Tuesday, September 21, 2004

   uh...
Hi guys and gals (or gals and guys...)

I have good news and bad news.

Good news: I have finished Chapter six of See No Evil. I will post it in a sec. Also, if you wanna read the whole story, starting way back from chap.1, PM me and I will see if I can email it to you by the end of the week.

Bad News: Um, this is gonna sound really silly, but Luna and I have kinda had a falling out. Yeah, i know what you're thinking (i.e WTF?) but bare with me. I went out at the end of school last night and I couldn't find her keys. Without the keys, I couldn't unlock the padlock, nor could I start the engine. I looked in all my pockets and around the ground. Couldn't find em. I thought id had locked em inside her or really lost them for good. I was just about to call my mum to bring the spare keys, but I thought id better ask in the school office first. Thankfully they had them,(someone musta handed them in. There are nice people in the world) but then I felt really REALLY guilty about losing them. I mean, the keys are like, Luna's Soul. she's just a hunk of metal and parts without them. And if someone lost my soul after I had entrusted it to them to look after, I'd be pissed with them too.
Luna wouldn't start. Not until I had gotten on my knees (i kid you not) and apologised. repeatedly. Thankfully the school was fairly empty at that point. and then she only strated grudgingly. All the way home I was apologising and begging for forgivness. (this sounds really stupid. shes a 100cc scooter for chrissakes) But then I kept missplacing them for the rest of the day. When I went to lock her up the first time ( i had left them inside whilst I got the garage keys), when I left for Cadets, (halfway downstairs before I remembered) when I got home from Cadets... Im not suprised shes kinda annoyed with me. Im really really sorry Luna!!!!

There, its off my chest.

Here's "See No Evil" Chap 6 in its entirety:

CHAPTER 6: BLIND TRUTH

Seeing Shimizu had left me with a taste for adventure, so a few days after the incident at the Newspaper, Kida and I boarded the train for the city once again. We had a picnic basket with us and we planned to have lunch in the City Park after spending the morning shopping. Shimizu had a couple of large department stores. It had been a while since I had been shopping, and Kida, bless her, reminded me why I tried to avoid the experience. We went to one store where she tried on a dozen outfits, then dragged me round two more department stores a bit further uptown, then dragged me back to the first store and bought the first outfit she had tried on in the first place. By this time I was exhausted and decided it was time for lunch. We sat by the river and opened up the basket.
“Man, I am starving.”
“You should be. You were on some kind of mad power drive there.”
“Sorry. I kinda get carried away.”
“It must have weird for the shop assistants, you calling me to move forward and backward all the time.”
“Well I couldn’t have you watching whilst I was changing, but the only way you would have seen the outfit was through my eyes in the mirror. We did good I think.”
“YOU did good. I am never going shopping again.”
“Spoil-sport,” Kida pouted. “You should have bought something…”
“Im fine as I am. I don’t need new clothes.”
“But you’re still wearing the same type of clothes you always wear. I think a change of style would do you good.”
“Im fine, really. Why should fashion matter to a blind man? And, changing the subject, why did you feel the need to buy three pairs of shoes?”
“A girl has to get her shoes,”
“But why? What is this fixation that girls have with shoes? Every girl I’ve ever met, you’re all the same. It baffles me. Me, one pair of shoes. Until they wear out and then I buy some new ones. But you girls change your shoes with the time of day,”
“We do not! Just the time of month…”
We argued about it over lunch, I remained stubbornly unconvinced despite Kida’s best efforts.
As we began to pack up, I saw a young couple making their way down the river towards us.
“Hey Kida, do you think you can get a better look at that couple. I think I recognise them.”
The view changed as Kida focused on the couple as they got closer.
I recognised both of them. Koji Yanagi and Ryoko Omae. Koji and I went to Elementary school together, and we met Ryoko in Junior High. I hadn’t seen them since I transferred to High school.
Suddenly Koji looked up and saw us. His face creased up a bit as if he was trying to place us. Then his mouth fell open in shock.
“SERAPH!”
He and Ryoko ran up the slope to where we were standing. I quickly slid on my dark glasses.
“Kida, lets pretend I can see, okay. Otherwise it’s gonna get complicated, okay?”
“Sure, but who are they?”
“Koji Yanagi and Ryoko Omae. Old Junior High classmates. They don’t know about my blindness.”
I watched through Kida’s eyes as they came closer. Koji looked the same, just a bit more robust and needing a shave. Ryoko, on the other hand, had filled out a bit since I had last seen her, and she had grown her dark hair out longer.
“That’s strange.”
“What?”
“Ryoko was always a bit of a tomboy, never one for fashion, but she’s looking really good, really feminine. I guess she might be going through a phase or something.”
The two had finally reached us.
“Seraph, is that really you?”
“Is that…Koji? And Ryoko? Hey guys, you’re looking really good! How is it going?”
“Oh y’know, same old, same old. We’ve both graduated back in March.” Ryoko replied.
“Oh wow. That’s great guys. Where are you planning to go?”
“We both got accepted into Tokyo U.”
I felt my jaw drop down. “YOU…? Koji the slacker? Into Tokyo U? You’re pulling my leg.”
“No its true.” He grinned.
“What about you Seraph?” Ryoko asked.
“Yeah, weren’t you going into the SDF?”
“Uh, yeah…um…Mitigating circumstances forced me to pull out of school. Im currently working as a journalist.”
“Really? What kinda circumstances?”
“Ah, I don’t wanna talk about it.”
A small nudge from behind me helped me move the situation away from hot water.
“Oh yes, where are my manners? Koji, Ryoko, this is Kida.”
“Pleased to meet you.” They all bowed politely.
“Uh, Kida is mute, so she doesn’t talk, but I’ve learned some sign language, so we get on fine.”
“Really? I‘ve learnt some too.”
“When did you manage that Ryoko?”
“I helped out one summer at an old person’s home.”
She gestured at Kida and Kida responded.
“What did you say?” Koji asked.
“I asked her how she met Seraph, and she replied that it was through strange circumstances just this summer. I’d love to hear more.”
“How about that then? Kida was just telling me she wants to do a bit more shopping, but im all knackered out. Why don’t you two girls go off and we’ll go get a drink and sit here in the sun.” I suggested.
“What are you doing?”
“I mean, I wanna catch up, get all the facts, and answer some questions. It has been a long time.” I said, answering both Kida’s question and Ryoko’s funny look
“That’s fine with me. I wanna grill Kida for some juicy details anyway. Is that Okay?”
Kida responded with an okay sign.
“Alright then, we’ll be back in an hour or two. Have fun guys.”
“See ya.” We watched them walk off then went and bought some drinks at a nearby vendor. We sat back down by the river and opened our drinks. I was behind Koji slightly so I could use the sound of his footsteps to navigate my way around.
“So spill.” I said when we finally stopped moving.
“What?”
“C’mon man, I’ve known you since grade school. You have never worked a hard day in your life. And now you’ve been accepted into Tokyo U? What’s up man?”
“I guess I’ve developed a sense of pride.”
“Ryoko was always the one with a sense of pride, in her work at least, if not her appearance. She used to beat you up to get you to work harder. It never worked before, why now?”
“She hasn’t been beating me or anything. She’s changed since you knew her. She’s developed a sense of fashion. A sense of self, of who she is as a person. And I guess that after seeing her change herself, I wanted to do the same.”
He crushed his can, the sound of it ringing off the water.
“Hey, do your famous three-pointer that you used to do in basketball. Y’know, the one that always won the game.”
He handed me the can. “Go on, into the trash can,” He urged.
“You can’t do something like that with a can. Its all about weight and momentum.”
“Yes you can, I saw you do it all the time back at school.”
“It’s getting too dark, I can barely see,” I gambled, feeling the strength of the sun diminishing, and the fact that my watch told me (via a little beep) it was getting late.
“So take the shades off man. Duh.”
“I can’t.”
“Why? Oh, I get it. You’ve been in a fight haven’t you? Got a real shiner that you are trying to hide from Kida,”
“YES! Yes, that’s it.”
“Well, she’s not here. C’mon, show it to me. Show your mate.”
“No!”
“YES!” We wrestled for a bit, but he had the advantage of being able to see and so it wasn’t long before the glasses were prised of my face.
Then there was a pause. I turned my head to where I could hear Koji panting and smiled a guilty smile.
“Seraph…what happened?”
“I was in an accident a few years ago. My eyes were removed. Im totally blind. I dropped out of school and took up the journalist job.”
“I guess that’s what you mean by “mitigating circumstances”, right?”
“I guess you could say that. Sorry. I didn’t want you guys to know.”
“Hey, its nothing to be embarrassed about. But wait a sec. If you’re blind and Kida is mute, then how…?”
“You’re not going to believe this.”
“Try me.”
“We have this…I guess you could almost call it a condition…where I can see through Kida’s eyes and she can speak directly into my head. We complement each other’s deficiencies. Its called symbiosis.”
“You were right. I don’t believe it, other than the fact that there’s no other explanation.”
We were silent for a bit.
“Hey, Seraph?”
“Yeah?”
“This…symbiosis…you say it allows two people to complement each others deficiencies?”
“Yeah, that’s about right.”
“Well, y’know maybe that’s what me and Ryoko have got. Im complementing her lack of fashion and she’s complementing my lack of pride and commitment. What do you think?”
“I don’t think that’s how it works. I think its physical deficiencies like senses. Kida’s mum had symbiosis. She seemed to know a lot about it. She said that Kida and I were the first she had ever heard of that didn’t complement senses only, that I complemented Kida’s voice.”
“Then what do you think has happened to us?”
“Its simple really. You love her.”
“What?”
“Oh come on Koji. You don’t need eyes to be able to see that you two have fallen for one another. Im surprised its taken you guys this long to admit it.”
“Maybe you’re right. Im not sure. But it is true. When we are together, we become far stronger people than by ourselves.”
We sat silent for a minute.
“I wonder how the girls are getting on?”

* * *
(AUTHORS NOTE: In the following section, all of Kida’s speech takes place in sign language. For ease of reading I have written it like normal speech.)

KIDA: Ryoko and I cruised the shops for a while, browsing like a pair of old pros. We stopped off in another clothing store, looking through a range of dresses. I wanted to find something to wear for a surprise I had planned for Seraph. The outfit I bought this morning was nice, but it didn’t have the right effect.
“So tell me,” Ryoko asked whilst she flicked through dresses with the other. “How do you and Seraph communicate?”
“What do you mean?”
“C’mon Kida. You know what I mean. I was there when the accident occurred.”
“Accident?”
I was walking by when it happened. I know that Seraph is now totally blind. I think he’s trying to hide it from Koji and me. Im not going to say anything. But if he’s blind and you’re mute, then how…?”
She let the question hang in the air. I sighed and put down the dress I was holding.
“We have this special link. I can’t quite explain it. It just sort of connected when we first met.”
“What kind of link?”
“He can see through my eyes. And I can speak into his head. Its called Symbiosis.”
“What?”
“I know, it’s hard to believe. Maybe its some kind of genetic thing. My parents had it.”
“So Seraph’s not totally blind. He’s got you.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?” Ryoko went back to cruising the clothes racks.
“Seraph told me that you were never one for fashion. But you’re looking great, and you’re going through these stores like a pro.”
“Yeah. I don’t know why I’ve changed. I guess I saw how Koji was changing, to become a better student and I guess that I wanted to change who I was as well.”
“Maybe its love. Ooh, this is perfect,” I picked out an outfit from near the back of a rack.
“Huh?”
“It’s just a thought. People change for the ones they love. Maybe Koji became more committed to his studies because he wanted to go Tokyo U with you. And you’re sub-consciously trying to thank him for that by looking after your appearance a bit.” I started, then blushed.
“Excuse me, I meant no disrespect,”
“None taken. Maybe you’re right.” Ryoko’s eyes glazed over. “Perhaps.”
She looked at her watch. “We really ought to get going. The guys are going to be wondering where we are.”
“Are you getting anything?” I asked as I picked up the outfit I had found.
“Um. Nah. Not this time.”
I nodded and we headed to the cash desks to pay.

* * *

SERAPH: We were sitting in silence when the girls appeared over the ridge.
“Hey, they’re coming man. Put your shades back on,” Koji informed me.
I hurriedly put my shades on. Just as I did Kida and Ryoko had reached us and the second sight of my symbiosis kicked in. It occurred to me that I looked really daft wearing dark glasses in the dark, as it was getting quite late now.
“Take em off Seraph. I know the truth. I’m guessing Koji does by now as well.” Ryoko told me.
I sighed, then pulled em off. I heard a short gasp as Ryoko saw the scars where my eyes once were.
“Seraph, how many fingers am I holding up?” Ryoko challenged. As Kida looked over at her hand, I saw her hold up all her fingers.
“Four.”
“Wrong,”
“If you would let me finish…Four fingers and one thumb.”
Ryoko paused a second, then we all burst out laughing.
“Same old Seraph,”
“So when did you find out Ryoko?”
“I was nearby on the day of the accident.”
“Oh,” The tone of my voice suggested that I didn’t want to talk about it in front of Kida. Ryoko got the message. We had been buddies too long for her not to get it.
“We really ought to get going.” I said as I stood up.
“Are you gonna be okay.”
“I’ll be fine, as long as I have Kida with me.”
“Farewell Ryoko. It was fun.” Kida gestured along with a commentary.
“Hey, Koji. Are you gonna…?”
“I’ll think about it Seraph. I think what you said is probably true. I’ll see where fate takes me.”
“Take care mate.” We did a mate’s hug, its strength showing the bonds of friendship were still strong.
“See ya round Ryoko. Well, not exactly see, but you know what I mean…”
“Yeah,”

KIDA: “Are you gonna tell Koji…?”
“Maybe. As he said, we’ll see where fate takes us.” Ryoko smiled.

SERAPH: “Hey, what was that all about?” I asked.
“I’ll tell you later.”
We waved farewell to Ryoko and Koji as we walked off to the station.
We didn’t say anything until we got on the train. Then, in unison:
“Those two are in love.”
“What? You mean Ryoko feels the same way?”
“Yeah! And Koji?”
“Yeah. He thought it was some kind of symbiosis. His sense of pride in his physical appearance and her sense of pride in her academic achievement.”
“Who knows? Maybe Symbiosis is a form of love.”
“Maybe.” We sat the rest of the journey in silence, taking strength in each other’s presence.

* * *

I was sitting in the living room, half-listening to the T.V and mulling over the day’s events. Kida was asleep in the guestroom where she had taken up residence for the time being.
The door creaked open and a weary traveller tramped in, dropped his bag and headed for the kitchen.
“You’ll damage your eyes if you watch T.V in the dark.” Cain joked as he opened the fridge.
“Hi Bro. Had a nice day?”
“Boring. Just filling in the endless paperwork.” He cracked open a beer and flicked the light on. I heard the bulb sputter once, then hum steadily.
“How bout you? You were heading down to Shimizu today as I recall,”
“You remember Ryoko and Koji from my year in junior High?”
“Oh yeah, the terrible trio, huh?
“Very funny. Well, I saw em today.”
“Really? How did that go down?”
“Well, you can add another two to the list of people who know about me and Kida. But that’s not what’s important. Those two are in love.”
“What, those two? No way!”
“It’s true. I just think that they don’t quite know it yet.”
“Well, well, well. Will wonders ever cease?”
“It was nice catching up.”
“You had a crush on Ryoko once didn’t you?”
“I did not!”
“Yeah you did. It was only a small one, and you got over it really quick, but you were all over her at one point. Ah, young love.”
“More like the beginning of puberty. Hormones. Huh, who needs em.”
“Yeah. Makes you do crazy things.”
We were silent for a moment. Then I switched the TV off.
“How did the shopping go?”
“Don’t remind me. I’m never going shopping again.”
“That bad huh? Shoe shopping, right?”
“Ugh.”
Cain laughed. I got up and stretched.
“I guess I’ll see you in the morning.” I padded off in the general direction of my bed.
“Uh, Seraph, you’re gonna hit the wall. You wanna move a pace to your left.”
I moved a pace to my left then walked straight into a wall. Behind me I heard Cain smother a laugh.
“Very funny Cain.”
“Hey, I needed the entertainment. It’s been a long day.”
“Good Night Cain.”
“Good Night Little Brother.”
And So, Life Continued…
* * *

regarding the whole shoe argument, I take Seraph's stance. why the hell do you girls need more than maybe a couple of pairs of shoes. My first G.F had tonnes of the things....

and to finish today, a short prayer for the stressed:

Dear...(fill in name of your deity here)

Grant me the serenity to accept the
things i cannot change, the courage to change the things I cannot accept and the wisdom to hide the bodies of the jerks I had to kill today because they pissed me off.

Help me to be careful of the toes I tread on today because they may be connected to the ass I have to kiss tomorrow.

Help me to give 100% at work...
12% on Monday,
23% on Tuesday
40% on wednesday
20% on Thursday and
5% on Friday

And finally, help me to remember that when Im having a bad day, and people are really trying to piss me off, that it takes 42 muscles to frown, but only four to extend my middle finger and tell them to bite me.

AMEN!

See ya round friends.

and for any of you who missed my holiday photos recently, they are in my archives...

*drops through his secret hatch which takes him to everyone elses sites...



EDIT: I might not be in tomorrow. I got the afternoon off, cuz I have to do this stupid Open Evening at school for the kids who wanna come here next year. I have to do guiding. But ill see if I can visit. buh bye. See y'all when I see y'all...


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