Well this is probably the shortest chapter I've written in my lifetime as a writer. AND I'M SORRY FOR THAT! AND IT TOOK SO LONG TOO *BAWLS*
But I had to arrange the entire plot of this arc accordingly because I will warn you now: THIS IS PROLLY THE LONGEST ARC YET
Well you know, so far.
So yeah while you wait for the real thing (I'm sorry) HERE'S THE PROLOGUE~! It's basically what I want to call the calm before the storm lol XD
Do hope you find at least some enjoyment while reading this because it's VERY VERY SHORT (for me) and it's all in one scene XD
But worry not this is not a filler just a comical chapter X"""3
Okay I'll stop making excuses and reply to those reviews FINALLY!: (I'm still sorry about last time ;-;)
Left-to-die: HELLO AGAIN! Thanks for reviewing! Man, I appreciate your long reviews everytime you do considering you claim yourself to be lazy when logging in X'3 So for that I appreciate it! And also thanks for calling the story cute too 8""3 Oh and about Sugino well I'll explain it in a few chapters XD I wasn't able to indicate it in the summer arc hehe XP I'm glad you liked the mascot! ^W^
CrissNyan: Thanks for the review! AND LOL KARMA FRIENDZONED XDD (Not for long ;D)
Mugipyon: OHHH! HISASHIIBURI! UM...GOMENE FOR MAKING YOU CRY (?) ;w; I'm glad you enjoyed the Karma revelation X"3 YES I KNOW IT'S SAD JUST KNOWING KOROSENSEI IS DEAD IN THIS FIC AND THAT HE'S GONNA DIE IN THE MANGA EITHER WAY Q3Q Thank you for the burry long review I appreciate those a lot 8"")) And about that preview...well let's say it's divided - the happy and sad parts I mean 8"3 And yes I'll be honest there will be h/c and lots of it in this arc ;D Oh and about how you'll send them...since I'm REALLY curious as to how you drew them and I love your drawings too...maybe you can post them on DA as doodles if you want? Or post them somewhere else and just send me a link through PM (just like you did Tumblr XD) THANKS FOR READING AGAIN!
Sweetmoegirl: WHOAH LONG XD THANKS A LOT! Thank you for pointing all of those parts you liked out and putting your opinions there too! THEY MEAN A LOT SO IF YOU CAN, Please keep doing so ^W^ LOL NAGISA: "So you fell in love" I honestly knew that that was what he was gonna say on the spot XD Happy to hear that you liked the korosensei feel moments! And yeah Sugino will get his light too dont worry~ And I'll explain what happened to Sugino after two chapters 8""3 YAY! THEY'RE BOTH ON FIRST NAME BASIS SO THEY CAN BE MISTOOK AS A COUPLE (*WINKWINK**NUDGENUDGE*) Dat friendzone doe (dont worry its not legit friendzone until he actually tells her XDD) Hm about your answer, sure I'll take it into consideration! Again, THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT!
FreeWeirdGal: Hey there! Thanks for reviewing again! And OMG thanks for praising how I characterized them ;w; IT MEANS A LOT TO ME! Well I wouldn't really call Nagisa's life quiet but it's not as extravagant but then again what do I know X'3 HAHA! CULTURAL FEST YAY! Again, thank you!
ANON: Thank you! You the best too~
TheRoseShadow21: HEY THERE AGAIN~! And oh I hope I dont disappoint with this arc ;w; And about the answer to the question, Im sorry for not adding Hinano 8""D But I'll take that answer into consideration too! Thank you for the praising of the logo 8"3 I just had a sudden boom of inspiration like they did XD Oh and another thank you for calling it a clever move for Karma's new acknowledgement to her ^W^ And LOL! I kept playing it in my mind like comically and real fast ("MA?!" "NA-*spits drink*?!" "*MI-?! *Hits head on nearest wall*) XDD Oh and that really warms me up inside because I always thought I got him OOC as I wrote so thank you very much AGAIN! QWQ Haha lol I'll figure out what to do with that stoic couple soon ;D (If she's turned on by humiliating secrets that means if they get married to have it would mean he'd-*SLAPPED A HUNDRED TIMES*) And you'll have to figure out who finds out what by reading~! Well I'd hate to break it to you but no 8""( I cant let their previous lives get caught with troubles here DX And yeah I'm sleeping well enough~! Thanks for the concern and I hope you enjoy!
kawaiichoconeko: DANKE~ Oh well Karma got the friendzone or what XD (Nah it's not until he actually tells her LOL XD)
I12Bfree: Thanks for the reviews! And dont worry they went shopping lol XD And I'll take that to consideration since most of you are answering with her~
Title Unwanted: I'm married to my wifi but I appreciate it-*slapped* LOL JOKE XD Well in all seriousness, thank you for your kind words! I look forward to seeing more of you! ^W^ Thanks for pointing those parts you liked out! They make me feel giddy like a school girl X"D
blank 9395: Hello~! YES GOOD JOB NAGISA GIVE HIM A MEDAL! And thanks for telling me your favorite parts! And Hm I'll think about Manami being her potential Kouhai in another type of way now~ Oh well maybe~ I'll see what I can do OwO
Akatsuki-Metal: Hey there again! Man, you've been reviewing a lot lately so thanks! Thank you VERY much and I hope this arc doesn't disappoint ^w^)!
Quilla The Silent" QUI-CHAN HELLO! Lol how many family members do you read a fanfic with? XD And you'll find that out in a few chaps I guess~ HAHA RIO TAKES THE POSITION FOR BEST GIRL XDD Thanks again!
FeatherStar18208: Thanks for the review! And we'll see about Manami's wardrobe soon XD And you'll have to read to find out~!
Akikarui: HEY THERE! And yes Korosensei the feels ;w; And hm I've been thinking of that too but I wanted to see what everyone thought!
KisaragiMaru: GLAD YOU LIKED IT XD! Well...he's gonna die in the manga too so... ;w; And I'll see about that! And yeah I kind of had that thought too
animeandmangafangirl: THANK YOU~! See you around too! ^W^ Good luck with your stories!
Okay without further ado, the shortest chapter I've ever created XDD
DISCLAIMER: I DONT OWN ANYTHING NYURUHUHUHUHUH
Chapter 16: What You Are to Me (PROLOGUE)
"Yush! The gym is for yours for free use until the day of the fiesta." A pale-brown haired sophomore exclaimed to her freshmen with a bubbly beam and the slight echo of her adorable voice in the spacious school gym of the Kimii High School Campus.
It was larger than what they had expected – six pairs of eyes had themselves wandering about in the far corners of this major facility. The ceiling could probably be estimated to about a twenty meter distance from the glossy, wood-toned, cemented floor that had quite the well-waxing to it for shoes would squeak from time to time as each step was made. Windows of notable size upon the upper walls gave the room an energetic type of brightness due to the sun's noon shine on the first Saturday of the second semester; in fact, said windows were almost half the length and width of the entire wall itself – which let the rays of light reflect themselves against the plank-patterned flooring and somehow conveyed a motivating atmosphere to the ones who were finally able to get permission for access to this large space since many other clubs wanted it for their own attractions in the nearing school festival. (They won it over using blackmail and other cheap tricks via Akabane Karma)
"The only days you're not permitted to occupy this is during Mondays and Wednesdays since there will be sports clubs using it to train. Other than that, you're free to do whatever you want with the area 'til the day of the festival as long as it's within school rules." She added to her instructions in a polite yet leader-like manner as usual with the raise of her finger – Sugino and Manami both heaved a relieved sigh and had internally thanked her for that last part of her statement knowing what they're clubmates would end up doing if they were given too much freedom (they were extra wary of the two tricksters of the group whom showed looks of slight disappointment just now).
"Sounds good enough. We'll just use the clubroom if that happens." Chiba suggested as he took the time to perceive other prominent portions of the gym to see what they could do with it for their big plan; and it seemed he was not the only one to perform a few observations for a particular brunette had already been actively eyeing each corner of the area with admiration as she made a few shapes with her hands and nodded to empty spaces here and there. It wasn't hard to notice how much she was looking forward to their set-up due to the fact that she was practically adventuring the area by now.
"Oh! That's a literate academy gym for you!" the sets of stage lights usually designed for theatrical performances that were stationed upon the front most side of the high ceiling caught the otaku's eye – inevitably leading to the others present in the room to glance over at her.
"They even have these types of lights even if it's a sports arena! Now I'm really getting hyped!" a striving grin came to her features as a hand had been placed in her chin to express more of her satisfaction as she nodded with a look saying she was more than excited for this now.
"Don't get ahead of yourself. Everyone's going to set this up." Rinka's ever-stoic tone had reached the manga-lover's ears – to which she replied to with a grin as she skipped back to where her friends were "I know, I know~"
By this time, they had already relayed their different ideas and opinions that had led them all to agree on one final plan that had everyone's own magic touch to it. Their script, their set-up, their roles – all were prepared and were ready to be played; the only thing that was left for them to do was use the month they'd been given wisely and make the day they bring out the best in them as worth it as possible.
"Alright then! I'll be mopping the area while you're at it so rest easy!" another jolly thumbs-up came from their vice president whom now had an old mop in her hands – the bucket of soap and water not too far away as she dipped it there a few times.
'When did she get that?' Rio found herself narrowing her eyes suspiciously as she had the thought – if she could recall that mop wasn't there when they entered. Then again, there were lots of times she didn't understand this senior so she brushed the thought away as soon as it came.
The idea of cleaning the venue had caused Manami to perk up and display the droopy-eyed girl a hospitable grin "Ah, then we'll help you cle—"
"Nope~!" she had immediately been cut off and was presented with Mai's hand as a 'stop' gesture – her cheerful expression suddenly turning into one of mock-sternness (since she can't legitimately look that way) as she reprimanded her "All of you have work to get to. Not to mention, you have a very important part, Okuda-san." She winked once and wagged her finger – thankfully the shorter girl took this with understanding and replied to her with a nod.
"And plus, it's the first mop I used to clean Omo-chan's pee!" bright blue eyes had all of a sudden brimmed with wonder as the brunette held the mop closer to her and beamed at her juniors – she made it look as if this was a very cherished memory of hers for it was as if there were sparkles floating by her marveled expression before she went on with her job.
As opposed to this 'happy' memory of hers, a strange and awry atmosphere had risen with the others present in the room. "I suddenly don't want to step on this floor anymore…" Sugino apparently had gotten the words out for everyone – the very thought of the animal with a peculiar form and personality was enough to kill the mood; but to know that such a thing was capable of lubricating, even Karma couldn't hide the disturbance he felt when she said that as a crooked smile came about on his face with his arms crossed while sweat dropped on the foreheads of nearly everyone in the room.
After a few moments were spent trying to regain their composure and mood to practice, they had started to go about with their business with no daylight to waste.
"Hm, since Mikagura-sensei isn't here with the materials we ordered yet, maybe we should start measuring the area?" Rio suggested – even she had gone into an enthusiastic business mode.
"You can leave that to us. You girls work on whatever you can for starters." The spiky haired boy assured them keenly with a thumb pointed to himself and the other two boys who stood behind him – Karma was already playing with the measuring tape in his hand by lifting it up and down; Chiba on the other hand held up a framing square.
"Okay~" The blond-haired girl displayed them with a toothy grin and a thumbs-up before they proceeded with their division of tasks – conveniently separated by gender.
"Where should we start?" Rinka inquired from the other two while she settled herself beside the bespectacled girl with arms crossed – she appeared to be even more business-like than usual for her posture could be compared to that of a responsible secretary at the moment; not even her sharp, emerald eyes chose to show anything but seriousness.
Yuzuki pondered upon this for a while as she put a gently curled fist to her mouth as she approached the two and inserted herself in the circle of girls "It's our first day of practice, so why don't we get that near-end turn of hers over with because it's the easiest?"
"Oh well, better than nothing." Rio shrugged before crossing her arms over her chest to observe her two friends on the sidelines with the female sniper – neither of them knew how that turn the helmet-headed girl suggested for their ender would play out, so they respectfully had to leave it to her to teach the bespectacled girl; but of course they'd state some opinions when needed.
"Okay Manami-chan, first you have to try standing straight – elegant like a goddess does~" Yuzuki instructed with a little chime in the end for fun's sake as she waved a hand back and forth like it was an 'easy peasy' type of job.
Manami nodded with understanding and a determined smile – the resolve to do her best had still been present in her lavender eyes and had not faltered since the day they decided to give her the biggest role in the project. To appease the desire to not disappoint, she had readied herself for anything they were to command her to do without reluctance or any form of complaints; for she was well aware that they may do things out of her comfort zone.
"Okay, so…" the small girl leaned her upper body back a bit and blinked at the other three who watched her as a form of confirmation "Like this?"
The posture had led to all three girls furrowing their brows in criticism – she still had her fingers intertwined like how she usually poised herself so her shoulders were still a tad bit higher than relaxed; if anything, rather than an elegant goddess, her figure revolves more on the innocent, shy, schoolgirl – which she is.
"Try relaxing those shoulders a bit." Rinka was the first one to voice out her thoughts and at the same time approached the girl to place her hands upon those ever-stiff shoulders and gently pushed them down.
"Ah—O-Okay…" Manami obliged and turned her head to each shoulder in understanding. And just as the orange-haired girl stepped back to have another look, Rio gave her own comment.
"You're too reserved; you should try to relax a bit more and look more carefree than usual – from what I can get from your posture, it's like you're always conscious." blue eyes with cunning written all over them had been accompanied by the snap of the owner's fingers as she pointed to the braided girl with a smirk "Try letting more of that chest out."
"Ch-Ch-Chest?!" her shaky hands instinctively went over the aforementioned part of her body where she had lots of discomforts with when talked about – the spectacled girl's earlier stance had completely diminished into a defensive and extra-cautious one as the short girl found difficulty in recovering from such a blunt statement (About a private part, no less).
"Yep~" Rio had given her a cheeky grin again before she put a hand to her hip and winked at her wittingly "For your horrifying goddess character you need to have that kind of superior grace, right?"
Still far from regaining her composure, Manami tilted her head and furrowed her brows in confusion as she stammered out "S-Superior?" – she had no idea what she meant by the usage of the word for moments, but she was sure it had something to do with what she desperately tried to block from the taller girl right now.
"…I have to agree." 'Even if I'm against this pervert's antics all the time, she has a point right now.' Yuzuki had narrowed eyes facing off to the side as she bit her lip and appeared to have had to force herself to say such things out loud.
Seeing this as unexpected from her, the poison lover's state of shock only doubled before she sharply turned back to the brunette with disbelief – whose guilt died as fast as it came when she saw how she nodded to this opinion with consideration "Y-Yuzuki-chan?!"
"C'mon, it shouldn't be that bad!" Rio attempted to reassure her and let her face the three of them by turning her around gently – which had a glimmer of hope spark inside the petite girl for a moment and let her self-possession return as she stared up at them curiously to have them continue "You just have to poise like you mean it and bring about some kind of exquisite aura."
But soon after this, however, all three girls had themselves lowering their heads and locked their eyes with the female part they were just talking about studiously.
After about four seconds of Manami being only able to blink at them from puzzlement, Yuzuki finally spoke up "…But they are kind of small…"
"Now that you mentioned it…" Rinka squinted her emerald eyes at the (to her) saddening pair her introverted friend carried with her.
And all three apparently had the same thought once they had gotten a good enough look at it.
'So much for superior…'
"Huh?" Meanwhile, the raven-haired girl had a little trouble with what they meant by that as she caught them with their eyes fixed on a certain part of her body – lower than her face, that's for sure. As a few more pitiful (to the rest) and uncertain (to Manami) seconds came to pass, lavender eyes had found themselves staring into each of the taller girl's chests one by one starting from Yuzuki to Rinka to Rio (whom had the largest out of all of them) until she let her gaze fall onto her own and had been hit with a great realization suddenly.
Now she knows how Kayano feels.
After getting struck with an electrical shock that had her body go completely cold, she instinctively turned her entire body away from them with a sharp gasp and protected her chest area with the cross of her arms over them – a long, high pitched squeal barely as audible as a whisper came from her tightly sealed lips as her body temperature continued to rise at a fast rate.
It appears as though the golden-haired girl had not let this topic go yet for her brows furrowed in deep thought as she tapped her chin with a finger – once she had an idea, she used the same finger to raise up in eureka "Nothing a few pads can't fix!"
"Th-That's supposed to make me feel better?!" this came out whisper-like, but undeniably distressed to no end.
From the other side of the huge venue, the other three of the opposite gender had paused in their measurements to have a look at what had been going on in the girl's side for the so-called 'practice' – all they could observe was how their blond-haired clubmate had walked up from behind the short girl whom evidently had a high level of distraught at the moment for she flailed her arms once the taller one had gotten close. Afterwards, the other two approached the braided girl by her sides and rested one hand on each of her shoulders before they nodded in sync – they took it that it was a gesture for moral support but all that got out of the science-loving girl was the fall of her head in a hopeless manner.
To much (of Manami's) luck, they could hear none of their disturbing conversation.
"What are they talking about?" Chiba was the first to speak up between them – his hand still holding onto the end of the measuring tape as Karma had the base material in his palm; but even he had to turn away from their current business to wonder what on earth had gotten into them; especially now that
"Like I know." Was all he could say in the end before he shrugged and tried to focus on their work and all the numbers they had to compute – which wasn't much of a sweat to any of them, really.
Sugino on the other hand, had a sweatdrop fall at the side of his face as he kept his hands to his waist and only looked over them from his shoulder. "Girls are mysterious creatures."
Once all the talk on body parts had come to pass, the four girls had reverted back to their original task and had gone back to helping their introverted with her turning practice.
"Alright, so you just go like this, and then step there, one more time…" short brown hair twirled around swiftly before bouncing in a landing with the skip of the otaku's step "and end it like this. Now you go try it." Yuzuki instructed her properly after a second time of demonstrating it so she would properly be able to depict it with accuracy.
"Alright." Manami nodded with zealousness and comprehension before she checked herself – posture and all – before giving it a go. After a few steps…
"One, two, this then—AH!" within split-seconds, the sound of a plastic material tapping the floor loudly followed by the nearly ear-splitting squeak of a shoe and afterwards ended with a loud thud that had everyone inside the gym flinch from its suddenness and how painful that must've been.
What first met the eyes of all within the area was the fact that Okuda Manami had fallen with her face flat on the cemented floor (thankfully her glasses came off with the almost 90 degree flip she had just performed and landed just a few inches away from her fallen form). The next observation that came to was the mop that had carelessly been left on the floor – and assuming that the area around it was most probably still wet, that just explains that she basically tripped on the mop left unattended and it was only made worse by the wet floor that lacked a warning signal.
It took a few seconds for them to let the events sink in, but once they had grasped the happenings perfectly, six heads turned to the part of the gym where their senior stood with accusatory scowls on their faces – to which she responded to with the covering of her mouth guiltily before she displayed them a peace sign. After a few rolls of eyes and some sighs of exasperation, all those inside closed in on the accident prone girl who hadn't gotten up from her position upon the cold hard floor.
Karma and Rio were the ones that helped pull her up and tried to steady her body in the process for it was like she had just gone numb in all areas with how heavy it felt. Meanwhile, Rinka had taken initiative to pick the dark-haired girl's glasses up and fix it from behind her dizzy body.
With an uneasy raise of her eyebrow, Rio gently attempted to keep her head from swinging back and forth too much by cupping her face in her hands. To say Manami looked dazed was an understatement – her face had gone red from the impact of the floor and her eyes were half-lidded; if anything, she looked drunk "Uh, Are you okay?"
Her body apparently responded with a stretch of red that originated from her nose. Nope, she was not okay.
She then faced the two tall ones in front of her with a clueless expression as her head continued to move from side to side unsteadily now without the support brought by Rio's hands. "Oi…" now Karma was beginning to feel a little worried with her responses to whatever they did – well, all she did was look around and then another stretch of red came from the other hole on her nose. Once she had settled her stare onto the two pranksters in front of her giving her looks she couldn't quite decipher, she spoke in a soft, dazed tone – like the ones people make when they're drowsy.
"Huh? I can see mustard and ketchup…" the only thing within her vision right now were blobs of red and yellow with other hints of black and a lot of colors she didn't want to think about at the moment due to how much that just hurt.
On the other hand, the two exchanged a look quite uncomfortably (she just compared their hair colors to condiments, after all) before they looked at her again.
"Hey, Ketchup…"
"What is it, Mustard?"
"It's okay to knock her out now, right?" After Rio suggested this, she got a small flick at the back of her forehead coming from the otaku who looked down on her with utter disappointment.
Before Karma could make another remark, the small girl sitting in front of his crouched position let out a sniffle which automatically had everyone's attention turned to her again.
"…It hurts." Was all she said – very much like how a child would what with the soft, unsure and high-pitched voice; especially with the way the sides of her eyes had tears beginning to form just by how much her fall damaged her.
Albeit finding this to be very adorable, Rio stepped into the conversation again and put a hand on her shoulder – an evident worry in her tone now since this was the first time she had seen such an expression from her "That is very cute, but let's take you to Inari-sensei."
With how things went today starting from the mop thing, the discussion on chest sizes, the bewilderment of men, the accident prone girl nearly getting a concussion because of senpai carelessness - all within one hour on their first day, everyone else who watched the strange scene in front of them knew one thing as they had sarcastic smiles on and nearly bleak looks in their eyes…
It's gonna be one hell of a month…
THAT'S IT FOR NOW~! X"""D
Yeah I know hate me for the GREAT GREAT Lack of Karmanami in this chapter but this is just a prologue without much of anything! It's the introductory of a 6 part arc after all. (YES IM ESTIMATING IT TO 6[7 if you count this one]) And it's for the sake of introduction so yeah I still hope you enjoyed even if there's no Karmanami at all X"3
BUT HEY! LOOK AT THE BRIGHT SIDE! THERE WILL BE LOTS COMING YOUR WAY IN THE NEXT CHAPTERS SO PREPARE YOURSELF 8"D
I'll try my best to update soon because school starts in 7 FREAKING. DAYS. And Im getting slower for some reason ;w;
Oh well I'll leave it at that for a while. 'Til the first chapter which I have already been working on!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND ALL THAT! PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW IF YOU CAN EVEN THOUGH THIS CHAPTER WASN'T MUCH AT ALL!
With love, gratitude and the anohana sadness within me,
~TheFlowerWeSawThatDay