Me: O.o My life is over.
Chrono: Why?
Me: Anime Expo 2006—the guest of honor is CLAMP. The CLAMP.
Chrono: Point?
Me: I found out about it too late. I don't have 600-plus dollars for plane and hotel. …Plus chaperone. Bottom line: I can't go.
Chrono: I laugh at you.
Mokona-sama: You laugh at her?
Ohkawa-sama: That's beyond cruel.
Igarashi-sama: For shame, you worthless Moriyama creation.
Moriyama-sama: Hey, did I mock you when you created a pitiful character? Did I strip, oh let's say, Misakichi of her dignity when you introduced her as weak, helpless, and clueless?
Nekoi-sama: No, you didn't. But we're not the morons who invented an anger-management psycho demon with love issues. Who, by the way, is a total rip-off of the Chrono Trigger games.
Takahashi-sama: Ladies, ladies, please, must we argue over semantics?
Mokona-sama: Rumiko, we were referring to Chrono, not Inu-Yasha.
Takahashi-sama: Oh…yes, of course. …Carry on then.
Moriyama-sama: That was below the belt—it is NOT a rip-off of Chrono Trigger! …Have you ever even played/read Chrono Trigger?
CLAMP-sama: No.
Me: Do you know who else are going to be guests at the convention?
Chrono: Super-hot voice actors?
Me: Damn right!
Chrono: Whee! I—I mean—"Greg" (yes…"Greg Ayers", heh heh…) am a guest?
Me: Pffpth! You're joking, right? I'm talking mega-hot-knock-your-socks-off voice actors!
Chrono: No…oh no! You don't—you can't—it isn't!
Ed: Hello, again.
Chrono: NOOOOOOOOOO!-!-!
Me: Please my dear actors don't disguise yourselves.
Ed: (throws away disguises)
Mignogna-san: Phew, that's better. (turns to authoress) Hey…you're that damn writer that split my best work into seven personae!
Me: AND—I'm plotting against your worst work right now!
Mignogna-san: Ya' mean Dark?
Me: Yes.
Mignogna-san: Go for it.
Me: Thank you.
Paku-san: Excuse me, but, did you say you're not coming to the Expo?
Me: (sniffle) That's correct…
Paku-san: No! The diehard fans need to be there!
Chrono: How does this woman qualify as "hot voice actor"?
Me: Would you please, Paku-san, for this unbeliever?
Paku-san: Of course. (clears throat) "Oi, Aru, Aru? Doko desu ka?——Sore wa, sore wa—MIZU DESU! Mizu, mizu, mizu, mizu, mizu, mizu, mizu!-!——Eh? Ahh… Mizu nai desu ka? AHHHHH!-!-!—'Wine' desu ka?-?"
Me: (clapping madly) YAY! I love you, Paku Romi-san!-!
Chrono: Feh…Yuri…
CLAMP-sama: And just WHAT may we ask is wrong with Yuri?-?-?
Sakura, Tomoyo, Hikaru, Umi, Fuu, Misaki, Tamayo, Hatoko, Miyuki: YEAH! What's wrong with Yuri?-?
Nokoru, Suoh, Akira, Ashura, Yukito, Touya, Subaru: And what about Yaoi, HUH?
Kaho, Yasha, Fai, Hideki, Kurogane, Seishiro, Icchan, Yuuko: I suppose you're gonna say something against Pedophilia, too?
Hokuto, Subaru, Hikaru, Nova: And Twin-cest?
Eriol: Let's not even get into technical-necrophilia.
Mokona-sama: …We're awful, awful people, aren't we?
Me: Yeah… But at least you're adorable when you're awful.
Ohkawa-sama: And isn't that really all that matters?
Moriyama-sama: Sure whatever… Can you go back to that whole Yuri thing, please?
Chrono: Tsk—that man has Musume on the brain.
Me: Yep.
X
X
(Friendly reminders:
Christopher, Charlene, Gene, Rimona, Vincent, and Anton are Chrono, Shader, Genai, Rizelle, Viede, and Aion respectively.
This is part of the magical double-language portion of the chapter. Any whole sentences in italics are French, everything else is Japanese. This does NOT apply to thoughts or single words I feel like emphasizing. Anything in parenthesis within a sentence is to explain weird things. Try not to get confused. And if this turns out really messed up, feel free to flame me at the end of the chapter. I probably deserve it in one way or another.)
X
X
X
"AAAHHHH!" screamed the boys the next morning, throwing away their blankets and digging around the messy room for their uniforms.
"How the hell did we over sleep?" cried Gene, tugging his arms through the sleeves of his bomber jacket.
"You're the one who didn't want to set an alarm!" shouted Chris, desperately searching for his uniform pants.
"Boys, breakfast is ready!" called a voice from the kitchen. Chris and Gene stopped and gawked at each other then raced to the kitchen to see Charlene hopping off a stool, carrying a frying pan; she laughed at them.
"Why aren't you dressed?"
"How are you talking?" demanded Chris loudly; she laughed at him again.
"Did you honestly think that I wouldn't be able to speak after a month of studying?" Chris nodded; Charlene tsk-ed. "Well, from now on you're not allowed to speak to me in French. Got it?"
"Whatever you say, Miss I-don't-need-help-learning-another-language." Said Chris, rolling his eyes; Charlene stared wide-eyed at him. "What?"
"Wakarimasen…" she whined, slumping over.
X
X
X
In the Life of a Rock Star
Chapter 21 (part 2): The crappy name I feel like calling it is… "Chrono".
X
X
X
"Woow…" cooed Charlene as she, Chris, and Gene entered the school grounds. "This place is huge!"
"Duh," snorted Gene, "whaddya expect?"
"…Smaller."
"Feh… rural ignorant…"
"What?"
"Nothing," chirped Gene, turning away.
"Hey, brats," called a deep voice. The three looked at the person and blanched; it was a fifth grader, and a big, mean-looking one at that. "I see that you're new here, girly."
Chris blew out his cheeks. "I'm not a girl," he muttered irritably.
The brut laughed and pushed Chris down, he then turned his attention to Charlene who stared up at him determinedly; observers may say that she was acting brave, but really, she had no clue as to what was going on. "And what's up with you, huh? Those glasses are huge!" He snorted at his own joke, then grabbed Charlene's arm and threw her into a puddle, soaking her head to toe. The bully laughed even harder when she started to cry. He started to walk over to where she sat so as to torment her more, but was stopped by a girl with deep red hair.
"I wouldn't," she hissed. The boy looked her over, raising an eyebrow at her odd appearance; she wore a mesh long-sleeved shirt over a tank-top, a loose belt, a miniskirt, fishnet stockings, and giant hoop earrings; in other words, she was totally ignoring the dress code.
"How're gonna stop me?" demanded the bully. The girl smirked and snapped her fingers. A fairly-large boy with dark hair that fell over his eyes walked out of the crowd of spectators. "Oh, yeah?" said the fifth grader, sizing up to the new boy. "You don't scare me, pipsqueak."
"Are you sure?" asked the girl. "I'll give you one last chance to stop picking on new kids; I suggest that you take it."
"As if!" shouted the taller boy as he balled his fists.
"Alright," sighed the girl, walking away. "You asked for it."
As she turned around, the boy charged at her, swinging his fist. He had a clean shot at her until the other boy appeared from out of no where and caught the fist as if it were nothing, took hold of his arm, and swung him clear over his head and slammed him into the ground. The older boy landed with a heavy 'thud', crying out momentarily. At the sound of his yell, a few teachers came rushing over and before saying a word, they seemed to know the work of the boy and girl. They scolded the two and took them inside the building.
When the teachers, the two students, and the crowd of spectators were all gone, the fifth grader stood up and sneered down at Charlene. "This isn't over, brat." He hissed before walking away.
"You okay?" asked Chris, helping up his cousin.
"Yeah, thanks to those two."
Chris snorted and looked away, letting go of her arm. "Not those otaku."
"Huh?" Charlene blinked at him. "What do you mean?"
"Man," sighed Gene, scratching the back of his head, "I could've taken that guy on myself—if it hadn't been for those stupid otaku…"
"I'd rather take that brut over otaku," added Chris.
"What are otaku?" shouted Charlene.
"They're obsessive idiots." stated Chris.
"Good-for-nothing, tough guy losers," snorted Gene.
"They didn't seem that bad…" whispered Charlene as the bell rang.
(NOTE: In Japan, otaku is a more negative term used to describe an overly obsessive fan of something.)
X
By some miraculous coincidence, Chris, Charlene, and Gene all ended up in the same class; this freaked out Gene very much because Chris had forgotten to tell him that he and Charlene had skipped a grade.
Even though she could only catch the gist of what the teacher was saying and wasn't able to answer any questions, Charlene was actually having in school now. It certainly was a challenge to keep up with everything but visuals were a great help. And despite being soaked and bullied earlier that morning, it had been a good day. Though, she very much wanted to find those 'otaku' kids again and thank them—she was sure that they weren't as bad as Chris and Gene made them out to be.
At lunch, while they were outside, Gene suddenly took on a stiff and glary mood. When Charlene followed his gaze, she saw the 'otaku' sitting on a distant bench together. Charlene was about to stand up and go over to them when Gene snorted and said "Look at that idiot, he thinks that just because he can tap a pair of chopsticks on a lunchbox that he can actually drum." Charlene looked closer at the otaku boy to indeed find him drumming on his lunchbox; the otaku girl was staring off into space, nodding her head to her friend's beat. "Losers," muttered Gene, stuffing some rice into his mouth.
X
Their next class was a free period, so while the others weren't looking, Charlene dashed off to find the otaku. Almost right away she found them sitting on a window ledge in an empty hallway playing cards. She carefully walked up to them.
"My ninth level fire dragon defeats your magical nymph, taking a whole 20 points from your health." stated the boy monotonously, flipping over a card; the girl did a double take and fell back against the window.
"Aw, man…" she cried tiredly. "How come you always win?"
"E-excuse me," stuttered Charlene, interrupting them; they both turned and stared at her.
---
"Where'd she go?" muttered Chris as he and Gene scanned the halls for his missing cousin. As he turned the corner, he stopped and ducked behind the wall.
"What is it?" hissed Gene as Chris took hold of him and dragged him down with him.
"It's Charlene and she's talking to those stupid otaku!"
"What?-!"
---
"Um…th-thank you for early…" squeaked Charlene, blushing brightly and taking a bow; they continued to stare at her. Feeling even more embarrassed, Charlene tried a new tactic; she pointed at their cards. "Um, that's pretty cool. Could you… um… uh…!" she stopped, turning even redder.
---
"What happened?" whispered Gene, attempting to climb over Chris to get a better view of what was going on.
Chris was caught between amusement and dread; "She ran out of words!"
---
"'You?" shrieked the otaku girl suddenly. "You dare to refer to ME as 'YOU'?" Charlene flinched, taking a step back. "No one in their right mind has ever had the guts to speak to me in such a way!"
---
Chris smacked his forehead. "What is it?" asked Gene.
"I forgot to teach her about formalities!"
---
"Uh—um," squeaked Charlene, she was completely lost at this point.
"You know, kid," continued the otaku girl; her scowl melted into a warm smile. "It's refreshing to meet someone that doesn't judge us by our appearance. At last!" she cried happily, making the confused girl jump, "Someone that treats us like everyone else!" She smiled broadly; the boy nodded in agreement. "So, kid, what do people call you?" asked the girl, turning back to Charlene.
She stared at them a moment and then bowed; "Wakarimasen…" she whimpered pathetically.
She had caught the otaku off guard and after a moment, they both started to crack up. "A foreigner? Go figure!" she wiped away a tear and finally calmed down. When she spoke again, she sounded completely different. "Do you speak English?"
Charlene instantly brightened up. "Yes!" she chirped. "And what I was trying to say before was that maybe you could teach me how to play that game." She indicated the cards again, smiling broadly. "Oh, what were you saying just now?"
The otaku girl laughed once more and said "Never you mind that, we were just saying how nice you are."
"Oh, but you guys are way nicer—you saved me from that bully this morning!" she squeaked nervously.
The other girl smiled and shook her head. "No, you are most definitely nicer. And tell 'ya what, we'll do one better that teach you this game—wanna be our friend?"
Charlene lit up like a Christmas tree, but before she could answer, Chris and Gene popped out from their hiding spot.
"You're talking in gibberish again!" shouted Chris, pointing an accusing finger at his cousin; she blinked at him.
"Huh?"
"She said something about…gibberish?" clarified the otaku girl.
"Hey," yelled Gene, "come on, let's get away from these otaku! They're not your type!"
"Hey, layoff, pipsqueak!" yelled the girl back. "We're her friends—who're you?"
Before they could yell at each other anymore, Charlene stepped in and screamed "Japanese—sense making—no no!" in English. The otaku girl apologized, but Gene and Chris refused to calm down. "Hey, what're your names, by the way?" asked Charlene, completely ignoring her cousin.
"Oh right, you can call me RiRi-chan, and this is Bi-kun." She said, waving with a small "V" sign on her fingers. "What do people call you?"
"My name's Charlene!"
RiRi-chan laughed again. "No—I mean, what do people call you? Not like your name, 'cuz I'm Rimona and this is Vincent, but you don't see us going around by those lame names."
"Oh, well I don't really have a nickname…"
RiRi-chan gasped. "Then we must find you one!" she snapped her fingers together. "I know—how 'bout 'ChaCha-chan'?"
"Um…"
"Then it's settled! Until further notice, you are ChaCha-chan!"
"Now hold on a minute!" started Chris, but then the bell rang.
"We're gonna be late!" shrieked RiRi-chan, shoving her cards into her backpack.
X
"You can't be serious." grumbled Chris after school. "Why do you even wanna hang out with those otaku?"
Charlene shrugged. "They're my friends. And they said that unlike SOME PEOPLE," she said quite loudly, telling them that she was about to lecture them, "I don't judge them without knowing them." She coughed twice, reminding them of all the awful things they had said.
"So what? They're still otaku." mumbled Gene; Charlene shot him an icy glare, silencing him. "S-so you're gonna go home with them…when?" he asked, clearing his throat.
"Tomorrow—right after school."
"Why?"
"They said they wanted me to hear something." She said simply.
"Humph," pouted Gene, putting his hands on his hips. "I don't trust them." Charlene glared at him again. "So," he continued hastily, "I'm going with you."
"Suit yourself." she muttered.
X
The next day, right after the bell rang, Charlene found Gene waiting for her at the front gate. She was just about to ask what he was doing when she remembered what he had said; she groaned quietly at the thought of going anywhere with him; he wasn't exactly one of her favorite people.
"You ready?" he asked as soon as she came up to him.
"Wait," she started as he began to walk off. "Where're RiRi-chan and Bi-kun?"
Gene sighed impatiently. "I told them to go on ahead."
"You jerk!" shrieked Charlene. "How're we supposed to get to their house now? You're so inconsiderate—I hate you!" she reached out and tried to push the boy, but failed miserably, barely fazing him. Before she could retract her hands, he caught her right hand in his left and start dragging her away. "Stop it, let me go!" she cried as she tried her best to escape the boy's grasp.
"Just shut up and follow me!" barked Gene as he yanked her forward, effectively making her lose her footing.
"Why can't you just leave me alone?"
"Because!" he shouted stopping abruptly; he sighed and turned around to face her. "Because," he continued more calmly, "you don't know where they live and even if I let you go alone I don't want to risk you getting hurt." After a silent moment of staring at each other, Gene's cheeks flushed pink and he turned back around, resuming pulling Charlene down the sidewalk.
"So," she whispered after a few minutes, "you're just worried about me?"
"Of course," he squeaked, still flustered, "why wouldn't I be?"
"S-so, do you know where RiRi-chan lives?" she asked, wanting to change the subject before she turned any redder.
"Yeah; she and that other otaku—I mean, Bi-kin, live down the street from me."
"Down the…?" Charlene trailed off. It never occurred to her that Gene actually had a real house to go to since he seemed to sleepover at Chris' every night. Suddenly she had all these questions about his personal life, like if he had any siblings or pets, or what kind of jobs his parents had. "They live on the same street as you?" she blurted out, making him flinch slightly. "That's so cool! I've never even heard you mention your house before. What's it like? Are your parent's nice?" she asked smiling brightly.
Gene's step seemed to falter for a second before he slowly turned to face Charlene. "Yeah…" he muttered sadly before grinning broadly at her. "They're great—really!"
"They are?" Gene nodded. "Cool! Can we stop by your house before we go to RiRi-chan's? I'd love to meet your parents!"
This time Gene stopped all together, not even facing Charlene. "No…" he began quietly. "They're… at work now. And I, uh… forgot my key."
"Oh, that's okay," Charlene smiled warmly at him, "maybe some other time, then?"
She waited for an answer, and after a long moment he whispered "Sure."
He gradually started walking again only now his grasp on Charlene's hand seemed less tight than before. She stared down at their hands and smiled a little, curling her fingers around his and trotting up to walk beside him. Neither of them said anything for a while, but for some reason, Charlene felt content. A warm feeling spread from Gene's hand to her own as they walked; the frayed edges of his worn bomber jacket tickling her wrist.
As they waited for the green light at a crosswalk, Charlene glanced over at a nearby shop window and saw that she was blushing. She gasped and shook her head, attempting to rid herself of the redness.
"What're you doing?" asked Gene, looking back at her.
"Nothing!" she squeaked quickly, turning away so he couldn't see her face. He blinked at her, confused, then looked over at the shop window she had been staring at and laughed a little. "What?" she asked, turning back to him.
"I see," he said knowingly.
"What?" she repeated, more curious as to what he was thinking.
"We'll stop there own the way back." He said as the light finally turned green and they began to walk across the street still holding hands. Before it disappeared behind the crowd of people, Charlene got to see what it was she had been staring at; an ice cream shop. She felt her cheeks heat up even more.
X
When they were finally into a neighborhood of actual houses instead of apartments, Charlene saw RiRi-chan dashing out of a garage a few houses down. She called to Charlene and she let go of Gene's hand to run to her other friend. When the two met up, they called back to Gene to see him staring at a pale-blue house; it was completely average-looking with a winding sidewalk that went all the way up to the front door without any steps. Charlene ran back to him, took his hands into her own, and dragged him over to the garage where RiRi-chan had come from.
"It's about time you two got here," sighed RiRi-chan, strolling over to the back wall of the garage. "I was starting to think that this brat here had kidnapped you."
"Why you…" growled Gene, taking a step toward the girl and balling his fists; she laughed at him. Charlene held her hand out in front of him and he automatically let his arms go limp at his sides. "So why did you invite us, or more like her here?" he sighed, nodding at Charlene.
"So very glad you asked," chirped RiRi-chan, clapping her hands together; just then, Bi-kun walked into the garage from the house. "Hey guess what?" she called to him. "They're finally ready!" While Bi-kin nodded and went over to something covered with several sheets over it in the corner, RiRi-chan brought a chair over to Charlene, saying "Here, you can sit and watch, okay?" she then glared up at Gene. "You can just stand, how's that?"
Again, Gene balled his fists, growling at the girl.
"All set," came Bi-kun's flat voice from the corner. Charlene and Gene looked over at him and gasped. There was a large speaker back in the corner next to an elaborate set of drums, an electric guitar on a stand, and a microphone; the two gawked at it all while RiRi-chan picked up her guitar.
"Hey, ChaCha-chan, wanna hear somethin' real cool?" she asked the stunned girl; she nodded vacantly at her. RiRi-chan looked back at Bi-kun and winked. He nodded and held his sticks low to the drum; that's when they started.
It started off as only RiRi-chan, then Bi-kun began to pound his way into the song. Charlene smiled widely, thoroughly enjoying herself; Gene was thinking 'Huh, I guess he CAN actually drum…'
Sekai no hashimade todoku koeyori
Kimi ni dake tsutaetai dake
Rokugenno sanfuretto kizamu my guitar
Kokoro dake furuwasetai dake
Sang RiRi-chan. For only third-graders, they were really good at this and even Gene thought they were all right, that is until RiRi-chan grinned at Charlene, making her clap even louder for the two; Gene scowled and crossed his arms.
Yureru komaku, haseru kotoba
Urei tomadoi kokonisuteru
Tokubetsuna sainou wo
Nani hitotsu motazutomo
Kokoro ima kokoda kakinarasu
"Go, girl, go!" shouted Charlene, still clapping madly; Gene crossed his arms even tighter.
Kimi ga nageku
Munega itannde
Subete tsutsumu eienno seimei
Boku wa sakebu
Yoakeno ame
Kokode hibiku eienno seimei
Tokubetsuna sainou wo
Nani hitotsu motazutomo
Kimi no tojiru yami wo uchinuku
Dekirunara kokoro, sore hitotsu
Kono mune no okuwo ima kokode kakinarasu
"Ta-da!" cheered RiRi-chan as she played her last cord. "So what'd you think, ChaCha-chan?" she asked grinning widely at the girl.
"Yeah, yeah! Encore, encore!" squeaked Charlene, punching her arms in the air.
"And how did you like it, brat?" she sneered at Gene.
"Feh!"
RiRi-chan growled at him. "What kinda answer is that, brat?" she demanded hotly.
"Feh!" spat Gene again.
"Why you little—come 'ere!" she yelled, pouncing at him. Luckily Bi-kun caught her before she could do anything violent.
"You guys are really good!" said Charlene, cutting in to take the attention away from Gene. "Do you have a band name?"
"Yep!" chirped RiRi-chan proudly. "We are Asian Kung-fu Generation!"
"I thought we were the Pillows." said Bi-kun dully.
"If you ask me, they both sound lame." muttered Gene.
"Well no one did!" screamed RiRi-chan, attempting to attack him again, but was once again stopped by Bi-kun.
"Hey, can I join your band?" asked Charlene, blushing slightly.
"Of course!" chirped RiRi-chan, doing another emotional 180 as she turned away from Gene. "Do you wanna sing, play, or both?"
"Um…" squeaked the girl, turning even redder. "I-I can't really sing… But I can play violin and trumpet."
"You can?" yelped Gene, totally surprised. "How come you never said anything before?"
Charlene looked down, still maroon. "W-well, I…"
"Maybe she doesn't like you enough to tell 'ya." sneered RiRi-chan. Instead of another snide remark this time, Gene just turned around and walked out of the garage. "What's with him?" asked RiRi-chan, actually stunned by his actions; Charlene shrugged.
While RiRi-chan and Bi-kun played a few more songs for Charlene, Gene stood outside, leaning against the wall of the garage, staring off at the pale-blue house down the street. He grimaced when a red car pulled up its driveway and a large man and sluty woman hobbled out. The man was swinging a bottle in one hand and groping the woman with the other. Gene glared at the two as the man fumbled his house key before kicking the door open.
"Gene-kun?" came a small voice from behind him; he jumped at it. The person laughed at him and started tugging at his hand. "Come on, it's getting late. We should probably get home." He stared at Charlene for a moment, still somewhat surprised. "Oh," she continued, putting a finger to her chin. "But then you live so close, I should probably just go home by myself."
"Dream on," he huffed, taking her hand into his own once more. "I'm not gonna let you walk home all by yourself this late."
"It's only six—I'll be fine, really."
Gene sighed and looked back at her, staring for more than a few seconds. Finally he came up with "I'm sleeping over again tonight—if I didn't, your cousin would be lost without me."
Charlene laughed at him, saying "You're right, he would be!"
Gene's cheeks flushed and a knot worked its way into his throat as he watched the girl smile at him.
"Okay, you lovebirds," cooed RiRi-chan, coming out of the garage and clapping her hands together. "If you're gonna go home, go home now before the traffic gets any worse!"
"Lovebirds?" squeaked Charlene, turning bright red. "N-no, we-we're not—!"
"Y-yeah, w-we're not…love…birds…y-you stupid otaku…" muttered Gene, face just as red as Charlene's.
"Oh yeah?" giggled RiRi-chan. "Then why are you still holding hands?"
Charlene and Gene looked down at their hands to see that, indeed, they hadn't let go yet; there isn't a red deep enough to describe their identical blush.
"C-come on!" squeaked Gene, utterly flustered as he tugged Charlene away.
"Thanks for coming, ChaCha-chan! Come back tomorrow with your cousin, 'kay?" called RiRi-chan, waving after them.
"'Kay!" called Charlene back, also waving.
Once they were a few houses down, Charlene noticed that the light at RiRi-chan's house went off and the garage door started to close. The neighborhood was silent as they sun was going down except for the buzzing of a few bugs. In the newly settled calm, she noticed that Gene's hand was trembling—and sweating. Suddenly her own hand felt disgustingly wet, so she slipped it out of the boy's wiped it on her shirt. Gene stopped walking and turned to face her. "What's wrong?"
"You're hand…" she said simply, still wiping her own.
The boy flinched, realizing how sweaty his hand was. "S-sorry," he stuttered, jamming his hands into the pockets of his bomber jacket.
"Hey," said Charlene suddenly; Gene looked at her curiously then blanched seeing that she was looking over at the pale-blue house. "You were staring at that house on they way here, is it yours?" He nodded slowly. "There's a car out front! Is it your parents'? Can I meet them now?"
"No," he said sharply. "I mean—it's my brother's car, and he's probably gonna leave pretty soon; he works really late."
"Oh," sighed the girl; she then smiled and started to walk again. "Maybe some other time then?"
"Yeah…right." muttered Gene, taking one last good look at the house before following the girl.
X
"So what do you want for dinner? It's my turn to cook tonight." asked Charlene as they waited for a green light. Gene shrugged, then gave a start when something caught his eye. "What is it?" asked the girl as the light changed; he grinned at her and took her hand, racing across the street. "W-where're we going?" she squeaked as they hopped up onto the other curb.
"I did promise, didn't I?" he asked, pointing to a small shop on the corner; the ice cream shop.
Charlene's face lit up again. "N-no, y-y-you don't have to!" she squeaked nervously as he guided her up to the counter. "Really, it's okay—I'm not even hungry!"
"Two chocolate cones, please."
"Really!"
"Here you go, please come again." She was too late, it was done.
Charlene sighed as they walked over to a bench; somehow Gene was able to carry both cones in one hand. "Here," he offered her the ice creams, but she turned her nose at it, freeing her hand from his and saying "I told you I didn't want any, so I'm not going to have any!"
Gene shrugged. "Suit yourself." He said as he distributed the cones between his hands and started licking one. "Mmm…it's goooood…" he cooed tauntingly.
Charlene gave a strained look, licking her lips longingly. "Wh-what even makes you think that I like chocolate?" she asked arrogantly.
"Your eyes," she glanced back at him…and the ice cream. "Your eyes are the same color as chocolate." He grinned at her. "I guess that's a pretty lousy reason, huh?"
She snatched the extra cone away from him. "You're right, it is stupid—but I do like chocolate, so there. Nya!" she stuck her tongue out at him and then promptly began to lick her treat.
Gene laughed at her quietly. "I had a feeling…"
"Ah," he looked over at her and saw that her scoop of chocolate had fallen to the ground. "Uh…" her face scrunched up; Gene gulped, knowing what was coming. "WAH!" he covered his ears and closed one eye, squinting at the girl through the other. "W-why…?" she sobbed. "It-it's not f-fair…!"
Gene sighed and slowly uncovered his ears. He placed his hand over hers that was still grasping the cone. He carefully pulled it away and replaced it with his own. "Here," he grunted, examining his new cone.
Charlene stared at the ice cream and then at Gene. "But," she fell silent when he took a large bite out of the empty cone. "Um…th-thank you…" she whispered after a minute.
"No problem." He chirped, popping the last bit of the cone into his mouth. "Hey," he said between licking his fingers. "You're cooking dinner tonight, right?"
"Y-yeah,"
"Can we have ramen?"
She stared at him a moment, taken off guard by the simple request. "Sure," she said, smiling warmly at him. Before she knew what she was doing, Charlene was leaning over to him, pressing her lips against his cheek. His breath left him all at once as the boy turned bright red for the umpteenth time that day. His brain froze up and the only thought he could muster was that if it had been any other girl kissing him, he'd have shouted at her about cooties. But Charlene wasn't like any other girl, she's special.
"Um, s-sorry!" she squeaked, bringing him out of his trance. Apparently she had removed herself some time ago and now he was just a cherry tomato staring off into space. "I don't know why—um, that is I…"
Gene shook his head patiently. "Don't worry about it." He smiled tenderly at her; Charlene switched her eyes to stare down intently at her ice cream as she slowly finished it. Without noticing, the two were holding hands again, and neither could care less.
As they walked through the thinning crowd of people on their way home from work, Gene glanced down at the younger girl and suddenly he had this strong urge to kiss her—and not on the cheek. He decided against it though; thinking that he'll just save that little thought for another time. Right now, he was content just having an excuse to hold her hand; if he didn't, she'd just get lost in the crowd and they both knew it.
X
"Chris, we're home!" called Charlene, locking the front door. She waited a moment, but no one answered. "Are you home?"
"Dammit, Lavos, just die already!"
Charlene and Gene stared at each other and then went to Chris' room to find him playing some RPG on his Super Nintendo. "You're up to the final boss already?" asked Gene in awe.
"Yes, thank you, and it's very hard!" snapped the boy, pounding on the controller. "AAH! He just killed Lucca!"
"Wait, how come I've never seen you play this before?" asked Charlene.
"Because you're always in your room studying. CRITICAL HEALTH?-! Quick Marle, heal Chrono!" shouted the boy frantically.
"You're obsessed with that character." snorted Gene at his friend's haste in the inevitable active-time-battle game.
"Well, of course I am!" grunted Chris. "He's the main character!"
Gene grinned wickedly, wrapping his arm around Chris' shoulders. "Then from now on, I shall call you Chrono!"
Chris turned away from his game just as the boss crushed the last of his defense and shouted "WHAT? It's such a stupid name—you better not, Gene!"
"Oh, Chrono, you hate your own name? For shame!" cooed Gene dramatically.
"Fine!" pouted the boy, "If you're going to call me by a stupid video game, then I get to call you Ge! (lower in quality, kind of like 'loser')"
Gene scowled at this new name; Chris just smiled mischievously and went to the kitchen.
Charlene looked up at the boy and smiled kindly. "Then I guess I'll just have to call you 'Genai'. (not a loser)"
X
"This is your cousin?" snorted RiRi-chan the next day, giving Chris—err…'Chrono', a good look-over. "What do people call you, kid?"
"We call 'em Chrono!" chanted Gene evilly.
"And I call you Ge!" snapped Chrono.
"Nai!" added Charlene under her breath.
"Is it possibly that you all got even stranger since yesterday?" asked RiRi-chan in total disbelief. She looked over at Bi-kun for an answer; he just shrugged. "So anyway," sighed the girl, bringing her attention back to Charlene. "Did you tell your cousin about our band like I asked?"
"Yep!" she chirped. "He even said that he had something special to show you!"
"Oh really?" quipped RiRi-chan, "Is that 'something' in that giant case you brought to school today?"
"Maybe," cooed the boy mysteriously.
"The what and the who now?" asked Genai stupidly; RiRi-chan rolled her eyes and glanced over at Charlene.
"I guess I forgot to tell you…" she whispered. He gave her an odd look and she shook her head. "It's nothing that important! RiRi-chan and Bi-kun were just looking for some more members for their band and wanted to know if I knew anybody that could play something."
Genai blinked at her. "And Chrono does what exactly?"
"He plays guitar."
Genai did a double take and turned to his friend. "You do?" Chrono nodded. "How come you never told me?"
"Well, it's not like we're gonna start a band."
"Well apparently we are…" grumbled the boy, crossing his arms. He huffed and looked back over at Charlene. "How come you didn't ask me?"
"But, y-you don't play anything, do you?" squeaked the girl nervously.
"I take piano lessons."
"WHAAA?" she shrieked; the other automatically slapped their hands over their ears. "That's soo cool!"
"Not really…" he shouted over her cries of glee.
"Yes it is! I've never, ever met someone who could play the piano!" Suddenly she calmed down and took Genai's hands into her own smiling warmly up at him. "It'd make me really, really happy if I could hear you play." She cooed gently.
Genai's cheeks began to burn as he turned bright red. Again, he had that sudden urge to kiss Charlene, but again, he didn't. In order to clear his mind, he turned away and managed to stutter out "W-well m-maybe I'll b-bring m-my keyboard to RiRi-chan's house today."
"Really?" squealed the girl. "Thank you soo much!" With that, she threw herself upon the boy, hugging him tightly and making him turn even redder.
"R-really…it-it's not that great…" he squeaked, growing exponentially more flustered.
Dong Dong Dong!
"Ahh…There's the bell," sighed RiRi-chan, picking up her backpack. "Onward to math," she shuttered at the word.
"You don't like math?" asked Charlene rather sadly. "But it's so much fun!"
"It's not the math that I hate," she sighed, "there's this bratty kid in our class, An-chan, who just drives me insane!"
"More so than you already are?" muttered Genai; RiRi-chan smacked him—hard.
"An-chan…" repeated Chrono slowly. "Why does that name sound so familiar?"
RiRi-chan shrugged; "Maybe he's bullied you before or something. I mean, it would be just like him to pick on a little girl."
Chrono froze, turned away slowly, and grumbled angrily "I'm a boy".
"Oh," chirped RiRi-chan innocently. "I'm guessing this is a common mistake—what with your hair and all…"
Chrono glared at her. "WHY?" he shrieked. "Why does EVERYONE hate my hair?"
"Why don't YOU just get it all chopped off then?" grunted Genai, also picking up his bag.
"Maybe YOU should let other people wear their hair the way they want to!" cried Charlene of all people; Genai stiffened, surprised by the girl's outburst. "I mean, sure Chris' hair maybe a little too long, but it looks good on him! In fact, long hair is better in general! So if you don't like his hair, then you can take you and your stupid buzz cut and—and—" she flapped her arms at him, at a loss for words, and then just stormed away.
"Wh…wha…?" squeaked Genai after a minute, "She just…But I…It wasn't…" he groaned, sighed, and then chased after the girl; Chrono was very confused as to why though. In his previous years in Japan, Gene hadn't cared at all before when he upset someone—he cared even less if it was a girl.
"What's up with him?" he asked, staring off at his friend. He turned around for an answer from RiRi-chan or Bi-kun, but he found that they'd gone; that's when the second bell rang. "NO!" he screamed, taking off towards the door. "I don't want to be late again!"
X
"Why is he so inconsiderate?" grumbled Charlene, taking out her lunchbox that afternoon. "I mean, would it kill him to stop and think about how other people feel?"
"Why do you even care so much about hair, ChaCha-chan." asked RiRi-chan, opening her pop can.
"That's easy," sighed Chrono, staring down at his detention slip, "back in France, her mom wouldn't let her grow her hair out."
"And I've always wanted long, pretty hair." snapped the girl.
"And I'm sure it'd look really cute on you, ChaCha-chan," said RiRi-chan, smiling brightly at her. "I can imagine it now—long locks of flowing golden hair!" she sighed dreamily.
"I think it'd look good in silver." stated Bi-kun dully.
"Are you kidding?" shrieked his otaku friend. "Silver would just make her look like an old lady!" Bi-kun shrugged.
"So how was math class?" asked Charlene in an attempt to change the subject. "Did that An-chan guy give you any trouble?"
RiRi-chan groaned exhaustedly. "Yes! That horny held-back jerk kept hitting on me!"
"You should take it as a complement!"
"Not with what he says," she mumbled. "And besides, if that's the kind of boys I attract, just shoot me now! I want my boyfriend to be the sweet and sensitive type. The kind of person who'll let me vent to them; someone who shares common interests and loves me with his whole heart. That's my dream boy."
"You certainly shoot for the stars," giggled Charlene.
"But what really gets me about that darn An-chan guy," continued RiRi-chan, "are those tiny, little glasses of his—and that stupid hair, too." RiRi-chan shuddered, "It's so gross and long and greasy. Ew!"
Charlene looked over at Bi-kun; he had just choked into his juice carton. "You okay?" she asked lightly; he nodded, still silent like always.
"So anyway, it's not just his hair and glasses, An-chan also has these squinty little eyes that look like they're always watching you—and sometimes they even look gold!" Charlene giggled at her; "What?"
"It sounds like you have a crush on him."
"Whaa?" screeched the girl. "No way, you've got it all wrong!"
"Do I?" she asked, laughing again; RiRi-chan started to blush.
Just then, Bi-kun stood up, taking his lunchbox over to a trashcan. "You done already?" asked RiRi-chan. Without waiting for an answer, she held out her empty pop can. "Can you take this too?" she set the can on top of the box. "Thanks!" she chirped, turning back to Charlene.
"Don't you think you're taking advantage of him?" asked the younger girl as she watched Bi-kun emptying the garbage.
"Nah, he's just being friendly."
"…Right…"
X
Bi-kun sighed as he closed his lunchbox. He knew it. He could tell just by the way that she talked about him that RiRi-chan liked An-chan. He glanced over at a window on the school building that showed him his reflection; long, greasy bangs and all; he sighed again. 'Maybe I should get my hair cut,' he thought vaguely. Bi-kun glanced to his left, out of the corner of his eye, he had seen Genai, sitting alone in a dark corner of the school grounds; he went over to him.
"Stupid," he was muttering, pulling at his hair. "Why can't you be longer?" he slowly looked over to where Bi-kun was standing and nearly jumped out of his skin. "Jeez, somebody should put a bell on you!" he gasped while grasping his chest; Bi-kun smiled at him and sat down next to him. "Not much of a talker, are you?" The other boy shook his head; Genai sighed.
"You know," he started after a minute, holding out an open hand in front of him, "we're the same, really. We're both chasing after something so wonderful, so amazing, but each time we get close," he closed his fist, "it slips through our fingers." After a moment, Genai turned bright red and stuttered "I-I was talking about my math grade!" Bi-kun actually laughed.
X
X
X
Me: Alright, no matter what I try to tack onto the end of this chapter, it works best if it ends here.
Moriyama-sama: Hey, this game's pretty fun!
Me: Is he playing Chrono Trigger?
Chrono: Yes.
Moriyama-sama: Hey, authoress-baka, I found the difference between my story and this game!
Me: What?
Moriyama-sama: This guy's spelled C-R-O-N-O; mine is spelled C-H-R-N-O!
Me: …You're pathetic.
Moriyama-sama: Can we just go back to the yuri now?
Me: For the last time NO!
Chrono: Sheesh, no need to get snippy.
Me: Oh yeah? All I asked for was 16 reviews!
Chrono: You still got 10, isn't that somewhat fulfilling your "10 review per chapter" goal?
Me: …yes.
Chrono: So then what's the problem?
Me: I'm still not at my goal!
Chrono: Review yourself!
Me: …NO.
Chrono: Fine, be that way…
Me: Yeah, and I'm also a little surprised that no one said anything about the Jesse and Haley characters.
Chrono: They're gonna come back and bite me in the ass, aren't they?
Me: Um, YES?
Chrono: (groan)
Me: Oh, and I'm not sure if I've ever said this before, but…
THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL OF YOU WHO READ (and occasionally review) THIS STORY!
Chrono: And the downside?
Me: I didn't have any spillover from this chapter, so the next one's gonna take a while to get done.
Chrono: That's what I thought.
Please review:)