Hey guys! I'm sorry for not updating this. I just haven't had any inspiration to write anything at all for a while. But, guess what? TODAY'S MY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY ON . And this is part of a big present to all my readers! I updated also Titans in the Tournament! (Well, I'm going to, anyways…)

Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter! . I don't have any anon. reviews, so yeah!

Last time on The American Pretears:

"But now we don't know how she woke up," Sakana pointed out.

"No, but we know now what happened to the last Pretear, Himeno."

Akane recalled the story that Hayate had volunteered to tell.

"Himeno…even though she was certainly the most powerful Pretear, she was still affected by age, so her powers were diminishing. Kaguya saw this and attempted to take advantage of it. I had been prêt-ed with Himeno at the time, and just before Kaguya struck her with the Celestial Blade, she forced me out. She…died in my arms."

Chapter 16

"Sakana! Where is my backpack?" Akane yelled downstairs. Of all the things to be missing on her first day back to school, she had to have lost her backpack. Sure, she could live with loosing a shoe or a shirt, but her backpack just had to be the one.

"I don't know! It's not here in my hand dangling on my pinky!" Sakana called back up to her. When she heard a resonating growl, Sakana smirked. But the smirk was soon replaced by a grimace of pain as said backpack fell onto her toe.

"Ow! Damnit, what's in there?" Sakana shouted.

"Folders, pencils, paper…" Akane trailed off. "Well, it serves you right for making me waste ten minutes trying to find it." Akane roughly picked up her bag and slung the strap over her shoulder.

"Oh, are you girls leaving already?" Mrs. Himura poked her head out of the kitchen. The sweet aroma of scrambled eggs wafted up their noses, making their mouths water even though they had just finished eating said meal fifteen minutes ago.

"Yep, see ya, Mom!" Sakana waved to her and attempted to leave the house.

"Oh, no you don't," Mrs. Himura pulled Sakana back by her forearm roughly and planted a kiss on her forehead. Content with herself, she smiled and said, "Now you can go."

As Sakana cringed and attempted to wipe off any motherly germs off her forehead, Akane laughed and kissed her mother good-bye.

"You girls have fun at school!"

"Oh, yeah, we'll have loads of fun," Akane and Sakana called back, rolling their eyes.

"Hey, Akane! You're back! Feeling any better?" Were the first questions asked to her by the several children waiting at the bus stop. Akane back away slightly from the bombardment.

"Hey, coming through! Formerly sick girl coming through!" Sakana announced and she pushed her way through the crow of kids. They took their usual spots on the sidewalk, waiting for the bus to pick them up.

"You really didn't have to do it like that you know," Akane said.

"Well, would you rather have answered the same question over and over again and be washed over with the feeling of claustrophobia until you screamed in frustration and ran away until you finally threw up?"

Akane stared at her sister.

"What?" Sakana asked innocently.

"Nothing," Akane grinned. Sometimes Sakana had these spells of intelligence. They were so capricious; they never ceased to amaze Akane when they came.

"Akane!" A voice just as load as Sakana's cried and before she knew it, Akane was tackled by two arms. Here came the choke hold again.

"Hi…Miranda," Akane gagged. "Can't…breathe…."

Miranda kept hold for a few seconds longer before she finally let go. Akane rubbed her sore arms.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Miranda smiled. "When you didn't come to school, we asked Sakana, but she didn't tell us a thing! What happened?"

"Um, well, I sorta fell down the stairs and got sick at the same time…just a cold, though!" Akane added hastily upon seeing the look on her friend's face. Sakana looked at her sister strangely, and Akane just gave her a silent gesture to play along.

"Oh, well, okay! Why didn't you say anything, Sakana?" Miranda asked. Then, a sudden thought must have occurred to her, as she immediately changed the subject to something more touchy. "Oh, I saw on the news! The airport was attacked and I saw your parents there! And I saw you guys and five other guys dressed in weird outfits."

Akane and Sakana chose to remain quiet, both in mutual agreement not to talk about what happened. The memories of that day still played clearly through both their minds, both still painfully realistic.

Miranda gazed at her friends, then immediately covered her mouth. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It's just," Sakana started.

"That day still…haunts us," Akane finished.

More you than me, though, Sakana thought.

"Anyways, um," Miranda stuttered. "Oh, did you hear? I finally got a boyfriend!"

"Really? Who?" Sakana asked.

"This guy named Richard. He's in your band class, I think, Akane," Miranda said. "But he's in 7th grade like me."

"Man, next thing we know, first graders are going to have boyfriends and girlfriends," Akane rolled her eyes. Why was it that everyone else but her and her sister was able to get boyfriends, or at least someone that liked them?

"Nah, first graders are too naïve," Sakana said. "They lack the emotional stability for a steady relationship with anyone and have also not gone through puberty. Non-adolescent children do not understand their hearts as well as us older ones."

Akane and Miranda stared at her. That was twice today that she had a sudden intellectual comment.

"Sakana, you wouldn't happen to be schizophrenic, would you?" Miranda asked.

"They say 5 out of 4 people are," Akane commented.

"What's schizophrenic? And 5 out of 4 isn't possible! That's more than 100 percent!" Sakana argued.

"If you understood what being schizophrenic was, then yes, it would make sense," Akane muttered. (A/N: Being schizophrenic is very basically meaning having double personalities. Like Haru from Fruits Basket. That isn't the only symptom, though)

"Hey, there's the bus!" Miranda pointed to a big, yellow bus creeping along the road. Finally it screeched to a stop in front of the sidewalk they were all congregated on and its doors opened.

"Sure, just take your time…" Akane muttered darkly as everyone boarded the bus. They pretty much filled the whole bus with some even sitting three to a seat.

The bus almost literally crept along the road at a sluggish 20 miles per hour. Cars from all over honked at the driver, some even giving rude gestures.

"And just who or what is driving this bus? A slug? 'Cause it certainly isn't Goh," Sakana commented, making Akane laugh.

"We would have been there already if it was Goh. Actually, we would be dead if it was him…" Akane shivered at the thought of her experience with Goh's driving. Never let Goh drive anywhere.

"Who's Goh?" Miranda peeked around their seat from behind.

"A crazy friend of ours."

"Yeah, and he gives me piggy back rides!" Sakana squealed.

"But you almost break his back in the process when you jump in him like you do," Akane pointed out.

"Yeah, and? He should have learned by now of my unpredictable nature," Sakana crossed her arms over her chest.

"Sakana…if you're unpredictable, then he can't have learned to predict when you jump on his back," Miranda corrected.

Sakana's mouth opened and closed, searching for a retort. Finding none, she literally went balling. She jumped from her seat "crying" and went to go bother a little sixth grader in the back.

"Sakana! Why are you leaving us?" Miranda shouted.

Sakana ignored her, pretending to sob even louder.

"You know she's faking it, right?" Akane said.

"How do you know? I didn't even give her a hug this morning!" With that, Miranda went to join Sakana and the frightened little sixth grader.

"No wonder they are getting shorter every year. It's people like Sakana and Miranda that scare them half to death," Akane muttered with a smile. She was also at fault…just not as much.

Finally, they arrived at school. Unlike the last time they had been there, the sun and heat weren't so unbearable. In fact, Akane almost needed a light jacket. Almost. Some people were buried under layers of clothes, complete with gloves and a sweatshirt.

"Wusses," Sakana muttered. "It's not that cold."

"At least not today, anyways," Akane added.

"Well, shall we go to The Wall, then?" Miranda asked.

"I thought The Wall was overrun with a bunch of people we don't know and now we have been forced to go to The Bench now?" Sakana asked.

"Sakana…what have you been eating that's making you all smart now?" Akane cocked a suggestive eyebrow at her sister.

"Um…ramen?" Sakana laughed sheepishly. Akane merely shook her head.

"Long way or short way?" Akane pointed left and right to two pathways. The short way to the right led directly to The Bench and was a mere one minute walk from where they were. Taking the long way to the left had them go around the whole school and through the crowd of kids and carpool until they reached The Bench.

"Long way so we can go by the band room. I want you guys to meet Richard!" Miranda then dragged them through the small crowd of students and to the band room.

Several kids were crowded around benches, instruments out, practicing scales and concert music. Akane cringed as she heard a beginning clarinet player squeak loudly as they attempted to play a middle C.

"So, where is he?" Sakana asked.

"He's probably inside." Miranda stared at the doors in disbelief. "Akane, could you go in and tell him to come out?"

"Sure," she sighed. There weren't many rules for band. Just remember your instrument everyday, do the best you can at everything, and show up for rehearsals. But there was one major rule for anyone that seemed the most enforced. No one outside of band was allowed inside the band room. So, that left only Akane who was allowed inside of the group. But now, they had Richard.

Akane searched the crowd of students who were practicing, tutoring, or just goofing around for a mop of black hair. She knew that there was a Richard in her class that played French horn. She had never really talked to him, but she pretty much knew everyone in her class of sixty or so kids.

"Hey, you're Richard, right?" Akane inquired.

"Um, yeah," the boy looked at her strangely.

"Well, Miranda's waiting for you outside."

"You know Miranda?" He asked.

"Yeah, come on." Akane was leading him out the door when she heard her name called by several different people. One girl with black hair tied in back rushed up to her.

"Hey, Akane! We finally picked a song for the concert!" She exclaimed.

"Oh!" Akane beamed. "Hey Richard, could you tell Miranda and the others that I won't be coming out?"

"Sure," he said and walked out.

"So, what song did you guys pick, Sakimi?"

"Well, Mark, Ryan, Lindsay, Hana, and I picked this song that's kinda strange but really cool…"

-----

"Hey, where's Akane?" Miranda asked her boyfriend when he came out alone.

"She said she was going to stay inside and practice with some other people," he answered.

"She's leaving us! And she didn't even say good-bye!" Sakana wailed, crying in Miranda's shoulder.

"I know!" Miranda joined in on the act as well, leaving Richard feeling very confused at scared for them at the same time.

"Oh!" Sakana suddenly perked up and extended her hand. "My name's Sakana! What's your name?"

"Um, my name's Richard," he answered uncertainly. This girl certainly was strange. Nonetheless, he took her hand and she shook it rather forcefully. Sakana finally got a good look at him and gasped.

"Oh my god! You look just like Thomas! A short little mini chibi version of him!"

"Thomas?" Both he and Miranda chided.

"I know! Your new name is Short Little Mini Chibi Thomas!" Sakana grinned at her own intelligent thought.

Miranda laughed, even though she had no idea where her outburst came from. "Well, come on! Sam and Lauren are probably already at The Bench!"

-----

The bell rang for first period and everyone in the band proceeded the daily routine of arranging the chairs and stands in a semi-circle. Once that task was done, everyone took their instruments from their lockers and started to put them together. Meanwhile, a flute player began to take role.

"Clarinets?" She asked.

"Is everyone here?" Akane asked down the row.

"Akane! You're back!" One seventh grader, Brittany, who Akane had become good friends with, grinned in surprise.

"Yep." Akane smiled back. She counted heads and got thirteen in total. "Everyone's here, Andrea!"

"Ok," Andrea marked it on a clipboard and proceeded to the next sections.

"Where were you?" Mark, the first chair clarinet, asked her. Akane spun around to face him, startled.

"Oh, um, I fell down the stairs at my house and got sick with a cold," Akane lied.

"Ow," Mark shivered as he imagined the situation.

"Akane, where have you been?" Mr. Williams, the band director, asked her.

"She fell down the stairs and got sick," Mark answered for her.

"At the same time?" Mr. Williams cocked an eyebrow.

"Yeah…I had such a great winter vacation," Akane groaned. Well, that part wasn't a lie, anyways. Mr. Williams laughed.

"Well, we are going to be sight-reading some new pieces today, one grade four and a grade five," he announced to the entire class. Kim, who sat next to Akane, got up and began passing out two pieces of sheet music to everyone. One piece was titled "An American Elegy." The other was called "O Magnum Mysterium." (A/N: Look them up in the iTunes Music Store! Or on the net or something!) The former was three pages long. The rhythms appeared relatively easy. What was strange about it, though, was that it dipped down into the lower registers of the clarinet. And on the 1st Clarinet part! You would see that once in a blue moon, if ever. The second piece was a page and a half long. The rhythms were ridiculously easy; Akane almost thought that Mr. Williams had given them the wrong song. Mostly quarter, half, or whole notes, with a few eighth notes here and there.

"Mr. Williams, this one looks way too easy," One tube player complained. "Can't we get something a bit harder?"

"The rhythms are easy, but what have I always said? The hardest music to play as a band—"

"Is slow music," the band finished for him.

"Well, look at the tempos. Also look at the time signatures as they change."

You could hear reverberating "oh's" as everyone glanced at their music.

"You shouldn't have even looked at your music yet!" Mr. Williams scolded, though not at all raising his voice. "What's the point of sight-reading if you look at it beforehand?"

Everyone immediately turned their sheets over on the stands and sat, waiting for the command to flip them back over.

"Okay, now you can turn over your music."

Everyone laughed and turned the music back over, and thus the day began…

-----

By fourth period, Akane was wiped out. She didn't know why, either. Her stomach grumbled. She felt as if she hadn't eaten at all in days. But she couldn't worry about her stomach at the moment. She needed to focus on the practice essay she was writing for the FCAT.

…what was the topic again?

Akane screamed inwardly at herself. She couldn't concentrate. She needed to get something in her stomach. Or better yet, just take a nice, long nap. Yes, the latter seemed very much inviting. Her lips could use a break as well. They were still throbbing from playing her clarinet. She hadn't realized that they had gotten so out of shape over the course of three weeks.

No, concentrate already! Akane smacked herself. She shook her head in hope that she could force her brain to concentrate. For what seemed like the hundredth time that hour, she glanced at her paper. All she had written was the introductory paragraph, and it was barely six lines long.

"Ok, guys. Stop writing for now and go to lunch," Mrs. Edwards announced. Everyone gratefully put their pencils or pens down and quickly rushed out the door for lunch.

Akane cried in frustration and slowly made her way out the door to the cafeteria.

"Hey, Akane!"

She glanced behind her. Sam was racing towards her.

"Hey, Sam," Akane said solemnly.

"What's wrong?" Sam now kept in step with her, though being a few inches shorter than Akane.

"Bad day."

"Oh," Sam said.

"I'm still on the first paragraph of that essay," Akane added, figuring that was what her friend was waiting for. "I so badly wanted to just take a nap."

"Well, I'm actually doing pretty good with this essay; I'm on the third paragraph." Sam glanced up at her friend. "If you want, you can use my idea and stuff."

Akane shook her head. "No, thanks anyway. I'm just really hungry right now."

"AKANE! MY SISTER!" The familiar voice of Sakana startled the girls, and before she knew it, Akane was tackled by said girl. "How are you, my sister? Are you having a nice time writing?"

Akane merely stared down at the hyperactive girl. She wore a silly grin on her face, and Akane couldn't help but smile back.

"Oh yes, I'm having a wonderful time writing! In fact, I'm so into it that I'm still on the first paragraph after half an hour!" Akane joked.

"Well, I'm glad you're having fun!" Sakana released her hold on her sister and turned to Sam. "Sam! It's been so long!"

"Sakana! I know! It's been the longest three hours of my life!" The two girls hugged each other tightly, laughing.

"Hey, what about me?" Another girl with black hair tied back tightly walked up.

"JB! I'VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" Sakana and Sam both proceeded to squeeze their friend to death. As they did so, JB began to turn a pretty shade of blue.

"Um, guys…she's starting to turn purple," Akane warned.

Sakana and Sam both looked up, confused.

"Can't…breathe…,"

Gee, I wonder when this happened before, Akane thought jokingly to herself.

"Oh no! JB! Don't choke on us and die a horrible death!" Sakana cried. She shook her friend's body violently.

Akane sighed disapprovingly. Sam blinked, then laughed.

"Sakana…ok…I'm not dead," JB said, her voice bouncy from being shaken.

Sakana stopped rocking her friend and looked at her. A wide grin appeared on her face. "THANK GOD YOU'RE ALIVE!" She once again put JB in a death-tight hug.

"Back to square one," Sam said.

"Ugh, where's Goh when you need him?" Akane said.

"Who Goh?"

"Oh, no one in particular. Just a friend of ours." Then Akane jumped suddenly. Why hadn't she thought of that before?

----

The foursome of girls was eating in a comfortable silence at a table in the cafeteria. Well, if comfortable meant that Sam once again forgot her lunch and was sharing with JB and Akane, JB was still slightly blue, and Sakana was sulking to herself, then they were one big happy family.

"Sakana, want a cookie?" Akane offered.

"No thanks," she said after a slightly pause in consideration.

The other three girls exchanged worried glances.

"Oh, come on, Sakana. It was funny!" Sam laughed.

Sakana grunted and turned away.

"Oh, geez, Sakana, come on. It's not as though you haven't tricked me before," Akane said.

Sakana turned a narrow gaze on her sister. "Yeah, but that was just low. To trick me with Goh."

"It's not as though he vanished into thin air. We can always go see him after school, you know," Akane pointed out.

"Yeah, and you have a whole 4-day weekend to get back at her," JB whispered to Sakana.

"Hey, what'd you—wait, we have a four-day weekend?" Akane asked.

"Yeah, you didn't know?" JB said matter-of-factly.

"But we just got back from break." Akane was just totally confused.

"Yeah, and who's complaining? I hate school, anyways," JB said.

"Four-day weekend, huh?" Akane muttered to herself. She felt a pair of eyes staring at her and looked around. Sakana was glaring at her with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Akane gulped. She hoped she would survive the weekend.

A/N: About what I said about 6th graders getting shorter every year…anyone else notice that? At least at my school, they are getting shorter. I'm sure I wasn't that short when I was in 6th grade… And about the Short Little Mini Chibi Thomas thing…hehehe, that's a name we gave to my friend's boyfriend and the reason is the same. E saw him and thought of this guy we knew and got that. Strange, really. We say it really fast so it sounds like one long name.

The two songs I chose for band, I played last year in 8th grade. "O Magnum Mysterium" looks really easy, but it's the expression that's a bit difficult. It has a choral and a band version. I personally like the choral version much better. Though, at the district festival, we totally butchered the song, but we still got straight Superiors…strange.

Anyways, I hope you guys liked this. Even though there seemed to be no point to this chapter, there was one! There was some foreshadowing for the epilogue (already written…-.- But the rest of the story isn't…). But other than that, yeah it was pointless!

Next time in The American Pretears:

Chapter 17: "A Fishing Trip"
Summary: The Himuras take a fishing trip and invite the Leafe Knights/GASP/ Danger will insue as everyone tries to to stay on board and keep the contents of their stomachs exactly where they belong: in their stomachs.

OR

Chapter 17: "A Disney Trip" (either way, it's a trip somewhere)
Summary: The Himuras going on a trip to Disney World and invite the Leafe Knights/GASP/ Danger will insue as people are lost in the crowds and bets are made.

You guys choose which one you want! Until I get some votes, I won't be able to write the next chapter! I really don't care which one.