AN: Beware! This story is heavily influenced by deliberate animu gigglies! So expect to see some ridiculous scenes that will probably never happen for reals! Also if you don't know some of the terms used here aside from the honorifics (you already know that, right?), I'll explain them in the ANs.
Randoseru - is a firm-sided backpack made of stitched firm leather or leather-like synthetic material, most commonly used in Japan by elementary school children.
It all happened in an ordinary day, the birds were singing, and the trees were dancing! As usual the sounds of screeching children annoyed Luka to no end, her small eight year old body flinching everytime the kid beside her threw a tantrum for the umpteenth time that morning, looking for his mommy. Luka scoffed at herself, scaring some of the children nearby who dared give her even a spare curious glance with their stupid chubby faces.
"Babies," she huffed, after all the little girl prided on herself for being strong enough to refrain from constantly looking for her parents in her tender age, but at the same time she would rather be somewhere else rather than this noisy place. Maybe she should go into the library or something, she still hadn't finished reading that weird fascinating book about fishes yet.
She looked around, well the teacher was nowhere to be seen so she guessed it was okay. With a cute excited smile on her face, she slipped from her seat and was about to innocently commit the tempting sin of cutting class until their teacher came in.
"Boo," she pouted before going back to her seat, which unfortunately her teacher noticed.
"Luka-chan? Where were you going?"
The oblivious girl answered honestly, she got chided slightly but that was it. Her honesty apparently saved her from too much trouble, the little girl just slumped down her seat with a pout on her lips and a cross of her arms. Still not understanding why she couldn't leave when she wanted to, her papa always made her do what she wanted, why couldn't their stupid teacher!
The teacher looked at the silently fuming Luka on her chair, she sighed a small smile. Luka was smart alright, she never caused any problems at all, she rarely had tantrums and had been well behaved for most of the time. Though there were also moments were she thought it was wise to make other kids know that she was on the top, and that only her will ever be on that sacred spot. It wasn't too much a big of deal, but it made her unable to make friends. The other kids were just too scared of her to even look at her.
But she couldn't force the little girl to socialize either, lest she throw another fit about not needing any friends.
The teacher shook her head, she will do something about that some other day, at the moment she had a new transferee to introduce! Though the new kid always wore this look of indifference on her still cutesy features and never uttered more than a few string of words, she seemed like a nice kid at least.. Maybe her and their Luka would get along?
The teacher grabbed onto the shimmer of hope determinedly, "Alright kids! Settle down for a moment."
Her little students more or less stopped playing with each other.
She nodded at them, "Today, we have a new classmate!"
The kids immediately reacted with looks of sparkling curiosity on their faces, the teacher was pleased with their faces before gesturing to the little girl outside to come in. The sliding door slid open revealing a girl that had her teal hair tied into twintails, her clothes composed of a simple green hoodie, a dark pleated knee length skirt and black socks with the same length. Her feet was clad with indoor shoes, along with her maroon randoseru that she wore on her back.
Her face was still one of indifference.
It unnerved the teacher a bit, "Okay, Miku-chan. Would you kindly introduce yourself to everyone?"
Miku looked at the teacher, then to her wide eyed classmates, spotting a certain shade of azure eyes look into her teal ones.
She spoke, "Hello, my name is Hatsune Miku," she bowed her head slightly, "Thank you for having me."
The teacher looked at her little students, "She has only recently moved in the city so she isn't familiar with our place yet, I trust that you will all be nice and help her?"
"Yes, sensei!"
"Also did you know? Miku-chan here passed the entrance exams with the highest grade! How amazing is that?"
The kids made sounds of amazement.
She smiled before ushering Miku onto a seat next to Luka which was unoccupied since no other kid wanted to be beside her. It was a double desk, so it meant getting real close to her which they were terrified off. Miku didn't mind, which was most likely because she didn't know a thing about anyone there, the teacher just hoped that she made a right choice by making her sit there.
She began to teach like she had always done and was pleased to spot no violent reactions from Luka.
After they bid their good byes to the teacher, Luka took this opportunity to let out the rather snide remark she had been keeping in all this time, "You must be really smart huh, Hatsune-san."
The said girl simply looked at her, they held their gazes for a while until Miku suddenly spoke.
"Miku."
Luka blinked, "?"
"Call me Miku," surprisingly, the twintailed girl gave her a charming grin.
Looking a little flustered, Luka averted her gaze with a stubborn pout, "I.. I never asked.." shaking her head she returned her gaze with the best intimidating glare she could muster, "Anyway, don't think that you can get another high score next time, because only me, can do that."
She crossed her arms with a smug look on her childish features, "No one can beat me."
Miku was intrigued, "Really?"
Thus, it was the start of their early rivalry, whether it may be in academics, sports and home economics. They did their best to thrive more than the other. This earned a lot of attention from the teachers, but they never intervened. They actually thought it was a good thing, Luka was finally talking with her peers ever since Miku transferred, her other classmates began to approach her. Either praising her feats in amazement or slowly idolizing her in some corner before mustering up some courage to talk to her. Luka was of course pleased with the words and they got on their good side ever since.
She began to notice other people other than herself, her world expanded like never before. She saw things she used to never give a second glance to, and most importantly, she unconsciously learned the importance of a certain someone in one's life.
Miku was the same. Her first few weeks in her new school was of complete indifference, she didn't care about others at all, even when she saw something bad happening she simply didn't care and was always wrapped up in her own world. Most probably because of her family's constant moving that she wasn't able to establish proper social skills which made her feel disconnected from the other kids.
But ever since her shenanigans with Luka she became a little bit more outgoing and was actually having fun with someone else rather than herself—most particularly her video games. She smiled every so often with the little girl, and started to look forward to school everyday that even her dad began to wonder. However, little did they know, they were beginning to be dependent on each other. They were tied together by their rivalry, but they were oblivious to the it effects did to them.
Attachment.. and maybe something more.
They both used to be uncaring of others but themselves and their own happiness or in Luka's case—achievements. They didn't understand what was happiness caused by other people, but the moment they met, they started to feel just that, and they didn't even know.
Nevertheless, in the end they were pretty much even and no one bested the other. It went on until it was the end of their second grade. Miku was going to transfer, again, but she was going overseas this time. The reason why her family moved a lot was because of her father's work, it'll take a few years before they finally settle down into a permanent place, now was just not the time.
After a series of banters, shenanigans and awardings, it was now the day of parting. The last day of school, and probably the last day they will ever see each other. Their classmates had already left after saying their good byes both of them, much more to Miku though, as they also knew she was transferring again. Bidding her their most whole hearted messages and good byes—as childlike it can ever be.
They were walking down an avenue, surrounded by blooming sakura trees with the gentle wind dropping off some of its pink petals. The air was fresh, the scenery was beautiful, at that moment the two felt truly alone, as if they were the only people in the world. It was scary in a way, but also fascinating. After a few more moments of staring at the swaying trees, Miku turned to Luka, blinking a little as a few sakura petals fell upon the pink haired girl's face, she smiled before reaching over to pluck one off her eyelashes. Luka blushed at the gesture, yet didn't do or say anything.
The twintailed girl tilted her head slightly with a cheeky smile on her lips, "You won't be lonely?"
Luka huffed softly, her eyes trained on the ground, "Of course not."
A sudden firm hand on her shoulder jolted her attention back on Miku who held a weird mix of a serious and unhappy look on her face. Though Luka was more surprised with what she said.
"Well I sure will."
Her tone was so sincere that it made Luka's heart skip a beat for some reason.
"I mean, you are my rival!"
Luka smiled weakly, "..yeah."
The twintailed girl sighed after settling down.
"..I should go now."
When Luka didn't answer, she took that as a cue to leave, her heart a little heavy at her silence. Though she was stopped by an atypical frantic voice.
"This isn't over yet you know! Don't forget that!" Luka looked a little anxious, but quickly covered it with her puffed up blushy cheeks and tried to look like she didn't care with a cross of her arms. Her eyes not quite meeting Miku in the eyes.
However, Miku easily saw through it and released a wide smile, "Don't worry Luka-chan, I know we'll see each other again, one day! And when that day comes, I'll definitely beat you!"
"Promise?" the other girl took a tiny step toward Miku, unsure on why she was even acting like this.
"Promise."
Luka nodded with her lips in a straight line, her eyes trained on the smiling face of Miku as she waved goodbye and soon diminished from her sight. The sounds from the dancing sakura branches against the wind and the feeling of the dissipating warmth from her chest leaving her in unrest.
AN: Just a quick heads up, this chapter is a prologue and the first four or five chapters will be short, minimum is 1.4K words because they're sort of like introduction chapters to things that will happen ahead. Worry not! The chapters beyond that will be full of activities and will probably stay long until the end. Thanks for reading! I'm having real fun writing this!