Please make sure to cc any C&C on this particular draft, or of the 'Campus
Chaos' concept/universe to me, either here at thekeep.org, or at my home
address (loki@maison-otaku.net). Also note that if anyone can think of a
better series title than 'Campus Chaos', I'll gladly welcome suggestions.
-----
Maison Otaku Productions presents...
CAMPUS CHAOS - an original fiction series in the style of Japanese 'manga'
by Jeremy Blackman - loki@maison-otaku.net / jeremyb@u.washington.edu
Characters are (C)1996-97, Jeremy 'Loki' Blackman
Rights reserved for use of author and Maison Otaku Productions
-----
Well, for a change, I can claim that ALL of these characters and
situations are of my own creation and thus I have the rights to them.
Other Maison Otaku Productions members are welcome to use Sadakami, Kasya,
or any of the other characters in their own works as long as they mention
where they came from. Anyone outside Maison Otaku can probably still use
'em, I'd just appreciate being asked first. ^_^
For reference, the location of this story, the University of Washington,
does in fact exist in Seattle, as does the University District area
surrounding it. To these locations, I cannot claim creator status nor the
sole rights to. ^_- (I do attend the school in question, though.)
Enough disclaimer/legal blurb. On to the story!
-----
---- Prologue ----
In the distant past, those we know now as 'gods' and 'demons' were of one
race: the Shiramadi. For centuries, the Shiramadi lived as a peaceful
race, content to share the world with less powerful inhabitants.
And then came man. The Shiramadi were blessed with long vision, and they
saw what the future held if man were allowed to develop unchecked.
Mankind would inflict more damage on their world than any previous
inhabitant.
The Shiramadi met to try to decide as a whole what to do about
Mankind...unfortunately, they could not agree. One side felt that they
could not determine Mankind's future, but could merely try to guide them
to the true path again. The others felt that Mankind had forfeited the
right to self-rule, and must be subjegated and disciplined. And so war
came to the Shiramadi. The sides became known as 'gods' and 'demons', and
the opening battle lasted for decades of time as Mankind measured it.
The horrible prolonged battle broke many friendships among the Shiramadi.
Brothers and sisters found themselves fighting on opposite sides, or
fighting their parents. Friends fought friends... Two such were Sadakami
Yoshida, who sided with the gods, and Kasya Jadouen, who sided with the
demons.
Sadakami gained the upper hand while facing his former friend in battle,
but Kasya knew his weakness: his temper. And so Sadakami failed to
capture Kasya.
After the prolonged battle, the gods got the upper hand and sealed the
demons into a realm they named 'hell'. Some demons had escaped, and gods
were assigned to track them down and find them. Sadakami was told to
track Kasya until he found her and could banish her back to the demon
realm of hell.
And so, Sadakami wandered the world, searching for his former friend to
defeat her. But each time he found her, she would evade his capture. As
he tracked her over the centuries, this pattern repeated with depressing
regularity.
But though he does not know it, Sadakami's quest is destined to take a new
and unexpected turn, for Kasya's fate has changed drastically...
---- Episode 1: Reunion ----
The day was unusually warm for early fall in Seattle. The varied
architecture of the University District cast patchwork shadows; four story
shopping arcades casting shadow onto their single-story curio shop
neighbors. The usual rush of traffic and pedestrians had not yet begun,
and the only people around were the homeless, lying in doorways wrapped in
blankets and sleeping bags, and those University students unfortunate
enough to have class or other business this early, going blearily about
their business.
Darting among the few pedestrians, squirrels and pigeons foraged for
scraps of food dropped by students as they staggered home from late-night
classes the previous night. Every now and then, one would have to dodge
out of the way of some half-awake philosophy or art major on their way
home from a midnight course.
One of the people out during this rare period of quiet in the normally
noisy and crowded business district seemed somewhat more awake than the
others. He stepped around the squirrels and pigeons, intent on his
destination. Stopping to check the street signs, he rounded the corner
and reached the edge of the University of Washington campus proper, a
large grassy expanse dappled with the shadows cast by the numerous tall
trees.
Out from behind the larger buildings, the sun fell squarely on his face,
causing him to blink for a moment, and brush his unruly brown hair out of
his deep blue eyes. He stood there for a moment, as if unsure that he had
in fact reached the correct place, then glanced at the sky as if asking
for guidance. "I know she's here," he said to himself. "But I don't
understand. A college...?" Sighing, he hoisted his satchel over one
shoulder and entered the campus grounds.
--*--
"Just because you have oddly colored hair and eyes doesn't mean you're a
supernatural being, Kasya," the young redhead scoffed. "All it means is
you found some interesting hair dye and colored contact lenses. I'll
admit it's more unusual than the 'Goth' scene you see around here a lot,
but I don't buy your story."
The other girl sighed, idly twisting her silvery-purple ponytail around
one finger, and then fixed her friend with a stare from her disturbing
deep purple, cat-like eyes. "Look, Shanna. I don't care what you
believe. The fact is that I am a very powerful demon."
Shanna laughed. "And why, then, is a 'powerful demon' stuck attending a
mundane college? And flunking, no less. Show me some of your 'great
powers' if you're really a supernatural being."
Kasya sighed. "We've been over this before."
Shanna nodded. "I know, I know. You've gotten in trouble, your powers
have been sealed, and you've been banished to this college until you can
graduate as penance. Yadda yadda yadda." She glanced at her watch.
"Ack. I've got 10 minutes to make it to art history. Then I can spend
two hours sleeping through slide shows... I'll see you later, 'demon'."
The redhead picked up her bag, waved to her friend, and dashed off down
one of the paths.
Kasya sighed. This college was so incredibly *dull*. What was a demon
doing here, anyway? She should have been out working towards the noble
end of subjegating the humans so that the world could be restored to order
and peace! Granted, not all humans were that bad... she cut her train of
thought off before going any further. It was sympathy for humans that got
her INTO this mess in the first place.
Suddenly, Kasya stiffed, and glanced down one of the walkways. Even with
most of her powers sealed off, she could sense the presence of another
powerful being. A familiar presence somehow... she glanced around,
seeking the source of this power. The only other person in the vicinity
was a young man with brown hair, wearing blue jeans and a sweatshirt,
walking along the path with a satchel slung over his shoulder.
Kasya began to smile. Oh, this had the potential to be _most_ amusing.
"Why, hello, Sadakami. It's been a long time, hasn't it? Thirty, maybe
thirty-five years since our last run-in? You're looking well. The
shorter hair suits you."
The young man looked up, and his expression hardened. "Ha! I've found
you again, demon! I don't know WHY you're here, but this time, you _ARE_
going back." Kasya shrugged. "I mean it, Kasya. This time I will NOT
fail in my quest."
"Go ahead, 'kami. Send me back. I *dare* you," Kasya taunted. She stood
there, hands on her hips, making no attempt to escape.
Sadakami blinked. This wasn't the way it was supposed to go. The rules
of engagement, learned from centuries of this game of cat and mouse,
clearly stated that Kasya was supposed to run. He was supposed to chase,
she was supposed to try to trip him up somehow and make her escape - and
thus far, succeed. This had never happened before; there was nothing in
the rules to allow for it. He narrowed his eyes. "What _are_ you up to?"
Kasya shrugged. "Maybe I'm just tired of this chase. Go ahead; send me
back."
Sadakami, sensing a chance he shouldn't let get away, summoned his powers
to banish Kasya before she had a chance to change her mind. Calling upon
his rights as a god, he opened a gateway to the demon realms beneath
Kasya. He blinked in surprise as she fell through the gateway, which
promptly vanished.
That couldn't be it, he told himself. After all those centuries, to
banish his nemesis so easily... it had to have been a fluke. Then he
realized. He had fulfilled his penance. He could return home! He
could... Sadakami blinked as a pillar of fire formed where Kasya had
been. As it faded, he saw a figure standing there.
Kasya peeled the 'reject' sticker off her forehead, and glanced at it
distastefully before casually tossing it into the nearby bushes. "Sorry,
pal. See... I've been locked out."
"Locked... out?" asked Sadakami, trying to mentally shift gears back into
the proper mode to deal with this.
Kasya nodded. "See, I didn't entirely agree with one of our campaigns to
subjegate the humans. I sort of, well, sabotaged it a bit. The humans in
question weren't such bad types; they didn't really DESERVE what they were
getting." She shrugged. "Seems the managerial types on my side didn't
share my opinion on that particular matter. So they sealed most of my
powers, and banished me to the mortal realms." She sighed and looked
around. "And gave me this stupid penance."
"Er, penance?" asked Sadakami. He was half-afraid to hear the answer,
fearing that it might conflict with his goal of banishing Kasya back to
the demon realms.
Kasya nodded. "See, to keep me out of their hair for a while, they said I
had to graduate from a mortal college before I could come home and have my
powers unsealed." She sighed again. "And - can you believe this? - they
said I have to do it WITHOUT CHEATING. This'll take EONS. I have no idea
how the humans can put up with this..."
Sadakami stood there silently for a moment, processing this. Finally, he
made the only appropriate statement an intellegent being in his situation
_could_ make. "Uhm."
Gathering his wits for a second sally, Sadakami tried again. "Are you
telling me... that before I can finish _my_ penance and banish you, you
have to _graduate_ from this place? And you have to do it _without
cheating_?"
Kasya nodded. "Gee. Come to think of it, your penance requires you to
track me down and do _whatever's necessary_ to send me back, doesn't it?"
She looked thoughtful, and Sadakami felt his spirits sinking. "That means
if you want to send me back, you're going to have to make sure I graduate,
and that I do it without cheating." She smiled at him in her most
charming manner.
"So, 'kami. When do you enroll?"
Sadakami looked skyward. "Why. WHY does Fate hate me so much?"
Kasya looked thoughtful again. "Well, you still owe her that money you
borrowed when you were trying to chase me down back in the Holy Roman
Empire..."
Sadakami blinked. "You can't be serious. Even Fate's not THAT petty.
Well, maybe she is, but..." He sighed. "You're right. The phrasing of
my penance doesn't leave me much choice. I'll _have_ to enroll to keep an
eye on you." He stared at the ground, clearly not much pleased by this
turn of events.
Kasya grinned, and patted him on the back. "Cheer up, 'kami. Believe me,
this will be a very interesting experience. A _very_ interesting one
indeed."
Sadakami sighed. "That's EXACTLY what I'm afraid of."
--- to be continued ---
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
This is a story concept I've been tossing around for some time. I finally
sat down and took my old script-format notes (this was originally going to
be an actual home-produced comic until I realized that I couldn't find an
artist for it and that I can't draw worth beans) and reorganized the
beginning of the story into prose format. This is not the entire first
episode of Campus Chaos; it's merely the first part of the first episode,
intended to feel out interest in the story.
The original story was written up while extremely bored one morning, and
then cleaned up over the phone with a friend who made helpful comments and
suggestions about how the story should be set up. This friend likewise
provided the inspiration for the character of Kasya, and did the original
character design sketches for the since-cancelled comic form of it.
This is also, I believe, the first fanfic or fanfic draft by a Maison
Otaku Productions author to actually be released under the Maison Otaku
label. Expect more. Expect scarier. ^_-
ADDITIONAL NOTE:
While Sadakami, Kasya, and the other characters are original characters,
most do take aspects of their personality from actual people I know. Be
warned, friends of mine; you may recognize yourself in some later
storyline. ^_- And doubly beware to any members of the University of
Washington anime club, the Anime Discovery Project. You are almost
guaranteed a bit part in the story at one point; at least if you're a
member of the peanut gallery group. ^_-
+---[ Loki ]-------------+----------------------------------------+
| Jeremy "Loki" Blackman | Founder, Maison Otaku Productions |
| loki@maison-otaku.net | http://www.maison-otaku.net |
| loki@thekeep.org | NeonMuck Server Maintainer |
+------------------------+ http://www.maison-otaku.net/neon |
| Lunatic Coder, etc | http://www.maison-otaku.net/~loki |
+------------------------+----------------------------------------+
| Asbel@AnimeMUCK, Tenchi@RanmaMUCK, Ami@ElseMUCK, etc. |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+