Hikaru's say: Thanks to everyone for the beautiful reviews, and a special
thanks to HakuKumo for the link to the fab site that helped me with my
spelling problem.
Sorry for taking so long with this chapter, but I had three cooking evaluations and a ton of Math work to get done before Friday. Somehow I don't think my teachers would have understood that I didn't do my homework because of my commitments to the fanfiction world and my loyal fans.
So I'll try to get chapters out faster and try to make them more interesting. Thanks everyone and please leave a review.
PS: If you guys give me the names of your fics I'll be more then happy to read them. Ja! ^_^v
**********************************************
Tohma trudged into the kitchen early the next morning in his dressing gown. He was on his way to have his regular 7:30 pick- me- up before he would think about getting ready for the day.
He pushed open the door and ran his hand through his light hair that resembled a drunken porcupine. He was quite surprised to see Lily standing at the stove dressed in her uniform.
She flipped something over in the pan before she looked up at Tohma.
"Good morning!" she chirped and handed Tohma a hot cup of coffee that she had just made him.
Tohma gulped down half the mug before his expression changed from "I'm a tired old man, leave me alone" to "I'm the nicest person in the world-give me a hug!"
"Good morning!" he replied in the same tone.
Lily rolled her eyes and wondered why people didn't get up at the crack of dawn like she did. You wasted half the day sleeping in her opinion.
She removed the pancake from the hot pan and flipped it onto a plate before drowning it in maple syrup and butter.
"Here you go!" she said brightly and handed the plate to Tohma. "Breakfast American style."
Lily grabbed the second plate of pancakes for herself and sat down at the table with Tohma.
"Glad it's Poets Day?" she asked brightly as she sipped her hot chocolate.
"What Day?"
"Friday," Lily said quickly. She didn't think it would be wise to explain that joke.
"Yea I guess, every day's the same for me really. It's what happens when you get old," Tohma said and he ate his pancakes.
"You're not old Tohma san," Lily scoffed, "you're only thirty three."
"I just look it," Tohma said with a sigh and Lily rolled her eyes.
The two didn't speak for a while as they ate their calorie packed breakfast but something was bothering Tohma in the back of his head. Just a little thing that poked and nagged and wouldn't go away no matter how hard he tried to ignore it.
"Lily chan," he said finally, giving in to the persistent nagging.
"Hmm?" Lily looked up with half a pancake hanging out of her mouth, syrup dripping onto the plate.
"When was the last time you heard from your Dad?"
"Oh gosh, that's going back a while," Lily said as she swallowed her pancake. "I haven't spoken to him since kindergarten. I hope he's not working too hard. I guess he was so busy working that he didn't have time to call me. He always sent packages and allowance money every month or so though. I suppose that you don't see him that much either do you Tohma san?"
Tohma jerked back uncomfortably. "Well actually.."
"DING DONG!"
He was saved by the bell-literally. Someone was at the front door.
"I've got it," Lily said and ran to the door in her socks.
Tohma heaved a sigh of relief and could just hear a murmur of voices at the door before it closed.
"What is it Lily chan?" he called and collected the empty plates.
"A package from Grams," Lily said as she came back into the room, wrestling with the package strings.
"Oh yea? What is it?" Tohma asked as he rinsed the plates in the sink and wondered what he was going to wear to work.
He was someone who didn't believe in wearing the same thing twice.
"Something I can't believe I forgot!" yelled Lily with joy and there was a gust of wind behind Tohma as Lily got her bag out of her room and headed for the door.
**********************************************
The Fireblazer 2000s glided down the streets of Tokyo with maximum speed and grace. They were the best rollerblades on the market and their owner was more then thrilled to have them back.
Lily had been so wound up with last minute packing before she left home that she'd forgotten to pack the red and white rollerblades.
Lily couldn't run a race, jump a hurdle or score a point when it came to PE, but she could skate like a pro. Strange isn't it?
She swiped her card through the scanner and cruised into the NG building, weaving in and out of managers, pop idols, reporters and producers.
Deciding to refresh her memory on some of her older, more difficult skills, she started to skate backwards, making a cross motion with her feet.
Lily had decided not to join any after school clubs for a whole variety of reasons. She sucked at any form of PE, so sports clubs were out. Her chess skills were a lost cause and she didn't watch enough anime to join Joan's anime club. So she decided to just hang around the NG building to fill in time and do her homework.
Thump!
Lily hit something solid and fell on her rear with a suitable amount of force. A collection of small objects hit her on the head, one after the other.
"Oww," she groaned and thanked her luck stars that she was wearing her helmet.
"Sorry about that, I wasn't looking! Eh? Is that you Lily chan?" someone said above her.
Lily looked up and blushed. She'd bumped into Nakano Hiroshi, the guitarist for Bad Luck.
"No, no!" she stammered quickly. "It, it was my fault, really it was! I wasn't paying attention! I'm so sorry!"
"It's all right," Hiro said with a smile and pulled her up onto her feet.
Lily went an even deeper shade of crimson as Hiro held her hand. Since she was having a hard time looking him in the eye, Lily looked down at the floor and saw that the falling objects had been a collection of drink cans that were now rolling away.
She bent down and picked up the runaway drinks while Hiro put some coins in the can machine. She held the cans close to her chest and stood up.
Hiro took them from her and handed her the new can.
"Here," he said thrusting it in her hand, "I got you one too."
"You shouldn't have! I mean..thank you.I mean.um.how much do I owe you?" Lily was now speaking fluent idiot.
"My treat," Hiro said with a smile.
Lily practically melted.
"What's the hold up Hiro?" Shuichi asked as he came around the corner. His blue eyes then landed on the tomato coloured Lily.
"Lily chan!!" he screamed and with an energetic bound wrapped her in a bear hug.
Lily had to lean back on her blades to stop herself from falling and gasped in surprise. The only other person who ever hugged her was Joan, so this amount of affection was just a little strange to her.
"Stop it Shuichi," Hiro said with a frown at his best friend. "You're freaking the poor kid out."
"It's fine Nakano san, really," Lily assured him and hugged Shuichi back a little awkwardly. "He just surprised me, that's all."
"Well, still, you shouldn't just jump out of nowhere and hug young girls Shuichi. The police will take you away," Hiro said with a snicker.
Shuichi poked his tongue out and Lily hugged him a bit tighter out of sympathy.
"You shouldn't get to close Lily chan," Hiro said with a shifty look at the hugging pair, "you're likely to catch a serious case of the Stupids."
"I don't think so. I quite like Shindo san actually."
"YOU LIKE ME?" Shuichi yelled in disbelief. His eyes went all starry and his body went limp in Lily's grip.
Hiro shook his head in disgust. "Getting all weak over a junior high student. You're sicker than I thought."
Shuichi regained his composer and broke off the hug. "It's the first time a girl has ever said she liked me," he said sounding embarrassed.
"Moron," Hiro said with a sigh. "By the way Lily chan, what were your plans for this afternoon?"
"Revise for a Kanji test and wait for Tohma I guess," Lily said with a shrug.
"Why don't you come to the recording room with us?" Hiro suggested. "I'm sure someone can help you with your Kanji during a break."
"I'd really hate to be a burden and get in your way."
"Nonsense!" Shuichi cried happily thumping her on the back, causing her to stagger on her blades. "You're good company Lily chan. Besides, a young lady like you needs to be careful, there are perverts around."
With that winning argument Shuichi placed his hands on Lily's back and started to wheel her down the hall with Hiro trailing.
It wasn't until they had left that the air vent in the roof gave a loud groan and burst open. Something fell to the ground with a scream and a thud.
"Idiot Kumagoro! You've gotten fat and made us fall!" Ryuichi snapped angrily and crawled out of the dust cloud he'd just created.
He stood up and dusted himself off, not feeling the least bit embarrassed. "Silly Kumagoro," he muttered and brushed the dirt off the pink bunny.
Ryuichi gave a satisfied sigh when he and his companion were clean again and smiled.
"Lily chan is just as sweet as I remember," he said to his companion and walked off in the opposite direction to Shuichi.
Noriko would be angry if he was late. He didn't like it when Noriko was angry.
**********************************************
"Great work everyone!" K cried happily, beaming as he waved a magazine around in his hand. The team had just finished and the famous cougar magnum had stayed safely in its holster for the entire day.
"Um, K san," Fujisaki said slowly.
"What?"
"What happened to your hair?"
K's regular blonde ponytail was done up in a beautiful braid with a big blue bow tried on the end.
"That was me," Lily admitted with an embarrassed smile. "I attacked his hair after I finished with the Kanji revision."
"Let me check over your notes!" Shuichi said happily and snatched the notepad out of her hands before Lily could refuse.
"What's that picture of a fork doing there?" Hiro asked as he looked at the notes over his friend's shoulder.
"It's meant to say mountain!" Lily wailed in despair.
"Of course it does," Shuichi said slowly and handed the notepad back to her.
"K san! You're meant to tell them about the new album listing," Sakano in annoyance.
"Don't rush me," K said in a warning tone and gave the producer a dark glare.
Sakano took a cautious step back.
The blond American unrolled the music magazine in his hand and flicked through the pages until he found what he was looking for. He gave a smug grin and turned the magazine to face the three young rock stars.
"You're kidding me!" Shuichi said in awe as their eyes grew to the size of fish bowls. "The album is already at the number two spot?"
"Way to go!" Lily said with a grin.
"Nittle Grasper's new album is still top of the charts though," Fujisaki pointed out thoughtfully.
"That's true. Those guys sure are hard to compete against. Not that I'm surprised really, they were Japan's most successful group for years," Hiro added.
"What's a 'Nittle Grasper'?" Lily asked with a frown. Those two words didn't translate to anything she could remember studying.
K gave Fujisaki a death glare and the teenager was suddenly wishing that he was wearing bullet proof clothes.
"Oh just this band. Nothing to worry about Lily chan," Shuichi said quickly and patted her a few times on the head.
"Are you sure? Because for some reason I."
"It's nothing!" Shuichi said firmly. Perhaps a little too firm because Lily broke eye contact with the singer and started examining her school shoes closely.
Hiro bopped Shuichi on the head with his fist and took charge of the situation.
"Don't take it personally Lily chan," he said comfortingly. "Shuichi just gets a bit worked up when someone mentions Nittle Grasper."
"Thanks you jerk, make me the bad guy," Shuichi grumbled as he rubbed his head.
"It's ok," Lily said quickly, trying to make it sound that it hadn't bothered her. "It's not my business anyway. You guys shouldn't worry about me and work."
"Specking of work," Sakano said emphasizing the last word of his sentence to get everyone back on track, "is everything set for tomorrow's concert?"
Shuichi started to zone out to what the others were saying about equipment and rehearsal and stages when his eyes wondered back to the magazine K was holding.
It gave him a good feeling when he saw that the music he loved with all his heart was so popular. To him singing was everything and without it he would be an empty husk.
On the next page he saw an advertisement for a music channel.
"Nittle Grasper" it read. "We'll take you back to where it all started."
"Well I hope it goes well," Lily's feminine voice stuck out from the others and caught Shuichi's attention. "As for me I'll probably spent all morning watching the music channels before visiting Joan."
Shuichi's eyes went wide and his throat dried up. He started to poke at the magazine fretfully, almost fast enough to make holes in it.
"What's wrong?" K asked as the others continued to talk.
Shuichi poked the magazine harder and tried to speak without success.
K frowned and flipped it around to face him. The blood drained from his face and he quickly threw the magazine over his shoulder.
It hit Sakano in the face but K didn't care. He quickly put a smile on his face and grabbed Lily's shoulders.
Lily looked at K as if he was crazy (which might have been pretty accurate).
"How about, instead of wasting your day, you come to the rehearsal and concert tomorrow?" K suggested with a wide grin.
"Eh? K san you can't."
K took out his gun and threw it a Sakano, hitting him right in the nose. This method proved to be effective because Sakano didn't continue with his sentence.
"Actually I think.." Lily started.
"Great! We'll pick you up at nine tomorrow!" K said without waiting for an answer and Shuichi breathed a sigh of relief.
Now there was no way Lily was going to be near a TV for the entire day.
"Now best be off!" K said turning Lily around and wheeling her towards the door. "Tohma san will be waiting! See ya!"
With that last statement K slammed the door and Lily was left alone with her Kanji notes.
"What kind of a business is Tohma running here?" she wondered aloud before skating off down the hall.
Sorry for taking so long with this chapter, but I had three cooking evaluations and a ton of Math work to get done before Friday. Somehow I don't think my teachers would have understood that I didn't do my homework because of my commitments to the fanfiction world and my loyal fans.
So I'll try to get chapters out faster and try to make them more interesting. Thanks everyone and please leave a review.
PS: If you guys give me the names of your fics I'll be more then happy to read them. Ja! ^_^v
**********************************************
Tohma trudged into the kitchen early the next morning in his dressing gown. He was on his way to have his regular 7:30 pick- me- up before he would think about getting ready for the day.
He pushed open the door and ran his hand through his light hair that resembled a drunken porcupine. He was quite surprised to see Lily standing at the stove dressed in her uniform.
She flipped something over in the pan before she looked up at Tohma.
"Good morning!" she chirped and handed Tohma a hot cup of coffee that she had just made him.
Tohma gulped down half the mug before his expression changed from "I'm a tired old man, leave me alone" to "I'm the nicest person in the world-give me a hug!"
"Good morning!" he replied in the same tone.
Lily rolled her eyes and wondered why people didn't get up at the crack of dawn like she did. You wasted half the day sleeping in her opinion.
She removed the pancake from the hot pan and flipped it onto a plate before drowning it in maple syrup and butter.
"Here you go!" she said brightly and handed the plate to Tohma. "Breakfast American style."
Lily grabbed the second plate of pancakes for herself and sat down at the table with Tohma.
"Glad it's Poets Day?" she asked brightly as she sipped her hot chocolate.
"What Day?"
"Friday," Lily said quickly. She didn't think it would be wise to explain that joke.
"Yea I guess, every day's the same for me really. It's what happens when you get old," Tohma said and he ate his pancakes.
"You're not old Tohma san," Lily scoffed, "you're only thirty three."
"I just look it," Tohma said with a sigh and Lily rolled her eyes.
The two didn't speak for a while as they ate their calorie packed breakfast but something was bothering Tohma in the back of his head. Just a little thing that poked and nagged and wouldn't go away no matter how hard he tried to ignore it.
"Lily chan," he said finally, giving in to the persistent nagging.
"Hmm?" Lily looked up with half a pancake hanging out of her mouth, syrup dripping onto the plate.
"When was the last time you heard from your Dad?"
"Oh gosh, that's going back a while," Lily said as she swallowed her pancake. "I haven't spoken to him since kindergarten. I hope he's not working too hard. I guess he was so busy working that he didn't have time to call me. He always sent packages and allowance money every month or so though. I suppose that you don't see him that much either do you Tohma san?"
Tohma jerked back uncomfortably. "Well actually.."
"DING DONG!"
He was saved by the bell-literally. Someone was at the front door.
"I've got it," Lily said and ran to the door in her socks.
Tohma heaved a sigh of relief and could just hear a murmur of voices at the door before it closed.
"What is it Lily chan?" he called and collected the empty plates.
"A package from Grams," Lily said as she came back into the room, wrestling with the package strings.
"Oh yea? What is it?" Tohma asked as he rinsed the plates in the sink and wondered what he was going to wear to work.
He was someone who didn't believe in wearing the same thing twice.
"Something I can't believe I forgot!" yelled Lily with joy and there was a gust of wind behind Tohma as Lily got her bag out of her room and headed for the door.
**********************************************
The Fireblazer 2000s glided down the streets of Tokyo with maximum speed and grace. They were the best rollerblades on the market and their owner was more then thrilled to have them back.
Lily had been so wound up with last minute packing before she left home that she'd forgotten to pack the red and white rollerblades.
Lily couldn't run a race, jump a hurdle or score a point when it came to PE, but she could skate like a pro. Strange isn't it?
She swiped her card through the scanner and cruised into the NG building, weaving in and out of managers, pop idols, reporters and producers.
Deciding to refresh her memory on some of her older, more difficult skills, she started to skate backwards, making a cross motion with her feet.
Lily had decided not to join any after school clubs for a whole variety of reasons. She sucked at any form of PE, so sports clubs were out. Her chess skills were a lost cause and she didn't watch enough anime to join Joan's anime club. So she decided to just hang around the NG building to fill in time and do her homework.
Thump!
Lily hit something solid and fell on her rear with a suitable amount of force. A collection of small objects hit her on the head, one after the other.
"Oww," she groaned and thanked her luck stars that she was wearing her helmet.
"Sorry about that, I wasn't looking! Eh? Is that you Lily chan?" someone said above her.
Lily looked up and blushed. She'd bumped into Nakano Hiroshi, the guitarist for Bad Luck.
"No, no!" she stammered quickly. "It, it was my fault, really it was! I wasn't paying attention! I'm so sorry!"
"It's all right," Hiro said with a smile and pulled her up onto her feet.
Lily went an even deeper shade of crimson as Hiro held her hand. Since she was having a hard time looking him in the eye, Lily looked down at the floor and saw that the falling objects had been a collection of drink cans that were now rolling away.
She bent down and picked up the runaway drinks while Hiro put some coins in the can machine. She held the cans close to her chest and stood up.
Hiro took them from her and handed her the new can.
"Here," he said thrusting it in her hand, "I got you one too."
"You shouldn't have! I mean..thank you.I mean.um.how much do I owe you?" Lily was now speaking fluent idiot.
"My treat," Hiro said with a smile.
Lily practically melted.
"What's the hold up Hiro?" Shuichi asked as he came around the corner. His blue eyes then landed on the tomato coloured Lily.
"Lily chan!!" he screamed and with an energetic bound wrapped her in a bear hug.
Lily had to lean back on her blades to stop herself from falling and gasped in surprise. The only other person who ever hugged her was Joan, so this amount of affection was just a little strange to her.
"Stop it Shuichi," Hiro said with a frown at his best friend. "You're freaking the poor kid out."
"It's fine Nakano san, really," Lily assured him and hugged Shuichi back a little awkwardly. "He just surprised me, that's all."
"Well, still, you shouldn't just jump out of nowhere and hug young girls Shuichi. The police will take you away," Hiro said with a snicker.
Shuichi poked his tongue out and Lily hugged him a bit tighter out of sympathy.
"You shouldn't get to close Lily chan," Hiro said with a shifty look at the hugging pair, "you're likely to catch a serious case of the Stupids."
"I don't think so. I quite like Shindo san actually."
"YOU LIKE ME?" Shuichi yelled in disbelief. His eyes went all starry and his body went limp in Lily's grip.
Hiro shook his head in disgust. "Getting all weak over a junior high student. You're sicker than I thought."
Shuichi regained his composer and broke off the hug. "It's the first time a girl has ever said she liked me," he said sounding embarrassed.
"Moron," Hiro said with a sigh. "By the way Lily chan, what were your plans for this afternoon?"
"Revise for a Kanji test and wait for Tohma I guess," Lily said with a shrug.
"Why don't you come to the recording room with us?" Hiro suggested. "I'm sure someone can help you with your Kanji during a break."
"I'd really hate to be a burden and get in your way."
"Nonsense!" Shuichi cried happily thumping her on the back, causing her to stagger on her blades. "You're good company Lily chan. Besides, a young lady like you needs to be careful, there are perverts around."
With that winning argument Shuichi placed his hands on Lily's back and started to wheel her down the hall with Hiro trailing.
It wasn't until they had left that the air vent in the roof gave a loud groan and burst open. Something fell to the ground with a scream and a thud.
"Idiot Kumagoro! You've gotten fat and made us fall!" Ryuichi snapped angrily and crawled out of the dust cloud he'd just created.
He stood up and dusted himself off, not feeling the least bit embarrassed. "Silly Kumagoro," he muttered and brushed the dirt off the pink bunny.
Ryuichi gave a satisfied sigh when he and his companion were clean again and smiled.
"Lily chan is just as sweet as I remember," he said to his companion and walked off in the opposite direction to Shuichi.
Noriko would be angry if he was late. He didn't like it when Noriko was angry.
**********************************************
"Great work everyone!" K cried happily, beaming as he waved a magazine around in his hand. The team had just finished and the famous cougar magnum had stayed safely in its holster for the entire day.
"Um, K san," Fujisaki said slowly.
"What?"
"What happened to your hair?"
K's regular blonde ponytail was done up in a beautiful braid with a big blue bow tried on the end.
"That was me," Lily admitted with an embarrassed smile. "I attacked his hair after I finished with the Kanji revision."
"Let me check over your notes!" Shuichi said happily and snatched the notepad out of her hands before Lily could refuse.
"What's that picture of a fork doing there?" Hiro asked as he looked at the notes over his friend's shoulder.
"It's meant to say mountain!" Lily wailed in despair.
"Of course it does," Shuichi said slowly and handed the notepad back to her.
"K san! You're meant to tell them about the new album listing," Sakano in annoyance.
"Don't rush me," K said in a warning tone and gave the producer a dark glare.
Sakano took a cautious step back.
The blond American unrolled the music magazine in his hand and flicked through the pages until he found what he was looking for. He gave a smug grin and turned the magazine to face the three young rock stars.
"You're kidding me!" Shuichi said in awe as their eyes grew to the size of fish bowls. "The album is already at the number two spot?"
"Way to go!" Lily said with a grin.
"Nittle Grasper's new album is still top of the charts though," Fujisaki pointed out thoughtfully.
"That's true. Those guys sure are hard to compete against. Not that I'm surprised really, they were Japan's most successful group for years," Hiro added.
"What's a 'Nittle Grasper'?" Lily asked with a frown. Those two words didn't translate to anything she could remember studying.
K gave Fujisaki a death glare and the teenager was suddenly wishing that he was wearing bullet proof clothes.
"Oh just this band. Nothing to worry about Lily chan," Shuichi said quickly and patted her a few times on the head.
"Are you sure? Because for some reason I."
"It's nothing!" Shuichi said firmly. Perhaps a little too firm because Lily broke eye contact with the singer and started examining her school shoes closely.
Hiro bopped Shuichi on the head with his fist and took charge of the situation.
"Don't take it personally Lily chan," he said comfortingly. "Shuichi just gets a bit worked up when someone mentions Nittle Grasper."
"Thanks you jerk, make me the bad guy," Shuichi grumbled as he rubbed his head.
"It's ok," Lily said quickly, trying to make it sound that it hadn't bothered her. "It's not my business anyway. You guys shouldn't worry about me and work."
"Specking of work," Sakano said emphasizing the last word of his sentence to get everyone back on track, "is everything set for tomorrow's concert?"
Shuichi started to zone out to what the others were saying about equipment and rehearsal and stages when his eyes wondered back to the magazine K was holding.
It gave him a good feeling when he saw that the music he loved with all his heart was so popular. To him singing was everything and without it he would be an empty husk.
On the next page he saw an advertisement for a music channel.
"Nittle Grasper" it read. "We'll take you back to where it all started."
"Well I hope it goes well," Lily's feminine voice stuck out from the others and caught Shuichi's attention. "As for me I'll probably spent all morning watching the music channels before visiting Joan."
Shuichi's eyes went wide and his throat dried up. He started to poke at the magazine fretfully, almost fast enough to make holes in it.
"What's wrong?" K asked as the others continued to talk.
Shuichi poked the magazine harder and tried to speak without success.
K frowned and flipped it around to face him. The blood drained from his face and he quickly threw the magazine over his shoulder.
It hit Sakano in the face but K didn't care. He quickly put a smile on his face and grabbed Lily's shoulders.
Lily looked at K as if he was crazy (which might have been pretty accurate).
"How about, instead of wasting your day, you come to the rehearsal and concert tomorrow?" K suggested with a wide grin.
"Eh? K san you can't."
K took out his gun and threw it a Sakano, hitting him right in the nose. This method proved to be effective because Sakano didn't continue with his sentence.
"Actually I think.." Lily started.
"Great! We'll pick you up at nine tomorrow!" K said without waiting for an answer and Shuichi breathed a sigh of relief.
Now there was no way Lily was going to be near a TV for the entire day.
"Now best be off!" K said turning Lily around and wheeling her towards the door. "Tohma san will be waiting! See ya!"
With that last statement K slammed the door and Lily was left alone with her Kanji notes.
"What kind of a business is Tohma running here?" she wondered aloud before skating off down the hall.