The Sum of All Parts : Magenta
Maison Otonashi
=====

Episode One

	"Don�t you people ever stop?!"
	Once again, the sounds of the drunk and shameless (or poor and 
destitute) filled Maison Otonashi. The usual drunken binge was taking 
place in poor Godai Yusaku�s room. Amid all the noise and mayhem that 
the other tenants were wreaking on the second floor unit, the young 
ex-ronin bravely attempted to study for the next morning�s finals, to 
no avail.
	"Observe, young Godai!" Yotsuya shouted as he stood up and 
balanced three empty sake bottles one on top of the other with his 
mouth.
	"Yeah! You go, Yotsuya!" Mrs. Ichinose, the loudmouthed dumpy 
little blob of a woman shouted, dancing around, waving her fans around 
like a mad woman.
	"Mom! Stop making a fool out of yourself!" pleaded Ichinose 
Kentaro, her thirteen-year-old son.
	"KGH... GH... KGHIIIII-I-I-I-I!!!" Katsuragi Misato shrieked as 
she finished off yet another can of Kirin. "God, that was goooood!" 
she exclaimed, crushing the beer can with her right hand. "I need 
another brewski." She drunkenly reached over from the side of Godai�s 
desk to the beer cans on the other side, giving him a good close view 
of her ample bounty from underneath her sleeveless green shirt. "Damn 
it, I can�t reach it..." She stretched even further and this time her 
equally ample behind was right in front of Godai�s face, barely 
covered by her favorite pair of torn-off denim shorts.
	Godai�s fingers twitched and he started �contemplating� about 
their current positions, but at that precise moment the door to the 
room burst open and Misato�s fourteen-year-old red-haired quarter-
German ward Soryu Asuka Langley burst in, interrupting his 
'contemplation'. "Will you people keep it down!" she yelled. "Unlike 
SOME people I�ve got some REAL studying to do!"
	"What do you mean REAL studying?" Godai said, spinning around. 
"I AM trying to study, but these morons just won�t get the hint!"
	Asuka�s eyes widened as she saw Misato stretched out on Godai�s 
desk. "EEEK! The drunken slut is at it again!" She covered her eyes.
	"Whad�re ya talking about?" Misato said, sitting up, opening 
another can of beer. "Hey, Godai, if you�re so keen on studyin� 
tonight, why not go study with Asuka in our room?"
	"That doesn�t sound like such a bad idea to me right now," 
muttered Godai.
	"Oh, no. No way am I letting that pervert get me alone in a room 
with him!" Asuka said, hugging her shoulders. "College-boy there�s 
probably still a virgin, and he�d probably be desperate enough to 
defile a sweet, innocent, demure yet devastatingly beautiful and sexy 
young girl like me!"
	"What the hell are you talking about?!" Godai said, rising to 
his feet.
	"EEEEK! Stay away from me! Hentai! Sukebe! ECCHI!!!" Asuka said, 
slamming the door shut.
	"I don�t need this," Godai whimpered.
	Kentaro gave up completely. "I have a class tomorrow," he said, 
to no one in particular. He threw up his hands in surrender and 
stomped back to their unit, leaving his inebriated mother to her own 
devices. 
	The door flew open again and this time the manager was at the 
doorway. "People!" she exclaimed. "Pipe down right now!"
	"Aw, you�re such a party pooper, Kyoko!" Misato said, stumbling 
her way towards the manager. "Lighten up!"
	"I will not lighten up. Mr. Godai needs to study to pass his 
finals!" Kyoko snapped.
	"Geez, you�re uptight," Mrs. Ichinose said.
	"Yes, Kanrinin-san," Yotsuya said, coming close to Kyoko and 
putting his arm around her, "perhaps you are only treating us this way 
due to some disturbing circumstance that has occurred this past few 
days, mayhap?"
	"Yeah, Kyoko," Misato said, going to Kyoko�s other side and 
putter her arm around her as well, "why not have a little drink with 
us and tell us all about it?"
	"I don�t think it�s appropriate," Kyoko said, the beginnings of 
a blush forming on her cheeks. "Besides, won�t Godai mind if we do 
this in his room?"
	"Oh, no, no bother," Yotsuya said, making Kyoko sit on the floor 
around the sake bottle. "Besides, he�s interested in hearing the 
latest developments in your relationship with your estranged 
husband... Soichiro."
	"I do not!" Godai growled, snapping a pencil with one hand.
	"Oh, no need to play innocent with us, pal," Mrs. Ichinose said, 
nudging him. "Let�s just make sure she parts ways with her husband so 
you and her can get together. That�s why she�s so keen on you getting 
a job already!"
	"I am not!" Kyoko growled, slamming down her already half-
consumed can of beer. "Besides, he�s still got one year to go. And who 
says I�m parting ways with Soichiro?"
	"She�s right," Misato said, smirking, after another pull from 
her own beer. "Anyone�s better for Kyoko than this wuss here, even if 
it�s some other wuss."
	"Who�re you calling a wuss? And why the heck do you have to 
discuss this in my room anyway? I�m trying to study here!" Godai 
snapped.
	But Kyoko slammed down her now-empty can of brew and began 
talking, and there seemed to be no stopping her. "Well, for starters, 
I spoke to Soichiro again this morning after his class and he 
nonchalantly asked me when I was coming back to him! Hmph! Arrogant 
son-of-a..." She took another can of beer and opened it and proceeded 
to consume the contents considerably faster than the last one.
	"Geez, what a guy. Maybe it would�ve been better if he keeled 
over early," Ichinose said, filling her own glass with more sake.
	"What do you mean?" Kyoko asked after tossing the empty can at a 
growing pile in one corner.
	"What Mrs. Ichinose here means, my good lady, is that 
considering the fact that you married Soichiro at such a young and 
tender age," Yotsuya explained, placing disturbing emphasis on the 
phrase �young and tender�, "you entered a long-term commitment buoyed 
by a profound feeling of infatuation and a sense of romance. As in the 
romantic notion of �student marries teacher�."
	"Your point?" Kyoko said, raising an eyebrow.
	"The point, my dear Kanrinin-san, is that if he had died early 
on in your marriage it would have saved your poor idealistic heart 
from seeing his faults and shortcomings, thus keeping him the perfect 
man who would stay forever in your heart."
	Kyoko blinked at Yotsuya and stared at him for long moments. A 
long, uncomfortable silence descended on the party. Yotsuya met 
Kyoko�s gaze unflinchingly and even nodded slightly.
"Where did you get that weird idea?" Kyoko finally asked.
	Yotsuya shrugged. "It was worth a try. Besides, my money is 
riding on Coach Mitaka."
	Godai stood up and pointed at Yotsuya. "Hey, you."
	"Yes? You are addressing me?" Yotsuya said with an air of 
innocence.
	"Where do you get off wrecking the manager�s marriage like that, 
just to make a fast buck?" Godai yelled. "It�s her life, it�s her 
choice, let her make it on her own!"
	For a long moment, the room was silent. Kyoko looked at Godai 
and smiled slightly.
	Misato stood up and nodded, patting Godai on the shoulder. "Atta 
boy, Godai. I knew you had it in you."
	Godai grinned. "Thanks, Misato."
	Misato nodded in all seriousness. "Yes. Well. You haven�t 
disappointed me yet. My money�s on you, you know."
	Godai fell flat on his face. 
 	Kyoko slapped her forehead. "I should�ve known better than to 
listen to you people..."

	Kyoko lay awake for the rest of the night, thinking. Soichiro 
was so stubborn! Why did he insist on pretending like she was just 
having a tantrum and would hurry on home to him once she worked out 
her anger?
	At least Soichiro�s father was kind enough to allow her to work 
as manager at Maison Otonashi, even though it wasn�t the best of 
accommodations, or the best of jobs for that matter. He seemed to 
understand what she was going through, and asked her once, over the 
phone, whether or not she wanted to break away from Soichiro for good. 
He sounded remorseful, yet she felt that he genuinely wanted the best 
for her. Mr. Otonashi was the most amazed of all, in fact, when she 
married Soichiro. She wondered why he never seemed to give Soichiro 
enough credit, but now she felt she was beginning to see why.
	It was difficult to recall the good memories, through the haze 
of frustration and anger that hung around whenever she thought of 
Soichiro. The way Soichiro seemed to assume that everything would work 
out once she �got over it�, once she �worked off all the anger�. Why 
didn�t he understand? Why was he making her find what she wanted most 
dearly from him in other men?
	Mitaka seemed to care enough for her, although she knew he 
wouldn�t dare make a move on a married woman like her, separated or 
not. He was charming, and handsome, but that was not the point, she 
told herself. The point was that whenever she was around him he made 
her feel appreciated, that she was something special.
	Then there was that Kaji fellow, Misato�s boyfriend. Although 
she dismissed his advances as harmless flirting (at least, that what 
she thought it was), she found herself guiltily admitting that the 
extra attention made her feel young. No, wait, she was young. It was 
just that sometimes, around Soichiro, she felt like a dowdy, run-of-
the-mill housewife. The attention Kaji lavished onto her (which she 
found charming, in a trendy O.L. drama sort of way) made her realize 
that she still had something left, and she loved that feeling.
	And Godai. Godai seemed to understand her the most. He seemed to 
know what she felt before she did. He always seemed to be there when 
she needed him the most. So different from Soichiro, it seemed. And 
now this college student, two years younger than her, was making her 
feel things she wasn�t at all sure was proper for a married woman like 
her to feel.
	Was Yotsuya actually right? Did she enter into the marriage too 
soon? Would it truly have been better if Soichiro had simply died, 
that day?
	She quickly shook off the thought. How dreadful. To think that 
her life would have been at all better if Soichiro had died before she 
found his flaws. Surely Yotsuya was wrong.
	Kyoko sighed. She wanted to be with Godai right now, even though 
it would be wrong... Godai would understand her. Godai would 
understand what she was going through...

	Godai tossed and turned for the rest of the night. "�Where do 
you get off wrecking the manager�s marriage like that just to make a 
fast buck? It�s her life, it�s her choice, let her make it on her 
own!�" he repeated to himself.
	He hit himself on the head. "What were you thinking, you moron? 
Why couldn�t you have left well enough alone? She might�ve decided to 
divorce Soichiro by now if you hadn�t played the hero like that!"
	He sighed and pulled the sheets over his head. "Great going, 
genius."

	Kentaro did nothing that day but idly watch Yoshimi watch 
Ryunosuke watch Rei. He saw the lovesick expression on Yoshimi�s face 
as she gazed at Ryunosuke in undisguised adulation. Not that he blamed 
her at all. Ryunosuke was renowned all over the school for his 
ridiculous strength and for his easygoing attitude, as well as that 
natural red streak in his brown hair that the girls seemed to find 
very becoming. Rumor had it that Ryu-kun once nearly died due to 
gunshot wounds to the chest and back but from the times they went to 
the public baths together Kentaro figured the rumors weren�t true, 
since he saw Ryu-kun�s chest and back firsthand and noticed no visible 
scars.
	Kentaro could never really figure out what Ryunosuke saw in Rei. 
True, she was very pretty; quite beautiful, in fact. But she seemed 
like such a stiff to Kentaro. Why would you fall in love with a stiff? 
Kentaro saw himself falling for a more lively girl. Kentaro wanted 
someone who would actually laugh at his jokes. Kentaro wanted someone 
who would act more than react. Submissiveness wasn�t exactly the sort 
of womanly virtue he was taught to like at home, what with his mother, 
who wasn�t the LEAST bit submissive to his father. 
Kentaro smiled slightly. But they loved each other. It wasn�t 
always apparent to other people, but Kentaro knew better.
He wanted someone like that. He wanted to fall for someone who 
was alive.
	Like Ikuko.
	Kentaro blushed and hid his face behind a textbook, in case 
Soichiro-sensei looked his way and noticed the expression his student 
wore on his face for his niece.

	Professor Natsume spoke to the class after exams were over. 
"Students, I think I can say that you all did well in my class this 
semester, and I would just like to say that I actually enjoyed 
teaching this class. I thank you all."
	Sakamoto whispered to Godai, "That�s because Hyuga, Aoba, and 
that cutie Maya all had stupidly high grades for the whole darn 
semester."
	"I�ll say. I sure as hell know he�s not proud of MY grades," 
Godai whispered back.
	"Hey, you passed, didn�t you? Don�t complain," rebutted 
Kobayashi.
	"Also, I may not be teaching again next semester, as I have 
found a job where I can use my extraordinary genius properly. 
Hahahahaha!" Natsume-sensei struck a pose, giving the class a �V� 
sign.
	"That�s a pity," Nobuyuki murmured, "I was looking forward to 
seeing him again next semester. He�s crazy, but he�s a nice kind of 
crazy."
	"And at least I passed this subject!" Sakamoto agreed. "I don�t 
think I would�ve if we were assigned some other, boring, teacher."
	"Me too," Kobayashi agreed. "I never thought Physics was so 
interesting. And I�d never seen Heat and Friction illustrated in such 
a... fleshy... manner. Lubrication, indeed."
	All four men nodded, a funny grin on each of their faces.
	"Well, as I was saying, thank you very, very much, and..." 
Natsume-sensei paused and stared out the window, face pale. Godai 
couldn�t see anything; he could only make out the sound of a 
helicopter in the background. "Uh," Natsume-sensei blurted out, "I�ve 
got to be going now! Bye!" And with this he ran out the classroom at 
breakneck speed.
	"I wonder where he�s off to in such a hurry?" Kobayashi 
wondered, straightening his glasses.
	"Beats me," Sakamoto replied. "So, what�re you people doing for 
the summer? Anyone staying here in the general Tokyo area?"
	"I am," Godai said. "I don�t really feel like going home to my 
parents just about now."
	"Well, I live around here, so there�s no real problem there," 
Kobayashi replied.
	"I�m going home for a week," Nobuyuki said. "I have to touch 
base with my folks, and ---"
	He was interrupted by an explosion from one of the nearby 
buildings. All four men considered looking out and finding whatever 
caused it for a moment. 
"Nah," all finally said. When you�ve seen one explosion in 
Tokyo, you�ve seen them all.
	"As I was saying," Nobuyuki continued, "I was planning on 
visiting Achika once I got back home,  at her dad�s place, since she�s 
gone back home already."
	"Ooo, Masaki Achika!" Sakamoto said, nudging Nobuyuki. "You 
lucky stud! How�d a guy like you find such a beautiful girl, anyhow?"
	Nobuyuki cringed slightly. "We went to the same high school. She 
was sorta my girlfriend."
	"Sorta?" Godai said, grinning.
	"Well, we never did state it outright," Nobuyuki said, 
scratching his head. "We just had a sort of understanding, you know 
what I mean?"
	"Oh, an understanding..." Sakamoto, Kobayashi and Godai said, 
nodding tentatively, faces diplomatically blank. 
Another explosion wracked the neighborhood. No one paid this one 
much attention.
	"Well, do you?" Nobuyuki asked.
	They all looked at each other, discussed it a bit among 
themselves, and finally said, "No."
	"This is depressing," Godai sighed. "Even Nobuyuki here�s got a 
better social life than I do."
	"Aw, cheer up, Godai!" Sakamoto said, patting him on the back. 
"I�m sure Kobayashi here�s got an even worse social life than you do!"
	"I dated Ibuki Maya last week," Kobayashi replied flatly.
	"Okay, scratch that," Sakamoto said, blinking. "There�s lotsa 
things more important than your social life! Like, uh, your studies!"
	All four men looked at each other for a long moment, and went, 
"Right."
	"Look, Sakamoto, if my grades are going to suck anyway, I at 
least want something to show for it!" Godai retorted. "What about you? 
What�ve you been doing?"
	Sakamoto stuck out his pinky.
	"You did? Already? Aw, man! Damn it, I�m such a loser!" Godai 
said.
	"Yup," Kobayashi agreed.
	"�Yup�?" Godai looked at Kobayashi incredulously. "Aren�t you 
supposed to be more supportive of me right now? I�m wallowing in self-
pity here!"
	"Godai, I�m your friend," Kobayashi said, putting an arm around 
his shoulders. "As your friend it is my duty to stick with you, no 
matter what you say. You say you�re a loser, who am I to disagree?"
	"Thanks for nothing, pal!" Godai yelled as he smacked Kobayashi 
on the head with his textbook.
	"Well, I asked because I�ve got this great job lined up for us 
guys, " Sakamoto said.
	"Which is?" Godai asked, letting up on the head-whapping on 
Kobayashi.
	"Internship at NERV."
	"Are you nuts?" Godai exclaimed. "They�re looking for real 
technical types there! You know, computers, bio-tech, structural 
engineering, that sort of thing."
	"Maybe they�ll accept me," Nobuyuki pondered.
	"You maybe, but what about me?" Godai said. "I�m an education 
major. What can I possibly bring to NERV that�ll make them hire me?"
	"I understand they�re holding a free seminar sometime next 
week," chimed Kobayashi, fixing his hair and straightening his 
glasses.
	"Yeah! What do we have to lose, guys?" Sakamoto asked. "Besides, 
Maya�s signing up."
	All four men got funny looks on their faces, and chuckled 
nervously to themselves.

	Kyoko began the walk home from the Yamanote Line Train Station, 
shopping bags in tow. It was sunset, and a cool wind blew through the 
emptying streets on the way to Maison Otonashi. Kyoko preferred the 
quiet here in Nerima to the noise back in downtown Tokyo. Well, the 
relative quiet, anyway. At least here, during the late afternoon 
walks, she could still hear the tofu vendor�s horn sounding through 
the neighborhood.
	Kyoko did not mind the many inclines to the boarding house at 
all. Between that and her regular tennis practice with Shun she 
managed to keep her shapely figure. She looked down and counted the 
steps like she usually did, like an exercise she had grown accustomed 
to.
	"Kyoko."
	She looked up and saw, on the landing above her, stood Soichiro, 
same as always. He regarded her the same way he always did. "I was 
wondering when you�d be passing by this way. Same as always."
	"How would you know?" she snapped. "You�re never around to see 
it."
	He turned away and looked at the Nerima skyline traced by the 
light of the fast-setting sun. "When are you coming home?" he asked. 
"Don�t you get tired of this? You�ve been doing this forever, it 
seems."
	"Four years," she corrected.
	"It seems like forever, Kyoko," Soichiro said. "You go through 
the same routine every day. You have to take care of your weird 
tenants every day. Every second Tuesday you beat the rugs out on the 
balcony. You shop for groceries every Thursday, then you return the 
day after that for the things you forgot."
	"How would you know?" Kyoko spat.
	"You used to do them before," Soichiro replied. "When are you 
coming back to live with me?"
	"Why should I? I�d do the same things I do now, only at your 
place, not at Maison Otonashi!"
	"At least you�d be with me!" Soichiro exclaimed. "At least your 
life would be peaceful! Don�t you get tired of all that insanity 
around you, day in and day out? Don�t you want a rest?"
	"No, I don�t!" Kyoko cried. "I don�t want to stay home and wait 
on a husband who�s too tired to --"
	"To what? Make love?" Soichiro retorted. "If that�s all you 
want, I can do that! Just when I�m not tired from work!"
	"How shallow do you think I am?" Kyoko demanded, tears welling 
up in her eyes. "I don�t want your excuses, I don�t want reasons, I 
want --"
	"But the reasons are true!" Soichiro shouted. "Do you think I�m 
lying to you? Do you think I act tired coming home from work?"
	"No! I want --"
	"What do you want?"
	"I want --"
	"You want me to drop my work for you? You want me to fall into 
the same drudgery that you seem to be in? Is that what you want?"
	"Oh, forget it!" Kyoko cried, running past Soichiro, up the 
stairs, blinking away the tears.
	"You�ll come back to me when you grow tired of this, you�ll 
see!" she heard him call out. "I�ll be waiting!"

	Kyoko ran through the street to Maison Otonashi, thoughts 
filling her mind.
	I want you to understand! Can�t you see that? Why can�t you 
understand why I feel this way? Why can�t you understand why I do the 
same things every day, why I go through my routine the way I do? I 
want to fall in love with you again! I�ve been wanting, and wanting, 
for four years now, and still you can�t bring yourself to understand 
what it is I want from you! I want to fall in love, not just with 
anything, or with anybody...
	She wiped her tears as she bowed her head. "I want to fall in 
love with something... familiar. I want to fall in love with someone 
familiar," she whispered to herself.
	"Kyoko?"
	She looked up and saw Godai, standing at the gate to Maison 
Otonashi, bag slung on one shoulder.
	"Is anything the matter?" he said, and to Kyoko it was the 
sweetest thing in the world to hear at that moment.
	She suddenly felt herself smile despite herself. "No," she 
replied, "nothing�s the matter. In fact, I feel pretty good!"
	"That�s good," Godai said, smiling back.
	"Well," Kyoko said.
	"Well, I�m back," Godai said, smiling as he said the words.
	With a smile she felt throughout her entire being she replied, 
"Welcome home."


To be continued...


=====
OMAKE! OMAKE! OMAKE!

Four shards of the one mirror. Four fragments of a whole greater than 
the sum of all parts.
And slipping in between the cracks are tiny little pieces of the 
Nanban Mirror, changing reality by a ridiculously trivial degree. 
Other shards of the one mirror. Tiny fragments of reality 
substantially lesser than the sum of all parts.

SON GOHAN: SUPER CYAN

	"Father!" little Son Gohan cried at his father�s side. "Don�t 
leave me, father!"
	"No, Gohan, be strong," Son Goku consoled his son as he 
remarkable hung on to the last shreds of life he had, what with the 
enormous hole in his gut that Piccolo drilled into him while he was 
grappling Raditz (who was expectedly dead as well). "Take care of your 
mother for me, and be strong!" And with that Son Goku died, with a 
happy smile on his face.
	Kurinin shook his head in sorrow as he watched in silence. "He�s 
gone..."
	"No! Father! Don�t die!" Son Gohan cried, little tears falling 
on a little tiny speck of a Nanban Mirror shard.
	
One destiny slightly altered. One shard changing one reality by a 
ridiculously trivial degree. One teeny tiny shard of the one mirror. 
One fragment substantially lesser than the sum of all parts.

THE SUM OF SPARE PARTS: SUPER CYAN

	"Father!" little Son Gohan cried at his father�s side. "Don�t 
leave me, father!"
	"No, Gohan, I�m hungry," Son Goku said.
	Son Gohan blinked. "What? I�m grieving for your death at the 
hands of Raditz, and all you can say is I�m 'hungry?'"
	Son Goku sat up, and patted his gut. "All I know is that I�m 
hungry. Tell your mother for me."
	Son Gohan saw that the hole was gone, and he knew his father was 
given a second chance. "Father! You�re uninjured!"
	"Yeah. Pretty amazing, huh?"
	"Father! You�re alive! Hooray!"

	Kurinin watched the display in silence, then shook his head 
slowly. "So he saved us a year looking for the Dragon Balls. Everyone 
out there reading, say it with me."

	BIG DEAL.