Anon Meme Part 2
Now that we have moved the meme to dreamwidth, all commenting will be moved there as well. The community and posts still work exactly the same and are in the exact same order. Additionally, commenting anonymously works just like on livejournal
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Edward and Ivan knew this day had been coming as they stood on the stage in their white uniforms for what would be the last time. In front of them sat a crowd of people, family and friends of the graduates... some having more than others. Social circles didn't always stay together when a NEXT ability was introduced. Ivan had been an example of that and Edward as well to some extent. It only meant that the friends made here were that much more precious.
"Come on, Ivan. Cheer up!" Edward nudged the smaller grad next to him with an elbow. "Soon we'll be the Heroes we dreamed of! Just you wait!"
Ivan managed to fix a smile on his face, though the sentiment couldn't fully reach his eyes. Helperides Finances had decided to make the big leap into sponsoring their own Hero and were looking into this graduation class for him. Everyone knew in their hearts he would be picked. Edward was the top of the class, the best and most heroic in every sense of the word. On the other hand, Ivan had barely scraped a passing grade for his final exam. The test wasn't kind on anyone who didn't have certain NEXT abilities. Edward had done his best the past week to convince Ivan that his grade wasn't his fault.
Timo Massini said a few closing words, and everyone was allowed to mingle. Many of the grads went up to Helperides Finances' CEO, ready to make their rehearsed pitches for becoming a hero. Edward reached for Ivan's hand to drag the both of them up there (Ivan could easily be overlooked.) when he felt something being pressed into his palm instead. "Y-you'll be a great Hero," Ivan said, looking past Edward.
"Ivan, what are you--?" Edward stopped when someone tapped him on the shoulder from behind. He spun around to see the CEO looking at him. Only him. One.
"Ah, Edward Keddy? I was hoping to talk to you alone," the CEO said, placing a hand to his back and leading him away. Ivan had long since disappeared, swallowed up in the crowd of graduates and their guests.
When Edward was finally given a chance to look at what Ivan had given him, he was in the backseat of a Helperides Finances' company car on his way to discuss the finer details. In his hand was an origami shuriken he'd seen Ivan fold a million times between classes. Edward unfolded it to read "Good luck" on one of the paper squares. He smiled, wrote "Thank you" on the other, blank square of paper, and refolded the two squares to reform the shuriken. He'd mail it back right after he was done meeting the company.
A week later, the news was a buzz with reports of the new Hero sponsored by Helperides Finances.
- - -
Being a Hero was the best and busiest thing Edward had ever done in his life. Days turned into weeks, turned into months, into a year and so on... If he wasn't saving the city, he was training or promoting his work or doing paperwork. (The later two being the least favorite activities of his) Or in the rare cases, grabbing a bite to eat and sleeping.
He quickly became one of the group, fitting in like he had always been there. In a few years, that would only become more of the case when he could go out drinking with Wild Tiger, Rock Bison, and occasionally Sky High. He also got along great with Fire Emblem, Blue Rose, and Dragon Kid as they enjoyed his positive, confident nature. And Edward had to admit he liked trying to help with Wild Tiger's attempts to open Barnaby up more. It reminded Edward of when he tried to...
The only thing that worried Edward was the lack of contact he had with Ivan. Every time he thought of calling, something came up, a new crime or the sponsors wanting to talk. He missed Ivan's calls, and all messages were being screened or crowded out from fans or official business. Edward waited for a letter (not having enough time to write one to him), but it never came. He quickly amassed a backlog of fan mail, which most Heroes simply didn't have the energy pour through them all personally.
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One day, when Edward wanted nothing to do but take a nap on the couch after foiling a tough bank heist, Sky High walked in carrying a couple of large bags and a huge smile. "Is it fan mail time again?" Wild Tiger asked as he took a seat next to Edward with a steaming plate of fried rice.
"It is!" Sky High emptied the bags over the table and started to sort through them, opening the nearest envelope. It contained a flat, bright blue and yellow object. "Hey, I got an origami cyclone!" Sky High said as he picked it up for all to see. "The fans are so talented."
"A what?" Blue Rose looked up from her magazine. "What's an origami cyclone?"
"Like a pinwheel?" Dragon Kid asked as she moved to get a better look. "I think you're supposed to pin it to a stick, so it can spin when you blow on it. It fits your powers perfectly."
The bag of fan mail suddenly became more important than the nap. "It's a shuriken!" Edward said all too quickly as he went to snatch it out of Sky High's hand and move out of his reach before he could object. The folded up object had been sent to Sky High, but... but... Edward had to force himself to slow down in order to not tear the hidden message to pieces in his trembling hands. There had to be one. There always was one.
Edward, I'll wait for you no matter how long it takes. - Ivan
Edward felt the color drain from his cheeks as he looked up from the folded sheets of paper. The other Heroes gathered around him. "Honey, is everything all right?" Fire Emblem asked.
"Where's the rest of my fan mail?!" The colored squares became victims to Edward's tightening fists. He ran to where he stored the backlog he meant to get to eventually. Why? Why did Ivan's messages end up in the fan mail, where he wouldn't have enough time to possibly see them all?
The rest of the Heroes followed him. "What are we looking for?" Rock Bison said as Edward overturned bin after bin of fan mail onto the floor.
"Anything from 'Ivan Karelin.' Anything!"
Sky High scooped a large pile with a gust of wind and set about reading the envelopes. "You heard him! Let's look for the origami cyclones!"
"I thought he said they're shuriken..." Dragon Kid grabbed a heaping arm's full of letter and started a pile of her own.
Hours past, and Edward felt like Blue Rose had iced him over. He felt cold and couldn't stop shaking.
"AH! I found one!" Wild Tiger yelled waving a half crumpled envelope with the postmark only a few days after Edward officially became a Hero. It flopped like only half of it contained anything.
Edward couldn't open it and the purple and red shuriken inside fast enough.
Edward, Congratulations! I knew you could do it. Let's meet Friday at 6PM at our usual spot. If you can't make it, I understand. We can try next week. Being a Hero is tough work after all. - Ivan
"He... he couldn't be... Ivan's been..." Another tremble worked its way through his body. How could he have messed up so badly? He was a hero now. Messing up like that was something academy students did. Seconds later, Barnaby found one post marked a little later that one, and Rock Bison found one that arrived a month ago.
"It's Friday today. Go. We'll handle anything that comes up, sweetie." Fire Emblem had read the note over his shoulder.
Edward ran like everything depended on it. When he arrived at Hero Academy, the sun had already set. It was well past the time anyone was allowed on the grounds, and Edward could only imagine what Ivan must have felt waiting here day after day only for him not to show up and never respond. In his mind's eye, he saw Ivan sitting in the shadow of Mr. Legend with his head bowed and folding origami after origami as time past. The security guard would find Ivan and ask him to leave the premises.
Defeated, Edward rested his head on the cool metal of the front gate. Ivan had always been afraid to use his powers outside of the grounds because of the rules. There was no way he'd trespass and still be waiting there. Edward had been too late.
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"Don't you know you shouldn't be wandering alone this late at night?" A man sneered as he held a gun to the woman's head. "Now, just give me your valuables, and I won't have to-" The criminal didn't have a chance to finish his threat. A blue glow filled the alley as Edward reappeared and stole the pistol out of the man's grip.
"Let go of her," the Hero said, pointing the gun at the attacker. But, the way the man's eyes seemed to twinkle caused Edward's stomach to turn uneasily. Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his. Edward struggled to keep his aim. The first attacker came closer to take back his gun while the woman was still caught in his grip.
A small flurry of bright objects flew at the first attacker. They bounced harmlessly off, but the distraction was all the woman needed to break free and run. Edward dropped the gun, elbowed the second attacker, and sunk him (and the weapon) waist high in the ground. Then he tackled the first attacker before he escaped and sunk him as well. Finally, he used his wrist communicator; Sky High would be on his patrols by now and could apprehend the two criminals for him. The woman was safe now, and points didn't matter. Edward needed to find--
Edward looked past his wrist to see that on the ground were half a dozen paper shuriken. Picking them back up was a young man his age, face disguised by a makeshift T-shirt mask. Even in this darkness, Edward made out a familiar set of purple eyes when the young man stood upon gathering all the fallen origami.
"You look ridiculous." Out of all the things he could have said to Ivan...
"I couldn't let someone see me..." Ivan handed him a white and green shuriken, and the exchange had almost been as natural as before.
"You can shapeshift."
"Who would I transform into? They'd... just get in trouble for trespassing too."
"Wait, you were actually still-" Edward couldn't help but laugh as he put an arm around Ivan's shoulders and showed a crumpled blue and yellow origami shuriken. They began to walk away from the crime scene as they hear the rush of a jetpack above them. "I'm so sorry I didn't find these earlier." He paused a moment. "Sushi? Our favorite place is still in business, right?"
"... Shouldn't you... go back?" Ivan tugged off his mask and shook out his messy mop of pale blond hair. "You're a hero now. With trading cards and everything."
"Not everything," Edward said as he let go of Ivan and stood to face him directly. "I think Sternbild can afford to let me be a citizen again for a few hours."
"But-"
"No buts. I already screwed up by choosing being a hero over being a friend. I'm not going to make that mistake again."
- - -
Days later, Edward went to Helperides Finances and straight to the CEO. He'd spent a lot of time working out what he could say and how. All that remained was pitching the idea. This would work. It had to.
"Sir, I've been thinking..." Edward started as he reached into his pocket and felt the green and white origami shuriken with his fingertips. "What if I got a partner? Like Wild Tiger and Barnaby Brooks Jr.? We'd be a completely different dynamic than them."
The CEO looked up from the stack of paperwork. "Hm? It could be an interesting prospect. Do you have someone in mind?"
An image of a T-shirt ninja throwing paper shuriken at a criminal flashed in Edward's mind as he firmly nodded. "Origami Cyclone."
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i wonder how ivan must've felt, sitting there, waiting for edwardo ;o;
and that ending ... might there be a sequel in the works? i would definitely read about the adventures of desert tempest and origami cyclone B)
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As for how Ivan felt...
---
Another Friday came, and Ivan sat waiting. Another Friday, and the academy security guard needed to be dodged as he came around. Another Friday, and... Edward didn't seem like he'd come this time either. Another Friday, and Ivan kept waiting and telling himself that Edward must be saving someone in Stern Bild.
Ivan turned the corner and jumped to the roof before the sound of the guard's footsteps grew too close. Out of direct view, he shrugged off his bulky jacket, removed his T-shirt, tied the shirt into a makeshift mask, and replaced his jacket back over a tank top. Then he sat once more on the roof over looking Mr. Legend and continued to wait in the cooling air. His fingers entertained themselves with pieces of paper. Today, he practiced cranes. Skillful folds, mountain, valley, petal, and reverse, and before long, he had a flock of birds roosting beside him.
When he grew tired of cranes, Ivan composed a note on the back of an orange square. He picked out a nice peach colored sheet to pair with it and folded another shuriken. It didn't matter that the sun was nearly gone from the sky or that watery eyes made it harder to see. He had the folds down by heart. Then he made more; the cranes soon looked like they had nested in the remains of a ninja's battleground.
Midnight came and left. The siege of cranes slept at Mr. Legend's feet. The paper shuriken with the hidden message was placed in an addressed envelope and dropped off at the nearby postbox, the one with the squeaky door and half worn stickers of Sky High, Blue Rose, Barnaby Brooks Jr., and Fire Emblem. The rest of the shuriken remained with Ivan, who tugged off his mask, shook out his hair, and started walking the long way toward home.
He knew that one thousand paper cranes were supposed to grant a wish upon completion. However, those were too delicate. He had experimented with sending one by mail. It arrived back at his house with a broken neck and a crushed wing. A dying bird that needed saving or a mercy blow wasn't something Ivan would send to his friend. Hero or not. Furthermore, that injured bird would need to be opened and then refolded, which Edward could never figure out unless Ivan instructed him from the start. In frustration, the paper had been torn, mangled, or buried in sand so many times.
Besides... Ivan liked the idea that the origami shuriken took two pieces of paper. It didn't matter if they were different colors; the pieces would work together and make the origami stronger than they ever could be apart.
Ivan would fold a thousand of his shuriken in hopes that one would eventually find its way to Edward.
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thank you for this, authoranon!
Besides... Ivan liked the idea that the origami shuriken took two pieces of paper. It didn't matter if they were different colors; the pieces would work together and make the origami stronger than they ever could be apart.
such beautiful imagery ahh .. BE STILL, MY HEART
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I wouldn't mind more!
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