Week #23 - School
[Title] And Now Life Really Begins
[Rating] G
[Pairings/Characters] Raito, Mikami, Matsuda, Misa, and a few minor OCs (Yamamoto is mentioned in a few panels in Book 2, though ^^)
[Warnings] Mentions of a few canon parental deaths? Also, this was written after very quick research on Japanese high school graduations, so I'm sorry if it's all wrong.
[Word Count] 1719
[Notes] The italicised lyrics are the first verse of the song Hokatu no Hikari, which apparently is sung at such occasions.
Light of fireflies, snow by the window
All the girls are crying.
They sob noisily and clutch each other on the concrete steps outside the hall and the boys blink manfully and rub the backs of their heads and Raito Yagami stands, leaning against the warm wall, his hands in the pocket of his blazer, and smiles, and doesn't cry at all.
"You're looking pretty calm," Yamamoto says, coming over to him. His tie is rumpled and his sleeves are rolled up, as if he's commemorating the sudden official change in circumstances. "Huh, what am I saying? You always look calm."
Raito grins. "I'm sure that's not true. But what's there not to be calm about? Now I've got that speech over with..."
Yamamoto rolls his eyes. "Don't remind me. 'We raise our heads from our books and look towards our futures'? I know you're Daikoku Academy's golden boy right now, but that was pretty corny even for you."
"I didn't write it." Raito stares past him, out at the scurrying pupils and sharply-clad parents and the shrieks and chattering and wails. He's still smiling.
"Yeah, well." Yamamoto shrugs, slumps against the wall, hands in his pockets. "Whenever I look towards the future it looks back and it's got teeth. You made it sound way too glorious."
"You underestimate yourself," Raito says. "You've got an internship lined up, haven't you?"
"Yeah. Where I get to make photocopying and have papers thrown at my head whenever I'm late with the boss's tea."
"It's a start," Raito says. "I'm sure you'll reach greater things eventually." He laughs. "Everyone finds their designated path in life."
Yamamoto shrugs, not looking convinced. At last, he says, "You gonna miss the old place?"
"School? No, not really." Raito pushes himself off the wall, turns to look back. "I have more important things to do. Oh - I'd better go, my parents... bye, Yamamoto."
"Bye," Yamamoto says, but Raito doesn't look back.
Many suns and moons spent reading
All the girls are crying.
They stop when they see Mikami, though, which proves it wasn't real tears. You can't stop for anyone when it's real. They stare at him, and one or two smile, weakly, and then they all look away.
They read out the names at the ceremony. As if those people had deserved to graduate. Mikami had stared at the sunbeams and let the names remind him of God instead.
One girl calls out, "Congratulations, Mikami-san!" but the others shush her. Mikami watches them scurry off, dodging between benches and trees, but he doesn't really see them. They're not important; nothing is important. He's made it. He's made it through high school. No, he has survived high school and he has the letter accepting him onto the law course and he can, he will, he never has to come back to this place again!
Behind him is the building itself, its windows glittering. He doesn't want to go and look. High school time is split into two parts; there is the time before, when almost every part of the classroom and the corridor and the bathrooms and the stairwell and the car park have some horrible memory attached, and there is the time after, when the memories are still there, but as soon as he remembers he remembers the death, hears in his mind the imagined screech of brakes and burst of breaking glass and -
- do you think she screamed? -
- and it had been nice, really, that they had the graduation ceremony in a hall he'd never been in before, and the girls' sobs echoing in his ears instead of his own.
It. It doesn't matter. He is outside in the sun and the sky is wide and loud above him and the crying has almost faded and he will be able to serve God as he was meant to. And everything will be different.
Years have gone by without notice
All the girls are crying.
Matsuda can hear their wails on the breeze as he sits on the wall, kicks his feet against it. He kind of wishes he were with someone. Like, letting them cry on him, or cheering with them 'cause they'd both survived high school, or getting drunk with them. He really wants to get drunk.
The ceremony was boring and he was hot and sticky and he nearly fell asleep a bunch of times. He felt like it shouldn't be like that, like he should be finding it moving. But he didn't. He alternated between boredom and, whenever he thought about the future, stomach-crushing terror.
It's dumb to be scared. All his classmates were really impressed when they heard his dad had got him work experience at the NPA, for heaven's sake. Okay, they weren't impressed so much as surprised that Matsuda was looking to work there, but still. Still! They all recognised what a good deal it was!
Eventually he stands up and wanders away from the crying - which has lessened a bit, they probably don't have the energy to keep it up for long - and back into the school building. It's very quiet. Feels like no one's been here for years, like it's only been left like this for historical purposes. He pushes open the main door and for the first time ever he hears it creak and he steps in and passes the shoe lockers and there is no chattering, no one hollering across the room, no squeaks of feet on lino. A square of sunlight lies on the floor and he steps into it and all the sounds - of the traffic, of the footsteps, of the girls - are so far away.
It took him about six months, but he got high school. You work out a way of studying enough that your grades don't implode, and you find people who'll talk to you at lunchtime, and you work out who to avoid and which teachers are mean and what's a fun way of passing the time and what's a stupid idea that could land you in jail and (okay, he personally hasn't yet, but he's made useful observations about) which girls will smile and blush if you ask them out and which ones will laugh in your face.
It took him about six months.
In the real world they'll figure taking more than six days is incompetent. His dad keeps saying stuff like when you start work you'll have to shape up and when you start work you'll learn how to take things seriously and when you start work you'll learn what a busy schedule really is. Matsuda knows he should be pleased his dad thinks he can take it, but he can't help worrying (really worrying) that maybe he can't.
He could go on, walk further in, creep through classrooms he knew and corridors he ran down, stop and look out of windows at over-familiar views and remember all the lessons where he let his eyes wander. He could. But he doesn't; he turns back and walks out because it would be stupid, wouldn't it? Not like it'd change anything. He's got to... shape up, like Dad says. The crying has stopped now - or maybe it was laughter all along.
Day has dawned; this morning, we part
All the girls are crying.
Misa cried earlier, in the ceremony, but that was because everyone else had had parents watching and she hadn't and. And. But now she's outside and it's drizzling a little and her head hurts and she really wants to go home and make some tea and change into a big baggy T-shirt and slippers and do something that doesn't involve being either solemn or hysterical. She wants to be quiet.
"Miiiiiisa! I haven't got any photos of you!"
Someone - Hiromi from her class - grabs her, yanks them together and waves madly at a camera brandished by a friend. Misa smiles widely and makes a peace sign. Hiromi has never talked to her much and needs to diet, but seven people so far have told Misa they'll keep in touch because she's like their best friend. Misa isn't stupid. They only talk to her now because she tried so very hard to demonstrate that just because her parents had been murdered didn't mean she would be depressed or weird, that she would be as bubbly and superficial as always. But they won't want to keep in touch in case the facade cracks, in case Misa shows she cares.
Hiromi turns to chat to her after the picture is taken, evidently feeling she has to at least pretend she likes Misa. "So... what are you gonna do next, then? Not college, right?"
Misa used to think that maybe she might go to college, but that was before, when her parents would have been proud of her and therefore made it worth it. "Noooo. Misa wants to have fun."
"Oh, oh, what are you going to do?" Hiromi bounces up and down a little. Misa fixes a knowing smile on her face. "Misa is going to go back to that agency... and sign up... and become a model!" And the two of them jump up and down and shriek and hug and now Hiromi is insisting Misa stay in touch and she even admits it's because she wants to be invited to the cool parties. Misa promises, and hands out her mobile number, and is hugged more and squeals more but she doesn't take any pictures. And when she finally leaves and walks down into the shadowy subway she stops smiling and she puts the sobbing girls out of her mind and she never lets them back in.
[Rating] G
[Pairings/Characters] Raito, Mikami, Matsuda, Misa, and a few minor OCs (Yamamoto is mentioned in a few panels in Book 2, though ^^)
[Warnings] Mentions of a few canon parental deaths? Also, this was written after very quick research on Japanese high school graduations, so I'm sorry if it's all wrong.
[Word Count] 1719
[Notes] The italicised lyrics are the first verse of the song Hokatu no Hikari, which apparently is sung at such occasions.
Light of fireflies, snow by the window
All the girls are crying.
They sob noisily and clutch each other on the concrete steps outside the hall and the boys blink manfully and rub the backs of their heads and Raito Yagami stands, leaning against the warm wall, his hands in the pocket of his blazer, and smiles, and doesn't cry at all.
"You're looking pretty calm," Yamamoto says, coming over to him. His tie is rumpled and his sleeves are rolled up, as if he's commemorating the sudden official change in circumstances. "Huh, what am I saying? You always look calm."
Raito grins. "I'm sure that's not true. But what's there not to be calm about? Now I've got that speech over with..."
Yamamoto rolls his eyes. "Don't remind me. 'We raise our heads from our books and look towards our futures'? I know you're Daikoku Academy's golden boy right now, but that was pretty corny even for you."
"I didn't write it." Raito stares past him, out at the scurrying pupils and sharply-clad parents and the shrieks and chattering and wails. He's still smiling.
"Yeah, well." Yamamoto shrugs, slumps against the wall, hands in his pockets. "Whenever I look towards the future it looks back and it's got teeth. You made it sound way too glorious."
"You underestimate yourself," Raito says. "You've got an internship lined up, haven't you?"
"Yeah. Where I get to make photocopying and have papers thrown at my head whenever I'm late with the boss's tea."
"It's a start," Raito says. "I'm sure you'll reach greater things eventually." He laughs. "Everyone finds their designated path in life."
Yamamoto shrugs, not looking convinced. At last, he says, "You gonna miss the old place?"
"School? No, not really." Raito pushes himself off the wall, turns to look back. "I have more important things to do. Oh - I'd better go, my parents... bye, Yamamoto."
"Bye," Yamamoto says, but Raito doesn't look back.
Many suns and moons spent reading
All the girls are crying.
They stop when they see Mikami, though, which proves it wasn't real tears. You can't stop for anyone when it's real. They stare at him, and one or two smile, weakly, and then they all look away.
They read out the names at the ceremony. As if those people had deserved to graduate. Mikami had stared at the sunbeams and let the names remind him of God instead.
One girl calls out, "Congratulations, Mikami-san!" but the others shush her. Mikami watches them scurry off, dodging between benches and trees, but he doesn't really see them. They're not important; nothing is important. He's made it. He's made it through high school. No, he has survived high school and he has the letter accepting him onto the law course and he can, he will, he never has to come back to this place again!
Behind him is the building itself, its windows glittering. He doesn't want to go and look. High school time is split into two parts; there is the time before, when almost every part of the classroom and the corridor and the bathrooms and the stairwell and the car park have some horrible memory attached, and there is the time after, when the memories are still there, but as soon as he remembers he remembers the death, hears in his mind the imagined screech of brakes and burst of breaking glass and -
- do you think she screamed? -
- and it had been nice, really, that they had the graduation ceremony in a hall he'd never been in before, and the girls' sobs echoing in his ears instead of his own.
It. It doesn't matter. He is outside in the sun and the sky is wide and loud above him and the crying has almost faded and he will be able to serve God as he was meant to. And everything will be different.
Years have gone by without notice
All the girls are crying.
Matsuda can hear their wails on the breeze as he sits on the wall, kicks his feet against it. He kind of wishes he were with someone. Like, letting them cry on him, or cheering with them 'cause they'd both survived high school, or getting drunk with them. He really wants to get drunk.
The ceremony was boring and he was hot and sticky and he nearly fell asleep a bunch of times. He felt like it shouldn't be like that, like he should be finding it moving. But he didn't. He alternated between boredom and, whenever he thought about the future, stomach-crushing terror.
It's dumb to be scared. All his classmates were really impressed when they heard his dad had got him work experience at the NPA, for heaven's sake. Okay, they weren't impressed so much as surprised that Matsuda was looking to work there, but still. Still! They all recognised what a good deal it was!
Eventually he stands up and wanders away from the crying - which has lessened a bit, they probably don't have the energy to keep it up for long - and back into the school building. It's very quiet. Feels like no one's been here for years, like it's only been left like this for historical purposes. He pushes open the main door and for the first time ever he hears it creak and he steps in and passes the shoe lockers and there is no chattering, no one hollering across the room, no squeaks of feet on lino. A square of sunlight lies on the floor and he steps into it and all the sounds - of the traffic, of the footsteps, of the girls - are so far away.
It took him about six months, but he got high school. You work out a way of studying enough that your grades don't implode, and you find people who'll talk to you at lunchtime, and you work out who to avoid and which teachers are mean and what's a fun way of passing the time and what's a stupid idea that could land you in jail and (okay, he personally hasn't yet, but he's made useful observations about) which girls will smile and blush if you ask them out and which ones will laugh in your face.
It took him about six months.
In the real world they'll figure taking more than six days is incompetent. His dad keeps saying stuff like when you start work you'll have to shape up and when you start work you'll learn how to take things seriously and when you start work you'll learn what a busy schedule really is. Matsuda knows he should be pleased his dad thinks he can take it, but he can't help worrying (really worrying) that maybe he can't.
He could go on, walk further in, creep through classrooms he knew and corridors he ran down, stop and look out of windows at over-familiar views and remember all the lessons where he let his eyes wander. He could. But he doesn't; he turns back and walks out because it would be stupid, wouldn't it? Not like it'd change anything. He's got to... shape up, like Dad says. The crying has stopped now - or maybe it was laughter all along.
Day has dawned; this morning, we part
All the girls are crying.
Misa cried earlier, in the ceremony, but that was because everyone else had had parents watching and she hadn't and. And. But now she's outside and it's drizzling a little and her head hurts and she really wants to go home and make some tea and change into a big baggy T-shirt and slippers and do something that doesn't involve being either solemn or hysterical. She wants to be quiet.
"Miiiiiisa! I haven't got any photos of you!"
Someone - Hiromi from her class - grabs her, yanks them together and waves madly at a camera brandished by a friend. Misa smiles widely and makes a peace sign. Hiromi has never talked to her much and needs to diet, but seven people so far have told Misa they'll keep in touch because she's like their best friend. Misa isn't stupid. They only talk to her now because she tried so very hard to demonstrate that just because her parents had been murdered didn't mean she would be depressed or weird, that she would be as bubbly and superficial as always. But they won't want to keep in touch in case the facade cracks, in case Misa shows she cares.
Hiromi turns to chat to her after the picture is taken, evidently feeling she has to at least pretend she likes Misa. "So... what are you gonna do next, then? Not college, right?"
Misa used to think that maybe she might go to college, but that was before, when her parents would have been proud of her and therefore made it worth it. "Noooo. Misa wants to have fun."
"Oh, oh, what are you going to do?" Hiromi bounces up and down a little. Misa fixes a knowing smile on her face. "Misa is going to go back to that agency... and sign up... and become a model!" And the two of them jump up and down and shriek and hug and now Hiromi is insisting Misa stay in touch and she even admits it's because she wants to be invited to the cool parties. Misa promises, and hands out her mobile number, and is hugged more and squeals more but she doesn't take any pictures. And when she finally leaves and walks down into the shadowy subway she stops smiling and she puts the sobbing girls out of her mind and she never lets them back in.