The Sum of All Parts : Magenta
Maison Otonashi
=====
Part 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 lush 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 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 putting
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 the next 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 Ryunosuke nearly died once 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 Ryunosuke'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 only 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."
"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. If you say you're a loser, then 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. He
eyed her up and down, 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. "At any rate, when
are you coming back home 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 sounded so warm
and concerned... so thoughtful and considerate...
She suddenly felt herself smile despite herself. "No," she replied,
"nothing's the matter. I feel fine." She felt her smile grow wider and she
shook her head. "No, I AM fine."
"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...
=====
w.o.m
TimeRunner's Web Page:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/7482.
=====
"Anyone can post messages to the net. Practically everyone
does. The resulting cacophony drowns out serious discussion.
Online debates of tough issues are often polarized by messages
taking extreme positions. It's a great medium for trivia and
hobbies, but not the place for reasoned, reflective judgment.
Surprisingly often, discussions degenerate into acrimony,
insults, and flames." --Clifford Stoll