"Sonozaki! Don't listen to music while in class! And sit properly!" An old maths teacher reprimended him.
"Okay sensei... Dammit..." A 17 year-old Nagato did as he was told and put the earbud out of his left ear at the same time as he stopped leaning on the wall and sat as he was told.
After the class ended, it was time for break.
"Good morning Nagato-kun! I would have saluted you earlier, but you arrived late" A cute girl with very long dark green hair and deep blue eyes was welcoming him.
"You know I couldn't care less about Math. I decided to have more sleep instead... You could try it some time Himiko"
"Ha! My mother would scold me to no end if I overslept on purpose, and my dad... Well, I think he's the kind that would kill me silently" Kimiyoshi Himiko was one of the top students in class 3-C.
"Hey Nagato, English is next, wanna cut class?" A tall boy with straight blonde hair and amber eyes joined them.
"I'm okay with it, Shinji, after all, I never study and I'm top of the class in English. You on the other hand..."
"Tsk! Who needs English anyway? We live in Japan! And I'm not gonna work in tourism either..." Karakura Shinji wasn't the brightest at school, but he put a lot of effort into the things he really liked.
"Still, you should try harder. Also, if you keep cutting class you might get suspended again. I don't understand how your parents are so calm after all the times you've faced that punishment" The last part was directed at Nagato.
"Almost all of them were for fighting though, not for cutting class" He remarked.
"It's even worse. No wonder you are known as this school's worst delinquent" Himiko reminded him.
"People can say anything they want... If they stay away, it's actually good for me"
"*sigh* How did you change so much? What happened to that cheerful kid who played with me along with Ryuu-kun and Mikoto-chan every Watanagashi?"
"He's dead. Now, what was I gonna do...?"
"Don't say it so casually!"
"Geez, if it wasn't for the fact that your parents know each other, I guess you wouldn't be friends at all" Shinji smirked.
"That's- Not true..." Himiko seemed hurt by that.
"Sorry, I was just kidding!" He apologized.
"Whatever... I'll go buy a drink at the vending machine" Nagato left the room and walked down the hallway to the stairs.
When he exited his classroom, it wasn't rare that other students looked at him with fear. Nagato was known for having taken down several other delinquents and bullies since his arrival as a first year.
It wasn't a big deal for him, since he had been born with the same supernatural strength of Amuro, and Mion had taught him Kendo and other martial arts since he was little.
He moved into Okinomiya for a change, as he grew tired of being in the same village for so long, so he didn't care about little things such as a couple students and teachers fearing or disliking him.
Once he got to the machine, on the second floor, he bought a lemon soda and waited for it to drop. As he did he noticed a trio of girls that seemed to be muttering something in a negative way.
"Who does she think she is? Ignoring me and refusing to talk to anyone in class in her first day... Talk about about a freak!" A fake blonde girl that seemed to be the leader spouted.
"Yeah, just look at her reading her book outside..." A taller one with long black hair added.
"She has quite the nerve, to be a transfer student" The shorter one with brown hair in a tail and glasses pointed out.
"Second years..." Nagato thought as he drank a sip of his soda. "And bullying a new student too. Who are they talking about anyway?" He became curious, so he walked to the window.
As he looked outside, he noticed that there was a girl he had never seen before. She had long lilac hair and gray eyes. Nagato thought she was pretty, but didn't feel an urge to go and talk to her.
It was obvious that those other girls were jealous of her for some reason though, but he couldn't think what that reason was.
"People are such a bother..." He muttered as he came back to his classroom.
In the end he didn't cut class and neither did Shinji. They did as normal and waited for lunch. When the bell finally rang, the two friends went to the cafeteria. Despite being another good friend, Himiko used to hang out with a group of girls as well, so most of the time Shinji and Nagato ate together.
"I envy you, man. To think that you don't live in your hometown anymore and yet you always get those delicious home-made bentos..." Shinji looked at his friend's meal.
"I told Mom that she didn't have to do this anymore, but she insists. It's not like I'm gonna complain anyway" As he spoke his look was directed at the girl he had seen earlier. Of course she was eating alone, but she didn't seem to care, either.
"Is something the matter?" Shinji noticed that he was looking somewhere else.
"It's nothing" Nagato continued eating but Shinji looked in the same direction and saw what had picked his friend's attention.
"Ah, the new girl. She's a beauty, isn't she? It's actually strange to see her eating alone"
"You already saw her? I heard she's a transfer student that came in today"
"Yeah, I happened to run into her when I was entering the school. I think she's in second grade. Maybe I could invite her to join us-"
"Don't even think about it" Nagato gave him a serious look.
"Hey, why not? She's all alone and this could be my chance to become her friend" It was obvious that Shinji wanted more than that.
"I don't think she really minds being alone, you'll just bother her"
"Nghh..." He made a sound of frustration as he knew Nagato was right. "H-Hey! Talking about girls, you won't believe what my brother got me for my birthday!"
"What is it? Don't tell me it's a porn magazine"
"What? No! Why would I want that as a gift? After all, I steal those from him all the time"
Nagato sighed.
"What I got was... Two tickets for an all you can eat buffet at Angel Mort! For tomorrow!"
"Ah, now I understand. You want me to beat you up for staring at my cousin in that tight maid suit"
"That's not what I meant, I swear! I wouldn't invite you if that was the case..."
"Huh? I thought you'd go with your brother"
"Nah, he is going back to Kyoto that day. And even if he was here, I know how much you love to eat so... What do you say?"
"That you are a pervert"
"Do you want to go or not?!"
"Hmm... Whatever, I accept" Nagato smiled, which was something he rarely did nowadays, but that was one of the reasons he was Shinji's friend.
Ever since he arrived, other students were distant to him. He accepted it because he thought people in the city were colder. However, Shinji would sometimes pop up and start talking to him for no apparent reason. At first, Nagato would tell him to shut up or go away, but after a couple weeks he found out that was useless.
All in all though, Shinji's reactions and attitude made him laugh from time to time, and that was something he appreciated.
"Yeah! I'll get to see the pretty ladies along with my pal!"
"Don't push your luck, Karakura" Nagato looked at him menacingly.
"Heh... Alright"
"Aside from that, have you been able to find a dummer?"
"No, not of the level we want at least. All the guys I know are into Rock, Punk or Grunge, not a single one is interested in Mathcore or Prog Metal..."
"*sigh* Well, sooner or later one will appear. We just gotta keep looking. In the meantime, we gotta keep getting better. I'm still trying to play those complex riffs while singing, but it's damn hard..."
"You'll get through it Nagato, I'm sure. You're a talented person after all"
"What does that mean?"
"That you're the kind of person that can do anything they propose themselves"
"You really think that? I don't think I'm that talented..."
"How not? Man, you're the eleventh on marks of the 93 students of the level, you are the strongest guy in the school, you play the guitar like Petrucci AND you're popular with the girls!"
"That last one is not true..."
"And you're oblivious of it! Look to your right" Shinji whispered.
As Nagato did, a group of younger girls suddenly started looking in the opposite direction with their faces red.
"It might be true then... But I've never been able to draw Manga, and it's something I've always wanted to do..."
"Any new Manga release has picked your interest?"
"Not yet, but I'm still reading Elfen Lied. It's so damn good..." Remembering that made Nagato smile as well.
"Yeah, I know. Too bad that it doesn't have long, or at least it doesn't feel like it"
"Maybe, but there's plenty of other Manga we can read by then"
"That's for sure"
The two friends finished eating and went back to class. It was a normal Friday overall. It's true that Nagato didn't have a lot of friends, but he was happy knowing that his two pals were people he could rely on.
The final bell rang.
"Hey, Nagato-kun, you know what day's today?" Himiko tried to remind him.
"Um... Friday?"
"No, that's not what I mean. It's the 3rd of June, we're three weeks away from Watanagashi!"
"Oh, that thing. Well, it's nice to hang out with the others sometimes"
"Don't act like you are not looking forward to it, I know Ryuu-kun is still your best friend, you just like to pretend that you don't care"
"Shut up, that's not true. I know he's fine, that's all"
"And I also know that every weekend you go to Angel Mort and accompany Mikoto-chan to the bus stop until the bus to Hinamizawa arrives"
"Another word and you'll be berried alive"
"Hahahaha, okay, okay. I don't know why you make such a big deal of it. You're a good guy deep inside Nagato, and you know it" Himiko gave him a warm smile.
"Yeah, whatever. Are we leaving or what? What's the freaking hold up, Shinji?"
"Sorry, I couldn't find my copybook, but now I'm ready"
"Let's go, then"
The three friends walked downtown together before each went in a different direction home.
"This city gets bigger and bigger every year. To think that my parents left Kakiuchi city to live here... It gives you an idea of how much Okinomiya has changed" Himiko pointed out.
"Now that I think about it, you don't talk much about your hometown, Nagato" Shinji was curious.
"What can I say about Hinamizawa... Well, I think it's a quiet place, the people are really nice and the fresh air that you breathe is, kind of, liberating" He smiled as he remembered the breeze of his town.
"Wow, you sound like you really love Hinamizawa, why would you leave it?"
"I've told you before, I was bored. I don't know, I wanted to have a taste of life in the city, I guess"
"Fair enough. My family moved from Kyoto looking for a place that wasn't as crowded as a metropolis, but could be called a city in the end. Kisuke went back to Kyoto for University though, and I think I'll be doing the same" Shinji replied.
"If we go to University" Nagato remarked.
"Well, if we find a drummer and we have good luck, of course, I'll be a full-time bassist!"
"I really hope we do..."
"You're really passionate about music, aren't you?" Himiko grinned at Nagato.
"Yeah..." He blushed. "Got a problem with that?"
"No. It's great actually. I wish you two the best of luck"
"Thanks..."
They got to the park in the city center that divided their paths.
"Well, see you next week!" Himiko left.
"Bye, Himiko-chan" Shinji replied.
"See ya" Nagato said.
"And I gotta go the other way as well. See you tomorrow at Angel Mort!"
"Yeah, thanks Shinji"
"It's nothing!"
Himiko had gone to the left and Shinji walked right. Only Nagato went forward towards his appartment.
Once he arrived, he threw his schoolbag in a corner and jumped into the bed.
After listening to music for a while, he decided to make a call.
"Hello? Nagato?"
"Who else would it be Ryuu?"
"Well, I don't know, it could be anyone as long as they had your cell"
"Like I'd let that happen"
"Well, that's true. How's everything going in the city?"
"Good enough. Classes suck, like always, but there are many things you can do afterwards"
"I think I would've joined you if it wasn't for Eiko. You know, she is little and all, so I gotta take care of her"
"How old is Eiko-chan now?"
"She's seven already"
"Time sure flies..."
"Yeah, just think about it, this is your last year isn't it?"
"Yep, I'm about to end my time as a High School student"
"Houjou-sensei told me something related to that the other day..."
"Well, for me she's only Satoko-obachan"
"Haha, that's right. She told me that she couldn't care less if you wanted to graduate from an overrated city High School, but I'm sure she's just acting tsundere..."
"She possibly is, or after all those years teaching us maybe she felt betrayed, I don't know..."
"Nah, I bet she's just sad cause she thought that she would be graduating us all some day, and you are the first child of our parents' group of friends"
"That's true. Actually, I could pay my parents a visit on Sunday"
"Don't waver to show yourself around here as well"
"Of course, I wouldn't mind kicking your ass at Dairantou Smash Brothers DX"
"Just you wait, Nagato. I'm sure that next time I am going to win"
"We'll see about that. See you on Sunday"
"I'll be waiting"
He hanged up and laid on his bed again. After a while resting he got up and grabbed his guitar.
Amuro and Mion saw that he had an interest in music since he was very little, as he would try to play the Koto and sometimes grabbed Amuro's Shamisen as well. For this reason, they bought an acoustic guitar when he was 6. After a couple years, he became interested in Rock and Metal, so he wanted an electric guitar. For his 11th birthday, they gave him a blue electric guitar with 24 frets, 2 more than the usual. Nagato liked it so much that he would play it all day.
Because of that, he started to spend more time inside his room than outside. Mion became worried about this, but Amuro convinced her that it was his passion and that he had a more introverted personality, just like him, so it was normal that he would find more happiness in his art than playing outside.
Nagato became a bit more colder towards others due to that, but on the other hand, he had developed an outstanding musical ear and had gotten extremely good at playing the guitar. He specially admired guitar shredders, and noticed that a couple of them used 7-string guitars, which brings us to his 15th birthday, in which he got a Music Man JP7 of an elegant red colour from his parents.
After playing those seven strings of wonder, Nagato fell in love with the instrument because of the large field of creative possibility that it gave him. Due to that, he decided that he wanted to start a band. This was the real reason he moved to the city, and the second reason why he also became Shinji's friend, who happened to be a pretty good bassist.
Nowadays, it seemed like the real challenge was finding a drummer up to their high standards, but the two had hopes of finding one before the end of the year.
After a couple hours his stomach was growling, so he decided to have dinner. He didn't use to cook during the week, and even less in the night, so it was typical that he went out to a restaurant.
He specially liked a Korean Baebecue restaurant, so he decided to go there that night. He hated waiting in general, so this was a perfect choice. In a little while, the slices of meat he purchased would arrive to his table along with some rice and vegetables, then he would put the raw meat on the grill for a couple seconds on each side and devour it.
The owner of the restaurant also knew him at this point, and sometimes even added a couple slices for free to reward him for his preference.
"See ya, Matsumoto-san, the meat was great like always" Nagato thanked him.
"Glad that you liked it Nagato-san, I hope to see you back soon"
"I'll be, sooner or later"
With a filled stomach, Nagato could go to bed and look forward to Shinji's invitation. After arriving to his appartment, he took a shower and went to bed afterwards.
The next day, the two friends met outside Angel Mort.
"Hi Nagato! Are you ready to enter paradise?" Shinji teased him with his elbow.
"Dessert paradise, that is. Also, one weird look to Mikoto and you..."
"I know, I know. I'm a dead man"
The two entered the restaurant and were shown their seat by a cute blonde girl that was the most experienced at the place.
"So cute..." Shinji was drooling.
"Well, it is your birthday gift so I'm not gonna criticize the way you enjoy it"
"My, Nagato-oniichan! It's been long since you've come here as a client!" Mikoto came to greet him in her maid suit. She had become a beautiful young woman very simar to Shion and had grown a pair of breasts that were slightly bigger than her mother's (if that was even possible).
"You will be serving us, Mikoto?"
"Yep, Nabeshima-senpai told me you were here"
"Ah, the blonde girl at the entrance. I'm surprised she recognised me"
"What are you saying? After all, you come here every weekend to escort me to the bus stop" She made a cute face as if she was a maiden in need of protection.
"Mikoto...!" Nagato was upset cause Shinji was there, but he didn't seem to pay attention.
"Oh, hi Karakura-senpai!" She knew him of sight since he was Nagato's friend.
"H-Hi, Mikoto-san..." He seemed to be making an effort not to look at her.
"Hey Shinji, what are you...?" Nagato got curious about his sudden change of attitude.
"Nagato... I tried my best, I swear. But, having such an Angel standing in front of me... I cannot. I just can't miss such a golden opportunity. So, even if it means Death shall come sooner than expected, I will take the risk" Shinji said as he opened his eyes to see Mikoto.
As he witnessed her daring tighs, her bouncing melons and beautiful fuchsia eyes his nose suddenly exploded with blood.
"Hey Shinji! I know what I said, but at this rate you'll die before I get the chance to kill you!" Nagato was now worried about his friend bleeding to death.
"Oh well, I guess I should be back in a while. I'll bring each a glass of mineral water in the meantime"
"Thanks, Mikoto"
After a couple minutes, Shinji was alright again and asked for a strawberry-cream parfait. Nagato was already eating his third dessert by now, which was a banana split with three balls of ice cream, one of chocolate-mint chip, another ball of pistachio and the third one of Heaven (a sweet blue ice cream) flavour.
"If you ate a bit slower maybe you would enjoy it" Shinji pointed out.
"This is my way of enjoying food" He said before he continued chomping the dessert. "I'm having a couple mont-blanc's after this"
"Well, at least it seems that you're having a good time"
"No need to say it. Thanks, Shinji" Nagato was thankful from the bottom of his heart.
"You're welcome. I tried your gift by the way, those bass strings you bought sound great"
"Glad you liked them"
Nagato continued eating for another while and Shinji used that time to enjoy the sight of the waitresses.
"Paradise..." He muttered while drooling and putting his dumbest face.
After finishing his dessert buffet, Nagato was ready to go. Shinji was happy with the use he gave his brother's gift and was ready to call it a day.
"Kuta... Kuta..." Nagato said in sign that he was full.
"Shall we go?" His friend replied.
"Okay. Again... Thanks, Shinji"
"It's nothing compared to what you did for me back in the day..."
"Oh. Well, it's what friends do"
The two friends exited the place.
"Do you want to wait for Mikoto-san?"
"Nah, I'm sure she can manage on her own for once"
They walked to the same park downtown to say goodbye.
"Well, that was a blast! Now you know where to invite me next time, Nagato!"
"Sure, and you'll bleed to death in a week at that rate"
"Hahaha, I wouldn't mind dying for that. See ya!" Shinji waved his hand and went towards his home.
"Yeah, see ya..." Nagato started walking his way home.
On the way, he suddenly felt a weird sensation. It was like he was no longer living. A feeling like he was somehow playing some kind of first person game with his body.
Then it all went black.
On Sunday, he visited his parents like he said he would do in his hometown.
As he walked from the bus stop to the Sonozaki Manor, some villagers recognised him and stopped to greet him. Nagato was known for being a troublesome kid that was full of energy.
"When did I stop being so cheerful?" He thought.
As he arrived at the manor, he felt an awkward silence. Most of the times, somebody would go to greet him loudly, but this didn't seem to be one of those times.
He kept walking through the path and entered the house.
"Tadaima-"
"Surprise!" A loud choir of voices welcomed him.
"Heh, I gotta admit that I didn't expect that"
"I couldn't stay shut about you coming, so everyone came to greet you" Ryuu said as he gave Nagato a best buds kind of handshake.
"I see"
"~Hau~ Nagato-kun has grown so much! I hadn't seen him since last Watanagashi" Ryuu's mother said.
"Hi, Rena-obasan"
"And look who we have here... I bet you are not coming back to my classroom this time either..." A certain blonde woman with fuchsia eyes was scolding him.
"Sorry, Satoko-obachan, but I think I'll graduate from my current school" Nagato acted like he couldn't care less.
"It's not like I'll be accepting you as a transfer student either ~ohohoho~"
"Yeah, whatever..."
"Humph!" She crossed her arms.
"It's been a while Nagato..." A familar adult man's voice said behind him.
"Tousan, it's good to see you! Last time you were out of town..." Nagato was glad to see his father.
"Yeah, I had to deal with something that time, but I made sure that this time such a thing wouldn't happen" Amuro remembered how he sent his men to erase a troublesome gang.
"Nagato!" A woman's voice called his attention.
"Kasan..." Mion was hugging him so tightly that he had trouble breathing.
"I was so worried... You forgot to call me on Friday"
"Yeah... Forgot..." Nagato had done it on purpose.
"You may think it's a drag to call your mother 3 times a week, but for me, it means that my dear son is safe and sound" Mion had always been caring for her son, but after he went to Okinomiya her maternal cares became a bit more... Intense.
"Don't worry, I'm alright, see? It's not like something bad can happen as long as I'm his son anyway" Nagato said as he pointed Amuro.
Mion stood silent for a second, but then went back: "In any case, I'm relieved" She said grabbing him against her chest again.
"Na-ga-to-nii!" Mikoto hugged him from behind.
"Agh, Mikoto! What have I told you about sneaking from behind?"
"I can't help it... After all, you didn't wait for me yesterday..."
"It's the first time that I didn't!"
"And I was so sad... You didn't answer my call either!"
"Call? I don't remember..."
"Nagato, you are the worst! Oni! Akuma!"
"Tsk, you're the one who has the Oni character (鬼) in her name anyway..."
(*Mikoto is written 魅箏*)
"My, are you doubting my name choices, Nagato?" A soft familiar voice called his attention.
"Of course not, Shion-obachan!" He bowed immediately.
"You better not. After all, I picked that Demon character from your mother's name..." Shion patted him on the head.
"So, how's Satoshi-ojiisan?"
"He's doing pretty well. His Baseball reviews are top-notch like always!" She seemed proud of her husband's work.
"Glad to hear that"
"And how's your band coming along?" She whispered. Shion was the only family member who officially knew about Nagato's true plans.
"Not so good. I mean, Shinji and I are doing great, but..."
"The drummer..."
"Yeah..." He said disappointed.
"Don't worry, I'm sure one will appear sooner than you expect"
"I hope"
"For now, cheer up. Everyone's happy to see you" She gave him a warm smile.
"Yeah, that reminds me. Hey Ryuu, did Eiko-chan come?"
"Right behind you!" Ryuu pointed.
A little girl with brown hair and big blue eyes was looking at him with a shy expression.
"Hey Eiko-chan how have you been?"
"Eh... This... Fine..." She felt like she was talking to a stranger.
"Good. Sorry if I startled you" He put his hand in her head.
"No... It's... It's okay..." She smiled, blushing a little.
"It's good to see everything's fine here at home" He thought as he looked at the cheerful reunion that was organised that day.
They made a banquet to celebrate the occasion. Nagato talked and played with his family and friends for the rest of the day and went back at night to Okinomiya by bus.
"I guess Himiko's right. I really love my family and friends back in Hinamizawa..."He thought as the bus travelled between the places.
Once he arrived at his appartment, he was ready to go to sleep, but something was bothering him.
"Did I really miss that call by Mikoto?" He grabbed his phone and searched the call-register.
There was in fact a missed call of his cousin, but no matter how hard he tried to remember, there was a blank space in his memory.
"Well, I guess I've been overdoing myself a bit. I don't know how though... Maybe too much guitar playing...? Nah, it can't be that" Nagato decided to forget about it and go to sleep.
The next day, things were overall normal, except for the fact that Shinji got sick. He sent an email to Nagato to tell him that he wouldn't be back for a couple days.
"Re: Man, I'm dead
Ok. Try to practice if you feel any better, but do your best to get well"
Nagato replied and received a smiley face as an answer.
For lunch Himiko offered to eat with him, but Nagato turned down her invitation.
"I like eating alone sometimes. You go have fun with your friends" He replied.
"If you say so... Well, see you later!" And she left.
He went to the cafeteria as he normally did and opened his bento. He was about to start eating when he noticed someone sat in front of him.
"You don't mind if I sit here?" A soft girl's voice asked.
"Not at all..." He replied, to later notice that it was the bullied girl of the other day. "I don't want to ask her anything though, I'm sure she'd just be bothered"
"Thank you" She replied and started eating as well.
After a while without exchanging a single word, she broke the ice.
"Are you sure I'm not bothering you?"
"Really, you're not. What makes you think that?"
"I don't know... I just felt like you were acting cold towards me" Her gray eyes stared oddly at him.
"Um... I don't understand what you're saying. I mean, I don't know you" He said with a confused smile. "Why would I be talking to a stranger anyway?" He thought.
"I see..." The girl stopped eating, picked her stuff and left immediately.
"Huh?" Nagato was in shock. "Did I say something wrong?" He thought.
As the day progressed, all he could think of was that girl. Why did she think he was being cold towards her? Why did she leave so suddenly as if he had just insulted her? Nagato was most of the time calm, but these kind of situations made his mind race in an obsessive way in order to find the answer to such behaviour.
"I wonder, I wonder..." He repeated with the mental image of Ryuu's mother saying those words.
Once classes ended he made a decission.
"Hey Nagato, let's go home!" Himiko told him.
"Sorry Himiko, there's some stuff I gotta take care of. I'm staying for a while"
"Okay... I won't ask now, but please tell me tomorrow what's going on, and if it's a fight do it outside of school!" Himiko thought that was a very strange situation.
"I'll evaluate that request"
And so, his friend left. He, on the other hand, decided to wait by the school entrance.
He saw many students leave the school, and hoped that the mysterious girl hadn't left already.
He was lucky. After 10 minutes waiting, she was exiting the building.
"Hey you" He said and the girl stopped to look behind.
Nagato stopped leaning on the wall and walked towards her.
"Why did you leave like you were offended by something?"
"I thought anyone would be hurt by a friend denying to know them" She replied with an inexpressive face but with a slightly menacing tone.
"Friend? Hey, I was not lying or pretending when I said that I don't know you"
"That's odd. I perfectly know that's not true, but you don't seem to be lying at all" Despite her robotic expression, she was actually surprised.
"Let's see, you are a transfer student, that arrived last Friday and who I have never even talked to until today. How come we are friends?" Nagato was more confused every second.
"I even gave you my number" She insisted.
"Huh? Now, now. Let's see here, I'm gonna check just in case, but we both know that it's impossible for me to have-" As he checked his contacts list, he noticed a contact he had never seen before.
Asahara Megumi
"Um... Are you by any chance... Asahara Megumi?"
"Yes. We met at the Arcade last Saturday"
"Arcade? But I never go there!"
"Really? I do recall seeing you there that day, I'm sure"
"And I'm telling you that there's no way in the world I was!"
"Unless... You had a twin brother. Now that I think about it, you have purple eyes, the person I met had green ones. But then, that wouldn't explain why you have my number"
"What the-? I... I do have a green eye and a purple one, but I never let my fringe cover my purple eye"
"Could you have... Two personalities?" Megumi's hypothesis was quite plausible at this point.
"Not that I know, hahahaha... But, something's definitely wrong" He realised.
"What's your name?" She asked him.
"Don't you know it already?"
"Just do it"
"Sonozaki Nagato" He felt stupid.
"It makes sense..."
"How?"
"You see, you didn't really tell me your name, you just told me to call you N" She was dead serious.
"N? I never use my initials..."
"I'm just repeating what you told me that day. At first I thought you were pretending not to know me to hurt me or something..."
"Why would I do that?!"
"But now I'm starting to really think that I met a different person that day"
"Geez, this all seems like a bad joke to me. However, there are too many weird things to just let this go... Would you mind if we go to the Arcade? Maybe I get to remember something"
"Alright" She accepted without further questioning.
After walking for a while, Nagato became curious about her.
"So... Where did you transfer from?"
"I used to study at home, but that is not possible anymore. I come from a place close to Tokyo"
"I see. Was it pretty there?"
"Yes, I loved to play in the forest, which reminds me that this city is quite different from that"
"Hinamizawa is pretty close though. There it's all hills, forest and rivers"
"Hinamizawa?"
"Yeah, it's a village not far from here. I used to live there before I started High School. I moved to Okinomiya then"
"I see. Would you mind showing it to me?" She was blunt.
"Um... I don't know you much but guess there's no reason to say no, is there?" He said something polite, but his expression showed a hint of dullness.
"You really are different from him" Megumi smiled as well.
"Who?"
"N, of course"
"H-Hey! Don't assume his existence so suddenly!"
"I'm not assuming anything, I know he exists" She shook her head and said with decision.
Once they arrived, Nagato gave a look at the place. It didn't matter how much he looked around, he couldn't get a single memory of that day.
"I'm curious about something..." Megumi started telling him.
"What is it?"
"Would you mind playing a round with me?" She pointed at the DDR Extreme machine.
"Huh? I've never played that before..."
"It's for experimental purposes"
"Well... Okay then, let's give it a shot" Nagato stepped on the machine and flipped two 100¥ coins in it.
As the game started he had to select the Versus Mode. Then he had to pick a difficulty.
"I should go with Difficult, since it's not the hardest but it's not embarassing either" He thought.
Megumi immediately chose Heavy for herself though.
"Screw it..." He mumbled as he selected Heavy as well.
Then, the song list appeared and Megumi started going through the songs. A particular name picked his interest.
"Hey, can we play that one?"
"TSUGARU... It's fun, okay" She agreed. "But, could we play the Apple Mix?"
"I have no idea what that means, but if it's the same song, why not?"
Megumi picked the Mix, which had a bit more challenging steps than the original.
Nagato liked the song, but was truly terrible at the game. He could follow the rythm, but most steps were off-tempo beats, so they were beyond his ability.
"Whatever... I knew I was terrible at it anyway" Nagato said after getting a big E, while Megumi got an A.
"I see. It seems that certain abilities also change with your personality"
"You accepted your little theory as fact before we even proved anything"
"N is even better than me. He got at least AA on all songs excluding the MAX songs and Paranoia Survivor"
"Anyway, we can continue playing"
"Are you sure? Even being a terrible player?"
"You don't have to shove it on my face!"
"Or could you be..." Her expression suddenly became surprised.
"Huh?" Nagato noticed.
"...Doing this for me?" Her eyes filled with hope.
"I... I just thought you were having fun" He acted tsundere.
"Thank you" She smiled.
"She's really pretty when she shows her emotions..." He thought
They played the 2 remaining songs, Megumi picked Sakura and Drop Out.
As Nagato was too bad at the game, he just gave up halfway at the song, so he just watched Megumi play.
Her screen showed a lot of Perfect and Great messages, even though she sometimes missed a step or two. As soon as he stopped looking at the screen and looked at her he noticed what might be the reason for the bullies' jelousy.
As she danced, her bust moved up and down in an almost hypnotic way.
"Wow, with school clothes she didn't seem to have such a figure, but now that she's moving like that... I think those are just a size smaller than Mikoto's" He thought and got beet red, just like his mother.
Once she finished they played a couple of other games as this was more of an excuse to hide his blushing, and then they exited the Arcade.
"Geez, you're really good" He told her.
"Thanks, but I still have to practice more if I want to beat N"
"About that... Maybe there's a way to clear this mess once and for all"
"What are you planning to do?"
"I have a feeling my dad could help with this, so I think I'm skipping school tomorrow..."
"Would you mind if I tag along?"
"You don't mind missing a whole day of school?"
"In other circumstances I would. However, this mystery has also made me curious..." She said. "No, actually... I think I'm rather... Obsessed" As she thought this her attitude seemed a bit odd, but Nagato didn't notice.
"Well, how to say no to that? It's settled then, let's meet at that bus stop at 7" He pointed.
"Yeah. But... Could you promise that you'll show up?"
Nagato felt a hint of sadness in her voice, more than of distrust.
"Don't worry. It's a promise, Megumi-san" He smiled sincerely at her.
"See you tomorrow, Nagato-senpai" She smiled back radiantly.
~~~~X~~~~
And this is the sequel someone was asking for the other day. I also love this story, and I'll try to update it as regularly as possible. However, University is starting tomorrow, so I can't promise anything, and there's also the fact that there are two other stories active as well, but I'll do my best (or at least try).
Hope you dig this, and as always, I'll reply to comments and reviews in the next chapters in case there are any.
Evhron out.