Author's Note: This is my first attempt at writing a real story, so I really need honest feedback. When I first began this story, I had nothing planned and no idea where it was going to go from there. I knew that I wanted Itsuki out of the picture, but that was about it.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own I''s or anything relating to it (other than a few copies of Volumes 1-7), and I doubt I ever will. I'm just having some fun with its characters.
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Chapter 1- Cloudy Weather
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"Sigh... all right, give me the details."
"Humph."
"Hey, what's your problem? It's not like it was my fault! - Okay, maybe a little," he added in response to the glare he received.
"Anyway, after you ditched me..."
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Ichitaka Seto sighed, totally lost in thought. He had only another minute or two until she came back from the bathroom, and he would be forced to revive the conversation. After all, the last thing he wanted at this point was to go back to the way things were before.
Although he knew he had more important matters to devote his time to, Ichitaka couldn't help thinking about all that had happened that day. First, after spending the entire night overthinking his wardrobe, he had overslept and completely missed his faux-date with the girl he was crazy about, Iori Yoshizuki (although since they were shopping for a school project, it could be considered a date only within the confines of Ichitaka's ego). Then, his best friend Teratani showed up at his front door with Iori, and he even managed to move the party to Ichitaka's room, but then, without warning, he left!
Sure, he knew what Teratani was trying to do, but Ichitaka simply wasn't prepared for this. He would be alone with Iori, the girl he was head over heels for, and in his bedroom, of all places! The only people who had ever been in his room were his parents, Teratani, and Ichitaka's childhood friend, Itsuki...
After mentally shuffling through a few choice words to use upon his next meeting with Teratani, Ichitaka began to curse himself for the way he handled the situation after Teratani bailed on him. After enduring what felt like an eternity of flailing conversation and lewd fantasies, they'd finally seemed to break the tension in the room. Iori had even said she's glad she could finally talk to Ichitaka.
And what was up with that, anyway? 'She's glad she could talk to him?' Did that mean she'd always wanted to be friends with him? Or maybe...
As Ichitaka stared vacantly at the potato chip in his hand, as if it held the answers he sought, he was suddenly startled by the sound of the door opening: Iori was back.
'Showtime!' thought Ichitaka in a panic. He had to think of something to say soon, or all his efforts over the past few weeks (trivial though they were) will have been wasted. 'C'mon, Ichitaka, think of something, ANYTHING to say!' He instantly blurted out the first thing that came to mind, and no sooner had he said it than he immediately regretted it: "Took ya long enough!"
Ichitaka froze: 'What the hell was that, you idiot?' Iori turned a light shade of pink and said, "O-Oh! I'm sorry!" 'Great, now look what you've done!' "N-No, I didn't - I was just - " At a loss for words, Ichitaka frantically scanned the room for an excuse to change the subject; he found one in the form of the television. "H-Hey, I think there was a movie coming on today that I wanted to see!" Iori looked slightly surprised, but said, "Oh. Okay." 'Whew. That was close,' Ichitaka thought, but as reached for the remote, he glanced over to Iori and thought, for a fleeting moment, that he saw a trace of sadness in her face.
Ichitaka brushed it off and turned on the TV, but as he flipped through the channels, the batteries inside the remote suddenly died on an old movie that was playing. He tried to change the channel a few more times while trying to ignore the movie, but he was fighting a losing battle; the guy in the movie seemed to be talking directly to Ichitaka: "What's the matter with you? You can't keep acting this way!"
'That's enough,' thought Ichitaka as he got up to change the channel.
"Don't be afraid. Go for it!"
'Stop it, I know.' His hand was on the 'Channel Up' button.
"Forget about the past. Be a man!"
'Shut up!'
Ichitaka's hand was poised on the button. Iori stared at him curiously as the movie droned on, but they may as well have been miles away; Ichitaka was swamped in his thoughts.
"Um-" Iori started after a few moments of silence. With his back turned to her, Ichitaka straightened up a little.
"Iori," Ichitaka began, in a tone completely different than any he'd used today; Iori was taken by surprise. He turned to look at her with a determined look on his face; Iori looked slightly flushed. Not missing a beat, he continued: "I -"
But it was not to be; at that moment, the doorbell rang. Ichitaka was in shock: 'Why does this always happen to me?' Behind him, the movie continued: "Thank you, sensei. I will not waste this opportunity." 'Oh, shut up,' thought Ichitaka bitterly, as he left to answer the door while simultaneously fighting back a deluge of tears.
Ichitaka made his way to the door, and when he answered it, he was greeted by a familiar face: "Hey!" spouted a grinning Teratani. Immediately, all of Ichitaka's depression subsided, to be replaced with rage at his unexpected and unwelcome visitor.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he whispered. Teratani remained unfazed by Ichitaka's tone. "I came to see how things were going." Ichitaka's eyes were bulging, and he felt like he was about to burst a blood vessel in his forehead at any moment. "You-"
Again, he was interrupted, this time by the sound of Iori coming downstairs. "Iori!" he whipped around to look at her, but this time, he had trouble reading her face. "I should really be getting home now," she said. 'No! Don't you dare let her leave now!' "But - I -"
"See you on Monday!" she stated cheerfully, and after walking past Teratani and out the door, she was gone.
For a moment, there was no sound. Then the silence was broken by Teratani: "So, how'd it go, stud?" he said slyly, utterly unaware of the fury within Ichitaka reaching a boiling point.
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"Yes, I know that part, thank you," said a grimacing Teratani, now sporting a newly bruised bicep.
Why'd you come back here, anyway?" asked a still grumpy Ichitaka.
"I already told you, I came to see how it went - well, for the most part, anyway," he replied. "Plus, a part of me knew you'd blow it," he added, ignoring the look of death directed toward him from Ichitaka. "But anyway," he continued in a more subdued tone, "it looks like we both struck out."
"What? What're you talking about?" Ichitaka asked. Teratani's face showed a twinge of annoyance. "Despite what you may believe," Teratani continued, with a slightly dignified tone, "my life does not revolve around Ichitaka Seto. I'll have you know I went to the mall to pick up chicks. But it turns out I'm just as bad at this as you are." Ichitaka glared at him yet again. "Well? Am I wrong?" "Ah, shut it," Ichitaka mumbled, his mouth buried in his left hand. "Maaann, this sucks," Teratani moaned as he leaned his head back in his chair. "I NEED SOME -"
Just then, Ichitaka's mother walked through the front door, leaving Teratani's sentiment unfinished. "Ichitaka, you haven't heard from our guest, have you?" she asked.
With everything that happened today, Ichitaka had completely forgotten about the guest that was supposed to arrive today. "No, no one's been here, mom."
"Really? That's strange, I wonder what could've -" There was yet another interruption, this time in the form of a phone call. Ichitaka's mom answered it: "Seto residence... a long-distance call from where?... Oh, yes, of course..."
Ichitaka straightened up in his chair to listen as his mom continued: "Hello?...Oh, hi... Oh, she's still there?... Well, may I ask what happened?... She what?... No, I had no idea!... Yes... Of course... No, it's all right... Okay, then... Good-bye.." She hung up the phone and sighed.
"What's up?" Ichitaka asked her. With that, she snapped back to Earth and said, "It looks like we're not going to have a guest here, after all." "Oh. Well, who was it, anyway?" Ichitaka inquired.
His mom looked at him for a moment, then at the phone, and finally said, "It's no one. Don't worry about it." And she walked away, looking visibly upset. Ichitaka looked over at Teratani, who shrugged and resumed his habit of manual nasal sanitation.
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Half an hour later, Ichitaka bade goodbye to Teratani, and, after realizing that he was still sleepy, retired to his room, only to be met with the sound of the movie from earlier: "I couldn't have done it without your help, sensei. You taught me to be a man."
'Shut up already,' he thought as he turned off the television with the remote. He then froze, and stared at the remote, an expression of shock and anger on his face.. Not knowing what else to do, he finally tossed it onto his desk, sighed, and flopped onto his bed.
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A/N: So, how was it? Couldn't have been that bad,… right? I just started writing one night out of boredom, and this is what came out. I'm thinking I want it to be about Ichitaka learning to be strong without Itsuki. It's nothing against Itsuki; personally, I love her. I just wanted to see what Ichi would be like without her. Of course, there'll be obstacles along the way: he's Ichitaka Seto; nothing's easy for him. Anyway, thanks for reading, and please review!