’t work out what I said that could have triggered it
“It’s not going to be an issue. I thought you of all people would have known? I guess she wasn’t always as open about it...”
“About what?”
“About uh...” she fidgets awkwardly “look, you’re not really her type. And mom’s... mom’s girlfriend would probably understand that”
The conversation on the rooftop suddenly comes flooding back to me
“Oh... OH. Yeah of course. God it has been a long time hasn’t it.”
She suddenly goes very quiet. She goes to say something but she hesitates.
“I’ve never met my biological father. You probably have. One of the few things mom will tell me about him is that they went to school together”
My mind races as I try to work it out. She did seem to get on well with Takashi. I’m sure there were other boys outside our class that she was friends with.
“Do you know anything else about him?” I ask, trying to narrow it down. She nods silently
“Heh, I don’t even know if he knows I exist. But Mom tells me that my condition is inherited from him.” After the cheerfulness of the conversation, her voice has taken a rather sombre tone
“But that’s not such a bad thing” she says, visibly perking up “because they knew it was a possibility that I would have it as well, I was checked as soon as I possible could be. We’ve been able to manage my condition ever since, otherwise I could have ended up having a heart attack at 16 like he did”
FIN
Shoulda put a fucking rubber on when you comforted her, o king of romance
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