ezyl
in
pillowcased
[anohana] she's infinitely better with the lights on, (1/4.5)
titled The Nobility Switch
pair primarily anaru/tsuruko, but really gen as well
rated pg
warnings bad references, falsities and distinct lack of prim ladies
summary Living in the past has never been more entertaining.
notes i present to you the word vomit that occurred post-bawling-my-fucking-eyeballs-out. this one will be quick. i put blame in the girigiri. 1450 words, incomplete multi-parter. ideally, this is 1 out of 4,5. |:
the nobility switch
-
For the next three months and five days, Yadomi continued to go to work. He woke up early and made coffee for his dad while contemplating the weather in its imminent nonchalance, and then he wandered around the house in his socks picking up pieces of lint from the ratty tatami. He ignored the pretend-whispers that slipped in from the shadows creeping up the walls, thought about boorish and happy things instead. And its operation was quite admirable, for the most part. He was a happy person and he didn't require any help taking out the trash and it worked like that, the sun came up and went down and it was times like these when Yadomi became a useful, productive member of society, regardless of what kind of laissez-faire attitude his father had adopted beforehand. He was a new person, now.
A week later, he quit the construction job.
He did it without prompting, wordlessly signed the papers that manager-san proffered him, shook hands with every old man and Yamada Taro who had been on the team of the bridge foundations. He laughed a lot, but he never smiled. He didn't look for trouble. He told Anaru that it was just because he was tired and now that he no longer possessed a precious investment (or a pursuable hobby), it seemed bothersome to be putting in hours that took up an opportunity to forge a good night's sleep. The discounts at the game shop were honestly more than enough. Poppo staged an impromptu wok party at the hideout that night. Yadomi stayed an hour later to clean up, and then he went home.
He didn't say one word about coming back to school.
"I've been reading," he told Anaru, last month. "Lots of books."
"Light novels don't really count," said Anaru.
"No, they don't," he chuckled. "I haven't been reading those. Just a lot of romance novels. The really introspective kind that make you soft."
"Have they been helpful?"
"Not in the least."
"Ah, well. Don't expect much of it."
He didn't.
-
Truth was, he didn't expect much of anything. He fell back into his bumbling cycle of eat-sleep-eat, only this time he put in hours at the game shop and he played in the sun a little more often. There was a snare drum and an acoustic guitar involved, somehow, but he never understood it. The rest of his friends graduated from high school, Yukiatsu went to Keio and Tsuruko went to Todai, Anaru saw stars falling out of the sky. Poppo hopped onto a boat bound for California and never came back (he sent postcards). Yadomi was the only one who stayed in the neighborhood. He continued to work without feeling like he was really there, picking up after his co-workers and counting money in the cash registers after hours. Sometimes he wondered what he was missing. Sometimes he realized what it was, and sometimes he didn't. Sometimes he bought a carton of raspberry icecream from the combini and shared it with his dad.
A month after graduation, he quit his job at the game shop and started listening to electronica.
-
"I wish I had a switch for this kind of thing," he told Anaru, two weeks ago via mail.
-
(As for Anaru, she thought about working at the office. She thought about putting on two coats of lipstick in the morning instead of three, she thought about the cozy law firms in Akasaka, and she thought about convincing herself that it would all be worth something once she found a rich lawyer husband. She read a self-help book. She told herself that she believed she could force someone to love her. She told herself that she could accomplish anything, if her mind was set to it. She found an antique telephone and took pictures of it, sending it to a local magazine. They published her photo and she felt proud of it.)
-
While he was finishing his second year at Keio and while she was working part-time at a bar in Roppongi, they had coffee together in the street. They met in the park near the cemetery on Saturdays, because that was when Yukiatsu had a free period and when Anaru had a quiet smoke in the alleyway behind the hostess club, her second part-time job. The first time it had been completely coincidental because it was the week before New Year's, Yukiatsu was buying marble cake in the bakery across the street and Anaru was minding her own business. The streetlights were on and there were tourists in the boutiques but she was there, he could see her.
"I haven't seen you in ages." He'd run all the way across the road while there were still cars, his cheeks were red in the cold and she had hoped that this would be a better year.
"Do you want to die? That was a red light!"
"It's nice to see you, Anaru."
-
("It's nice to see you, too.")
-
Yadomi spent the next few days of his fresh freedom in the river, wading in a pair of birkenstocks with his jeans rolled up at the ankles. He did a lot of dangerous things, including trying to kiss the fish and listening to electronica from a battery-powered music player. On one occasion, he tried to relive The Act, flailed his arms about while imagining himself hopelessly devoted to a group of sticky-fingered children. He remembered the names of the Nokemon that he had encountered but never caught. His clothes became soaked more often than not, but every time he waded a little further, he could hear his footsteps a little clearer. They were soft and muffled at first, but in the center of the river, everything became different. He was tall enough and it became him and the river, only him and the river and it was during this time when he felt like he was sitting in the center of the earth.
Give me two days, he told Menma, two days and I'll be done.
-
"You should find it in your heart to support my endeavors," said Yukiatsu. He twirled a pen between a finger and a thumb. She thought his fingers were rather slender. "Drop by the classroom sometime so we can talk there. In front of everyone. Learn the names of my professors and some of my colleagues. Perhaps you should let me have the name of your new address as well, so that I can survey your living conditions and clean your room when you're too busy to do it."
She took a sip of her coffee and winced. "Whoa, whoa. Cart before the horse. You're being a little pushy, don't you think?"
"I'm not," said Yukiatsu, and he frowned. "I thought you agreed that you wanted to go out with me."
"That was a long time ago," Anaru corrected him. "Things change after high school."
"Where's Yadomi, then? Why aren't you taking care of him already?"
She opened her mouth to retort but stopped, unsure of what to say.
"Well?"
"He's...recovering."
"Is he?"
"He's fantastically elastic."
He didn't laugh. "It's been two years."
"For him it's been like two days."
"And then what?"
"And then, I'll," she licked her lips, "I'll--we'll--we'll find a way."
Yukiatsu looked at her once and snorted. He said nothing, took another gulp of his coffee instead, turned his head towards the window and imagined that there was a snare drum and an acoustic guitar somewhere playing the soundtrack to this travesty of a second (first) date. The streets were getting dark and her shift at the hostess club was going to start. She'd be wearing a glittery dress with a slit up the side that would show the skin on her left thigh, a fifty-year-old salaryman would be leering at her chest and she would pour drinks for him, order him something on the rocks. She'll serve him from the bar, tell him that he's fantastically elastic. Laugh at his stupid jokes and make him feel worthy of a woman. And then someone will fall in love with her and she'll become uncertain about the world and while this is happening Yadomi will be far away, wrapped up in the river. Did you really expect us to change, even after all this time?
"I heard that Yadomi quit his job at the game place."
"Yeah. He did, didn't he."
"What's he planning on doing now? He's already living as a NEET again."
"He's the same old Jintan."
"Oh yeah? Think he'll ever start paying for his own bills?"
"He has a nobility switch."
"He does?"
"He does."
-
tbc
>>
fic-list | fantastically elastic?!? | please do watch/join the comm if you like what you see!
forward >>
pair primarily anaru/tsuruko, but really gen as well
rated pg
warnings bad references, falsities and distinct lack of prim ladies
summary Living in the past has never been more entertaining.
notes i present to you the word vomit that occurred post-bawling-my-fucking-eyeballs-out. this one will be quick. i put blame in the girigiri. 1450 words, incomplete multi-parter. ideally, this is 1 out of 4,5. |:
the nobility switch
-
For the next three months and five days, Yadomi continued to go to work. He woke up early and made coffee for his dad while contemplating the weather in its imminent nonchalance, and then he wandered around the house in his socks picking up pieces of lint from the ratty tatami. He ignored the pretend-whispers that slipped in from the shadows creeping up the walls, thought about boorish and happy things instead. And its operation was quite admirable, for the most part. He was a happy person and he didn't require any help taking out the trash and it worked like that, the sun came up and went down and it was times like these when Yadomi became a useful, productive member of society, regardless of what kind of laissez-faire attitude his father had adopted beforehand. He was a new person, now.
A week later, he quit the construction job.
He did it without prompting, wordlessly signed the papers that manager-san proffered him, shook hands with every old man and Yamada Taro who had been on the team of the bridge foundations. He laughed a lot, but he never smiled. He didn't look for trouble. He told Anaru that it was just because he was tired and now that he no longer possessed a precious investment (or a pursuable hobby), it seemed bothersome to be putting in hours that took up an opportunity to forge a good night's sleep. The discounts at the game shop were honestly more than enough. Poppo staged an impromptu wok party at the hideout that night. Yadomi stayed an hour later to clean up, and then he went home.
He didn't say one word about coming back to school.
"I've been reading," he told Anaru, last month. "Lots of books."
"Light novels don't really count," said Anaru.
"No, they don't," he chuckled. "I haven't been reading those. Just a lot of romance novels. The really introspective kind that make you soft."
"Have they been helpful?"
"Not in the least."
"Ah, well. Don't expect much of it."
He didn't.
-
Truth was, he didn't expect much of anything. He fell back into his bumbling cycle of eat-sleep-eat, only this time he put in hours at the game shop and he played in the sun a little more often. There was a snare drum and an acoustic guitar involved, somehow, but he never understood it. The rest of his friends graduated from high school, Yukiatsu went to Keio and Tsuruko went to Todai, Anaru saw stars falling out of the sky. Poppo hopped onto a boat bound for California and never came back (he sent postcards). Yadomi was the only one who stayed in the neighborhood. He continued to work without feeling like he was really there, picking up after his co-workers and counting money in the cash registers after hours. Sometimes he wondered what he was missing. Sometimes he realized what it was, and sometimes he didn't. Sometimes he bought a carton of raspberry icecream from the combini and shared it with his dad.
A month after graduation, he quit his job at the game shop and started listening to electronica.
-
"I wish I had a switch for this kind of thing," he told Anaru, two weeks ago via mail.
-
(As for Anaru, she thought about working at the office. She thought about putting on two coats of lipstick in the morning instead of three, she thought about the cozy law firms in Akasaka, and she thought about convincing herself that it would all be worth something once she found a rich lawyer husband. She read a self-help book. She told herself that she believed she could force someone to love her. She told herself that she could accomplish anything, if her mind was set to it. She found an antique telephone and took pictures of it, sending it to a local magazine. They published her photo and she felt proud of it.)
-
While he was finishing his second year at Keio and while she was working part-time at a bar in Roppongi, they had coffee together in the street. They met in the park near the cemetery on Saturdays, because that was when Yukiatsu had a free period and when Anaru had a quiet smoke in the alleyway behind the hostess club, her second part-time job. The first time it had been completely coincidental because it was the week before New Year's, Yukiatsu was buying marble cake in the bakery across the street and Anaru was minding her own business. The streetlights were on and there were tourists in the boutiques but she was there, he could see her.
"I haven't seen you in ages." He'd run all the way across the road while there were still cars, his cheeks were red in the cold and she had hoped that this would be a better year.
"Do you want to die? That was a red light!"
"It's nice to see you, Anaru."
-
("It's nice to see you, too.")
-
Yadomi spent the next few days of his fresh freedom in the river, wading in a pair of birkenstocks with his jeans rolled up at the ankles. He did a lot of dangerous things, including trying to kiss the fish and listening to electronica from a battery-powered music player. On one occasion, he tried to relive The Act, flailed his arms about while imagining himself hopelessly devoted to a group of sticky-fingered children. He remembered the names of the Nokemon that he had encountered but never caught. His clothes became soaked more often than not, but every time he waded a little further, he could hear his footsteps a little clearer. They were soft and muffled at first, but in the center of the river, everything became different. He was tall enough and it became him and the river, only him and the river and it was during this time when he felt like he was sitting in the center of the earth.
Give me two days, he told Menma, two days and I'll be done.
-
"You should find it in your heart to support my endeavors," said Yukiatsu. He twirled a pen between a finger and a thumb. She thought his fingers were rather slender. "Drop by the classroom sometime so we can talk there. In front of everyone. Learn the names of my professors and some of my colleagues. Perhaps you should let me have the name of your new address as well, so that I can survey your living conditions and clean your room when you're too busy to do it."
She took a sip of her coffee and winced. "Whoa, whoa. Cart before the horse. You're being a little pushy, don't you think?"
"I'm not," said Yukiatsu, and he frowned. "I thought you agreed that you wanted to go out with me."
"That was a long time ago," Anaru corrected him. "Things change after high school."
"Where's Yadomi, then? Why aren't you taking care of him already?"
She opened her mouth to retort but stopped, unsure of what to say.
"Well?"
"He's...recovering."
"Is he?"
"He's fantastically elastic."
He didn't laugh. "It's been two years."
"For him it's been like two days."
"And then what?"
"And then, I'll," she licked her lips, "I'll--we'll--we'll find a way."
Yukiatsu looked at her once and snorted. He said nothing, took another gulp of his coffee instead, turned his head towards the window and imagined that there was a snare drum and an acoustic guitar somewhere playing the soundtrack to this travesty of a second (first) date. The streets were getting dark and her shift at the hostess club was going to start. She'd be wearing a glittery dress with a slit up the side that would show the skin on her left thigh, a fifty-year-old salaryman would be leering at her chest and she would pour drinks for him, order him something on the rocks. She'll serve him from the bar, tell him that he's fantastically elastic. Laugh at his stupid jokes and make him feel worthy of a woman. And then someone will fall in love with her and she'll become uncertain about the world and while this is happening Yadomi will be far away, wrapped up in the river. Did you really expect us to change, even after all this time?
"I heard that Yadomi quit his job at the game place."
"Yeah. He did, didn't he."
"What's he planning on doing now? He's already living as a NEET again."
"He's the same old Jintan."
"Oh yeah? Think he'll ever start paying for his own bills?"
"He has a nobility switch."
"He does?"
"He does."
-
tbc
>>
fic-list | fantastically elastic?!? | please do watch/join the comm if you like what you see!
forward >>