Autumn's Rhapsody

Chapter 1: The Grace of Summer's Change

One... Two... Three...

She cut her long, black hair and let it fall just a little lower than her bosom. For days, weeks, months? She didn't know how long it had been, how long it had been since she went and became a shut-in in her room, finishing games one after another. Her form was pretty unkempt by now but she didn't really care. The bags under her eyes were darker than ever but she just ignored it.

This world was pointless anyway. Or at least, that was what she usually thinks, if not always. She had a disease of some unknown sort that had turned her into the grumpy, cranky person that she is now. And this, in turn, made people turn away. But she never cared, at least not now. There really isn't anything to care about when you sleep unconsciously through almost everything.

It was really, really pathetic.

But she wasn't at least, at the point of suiciding. She has her grandmother taking care after her, after all. She couldn't just leave her alone, that would be too much. That's why she decided to simply home-study and play at home, where she isn't ridiculed nor given much thought by outsiders.

A small look of mirth passed by her face as she remembered what she had been doing a year of her life. She spent it all on video games, now popularly known as the legendary 'LightningDancer Ene'. She even had the fanbase to back it up, she almost laughed.

"Takane-chan!"

It was the voice of her grandmother that cut through her train of thoughts. If she was right, the voice came downstairs, most probably from the kitchen. A rare show of sincerity past by her face as she remembered how her grandmother loved preparing her lunchbox for the day. She bit her lip and tried her best to muster up her most positive voice, which isn't really a lot, and shouted, "Coming, Grandma!"

As soon as she got down, she was welcomed by her grandmother who had a packed lunch in hand and a glass of milk on another. She smiled, her forehead wrinkling, as she gave the younger girl a peck in the cheek, "Goodmorning to you, Takane!"

"Ugh, Grandma-!" Takane tried to voice out her displeasure on the show of affection but inside, she was kind of feeling bubbly inside. She simply made with a small frown as she went to seat in the dining table in the room after and muttered as she ate her breakfast, "What's good with taking summer lessons before returning to school?"

"Hahaha," her grandmother's voice followed her to the dining room with a gentle chuckle. As she stopped, she gave a sad smile and added, "Well, this was what your Grandpa has decided before he died, Takane."

"...Yeah." Takane paused a few seconds and stared at her food before she simply returned to eating it again, this time an undistinguishable expression on her face.

A few moments past and she stood up from the table and as she kissed her grandmother grumblingly in the cheek, she went to the door and said, "I'm off, then."

She hate it, walking to school when she could have just stayed in her house and played with video games, just like she always did. But what made this set-up all worse was that she was going to school in the middle of summer. Her grandmother had said it was to catch up with the feel of normal schooldays but she didn't really liked it one bit.

It was annoying and tiring but it's not like she could flat-out disagree with her single relative, who she knew was the one that provided for her needs all these time. Medical expenses, video game finances and all.

Sometimes, she'd wonder how rich her grandparents are but she didn't pry. They must have wanted to live normally. Not that their life now is normal, what with the grandfather dead and the granddaughter sick and grumpy.

As she continued to walk, now slowing down her pace because she thought that it was too much effort, her train of thought flew from her kind of depressing past to her status right now. Being an icon and probably the face of the Dead Bullet 1989, and currently topping one online game after another making her fanbase even larger than ever.

There's also the rumor that fans are presently trying to trace her just for an autograph, if that wasn't an evidence of how this world was messed-up, then she really doesn't know-

BAM!

"Kyaah!" She out-of-characterly shouted as she felt herself falling down the ground, cursing herself mentally as she flushed at her feminine shout. When she tried to get up, she noticed that there was something below her.

But rather than something, there was someone.

Someone meaning a person.

And this person under her had his eyes closed, with a semi-gentle expression on his face and had black hair, though somehow a few shades lighter than him. Now that she saw a closer look, there was even a small mole or something kind of like a round mark just below one of his eyes. He was wearing what she assumed to be sneakers, a cardigan and checkered shirt. That must be in fashion, nowadays, huh-

"Wait!" She immediately stood up from her uncompromising position with huge eyes before she promptly kicked the boy and shouted at him, "You idiot! How dare you-"

"Ouuch~" She was cut off when the boy opened his eyes and gave her a sleepy gaze. After taking a yawn, he met her eyes and added. "That hurt, you know-"

"Ugh." Takane was trying her very best not to murder the boy as she bit back with rage, "You're the one who bumped into me..!"

"Ah, right." His face contorted from the sleepy one to a bright one as he gave a grin and said, "Sorry about that."

Before Takane can say something to that, the boy added, "But, eh, I cushioned your fall too?"

Takane almost rolled her eyes at the way it almost sounded like a question but dismissed it because somehow, he made a point. Somehow.

Dusting off the skirt she wore, she silently thanked the heavens she wore shorts underneath, she just gave a small shrug and left the boy, but not before saying, "Whatever."

As she walked, she though that she handled the situation well. It was an embarrassing situation but she was beginning to somehow being able to control her grumpiness and instead simply acting cool, somehow.

She walked past the empty hallways that she hadn't visited for about a year, not that she cared much about it, and went on to fill in her registration. It was all about application today, so it wasn't all that bad. Yet.

Finishing the forms with practiced ease and small grumbles here and there, she passed the paper and as she went out of the central office, she bumped a person. Whether the person took too much notice, she didn't know because as she went out of the room, she placed her beloved earphones in her ears and let the song blast out as she walked away.

A/N: I abused 'somehow' here but I think it fits. Somehow. Hahaha, anyway, I wanted to write an AU for my OTP in the universe so here it is. It's a little bit short but then again, it's only the start. Later chapters will be longer and will hopefully be updated on a weekly basis. Hope that you guys liked this as much as I did. I know that it kind of makes small sense, but it would come together as time passes, I mean, that's how KagePro is anyway. Hahaha bye, I'll wallow in my tears as I reread past chapters for a while.

On a side note, honestly this is AU, so I'll try to not make this angsty. Or sad. Emphasis on try. And anyone willing to beta with me here will be loved. Hahaha heart.