Dizzy... I'm feeling dizzy right now...

Air… I need air…

I kept coughing hard. I can't move my body. Even if I wanted to, I need to give it a pull first.
"Stand up! It'll be even more tougher out there. Slacking off, and you'll be dead!" Grandpa harshly declared.
I put all my might to stand up, but I still struggled to stand still. I gritted my teeth so hard. That shows how pissed I am right now. I gripped my katana tightly.
No, I'm not remotely calm at all. I instantly dashed towards grandpa.
Last thing I saw was him disappearing and everything went black after that.

"Homura, your grades has dropped down recently." The principal announced. Earlier he had called me in for a discussion.
"I encourage you to do well for the upcoming tests. Grades like THESE can't get you into high school. Please do your best. You are dismissed." The principal gave a sign to get out.
As I opened the door, he spoke up again: "Also find something to relief your stress. It will lets you perform better." He said with a smile.

After that was lunchtime. I'm in a pretty bad mood right now, and the noises inside the cafeteria are annoying as hell. So I'm sitting outside under a tree.
All this stress is eating me away… The shinobi training, schoolwork, and being a lone wolf all my life…
I can't handle it anymore…
As I kept whining about my lifestyle, a lonesome cat approaches me. It got closer to my thighs and rubbed its cheeks on it.

*HNNNGH*

…So cute…
I've always loved animals. Good thing dad does the same. He would always take me to the forest and mess around there.
I lifted my finger to its nose. It would lightly bite on it. It made it even cuter!
It let go of my finger and walked away.
"Hey! Wait up!" I called for it. It ran around the corner. I went to catch up with it. I had nothing else to do in this recess.
Just right around the corner, sat a student surrounded with cats. He had messy bowlcut hair and wore a surgical mask. He scratches the cats, which in return purred at him happily.
"There, there…" He continued to scratch them. "You guys are really cute together…" He silently exclaimed.
"Hm?" He turned his head to the sides and stared at me.
"If you're lost, then don't bother asking me." He bluntly shook me off.
"Hey, I was following the cat." I retorted back. "So?" That was his only reply.
I grumpily sat down on the grass, and petted few cats. What's up with this guy, huh?!
Honestly why would they hang around this guy? I glared at him for a moment. He doesn't seem to care about that. He's really focused on the cats.
"So…" He started to talk. I stopped my glaring and look at him normally.
"You like cats?" He oddly asks me. "Generally every animals. Just love 'em!" I happily answered. "You?" I shortened the same question.
"Just cats. That's it." He answered back. "Just cats?" I curiously confirmed.
"Just cats. Well generally feline species." He added.
We played with the cats for a while now. The lunchtime wasn't over yet. So there's no need to sweat.
"Those damn idiots…" He silently muttered under his breath. I didn't get what he meant by that.
He suddenly drags down his mask, revealing his cynical expression, and then extended his arm towards me.
"Ichimatsu. Second year, class B." He held up his hand for a handshake.
I hesitated a bit. There was no way I could've expected this. I slowly grabbed his hand though.
"Homura. Same year, class A. Nice to meet you." I introduced with a tiny smile while shake hands.
"You seem too normal to hang around here. Wanted some alone time?" He curiously asks me.
"Hey, can't a girl have some peace and quiet?" I retorted back.
"Look. Normally I'm not nosy to the point of someone gets pissed off. The look on your face tells me that you are tired of all this crap and wants to bang your head rapidly on a wall." He points on his face looking serious.
"Oh for goodness sake…" I arched my body backwards and stared at the sky. Then I looked at him again. "Yeah, I'm stressing out alright." I answered bitterly.
"When expectations from school and family have to come first, then it's the perfect recipe for stress."
"You need to relax." He suddenly said.
"No can do. Not until I finally graduate." I said with determination.
"You SERIOUSLY need to relax…" He stared at me awkwardly.
"What do you know? There is a huge difference between you and me when it comes to lifestyle!" I angrily snared.
Shit! I nearly exposed myself!
"Oh? Then do tell me how." He asked giving this 'weird' expression.
I looked away, refraining myself from talking anymore of this.
"Whatever. If you don't wanna talk about it, then that's fine by me." He rested his head on the wall.
What a relief. I would've been a bother if someone knew who I was.
Wait…
"It's nearly time for the next period." Ichimatsu checked his wristwatch. Then he stood up and dragged up his mask.
"Wanna go together?" I suddenly asked. Not sure why though.
He looked back at me for a moment. "Sure, whatever. We're in the same year anyway…" He gestured me to tag along and put his hands on the pockets of his uniform.
This guy… For some reason we're like two similar souls, except in terms of personality. But still, two lonesome souls connected with each other…
Nah… It's not the time for mumbo-jumbo crap talk. What matters is that I pass junior high and enroll to Hanzo Academy.

(Next day)

It was lunchtime, and I sat at an empty bench in the cafeteria. Today was less annoying and relaxing. My mood was better than yesterday. It was a fine day. I ate the bento mom had prepared. Today was Friday and that means weekend-start.
Yes, today's special from mom was steak with rice mixed with béarnaise sauce and American mix of vegetables that consists of green peas, corn, and diced carrots. Nothing makes me happier with meat in my mouth!
I then noticed another student approached me with a bento box on his hands.
"That's the most American dish I've ever seen." A cynical voice spoke to me.
I looked up, and I was none other than the cynical boy Ichimatsu.
"Potatoes works better than rice in that dish." He sat down on the opposite side of the table.
"Yo." I happily greeted him. Funny, I'm getting friendlier with this guy after one day.
"So whatcha got there?" I pointed at his bento box.
He looked at me for a bit, then he looked down on his lunchbox and opened it.
I strongly noticed the rice shaped like a cat's face. It got everything a cat would have. Cat ears, dot nose, cute smile and tiny whiskers. Every part of the face were made of seaweed. Surrounding the rice were a bunch of tiny sushi rolls.
"Your mom's pretty good." I was mesmerized by the lunch he had.
"My mom didn't make it." He nonchalantly exclaimed.
"I ordered it at a local sushi bar, driven by a single old man. He hasn't that many customers, but the sushi there is the best." He slightly smiled proudly at that statement as he chomps down the tiny sushi roll.
"Well I…"

"Hey guys! I found Ichimatsu!" A cheerful voice interrupted me.
Suddenly a guy hugged Ichimatsu from behind, but he doesn't even care and continued to eat.
The guy peeked over Ichimatsu's shoulder, smiling widely. Both of them were identical to each other, although they are somehow like… Yin and Yang.
"Yo Ichimatsu!" Another voice called out to him.
We looked at the same side and saw four other identical guys.
…Am I dreaming? Six identical guys. It can't be real… I think I made a face of disbelief.
"Why don't you just sit…" The guy who called out suddenly toned down his voice.
Then he glanced at us back and worth as he is resting his chin on his knuckle, as if he was studying us.
"Well nevermind. Catch you later Ichimatsu!" He turned around and waved back at us. The other three did the same.
But the creepily cheerful guy just spaced out and glanced at the roof.
"Hey Jyushimatsu! You coming?" One of the guys called out to him. Suddenly the guy was back to earth and cheerfully ran to those guys. "COMING!" He ran off childishly, despite his age.

"Who were they?" I asked skeptically.
"My brothers. We're sextuplets." Ichimatsu continued to gobble his lunch.
Sextuplets…? "You can't be serious…" I muttered in disbelief.
"Surprised? I know they're quite a rare sight to see, but your eyes don't fool you." Ichimatsu explained as he looked at me.
"The guy who hugged me is Jyushimatsu, the hyped-up kid. He's never gonna grow up." We both glanced at him, who just stood on the table with the others and flexes his arms up and down rapidly while having his eyes and mouth widened.
We could faintly hear him screaming something about muscle and hustle. Something like that. I concluded that he's just batshit insane.
"The guy who talked to us is Osomatsu, self-proclaimed leader and the oldest out of six. He's not really good at that." Osomatsu was snickering as he shoot out something out of his drinking straw. I could tell that he was mischievous.
"The guy with the sunglasses is Crappy… sorry, Karamatsu, the most narcissistic idiot you've ever seen. He's those type who wants to be cool." Karamatsu was playing a guitar, yes a guitar in the cafeteria while the sun shined on his glasses. Two girls walked by the table, and he gave them a flirting glare, which they simply ignored. He's a hopeless dreamer…
"The guy facing away is Choromatsu, the most normal out of us. He tends to think out loud, and are extremely weak for cute girls." Thanks to my shinobi training, my sight was topnotch and I could easily see what he's doing. He was holding a magazine, and the front page depicted a bunch of cutely dressed girls. Idols is my guess.
"And the last guy with the phone is Todomatsu, the youngest out of us and the most feminine guy you've seen. He looks cute and innocent, but careful, he's a two-faced little bitch." Ichimatsu growled in disgust as we see Todomatsu waving at the girls passing by the table, giving out a cute smile.

But damn, despite being sextuplets they sure as hell are really different from each other.
We got the loud one, the narcissistic one, the reasonable one, the cynical one, the hyper one, and the cute one. What a combo.

I finished my lunch and puts the box back into my bag.
"Let's go then." I stood up and said as he puts his box into his bag. He then gave me a puzzled and surprised look, but I could tell it wasn't a biggie.
"The next period is about to begin soon." I grabbed his hand and led us back to the second floor, where our classrooms are located.

"Don't you ever slow down?" He quietly mumbled tiredly. But for some reason, I kept being happy.

(After school)

Well the school has ended for today. It's weekend now, so I guess I can just relax for the rest of the day.
"Hmm? Is that…?" I wondered surprisingly. Ichimatsu was walking towards me. Yet again, he still had the usual cynical expression.
"I need your help." He suddenly blurted out.
For some reason, my brain need to reprocess what just happened.
HE'S asking for help? I've known this guy since yesterday, but he seems like a person who does things alone, let alone asking people for help.
"Huh?" I'm back from my 'deep thoughts'. "Sorry, I just lost you there. So you said that you need help, right?" I reconfirmed the question.
"You are the only one available." He deadpanned. The only one available? I'm not gonna ask why…
"Sure. I see no problem at all." I accepted his request.
"Follow me." He commanded as he walked down the opposite way. Just a few steps away from him, I then followed.

We are now in an alleyway lined with garage doors. Typically, this area looks similar to the slums, but it's a bit more cleaner and has actually support from the city.
Anyway there were garage doors lined down the path on the walls. Ichimatsu lead me through the alleyway. And then he stops by a garage door. It wasn't any special or did stand out. The door was like any other.
"Could you help me lift this door?" He crouched down and slips his fingers right under the door.
Of course I followed suit. We lifted the door up. The door was surprisingly pretty light. Maybe because of my shinobi training.
Behind the steel door, the sunlight shined inside the garage. It revealed a bunch of cats wandering around the garage. All of them looks so… drowsy and weak.
"These guys are in a bad state…" He exclaimed in a worried tone and expression. A cat then came closer and it… collapsed. We then started to freak out, like hysterically.
"We need to hurry to vet!" We grabbed the cats and put them in a safe area of our bodies. The head, the arms and the shoulders. Normally they would give much resistance, but right now in their state, it's not possible.
We ran to the nearest vet in the area.

"Thank goodness…" I exclaimed tiredly and let out a sigh.
We're lucky that the veterinaries actually were willing to help those cats for free. We did find them in an abandoned garage.
It was already late afternoon. The sun was about to set down, and uniform were covered with cat furs.
"Well, what a day…" I stretches my arms upwards behind my head. I did also arched my body backwards.
"Wait here." He suddenly said. He walked over to the small convenient store just across the street.
Wait, he said that I should wait for him, right? Does that mean he's gonna buy me something? I wouldn't mind though… But all I did was to lift up that garage door. And then transported the sick cats to the vet.
Ichimatsu exited the store with a two bottles on his hands.
"Here." He offered me the other bottle. It was a Pepsi bottle. He also held another Pepsi bottle.
We walked down the street and drank.
Mmm… The taste of Pepsi… is freakin' satisfying. I dunno what's up with this drink anyway.
"I'm glad that you were actually willing to help me." He blurted out. It made me look at him in a surprised manner. He then just glanced away from me as soon as I looked at him.
"I see… It's alright." I replied in a nice way.

It's weird… We're actually walking home together side by side.

(Many weeks later)

It was afternoon. The school was just finished. I'm standing under a tree, waiting. I'm waiting anxiously, and my body keeps getting hotter and hotter.
"Calm down, Homura." I reassured myself, calming myself more correctly.
"What's got you worked up?" A voice popped up out of nowhere.
It made me startled "God geez!" I turned around to see him close to my face
"Why do you keep doing that?!" I grinded my fist on his head. He still maintains his usual expression.
"Whatever…" He rubbed the spot where I grinded. "I got your message here." He pulled out a piece of paper.
"Right… Right…"
I coughed twice to clear my throat.
"Sorry to have called you in a day like this." I bowed down.
"What's this about?" He deadpanned.
"Recently I…" I didn't barely started my sentence.
But…
In these past weeks, this guy has been a some kind of an oasis to me. A stress relief, similar to Dad and Komichi. We began to hang out very much after the cat episode.
Everywhere we go, weird shenanigans happens. Even though, it was… entertaining.
It let me forget all the stress I had all the time. It was really… relaxing. It made me happy and more easygoing. I felt more lightweighted.
But now… how will this change us?

"I… I've been thinking a lot about us…" I glanced to another direction and fidgets my body A LOT.
"So I… I want to… take it to..." I lowered my head a bit. Too damned embarrassing…
"To…" I can't say it! What the hell am I thinking?! "To… To…"
"To the next level?" He finished the question for me. Wait, what…?
He guessed it right away…?
"I don't mind… Well, I guess it's fine…" He scratches his cheek while glancing at another direction.
I felt more heavy as before… I couldn't finish this properly… let alone the receiver's doing the finishing touch.
He then walked towards me and wraps his arms around me smoothly. It did made jump in surprise.
"So… this is where we start?" He asked as he still hugs me. "I guess…" I placed my hands on his shoulders.
Neither of us didn't really care about going together with someone else unlike any other normal teens would. So this feels really strange, but for some reason, he felt the same… I could feel it.
"What's next?" He asked again. "A tiny kiss, I guess…?" I suggested quietly and skeptically.
"I see…" He responded calmly.
He looks down on my face with a serious look. We are now this close to each other like never before. Looking up at him makes me want nervous as hell. I could feel my cheeks getting hotter than never before.
He closes in to me, and I did the same and we closed our eyes. Slowly, our lips connects.

*Smooch*

We separated our head away and opened our eyes. I know for sure I was blushing immensely, but surprisingly he did too while maintaining that half-opened eyelids of his.
"Let's… do our best… together." I whispered to him while giving off a smile. "Sure…" He responded.
Suddenly, he scratches my chin gently.
"Uuuuuh…" I let out a small, satisfying moan. "Eh?!" I realized what happened.
"Cut it out!" I scuffled roughly. "Sorry." He apologized, smiling.
"Oooooohhh…" He scratches the chin again. "Stop it!"
"Aaaaaahh…" I heavily panted. It felt more pleasuring… "Stop…"
"Iiiiiiiiiiih…" I tried to resist it. "Geez…"
"God damn it…!"
"Uuuuuuuh…"
"Hey!"
"Aaaargh…"
"Come on…"
"Stop!"

…

The character chapter will divide to 2, because of the length I writing for Homura's chapter. Homura will get a 'past' part (A.K.A this one) and a 'present' part.
I might not release the next part after this chapter as I'm working on the Yumi chapter at the same time.

See ya!