A/N: I was just thinking of a fanfic I could associate with "On The Bright side" by NeverShoutNever, AKA my newest favorite song and singer, and honestly I can't explain why out of all the anime/mangas I could have chosen, to use Kodocha, or Akito. I guess it was just.. interesting.
P.S: Listen to the song. I command you. It will SPEAK TO YOU!
Disclaimer: I do not own the lyrics (which are in Italics telling the story, yet I also imply they are Akito's thoughts) those are owned by Chris, or 'NeverShoutNever'. I heart you Chris. Also I do not own Kodocha. I heart you Kodocha.
"You know you're in love when
you can't fall asleep because
reality is finally better than
your dreams."
-Dr. Seuss
And so he dreamed...
He was a leopard. Well, sort of. He was more like a boy with certain physical characteristics of a leopard, such as whiskers, a tail, ears and perhaps a few spots here and there. And there was a path lain out before him, a path he felt he needed to take. He could not see where it led, and not seeing an end to it felt overwhelming, but something inside him urged him to go. He couldn't identify the feeling. Maybe he had to find a bathroom.
As he set out from his safe haven with nothing but the clothes on his back, and everything else in his navy Jansport book bag slung haphazardly over his shoulder, he felt a vague sense of excitement and fear mixed in together with that weird feeling that may or may not have been nature calling. And in his path, he suddenly saw (and mind you- he had to look down,) that before him was..
I met a man of two feet tall.
A tiny Sana. She looked a lot like a lawn gnome, fake little white beard and all.
This man was quite ambitious
She looked proudly up at him with an over-confident smile.
In a world that is so vicious to us all
Wondering how he could have such an atmosphere of optimism despite her surely discriminated size, he suspected a Napoleonic complex, he shrugged it off and waved down at her.
I said hi as he replied
And she said,
He said listen to these words that I have lived by my whole life:
"You're only as tall
as your heart will let you be,
and you're only as small,
as the world will make you seem.
And when the going gets rough,
and you feel like you may fall,
just look on the bright side-
You're roughly 6 feet tall."
She finished, brightly beaming up at him with a clever smirk. He blinked. He'd consider her words, and she hugged his leg goodbye. He wish he didn't have to leave such a small creature alone in this big path, but it seemed she could fend for herself. And so, mulling over her maxim, he set off.
He got hungry after a short while and conveniently found an apple tree a little left of his path. As he neared it, he found that the nearest apple was too high up. He jumped and reached, but despite his best efforts still missed the apple by mere inches. His stomach grumbled and he frowned. What happened to being 6 feet tall? He glared up at the innocent fruit. Eh, it was far too ripe anyways. He sighed.
Suddenly the whole tree shook, and apples came tumbling down, and although alarmed, he did not hesitate to grab a few. Almost as suddenly, he saw (and mind you- he had to look up,) that before him was...
I met a man of 12 feet tall.
A giant Sana. A sheepish looking, small-smiled Sana.
He towered like a giant
She crouched down in front of him, and lifted him in a surprisingly gentle manner.
In a world that was defiant of his height
She smiled softly and he wondered how such a mighty and tall one as she could look so gentle and melancholic. He waved up at her.
I said hi as he replied
And she said,
He said listen to these words that I have dreaded my whole life:
"You're only as tall
as your heart will let you be,
and you're only as small,
as the world will make you seem.
And when the going gets rough,
and you feel like you may fall,
just look on the bright side-
You're roughly 6 feet tall."
And with that she carefully set him down and gingerly patted him on the head goodbye. He felt reluctant to leave such a surprisingly soft-hearted creature alone on this long-winded path. But her intimidating size promised she would not be harmed any time soon. So he set off once again on his journey, surely remembering her adage.
I am a man of 6 feet tall.
He walked, and he searched, and he questioned.
Just looking for some answers
And although he went through hardships and it seemed he would not find whatever he was looking for, (or rather skeptical of it's existence),
In a world that answers none of them at all
He remembered, and he considered, and he near obsessed over the words spoken up to him and down to him by two girls that were the same, simply different in size.
I'll say hi but not reply
And he hoped to see her again- not them, well- yes them, but her, and he was suddenly not sure who 'her' or 'she' was.
To the letters that you write
He thought about this long and hard, it was she that he wanted to get to? And it came to him. His path and journey did not lead him to anything solid or anywhere on the planet, but it led what he was looking for to him, in his mind. And he knew where his journey led him. Because now, he could see a clear picture of it right before his eyes.
Because I found some peace of mind.
He woke up.
And almost smiled.
Almost.
He thought Sana was the one who had the weird dreams, but he understood what this one meant. He picked up the phone and dialed her number.
"Akito?" She answered like a zombie 2 rings later. He wasn't expecting that. He didn't know what time it was but it couldn't be a reasonable time to be awake.
"What are you doing awake?" He asked her. He could hear her tiredly muttering 'Was gonna ask you the same question'.. before she explained in a sleepy monotone: "I've been watching the infomercial channel and I swear.. it's like... it's sapping the neurons straight from my eyes.. I want to look away but I can't!"
He didn't bother correcting her on the location of neurons in your body (cough, brain cells, cough) but instead smirked at how absolutely unpredictable she was.
"Anyways- what could be so important that you have to tell me at... 5:36- holy crap that's late, or is it early?- in the morning?"
So that's what time it was. He opened her mouth to show her what was so important that it couldn't wait until the morning light, but found it was harder to say than he expected.
"Helloooo? C'mon, spit it out, you can do it!! or maybe you can't, but if you look on the bright side you can see cle-"
"I love you."
"...."
Silence from the other end of the line. He hung up. He closed his eyes, thinking about how she would react when they saw each other tomorrow and being almost 99% sure that it would be a good day, and let his thoughts drift into gnomes and giants, paths and journeys, height and apples, and mainly, Sana.
'Cause I'm only as tall
As my heart will let me be,
and I'm only as small
as the world will make me seem,
so when the going gets rough
and it feels like I may fall,
I'll look on the bright side-
I'm roughly 6 feet tall.
Thank you for reading.
Review por favor? :)
Gracias. Muah.
~Yasu