Atarashiimonogatari
Yuzuki Follower part 1.
This is my first fanfic, I hope you enjoy.
WHITE FRAME
Good morning. I am Araragi Yuzuki, daughter of Araragi Koyomi and Araragi Hitagi, age 17, second year high school student and one quarter vampire.
I DIDN'T BELIEVE IT AT FIRST, BUT I FOUND OUT THE HARD WAY, QUITE LITERALLY.
I have grey eyes like my father and a similar hairstyle but longer, past my shoulders and in a ponytail. I look a lot like my mother in terms of facial structure, height and hair colour. That aside I look like I'm somewhere between what you would call a normal woman and a Lolita, much to my father's amusement. He's always doting on me for my supposed cuteness and my intimidating charms that I apparently inherited off of my mother in case you couldn't figure that out on your own. My mother on the other hand tells me I resemble my father in terms of how I go about solving problems and interacting with people. My name Yuzuki comes from 'Yu' meaning gentleness, superiority and 'Zuki' meaning moon. Mother and Father told me that I was going to be named after an anime character but their minds were changed by a close friend.
BLACK FRAME
This story will be narrated by none other by me if you hadn't figured that out by now, a story about repeating the past and rewriting the future.
I COULD'VE SAID IT WAS MY STORY, BUT THAT WOULD'VE SOUNDED SOMEWHAT NARCISSITIC.
It begins on an ordinary school day. Mother and Father are preparing for work while I non-chalantly eat my breakfast.
"Mother, father, is there anything we need from the grocery store?" I ask before finishing my toast.
Father tilts his head, "No we're good. You don't have to be so formal around us you know? We are your parents after all; you can simply call us mum or dad or even give us nicknames! Or we could give you a nickname!" He spouts comically. Mother gives a slight smile as if remembering a fond a memory.
AN EXAMPLE OF MY FATHER'S DOTING, I THINK
"What did you have in mind?" I ask gingerly.
"How about Yu-san!" He points to me, pulling a cheesy pose, much like a super hero.
"That sounds like the English way of saying you sir!" I pout in comical disappointment.
"Why don't you call me Koyomi-sama like you mother does?" He puff his chest out triumphantly.
"That sounds a lot like god (Japanese for god is Kami-sama)." I mutter in disbelief.
"But what if I was?" He lifts his arms as if he was Christ himself.
"The kitchen is no place for miracles!" I exclaim in shock.
"We do need bread." Mother chimes in as if our debate wasn't happening.
After a back and forth debate that led us nowhere I said my goodbyes and left for school, eager to see my friends. My trek to school was nothing special, the same cars drove past, I walked past the same buildings, saw the same people I haven't met, walked on the same side walk and crossed the same roads as usual. But I encountered someone.
BLACK FRAME
It was a man, around the same height as my father but slightly hunched. His hair was unruly, unlike his well-kept goatee, and dyed blonde. He was walking towards me with a cool swagger, the clap of his sandals going at a steady pace. He carried a plastic bag with him and rolled a toothpick around with his teeth.
HE LOOKED LIKE A HAWAIIAN DELINQUENT WITH HIS UNBUTTONED AND UNKEMPT HAWAIIAN SHIRT
"Hey, young miss!" He called to me, waving with his free hand. I stopped in my tracks just as we reached each other; there was a certain familiarity about this man, "would you perhaps be Araragi Yuzuki?" He grinned mid-sentence as he said my family name.
"Yes sir, that's me, only Araragi Yuzuki I know of." I stammered quickly.
"You are really energetic, did something good happen?" I stayed quiet and shook my head, "Well, in case you were wondering we've met, a long time ago in fact. I'm not surprised you don't remember me. Anyway I'm an old acquaintance of your parents."
I relaxed at those words and changed the expression on my face similar to that of my mother's, "An old acquaintance?"
"Yep, I'll be seeing you later then. Yanno you really remind me of your parents, intimidating and charming like your crab mother yet easy to talk to and cautious like your devil father. Well, enjoy school devil girl." With those parting words he left in the direction I came.
WE ONLY SPOKE FOR TWO MINUTES AT BEST, HOW COULD HE HAVE SUCH AN IMPRESSION OF ME AFTER SAYING 13 WORDS TO HIM?
GREEN FRAME
Despite his uncommon appearance and informal speaking it felt as if I could trust him, what I couldn't get my head around was why. If I have met him long ago in the past then my subconscious might recognise him. I also couldn't get my head around why he knew about my parent's affiliation with oddities. Mother and Father are very honest with me and have told me all about their adolescent experiences with oddities. They told me when I was 12, after I had fallen from a tree and broke my neck, arms and three ribs, my shock of surviving prompted them to tell me about how and why father is part vampire, mothers issue with the weight crab, Hachikuji the lost cow, Kanbaru-san's monkey paw, Nadeko-san's snake, Hanekawa-san's cat, aunty Tsukihi's phoenix, aunty Karen's bee, Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under Blade (or Shinobu) and her connection with father and so forth. One name that was frequently mentioned during the early half of their stories was Oshino Meme, a man who helped them all. They didn't say much about him aside from the fact he was unforgettable and a big help.
PERHAPS THAT MAN WAS OSHINO, NO THAT WOULD BE TOO PERFECT OF A COINCIDENCE, THEY SAID THEY NEVER SAW HIM AGAIN AFTER SOLVING HANEKAWA-SAN'S CAT ISSUE FOR THE SECOND TIME, THOUGH FATHER DID RECEIVE A LETTER FROM HIM WHEN HE WENT THROUGH TIME WITH SHINOBU
I continued walking and eventually reached school. I was greeted by my cousin Falk Yori.
AUNTY TSUKIHI'S SON, SHE MARRIED A RICH DANISH MAN, AUNTY KAREN CAN'T FIND A HUSBAND
He looks like a blonde Aunty Tsukihi with shorter hair, he's androgynous and often gets mistaken for a girl, and he's also much shorter than me. He's very spacey and often looking into the distance, never taking in his surroundings. Next to him was Kita Sakura.
TSUBASA-SAN'S DAUGHTER, SHE MARRIED A HARD WORKING MAN WHO RUNS A POPULAR RAMEN STORE, KITA AKIRA
To put it simply she's a tall Tsubasa-san with black hair and without glasses.
"Good morning Araragi-chan, I don't mean to pry but you look a little bewildered." She said to me so sweetly, if her politeness could be scaled from 1 to 100 then you'd need a bigger scale.
A MUCH BIGGER SCALE
"Yo. I just had a minor encounter with an interesting person is all, nothing too out of the norm." At least that's what I thought. Yori looked half asleep as he gazed at a nearby tree as if he was under its spell, father and mother told me it was planted in memory of student who passed after they graduated, "Yori-kun… Yo-kun… Yori-chan." That was cruel even by my standards.
"I'm a boy! Just be- huh!?" He cut himself short when he saw Kita and I towering above him, "Good morning cousin-chan" he blurted out, somewhat shocked by me suddenly appearing.
"If you don't me saying, I find it very cute when you space out like that Falk-kun." My smaller cousin simply blushed and blinked a few times.
AND WITH THAT WE ENTERE SCHOOL, LEARNT, TALKED AND LEFT
This was my life pretty much every day, well, aside from encountering that man. I went to get bread like mother asked before heading home. As I walked the same route I came this morning I couldn't help but feel edgy. I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was following me… no that's a lie; it felt like something familiar was following me. The feeling slowly died off the closer I got to my house.
WAS IT THE FEELING OF BEING SAFE IN A FAMILIAR AREA OR WAS THE SOMETHING FOLLOWING AFRAID OF MY HOUSE?
BLUE FRAME
"I'm home!" I called as entered my house and removed my shoes. To my surprise I was greeted by mother, all I heard was laughter coming from the living room. I gingerly walked in to see my parents engaged in conversation with the man I encountered this morning.
"Ah, here she is now. Yuzuki-chan, Oshino here says he had the honour of meeting you this morning." Mother stated with a relaxed smile.
APPARENTLY THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS COINCIDNCE THAT'S TOO PERFECT
"Araragi-chan, we were just talking about you. Koyomi-sama is good at telling stories about you." He jived.
"Thankyou Oshino, call me story Koyomi." Father preached, pulling the same pose as this morning. I could tell this was aimed at me.
"There will be no miraculous stories in the living room either." Mother took the bait for me as I frowned.
"All terrible jokes aside there's some serious business we should discuss." Oshino stated blankly. Father rolled his eyes, well the one you could see, "Araragi-chan, was there anything out of the ordinary about your walk home from school today?"
I NODDED AND EXPLAINED THE FEELING OF SOMETHING FOLLOWING ME, THE ROOM WAS SILENT WITH THOUGHT UNTIL
BLACK FRAME
"Well it would seem my suspicions were correct for now. It would seem there are vampire hunters on the move." Oshino sighed and shook his head. Mother and Father (especially Father) were shocked and sad at the same time, "It would seem there are vampire hunters looking to avenge the vampires you and Shinobu defeated long ago, Koyomi-kun."
"They're too afraid to face me so they're going after my precious Yu-chan." Father muttered coldly.
"That's a vain yet sound thought, the unfortunate truth is that the only way to get rid of them is to face them head on, they'll just scatter and keep coming back if you go after them Koyomi-kun. And unfortunately for you Hitagi-san your abilities in fighting won't be enough to even surprise them."
UNFORTUNATELY IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT
"I see, well, as much as I regret to say this I don't think our darling daughter is very experience in combat aside from fighting games." That was all too true.
Oshino nodded, "Araragi-chan, have you met Shinobu yet?"
"I've only seen her and heard stories about her from mother and father." The stories made her sound like an impressive vampire. She was also lucratively cute.
"What's your impression of her from what you've heard?" he looked at me inquisitively, as if he was expecting a very specific answer.
"She sounds like an impressive vamp-" Before I could finish a cacophony of haughty cackles filled the room. Before we knew it Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under Blade emerged from father's shadow elegantly and grandly like a Queen entering her throne room.
THOUGH SHE GOES BY SHINOBU, IT WAS TERRIFYING AND BEAUTIFUL
"Kaka! Impressive? It that all?" It was hard to take her seriously given she was four feet tall.
"Well this is your chance to meet her Araragi-chan." Oshino chimed.
I looked at the adorable loli vampire and tried to think of what to say, "Oh uh, good afternoon Shinobu-sama." I bowed at the once legendary vampire.
"Why does Shinobu get the sama treatment?" Father spouted in disbelief.
"Hm, so you're my master's beloved little daughter? With those looks I bet you've get men bowing at your feet." I can't agree with her on that.
"The only thing bowing at Ararag-chan's feet will be you, Shinobu." Oshino announced quietly, much to everyone's disbelief.
BLACK FRAME
Before anyone could as what he meant Oshino spoke up again, "The only way Araragi-chan will be able to defeat the vampire hunters is if she has Shinobu by her side at all times. So, Shinobu and Koyomo-kun will have to break their bond and pass it over to Araragi-chan." The room fell silent as if it were empty, completely devoid of anything living.
"Before any of this happens, Yuzuki-chan, are you okay with it?" Father cast a look at me I'll never forget, it felt as if the weight of the world was put upon my shoulders in just one glance.
AS IF HE'D DONE IT A MILLION TIMES BEFORE
Thoughts sped through my find, each one a blur of consequences and benefits. Amidst my frenzied thoughts one phrase stood out among them.
PROTECT WHO YOU CARE FOR
"No, sure, it's fine, if it means protecting mother and father than I'd do anything." I spoke honestly and clearly like my parents had raised me to do.
AFTER THAT, WE TALKED ABOUT, A LOT, SHINOBU SEEMED TOO HAPPY TO BE CONNECTED TO ME
"Shinobu, regardless of how powerful you are or can be I will stop at nothing to end your life if you harm my daughter in the slightest." Mother stated coldly with her infamous blank stare father seemed to love so much.
"I can't harm my new master, especially if she's the daughter of my ex master." With that mother smiled and seemed to relax a little, "well, best we get it over and done with now then?" Shinobu chuckled as she approached father.
"This isn't farewell, but it still feels just as significant." He smiled a warm smile and tilted his head to his vampire companion, "take good care of Yuzuki for me Shinobu, I hope you have as much fun with her as you did with me." Shinobu laughed before hugging father.
SUDDENLY IN A FLASH OF LIGHT THEIR BOND WAS BROKEN AND PASSED TO ME, I COULD FEEL IT LIKE A STRANGE PRESENCE WATCHING OVER ME
BLUE FRAME
"So that's it then, Yuzuki-chan, you're Shinobu's new master." Oshino said with a grin, "There really isn't anything else to discuss about the situation, I trust you'd be able to figure out what to do Yuzuki-chan?"
I had so many questions but I guess it's best to demonstrate my maturity and find the answers for them myself.
HOW BOLD AND STUCK UP OF ME, PERHAPS SHINOBU'S ATTITUDE IS ALREADY RUBBING OFF OF ME DUE TO OUR NEW BOND
"Okay, I'm going to put the bread in the cupboard and do my homework now." I bowed and did as I said I would with Shinobu tagging along. My homework was simple so I was able to finish it in at least half an hour.
"Master, would you consider yourself an intelligent person?" Shinobu asked sprawled across my bed.
"Well, going by what everyone else says and the fact that I'm top of my class I'd say I'm reasonably intelligent." I state in a matter of fact way.
Shinobu hums understandingly, "Would you consider yourself a creative person?"
"No." I lack an imagination worth mentioning sadly.
Shinobu hums again, "Would you consider yourself a skilled person?"
"I can a little bit of everything."
Once again she hums, but this time it's a bit smug, "Would you consider yourself a perverted person?"
"Why the interrogation?" I ask annoyed at the intrusion of my personal information.
WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS? I GUESS I HAVE TO GET USE TO THIS FROM HERE ON OUT
"I'm comparing you to my original master… you seem to differ quite a lot already." Shinobu sits up and grins menacingly at me; her bright green eyes suddenly narrowed and struck me like a sinister arrow.
JUST THEN I GOT A CALL FROM KITA-CHAN, I EAGERLY ANSWERED MY PHONE
YELLOW FRAME
"Hello Araragi-chan, I hope I'm not bothering you." She said all too politely
"You never do Kita-chan, what can I do for you?" I enjoy speaking to and about Kita-chan, she means a lot to me if hadn't already figured that out by now.
"I hope you don't mind but I told my mother about your encounter this morning and she thinks it was an old friend of hers called Oshino Meme. She wanted me to tell you and see what your parents thought."
I was speechless for a second, Tsubasa-san does know everything, even if was just an assumption, "It's funny you say that, it was in fact Oshino, from what I've heard from mother and father I'm sure he'd be happy to see your mother again." I exclaimed slowly with mild glee, savouring the time I got to speak with Kita-chan even though we already saw each other at school.
"Oh wonderful, I'll tell mother straight away. I have to be going now, enjoy the rest of your day."
"You too." With that she hung up, much to my disappointment
THEN AGAIN SHE NEVER USUALLY USES HER PHONE
WHITE FRAME
"You seem to enjoy talking to this Kita-chan a lot. Am I wrong?"
"No… not at all." I awkwardly looked at her, no clue as to why she would ask such a question.
CHAPTER 1 END
(I hope you enjoyed reading this, please let me know what you thought)