Some People Think I'm Crazy
Oooookay...so I'm alive and not going to whine at you all!.
So, here's the deal. There is a 20+ page fic in the works...but I have two essays due next week...-_-U Okay, so a little whining.
But, I get to use Ouran in an analytical essay (but I only have 5 pages...this makes me pathetically sad)! And, it is awesome to see very learned professors totally defeated by reading manga. Try it, it takes the ol' academics down a peg...now if only I could do that for the terrifying Shakespeare prof...
Also, on a completely divergent note...anyone on the flist besides meritjubet following Death Note?
Ah.....on with the fic!
Preliminary note: This, for reasons that I hope will become apparent, belongs to the anime canon. Oh, and I don’t own either of the works featured. One of my weirder pieces, as a warning. Spoilers for episode 13 of the anime.
A Tale Begun in Other Days
~ sciathan file ~
“Work, work, and still more work.”(1)
The small ditty played in her exhausted mind like a refrain to some forgotten tune. The troublesome little phrase repeated over and over, completely covering up the one that said, “sleep for the first time in two days and nineteen hours.”
But it was common practice for Fujioka Haruhi to remain awake for days on end when an important trial date was impending.
She had more than enough instant coffee, time enough for an occasional ice cold shower, and enough distance from anyone who might notice and stop her from overdosing on the work load in front of her.
“Work, work, and still more work,” she mumbled to herself, proofreading the long legal brief for at least (she had lost count somewhere around her fifth cup of coffee that day) the seventh time.
The case was not as clear-cut as she wished it was and it was not even her normal branch of law, but the client had insisted that an old acquaintance of hers had recommended her heartily as the only lawyer worth going to.
Even though Haruhi very rarely talked to him and actually saw him even fewer times (a very rare event, indeed), Suou Tamaki still managed to be troublesome after all of these years.
But, all the disadvantages of the case aside, she had still put her normal amount of work into it…in this case having an absence of sleep for almost three days… unless one counted naps of durations no longer than fifteen minutes.
And, even though she sometimes heard other partners of her law firm whispering about the fact that she lived at the office more than her apartment - not that she really cared about their opinions on the subject - it took a certain level of…dedication…to get where she was now.
It took “work, work, and still more work.”
In a mind that even triple shots of espresso had difficulty keeping awake, the phrase kept repeating in someone else’s voice.
And perhaps this was the most curious thing of all. “Curiouser and curiouser,”(2) one might say, for a person such as the nearly indomitable lawyer, Fujioka Haruhi, to have such a ridiculous litany said again and again in his voice.
The fact that it was on his recommendation that she had the client and his difficult case in the first place combined with his maddening rhyming made Haruhi doubly annoyed with Tamaki.
They hadn’t even spoken for at least three months either. In fact, she hadn’t spoken to most of her old friends in three months…but then again only Tamaki and the Hitachiin twins now hazarded her busy work schedule.
Chiding herself for allowing her mind to wander, she returned to the brief.
“And the undersigned, herein after referred to as OWNER -“ The words danced and swam on the page.
Even though she had gone much longer periods without sleep, this was sign that no matter how many times she rubbed her eyes or how many cups of coffee she drank, nothing but actual rest would suffice.
Spreading the futon she kept in the storage closet of her office out, she finally slept. And, as usual for Haruhi in times of stress, she dreamed of Ouran…but, this was not quite Ouran.
She, however, had the vague feeling that she had been there before.
Curiously, she found herself standing - while wearing her middle school uniform, no less - in a rose garden, a table with a Ginori tea set in front of her.
There was a strange man sitting there in a ridiculously large hat and maroon coat, casually sipping tea.
“Only one seat here,” he commented nonchalantly.
It was so strange that she could only mutter a, “huh?”
A clock chimed three in the ensuing silence.
Failing to think of anything better, she took a seat across from him.
“Riddle, riddle!” Said the man, quite suddenly. Perplexed, Haruhi merely stared.
“Why is spring the most beautiful season?”(3) he continued.
Haruhi responded by blinking at him. However, her confusion must not have registered at all on the man, for he continued to drink his tea just as casually, using his pinky to cushion the cup every time he set it back upon the table.
“And what do you intend to do with your life now?” He asked slyly.
“ ‘My life now?’” She decided that this was a mad hatter indeed.
“Riddle, riddle!” He stated again, ignoring the fact that his guest was both confused and hadn’t answered the last question.
“How can you have everything and still lack everything?”
She sighed and, tired of the frivolous game, said, “I don’t know, Tamaki-senpai.”
“Work, work, and still more work,” the man lamented before smiling and pointing at her with his usual vigor, spilling his teacup.
“You still stand accused of ignoring the most important parts of life yet again!”
At this point, due to a feeling of seeping stickiness, she awoke and realized that she had knocked an entire cup of coffee onto her futon in her sleep-deprived delirium.
Even shaking the dream off, there was still a nagging voice - that, irritatingly, belonged to Tamaki, and urged her to do something.
Haruhi sighed and pushed her work aside for the first time in a week, picking up her phone so that her second conscience would quiet down from her bout of over working.
Fin
A/N: Weird and kinda random…mostly a product of analyzing the Alice in Wonderland episode for an analytical research paper for my Children’s Literature class. The anime is amazingly faithful to most of the elements of the book, in case you were wondering.
Now, the gallery of notes:
Title - It’s actually a line from the poem that proceeds the sequel to Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass.
Other Randomly Imbedded Notes -
1. Tamaki’s refrain from the Wonderland episode, Lunar’s translation.
2. From page 15 of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the Yearling edition (to lazy to properly cite).
3. A pun, fitting to both Japanese culture and the original Alice books…Haruhi’s name has “spring” in it, so it’s a Tamaki-esque compliment as well.
So, here's the deal. There is a 20+ page fic in the works...but I have two essays due next week...-_-U Okay, so a little whining.
But, I get to use Ouran in an analytical essay (but I only have 5 pages...this makes me pathetically sad)! And, it is awesome to see very learned professors totally defeated by reading manga. Try it, it takes the ol' academics down a peg...now if only I could do that for the terrifying Shakespeare prof...
Also, on a completely divergent note...anyone on the flist besides meritjubet following Death Note?
Ah.....on with the fic!
Preliminary note: This, for reasons that I hope will become apparent, belongs to the anime canon. Oh, and I don’t own either of the works featured. One of my weirder pieces, as a warning. Spoilers for episode 13 of the anime.
A Tale Begun in Other Days
~ sciathan file ~
“Work, work, and still more work.”(1)
The small ditty played in her exhausted mind like a refrain to some forgotten tune. The troublesome little phrase repeated over and over, completely covering up the one that said, “sleep for the first time in two days and nineteen hours.”
But it was common practice for Fujioka Haruhi to remain awake for days on end when an important trial date was impending.
She had more than enough instant coffee, time enough for an occasional ice cold shower, and enough distance from anyone who might notice and stop her from overdosing on the work load in front of her.
“Work, work, and still more work,” she mumbled to herself, proofreading the long legal brief for at least (she had lost count somewhere around her fifth cup of coffee that day) the seventh time.
The case was not as clear-cut as she wished it was and it was not even her normal branch of law, but the client had insisted that an old acquaintance of hers had recommended her heartily as the only lawyer worth going to.
Even though Haruhi very rarely talked to him and actually saw him even fewer times (a very rare event, indeed), Suou Tamaki still managed to be troublesome after all of these years.
But, all the disadvantages of the case aside, she had still put her normal amount of work into it…in this case having an absence of sleep for almost three days… unless one counted naps of durations no longer than fifteen minutes.
And, even though she sometimes heard other partners of her law firm whispering about the fact that she lived at the office more than her apartment - not that she really cared about their opinions on the subject - it took a certain level of…dedication…to get where she was now.
It took “work, work, and still more work.”
In a mind that even triple shots of espresso had difficulty keeping awake, the phrase kept repeating in someone else’s voice.
And perhaps this was the most curious thing of all. “Curiouser and curiouser,”(2) one might say, for a person such as the nearly indomitable lawyer, Fujioka Haruhi, to have such a ridiculous litany said again and again in his voice.
The fact that it was on his recommendation that she had the client and his difficult case in the first place combined with his maddening rhyming made Haruhi doubly annoyed with Tamaki.
They hadn’t even spoken for at least three months either. In fact, she hadn’t spoken to most of her old friends in three months…but then again only Tamaki and the Hitachiin twins now hazarded her busy work schedule.
Chiding herself for allowing her mind to wander, she returned to the brief.
“And the undersigned, herein after referred to as OWNER -“ The words danced and swam on the page.
Even though she had gone much longer periods without sleep, this was sign that no matter how many times she rubbed her eyes or how many cups of coffee she drank, nothing but actual rest would suffice.
Spreading the futon she kept in the storage closet of her office out, she finally slept. And, as usual for Haruhi in times of stress, she dreamed of Ouran…but, this was not quite Ouran.
She, however, had the vague feeling that she had been there before.
Curiously, she found herself standing - while wearing her middle school uniform, no less - in a rose garden, a table with a Ginori tea set in front of her.
There was a strange man sitting there in a ridiculously large hat and maroon coat, casually sipping tea.
“Only one seat here,” he commented nonchalantly.
It was so strange that she could only mutter a, “huh?”
A clock chimed three in the ensuing silence.
Failing to think of anything better, she took a seat across from him.
“Riddle, riddle!” Said the man, quite suddenly. Perplexed, Haruhi merely stared.
“Why is spring the most beautiful season?”(3) he continued.
Haruhi responded by blinking at him. However, her confusion must not have registered at all on the man, for he continued to drink his tea just as casually, using his pinky to cushion the cup every time he set it back upon the table.
“And what do you intend to do with your life now?” He asked slyly.
“ ‘My life now?’” She decided that this was a mad hatter indeed.
“Riddle, riddle!” He stated again, ignoring the fact that his guest was both confused and hadn’t answered the last question.
“How can you have everything and still lack everything?”
She sighed and, tired of the frivolous game, said, “I don’t know, Tamaki-senpai.”
“Work, work, and still more work,” the man lamented before smiling and pointing at her with his usual vigor, spilling his teacup.
“You still stand accused of ignoring the most important parts of life yet again!”
At this point, due to a feeling of seeping stickiness, she awoke and realized that she had knocked an entire cup of coffee onto her futon in her sleep-deprived delirium.
Even shaking the dream off, there was still a nagging voice - that, irritatingly, belonged to Tamaki, and urged her to do something.
Haruhi sighed and pushed her work aside for the first time in a week, picking up her phone so that her second conscience would quiet down from her bout of over working.
Fin
A/N: Weird and kinda random…mostly a product of analyzing the Alice in Wonderland episode for an analytical research paper for my Children’s Literature class. The anime is amazingly faithful to most of the elements of the book, in case you were wondering.
Now, the gallery of notes:
Title - It’s actually a line from the poem that proceeds the sequel to Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass.
Other Randomly Imbedded Notes -
1. Tamaki’s refrain from the Wonderland episode, Lunar’s translation.
2. From page 15 of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the Yearling edition (to lazy to properly cite).
3. A pun, fitting to both Japanese culture and the original Alice books…Haruhi’s name has “spring” in it, so it’s a Tamaki-esque compliment as well.