DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN LUCKY STAR. IT'S KAGAMI YOSHIMIZU'S PROPERTY. I DO OWN MAREO HOSHIDA THOUGH, SO DON'T STEAL HIM FROM MEEH!
Normality… That's something you've always wished for. No worries coming from that part of your life. The Universe is not very forgiving, is it?
Fearing what the future holds… Was that supposed to be a joke? Or do you really feel that way? You've been like this since the beginning, and it's not today that this is going to change.
Tell me, what's next?
"Hoshida-kun? Oooi, Hoshida"
Mareo blinked twice and turned his head quickly to where the voice was coming from. The image of Kuroi Sensei quickly formed in front of his eyes.
"Are you okay?"
Mareo nodded, blushing a little.
"Just fine… I'm sorry."
The teacher sighed, but smiled. Then she turned around and kept going with her lesson. The bell rang a couple of minutes after it and most of the students got up as the teacher left the class. Mareo sighed and dried up the sweat out of his forehead. It was that weird voice again. It took over his mind like a white blanked that covered himself from the outside world. It was getting even more frequent as time passed by. That's why his grades were getting even lower and lower. Mareo feared that he would fail if things kept going like this.
Since it was lunch time, he could relax a little. Mareo scratched the back of his head and stretched his muscles, yawning. Time for a good ol' meal from his mother.
"Excuse me!" somebody said. Mareo turned around.
"Y-yes?"
It was the weird girl sitting behind him. She was really odd. Her hair was blue and she didn't look like a senior. The girl was way too short for her age. Konata was her name. Konata Izumi, if he was not mistaken.
She seemed to be studying him closely, what made him very uncomfortable.
"Konata, cut it out!" another girl, the one with purple hair and pigtails, scowled her.
"Wait, just one more second… I almost got— OUCH!"
The purple-haired girl pulled Konata's lock of hair located right on top of her head. She seemed very irritated. Mareo didn't know what to do or say in a situation like that.
"You're scaring the heck out of him!"
"Sorry…" said Konata, rubbing the back of her head.
"I-it's okay…" Answered the boy.
"Geez Kagami, you didn't need to be that aggressive you know… I was just trying to remember who he resembled!" whined Konata.
Mareo flinched.
Kagami.
Kagami rolled her eyes.
"One of your anime characters, right?"
"Yeah! He looks so familiar with one of them, but I can't figure that huge enigma out!" said Konata frustrated and pointing at Mareo like he wasn't even there. A third girl interfered, looking a bit embarrassed.
"I'm so sorry, but I must say that our new college is still listening to your conversation…"
She was pretty. One of the prettiest girls Mareo had ever seen. She wore glasses and had a glossy pink hair. He tried to remember her name. Takara, maybe?
The two girls stopped arguing, and turned awkwardly. Both laughed nervously and Kagami bowed, apologizing. She forced Konata to do the same by pushing her head downwards.
"So… you're the new student, huh? How is it going? Is Tokyo too different from what you expected?" Started Kagami, trying to break the ice, but also trying to stop Konata from saying something that could scare the poor boy even more.
"Well… It is a big city. I guess I'll just have to… To get used to it." Mareo answered, still a bit uneasy. The first students with whom he talked to that day were a bit crazy. The thought of all the other teenagers being like that frightened him a little.
Maybe this is just the first impression. Never judge a book by its cov—
"I REMEMBER NOW! HE LOOKS AWFULLY LIKE SY*ORAN!"
"DAMMIT KONATA."
"You had to go and shout like that, didn't you?"
After school, Konata, Kagami and Tsukasa went by their regular path, heading home. Kagami Hiiragi was yelling at her shortest friend, while Tsukasa sweatdropped. But then again, this scene was rather common for her.
"Well, how should I know he'd fall off his chair? It's not like I can predict the future, you know…"
"There's something called being polite. You should really practice that more."
A small drop of water fell from the sky and hit Kagami's cheek, making her look up.
"Oh man… It's going to rain again." Said Kagami, reaching for her backpack and taking off her umbrella. Tsukasa did the same, while Konata only stared at both of them. It didn't take long before Kagami sighed, annoyed.
"Forgot yours again, huh?"
Konata only nodded.
"Geez, Konata! Don't you watch the forecast, like, ever?"
Konata shook her head negatively. Tsukasa gave a nervous laugh.
"It's ok, Kona-chan! Here, I can lend you mine and walk with Onee-chan."
Konata gladly accepted Tsukasa's umbrella.
"Thanks Tsukasa. I'll bring it tomorrow morning!"
Kagami was still annoyed by her friend's careless behavior, even tough that was starting to become a habit.
"You should've let her walk on the rain, that would remind her how important an umbrella is." Said Kagami.
"Well, I could do that, but… Do you really want me to get home soaked and probably catch a cold? I would miss class and you'd be all lonely, Kagamin!" Snapped Konata, dramatically. Kagami blushed and frowned.
"Shut up. Like I need you there! Besides, who said I'm lonely anyway? I have Tsukasa and Miyuki with me. And even Hoshida-kun would be a better company than you, I bet."
Konata put a thoughtful finger on her chin and remained silent. The twins looked at her, curiously, but said nothing. They kept walking for a while and the three girls got to the train station like that. Not even a word was exchanged, until Konata said:
"Well, see you tomorrow!"
Kagami flinched, but Konata was already too far away to be punched.
Nanako Kuroi was still on the school, finishing her annotations on her new student, Mareo Hoshida. Normally filling formularies would be reason for complaining from the teacher, but she felt kind of good by doing it this time. She had a good feeling about Hoshida, and she thought that she could make him friendlier with everybody by instructing her class in a better way.
If anyone asked, Nanako would simply deny that she was actually trying to improve her teaching methods. She was too lazy and too proud to do so.
Kuroi-sensei had finally written the last thing she needed about the boy, so she threw her pen on the table and stretched her muscles.
"Ahhh… That's better." The teacher looked over at Mareo's file. "I hope you're ready, because tomorrow things will change for you."
"I'm home!"
Konata yelled while placing the wet umbrella on the floor and taking off her shoes. Her father and her cousin, Yutaka Kobayakawa, were on the living room watching TV.
"Welcome home, Onee-san!" Said Yutaka, cheerful.
"Hey there, kiddo. How did school go?" Said Soujirou Izumi, smiling. He made room for Konata and she sat down in between the two relatives.
"It was cool. There is this new boy in our class. He entered our school this year."
Soujirou tensed for a second.
"A… boy, huh? I see… So, have you… talked to him yet?"
Yutaka sweatdropped, laughing nervously. Konata grabbed the remote control and started sweeping through the channels to see if anything interesting was airing.
"Hmm-hm. He seems a nice guy. A little shy, maybe." Said her, neutrally.
Yutaka got up and swept the dirt off her skirt.
"I'm going to make some tea. Would you all like some?"
Konata raised her hand, suddenly excited.
"Yes, please!"
"If you're making it, then I'll accept too." Konata's father said, smiling. Yutaka left the room and father and daughter were alone. Konata put on the news' channel and rested her head on the table.
"There's nothing good on…"
"Well, you normally don't turn the television on right after you get home. What's got into you today?"
Konata turned her head to the window, where small drops of water watered the glass. She groaned.
"Is that gloomy weather. My mood changes with the rain." She then lifted her head up and faced her dad. "Also, I didn't turn it on, it was already like this when I got home."
Soujirou giggled.
"I guess you're right."
And then nobody said a word until Yutaka arrived with the delicious tea. Then Konata's spirit seemed to lighten up. She drank it all and finished with a pleasant sigh. Yutaka smiled.
"How was it?"
"Ahh… Delicious as always, Yu-chan. You should open your own café someday!" Answered Konata with her typical cat-smile. Yutaka blushed a little and rubbed the back of her head.
"I don't think my tea is that good… But thank you for the compliment!"
Konata smirked.
"Of course, the tea is one of the main appeals, but… I was kind of thinking about other things…"
"Ehh…?"
Soujirou laughed and wiped a tear from his eyes, taking another sip from his tea. Things seemed to come back to normal.
Right after getting home, Kagami went straight to her bath, while Tsukasa tried her best to do her homework by herself while her sister was busy. But the sound of the rain drops falling outside wasn't exactly helping her concentration. Tsukasa's eyes slowly closed themselves and in minutes she was asleep on top of her math lesson.
The room's door opened and Kagami walked in. The scene made her sweatdrop.
"I can't believe it… It's not even late!" She whispered to herself. And as a good sister she was, Kagami reached out for Tsukasa and shook her shoulder gently.
"Hey, Tsukasa… C'mon, wake up. You're drooling all over the table!"
"Just five min... gahhhbah…" The last words were incomprehensible.
Kagami sighed.
"I swear, I don't know who's worse… Konata or you." She said, grabbing the homework and putting them on Tsukasa's bed. After organizing everything, Kagami silently left them room.
"I'll wake you up in five minutes…" She mumbled to her twin sister, with a really soft smile on her lips. Which she shoved off right after she noticed it.
Mareo walked down the street in large steps, but careful not to slip on the wet floor. He didn't like the rain. In fact, he hated rain with all his forces. It was a gloomy weather and it made everything slippery and dirty. He'd rather walk on the sun, where his freckles shined and his brown hair got a sandy color.
Rain is good, you know.
Mareo stopped abruptly, which almost made the person behind him fall on top of him. He apologized automatically, but remained frozen.
"What… did you say?"
I said that rain is good. It makes plants grow.
He sighed. It was there, clearer than ever. The weird voice that talked to him whenever he was alone. And the worst thing was that Mareo answered. It was like having an imaginary conversation with himself, and as far as Mareo was concerned, talking to yourself wasn't a good thing to do in public.
Mareo started walking again, but a lot more slowly.
"But it also brings destruction…" He replied to the voice.
Does it now?
"Yes. It does. People can die because of rain."
But nobody is going to die because of rain today, right?
Mareo clenched his teeth. He hated when the voice did that. He hated when it played with him. Mareo already knew all that, then why did that voice needed to remind him of it every single day?
"…No."
He could almost feel the voice smirking.
What about tomorrow?
"Tomorrow is not going to rain." He answered before he could stop himself. Mareo bit his tongue.
Oh, that's right. I forgot about that.
"Right…" He sighed. The watery floor below him reflected his image upside down. But Mareo forced himself not to look at it. Because he knew what he would see, and that was the other reason why he hated rain so much. Everyone else would see a normal boy with a shy attitude reflected on the water.
But he would see how that part of the street would be like seven days from now.
Oh, hi. How are you?
So, I finally uploaded! Chapter 2! I hope you guys like mystery and deep meanings, because that story will have plenty of it! I figured where it's going, and now I just need the time to write it! What do you guys think of it until now?
Reviews are a great way to keep me on track! Till next chapter!
- TSL
