Himawari 向日葵 Chapter 1: 春 Spring Road: Introduction, a yowamushi pedal/弱虫ペダル fanfic

Summary: "I no longer have a home. I no longer have a place to return to. Nobody is waiting for me anyway. There's nobody who needs me." A girl who longs for the warmth of the family after her mother ran away with another man, resulting to her father distancing himself and the untimely death of her uncle finds solace in a certain Ryokan in Hakone.

Himawari 向日葵

春 Spring Road: Introduction

Mikan stared at her new school, Hakone Academy with much frustration. She wanted to check it out before starting school tomorrow. It's been ten years ever since she left Hakone and she wanted to get familiar with the town. And a good place to start would be her high school. Mikan sighed heavily and thought maybe this was some kind of revenge from her deceased uncle from beyond the dead. She smiled bitterly at her own sick and stupid thoughts. Hakone brought back much bittersweet memories and to think that her father would decide to live here after what her mother did here. Her father must love her new mum a lot, to even go back here and live here after what happened here years ago. Then again, Hakone wasn't all just bitter memories. She made some friends and a pseudo family of some sort. The Todo-In after all was a house of the sun. The house consisted of a bunch of bright people like the sun.

"Orihime-chan, I'll never forget you! Grow your hair and don't forget to smile!" A young Jinpachi Todo said as he ran after the car where Mikan was in. "It's not your fault, don't blame yourself." She held back her tears. "Jinpachi-kun…you…"

"Baka," She said to no one. She grabbed her granny bike from the rail and started heading back to a place she called home but never considered one. As she headed back she noticed a group of three boys riding their bicycles and was heading back to the school. "So the school has a bicycle club, how nice." She thought of her uncle. He remembered that he used to be a road racer before deciding to work as a cook in the Todo-In.

"Mikan-chan, I'm the mountain god and you're my precious goddess!"

"That's stupid Uncle," she pointed out "You can never be a mountain god, you're not that fit. Please think about your health,"

"Uwaaa…Mikan-chan is crushing Uncle's dreams," he said and covered his eyes. He pretended to cry and Mikan quickly ran towards her uncle.

"I'm sorry Uncle," she hugged him.

Her uncle was a haughty funny idiot sometimes that it annoyed her but she loved him all the same. He was the one there for her when she needed someone. He was her family but their time was short after his untimely death.

Mikan pedalled down the hill and left the vicinity, preparing what awaits her the next day, the start of the school year and also the start of her first year in high school.

Jinpachi Todo, an upcoming third year and also the esteemed ace climber of Hakone Academy watched the girl and her blue granny bike across them.

"Jinpachi what's taking you so long?" Hayato Shinkai, the ace sprinter of Hakone asked and looked towards the direction as to where his friend was looking and saw a strawberry blonde haired girl looking at them. "Do you know her?"

"Wahahaha...It must be one of my fangirls," Jinpachi said as he watched the long haired girl watching them.

"Shut up Todo, I'm pretty sure it's not!" Yasutomo Arakita who happens to be the ace assistant of Hakone Academy and also their courier scowled at his somewhat conceited friend.

"But I'm pretty sure she is. She looks so familiar!" Jinpachi proclaimed. Yasutomo just waved his hand dismissing the idea.

"Tch, if she was your fangirl she would be heading up here and asking for your picture but she's not. She's clearly just looking at the school or she could just be a manager from another team to scout us." He pointed out.

"Ahh…Yasutomo…you're so observant and so cautious…I'm proud," Hayato teased earning him a glare from the said male.

"Wahahaha...I still believe she's just one of my shy fangirls!" Jinpachi beamed. Yasutomo raised a brow at how the saying 'ignorance is bliss' applies so well towards his friend while Hayato bit on his power bar and stared at his friend dumbfounded at his said ignorance.

"But really she looks familiar...if not…a friend…." Jinpachi mumbled to himself as he followed his friends.

"Tadaima," a young Jinpachi said cheerily as he entered his house, a well-known ryokan named Todo-An in Hakone. Jinpachi smiled at the scene before him, it was the usual scene in the well renowned Todo-An, the place was bustling with activity. There were a lot of guests flocking the inn at this time so he knew that his parents won't be able to join them for dinner but it's alright since he has his sister. His beautiful sister that shared a lot of similar interests as him aside from his personality and looks will be joining him. Jinpachi's older sister who was passing by the front door greeted him.

"Ah…Jin-kun okaeri!" she smiled sweetly.

"Tadaima Aya-nee," he hugged his sister and then noticed a small petite girl behind his sister. She was hiding behind his older sister so he could hardly see her but he noticed her strange hair colour. He found it a bit strange but also pretty, her hair was blonde and had a tinge of orange and was cut really short that it almost looked like his. She also seemed to have jade green orbs? He didn't like her short hair because it's like a boy's, a girl should have longer hair like his sister but he did like her hair colour a bit, it was unique. The little girl is a 6/10. But for some reason she reminds him of something and it bothers him. After a minute of awkward silence, he made a conclusion that the younger girl reminded him of oranges. His older sister noticed her younger brother's curious stare and glanced at the young girl behind her to notice she was staring back at her younger sibling.

"Ah…Jin-kun...this is…"

"Orihime!" He said sporadically and the younger girl stepped forward.

"My name is Yoshioka, Mikan…" she corrected. Jinpachi was about to say something but his sister smiled at him and gave him the look that said 'Don't you dare say anything or I'll tell mum on you.'

"Mikan is Yoshiaka-san's niece,"

"You mean the kind Oji-san that works in the kitchen, Yoshioka-san?" He said and patted Mikan on the head. Mikan placed her tiny hands on her head and glared offended at the gesture.

"So did you come to get your uncle, Orihime-chan? Jinpachi asked.

"It's Mikan!" she corrected again and pouted at the new given nickname. "And I just came to see uncle for a while…" she mumbled quietly.

"Awww…how sweet but Orange Princess sounds so cute though, it suits you." Jinpachi smiled sincerel. Mikan blushed and then pouted.

Ayaka giggled as she watched the two interact. 'At least Mikan will have a friend closer to her age.' She thought and held the two younger kids hands.

"Mikan-chan, do you want to stay and have dinner with Jin-kun and I?" she asked and she quickly pulled her hand away from Ayaka only for it to be held by the younger Todo sibling.

"Orihime-chan you should, Aya-nee is a great cook!" Jinpachi grinned and looked eager to dine with his new found friend. "Let's Eat!"

Jinpachi dragged her towards the dining room of the Todo family before she was about to decline the offer. They were by followed by his older sister who was smiling happily that she was able to help Yoshioka-san with his niece who has been aloof ever since she left her parents' home. Ayaka wanted to return the favour after he taught her how to cook even though he was tired after the almost endless work in their family's ryokan. The hallways were bustling with activity, as they passed by; they greeted a bunch of staff serving the customers of their ryokan. Mikan fidgeted as she followed the two charismatic siblings, they were both good looking and kind.

The Todo dining table was big compared to the table at her uncle's house and her parents. It had six chairs, two on each sides and one on each ends. There was also food ready for them. Surprisingly there was an extra plate just for Mikan.

"It's big," Mikan said amazed and pointed at the table innocently.

"Off course it is, after all we are a big family, Aya-nee, Oka-san, Otou-san and me." He boasted smiled brightly.

"Our parents won't be able to dine with us because Kaa-san and Otou-san are a bit busy tonight so it'll just be us three," Ayaka explained and Mikan nodded.

"I was about to go the kitchen but then I saw that we had an extra plate," Jinpachi blinked.

"I told Fujiwara-san that we were having a guest," Ayaka smiled at the girl and led her to the seat next to her younger brother.

Mikan blinked curious about her statement. Ayaka then took a sat across them and picked up her chopsticks. "Itadakimasu," she said and started eating.

"I think Aya-nee planned on inviting you over," Jinpachi answered, assuming that the girl was thinking that and started.

"Anyways, dig in." Jinpachi said his thanks and started eating as well.

She looked down and picked up her chopsticks and also said her thanks. Dinner was great, her new friend was right. Ayaka-neesan was really great at cooking. And also for some reason the food tasted much better than her uncle's dinner even though her uncle, who was also a great cook. It was strange she felt happy while eating.

"Ne, Aya-nee your cooking is amazing!" Jinpachi beamed and Ayaka smiled brightly because of the compliment. "It was all thanks to Yoshiaka-san's teaching,"

"Uwaaa…Yoshiaka-san taught you how to cook? I should ask him to teach me as well," Jinpachi exclaimed.

"Uncle is amazing," she beamed and Ayaka smiled happily

After that dinner, the three became close friends. Mikan would always visit and play after school with Jinpachi. Jinpachi would always tease her about how Mikan reminds him of an orange while Ayaka would always scold her younger sibling.

Everything seemed great till the untimely death of Mikan's uncle. When he was coming home from the Todo-In he got into a car accident on Mikan's sixth birthday. Jinpachi noticed the great change in his friend and tried to cheer her up but her father took her away before he could.

'Mikan-chan, daisuki!' Jinpachi wanted to tell her but he was too late. The car was already too far for his little voice to reach.

TBC

Author's Notes/End Notes:

I recently just finished the Yowamushi Pedal anime. I have a lot of feelings because Manami. But Omgosh, I need an S3 and a manga update. This fanfic is a result of watching Yowamushi Pedal and reading a dramatic family themed shoujo manga.

It's also the result of me reading Jinpachi Todo trivias or facts, two main plot devices: his family runs an inn and he had a crush on a girl when he was in year three. *squeals*

I do not own the characters in Yowamushi Pedal, just my OCs.

If you have noticed some of the flashbacks are missing some bits and I did it in purpose to avoid some spoilers. I'm sorry but I intend to hurt people with angst and drama. Orz Sumimasen.

Jinpachi-kun has a canon older sister but she wasn't given a name yet so I named her 'Ayaka'. Further notice, Miyahara (SHE'S IMPORTANT) also known as Iinchou hasn't been given a name yet so I plan to give her a name till Wataru Watanabe-sensei names her. But I heard it is soon so hooray! 3

I humbly apologize if some characters are Out of Character? I'm not sure if captured their personalities well but I would like some feedback in order to improve.