Longing for the Lost

Summary: Piko had always been the class loner, sitting in the darkest corner and never speaking to anyone. And we all have this certain Wakizashi carrying ghost to thank for his social misery.

For Solitaryloner's Stress Relief Contest.

Do NOT take this chapter seriously. It's just to organize my thoughts and give Solitaryloner some humor while judging/reading through the entries. Actually, you can take it seriously, but the next chapter will be the real start of the story. You can think of this as a...uh...one shot manga before the serialization begins, yeah?

If you want to know one thing – just one thing to understand why I turned into the class loner – then you could just ask. However, when people have done that, they tend to stay away from me even more or make fun of me for the reason. No matter how many times I've told them, no matter how many times I've tried to prove it to them, and no matter how many times I willingly socialize…I still stay the class loner. To be honest, I'm getting real sick of that status.

Sure, I have friends, but they aren't people I can truly confide in. Actually, they're more of acquaintances than anything –

"Piko-dono, are you doing an inner monologue, again?"

"…Are you invading my personal space, again?"

"Piko-dono, may I remind you that I'm a ghost?"

This conversation isn't really helping in you figuring out what's going on with me, is it? I'll just start from the beginning:

My name is Piko Utatane, I'm the sole son of the Utatane family and we have ancient history that concerns a rich family heritage back in what I think is the Feudal Era of Japan or something another. History has never been my strongest subject; I'm more of a math type of guy. So forgive me if I don't know anything worth bragging about when it boils down to my origins. All I know is that I came from a long line of wealthy families whose sole talents are in tea ceremonies and business negotiations.

Currently, my mother is a successful lawyer; she works as the family's lawyer and she heartlessly tramples those who oppose her. She's one of those wolves in sheep clothing because she…well…she looks like she's still in a teenager due to her frail appearance and her conversational tone is usually soft. Then when she gets passionate, drunk, or competitive – meaning she hates losing – she'll attack without any mercy. I've seen it first hand when a stubborn businessman was trying to buy out our company.

…I forgot what happened to the guy, but I remember that he started sponsoring us.

As for my father, he's the head of the company…er…companies – we find musically talented people and traditional tea ceremonies. It's mainly due to the fact that my mother's mother was the boss for this talent agency and my father's father was the head of tea ceremony…uh…business. Okay, I swear that I'll study up more on this type of stuff because I know for sure that I'll have to inherit both in the near future.

"Ah, Piko-dono, you're rambling."

"Ugh, I got it."

So a long, long, long time ago my ancient relatives were nobles who were protected by their branch family. The branch family swore that they'd protect us even after death and apparently their vows came to life during my great grandparents' time. They were surprised, but accepted it, then my grandparents accepted it, and my parents…well they had a harder time accepting it. Actually-

"Piko-dono, you're not making sense."

"…I just don't wanna say it."

"Piko-dono…"

"Ugh, fine, stop getting so whiney about it."

Fine. So, I'm a social reject who is able to see ghosts because of a five hundred year (or whatever) promise of my ancient family's bodyguards pledging eternal protection that transcended through time. How were they able to protect us? Well, apparently, they're legit ghosts from the past who've resurfaced from the flipping grave and can appear by my side whenever I (don't) need them! The one I've got protecting me was the youngest son of his family who carries a Wakizashi at the side of his right hip and doesn't know when to-

"Piko-dono, you're being rude again."

"Shut up for a minute, Yuuma," I answered, scratching at my head and making a mess of my snow-white hair. "You're pissing me off!" I exclaimed and saw my bodyguard of a ghost appearing in front of me, covering his mouth his long sleeves. He was dressed in a black hakama with crimson blossoms that had white outlines and leaves. He was floating in the air; his image was as though he was painted with soft colors so the Wakizashi carrier seemed like he was practically transparent.

This was Yuuma, my ghost of a bodyguard. He's usually serious in the face of danger, but to be completely honest, he gets on my nerves due to his innocent persona. Right now, he's tilting his head with his thin braid on the left side of his face brushing against his cheek.

"Why must you say such black-hearted things?" the ghost whined with his sleeves covering his

"It's because you won't shu—" I froze when I realized how many pairs of eyes were locked onto me. I frigidly turned away from my ghost protector and shot everyone a frosty glare. They all turned immediately, gossiping to themselves while I sat down on my seat and scowled.

I forgot to tell you all the setting – I'm currently at school and it's break time. Right now, my class is filled with resident students with some outside students mingling with us. I sat alone (as per usual) and glared out the window, wishing I was anywhere but here. I mean, sure, my parents could've let me be a home-schooled student so I didn't have to suffer from talking to Yuuma and everyone thinking I was a freak. Sending me to a school to where people can hear me talk to the ghost was my parents being cruel and immediately sending my social reputation into suicide.

I grumbled, dropping my head onto my arms. You'd think I'd be popular because I had tons of money, but I guess being acquainted with the supernatural was a real turn-off to society…or high school. Sure, the Occult Club was interested in me because of my 'rich' history, but they got bored when I tried talking about something else. Y'know, something that didn't involved Yuuma.

"Piko-dono, I still cherish you," Yuuma informed with a sincere tone, but I glared at him. By the way, apparently our bodyguard ghosts are able to read the minds of those they're protecting. It sucks. It really, really, really sucks.

"Shut. Up."

So does everything make sense? Does it?

I'm the class loner because the only person who I can talk to is a freaking ghost. People stopped trying to be understanding about it and soon stopped trying. They're a bunch of shallow-minded beings who aren't able to open their mind to the impossible. But that's fine…I learned they tried to befriend me for my money when Yuuma was keeping an eye out for me. He told me that I shouldn't bother with people like them, but it still hurt.

Ugh, sorry about that, I tend to ramble in my thoughts since I have no one – other than my family and Yuuma – to confide in.

"Screw this," I muttered, stood up and grabbed my school bag.

Yuuma looked alarmed as he hovered around me. "Piko-dono! You're not thinking of skipping the remainder of school again, are you?"

"What the hell do you think?" I spat. "It's not like I care; I'm a flipping straight A student."

All eyes fell on me, but I didn't care. Skipping school was the usual for me to do, so everyone should get used to it. Sure, I've gotten in trouble, but my family has been pouring money into this school so I've been able to get away with a lot. Besides, my grades already got me ranked in the top twenty of the school, so why should I bother with the rest of high school?

"Piko-dono, just because you have all those things doesn't mean you sho-"

"Shut up, Yuuma!"

I plodded out of the class and stormed through the halls until I made it to the lobby to change my shoes. Once I got to it, the back of shirt was pulled and I nearly choked and fell to the ground.

"What the hell?" I exclaimed while looking up and saw a flash of white and teal stripes. A blush spread across my pale face. I shielded my eyes with my bag, hoping that my flustered wasn't seen and that I wasn't caught in the act of seeing what shouldn't have been seen. Hopefully he wasn't…because it was a total accident! …Though it's not like he can say he disliked it…

"Ah, Piko-dono, I apologize for not warning you in time…" Yuuma apologized.

"Utatane Piko!" And here it comes. "You promised you weren't going to skip school anymore!"

"And you should promise that you're going to wear less childish underwear!" I retorted without meaning to and all too quickly, my bag smashed against my face. The impact…ahh…it hurts like crazy!

"You jerk!" Then she kicked off my bag while I rolled to my side in order to avoid another stomp and quickly sat up, holding my face. "You- You!"

"Yes, 'you' is a pronoun, now please adapt to the something called coherence."

"P-Piko-dono! You shouldn't talk to a lady like that!"

By the way, this 'lady' is the Head of the Displinary Committee – Hatsune Miku. She's a flat-chested, twin-tailed, overly-righteous, and loud-mouthed girl who doesn't know when to not meddle into someone else's personal life. Oh wait, she's perfect for the job.

Her cheeks puffed and she placed her hand on her hips, swinging them to the left and her skirt fluttering due to the sway. I blushed when I saw them lift up a bit to catch a small glimpse of her stri-

She swung another kick right beside my head, causing the lockers to shake. …Th-That could've killed me. I should stay quiet. I should stay quiet.

"Stay quiet, Piko-dono! Stay qu-"

"You do know that I can see them as clear as day, right?"

"Piko-dono, why?"

Miku looked like she had a demon possessing her…

…Yuuma, I think I'll be joining you in the afterlife.

Suddenly, she smiled softly at me, slowly putting down her foot from beside my head and straightened her initially angered posture. She giggled, a little girl type of one, and tilted her head, trying to look adorable. "Oh, Piko-kun…" she started sweetly and soon, I think I saw darkness descend upon me. Terror, living terror, oh freaking-

Yuuma sighed.

"This is what happens when you don't remain at peace, Piko-dono," Yuuma commented when Miku grabbed my collar and held me up.

"…I'm not living to see home, am I?"

"What do you think, Pi~ko~ku~n?" the teal-haired beast mused with the hauntingly sweet smile on her face.

Yuuma.

"Y-Yes?" my bodyguard questioned, also terrified of the girl. He's been ever since we saw her in action that one time where a group of upperclassmen from another school were hitting on our students. She marched up to them, shorter than all four of the guys, and threw them around as if they were rag dolls. It was suffice to say that Hatsune Miku was the Teal Hurricane of Boukaroido High School.

I…I'm gonna die.

"N-No, Piko-dono, you must fight on!"

I'm sorry, but I don't think I can.

I'm serious, don't take this seriously. The next chapter onward (dunno how long it'll be, but the limit's five.)

Yuuma...he wasn't originally going to be so innocent, but hey, I like him this way. Piko was going to be more nonchalant, but instead, I made him rude and prone to say the stupidest things. Miku, haha, she was always gonna be like this some time in the story.

Solitary, this is just a brief humor bit before the real story because, for some strange reason, I'm prone to making light-hearted writings depressing after a while.

Main pair: Piko/Miku

Side: Yuuma/Mizki

~Ventus