Interlude: Misaki
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Random Rubble-Strewn Hole, Seiyo Academy, evening of Oct. 21, 2009.
"Ouch... I fell." Misaki's voice momentarily echoed in the tunnels, but then she clapped a hand over her mouth to stop any more noises from escaping—trembling slightly as she curled into a ball and waited for the pain to fade away.
Owwie.
The pile of rubble she was lying on trembled and sagged underneath her. A chunk of concrete made a clattering noise as it fell down to the floor. It landed somewhere below her—Misaki flinched in response to the noise and shrank into a tighter ball—and she let out a quiet sigh of relief as the rubble continued to settle without collapsing down on her.
Her knee ached and pulsed from where she'd scraped it against something sharp. She hoped there wouldn't be blood running down her leg when she took off her trousers to check—and resolved not to check at all. If she'd hurt herself, then she'd have to go home.
Anyway.
Distant laughter cut off abruptly, replaced by someone whispering in hushed tones for a few seconds; and then a flashlight lit up the rubble underneath the hole Misaki had tried to climb up through, the bright light startling her enough that she almost jumped into the air—and she shrank back into herself even further in response.
She'd been having an adventure.
There were tunnels underneath Seiyo. Tunnels! Lots of them, some covered in ceramic walls but a lot of those were cracked and broken, and behind them the walls were made of metal and really really shiny. There were barely any lights, but there was lots and lots of sunlight flooding into the tunnels from holes everywhere—all reflecting off the metal—which had made it easy for Misaki to find an entrance.
It was halls and rooms, sometimes normal school things; mostly empty but sometimes there was broken glass everywhere, or bits of papers scattered on the floor; or lots of toys! One room was full of stuffed animals, like there'd been a game in there and someone had forgotten to take them home...
Then she'd tried to climb out and now she was stuck, because the rubble wasn't solid and it'd broke underneath her when she climbed. And someone had heard her shout! Subject: Animal, thinking, human. Range—she hesitated—fifteen metres. Best she could do. Object: None.
Two.
Object: ...follow JPs orders?
Two.
And the light was all in her eyes! And that made it really hard to tell if the "JPs" guards were climbing down towards her. They hadn't seen her, had they? Had they? What Would Ami Do? ...not get stuck this way? Count them, then. Subject: Animal, thinking, human. Range: Ten metres. Object: Intent to climb down.
Zero.
One.
Eh!?
Misaki stiffened, letting out a muffled whimper as footsteps crunched on the rubble above her and the light flickered slightly in response—the conversation between the two guards (JPs guards? Were they guards?) continuing on without pause as they examined the hole. Subject: Animal, thinking, human. Range: Ten metres. Object: Number of children noticed, on average? No no no! She wasn't noticed!
One.
Misaki paused for a moment as the adrenaline rushed through her veins, making her want to bounce around and move—but she didn't! She stayed perfectly still.
"Hey... kid?" The guard asked uncertainly, finding an angle to shine the torch at her—Misaki squeaked in response. The man didn't seem to know how to react to that, and just stared at her for a moment or so. He cleared his throat before continuing on. "Are you stuck? You can't play here. It's dangerous."
She wasn't stuck! She was adventuring!
And she was a very important adventurer and would very much appreciate being left alone right now! Misaki scowled and stuck her tongue out at the guard, before hastily ducking underneath the piece of concrete sticking out above her. There was no way further down past that. But it did keep him from seeing her.
"Kid? Please come out. I'm serious, it's dangerous." The guard spoke uncertainly again, his flashlight not able to light up Misaki anymore—that didn't mean she was safe! Not at all! He might reach through the hole and grab her! If he had noodle arms, like that anime boy.
He did not have noodle arms, though he kept staring for another few seconds before calling out for backup.
"John?" The guard said. "Can you talk to the boy? I can't fit through that gap."
"Gotcha," the second guard replied—he sounded closer than before. How many people had come in response to her falling!? They didn't need to make such a big deal out of it! And-
"I'm not a boy!" Misaki yelled at the men. "I'm an adventuress!"
There was a moment of silence, followed by a chuckle from the guards.
"That means I'm a girl!" she told them, poking her head out so she could scowl at them properly. "Not a boy! Boys are icky. And/or boring! They don't have any adventuring ability! And- oww. Gah. Ouch. Dangnabbit!"
Her knee had brushed against the rubble while she was squirming, and Misaki had stopped moving as soon as that happened. Which left her knee stuck like that. Her leg throbbed in pain, and Misaki whined quietly—but that hurt more! Stupid throbbing!
"You alright k- miss?" The first guard asked, giving her a lopsided smile and trying not to laugh. "Need a hand?"
Misaki looked up at them, tears pooling in her eyes, and nodded. "Please?"
⁂
She was lectured for what felt like hours, until she wanted to cry. It didn't help that her knee still hurt and she was bleeding and they had to put plasters on it. She could, apparently, have died. Her principal had, apparently, sent them to help her. So she wouldn't.
Subject: Animal, thinking, human. Range: Three metres. Object: Dishonesty?
Zero.
Misaki had herself a good cry, until even the guards looked awkward and one of them gave her a chocolate. She wasn't allowed back in the tunnels, or even in Seiyo, and they were going to call her parents. Which meant Makoto would know she'd been sneaking off somewhere, which meant Makoto would yell at her! And then Mako-chan would tell Haruto-nii-chan and Sora-nii-san and then they'd be mad too!
It was very unfair.
Misaki only wanted to have a little adventure!
'John' was a black person, though. Totally black. And the other guard, 'Peter'—who was white—was bald. He looked like you could play ping-pong on on his head! That was amazing! Misaki tried not to stare at him too much. It'd be rude! But it was hard not to! Because Peter's skin was just... white-white? Misaki hadn't ever seen anybody who looked like that before! He had no tan at all! It was... so weird!
Anyway. They'd been nice enough after John gave her the chocolate, even if Peter's lecture had lasted a long time. And they'd promised not to say she'd gotten stuck in the rubble, if she promised to never ever do that again. Ever. Which was mean but probably fair?
So Misaki nodded meekly and gave them both hugs—to their surprise—and then a few minutes later her mother arrived.
She'd definitely had an adventure.
She couldn't wait to tell Ami tomorrow. Her friend would be so very jealous.
= = =
Please send my betas fuel, armor and bullets. Hurry.
"Ouch... I fell." Misaki's voice momentarily echoed in the tunnels, but then she clapped a hand over her mouth to stop any more noises from escaping—trembling slightly as she curled into a ball and waited for the pain to fade away.
Owwie.
The pile of rubble she was lying on trembled and sagged underneath her. A chunk of concrete made a clattering noise as it fell down to the floor. It landed somewhere below her—Misaki flinched in response to the noise and shrank into a tighter ball—and she let out a quiet sigh of relief as the rubble continued to settle without collapsing down on her.
Her knee ached and pulsed from where she'd scraped it against something sharp. She hoped there wouldn't be blood running down her leg when she took off her trousers to check—and resolved not to check at all. If she'd hurt herself, then she'd have to go home.
Anyway.
Distant laughter cut off abruptly, replaced by someone whispering in hushed tones for a few seconds; and then a flashlight lit up the rubble underneath the hole Misaki had tried to climb up through, the bright light startling her enough that she almost jumped into the air—and she shrank back into herself even further in response.
She'd been having an adventure.
There were tunnels underneath Seiyo. Tunnels! Lots of them, some covered in ceramic walls but a lot of those were cracked and broken, and behind them the walls were made of metal and really really shiny. There were barely any lights, but there was lots and lots of sunlight flooding into the tunnels from holes everywhere—all reflecting off the metal—which had made it easy for Misaki to find an entrance.
It was halls and rooms, sometimes normal school things; mostly empty but sometimes there was broken glass everywhere, or bits of papers scattered on the floor; or lots of toys! One room was full of stuffed animals, like there'd been a game in there and someone had forgotten to take them home...
Then she'd tried to climb out and now she was stuck, because the rubble wasn't solid and it'd broke underneath her when she climbed. And someone had heard her shout! Subject: Animal, thinking, human. Range—she hesitated—fifteen metres. Best she could do. Object: None.
Two.
Object: ...follow JPs orders?
Two.
And the light was all in her eyes! And that made it really hard to tell if the "JPs" guards were climbing down towards her. They hadn't seen her, had they? Had they? What Would Ami Do? ...not get stuck this way? Count them, then. Subject: Animal, thinking, human. Range: Ten metres. Object: Intent to climb down.
Zero.
One.
Eh!?
Misaki stiffened, letting out a muffled whimper as footsteps crunched on the rubble above her and the light flickered slightly in response—the conversation between the two guards (JPs guards? Were they guards?) continuing on without pause as they examined the hole. Subject: Animal, thinking, human. Range: Ten metres. Object: Number of children noticed, on average? No no no! She wasn't noticed!
One.
Misaki paused for a moment as the adrenaline rushed through her veins, making her want to bounce around and move—but she didn't! She stayed perfectly still.
"Hey... kid?" The guard asked uncertainly, finding an angle to shine the torch at her—Misaki squeaked in response. The man didn't seem to know how to react to that, and just stared at her for a moment or so. He cleared his throat before continuing on. "Are you stuck? You can't play here. It's dangerous."
She wasn't stuck! She was adventuring!
And she was a very important adventurer and would very much appreciate being left alone right now! Misaki scowled and stuck her tongue out at the guard, before hastily ducking underneath the piece of concrete sticking out above her. There was no way further down past that. But it did keep him from seeing her.
"Kid? Please come out. I'm serious, it's dangerous." The guard spoke uncertainly again, his flashlight not able to light up Misaki anymore—that didn't mean she was safe! Not at all! He might reach through the hole and grab her! If he had noodle arms, like that anime boy.
He did not have noodle arms, though he kept staring for another few seconds before calling out for backup.
"John?" The guard said. "Can you talk to the boy? I can't fit through that gap."
"Gotcha," the second guard replied—he sounded closer than before. How many people had come in response to her falling!? They didn't need to make such a big deal out of it! And-
"I'm not a boy!" Misaki yelled at the men. "I'm an adventuress!"
There was a moment of silence, followed by a chuckle from the guards.
"That means I'm a girl!" she told them, poking her head out so she could scowl at them properly. "Not a boy! Boys are icky. And/or boring! They don't have any adventuring ability! And- oww. Gah. Ouch. Dangnabbit!"
Her knee had brushed against the rubble while she was squirming, and Misaki had stopped moving as soon as that happened. Which left her knee stuck like that. Her leg throbbed in pain, and Misaki whined quietly—but that hurt more! Stupid throbbing!
"You alright k- miss?" The first guard asked, giving her a lopsided smile and trying not to laugh. "Need a hand?"
Misaki looked up at them, tears pooling in her eyes, and nodded. "Please?"
⁂
She was lectured for what felt like hours, until she wanted to cry. It didn't help that her knee still hurt and she was bleeding and they had to put plasters on it. She could, apparently, have died. Her principal had, apparently, sent them to help her. So she wouldn't.
Subject: Animal, thinking, human. Range: Three metres. Object: Dishonesty?
Zero.
Misaki had herself a good cry, until even the guards looked awkward and one of them gave her a chocolate. She wasn't allowed back in the tunnels, or even in Seiyo, and they were going to call her parents. Which meant Makoto would know she'd been sneaking off somewhere, which meant Makoto would yell at her! And then Mako-chan would tell Haruto-nii-chan and Sora-nii-san and then they'd be mad too!
It was very unfair.
Misaki only wanted to have a little adventure!
'John' was a black person, though. Totally black. And the other guard, 'Peter'—who was white—was bald. He looked like you could play ping-pong on on his head! That was amazing! Misaki tried not to stare at him too much. It'd be rude! But it was hard not to! Because Peter's skin was just... white-white? Misaki hadn't ever seen anybody who looked like that before! He had no tan at all! It was... so weird!
Anyway. They'd been nice enough after John gave her the chocolate, even if Peter's lecture had lasted a long time. And they'd promised not to say she'd gotten stuck in the rubble, if she promised to never ever do that again. Ever. Which was mean but probably fair?
So Misaki nodded meekly and gave them both hugs—to their surprise—and then a few minutes later her mother arrived.
She'd definitely had an adventure.
She couldn't wait to tell Ami tomorrow. Her friend would be so very jealous.
= = =
Please send my betas fuel, armor and bullets. Hurry.
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