Nenji - Backstory - Part 2 of something

Nenji · Last edited by Nenji on Tue Apr 04, 2006 3:06 am; edited 1 time in total

Well, I thought I'd write a little story of how Nenji became a Fireworks Maker. It's mostly finished but too long for a single post, so I'll post some of what I've done for the moment.

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The sun shone in through the window of the classroom, an early morning sun with the promise of a good day.

“Rokushakudama Nenji…” A voice called out in front of the class.

Students murmured among themselves, a few girls giggled and looked up as the voice came again.

“Rokushakudama Nenji!” The voice was sharper this time, a tone of irritation creeping into it. The teacher walked over to the windows and looked down to the play fields, just in time to see an adolescent run out of the building and out in the playground.

“ROKUSHAKUDAMA NENJI! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING?” The teacher yelled out furiously at the youth running away from the school.

Nenji heard a voice coming from somewhere in the vicinity of his classroom. He turned to look and saw his teacher yelling at him.

‘I’d better run for it before they lock the gates!’ He thought and made a dash for the gate. He managed to pass through just as they began to close and the mechanisms that automated the process creaked a little from the need of a good oiling.

“You’ll be in trouble later you know” The Gate Guard said to him gently, a touch of amusement in his voice.

“You’re probably right.” Nenji agreed then ran off.

He was on reasonable terms with the Guard as he sometimes stopped and chatted with him. It’s not like he had anyone else to talk to in the School, nobody was willing to talk with him seriously. Having a reputation as a prankster and a delinquent wasn’t much fun at times.

He walked through a few streets and looked around at the people doing there everyday tasks, or those working. It all seemed so mundane and pointless, just doing the same action over and over again. He’d walked over to the park and lay on a grassy hill when his PET suddenly began to beep.

“You’ve got a call from your mother, Master…” His Navi informed him.

“Block it.” Nenji replied dully, he didn’t really want to be nagged at by his mother at the moment.

“Sorry, the Parental Controls on the PET won’t let me…” The Navi said apologetically. Nenji hadn’t bothered to buy a Navi other than the generic model as he hadn’t seen much point to it, and he didn’t have money to throw around. So his parents had set some numbers to un-blockable and limited him from connecting to any networks aside from the school and commercial ones. He didn’t much care, as he didn’t spend that much time on the Net anyway.

“Nenji, I got a call from your Teacher…” His mother started.

“Yes Mother, I did skip school again.” Nenji cut to the chase with the hope of draining his mother’s steam for a rant.

“Nenji, why do you keep on doing this? You’ll never get anywhere if you don’t at least pass Middle School.” She merely said sighing softly, which made Nenji feel far guiltier than if she had ranted at him. “Anyway I rang you to let you know that we’re going out tonight.”

This pricked Nenji’s interest as he rarely went anywhere.

“We’re going to a Fireworks display, it’s free entry so your Father and I wanted to do something as a family for once.” His mother said and finished the call.

Nenji just lay back for awhile and thought about whatever came to his head. Nothing he did interested him much at school, which was why he’d fallen into pranking people. He didn’t really feel happy though and didn’t have anyone much to talk to, which made him lonely and distant. In fact, people commented he looked rather moody and intimidating which didn’t help his image much at all.

Nenji continued to think when someone sat down beside him. He knew who it was but sat up to see who anyway.

“Teacher blew a fuse when you skipped out on class again.” A cheerful voice next to him said lightly. The voice belonged to one of the few people in the school who wasn’t afraid or hated him.

“I wouldn’t have expected you to be out so quickly.” Nenji replied to the speaker, a youthful boy from his same class.

“Well, somebody set off the Fire Alarms so we got let out early.” The boy said, grinning a little sheepishly.

“Why do I think I’ll be blamed for this prank as well?” Nenji groaned at the boy’s grin, which only got wider.

“Well, you weren’t there this time, so they can’t blame you right?” The boy said cheekily, to which Nenji lay back down again and looked up at the sky. He thought for a while and Tanaka didn’t say anything either.

“Tanaka, what are your plans for when you finish School?” Nenji asked after some thought.

“After School huh…well I guess I want to continue studying at Senior High and then go to College. Sci-Lab is supposed to be where everything is at these days.” He replied thoughtfully, obviously having not thought much about it before.

“So you wouldn’t mind doing the same thing, everyday, over and over then?” Nenji asked again.

“Well, unless it was boring I guess not. There aren’t too many jobs where you do something completely different everyday you know.” Tanaka replied simply, while they weren’t best friends, Nenji and Tanaka understood each other in general; it’s what made the friendship work.

“I just couldn’t bear to be stuck in an office all day, or pick up the trash every morning. It’d drive me crazy with the endless repetition!” Nenji added.

“No one picks up the trash; we’ve got programs to run trucks that do that for us now!” Tanaka said, laughing at the antiquated example.

“Still, I envy your confidence about the future” Nenji said quietly to his friend.

“Well, it’s not like we want to be stuck as we are now right?” Tanaka replied softly as well.

“I guess I wouldn’t mind if some things stayed the same.” Nenji said, then got up and shook the grass off his uniform. “I’m going to head home; I may as well do some study so I don’t fail completely.” He said to Tanaka with a hint of a smile.

“The day you bother studying is the day I eat my PET!” Tanaka replied laughing. Tanaka’s Navi said “I’d rather you didn’t!” from his PET which only made the pair laugh harder.

---

I invented Tanaka out of thin air to give a board for Nenji to bounce his feelings off. It's a pretty general name so it shouldn't mean anything, besides I didn't want to do something too much out of canon.

Next part involves the Fireworks Display.

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_________________

Previously known as "HiKaizer"

Midnight · Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 7:41 am Post subject:

Hmm.

This has a lot of potential here. It's not often that someone focuses completely on a rather minor character and pulls him to the spotlight, so I'm a bit eager to see how you will handle this.

I could definitely see Nenji as a prankster and as someone who doesn't care all too much for work, as you have him characterized. What makes his characterization the most compelling is the fact that you have him dislike the mundane--how he actively goes in search of something that wouldn't reduce him to the level of an automaton. That is what makes him come alive the most effectively.

Excellent work.
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Today, these three players are after Big Bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy, as they play the most exciting game of their lives! From Television City in Hollywood! It's time to 'Press Your Luck!'--Rod Roddy

The Kingdom of Loathing: An Adventurer is You! // I ♣ Seals

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Unknown Neo · Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 3:39 pm Post subject:

I like how you characterized nenji. It's an interesting insight to nenji. Since he has no real back story of his own. I'd like to read the rest of this if you finish it.

Mugen.exe · Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 12:19 pm Post subject:

Really well-written! I enjoyed seeing Nenji's delinquent side, and the character you made up served his purpose nicely. I cannot wait to read more.
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Nenji · Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 3:05 am Post subject:

Nenji had been truthful when he said he was going to do some study, but he didn’t do much. He’d only been working for around an hour when he leaned back in his chair and gave up.

“Who cares about ‘x’ and ‘y’?” He muttered to his Navi. “It’s not as if you see little ‘xs’ and ‘ys’ floating around in the world anyway!”

“Well, a lot of the devices we use today are built on principles like these.” His Navi replied, trying to motivate his owner to do better. “Even my PET uses these ideas somewhere in its manufacture.”

“Which would matter, if I was going to be a scientist. But everyone knows I’m too stupid for that.” Nenji said sarcastically to his ceiling, which was in general an excellent listener.

“You don’t give yourself enough credit.” His Navi said, still trying to cheer his Operator up a little. “I’m sure you could do it if you tried!”

Nenji looked the Navi square in the face.

“It doesn’t really interest me much.” He said blending boredom and sarcasm at once. “Sitting at a Computer all day and not doing anything except reading, graphs, figures and thinking. I can’t imagine a worse career except for being a Garbage Collector.” He added with a sly smile, thinking back to his conversation with Tanaka.

His Navi couldn’t think of much to add to that. Being a basic model with no personality data, save for his base systems, he didn’t really have much to say about anything. Even cheering up his Operator stretched the routines to their limits, however he didn’t mind; he didn’t have the programming to miss it.

Nenji went and lay down on his bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking again. Finally after a while he got called by his parents to go.

“It’s going to be chilly tonight, so you’d better put a coat on. Can’t you take that bandanna off please? You’ve got hair so why not let people see it, even if it is unruly and uncombed.” His mum fussed over him but he didn’t mind so much, it was better than having her complain.

“I’ll wear a coat but the bandanna stays.” He replied, folding his arms to indicate he wasn’t about to give in.

“Be nice to your mother now.” His Father added quietly, as he never spoke out much. Nenji didn’t really know his father particularly well and it wasn’t that he didn’t spend much time at home. His Father was just a quiet person by nature and they didn’t have much in common it seemed.

“You and your father are so stubborn at times.” Nenji’s mother added, which earned her a raised eyebrow from her husband.

The trip was mostly uneventful, since as usual Nenji’s father was silent and his mother ran out conversation after a few minutes. Nenji gave monosyllabic replies when needed but mostly continued to stare out the window.

Nenji didn’t much enjoy waiting for the display though, it was crowded and he was jostled by a lot of people.

“Not having chairs is a little backwards for this day and age.” Nenji whispered to his mother, which was almost a yell considering the din of the crowd around them.

“It won’t hurt you to use your legs!” His mother replied sarcastically.

Nenji decided that sulking was the most appropriate answer to that. Unfortunately for him though, there were too many people so his mother paid little attention to him. So, he gave up sulking after a few minutes and tried to find a quieter spot. He found a place near the back where he could sit down and see the sky, where there weren’t many people to distract him or get in the way.

Nenji didn’t know what to expect from the Fireworks Display, but when it began he was mesmerised. It was like watching fiery flowers dance across the sky; he’d never seen anything quite so beautiful before. He just sat there, taking it all in and enjoying the interplay of red upon green, blue upon yellow as all the differently coloured fireworks drifted into each other as they faded. Nenji got so caught up that he barely kept track of time and all too soon, it seemed to end. Nenji wandered around for a little while, looking for his parents but the crowd was still a little too thick to move through. So he had to peer from the fringe and try and find his mother or father. He ended up doing a circuit of the crowd once or twice with no sight of his parents so wandered off for a while until it had dispersed a little more.

As he walked in the vicinity of the demonstration he noticed the operator packing up the Fireworks Machines. He was a little surprised that it was only one person running the show so he went to have a look.

“Hey, you boy! If you’re not doing anything help me lift these machines!” The man said to him as he came closer.

“Uh, okay.” Nenji replied, a little taken aback.

“So did you like the show?” The man asked as they carried one of the smaller machines to the truck.

“I thought it was amazing!” Nenji gushed out, a little surprised at his reply.

“That’s nice to hear! Often you don’t get much feedback from folks.” The man replied, laughing a little at Nenji’s reply.

“Why don’t you have other people to run and set up the machines?” Nenji asked slightly curious, the man didn’t appear that old but doing everything on his own would be tough.

“Well, I don’t trust them enough with the machines to operate them. I get them to help set up but they don’t stick around long enough to help pack up.” Was the reply, slightly muffled behind one of the pieces of machinery.

“Nenji!” A distant voice cried and Nenji turned around to see his parents approaching.

“I’m terribly sorry, I’m sorry my son has bothered you.” His mother said, a little flushed from embarrassment.

“No need to apologise, I want to thank you. Your son has been helping pack up the machines.” The man said smiling to Nenji’s mother.

“Really? I wouldn’t have expected that.” His father quipped unexpectedly.

“Daaadddd!!! I’m not a thug or criminal despite what rumors and school say!” Nenji groaned, exasperated and a little annoyed. While he didn’t pay much attention to other people being stupid, it was a little disheartening that his dad had heard about them.

The manager laughed as Nenji squabbled with his father. He said something to his mother and handed her a card, before tying down the final machine and heading to the truck.

“Thanks for the help kid! It’s nice to hear you enjoyed the show.” He yelled, waving for a second before he started up the vehicle and driving off.

-----

I was tempted to rush an ending here, but there's more to be said.
_________________

Previously known as "HiKaizer"

Midnight · Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 8:20 am Post subject:

You write well.

I enjoyed how you continued to characterize Nenji as someone who has what seems to be boundless ambition, but a rather fickle attitude. Nevertheless, it seems fitting that he enjoys something that he found rather quickly.

Good job.
_________________
Today, these three players are after Big Bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy, as they play the most exciting game of their lives! From Television City in Hollywood! It's time to 'Press Your Luck!'--Rod Roddy

The Kingdom of Loathing: An Adventurer is You! // I ♣ Seals

Avatar by Spork. I very much appreciate it! <3

Unknown Neo · Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 4:40 pm Post subject:

That could be a good reason why nenji works with fireworks. Great job HK. Can't wait to see how you finish it.

Mugen.exe · Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 7:02 pm Post subject:

I can't wait to see either. That chapter was nice- you presented Nenji's boredom well, and his interest in fireworks was even given a reason. That was really cool! I enjoyed the chapter a lot.
Keep up the terrific work!
_________________

False Swipe is a great finishing move!
Witty robots, spunky orphans, and invincible pilots, this link's for you! A Gundam RP