Disclaimer: Do I really need to say it? Really? Can anyone honestly believe that I could possibly own the Lucky Star franchise? ANYONE?!
Well first off I'd like to thank all you fantastic people who actually took time to review and give me your feedback. And to you people who read but didn't review, hope you enjoyed it as well.
I've switched "senpai" to "sempai," because when you actually pronounce the word senpai, it sounds like sempai. Not really ground breaking, but every-time I typed "senpai" I always heard it with the "n" sound instead of the "m," so it helps me to do it the other way.
If you haven't figured it out by now (really, shame on you if you haven't) this is going to be a shoujo-ai fic involving the romantic entanglement between two teenage girls. If you really have any problems about that, I'd really recommend you not read. Though, I don't think too many people in the Lucky Star fandom would mind. Just saying...
Ah, but I'm getting long-winded again, those of you still there enjoy the show.
Hiyori's sudden epiphany brought on a flurry of emotions. A sense of hope and accomplishment for thinking of a way to battle her writer's anxiety, a bit of awkward shyness from suddenly realizing she was in a higher grades corridor, and then flabbergasted shock as things eventually began to sink in.
Unfortunately she didn't have much time to dwell on these feelings as the schools bell suddenly chimed, signaling the end of the lunch period. Hiyori quickly bolted to her classroom, her cheeks still glowing slightly.
She managed to make it to her class, barely on-time (which was quite astounding when you think about how far she'd had to travel), and avoided getting a lecture that she more than likely wouldn't have paid much attention too anyway.
Hiyori stumbled to her seat, ignoring her friends silent stares partially due to distraction, and partially because she was worried that her expression might, in some way, give away her thoughts. She'd really rather not have her friends of all people know exactly what she was thinking.
The teacher finally began the lesson, but Hiyori was far too distracted to even try to listen this time. Her mind drifted to other things. Stranger things.
Purple things.
Crap. CRAP! Did I seriously just think that? Ok, ok, calm down, just think about this for a second. Hiiragi-san is the only sempai I know who fits the archetype I need, she's passionate and kind, but seems to hide it under tough exterior. Makes it a pretty easy choice, right?
...Right?
Hiyori let out an in-audible groan as her face connected with her desk.
What am I thinking? This is crazy on every level. I don't even think Hiragii-sempai and I have ever really spoken to each other before, let alone held a conversation, and I'm seriously thinking of going after her? Arrrgh, not to mention she'll be graduating soon and then attending college. With all the testing and everything going on it's not like she'll even have time for a girlfriend or anything like that. Doesn't seem like it would work out...
She sighed lightly as she lifted herself from her awkwardly bent position, moving into a more casual one with her left cheek resting against her palm. After a few seconds, her expression became less churlish, and bit more thoughtful as she stared past the blackboard.
But, would it really have to? It's possible just trying would help. We wouldn't HAVE to end up as girlfriends, maybe I can get by with some coy flirting or something, it's not like she'd have reciprocate or anything, one-sided romances are good story material. If things start getting difficult, I could always pass it off as trying to get better acquainted with her before she goes off to college...
Hiyori's face softened a bit more, until she wore an almost daydreaming expression. She was getting pretty into the idea now, even if she didn't realize it.
Doesn't sound like such a bad idea anyway, getting to know her better. She is pretty cute, adorable even, when she's being deredere. And she does seem interesting, even though we haven't really talked or anything. I've seen her all the time with Izumi-sempai, I'd really like to know more about her...
It was then that Hiyori's remarkably active imagination kicked in and she slipped into full on day-dream mode, starting to fantasize about the different way she could get close to "Hiiragi-sempai."
Hmmm, maybe they'd visit an amusement park as a group, that sounds plausible, right? Isn't there one nearby, in Kazo? Whatever. They'd all go as a group, happy and bright-eyed at the prospect of such a fun-filled day and making memories with one another. Of course they would split into smaller bunches at first, instead of traveling in one large, unwieldy mass. Hiyori would most likely go off with her own little clutch of friends at first, same as Kagami and her friends, and then everyone would probably splinter off as the day goes on, finding one another and forming other little adventuring parties, until by some fortuitous circumstance, she and Kagami would end up together. Alone.
They'd spend their time walking around the park getting to know each other better (or would that've already happened?), and playing a few games. Would Kagami win her a prize? Maybe she'd win her a giant stuffed rabbit from a shooting gallery. Hiyori would carry it around afterwards while they chatted and walked, the sun going down over the horizon, and only letting it slip from her embrace when they decided to ride the Ferris wheel. Thankfully the monstrous bunny took up a lot of room, which forced the two of them to sit next to each-other during the ride.
By then the long excitement filled day would have taken it's toll on Hiyori, and she'd close her eyes an lean against Kagami who, rather than push the younger girl away, would instead gently wrap her left arm around her friend. Hiyori would snuggle closer into her sempai's grasp, enjoying the warmth and security she provided. Then she'd open her violet eyes and look up into Kagami's indigo ones, both sets silently communicating a subtle intimate message to the other, causing the two girls to blush furiously but rendering them unable to look away until a loud explosion echoed through the compartment and they looked outside to see the dazzling lights of fireworks against the the black backdrop of the sky.
Kagami would comment on how beautiful it looked before Hiyori turned back to face her, their eyes once again finding each-other. The two would blush, Kagami's embrace would tighten, and one of her pigtails would gently brush Hiyori's face. The smaller girl would close her eyes, would only feel Kagami's warm breath as she got closer and closer, her lips trembling in anticipation, waiting for that golden moment when they would finally-
Hiyori suddenly threw herself back against her chair, her hands shooting up to cover her burning face which was now a furious shade of red, making her look less of a person suffering from embarrassment and more like one suffering from first-degree burns.
Oh god What am I thinking! I know I have perverted thoughts about friends, but that was just crazy! Hiyori's hands slid upwards and she grasped locks of her long hair in her fists. I haven't even decided on anything and I'm already fantasizing about her? I need to get a grip here.
The manic otaku managed to calm herself into a semblance of rationality after a few minutes, and she began mentally going over her recent fantasy.
Well, at least it was interesting. Huh, it was actually pretty good, all I'll need to do is flesh it out a bit more and it'd be a fantastic scene...Wow...it's actually working! And I haven't even really done anything yet! This is amazing, imagine how helpful it'll be if I actually tried going farther then just fantasizing about it.
Hiyori softly giggled to herself, her mind was finally made up. Okay, I'm definitely going after Hiiragi-sempai now, I just...don't know how. I'll think something after school. Ooooh, Hiiragi-sempai, your going to help me get my inspiration back. She sighed as she thought back to her fantasy. Hmmm, would you really act like that? I guess I'll find out if things go well. Her hand reached up to her mouth to lightly touch her lips. I wonder...how soft your lips would be...and how would you kiss? Would you give shy butterfly kisses, or maybe more ferocious ones? W-Would you french on the first kiss?
"Ta...Tamura-san?"
Hiyori's knees banged the underside of her desk, and she let out a pained moan as she lowered her hands to rub the suddenly throbbing apendages while Yutaka apologized profusely for startling her friend and causing her to injure herself.
"I-I'm sorry Tamura-san! I didn't mean to surprise you like that, I was just trying to get your attention! Are you alright?" squeeked the small moe-blob of a girl.
"It-It's fine Yu-chan," Hiyori said as she continued to rub her knees trying to alleviate the pain, her eyes slightly watery, "you just startled me, geez that hurt, I-I was sorta' deep in my thoughts. What is it you wanted?"
"Well..." was all Yutaka said as she looked around the classroom, and Hiyori followed her gaze to see that class had already ended and cleared out, leaving Yutaka and her as the only two left inside.
"Oh...I guess I didn't notice the bell. Um, I wasn't acting weird or anything during class, was I?" she asked, though not really sure if she wanted to know the answer.
"W...Well, you had this really intense look on your face, I thought you were just paying attention really hard. Okabe-sensei tried calling you to answer a question, but you just stared at him until he called another person. I think you might have scared him a little."
Hiyori sighed, lamenting her lack of attentiveness before responding, "Ugh, alright, I guess it's time to go. Where're the other two?"
"Ah, they said they'd be outside when I told them I was going to wait for you, so we could all walk home together." Yutaka relayed as her friend packed her stuff into her satchel.
"Alright then, let's head down there so they don't wait too long." Hiyori said, and the two girls quickly vacated the room and began making their way outside. I'd rather not give them something else to worry about. I'll just leave the day-dreaming off till later, when I can finally figure all this out, I just hope thing's don't get more screwed up than they already are.
The two walked through the shoe-lockers, meeting with the Minami and Patty outside, and began the journey home. All in all, things were starting to look up.
"I'M IN DESPAIR!
Arriving home after bidding Yutaka a goodbye on the train, Hiyori had immediately ran to the kitchen (She hadn't eaten all day, after all), and then to her room, where she whipped out a notebook and sat down to decide on a course of action. Unfortunately, after a few hours of sitting and thinking, she had written down almost nothing. After her sudden outburst, she slumped over her desk, upsetting multiple balls of crumpled paper.
"My lack of an ability to plan has left me in despair," she mumbled into her notebook, doing her best Zet00bou impression.
Shifting into a less awkward position, she decided to review what she had written for the umpteenth time, if for no other reason than to take her mind off her apparent despair:
Hiyori's Plan of Attack!
Target: Hiiragi-sempai
Objective: Overcome writers anxiety.
Mission: Pursue target romantically to achieve objective. Mission can be carried out in multiple manners, I.E. coy flirtation, general friendship build-up, etc. etc...
...and that was it.
It's been how many hours, and that was all she's come up with so far? Her face connected with the pad once again, painfully squashing one of the crumpled balls of paper.
Was it supposed to be this hard? It's not like she had any prior experience or anything. She didn't even know how to start, let alone what to do once things got rolling, if they even got that far. Well, it isn't exactly normal is it, this whole concept, not exactly something your average highschool girl has to go through. Though, to be fair, she isn't exactly normal.
Hmph, well there's one thing I do know, I need to improve my friendship with Kagami-sempai. If I'm really lucky, that'll be enough and I won't even have to go on with this hair-brained scheme. That'd probably be the best turn of events-
Hiyori suddenly yawned, her thoughts cutting abruptly, her eye-lids got heavier, and her mind getting foggy, more yawns interspersing her thoughts.
Mmmm, maybe I...should c...call it an early...an early...
Hiyori's eyes slowly closed, and she absent-mindedly snuggled into her desk, notebook, and a crumpled up piece of paper before drifting off to sleep.
You ever sleep for a really long time, only to wake up and feel like no time has passed between then and now? Hiyori certainly felt like that as her eyes fluttered open from her long nap.
Raising herself form the desk, she tried rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and pulled away the wad of paper that stuck to her face, the crumples leaving a pattern of angry red marks. She rubbed her cheek and turned to look at the clock resting on her desk.
Hiyori grimaced as the clock flashed 11:17pm at her, even after such a long nap she still felt groggy and exhausted. Glancing forlornly at the paper sitting on the top of her desk, she sighed before conceding that she wasn't going to get any farther with it tonight and that she'd do much better after a good nights rest.
Stretching her arms above her head and yawning, Hiyori extricated herself from the desk and began slipping off her clothes, barely managing to gather her pajamas up and to put them on before stumbling over to her bed.
She flipped off the light and rolled underneath her covers, nuzzling into her soft pillow before absently brushing away a few stray manga that fell from the usually neat pile resting beside it.
And in a few seconds, she was fast asleep.
Perhaps the gods decided to cut the tightly wound girl some slack, as Hiyori managed to get through the night with little difficulty, and awoke the next morning refreshed and energized.
As resfreshed and energized a troubled highschool girl with massive writers block could be on a day with dismal gray clouds that looked about ready to rain at any second anyway.
Still, the half a day and night's worth of rest was doing wonders for Hiyori's disposition. She was almost cheerful as she packed up her bento and grabbed her umbrella before heading out the door and to the school, glancing briefly at the coal grey clouds overhead.
The gods seemed to be feeling especially charitable that day it seemed, as the clouds managed to hold their rain the whole way, and Hiyori made it to the school slightly jubilant and bone dry.
Thankfully, the day progressed pretty normally, though Hiyori occasionally lapsed into a stray thought of what to do to get closer to Kagami ("I could slip a note into her locker. Wait, do people even do that in real life?" "I could "accidentally" bump into her on the street, but she's usually with with her friends, or Izumi-sempai." "Hmmm, she might just get annoyed or creeped out if I keep randomly bumping into her." "Arrgh! Why do situations in anime turn out to be horrible and annoying in real life?!").
Lunch period rolled around, and while Patty, Yutaka, and Minami all noticed their friends spacey demeanor, they thought it was wise to not press her, lest they trigger another terrifying event flag. They were certain that if Hiyori wanted to talk to them about whatever was bothering her, she'd just come out and say it. And if and when that does happen, they'll be there for her.
Hiyori herself just spent the lunch hour half-listening to her friends conversations, and staring out the window thinking about Kagami. She was suddenly pulled from her reverie at the small plink plink sound of water droplets hitting glass.
Looks like the clouds finally gave up.
Her fist clenched her chop-sticks tightly as she watched a steady stream of droplets bombard the windows.
This might be a bad sign.
Lunch ended, and lessons continued without incident, minus an instance where Okabe-sensei almost called on Hiyori to answer a problem on the board, but seemed to change his mind mid-sentence after a visible shudder ("Alright, who can answer this problem? How about you Tam-...H-How about you Chiri-san?").
As the final bell rang, Patty quickly shoved her books into her bag and hurried to Hiyori's seat, patting her on the head to grab her attention, "Hiyorin, I was thinking we could all head over to my place today and hang out for a bit, what-do-you-say?" she asked, adding the last bit in english.
"Nn, sorry guys," she lamented as Yutaka and Minami joined them, "the animation research club's having a meeting today, Kō-chan sempai would kill me if I missed it."
"Aw, alright then, just don't forget about your dear old friends and hang out with us soon, 'kay?" said Patty as she rustled the shorter girls hair before grabbing the other two girls by the wrists and dragging them out the door, saying something about needing models for some new cosplay outfits she was working on.
Hiyori tried her best to smooth down her now unkempt hair before stuffing the last book in her bag, before heading out the door to the animation research clubs classroom, and greeting her friend Kō Yasaka, the clubs second year president.
Thankfully for Hiyori, the meeting went pretty quickly as many of the other club members hadn't finished their projects in time, though this seemed to really irk Kō. While this meant that many of them had to suffer a scolding from their president, it also meant that the meeting would end earlier and everyone could head home before the rain got much worse.
So bidding farewell to her sempai, Hiyori walked down the darkened corridor towards the shoe-lockers. The constant pounding against the windows drew her attention, and she turned her head to look outside and watched the hundreds of droplets cascade and burst as they connected with the panes of glass, leaving faint trails of water.
It's unfortunate that she wasn't paying attention to where she was going, otherwise she would have seen the girl coming around the corner instead of bumping into her.
It's pretty easy to see where this is going.
Hiyori fell backwards and onto the ground, her glasses slipping of her face and falling with a clatter against the linoleum flooring.
"A-Ah, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed at the blurry figure standing above her, "Wh-Where are my glasses?" she wondered aloud as she pawed at the ground for them, until the blurry figure stooped down and picked them, brushing them off lightly before handing them to the flustered otaku.
"Sorry Hiyori-san, I should have been watching where I was going. Here're your glasses."
The voice made Hiyori freeze.
No way.
She reached a shaky hand out and grasped her glasses.
That's just...way too convenient...too uncanny...
She slipped them on, and stared at the purple haired girl in front of her.
"Eh?! H-Hiiragi-sempai?!"
Somewhere, god is laughing at me.
End Notes:
I'M IN DESPAIR
My inability to write good exposition has left me in despair!
Bah, I don't know if it's that bad, but I always feel like I've got a problem with exposition. Sometimes I feel like I'm over-saturating the story with info, so I try to dial it back a bit, but then I read back over it and it feels a bit too general so I try to add more, and it's this constant back-and-forth-back-and-forth thing going on till I just get sick of it and hope that I've gotten a good balance.
Here's a tidbit, the character Kō Yasaka isn't an original character. She's a secondary character that appeared in the manga (which I didn't know because I'm an utter prat and the internet hates me) and Lucky Star PS2 game as the president of the Animation Research Club that Hiyori's a member of, so I thought I'd just throw her up in there. I've not played the game unfortunately, not being able to speak or read Japanese AT ALL thank you very much, nor gotten very far in the manga (about chapter 21), so don't expect her to become a major character or really get any lines, as I've no idea what her personality is like.
Anyway, looks like things are starting to get interesting for our intrepid little heroine. I wasn't originally going to end with a cliff-hanger, but it actually seemed like a good place to stop it, sets up for the massive aneurysm you just KNOW Hiyori's going to have in the next chapter. HA! Hope you all enjoy cute fluff at her expense, because there's going to be a lot of it.
And don't forget to review and leave me feedback, it is much appreciated.
Sincerely,
Mad Pierrot Le Fou
P.S. ...ah crap, I did it again.