Saber Marionette Fan Fiction ❯ CinderHana ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]
CinderHana
A SMJ Fairy Tale
by
Lady Aoi

Summary: Hanagata gets hit on the head one too many times and has the strangest, campiest and dare we say it cheesiest dream...
Rating: PG (only a tiny bit of shounen-ai and a few curses)
Disclaimer: While I don't own Saber Marionette, Cinderella is fair game, baby XD.
Lady Aoi's Notes: I apologize if the depictions of the marionettes in this story seem both unflattering to the characters and to women in general. The intent here is not to be sexist (if you knew me, the implication that I am anything but decidedly pro-woman would be just as hilarious to you as I find it), but to depict things from Hanagata's viewpoint. This is Hanagata's dream and as we all know Hanagata, at least in SMJ, sees the marionettes as romantic rivals AND as defective pieces of equipment, not real women.

Dedication: This fic was inspired by the zanies at M2A. I love you guys...

~*~*~*~*~

Whimpering, Hanagata slowly backed up into the corner of Otaru's apartment as the three angry marionettes closed in around him.

"N--n--now, now, l--ladies," he stammered, praying his quivering legs wouldn't collapse beneath him before he found an opening in the furious robotic wall and escaped to the safety of the street or his apartment or even possibly the trap door beneath Otaru's kitchen table. "Can't we just reason this out like *gulp* like civilized men and m--m--marionettes?"

"NO!"

Three seconds later, the marionettes stood staring through the Hanagata-shaped hole in their roof as the individual responsible for its creation vanished into the sky above them with a pitiful "You're SO MEAN TO ME!!!!!"

Bloodberry's snarl mingled with an equally disgusted hiss of steam from her arm as she unclenched her fist. "You know something," she said to the two marionettes standing beside her. "I really hate that damn Hana-ko."

"Indeed. When will he learn that he's far from being wanted here," Cherry fumed. "Thank goodness Otaru-sama was out fishing this morning when he arrived. Otherwise --"

Bloodberry's eyes narrowed even further. "I know, Cherry," she growled. "It was bad enough that we had to watch him parade around in that bikini."

"Sugoi! Hannie-chan's really flying far this time," Lime observed as she raised a hand to shield her dark green eyes from the rising sun.

"Eh," Bloodberry shrugged. "He'll probably just land in a tree somewhere or something. And anyway, who cares? We've got shopping to do and I'm gonna beat you the butcher's, Cherry!"

"You -- you uncouth hag!" Cherry screamed as Bloodberry took off running. "I told you I would be the one to purchase the beef for Otaru-sama's meal tonight!"

"Mouuu, no fair, Bloodberry! Wait up!"

"Hahaha!! I'll beat you both there, little girls!"

"Wait UUUUUUUUP!"

"This is entirely inappropriate!"

And the streets of Japoness were soon filled with the angry shouts of Otaru Otaru's three marionettes as they raced to the butcher shop, thoughts of pleasing their master the only things on their mind.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

In a small park near the heart of Japoness, Hanagata's little brother Yumeji looked up from a game of shogi with a maroon ponta cub to find the source of the wailing above him.

Yumeji's blue eyes followed his big brother's form as it flew over the swings and the slippery slide and finally landed with several crashes (and some curse words that would have earned either Hanagata sibling a prompt spanking at his father's hands had he been present) in the forest beyond. Yumeji stood slowly and waited until the noises of frightened animals, rustling foliage and a pissed off Mitsurugi subsided. And then he sighed and slowly looked down to his maroon friend.

"Ponta-kun," he said after a moment. "Why did I inherit all the smart genes in this family?"

"Myaoh myaho?!"

"Never mind," Yumeji sighed, scooped the ponta-kun up and placed him on his shoulders. "Let's go find him before he hurts himself any more, huh?"

"Myaoh! Myaho! Myaaaaoh!"

And the two friends made their way into the forest.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Mnnnn....Otaru-kun....it.... hurts...." Hanagata whimpered as he lay twitching in a pile of broken twigs, branches and leaves.

"Why'zzit always happen to me?" he questioned a passing squirrel. The creature simply stared at him for a moment before scampering forward and biting him on the nose. As Hanagata threw his head back and howled in pain, the squirrel snatched up the pile of acorns covered only moments ago by Hanagata's right shoulder and stood chattering furiously at the young blonde man before scampering off into the trees.

Hanagata simply lay there as the world spun around him, clutching a hand to his face, unable to decide what hurt more... his recently injured nose, his battered and bruised body, or the ache inside his heart...

"O...ta...ru...kun....."

It was so unfair. What had he ever done but love his soul mate will all his heart, mind, and strength? And what had Otaru ever done but ignore him, beat him, or...

"Allow those evil marionettes to hurt me," Hanagata whimpered, deciding once and for all that his body hurt the most as he accidentally rolled his back over a rather large twig. "Ahh! If only he could really see... how awful those machines of his are... if only... if only he could see... could see..."

The world was rapidly spinning around him, however...

"Could see... that I alone..."

A vague white fog began to lower itself across his vision and settle onto his eyelashes, thereby bringing them lower and lower with each passing second...

"That I, the manly... Mitsurugi.... am...."

The world around him faded into the white mist.

"...the only one for him...."

~*~*~*~*~*~

As the first rays of sunlight peered through the shutters and slanted across the dingy kitchen floor, CinderHana shivered beneath his ragged blanket and burrowed even further into the pile of ashes that served as his bed, as if doing so could somehow shut out the painful day that lay ahead of him.

"Myaoh Myaoh?"

"Ah, Ponta-kun," CinderHana whispered sadly, reaching out a slender hand to scratch the maroon creature's tiny ears. "How did this happen to me, my friend? How did I fall so low in life?"

"Myaaaohhhh..." the ponta purred sympathetically, nuzzling its little snout against CinderHana's grimy palm.

"Thank you, dear friend," CinderHana whispered. "That means a lot."

Of course, the young man new very well how he'd fallen so low in life... but to this day, he wasn't certain what he had done to deserve it. For the first nine years of his life, he'd lived happily with his father Kamatarou in this very house on the outskirts of Japoness and had never wanted for anything, especially love. But on his tenth birthday, his father had taken to wife a recently widowed marionette named Bloodberry. And on that day, all CinderHana's troubles began. Although Bloodberry and her daughters Lime and Cherry were sweet and demure in Kamatarou's presence, they became cold and cruel the minute his back was turned. And when Kamatarou died suddenly a year later, they were finally free to show their true colors. From that day forth, CinderHana had been little more than a slave to his wicked stepfamily, forced to cook for, care for, and clean up after them at all hours of the day and night. If he ever so much as performed his duties even a step below their sky high standards, he was sure to receive a sound beating from one or more of them. And seeing as even the smallest of them was far stronger than CinderHana had ever been even in the days when he was properly fed and rested, the young man had no hope of ever being able to defend himself from them.

As if these things weren't enough to make CinderHana's life merry Hell, the marionette women were also far uglier than sin itself. In fact, the surest way for CinderHana to receive a crippling beating from any one of them was to do less than enthusiastically praise the slender silhouettes of their fat bodies, the delicate curve of their blocky feet or the sweet perfume of their malodorous breath.

All in all, CinderHana's was a miserable existence. And now, lying in his ash pile in the dingy and freezing kitchen, CinderHana decided that had it not been for the kindness shown to him by the Ponta-kuns that infested the house, he would surely have gone mad by now.

"Myaoh-Myaoh-Myaoh?!" The Ponta cub questioned, nuzzling closer to the warm body beside him.
CinderHana smiled sadly and scratched the little creature beneath its chin. "Yes, you simply must be starving," he soothed. "But don't worry. As always, I'll save you and your brothers and sisters some scraps from Stepmother Bloodberry's breakfast."
"Myaoh! Myaoh!" the ponta cub replied, its ears suddenly perking up.

"You're very welcome." CinderHana smiled, blissfully ignorant of the sudden terror that passed like a dark cloud over the cub's face.

"Myaoh! Myaoh! MYAOH!!!!" It cried, frantically hopping up and down as it gestured towards the door.

"No, really, you are. Goodness, little one! It's hardly a reason to thank me *so* vociferously!"

"MEEEEEEE!!" The ponta cub screamed, abruptly leaping from the ash pile and dashing across the floor where it quickly vanished through a small hole in the wall.

"Hey, wait a moment!" CinderHana cried, reaching his hand vainly after the creature. "Come back!! Where do you think you're going?! Ohhhh!" He clenched his fists. "Is that any way to treat your best human friend, ponta-kun?!?"

"MEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" came the frightened whimper from within the wall.

"Oh, is that so?!" Hanagata huffed. "Well, fine then! You can run off and ignore me all day if you like!! Yes, that's right! Just hide in that hole!! See if I ever --"

"CinderHana!" the young man gulped and froze in place as the door to the kitchen slammed open. "O--oh!" he stammered, turning around and flashing a pleasant smile at the three figures who lumbered into the room. "G--good morning, my beautiful, young mistresses!"

"Well, well, looks like the little prince is finally awake!" Bloodberry snorted, giving Hanagata a brutal gap-toothed smile. Inwardly, Hanagata shuddered. Yes, his stepmother and her daughters were without a doubt the most hideous marionettes ever created. Stepmother Bloodberry's hips and thighs were so wide, she had ordered CinderHana to enlarge every doorway in the house to allow her to enter a room without getting stuck. And despite her many efforts, not even the most costly red hair dyes or the biggest brassieres in the Kingdom of Japoness could disguise her graying hair or her sagging bosoms. And the most costly makeup did little to hide her blemishes or those of her younger daughter, Lime, whose figure took after her mother in everything but her teeth, which were as crooked as a row of gravestones. Cherry was the only truly thin one of the three, but even that did not make her beautiful. Shaped like a rail with as many poc marks as her sister possessed, Cherry was far from being beautiful. And aside from that, she was also a picky eater.

And now, to make CinderHana's morning even worse than it already was after waking up in a pile of ashes, the three marionettes were dangerously advancing towards him.

"So glad you could join us this morning, 'prince'. Now get up! There's work to be done!" Bloodberry hissed.

"Y--yes, Stepmother Bloodberry," CinderHana quickly rose from his ash pile and curtsied to the marionettes. "Do you wish me to make your breakfast first? Or make your beds? Or --"

CinderHana audibly gulped as a wicked grin simultaneously crossed the three marionettes' faces. And as they reached for him, he realized this morning would be no different from any morning since he'd become a slave in his own home.

"Oh, I think I'll let my daughters play with you first," Bloodberry purred. "Wouldn't you like that, girls?"

"Hai, Mother!!"

"Then carry on."

And soon, every Ponta-kun in the house huddled into their holes, nooks and crannies in abject terror as CinderHana's screams of pain rang throughout the countryside.

(End Part One)