Disclaimer: None. I made all of these people up, completely on my own. I
suppose that I ought to state that while this is written in first person,
it is obviously NOT an SI since 1) The main character is female, and 2)
It is quite obvious that I do not (and cannot) share her personal
convictions.
The content of this is slightly lime. This is my first try at a WAFF.
All forms of C&C are welcome.
-
Once I was finished with my grocery shopping, I quickly returned
to apartment. It's difficult to find a good apartment nowadays in this
area, but it was necesary due to its proximity to Nobu-chan's workplace.
Hopefully, when we're able to make some more money, we'll be able to
purchase a house of our own. But houses are even more difficult to come
by than apartments, and horribly expensive. Still, a girl can dream.
I've always hated entering the apartment alone; it seems so cold
without Nobu-chan around. The cold feel of the limonium, the old faded
white linoleum that is prevalent on the walls, and the lack of furniture
make it seem less of a home and more of just a house. As much as I would
have liked to take a walk, though, I needed to enter the kitchen if I was
to have supper waiting before Nobu-chan came home. Besides, even if it
was still daylight out, a girl shouldn't be walking alone by herself. I'd
heard of too many stories of young girls being attacked in the middle of
the day, and I doubted my ability to fight off any attacker. Against
these irrefutable facts, I could give no argument, so I entered. Choosing
some fresh vegtables from the bag, and a pound of beef, I began to cook.
After five minutes, I heard footsteps behind me, which was strange
because I hadn't heard the door open. I started to turn around, demanding
to know who it was, when I saw the tentacles. They filled my vision with
light brown as they exploded around me, some of them pinning my arms to my
side, swiftly drawing me close to their source. "No! Let me go," I
cried out. "Our dinner will be ruined!"
The tentacles held me close despite my cries, lifting me and
pressing me close to his own body, and I soon heard the other appendages
not busy gently hugging me take hold of the knife and chop the beef into
fine, delecate slices. Others tended to the assorted vegtables that I
was already cooking, while yet another set began preparations for frying.
Our dinner saved, I turned around, and kissed him between his three eyes.
"Why are you home, Nobu-chan?" I asked. "Did they let you off from work
early?"
"Blorg" he replied, happily. I don't know why he dislikes those
Monday meetings , but I suppose that considering the amount he complains
about them, they must be bad. And a happy Nobu-chan usually ends up
making me happy later.
I suppose that I should explain how I met Nobu-chan. About a year
ago, I noticed that several young girls were ganging up on someone in an
alleyway. They were shouting, and pointing weapons at him, obviously
ready to kill him. While I am not normally a violent person, and
certainly not someone who had ever dealt with a weapon before, I could not
stand by and see someone so outnumbered be killed. So, swinging my purse
around, I began striking them. Maybe because it was so unexpected, or
maybe because destiny meant for Nobu and I to meet that day, the young
girls quickly ran away.
I finally had a clear view of the victim, and I must say that I
did not react well. Still, when father was alive, he taught me not to
judge people by appearances. I may not be the brightest person in the
world, but even I can understand that if we all try to see people for what
they are, underneath their exterior, the world will be better for it. And
I couldn't leave a beaten and bleeding person in the streets, could I?
So, I took him home and, despite Mother's wishes, nursed him back to
health.
Well, they say that real love transcends all boundries, and I can
tell you that it's true. I'm living proof of it. Nobu-chan and I would
have to meet in inconspicuous places, though; mother disapproved, and did
all that she could to keep us apart. I realized that it couldn't
continue, and that I would have to eventually make a decision. So, in the
middle of the night about two months ago, I left a note on my bed saying
that I was eloping with Nobu-chan.
After we both finished our supper (for which he highly praised me,
even though he helped prepare most of it), we just sat facing each other
across the table, hand in tentacle-tip, talking about what had occured at
work, our plans for the future, and what to eat tomorrow. Nobu-chan
actually blushed a deep mauve when I discreetly mentioned children. He's
so cute sometimes!
Suddenly, the front door slammed open. A creature with great
mallice showing through the eyes stormed into our apartment, and headed
straight towards us. Though not a sound issued from her mouth, it was
obvious that she intended no good. I don't know how Mother found us,
since we had been discreet in all ways possible, even going so far as
using aliases when we were not alone. But I suppose that someone with as
much determination as she can accomplish almost anything.
"You!" she cried, pointing to Nobu. "I'm here to take my daughter
back."
"Merple..."
"Don't speak that way to me! I don't know how you managed to lure
her away, but I won't stand for it!"
"dklbborath yOT! Zgorabba meP yed ith!"
"You aren't fit for my daughter, you piece of..."
"Grund." My breath caught as I heard the tone of his voice. Nobu
was about to do something drastic. And despite his gentle nature, it did
not change the fact that he was born a demon. It may be extrodinarily
difficult to get him angry, but once he does, there is no telling what may
happen.
"...and furthermore, I...what are you doing? NO!" My fears were
confirmed, as all his tentacles shot forth, and completey wrapped mother
from head to toe, not allowing her a single movement on her own. He then
dragged her to the bedroom, and she screamed epithets loudly enough to be
understood despite the fact that the press of tentacles were muffling her.
I wanted to rush in, and save mom. I wanted to rush in, and cheer
my Nobu-chan on. When the two people who matter to you the most are
determined to fight, who do you side with? One side would emerge the
victor, and either I would be forced apart from my mother forever, or
forced from Nobu-chan. So, wracked with indecision, I waited with bated
breath beyond the closed door of our bedroom listening to what was
occuring within.
"What are you doing? Don't show me that!"
"Please, no more! I can't take it."
"I...I...I...oh my God!"
-
I sat with my mom alone, as she sobbed into my shoulder. "I'm so
sorry!" she cried. "I never knew. I was so wrong."
"I forgive you, mom." I spoke quietly, not really knowing how to
deal with my mother crying. She hadn't cried since the day they lowered
the casket of my father's remains into the ground. "It's okay."
She finally looked up from my shoulder into my eyes. "It was so
hard for me after your father died. You know what kind of man he was.
But despite all of that, those vigillante magical girls mistook him for an
Agent of the Dark and killed him in cold blood." She twisted her skirt
with her hands, pinching the fabric roughly as she recounted this to me.
"I just didn't want you to end up like I did."
"But it's okay, now that you know about Nobu. Not only is he a
really good chemist, he also volunteers to help train some of these groups
in mock battles, so they all know who he is. And that group of girls who
attacked him was sentanced by the courts to take racial tolerance
workshops. I guess he showed you the headlines about the leading chemist
at the Nishi Corporation getting mugged."
Mom sniffled. "I'm glad that your husband is such a fine man.
I'm just sorry now that I missed your wedding."
"Oh," I told her with a small grin, "we're not married yet."
"What?!" she cried, the shock clearly showing on her face.
I quickly explained the situation, before Mom could revert back to
her self-pitying state of mind. "The priest we tried hadn't realized that
Nobu-chan is a tentacle demon until we met the man, and he threw a ward at
Nobu-chan to try to banish him to the dark. We've been trying to look
around discreetly for someone more open minded, but we haven't found
anyone yet."
"Well dear," Mom said, "there's always the priest that married
your father and I..."
Author's notes: The idea grew from a discussion on WAFFs on FFIRC with
myself taking the position that it is a niche market, and another
believing the opposite. I was soon proven incorrect when presented with
the fact that Kara's COS series is so popular. Of course, it's hard to
leave such a subject alone once one has started thinking about it, but
with the way I think sometimes, that can be a scary thing. And there's
always my opinion that my original characterisation is weak, thus I need
what practice I can get. So, all of this, combined with the fact that I
have never done a real WAFF before...
Gary mentioned that he felt 'detached' from my last piece, so I tried to
fit some more description in this time. I still can't objectively judge
how well I did this time around, but I suppose that's what C&C is for.
Originally, I was not going to use the part with the mother losing her
husband, but I've recently seen some more Kodacha, and I realized that a
complete turnabout on the parent's part is very unreasonable, but the
sudden role recast at the end would help make the event easier to believe.
After all, from bigot to believer is difficult to swallow, but a concerned
parent's fears assuaged is something that makes sense. In fact, when I
first thought of this, it was going to be a father who charged in, trying
to save "Daddy's little girl."
It's also supposed to be funny, and some might tell me that funny spamfics
don't need to be believable, or even well written, but I've always thought
that such a statement is merely a poor excuse for poor writing. I'll
admit that it's time consuming though; I spent around three days for my
last post trying to get the right Ukyou reaction, to get across the point
that her version of past events is seriously flawed. And I'm still not
completely satisfied with it...
Finally, before anyone asks, I'm not continuing this. Maybe it has
potential, AFAIK it's never been done before, but if you think so, you're
welcome to do it. One thing I'd have to do is to have more relationship
material, and of greater detail, which is nigh impossible as I have never
actually been in a relationship before (wah!). Or, I could try to
identify with the innocent-oblivious-Kasumilike protagonist that I've
created, but the thought of trying to think like that is scary. (There is
a good reason why she doesn't have a name.)
Again, all C&C welcome.
-Natsume Ranma Ranma
-------
The sardines weren't worth the trouble. A few more shots, then
Ryoga-san would overheat and explode. Ducking around a corner,
I managed to lose him as I entered the ramshackle residence of
my Anime supplier.
One look at his face and I knew that I had been betrayed. "Tell me,"
I insisted. He refused, so I slammed him against the wall.
"Last chance. Where can Ranma-Ranma find good fanfics?"
"Try Jason Liao," he whispered, before he slumped to the floor.
I heard the sounds of a door splintering as I left through the
window, one step ahead of Tendo Heavy Industries...