Howdy 'yall! OXYCODONEFROG here!
Well, for those of you who care, CPST is not dead – its next installment is going to be very, very long. But, as many of you can probably relate, it isn't exactly easy to focus on a very long item for an extended period. Thus I present to you, this: A Lucky Star one-shot. Hopefully this story won't suck as much as my Haruhi fic. Good grief, I must have been out of my mind when I wrote that story…
Disclaimer: I do not own Lucky Star, its affiliates, or any other work I may or may not approbate. This fic was inspired by a stroll in the rain: nothing more, nothing less.
Okay, let's do this!
/ / /
1:45 am, Iwasaki Residence
As she lay awake in her sleeping bag, Minami remembered why she tended to avoid drinking soda close to bedtime. Turning her tired gaze to her left, Minami observed the sleeping forms of her friends. She had to squint slightly to discern their identities, but it appeared that she was the only one who resisted the Sandman's influence. Perhaps it was simply her eyes adjusting to the darkness illuminated only by the light of the crescent moon, but Minami found that she was able to see her friends more clearly.
The Hiiragi twins were sprawled out beside each other in such a manner that each mirrored the other's position. It was artistic, in a sense. Lying to Tsukasa's left was Hiyori; Minami felt a faint flicker of disgust at the shimmering pool of drool the meganekko had formed. Directly above Lake Hiyori was Patty; it was almost surreal to see the normally hyperactive American so quiet. Misao, however, still managed to be loud; how could anybody (including the girl herself) fall asleep with Misao's sonorous snoring? Ayano, positioned to the immediate left of her somewhat coarse friend, once again provided a stark contrast to Misao. Miyuki, like Ayano, was sleeping peacefully, the moonlight making her face seem to glow with an ethereal beauty.
A sudden flicker of blue caught Minami's attention. Creeping out from the darkest corner of the room was…
"Konata?" Minami thought, somewhat befuddled by the otaku's odd gait. "I wonder… What's she up – wait a second… Is she sleepwalking?"
And indeed it was so. Minami could see that Konata's emerald-green eyes were closed and that a small bubble was dangling from the corner of her nose. The kuudere watched - half in amusement, half in horrified fascination - as Konata slithered up to Kagami and buried her face in the tsundere's two assets, cooing something that was doubtlessly perverted.
"... What just happened?" Minami eventually thought, eyes still locked on the power duo. She blinked, decided that what she observed was merely a hallucination due to exhaustion, and then tore her gaze away from her two friends as she remembered something.
"Where's Yutaka? ... Oh yeah, she's..."
Rather than finish her thoughts, Minami peered up at the childlike figure sleeping on the couch. Yutaka had entombed herself in a cocoon of blankets; only her pinkish-red locks and her bare feet were visible. "She's... cute..." Minami's face turned a rather violent scarlet. "... It's a good thing it's dark and that the others are asleep. I don't think I've blushed this hard since Konata showed me her... questionable... video games."
She paused for a moment, simply observing her dozing friends. Then, with surprising finesse for one so tall, Minami freed herself from the confines of her sleeping bag and crept out of the room.
/ / /
Minami paused, one ear pressed against the den's door. Once she was satisfied that her departure didn't disturbed her slumbering friends, Minami proceeded to cautiously creep up to the second floor of her home. As if to maintain her status quo of silence, Minami's footfalls generated no audible noise, nor did her breathing interrupt the quiet which night always seems to bring.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Minami crept past her parents bedroom - her father gave a grunting snore which caused Minami to hide in the shadows until she was sure he was completely asleep - past her bedroom, and past the bathroom until she reached a door at the end of the hallway. Silently, the kuudere turned the knob and slowly pushed inward.
The room, Minami thought as she entered it and pushed the door not quite all the way shut, was cozy. For bookshelves, all standing firm despite the countless dozens of books contained within them, took up almost every square inch of four of the room's five walls. The only wall without a bookshelf was, in fact, a large series of windows that allowed anyone in the room to see out over the city and up into the sky. On the immediate right of the door was a gas fireplace. Minami always thought that it was a rather poor decision to put something that produced fire in a room full of highly flammable objects. But, then again, she wasn't going to complain; that fireplace had warmed her up on many a cold night. Scattered across the room were three chairs and a small cloth couch.
"Well..." Minami thought, switching the fireplace on, "I may as well finish my book..." And so, Minami pushed the couch near the fireplace, removed her book from the bookshelf, sat on the couch in such a way that she could glance out the window, and began to read.
Minami soon found that, unfortunately, the continuous gouts of flame didn't afford her tired eyes enough light to read by. Sighing deeply, the tall girl set her book down on the couch before rising to grab another source of light...
And promptly froze as she heard someone exiting the bathroom. Now, Minami was arguably a shy soul. Granted, she was able to interact with friends and family just fine, but shy is shy, and shy people seem to become less social when they're tired. So, in an attempt to avoid being disturbed, Minami did the only logical thing: she shot back to the couch, grabbed her book, and pretended to read. "Please go away... Please go away... I just want to read..."
The footsteps came closer, much to Minami's dismay.
Closer...
Closer...
The footsteps stopped. Minami unconsciously tensed, practically recoiling from the presence just outside her room. "Just leave already! Can't you see I'm busy!?"
A familiar delicate, quiet voice emanated from the doorframe. "Minami-Chan?"
Minami's ire vanished just as abruptly as it came. As it turned out, there actually was one person with whom Minami could currently deal with. "Y-Yutaka?" The kuudere stammered, dropping her act and turning to face her friend.
The girl with the reddish hair giggled. "Yep!" Minami couldn't help but to blush as she observed how utterly adorable her friend was.
"What are you doing up?"
Minami cringed internally. "Damn. I hope that didn't come off as nasty..."
It appeared, however, that Yutaka didn't mind her friend's blunt statement. She merely said, "I needed to use the bathroom, and I noticed that there was light shining through the crack of this door, so I thought that maybe somebody left a lamp on. I didn't expect to see you here, though." She then tilted her head to the side, as if contemplating Minami. "How about you, Minami-Chan?"
"I drank soda before bed." Minami said, her gaze lowering towards Yutaka's feet. For some reason, her diminutive friend was moving about the house sans socks. Minami knew firsthand that the floors in her house became positively frigid during the night, so she took what she believed to be the correct course of action. "Are you cold?"
Yutaka shook her head frantically. "N-no! I'm cold - I-I mean not cold! Nope, I'm nice and toasty!" Her slight shivering said otherwise.
"Well..." Minami began, blushing twenty-three shades of red, "i-if you're cold, you're welcome to sit by the f-fire..."
"... Now why did I just say that? Yutaka is my friend, but what I said sounded... It sounded like I was coming on to her or something..."
Yutaka blinked, processing what the taller girl had just said. "You... Want me to sit with you?"
"No, if you're tired, go back to-"
"Of course I'll sit by you, Minami-Chan!" Yutaka exclaimed. Then, as if to address any possible questions pertaining to her frail constitution, she added, "I'll be nice and toasty, so you don't have to worry about my health or anything!"
Minami believed that it would be a miracle if her blush wasn't seen from outer space. Despite her turning away, Minami's blush did not go unnoticed.
"Is something the matter, Minami-Chan?" Yutaka asked, shuffling anxiously into the room. "You're looking a bit flushed..."
"N-no, I've been sitting next to the fire for awhile." Minami was surprised at how the lie came forth so easily. "W-well..." The kuudere thought, scooting over to make room for Yutaka, "it wasn't a total lie. I've been in close proximity to the fire, so... Now I'm trying to rationalize my lie. Damn. But... I can't tell Yutaka the truth. We're friends, right? Friends shouldn't blush when their friends do nice things for them..."
Thankfully, Minami's internal debate was put on hold as a sudden, subtle shift in the couch indicated Yutaka's presence. Minami turned to look at her friend, who was currently engaged with settling in.
After a few moments of wiggling, Yutaka finally became comfortable in the couch. "Wow!" She exclaimed, running her hand down the side of the couch. "Minami-Chan! This is such a nice couch!" The small girl glanced up at the bookshelves. "And so many books... Speaking of which... What book were you reading, Minami-Chan?"
Books: One of the very few conversation topics that almost never failed to get the taciturn young woman talking. "This?" Minami asked, passing the tome over to Yutaka. "It's And Then There Were None by Agatha Christe. The setting of the book takes place in a mansion on an island far away from the coast. An anonymous person lures ten people to this area and starts picking them off one-by-one."
Yutaka shuddered. "It sounds interesting, but... Isn't it scary?"
"I suppose." Minami replied. "I... don't really like violent death, even if it takes place in fiction. But still," she continued, "I think it would be safe to say that this is one of the best books I've read in my life."
"Hmm..." Yutaka said, scanning over the translated back cover of the book. She then looked up. "Ooh! Minami-Chan!"
"Hm?"
"Do you have a job?"
Minami shook her head, blushing slightly. "Not yet..." A sudden thought entered the green-haired girl's head. "How about you?"
Yutaka giggled, obviously embarrassed. "Not like Oneechan, but I've worked a few odd jobs."
Minami blinked. "Like what?"
"Well..." Yutaka began. "Sometimes I help out at Oneechan's cosplay cafe, or down at the M*****lds when they're really busy. I also walk dogs, water my neighbor's plants whenever they go away, and do oil changes."
To say that Minami was surprised would be a bit of an understatement. For a few moments, all the kuudere could do was to state and gape like a fish out of water at Yutaka. "O-oil changes?"
Yutaka pouted. "What? Can't a girl work on cars?"
"N-no, I mean... It's... I didn't know you liked cars..." Minami protested.
"Really?" Yutaka asked, her indignation replaced by curiosity. "I thought it was obvious."
"How so?"
"Yui isn't the best driver in the world. Do you honestly think that she can afford to go to a professional mechanic?"
For some reason, Minami actually could see Yutaka working on cars. While her size would certainly limit her power, it would have the benefit of letting Yutaka reach into really tight spaces. However, instead of vocalizing the entirety of her thoughts, Minami simply hummed.
And so, the two friends fell silent, simply enjoying the moment.
"It's pretty, isn't it?" Yutaka eventually said. Minami looked inquisitively at her friend. "The sky, I mean."
"It is." Minami agreed, gazing out at the starry vista. Looking out over the town and into the heavens always made Minami feel sentimental.
"Yutaka... Thanks."
The smaller girl moved her head so that she could get a better view of her friend. "Thanks...?" Yutaka asked, brow slightly creased with confusion. And concern; Minami would typically speak after receiving some sort of prompt. It was rare for the girl with the green hair to spontaneously say something.
Minami looked down at the floor, valiantly attempting to not make eye contact with Yutaka; she'd probably become too flustered to continue if she did. "Just... Thanks..." Minami murmured, feeling an odd stinging sensation in her eyes. "For being my friend..."
"Before I met you, Yutaka... I was close only to my family and the Takaras. Don't get me wrong; I love them all dearly and they're some of the best things to ever happen to me. But..." Minami threw in a hoarse chuckle. "I felt lonely. Stupid, isn't it? I had so many wonderful people in my life, but whenever I went out, I always saw some random group of friends having fun. Playing, laughing, talking... I hadn't even had a proper conversation with anybody in school."
"And then... That day... Truth-be-told, I thought that you were some random person I'd never see again. So, imagine my surprise when I walked into school... And there you were. You remembered me."
"Soon after that, we became friends. I was astonished; I had actually made a friend in school! Do you realize how happy that made - no, makes me? I don't know... I can't even express it in words."
"You changed me, too. Before I met you, I didn't know how to go about talking to people. But, after you became my friend... More friends followed. Hiyori... Patty... Ayano... Misao... Kagami... Tsukasa... Konata... Without you, I never would've been able to get to know them."
"And finally," Minami said, voice breaking slightly, the cool facade she maintained toppling, "that empty feeling inside of me was filled. Because of you... I finally learned how to live. So... Thank you..."
"Damn sky, making me feel sentimental…" Minami bitterly thought. "Now she's going to think I'm needy and she's not going to like me an-"
A sudden force collided with Minami's side, breaking off her thought process. Looking down, the kuudere realized that Yutaka had charged forward in order to hug her. With a start, Minami noticed that the smaller girl's eyes were just as red and puffy as her own were.
"W-waaahh!" Yutaka cried, pulling herself closer to her tall friend. "Minami-Chan! I-I never realized you felt that way! Minami… I… I…"
"I love you."
Minami stiffened, her eyes going wide. "W-what!? D-Did she just… "love you?"… Huh?"
"Y-you're my best friend, Minami-Chan! You're the best thing that's ever happened to me! On the day we met… I was scared… It was a big school. I didn't know anybody else there. And when I got sick and retreated to the bathroom, I… I felt terrified. Alone. But then… Then you walked into the bathroom. And suddenly, I wasn't alone. Your simple act of kindness by handing me your handkerchief and escorting me to the nurse's office…"
Yutaka took a moment to compose herself before continuing. "And… I'm so glad you don't feel alone anymore. To be completely honest… I was in a similar position as you, Minami-chan. I knew that I had a wonderful network of family and friends. But… It was hard; I was alone quite often due to my poor health. But you… You stuck with me whenever I became ill. Remember that time when I was home with that high fever and you ditched school just so that you could be with me?"
Minami nodded. She had gotten in an awful lot of trouble for playing hooky (not to mention one hell of a nasty cold), but she had no regrets.
"That was the final thing I needed to see that I wasn't alone and that I had never been alone. So, I should be the one thanking you, Minami-chan. Thank you."
Instinctively, Minami's arms wrapped around Yutaka, thus reciprocating the hug. "I love you, too… Yutaka… You're me best friend, and that will never change. I… I have no regrets meeting you…"
"I don't regret meeting you either, Minami-chan." Yutaka replied, voice somewhat muffled due to her face being pressed up close against Minami's side. "I'm going to treasure our friendship and every moment we spend together forever…"
"Yeah…" Minami said, feeling exhausted due to her cathartic experience. "Mmm… Yutaka… I'm sleepy…"
"Me too."
"Do you feel like going back downstairs?"
"Nnf… I'm too tired… Let's just stay here for now. Goodnight, Minami-Chan…"
"Good night, Yutaka."
And thus, the two friends fell asleep in each other's arms, warmed to the core, with the starry night sky as the only witness.
/ / /
Whew… It's hard to write again after taking such a long break! That took far too much time and effort than it should have. Meh. Whatever. As long as you, dear reader, enjoyed it, I consider this to be a success.
So… Yeah. Fluffy. I think… Anyway, I'm sorry if I botched any character in this fic. I've only seen the Lucky Star anime; I have yet to read the actual manga, so my knowledge may be a bit lacking. Well, and Minami talked. A lot. Which is unusual, seeing as how she's the silent, stoic character; but, seeing as how this is a mere fan work, I think I can get away with it.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little story. Who knows? I may write a sort of 'follow-up' to this fic.
Now, I hate to sound like I'm begging, but, if you are so inclined, please tell me what you thought of this story. I would really appreciate your feedback, be it praise, constructive criticism, or flaming.
Thanks for reading~! Come again~!