Snapshots Volume One

[Note about the Snapshots Series: This series of one-shots are written to
capture the thoughts and feelings of a character at a certain moment during
the anime or manga itself. It may be a happy moment, a sad moment, a moment
of blind fury, or utter panic, but whatever it is, it is a moment that will
forever stick out in my mind, and so I feel compelled to write about it. It
is up to the reader to figure out who is thinking and what point in time it
happens, although most are self-evident. Comments and criticisms welcome,
as always. On with the show.]

[Revision note: Thanks to C&C by Adam Conover, I have revised entry four,
taking out the last paragraph. I agree that it should have ended at that
line, and, well, like always, it bugs me when I have a less-than-perfect
product out on the list when I know I can fix it. So, here we go.]
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ONE
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	Everything seems so right with the world right now. Everyone I care about
is around me, working, playing, happily going about their business, it
doesn't really matter that much.
	How long has it been since we started? It seems so distant to me now, I
can hardly remember a time when we weren't like this.
	What was it like, then? How much different was it from now? How did they
go on with their lives, untouched as they were by my own? How would my own
life be, without knowing them, without sharing these moments with them?
	I wonder, do they ever stop to think about that? About this idyllic life
we lead now, and how much different it could be? About this dream of mine?
	My dream? Well, it's simple, really. It's not much different from the way
things are.
	"I wish for myself, and Darling, and Shutaro, and Shinobu, and Megane and
the others, to be happily together, forever."

=====
TWO
=====

	No! How could this happen!
	Damn it all! How could I lose him, just like that? It seemed like we would
be together forever, but now... now...
	All I have to show for it is this bloody rag.
	Damn you. I will make you pay for taking him from me. I will make you
suffer, suffer for killing him, for separating me from him, now, of all
times, when we were just starting to... to...
	But it won't bring him back to me. Revenge isn't going to bring him back.
Will I be sated, once I kill to avenge him? Will that be enough?
	No, it will never be enough. Never. NEVER!
	DAMN YOU KAGATO! I WILL MAKE YOU PAY!

	"YOU WILL PAY!!!"


=====
THREE
=====

	Oh, look, how amusing. He's doing it again. Really, now, who needs a
television when you have someone like this to watch?
	Come to think of it, such a depraved mind could be put to productive use.
If only the young man would see it my way.
	But no, he clings to that twisted sense of morals he has. It's 'immoral'
for me to be viewing his beloved's bounty, but for him, it's fine, even if
he does it clandestinely. Without her prior consent, no doubt. He doesn't
even have the decency to ask me to join him. Of course he says it's an
accident most of the time. When pigs fly.
	Ah, just as well. Watching him act out his fantasies on articles of
clothing is actually more entertaining that just mere voyeurism.
	Ah. I believe it's time to knock him down a few notches again. He needs
it, every so often, just to remind him that the path of true love never did
run smoothly. Perhaps when he gains sufficient wisdom he will appreciate
what I and the others do for him, but as of now, he probably views us as
nothing more than nuisances. Just as well, I suppose... Ah, yes. It is time.
	"Young Godai, is it really that pleasurable to embrace your swim trunks in
that manner?"


=====
FOUR
=====

	That stupid jerk what does he mean do I always have to be angry of course
I don't have to be it's just that he's so damn stupid that I can't help but
be mad at him besides what's so great about him anyway so he's good at
martial arts big deal just because he can beat me at it doesn't mean he can
just go prancing around insulting me like some big immature child who can't
see things my way damn it stand still so I can hit you already ---

	"Well, that's too bad, because you're really cute when you smile."

	--- and besides he... what?
	I...
	He..
	I mean...
	He...
	What I mean to say is....
	That is I...
	He doesn't really mean...
	Does he?

	"Gotcha."

	
	TimeRunner, December 9, 1997

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TimeRunner's Page:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/7482
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Metaphor: The Necessity of the lie.

	- k-Niv, 'The Tower'