Don't Bother Me
Author's Note: Thanks for reviewing the last two chapters, Jae. To note, those who only read chapters 3 and 4 a while back, I changed a couple of things. In chapter 3, I added a small flashback scene for when Sayaka is on her balcony and wishes upon a shooting star for her wish to become a better writer; and then rewrote the dinner talk between Hansuke and Sayaka to include a direct question from Sayaka to Hansuke on whether or not Easter has a major project involving eggs, which Hansuke denies having this knowledge when, in fact, he acts like he's hiding something. In chapter 4, I added a character change with Fumiko that involves Sayaka writing a haiku in honor of Ikuto's violin playing. So sorry if I made things confusing, but I won't be doing extensive rewriting like that again.
All right, to begin another necessary paragraph. April 1 is the start of the school year in Japan, and going along with the flow of the manga, the time period was late March based on the yearly graduation exercises being done soon after the manga started. Amu, whose birthday is 9/24, had just entered fifth grade (age 11). By the end, Amu was about to enter seventh grade and thus approaching the age of 13. Since Ikuto's birthday is 12/1, he would've been 15, or a freshman in high school (Japan has only 3 years of high school), at the beginning, then be 17 going on 18 during the 2 years this manga took place. Sayaka's own birthday is on 4/1, so she already turned 13 due to the fact I skipped depicting the graduation ceremonies and went straight into seventh grade. When the story winds down 2 years later in the same month of March, she will be just shy of 15. I hope that bit of information helps.
Chapter 5: Ikuto's POV
Early morning sunlight filtered in to my room through the uncovered window opposite my twin bed. Next to my head on my pillow, a waking Yoru yawned lazily and stretched.
"I'm hungry, nya!" Yoru cried like a petulant child demanding attention with a whiny outburst. Cats could be really annoying when they wanted food.
Sighing, I momentarily ignored Yoru and tossed aside the thin dark blue blanket covering my body, which was currently dressed in an oversized black t-shirt and loose black shorts. As I switched my sleep outfit for my black school uniform, continuing to tune out Yoru's noise clamoring for food I glanced out the window at the undeniably beautiful April morning. To be honest, the nice weather and its appeal to the possibility of experiencing a wide variety of activities was lost on me. I wasn't at my leisure to do whatever I wanted. Easter held me in its viselike grip and directed my actions like a damn puppet on a string.
My mind wandered to the commonplace things typical 15-year-old guy would have: how to ask that cute girl out, where to hang out with your friends on the weekend, when to squeeze in a cram session for an upcoming test. What was I? A loner teenage delinquent whose closest comrade was an imaginary would-be self that just happened to be an alley cat. Not that I'd voluntarily signed up for this life. Did I already mention I was a slave to Easter?
Bitter much? I asked myself, then my jaw clenched tightly as a mental image of my stepfather, the director at Easter, flashed briefly through my brain. You bet your ass I am!
Yoru immediately quieted down the instant I announced my goal of dropping by the usual convenience store for food. I was just in time, too, for nearing footsteps coming toward my door were accompanied by a soft-spoken voice calling out my name. No way did I feel like dealing with Okaa-san [Okaa-san=mother] at the moment or really at any point in time. Frankly, her sorrowful, resigned face hit home the reality of how miserable she was after Otou-san [Otou-san=father] walked out of our lives for refusing to work for Easter. I didn't want to add to my mother's suffering when my whole existence revolved around Easter. I wasn't some "normal" son with whom she could have a "normal" relationship. I was too busy atoning for the sins of my father.
"Let's go, Yoru."
In the blink of an eye, I character changed, opened the window, and hopped out to start my day.
& & &
Sometimes, I bothered to attend school, sometimes I didn't. I'd adopted this hit-and-miss approach just to piss off the director for wasting his money on an overpriced all-male prep school. Plus, I needed the time to contemplate my next move toward getting the embryo under the guise of obtaining it for Easter's own ends. Trust me, if you weren't three or four steps ahead of the competition at Easter skulking about for the embryo, you'd be promptly left behind.
"Are you going to school today, nya?" Yoru inquired me while following me out of the convenience store. Across the street was the idyllic park I like to spend time in away from the huge, ominous Easter skyscraper headquarters. The park's peaceful hold on me was too much for me to feel the guilt I should've felt in dutifully going to class.
"No," I decided, heading toward the park, plastic bag with food inside swinging from my right hand.
A few minutes later, I was stretched out on my back on a small hill near a gazebo I preferred to play my violin at. A bag of ginger snaps had been opened and laid within reaching distance for occasional nibbling. Yoru gleefully attacked his can of sardines. I, on the other hand, quietly chewed on my confectionery treat while I drew myself into deep contemplation.
Two words immediately leapt to mind: Takeda Sayaka. What a weird girl. She was someone I'd accidentally come across about two weeks ago after Yoru played a trick on her. Hell, Yoru did stuff like that all the time, yet people usually didn't see the source of the pranks. This time, however, Yoru had ensnared a kid who could see Guardian Characters, and she was even angry he wouldn't tell her what Guardian Characters were.
Initially, I assumed the encounter would be an brief one: smell her for a whiff of that familiar Character birth smell, search her for the egg, and run away with it. Step one of the three step process went awry as I couldn't discern any trace of the scent of Character birth. Next, a boy whom I recognized as one of Seiyo Academy's Royal Guardians rushed to Sayaka's rescue. Disappointed but still intrigued, I pretended to escape with intentions settled on elsewhere and trailed the pair back to what I presumed was Sayaka's apartment.
Sayaka didn't live far from the location our meeting took place. She invited in the Guardian – Kukai was his name, I guessed, because he'd become friends with Tadase recently. I settled myself into a crook of one of the trees shading the cream colored two-story apartment building and waited patiently for my chance. I could see the two of them start to make dinner for themselves in the kitchen through the apartment's one window, so I quickly focused on the other part apartment that was visible to me: a balcony off of one of the bedrooms.
Presumably, this room belonged to Sayaka due to all the posters of young, female gymnasts, most likely famous, plastered on the walls. Other than that, the room in question seemed quite austere for a girl her age. A mat of soft straw rush covered the wooden floor. Near the closed bedroom door, a rolled up futon lay resting against a cupboard where her clothes must be stored. On the opposite side of the room next to the balcony, a western-style wooden desk and chair combo stood adjacent to a huge, wide wooden bookcase jammed with books.
At last, amongst the paperwork strewn on the desk, was a small white egg. I sensed imminent success in capturing this egg, although I didn't understand why I still couldn't sense it itself! Why couldn't I? Strangest of all was how plain the egg was, compared to others I'd come across. Even Yoru's egg, for as unembellished as it was, was in basic black with a white zigzag stripe across the center of the egg. Within the stripe was infused the imprint of a cat's paw print.
Mentally putting aside this oddity for the moment, I swiftly let myself in to the room, marking the carelessly unlocked balcony door, and turned to my left toward the desk. Yoru beat me in grabbing up the egg, but our luck finally ran out as Sayaka herself burst into the room with Kukai on her heels. Once again, I had to retreat, wondering the whole time if this girl really had the embryo. Unfortunately, the damn director distracted me from pursuing the matter with his other embryo schemers at Easter and cleaning up their messes. The whole matter frustrated me.
Last Sunday, Sayaka and I met up again (yes, by coincidence) at the park where I was playing at the gazebo that I was also currently lying nearby. Sayaka's egg finally hatched into a writer type of Guardian Character. According to Sayaka's reasoning, my music had've been the impetus to draw forth her egg's hatching. While I outwardly dismissed her theory, inwardly I understood how sharp and perceptive this kid was...until I provoked her strong temper streak. That advantage had served me quite well in deflecting her from actually comprehending that my violin music really could be literally influential...
Afterwards, I could miraculously sense her Guardian Character Fumiko, as if Sayaka and/or Fumiko had given me permission to do so. Why? How was such a thing possible? Mostly likely the cloaking ability was subconscious with some kind of catalyst that would then allow other bearers of Guardian Characters to finally be able to track Sayaka and Fumiko. Luckily, no one else seemed to notice yet, neither the Guardians or Easter. What a great weapon she would be for either side.
The only remaining issue was which side would Sayaka would choose. Things would be nice and tidy if she came to her brother at Easter. I was loathe for that path to be taken, considering how well it turned out for my own family. I even warned Sayaka against such a fate right before leaving her last time we met. On the other hand, she was a little too old to join the Guardians, a group hand-offs for Easter to exploit, so she was probably beyond the influence of that Amakawa Tsukasa...
After that thought, I allowed drowsiness to pull me down into a deep cat nap. Yoru was already asleep.
& & &
Loud voices and hurried footsteps off to the side on the main path woke me up. Glancing up with a hand shielding my eyes, I noted the sun had made considerable process over the sky. It was probably late afternoon, right after school should've end. When I sat up and peered through the bushes at who was running down the main path, I spied Sayaka dashing by me, Kukai at her side, their two Guardian Characters hurrying along beside them. Kukai wore some white soccer uniform, while Sayaka was dressed in a pastel pink leotard, tights, and ballerina slippers, quite the change from her tomboy baggy jeans and t-shirt. Huh, this girl's body definitely had far more shape than I gave her credit for. The change in attire also explained the existence of the gymnasts' posters in her room. She must've practiced some kind of gymnastics.
"Kukai, why did you ambush me at practice? I thought you said I could go whenever I wanted! Fumiko isn't going anywhere!" Sayaka protested.
"You've put it off so long now that even the King is asking for you. As his Jack, I can't refuse!" Kukai excused, though the apparent smile on his face showed no obvious remorse. "Hurry up! You're losing the running contest. I'll make you do 50 laps around the track if you lose to me!"
A smile of my own grew on my face at the two rapidly disappearing figures. So she was on her way to the Royal Garden at Seiyo Academy on Tadase's orders. How long had it been since I'd seen Tadase? Causing chaos in the wake of a newcomer would be the perfect excuse to drop by.
"Yoru, get up," I commanded the stirring Guardian Character.
"What is it, Ikuto? I was having a good time chasing birds in my dreams, nya."
"You could do something even better. For real. It's time to crash a Royal Tea Party."
Yoru instantly understood my meaning and grinned with anticipation.
Author's Note: Question: Should the next chapter be in Sayaka or Ikuto's point of view? I don't do POV switching in one chapter, though, too confusing. Either way, I can't wait to introduce the Guardians. Utau, Kairi, and Rima come soon, I promise!