Disclaimer: I do own Vocalo- okay, okay, I kid! Now stop throwing rotten leeks at me!
Based off Naoda Tsuboko's one-shot manga, "Haikei, Nanashi-sama" (lit. "Dear, Mr. Nameless"). Go read it! It's so cute and fluffy!
I apologise for any mistakes in advance, as I have yet to send it to my beta/sister.
EDIT: 30/10/10 - re-read it today and wow I made so many grammar mistakes last night! Fixed them and added some extra bits :)
Chapter 1-A
"-And this is the last box of them!" The tall, busty teacher said as she picked up the remaining large box off the shelf. "Though, this one is bigger than all of the rest, are you okay carrying this, Gume-san?" She asked looking worriedly at the lime-haired girl who picked up the box experimentally and meekly nodded in reply.
"Sensei, you got her name wrong again," a girl with a peculiar ahoge on her head corrected, "it's Gumi-chan not Gume."
Another girl with twin-tails piped in, "Yeah, Meiko-chan! Get it right!"
"You two must want more labourous work to do, Miku and Miki!" She whispered warningly and shooed them out of the staff room. "Thanks for helping me out!" Meiko called after them sweetly, as if she didn't just threaten her students just seconds before, and quickly retreated back into the room.
"Ahhhh, time to relax with a nice bottle of sake," she muttered to herself and slowly opened the drawer of her desk, giggling almost perversely at the thought of drinking the tangy sweet liquid.
She was just about to open the bottle when a male voice scolded her. "Meiko-san, for the nth time, it's against the rules to drink alcohol within the school grounds."
"Che," she scoffed and pouted much like a child, "Why do I have to listen to you, Hiyama?" She stated defiantly, drinking the rice wine anyways. He was about to snatch the bottle from her clutches however, she'd already finished it in a few seconds flat.
"Hah! Rules Schmules! They're made to be broken! Hhahahahahah!" She cackled rebelliously, swinging back and forth in her chair.
'She sets such an unbefitting example as a teacher,' Kiyoteru thought to himself and sighed, 'How on Earth did she manage to become a teacher?'
As soon as they were a safe distance away from the staffroom; out of the teacher's hearing range, Miku fumed, "Jeez, that Meiko-chan, it's because of her that everybody gets your name wrong! I bet it's because she's too drunk in the morning to even read the roll properly!"
"Don't worry about it, ne?" Miki comforted before they split up to drop off the packages into the designated rooms.
'It's near the end of the second semester yet no-one except my friends remember my name...' Gumi mused with a sigh, 'I can't change it now; it'll be embarrassing.'
Turning into what she thought was the classroom (as she couldn't see past the big package), she collided into something. 'Eh? I was pretty sure the door was open...'
A voice came from behind the cardboard, "Ah, so-"
Sweet carrot sticks! She'd bumped into someone; were they hurt? She hopped to the side at once, squeaking frantic apologies, "I-I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!"
She heard the other person heave a sigh before continuing past her. Nervously, she brought her eyes to meet his and for the split second they made eye contact, his crimson eyes seemed to pierce through her. Feeling intimidated, she flinched; he scowled in response. He walked away briskly and she let out a breath that she hadn't even known she was holding.
Gumi recognised him: Dell Honne. He was in the same class as her, he sat beside her even. Sitting beside him wasn't so bad though she didn't know him all that well, she'd heard what other people had said about his bad-temper and his terrible smoking habits (which she thought must be at least partly true because she could catch faint whiffs of cigarette smoke from time to time during class coming from his direction).
'When people like that see me, I bet I really irritate them. I know that, yet I always get scared of them and freak out. I wonder, why am I like this...?'
The green-eyed girl shuffled into the classroom, careful not to hit anyone else with the huge box. Just as she was depositing the box off at the side of the room, the other two entered. Slinging their school bags over their shoulders, they were ready to head home.
Since they were the last ones out, they proceeded to switch off the lights and slide the door closed behind them.
Miku skipped in front of them and swivelled on her heels to face the other two who continued to stroll down the corridors at a leisurely pace. "Hey, can we stop by the ice-cream parlour by the station?" She asked while walking backwards.
Although it seemed like Gumi and Miki somehow knew as they looked at each other and started to giggle.
The tealette furrowed her eyebrows at their inside joke, "What are you guys laughing at?"
"We know you just want to go to see if Kaito-senpai is there!" Miki waggled her eyebrows at her suggestively.
"Wha- What? I don't know what you're talking about." Blushing, she folded her arms in a huff and spun back around to walk forwards as she feigned innocence. "I just wanted some ice-cream that's all!"
Miku and Miki halted a few steps ahead of her when Gumi suddenly stopped by their school's library and apologised, "I'm sorry, you guys can go on ahead, I have library duty after school today."
"Ehhh? I thought your library day was tomorrow!"
"It is," she felt guilty for abandoning her friends but she couldn't refuse someone's request, "but Akita-san said she couldn't make it today so she asked me to cover for her..."
"We can just have ice-cream some other day then, right Miku?" The red-head suggested alternatively, "It's not like you're going there to see anyone right~?" She said jokingly in attempt to provoke the other girl.
Miku chose to ignore her and instead turned and hugged the green-haired girl, "Fine, but you're definitely coming with us on Wednesday!"
"See ya tomorrow then, Gumi-chan!" Miki chimed as she also joined into the hug.
Smiling fondly, she hugged them back and watched them skip off into the distance.
Gumi looked out of the window as the sun was slowly making its descent across the sky, casting a warm orange-yellow glow on the tennis courts below and into the library where she was putting the returned books into their respective shelves.
Startled, she dropped the books she was holding when a distinct voice suddenly called out, "Is there anyone here? Hellllooo?"
'This voice... It's Len-kun!' She hurriedly picked up the books she'd dropped and set them aside. "Y-yes! I'm sorry! I'm coming!"
"Umm... errr..." he said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head, "I was looking for a book could you help me?"
The blond kid contemplated. "A...Love Story... Hm..."
She panicked, "I-I'm really sorry! Guys don't read these things, do they?" 'Though it is my favourite book, I'd hoped he might try it...'
When a disheartened look plastered her face, he felt almost obliged to take it, "Ah... It's okay I'll check it out. After you went and picked it out for me." Immediately, her spirits lifted and the frown formed into a smile.
"Leeeennnn!" Someone called from down the hallway.
He turned to see who it was, "Kaito? What are you doing here?"
"There's a meeting today, remember?"
"I totally forgot!" Len gasped.
She was saddened at the thought of him leaving so soon but on his way out he waved her goodbye, "Well, then I'll see ya later!"
"Okay!" She replied cheerily but it came out in a higher pitch than she meant to. When he was gone, she grinned to herself.
'Len-kun is a kind person, he's so popular yet he's willing to talk to someone like me.' Her expression changed to a more neutral one as she leant on the windowsill and looked out of the glass, however this time, looking at something, someone else, 'On the other hand, I always just watch him play tennis from the library, like some creepy stalker. But being like this is perfectly fine. Besides, I already know the consequences; he wouldn't be interested in me.'
The next day was a quiet one as she put away the books again. While she did so, Gumi couldn't help but wonder if he was reading it right this second.
'I wonder if he likes that book that I recommended to him yesterday.' She, herself, had read the book numerous times now. Maybe it was because she could identify with it so well, as she remembered back to the starting chapters, '"Dear, Mr. Nameless" was set in the library of a high school. One day the main character took the top right book from the first shelf of resources shelf. And on the 99th page, she found a letter addressed to her; the sender was anonymous going by the name of Mr. Nameless. It was certainly plausible but those kinds of things don't tend to happen in real life, at least not to plain people like me anyways...' She'd thought as she picked out a misplaced book on the top shelf, she laughed to herself how it was coincidentally in exactly the same plac-
'Something fell from the...' Her face a picture of confusion and shock as she read the words printed on the brown envelope.
"To, Miss Gumi Kamui"
'Eh?'
'No way! What is this? Why?' She stared at it in incomprehension. She fumbled to open the crisp envelope. Indeed, there was a letter inside it, addressed to her as well:
Miss Gumi Kamui.
Excuse me for this sudden letter.
I want to know you better, so would it be alright to start exchanging letters?
I pray that you will notice this letter.
'Now, what are you going to do with the letter now?'
Sawahii