Greetings to all. This is my first Clannad fic and I attempt to make a story about characters in Clannad engaging in music: keiongaku (light music). I've always wanted to write a fic about high school music band and I hope you will like my attempt of employing it into the world of Clannad.
However, to ease my trouble and to make the story sounds more plausible, several points have to be noted. Firstly, this is a slight-AU fic. Certain events in the anime will be mentioned but will not be strictly followed. Secondly, some characters will not appear in this fic. I have had a hard time deciding which character to play which instrument/role in this fic and sadly I cannot include all as this will only disperse focus on each character. Thirdly, some of the background of the characters will be different from that of the original anime/visual novel. For example, Tomoyo is not a transfer student but a regular junior (2nd year student) in this fic. These differences will be explained further in the fic.
Furthermore, if anyone is curious about pairings, I haven't made up my mind yet. In fact, since Clannad is one of the few series that I am really okay with any girl, it's hard for me to make up my mind now. I may pick a girl at the end or I may just make it an open ending. I really can't say anything more for now as I tend to focus more on the plot for this fic. I'll let things go as the story progresses and see how things turn out to be. Sorry for the indecisiveness.
I'm also adopting a different writing style for this fic. Unlike my previous fics that focus relatively more on environment, this fic will be more light-hearted. The genre includes Friendship, Humour, Romance, Hurt/Comfort, and Family. Last but not least, music!
In case anyone's wondering, the name of this fic, 一番の宝物/ My Most Precious Treasure, is my favourite song from Angel Beats. By the end of the fic you'll understand why I choose this as the title.
I'm pretty excited to write this and I hope you will enjoy it too!
Chapter 1: Prelude
'Do you like this school?'
Tomoya wondered constantly why he had acknowledged that strange girl's question on the bottom of the hill that day. He wasn't someone who poked his head into others' business casually, so he could not come up with a reasonable explanation as to why he had stopped his late walk to school and, Kami-sama knew why, engaged in a seemingly pointless conversation with someone whom he did not even know. Not that he minded talking to cute girls, but he considered himself too indifferent to have done so.
He kept thinking about that as Furukawa Nagisa led him to her destined place. When he observed carefully, this Furukawa girl was indeed quite cute with two brown pointed hair hanging in a weird triangular shape from the top of her head. He remembered raising an eyebrow at that strange hairstyle and pondered on the possibility that either she did that on purpose or she forgot to comb it in the morning. The senior had to admit, though, that her distinct hairstyle matched her clumsy and air-headed personality almost perfectly. Having talked to her a few times after that day, he noticed how unconfident and shy she was, and that was why she didn't seem to have many friends in the school. Part of that was also due to the fact that she missed school at a constant rate since her body was not that strong, and this was her second attempt as a senior in this very place that he despised so much.
Truth to be told, what he was against was not the school but the atmosphere. He was nobody important here, just a delinquent in teachers' mind and he made no attempt to change that perspective. Nobody wanted to listen to his story anyway. None of these authoritative figures ever tried to understand him, instead they simply labelled him as a troublesome teenager and shoved him away. This was the easier way for them to keep their income stably, he mentally noted.
'Thanks for accompanying me to here, Okazaki-san.'
He was brought back to reality as she spoke calmly. As he stared into her brown orbs, he reckoned she was one of the few people who actually talked with him. She really communicated with him to make him feel better. Perhaps that's why when she expressed her hidden desire to sing in a band he told her to join the light music club. Being the timid person she was, Nagisa rejected the idea at first in fear of being a burden to the club. Yet he insisted. 'You won't do anything in your life if you keep running away.'
'I wouldn't have been there without your encouragement. I was so shy before that I was afraid of approaching others by myself. But Okazaki-san…Okazaki-san still motivated me to reach for my dream when there's no one there to help me…
'Thank you very much, Okazaki-san.' She bowed, gulping.
Heck, he could have said that to himself. He knew it, but right now his intention was just to help this hopeless girl to join whoever there were in the light music club. Standing outside the clubroom, he had done what he could, and what happened afterwards depended on her totally.
A few days after meeting Furukawa, he understood that she aspired to join a club for her last year in senior high, as her constant sickness had prevented her from engaging in regular club activities. Now that her disease was cured (she assured him firmly), she wanted to experience the life that she had missed out.
Not that he would blame her. Tomoya had joined clubs before at junior high, but for reasons that he wished not to recall he hadn't joined any for the third year after that. He twitched his right arm slightly.
'Can I help you?'
Before he could answer Furukawa's polite statement, he heard a voice from his back that he knew too well. And he felt his muscles tensed.
'Ah, Tomoya? What are you doing here?'
Nagisa turned to the figure who stopped in front of them. There stood a relatively tall girl with long purple hair that clung to her waist. She was attracted to her bright purple eyes and admired the way it matched her hair beautifully. Nagisa's female instinct also led her to stare at the spots on her body where she felt…defeated. Apart from that, she couldn't help but notice the way she addressed him. Tomoya. Just Tomoya.
'Don't tell me you're trying to harass this cute girl here, Tomoya. I'm disappointed.' Her disgusted voice pierced through Tomoya's dignity and she put her hands on Nagisa's shoulders protectively. 'I won't forgive you if you do anything perverted, you hentai.'
'It's not like that, Kyou,' he sighed. Of all people he ran into he happened to come across the foul-mouthed one. 'Furukawa-san, the girl in your possession now –' he ignored the dark glance Kyou sent him, 'wants to join the light music club, so I brought her here.'
'It's t–true. O–Okazaki-san helps me a lot on this. Please do not misunderstand him.' Nagisa came to his defence, bowing nervously to the girl named Kyou who blinked at her explanation. 'Ah g–gomen nasai. I am Furukawa Nagisa from Class 3B. I'm here because I want to join the light music club and Okazaki-san accompanies me to this place. P–please' she shot a worrying glance, 'please don't hurt him.'
For a whole minute there was just silence among the three figures standing in front of the clubroom. It wasn't until a while later that the girl addressed as Kyou, much to the other two's surprise, burst into laughter. She laughed with tears in her eyes that Tomoya and Nagisa could only look at each other, confused.
'I'm sorry…I'm just…' she clapped Nagisa's hands in hers excitedly, much to the shy girl's surprise, and held them tightly, 'you came just in the right time! We're now just short of members to be acknowledged as an official club!' Tomoya stared in disbelief. The Fujibayashi Kyou he knew was just a violent girl who either threw dictionary(-ies) at people or kicked the other party in the chin. Never in his mind had he linked her and light music together. He could only pray that other members of the club would not suffer from her aggressive behaviour that was too agitating for most to handle. Her outrageous acts would make her a good metal drummer though, he mentally added.
However, it was also true that seldom had he seen Kyou acting so gladly. The smile on her face was brighter than any that he had seen before.
On the other hand, though, Nagisa let out a breath of relief upon hearing her cheerful response and she beamed, finally glad that she could be of some use. In her previous three years of senior high life, she was either sick or too timid to approach others that she felt like she had wasted her life, in some way. Now, she finally seemed to be able to make a change to that.
'Furukawa-san, right? I'm Fujibayashi Kyou from Class 3E. You can just call me Kyou,' she beamed. 'Do you mind if I just call you Nagisa?' Blushing slightly, the acknowledged girl nodded in approval.
'Please come in,' she motioned for them to enter the clubroom, 'we're just about to start our meeting and I'm really glad you decide to join us.' Without further notice, she pulled both Nagisa and Tomoya into the clubroom.
'Wait Kyou, I'm not here to join anything. I'm just a passer-by,' he reminded the feverish girl who ignored his confession completely.
'Everyone! We have now successfully recruited two members!'
Wait…what? Tomoya gawked his head at Kyou's direction, who again had ignored him.
'Now with a total of five members, we can be officially acknowledged as the light music club!'
Okazaki Tomoya looked around the room to find his route to escape from here. He did not belong here, noticing a few open windows, but Kyou seemed to have looked through him that her grip on his arm tightened. He sighed in defeat and looked around the room, finding two girls sitting comfortably a few feet from them. One of them had long, blue hair, and she was holding a can of coffee in her hand. The other one had the same hair colour as Kyou, only that they were shorter and she looked more like a hamster when compared with the one standing proudly in the middle of the room.
'Welcome to the light music club,' they both stood and bowed after a minute of registering what Kyou had just said. The blue-haired girl started first, with clear excitement in her voice, 'I am Nishina Rie from Class 2C, and this is Fujibayashi Ryou from Class 3D. We hope we'll have an enjoyable year in the club.' Ah, that's right. He forgot that the class representative of his class was part of this club too.
As Nagisa began to introduce herself, Tomoya couldn't help but questioned Kyou as to why he had to be here too. 'It's not like you're in any other club anyway. Besides, we need five members to be recognized, so just fill in for the moment will ya?' At that point, the blue-haired wondered why he was so stupid as to have forgotten how forceful this girl could be. He mumbled incoherently and introduced himself, 'I'm Okazaki Tomoya from Class 3D. I can play any instrument proficiently.'
Silence filled the room as the Fujibayashi twins looked dubiously at him, while Nagisa and Rei, whom Tomoya was not familiar with, almost jumped in joy. 'Really? What do you play? Can you play the drum? We're in terrible need of a drummer now –'
'No, I lied. I can only play bass,' he turned to meet Kyou's questioning glance, 'and that is the truth. I do know how to play it, but I have no intention to be dragged into this for no good reason.'
Kyou, the proclaimed club president (to Tomoya's amazement), was in deep thought, rubbing her chin tirelessly. 'Hmm…a bass player would be a good addition, but we still need a drummer…ah Nagisa-chan, do you happen to know how to play any instrument?' Suddenly becoming the centre of attention, the brown-haired brunette tumbled in her words. 'Ah I–I cannot play anything…I want to join the light music club because I want to sing…' seeing the troubled and slightly disappointed expression on their faces, Nagisa immediately felt alienated. 'Ano…am I being a burden in here…?'
'Ah gomen! Don't feel that way!' Kyou exclaimed while Ryou tried to comfort the girl who was shaking. Tomoya did not fail to notice that and sighed. Just a moment ago he was complimenting on her confidence, and their countenance easily destroyed that. 'Please don't be troubled by that. We have been looking for a drummer because none of us can play drums. However, that doesn't mean singers are not welcomed.' Kyou went on to explain the previous drummer was a senior last year who had graduated already, and the Kyou planned to take charge of vocal (Tomoya raised his eyebrows firmly) if no one was to join. In brief, she explained that originally they had enough members last year, but the seniors had graduated and the other freshmen had decided to leave the club for she had other duties to fulfill this year.
'But now our band seems complete: Rei-chan and I will play guitar while Ryou takes charge of keyboard. Nagisa-chan, you will be responsible for vocal and Tomoya will play bass.'
'Hey, I haven't agreed to join yet.'
'Ah, that reminds me. Who were the guys who made a prank that caused a student to faint last year?'
Tomoya opened his mouth, shut it, and turned away from the other girls' accusing glances.
'But we need a drummer terribly. Tomoya, can you start playing drums?' The purple-haired teenager turned to her delinquent friend who stared at her as if she had gone nuts. 'I have no idea how to. Why won't any one of you play it?' With a wordless glance, Kyou instructed him to look around the room. Looking at Ryou, Rei and Nagisa and Tomoya understood why. The three of them looked too timid and weak, truth to be told, and it was hard to picture any of them hitting their drumsticks powerfully on the kits. 'Then why don't you play it?' He asked, not really anxious to be in here. Club activities were just not his thing. He was infamous in the school for being a delinquent, and a delinquent did not usually associate themselves with club activities like light music.
'I don't want to. It's that simple, baka.'
'Then don't force me to.'
'The principal's office is not that far away from here.'
Tomoya was physically irritated at Kyou's demanding attitude, but one more disciplinary reminder from the teachers (namely, that incident last year) would be good enough for him to be expelled. Not that he particularly minded, but without school he had nowhere else to go to, and spending time with his father at home was at the bottom of his wish list.
He tried to think of a name, and at the same time think that why he had not escaped earlier.
'Do you like this school?'
Ah, it was that Furukawa's fault, he mentally scolded. Had he not engaged in a weird conversation with her by the bottom of the hill he would not have been encouraging her to build up her confidence, and hence would not have been in here now, sitting in the clubroom of the light music club with no good reason. Why did he even help her at the first place? That he wondered, and could not figure out.
A name popped into his head all of a sudden, but he frowned at it, as he was well-aware that the name itself could cause an outburst from the aggressive Fujibayashi.
No, wait. This actually could be of some fun.
'I can think of someone who can play drums,' he appeared victorious and screamed in laughter as hope glowed in the girls' eyes, 'but let me ask him first to see if he's willing to join.' Receiving approving nods from Kyou and the others, Tomoya excused himself from the room and made a phone call in the corridor. He had a hard time controlling himself from chuckling as he imagined Kyou's expression when she knew whom he was calling.
'Hello?'
'Hey Sunohara, I have something good for you…'
End of Chapter 1
I know this chapter is short and does not explain things well, but this is just acting like a prologue that introduces the basic formation of the club. Other characters such as Sunohara and Tomoyo will appear in future chapters.
The 'incident' at the end refers to the case where Sunohara and Tomoya played a prank, unknowingly, on Nagisa (Clannad After Story episode 23). I didn't expand it 'cause it wasn't a main focus of the story.
Working on three fics at the same time is kinda fun, actually. Currently I'm writing another Clannad fic on relationship between Ushio and Tomoyo (yes, it's an 'o', not 'a'), and another original work about futuristic society. Adopting three different writing styles for three different stories is brain-cells-consuming but very fun to do so.
Enough of my mumbling. Please kindly review on this story and I'd like to hear what you expect from this fic. Criticism is also appreciated and see you all soon!