Hey all. Glad I was able to update on time this week. I feel confident about it actually and I'm giving a few of the characters a touch of personality. This chapter is going to be a lot like Chapter 2, it isn't that long but has plenty of conversation. And I would like to state that every scene in this chapter doesn't happen chronologically. You could say that every scene is at the same time, but in different rooms. Just want to clear that up.
On an interesting note I'm be introducing a few more characters that some of you might of notice have been missing. If you know the cast of characters, you should recognize them.
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters of Lucky Star. I only own Yasuhiro Kaito and the new character introduced.
Chapter 11: Palutena's Bow
School came along too soon for the teenagers of Ryoo. It was a shame they only had one day for breaks instead of two, like most others students around the globe. After Comiket, the five of them were completely worn out. The day dragged on during the first half as the third year students had to fight their mental and physical fatigue. Konata had stayed up through most of the night browsing through her various purchases, while Kaito and Kagami had to deal with dirty secrets poisoning their brains. From this point on everything would be particularly explosive.
At Lunch time, the two of them were on opposite sides of the building. Kaito had to wander to the cafeteria for once. He wasn't concerned at all with his physical needs, so he forgot to make his morning bento. And due to request, he had to spend time with his other friends. Kagami decided to spend some time with her other friends as well. But she wanted to hide, because she thought her otaku friends would be inseparable.
Inside the room of 3-B, Konata, Miyuki, and Tsukasa were eating around a desk as usual. At this point, they were used to the tsundere spending time in her class. But the boy's absence was a little strange. He arrived at the school late, so there wasn't any time to chat. But they decided it was best not to question about these things. Especially since there was a current dilemma at hand.
"Ooo…" Miyuki moaned slowly as she was chewing on her food.
"Something wrong, Yuki-chan?" Tsukasa asked.
The meganekko swallowed before talking. "The dentist found another cavity and I'll have to go after school. I can feel it this time though, so I can understand why I need this."
"You sure go to the dentist a lot Miyuki-san. Do you eat sweets like Kagamin?"
"Not really…"
Konata made a grumpy face. "Well I have no idea." But saying that, she had an interesting thought. "Maybe this is to counteract her perfect body."
Tsukasa remembered something she saw on the television a few nights ago. "I heard if you chew certain kinds of gum; that can help you with your teeth."
"I tried that before Tsukasa-san. Things didn't work out too well."
"Hmm…" The purple haired girl tried to think of a solution for her friend.
"Do the dentists treat you well at least? I'm sure they'd have to give you Novocain or laughing gas to numb the pain." Konata brought up.
Miyuki thought about that statement for a second. She had been going to the same dentist for years but each time she went, she wasn't sure if they had used any of those proper anesthetics. The pain and sound of the drills were the things she absolutely hated about the dentists. Even the thought was causing her tooth to wry around in her mouth.
"I…don't really know for sure."
The two girls made shocked faces from the fact.
"Oh, Miyuki-san! You should be able to sue them for that!" Konata said passionately.
"You think I should sue them?"
Tsukasa sweat dropped from the statement, but agreed. "I think dentists would have to include those things for their patients. It's usually given to me every time before me or Onee-chan has to go."
"Hmm…" Miyuki processed the words into her head. She came to a quick conclusion. "I'll double check today, but if they are not using any of those things, I will have to press charges."
Tsukasa was stunned by her friend's words. Konata was as well, but she had a smile on her face knowing Miyuki might follow her beliefs.
"That's unlike you Yuki-chan." Tsukasa said, clearly surprised.
The taller girl began to explain, speaking in a sterner tone than usual. "I don't like going to the dentist, but I feel if I have been demeaned of something that is required for all patients, I may have to sue the company. I've been going to that place for years. Something like that should have been given to me considering how often I've had surgery. Places as important and painful such as that shouldn't have me go through so much anguish."
"Wow…" Tsukasa said.
Konata smiled as she placed her fingers near her lip. "Hmm…I kind of like this side of Miyuki-san. I really think Kaito-kun and Kagamin should be seeing this…
In a nearby classroom though, the older Hiiragi twin sighed as she was preparing to eat lunch. The experience with Kaito had made her more self-conscious than ever before. She was always concerned over her appearance and dieting. And now a person in her class had a thing for overweight women. That very same person also happened to be Kaito's friend. There were so many boys in her class though, she wouldn't have a clue.
At least she was safe for now though. Even if it was lunch, she didn't necessarily have to hang out with Konata and company. She decided to stick around with her friends of class 3-C who were currently having their own conversation. They were nice and all, but there was something about Tsukasa's class that had a more natural appeal to it. She glanced over her friends as she mindlessly mixed her chopsticks around her lunch.
The first friend was doing most of the talking prominently due to her loud and energetic personality. She had tan skin that matched with her sharp, short brown hair. As she talked, Kagami would notice a fang from her mouth, giving her strange voice. Her other friend was more normal looking. She had incredibly long, orange hair that was held back with a white headband. Her eyes were blue and her skin was kind of pale, reflecting on her very kind and passive personality. She spent most of the conversation listening and nodding.
Without warning, the brown haired one turned her head and looked at Kagami.
"Don't you agree, Hiiragi?" She said, stretching out her name.
"On what?" The twin-tailed girl startled.
The fanged one frowned and straightened her eyebrows. "You weren't listening to anything I was saying, were you?"
Kagami focused back on her two classmates. "Sorry, Misao. I've just been thinking a lot."
"About what?" She responded quickly.
"Nothing really. It's just kind of personal."
Misao made wry face thinking about how Kagami has been acting for the past couple of weeks. "Oh, I bet I know why…"
"Why's that?" Kagami said, irritation hinting in her voice.
"Well I've been noticing you've been going to Izumi's class more than usual, and there has been talk going around that a boy has been hanging out with you."
The twin-tailed girl felt nailed to the wall with that statement. She didn't think if a boy hang out with her troupe people would already start making those assumptions. People never say those types of things with normal friends, but does gender play that big of a role? She had to counter her friend's statement.
"He's been hanging out with all of us, but that's really it." Kagami dismissed.
"What's he like?" Ayano asked.
"He's very nice, but a total otaku."
Misao felt she needed to stand by the rumors, keeping her smile. "Perhaps otakus are the kind of people Hiiragi needs. Someone to melt that icy heart of yours."
Kagami shook as she formed a fist under her desk, but her other friend came to her side.
"Now, now Misa-chan. No need to come to such a hasty conclusion." Ayano said.
"I am curious though. Why would that boy hang around with you and your friends so suddenly? It just gets me wondering…" Misao said.
"He seems to be happy with all of us, though I don't really know much about if he has other friends. However he is on Konata's wavelength, that's for sure."
From gathering all the facts, Misao had to ask. "Are you sure you aren't an otaku, Hiiragi?"
"No!" She shouted.
"Maybe Hiiragi-chan isn't used to a gentleman like him." Ayano suggested.
"He's not that pure, Ayano. Sure, Yasuhiro is a talented guy but he's kind of mysterious. It feels like he's pretty good at everything normally but I have no idea what he's thinking at all."
"Well if he's an otaku he probably has his sights focused on unreal things."
"I've been around Konata long enough to tell if a person is normal. And Yasuhiro might be an otaku but it feels like he's found some sort of balance."
"If he's like that it sounds like he might be perfect boyfriend material." Misao concluded.
"What?! What makes you think that?" Kagami demanded.
"If you can tolerate him and he's a nice guy, I see no problem in you trying to date him or something. Right?" Her fanged friend debated.
"Well…" Kagami had trouble trying to debunk Misao's thoughts. Kaito was a pretty nice boy overall even with his otaku tendencies. And while he had seemed to have more similarities with Konata, he completely respected and at times, defended Kagami. It was just with this new found discovery; she had this sense of fear. What if he was lying? What will he do now knowing her secrets?
"Oh, I'm right aren't I?!" She said with enthusiasm.
"I don't know Misao." She said bluntly. "It would be too early to think anything like that."
"Oh, phooey." The brown hair girl said defeated.
"That makes me wonder." Kagami began. "If you wonder so much about boys, have you ever asked about Ayano's boyfriend?"
Misao hadn't really thought of that. The two focused their attention on Ayano, who was blushing as she scratched the back of her head. The fact that she had a boyfriend was known but it was never fully looked into. Yet with someone like Kagami, that possibility put the tan skin girl in a complete uproar. She spoke nervously as she looked over her two friends.
"Well…sometimes you don't ask about your friend's relationships. It's best to respect their privacy."
Kagami took those words harshly. "So apparently I'm on a different level."
On a different side of the school, Kaito was sliding his feet along the floor towards the cafeteria. It was ages since he went there as he would prefer eating whatever he wanted instead of what he was forced too. But at least doing this would distance himself from the perceptive Konata and the temperamental Kagami. He knew them a bit too well after hanging around them for the past couple of weeks. He didn't want to risk anything.
But even his female friends would notice the absence for today; he didn't really care that often. From the call at Comiket, he had been ignoring his other friends. The less time a person spends with his friends, the more they will be out of sync with them. He didn't want to cause any more problems. Not to mention he had all of that fetish manga to deliver. The only thing worse than ladies finding those doujins would be his parents.
He opened the doors briskly as he entered the strange part of the school. There were much more people in the cafeteria than he would think. Nearly every girl he knew would rather pack a lunch than go here. Perhaps he was hanging out with women too much. He looked over the various, but mundane menu with little excitement. He wished he had woken up earlier, cursing the addicting power of all of that fan made work.
Kaito walked into the surprisingly short line for tempura udon. He enjoyed the tastes of both so he hoped the combination would work. He waited patiently as the workers moved between the many lines of students. Getting his food, he felt kind of worried that the bowl would slide off the tray, making the day worse. With the several lines, he also noticed that many of the tables were filled up with chattering students. He knew he would have a hard time finding his friends.
"Yo! Kaito!" A voice said from across the room.
He tilted his slowly, making sure he wouldn't drop his food. Focusing his head he was able to see three enthusiastic, waving arms in his sights. He smirked knowing that day would finally be getting better. He walked over the table swiftly observing the three of them after the view weeks of ignoring them. His childhood friend was sitting on the side, adjusting his glasses. Apparently, he had shaved his head, leaving a large green shadow where all the hair used to be. There were his other two friends sitting across and at his other side. One of them was chubby while the later friend seemed to suffer from popularized 'eyes always shut' syndrome." He placed his tray and down and rest comfortably in his chair.
"Hey there Ryuta. Taichi. Shirashi." He addressed them.
"It's been too long Kaito." The bespectacled teenager said.
"It's only been a few weeks Ryuta." Kaito responded. "No need to get worried over this."
"Well when your friend hangs out with girls like that, you do wonder what they are doing." He said with a slight bit of suggestion.
"Now now, there's no need to get into that." Kaito dismissed.
"Hmm. You hang out with Izumi, right Kaito-san?"
"That's right Minoru. Izumi, Takara and the Hiiragi twins all kind of hang out together. You could say Konata did bring me into their circle though."
"Nice work there, Kaito." Taichi complimented.
He nodded at his portly friend. "Oh yeah, it's been very pleasant."
Ryuta made turned his hands into fists as he looked at Kaito. "Ok, you have to tell us. Are you going out with any of them?"
"Nope. Not yet." He said plainly.
The three of his friends turned their heads down in shame.
"Ah…come on Kaito-kun." Ryuta complained. "You have to have something for one of them."
"Well I have gone over them and they are all pretty great. Konata is probably the otaku girl I've been looking for. She probably more of an obsessive person than any of us. Not to mention she's incredibly cute with all that long hair. Kagami might seem like a mean person, but kind at heart. She's very caring and smart and she's undoubtedly cute. And Miyuki is clearly one of the hottest girls in the school. But she surprisingly very intelligent and polite. It's just amazing how all these women are set up in such wonderful package."
"What about Tsukasa?" Taichi commented. "I always thought she was kind of cute."
"Well, she is. It's just that she doesn't have too much working for her. She seems very dependant on other people. It's not something very appealing to me."
"You are definitely a lucky one Yasuhiro." Minoru said. "Are you considering any of the girls though?"
"Well of course I am. That's what a man does. He decides on what he really wants, but let me tell you something you don't know. Apparently Konata is friends with more girl otakus."
"No way." Ryuta said.
"I'm serious! There's two of them that she introduced me to. One of them is also really cute as she has this really long black hair and glasses. But she also draws yuri and it's fantastic stuff. And the other one is that exchange student. She's really hot. When we went to Comiket she was wearing that revealing outfit Mikuru wore in Episode 00. That image was in my mind all day."
"I'm really jealous of you now Kaito." Taichi said. "So much to do…so little time."
"That's something that worries me though. If I pair up with one of them, will I have to worry about any of them hating me?"
"Friends aren't like that." Shirashi said. "I don't think you ending up with Konata or Miyuki would cause any problems."
"Well it's not only that, but I kind of feel like they all deserve someone special to be with, you know? It's global fact that otakus need love and I'm only one man."
"Well, I wish I could help you out." Ryuta said. "But I have a thing for that brown haired girl in my class. I just haven't had the courage to ask her out."
The two of them glanced at Taichi, who spoke hastily. "Don't look at me; I'm in no position to be getting into relationships."
"Same." Shirashi said in a somber tone.
"I actually think you'd be great for Miyuki-san, Minoru. You both are extremely polite, you should work perfect together."
"Trust me Kaito. I would love to go out with our beautiful class representative. But I just don't think it would work out."
"Suit yourself." He sighed.
"Oh yeah Kaito, how was Comiket?"
"You don't want to know…"
"Why not?" All three of them asked.
"Well let me start out on a good note. A bought a ton of doujinshi and had fun. Because of a bet with Konata, I had to cosplay as someone and I chose Geese Howard. There are a couple of pictures of us that I can show you later. Konata dressed as Haruhi though, so it was pretty nice. Not only did I participate in a Guitar Hero competition, but I did very well and won a PS3. And I got to beat up a Inuyasha cosplayer who insulted us."
"A Playstation 3?! Very nice!" Minoru said.
"So what was bad about it?" Taichi asked.
"Ryuta…"
"Yes?"
"Prepare yourself." Kaito took a pause. "Kagami found that manga you wanted."
"WHAT?!" He screamed.
"I know. She exploded when she saw it all. And I got blamed for it."
"So how did that end up?" He said, cringing in anticipation.
"Well she won't tell anyone. I found out something about her that's very embarrassing. But I'm worried she'll be suspecting things about me."
The glasses wearing boy sighed in relief. "You are a true friend Kaito."
"Trust me, I hope Kagami still likes me after all this." He said. "And take your manga."
Ryuta made an innocent sweat drop as he began shifting the manga from his friend's bag to his own. Shirashi didn't really want to comment on the situation. He didn't want to know about the dirty things the two otakus were interested in. Taichi on the other hand, was snickering a little bit over the situation. His three friends looked sharply at him.
"Oh?" He said surprised. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something funny."
"Must be pretty funny knowing how it put my reputation on the line." Kaito said bitterly.
"I was just thinking about something that happened between me and Hiiragi on our trip to Kyoto and Nara."
"Go on." Ryuta said, nodding his head.
"Well, in this one store she bought Yatsuhashi doll that I was too scared to buy. So I confronted her late at night asking for it. She thought it was some big thing but I thought it was kind of funny over all. Her face was blank that following day."
The three looked at him blankly.
"Oi, Taichi." Kaito began. "That's not really funny. I mean, when I went to Disneyworld a few years ago I bought every piece of Stitch merchandise that I could. But you can't even find the courage to by a simple doll, so you ask for it from a girl in your class? That's actually kind of sad."
Taichi pouted as he looked away while Ryuta and Minoru grinned over the transaction. Kaito smiled and began to focus on his lukewarm udon. He was glad to talk to the guys once again.
Hehe, though you all would enjoy that final scene. You probably wanted to tell off that guy while watching Episode 21 as well.
Now on the subject of Kaito having friends. It kind of negates the feeling of loneliness he may have appeared to have, but I decided not to take that route. One problem I have a lot with Romance/Ecchi series with one male protagonist, is that the same guy is extreme socially awkward/lonely/has no male friends or only one friend at all. It just really irritates me. And even if they have a friend, it's the same kind of friend. I just thought I'd break that stereotype a little because you should have friends of the same gender, no matter who you are.
Anyway, please review! (Btw, Lucky Star had an episode called Pandora's Box, so I thought I could have fun with the title of this chapter)