There are many couples in Mankin that need love. :O We have to love them all minna-san! I just found a couple that really needs love. T T So sad that it's so lonely. X3 Yoh/Pirika is so out of place. They need love. SOO I have created a story that will get them together XD. Mwahaha

The name is based off the interactive dvd Hourglass of Summer. This story is based off the game.

Summery: Before summer vacation, Pirika was one of the popular cheerleaders while Yoh was just one of her many "good" friends. However, after a strange entanglement with an odd girl, Yoh "day drops" to September first. Even more puzzling, he finds out that the two had fallen in love. Yet the same day he finds out about her tragic death. What happened? YohPirika

Hourglass of Summer

The sun peers through a window half shaded. Birds chirping and bugs buzzing clearly states that summer weather has come and the school semester is almost over. An annoying ring nearly explodes in my ear. Sitting up and rubbing my head, I stare at the clock for a good couple of seconds.

"8:30..."

8:30! Jumping to my feet and grabbing the nearest shirt, I multitask; getting dressed and regaining my head. I can't multitask. It's not really the easiest thing for a guy like me to do. I glance at the bed next to mine. It was empty. My brother must have left without waking me up. Jerk. He always does that.

The door opened and my mother comes in, hands crossed across her chest; glaring cold at me. "You woke up late again. You're going to be late" She points out the obvious. I try my best to ignore her, but failed. Her glare only got colder. "I'm going mom" I walk past her swiftly and head out the door.

"Man… I wish she wouldn't scold me all the time. I mean… it's not my fault I wake up late" I grumble to myself while getting my bike. It's so hard to have a decent morning with your mother yelling at you like that.

Walking the bicycle out of the side of the house, I sit on the seat and start peddling. However, a familiar cry stops me in my tracks. I turn my head to see where the yell came from. "Yoh! Wait for me!" A sky haired girl came running towards me. She trips and falls. Surprisingly, she quickly got back up without crying and walked the rest of the way.

I let out a sigh of relief seeing as how she wasn't hurt. She brushed off her uniform and looked at me. "I'm late!" I laughed at that. "I can see that. I'm guessing you'll need a ride again?" She nodded and sat in back of me; wrapping her arms around my back.

This was my morning. Everyday was like this. No different from any other day. Usui Pirika, the girl in back of me, was always late. It seemed that our older brothers have fun getting us tardy to school. Pirika's brother, Horo Horo, was one of my good friends. We've been through a lot together. I guess I started to get to know Pirika once her mother passed away. Since then, Horo gets to school earlier than us because he wants to leave early to take care of his father's fish restaurant right next door to my house. He's always cared for his sister, but he's been very busy. Their father isn't the youngest in the neighborhood. So he needs extra help. Pirika and I have always been like this. That's why it's so normal for me to see her.

I rode my bike to the top of a hill. I take a second to look at the ocean at the horizon. The morning breeze played with my bangs. Gleams from the sun danced on the ocean's waters like fairies. I look back. She was staring at the scenery too. In the area we live in, it's vast and open sea really brings in tourists. This town is known for the sea and beaches. It gets really popular during the summer. Since we live here, we really don't take advantage of what we have.

Letting my feet go of the street, we fly down the hill quickly. With swift turns, we make it to the school just as the bell rang. Pirika pats me on the head as I park my bike and she sprints to class. My teacher knows my tardiness is daily, so I take my time.

Our school is pretty diverse. Any high school stereotype you can think of, we have it here. But the school is mainly known for its high tech sports equipment and a large variety of sports. Kids from all over Japan with skills in sports apply here. I don't like them myself. I happened to live here so I had no choice.

Students were still roaming the campus. So I'm guessing the teachers had some last minute grading to do. A smack in the back of my head caused me to turn around. "Your late again, I see Asakura?"

I grin. My good ol' pal Tao Ren. He had his poker face on. "Heh heh.. Slept in…" He sighed. "How are you expecting to pass if you don't get to class on time?" He asked angrily. I can tell he cared. I think.

"No worries, Ren." My motto. Some say that's something that I hide behind. I don't see why. He shook his head. Ren really is a warm hearted person. We've known each other since junior high. That guy is always competing with me. You can say he's my rival, if you will. He's always got something eating him. Always scowling. But I look beyond that. I know he's my friend.

Ren walks to the hallway, signaling me to follow him. Upon entering the building, I spot my friend Oyomada Manta. Weird thing. Junior high, he was this short rambunctious character. Come high school, he's the same height as me. He's rather proud of that. Ren's grown too. Both very happy with puberty. As we got inside, the bell rang. I'm guessing Ren knew that. We entered the class room.

As fast as the morning flew by, so did school. The ending bell rang and students ran out the doors and to after school clubs. Me being the way I am, I take my time in leaving. I have nothing to stay for… unless you count track. That's something Ren signed me up for. He had to find a way to beat me without any physical contact. I guess track was the next best thing. The coach seems to like me. Ren and I are his top runners. But I don't like running, lifting things, or moving. It's all Ren's fault. I walk quietly behind Manta and head for the hallway. I didn't want to go to practice today. Weather's too nice.

I entered stealth mode and tip toed pass the classroom. My stealthiest moves were not enough. For someone saw me. I know this because a hard book hit my head. "How come I didn't see you in lab today?" A voice from behind spoke. Female to be exact. Slowly turning my head, I see Kyouyama Anna, a fellow classmate of mine, wearing her lab coat, glasses, and has her hair tied up. Who you can say… puts my best interest in mind. We're lab partners and she's the one doing must of the work. I just take notes. 'Uh.. I came in late" I said, ready to get hit again.

Instead of getting hit, I got a sigh. She crossed her arms like my mother did this morning. "Honestly, Yoh. How are you expecting to graduate if you don't even get to class?" Hmm.. Didn't Ren ask that same question? I waved my hand in response. She nags me all the time. "I know… I know…" But her expression only got harder. "I'm serious Yoh. The semester is ending soon and grades are being counted. You should really start paying attention more." Yeah I know. "You need a girlfriend" She said out of the blue.

I nearly face faulted. "What?" Where'd she get that from? Heh. "Anna. Your definitely my brother's girlfriend." I put my hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. Even if I'm late, I have been doing extra credit and other things. No worries" She looks at me worriedly then looks down. "If you say so…" I wait until I see her smile, then I walk off. Not too later do I get hit in the head again. I quickly turn around. "What did I do this time?" Anna growls. "Not you! Your brother! Tell him to stop it!" With that, she left; leaving me to give my brother the message. Sigh. I'm always caught in between their quarrels.

Wondering what time it is, I look down at my watch. 3:30. Darn. Ren must be looking for me. Gotta find somewhere to hide. My legs lead me to the soccer field, where the soccer team was playing.

"Hey! What are you doing here, Yoh? I thought you didn't like sports" Horo ran up to me, holding a water bottle in his hand. He looked tired. "You know me too well" I smiled. He tilted his head. "I thought you had track practice with old tongari head"

"He does" I shudder. Oh man! He found me. Too scared to turn around, I stay in place. Ren stomps by us, hits Horo, and grabs me. "Your lucky coach canceled! Otherwise you would have been a dead man!" Horo wasn't going to let Ren get away with hitting him empty handed. He ran towards us and pounced on Ren. They squirmed and fought. Many fan girls would be happy if this was a visual. Taking this opportunity to leave, I take Horo's water bottle and start walking. It didn't take them that long to noticed my clever stealthy-ness helped me escape. It also didn't take me long to notice them chasing me with deadly vengeance. Why can't I just go home peacefully?

I started to run. They ran faster, causing me to quicken my pace. I was quickly running out of breath, but couldn't stop. Or they'd get me. I wanted to get away from them somehow. I wasn't paying much attention to what was in front of me. Which caused my downfall. Literally. I bumped into something or someone and fell. "Owie…" My head felt dizzy. Someone… was in a trench coat. I looked up. I couldn't see it's face. It didn't bother to help me up. Must be in a hurry. However, someone did come to my help. "Are you alright Yoh?" It was Pirika. Boy was I ever so happy to see her! "Yeah I'm alright. Listen. We gotta get out of here" I grabbed her hand. "Come on!"

"HOLD IT THERE BUSTER!" Busted. Horo pounced on me while Ren watched. Wonderful Pirika pulled her brother away from me. "Bad onii-chan!" She wacked him with her pom pom. That's right. Pirika was a cheerleader. She was wearing her uniform and was beating her brother. Ren and I found that amusing.

After it got boring, I started to grow hungry. "Hey… why don't we go to the Suncrest Café?" The action stopped and a loud growl was heard. Guessing that everyone was hungry, I started to lead. "Let's go!" We stopped by the school to get my bike and everyone got their stuff. It was getting late.

We got into the café, and quickly ate. We had small conversations that had nothing to do with anything. This was what we normally do. With the additions of Anna, Hao, and Manta. But Manta was busy with extra classes, and Anna and Hao were growing more mature than us and were off on their own.

"I gotta head back to school. I've got a game coming. See you guys tomorrow. See you later, Pirika" Horo stood up and placed a kiss on his sister's cheek. Ren stood as well. "I got to leave also. Bye" Horo smirked. "Don't I get a kiss?" Ren's hair grew taller. Don't ask. It always does that. The two left, leaving Pirika and I. We talked some more. I always found her interesting to talk to. But… she's always seemed so alone. With her brother not around as much and her father taking care of a restaurant, she's been by herself most of the time. "Oh no! I gotta get home!" She said suddenly. "I'll give you a ride on my bike" She quickly nodded and followed me.

I sat on the seat and she sat behind me. I peddled to the hill. It almost takes me twice as long to get home because of going up hill. "Here let me help you ride it up" She got down and helped me walk it up the hill. Silence was all that was heard the way up. "Hey Pirika… if there's anything you need. You can… c-come to me, alright?" I stuttered. Why did I? Pirika stopped for a brief second and smiled at me. But she said nothing. "I'm going to stop by my friend's house. Thanks for the ride!" Her friend was Tamamura Tamao that lived a few locks away. "Are you sure you don't want me to walk you the rest of the way?" She turned and smiled/ "You don't have to worry about me. I'll be alright. No worries!" That comforted me. I watched her walk until I couldn't see her anymore.

Sighing, I rode the rest of the way home. I heard foot steps behind me. Shrugging it off, I continued. However, the footsteps got louder and faster. A normal reaction would be to ride even more faster but I didn't. I stop; so did the footsteps. I went again; so did the footsteps. I turned around, dropping my bike. "Alright who are you?" The figure was the same person from earlier. It turned and started to run. So did I. I finally was able to cut him off by using my bike. But not the way I wanted to. I crashed into it; both of us landing on the ground. Shaking my head, I apologized. But no response. It left, running and left me with this… powdery stuff and the smell of… bath soap? This was too weird.

I went home and took a shower. Stuff didn't seem to come off. Ah well. At least I smelled clean. I dragged myself to bed. I did a lot of running today. More so than I do with track. My eyelids were heavy. I close my eyes to dream. But what I normally dream, wasn't normal. Instead of seeing black, multiple colors come through as if I was looking through a kaleidoscope. This was bothering me, but I decided to make due with it.

Little did I know that after that night, nothing would be the same again.

; . ; Gomen nasai that it was so long. Should I make the chapters shorter? I don't know T T. Hope you like this!

Thank you for reading!

Ja Mata!

Keiko