A year ago, folks talked about the Kokoro Theory in passing- a rumor that couldn't do anything to anyone. This year was different. This year everyone was talking about the Kokoro Theory and knew that it did effect someone somewhere.
This year was going to be the year of change.
Some people, like Uran, were not ready for change, so they became stubborn lumps under their bed covers and wanted things to return to the way it was before. What Uran had though, wasn't something that everyone else did- she had a brother, and he loved her no matter what. Even if that meant helping her fight a foe that she wasn't even aware about...
. . .
Astro was quite pleased at the first party Professor O'Shay had decided to throw for him and Uran. Almost everyone from school was there, which made Astro feel extremely excited and anxious to have all these familiar faces in a place they would normally never be seen in. It wasn't until Astro was sure everyone from school was in attendance that he realized Uran was no one is sight.
What seemed even more odd was that she had actually seemed excited when Professor O'Shay said that he would allow them to have a party. She was thrilled when he said that there would be no adults watching over them either. So, what changed between then and now?
A small wash of fear came over Astro as he started to quickly go back inside the house to check on Uran. He was noticed by one of his friends, Kennedy, who stopped him with curiosity.
"Where are you going Astro?" Kennedy asked, ready to stand out of the way again if Astro was going back to the house if a real emergency was going on.
"Uran hasn't come out yet." the android told his friend. "I'm going to check on her to make sure she's alright."
"Uran?" Kennedy questioned as if the thought had never occurred to him. "Uran hardly turns down the idea of dancing at parties she's invited to. You ever see her dance before? It's like she rehearses every night or something!"
Astro bit his lower lip. Kennedy wasn't given him much to feel hopeful about. Never mind the idea that he was now her brother and he still didn't know that much about her- the idea that this situation wasn't something Uran would typically do was making Astro worried.
"Go get Uran." Kennedy then told Astro, almost reading off of the worried android's emotions. "She'd really like to dance, I bet. And tell her all of us want to see her dance too!"
His fear pushed aside for a moment, Astro gave Kennedy a confirming nod. "Thanks." Astro told him friend gratefully. Kennedy smiled in return and let Astro go on ahead.
. . .
"Uran?" Astro quietly asked as he opened the door to her room.
"I'm not going." Uran told him from her bed. "I feel sick."
Sympathetic, Astro walked over to her bed to see her laying there. She had gotten dressed, much to her brother's relief and surprise, deciding to put on her bright pink tunic dress with white stockings.
"I don't think you want to stay here all night- you got dressed." Astro reasoned. "I'll be with you the entire time if you want me to. You know I will."
Uran didn't answer, instead she curled herself up into a little ball and frowned.
"Come on Uran, you look great." Astro coaxed as he gently pulled on her arm. "And all our friends from school are here."
"The last time I felt this sick, we ended up with the whole world demanding to see our innards- bet some of them wanted us in pieces." Uran spat, forcing her arm away from Astro with a surprising amount of attitude. "You might not bleed, but I do, contrary to what some theorists believe."
"Uran…"
"Don't 'Uran…' me brother, I'm not going anywhere!"
Astro looked at his sister for a moment and knew that she was going to stand by her word.
"Why do you have to be so stubborn?" he wondered as he started to walk out the door.
Uran let out an indignant little huff as he shut the door behind him. Being stubborn wasn't inherently bad- quite naturally it was a defense mechanism more than anything. The girl made another annoyed little huff as she walked over to her window to look out at the party below. It looked rather fun, truth be told, and almost everyone from school had been invited. The feeling or want to actually go down and join them was lost on Uran- she really just wanted to go back to bed and forget about everything, and having such a simple, almost nagging desire made her angry.
The door started to creak open a bit, and Uran whipped her head around to snap at however was going to come through. It was only Jump -who had been excluded from the party because someone was allergic to dog fur- and he made a beeline toward Uran to jump into her lap.
"Jump!" Uran declared, "You're lucky you weren't Astro coming back in to nag me again. I'm not going down to that party and no one is going to make me."
Jump looked up at Uran with an inquisitive tilt of his head.
"I don't want to go down, that's why! And I have no other reason than that!"
Jump gave Uran a little pout before nuzzling her.
"I didn't say it was a good reason..." she then said, giving the dog a rub behind the ear. "It's just the only one I can think of right now… But, Jump, so much has been going on and I feel like I've been forced onto a stage where folks can aim a gun at you if they don't like the performance. It's like… no matter what I do now, someone's not going to like it. Jump, I… I don't like being watched. I don't even know how to express it, it's like there's this big wall between what I mean to say and how I actually feel, and it's… it's..."
The dog looked up at Uran with his big, puppy-like eyes and licked the side of her face affectionately. The girl gave a small smile as she wiped off the dog's drool off her face.
"Thanks." she smiled. "I'll go, you won. You're still not coming down though- Brianna's allergic to dogs, remember?"
Jump barked in response, upset that he couldn't go down after cheering Uran up but knowing that it had to be done.
Maybe she'd sneak him some cupcakes instead.