This is the full first draft of episode 1
---
Maison Otaku Productions presents...
CAMPUS CHAOS - an original fiction series in the style of Japanese 'manga'
by Jeremy Blackman <loki@maison-otaku.net>
Characters are (C)1996-97, Jeremy 'Loki' Blackman
For a change, these are all original characters and thus they are mine to
do with as I choose. Other Maison Otaku Productions members are welcome
to use Sadakami, Kasya and the others in their own works; other people are
still probably welcome to use 'em, I'd just appreciate a note asking
permissions. ^_-
The only exceptions are the characters of Karyon and 'Bios' who may appear
briefly; they are the creations of Carmen Spray (and come from a story of
hers) and are thus her characters to do with as she chooses.
-----
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.
--*--
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 ----
"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... it's only
natural that mortals should serve me!"
Shanna laughed. "And why, then, is a 'powerful demon' stuck attending a
mundane college? And flunking, no less. Which is why, I suspect, you're
telling me it is my 'duty' to do your philosophy homework for you. 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 would almost certainly 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."
--*--
Six hours later, Sadakami slumped onto the steps outside Schmitz Hall,
finally holding his student ID and class schedule. Despite the fact that
he was able to use his powers as a god to make sure he had proper ID, had
an acceptance letter on file, and other necessary things... the University
computer system had eluded his abilities. This meant making sure the
records got entered correctly, and then an uphill battle to get his
classes ready. He still wasn't sure what some of the courses on his
schedule WERE... what _was_ 'art history' anyway?
Flipping through his sheaf of papers, Sadakami found his dorm assignment.
He was supposed to be living somewhere called 'Haggett Hall'... and he was
supposed to have a ROOMMATE? Sadakami sighed. This could be trouble.
Mortals didn't always take well to interacting with gods or demons, and
any roommate of his would be likely to have to deal with Kasya as well as
Sadakami himself. Resigning himself to his fate, he picked up his satchel
again - he might as well try to find his new home. This college campus
could be very confusing; having no clue where he was going, he could take
easily an hour or two to make his way to Haggett Hall.
He headed across the street and re-entered the campus proper. The path he
chose wove gradually around in a graceful curve, until he found himself on
a trail on a street near a large grassy field filled with noisy geese. He
paused and looked around, scratching his head. "This doesn't look
right..." Shrugging his satchel more securely onto his shoulder, Sadakami
began to walk across the field to where he could see more buildings.
The next ten minutes were a bewildering blur of wandering between
buildings, down tree-lined walkways, and across grassy fields.
Eventually, he found himself in a large open area between several
buildings. Its distinguishing features were that it had a great many red
bricks (including several large brick spires of unknown purpose), and a
large, oddly shaped rust-colored metal monolith. Sadakami decided that
this must be the area that people had been referring to as 'Red Square'.
Now he knew where he _was_, but still had no idea where he was going.
He sat down on the steps of one of the buildings lining the square - a
library, apparently - and tried to think of what to do. He would either
have to find a map or ask for directions. Finding a map could be
difficult, but asking another student for directions shouldn't be that
hard. All he had to do is find some student, and try to act normal.
Sadakami picked up his satchel and slung it over his shoulder again,
turned to walk down the steps, and nearly ran into another student who was
heading into the library. "Ack! Uhm, sorry!"
The other student, a young man with dark hair and brown eyes, smiled.
"Nah, it's ok. These stairs get used for benches more often than stairs
anyway."
Sadakami decided this was his chance. "Sorry to bother you, but... I'm
new around here. Can you tell me how to get to Haggett Hall?"
The boy smiled. "No problem; that's where I live. I just need to return
these..." he held up a few books. "Then I'm heading back anyway. If you
want to tag along while I turn these in, you can follow me."
Sadakami nodded. "Thanks, I appreciate this. I'll wait here." The other
student nodded and dashed up the stairs into the library, returning a
minute later.
"Ok," the other student began, then paused. "I just realized, I never
caught your name."
Sadakami nodded. "Ah. Sadakami Yoshida. I'm a transfer student."
The other boy nodded. "Jason Hertz. Pleased ta meetcha." He paused for
a moment. "That's a Japanese name... you're part Japanese?"
Sadakami decided that explaining that his people had been around longer
than humanity, and that human cultures had taken most of their naming
conventions from some subset of Shiramadi culture or another, would
probably not go over well right now. "Yeah, several generations back."
Jason nodded. "Cool. Wish I had a more diverse background. My family is
so incredibly NORMAL it's boring." He turned back to Sadakami. "So, this
your first day on campus."
Sadakami nodded. "Yeah. I'm still trying to get used to it. Don't know
many people here. I don't even know who my roommate is."
Jason nodded. "I know. I'm a freshman myself, but I've lived in the area
all my life, so I still know people." He paused. "Hey, who is your
roommate? It should say on your dorm information. Maybe it's someone I
know."
Sadakami reached into his satchel, trying to find the papers. He pulled
out a sheaf of spirit wards, and stuffed them back in. He pulled out a
slightly glowing block of wood with strange glyphs carved on it, looked at
it curiously, then shrugged and placed it back in the bag. He reached
deeper into the bag, placing his arm in up to the shoulder.
Jason's eyes were getting wider. "That bag isn't _that_ big..." He
stopped as Sadakami pulled out a set of katana and wakizashi blades.
"Wondered where those had gotten to," Sadakami muttered, replacing the
swords in the bag, and groping around inside. "Ah!" He managed to
extract a bulging folder full of his student information and course
schedules. "Found it!"
Jason stood there, an expression of disbelief on his face. While Sadakami
flipped through his course papers, Jason examined the satchel. "It's not
big enough for those swords," he muttered. "That violates at least
several laws of physics, not to mention common sense..."
Sadakami blinked at his dorm papers. "Oh. Well, _there's_ a
coincidence..." He turned back to Jason. "It says my dorm roommate is
'Jason Hertz'."
Jason shook his head to clear it. "Heh. That is a coincidence." He
glanced at the satchel again, but shook his head as if dismissing a
thought. "Well, anyway, I'd wondered when they'd find me a roommate.
Let's head over to the dorm and get you settled in. You can meet some of
our neighbors and then I'll show you around the U District a bit."
--*--
Jason led Sadakami up to a huge building surrounded by trees. A small
sign on the bridge-like walkway over to the entrances proclaimed they had
arrived at Haggett Hall. After briefly showing Sadakami the TV area,
Jason took him up several flights of stairs to the floor their dorm room
was on.
When they reached the room itself, a cute redheaded girl was standing by
the door. She noticed them coming and waved. "Hey, Jason! I heard you
got a roommate finally."
Jason smiled. "Hey, Shanna. Yeah, this is Sadakami Yoshida, my new
roommate. Let's go inside and get him settled in."
Shanna nodded as Jason unlocked the room. "Fair enough," she replied.
Jason stepped aside from the doorway, and motioned inside.
"Take a look, Sadakami," he said. "Your new home."
Sadakami peered around the doorway, and looked into a very small room. He
reflected that he'd seen closets that were larger. There was a desk near
a window, along with two bookshelves, and two small beds. One bed was
apparently uninhabited, so Sadakami walked in and placed his satchel on
the matress, then seated himself next to it. Before he could unpack,
Shanna glanced down the hall. "Oh, here comes my roommate. She wanted to
see who our new neighbor was as well. Sadakami, meet your new neighbor."
Sadakami stared in shock as Shanna's roommate stood in the door.
"Well, well," remarked Kasya with a smile. "This is definitely going to
be _most_ interesting."
-- end episode one --
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I realize there are places in the latter part which are a
tad abrupt, but I wrote most of the latter part during lunch from at work.
^_^; This is by no means a final draft, but I got enough positive
response to want to actually submit the fuller version for C&C. If anyone
has a better title than 'Campus Chaos', I'd be willing to hear. ^_^;;
+---[ 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 |
+------------------------+----------------------------------------+