My second story on . Hope you enjoy, and here are a few disclaimer notes about this story:
The story takes place soon after the last episode of the Anime; I have not read the fifth volume of the light novels, so I am not taking its story into account.

The story may seem silly at first, but I think some of you may be pleasantly surprised.

A\N January 10, 2014: I have made some edits to these first six chapters. Readers who have read these first six chapters before will probably notices three recurring edits in particular.

I've made some grammatical corrections.

I've re-worded various sentences.

I've altered some of Hotaru's dialogue in an attempt to better represent his characterization in the anime.

Chapter 1

I sat down, curled up into a ball in the corner of the abandoned shed next to the school. The pain had grown to an increasing intensity that I had not felt before. The pain burned even more when I touched my bitten hand. At the demonstration which I had reluctantly decided to go to with Chitanda, a scientist had been demonstrating some sort of radiation device that he was going to suggest to the Japanese aerospace industries, using it to enhance different devices. It bored me to death, so I hadn't been paying any attention to my surroundings, only occasionally peeking over at Chitanda. Ever since the doll festival, I had been thinking more about her than I ever had before. Maybe it had been my imagination, which had shown me telling her I could be her "business side" as she had referred to it; if anything, that's where my mind was at the time.

Up from the ceiling, an oddly colored spider crawled down its thin web. Apparently, it had been able to land on my hand while I was lost in whatever thought I was considering at the moment. Then, a sharp pain crawled up my neural passageways, and came into my brain. The pain was intense at first, but seemed to subside after a few seconds. However, I couldn't help letting out a groan of pain at the biting. I looked for the spider, but it had apparently fallen off my hand.

Chitanda looked at me, concern showing in her violet eyes. "Are you alright, Hotaru-san?" She had inquired.
"I'm fine," I said, desperately trying to shrug her off. "I think I may have gotten too close to the radiation display." Chitanda didn't seem convinced by my hasty response, but merely nodded, and turned her head back towards the demonstration. My response must have been answer enough; her curiosity level was probably being divided at that point between two points; my yelp of pain, and the science demonstration. She was more interested in the demonstration.

Figures.

After a minute or two, however, the pain came back at such a large intensity, that I vigorously ran out the door, hoping and praying that the stinging sensation would stop if I just stepped outside. I found a spot next to the shed where I felt I would be able to examine myself in private, and examined the wound more closely. It had seemed to have grown, looking almost like it had swollen. I scratched at the spot, but this only made matters worse.

I stretched my body out, bringing myself out of remembering the events that led to what I was feeling at that point; pain. A pain I could not seem to get rid of no matter what I did. I rubbed it against the wood on the shed, hoping that for some reason the contrast in surfaces would somehow lessen the pain.

I had not done my research.

I got a splinter.

"Damn," I thought.

I would have walked over to the school nurse, or even back to Chitanda to see if she knew anything about this, but all I could focus on was the pain in my hand. The unquenchable pain that was the worst feeling I had ever experienced. If Satoshi ever asked me how I would stay to my motto at that moment, I would just say I'd find the nearest person, and have him get help for me.

But I didn't feel like that then; I felt like I could just fall over and die that it hurt so much.

Just then, an extremely odd sensation filled my whole body. It was like I could feel something foreign crawling through all my veins. As if, something from the inside was changing me.

"What the hell is happening to me?" I asked myself. Just then, I heard rapid footsteps coming towards me. Chitanda must have seen me, and tried to find out what was going on. Under some circumstances, I would have been glad to see her. But now, I felt like dying, or at the very least slipping unconscious.

Which was exactly what I did.

The last thing I thought before my eyes closed was,

Blank.

Earlier that morning:

I groggily woke up to address my alarm clock. No matter how many times I wanted to smash that thing whenever it woke me up from my well needed sleep, Tomoe would give me that look. The look of, "Are you disagreeing with me? I certainly hope not."

It was something Satoshi would commonly joke about.

I could never say no to my sister.

So, I merely shut off the alarm, and dressed into my school uniform. I was half dressed when I heard my sister knocking outside the door. "You better hurry, Oreki, you don't want to be late for your first day off from break."
"I'd love to stay home. School would be a waste of time if I didn't have to do it."
"What if Chitanda had told you to go to school in that case?"
"Then that would be something I would have to do."
After I finished getting into my school uniform, I walked down the stairs, and sat down at the table. A plate of waffles was neatly set on one of the dinner plates with maple syrup covering them in the same way they would on those TV commercials. I slowly ate the breakfast my sister had prepared for me, and noticed her sit down on the opposite side of me, eating her food much faster than I was.

"Slow down, you should try and sample your food."
"Since when did you care about food's taste, Oreki?"
"I don't; I'm trying to appeal to you in language you would understand."
"I see," She took a large bite of the waffles she had served herself. I pushed the other waffle towards her, and stood up. "Glad you're taking my advice, Oreki."
"I don't have a choice, really."
"Exactly." I turned the door knob, and just before I left, she quickly said to me, "One more thing,"

"If you're late for school, you're responsible for afternoon chores."