Pruu was awoken by the blaring of her alarm clock. She's gone to sleep quite early the previous night and was feeling refreshed from her mood the day before. When she sat up in bed, she felt something brush against the side of her leg. Something warm and smooth.
"Eh?" She lifted up the blanket and held back a shocked yell.
There was an EGG in her bed!
Cautiously, she picked it up and examined it. It was fairly large. Well over the size of a chicken egg. But, it wasn't just a plain white egg. It was black with rainbow music notes and white 'X's. Such a weird looking thing.
"Is this a prank?" She asked, pressing the egg to her cheek. Suddenly, she felt a pulse come from it, almost like a heartbeat. Surprised, she shrieked and fell off her bed, the egg rolling across the floor.
"Pruu-chan? You alright?" She heard her father's concerned voice call. She guessed he was already leaving for work.
"Y-Yeah, Daddy! I'm fine! Just fell out of bed! I'm fine!" She quickly stood up and picked up the mysterious egg. "Is it broken?" No. She held the warm egg to her chest protectively.
"I'm leaving now, Pruu-chan. I love you." She heard her dad call.
"I love you too, Daddy!" she called back. He was such a good father. He always looked out for her. She turned her attention back to the little egg with her. "I don't know what you are or where you came from, but I'm going to find out. I'll hatch you and find out for sure." She took made space in her bag and put the egg inside a cushioned little box that she fit into her bag. "That should keep you safe." She got dressed, put on her makeup, and quickly finished getting ready for school. She carefully grabbed her bag and brought it outside with her and locked the house.
"C'mon, little egg," she said to her back warmly. "Time for school." She started walking to school with the bag at her side.
She reached the school easily and walked into her first period. She hurried to her seat and tried not to be noticed. That was obviously too much to ask for.
"TachiBAKA," Hio sneered. "What's wrong? Too cool to greet your classmates?"
Pruu-chan…..
Pruu just kept looking at her desk. "Hio-san, could you just stop?" The words shocked even her. She never spoke out like that.
Hio looked disgusted with the girl in front of her. "What did you say?"
Murmurs started around the classroom.
"What a snob."
"She always acts better than everyone. What's her deal?"
"She's seriously such a freak."
Embarrassed, Pruu quickly stood up. "Excuse me." She grabbed her bag and left the room.
"What did I just do?" She asked herself. "That was totally out of character! What came over me?" She hid in the restroom.
"Dammit. Dammit. Dammit!" She hit the bathroom stall. "What did I do?" She hit it again and again, then covered her mouth. "I can't believe I did that… I'm such a baka…" She went inside one of the stalls and just stayed there. She couldn't bare it if she went back out there so soon.
"Pruu-chan…" a voice called. Pruu looked up and around.
"Hello?" The voice was coming from her bag? She opened the bag and saw a light shining coming from the egg she had put in her bag before.
Suddenly, the egg cracked! The top popped off and a little person came from the egg!
"Nyeh, Pruu-chan! I'm so happy to finally meet you!"
Pruu gave out a startled shriek as she backed away from the tiny person. "Wh-Who are you?"
She smiled and twirled around a little. "I'm Airi! Your chara! I'm your would-be-self. You wished for me, remember?" She twirled again. Airi had long black hair in two ponytails with two white 'X's holding them up and vibrant orange eyes. She was wearing a purple turtleneck with a black dress over with white 'X's. She wore little black shoes and had a little mouth mike (Sort of like Miku Hatsune's).
"My would-be-self? And who would that be?" Pruu asked skeptically. The whole thing was just too freaky.
Airi just smiled. "The you that you hide all the time, silly! That's why I'm here! I'm going to help you accomplish your dream!"
Pruu stared at the ground emotionlessly. Dream…
"I can't," she said finally. "I already know what I'm going to do when I get out of school. I'm going to a university and then getting a job like my parents. Simple as that. There's nothing about a dream in there."
Airi looked disappointed. "I know you have a dream, Pruu-chan. That's why I'm here. You have the potential, but you just need a little push. I'm here for you. So you're not lonely anymore….."
Pruu looked up to the little person, shocked. She knew she didn't want to be alone….. Smiling, she gently cupped the chara in her hands and held her to her cheek. "I don't think I can do it, but, if you're here, maybe I can be my true self." She gently patted the head of her new friend.
"Oh! Pruu-chan! Go to class!" Airi demanded, her voice like a little bell.
Pruu gave a little smile. "I'm going to go sleep in the nurse's office. The Bell's gonna ring anyway. I'll go to class later. I'm tired." She picked up her bag and walked out of the bathroom, Airi floating after her.
"By the way, Pruu-chan. No one else but people with charas of their own can see me, so don't talk to me in public or else you'll look craaaazy," she giggled.
"Got it, no looking crazy," she confirmed.
The third period bell rang and the nurse awoke the sleeping Pruu. He condition was an easy excuse to sleep in school- not that she did it often.
"Pruu-san, you should probably eat something. It might help with the fatigue. Do you have a bento?"
Pruu nodded drowsily and grabbed her bag. "I'll go eat. I'm feeling slightly better, thank you." She left the nurse's office and was making her way to the stairs to the roof. Maybe Ikuto was there?
"Do you like the roof best, Pruu-chan?" Airi asked.
"Mhm. It's quiet." She blushed lightly at the thought of also maybe seeing Ikuto again.
When she reached the roof, she was excited to see Ikuto was there as well. He was lying on his back like yesterday and munching absently on a fish cracker. Quiet like before, she sat down and started eating her bento.
"Nyah! Nyah! Ikuto! She has one too, nyah!" came a chibi voice. Pruu turned to see a mini version of Ikuto!
"Eh? A chara too?" she pointed out softly.
Ikuto looked over and looked straight at Airi. "I see….." He seemed to think a little bit. "You didn't have one yesterday."
Airi beamed and struck a pose. "I just hatched!" Pruu looked to the mini Ikuto. "I didn't see you yesterday…"
"Only people with charas can see me, nyah!" The mini Ikuto twirled around with a catty smile and floated over to her excitedly. "Pruu-chan, nyah!"
Pruu looked to Ikuto nervously, afraid he would be upset at her for seeing his chara so casually. When he just looked at her indifferently, she turned and cautiously pet the mini version of Ikuto. "You want to be a cat, Tsukiyomi-san?"
Ikuto looked at her oddly. "What?"
Worried she said something stupid, Pruu blushed and turned away. "I-I mean, because Airi said charas were basically your true self… I guess the way I worded it was stupid…" She blushed more and inwardly cursed herself.
"Not exactly," was his vague reply. He didn't even bother to look at her chara. Probably something like that other girl… Hinamori's charas. So childish. Lazily, he closed his eyes and started to bathe in the sun.
Pruu opened her mouth to speak, but decided against it. He liked peace, not some weird girl talking to him about odd things. She contented herself with gently scratching behind the mini Ikuto's cat ears. He sighed with delight and let out a happy mewl.
"What's your name?" she quietly asked. Where did these cute things come from?
"Yoru!" he mewled happily. He leaned into her touch and let out another happy meow. His tail swished side to side and a big smile was plastered on his face.
Pruu's light blue eyes looked from the content cat to the lazy Ikuto and she was overcome by curiosity. She whispered softly to the chara, "Yoru-san? If you scratched Tsukiyomi-san behind the ears, would he be like this too?" She inwardly admitted it would be a cute thing to see.
Yoru looked up at her with a smirk. "I dunno. Let's try it out, nyah!"
Pruu blushed and looked away. "N-No thank you… It's not in my character to do something like that…."
Ikuto looked at her from the corner of his eye when he heard her say those words. Not in her character to do what? Feeling bored and in need of amusement, he sat up and looked to her.
"Pruu, come over here."
Pruu blushed. He used her name so informally…. But, being the obedient type, she quietly walked over to him and sat down. "Yes?"
He looked at her with a breathtaking smirk. "What exactly isn't in your character?"
Her blush deepened and she avoided his gaze. "I'm quiet and diligent… That's m-my character…." His voice was so smooth compared her quiet and soft voice.
"But that's not Pruu-chan's true self!" Airi objected. "Watch! Character Change!"
With a little 'pop' noise, a mouthset (again, like Miku Hatsune) appeared on the timid blunette and she looked at Ikuto with a dazzling smile. "Nyeh, what do you think, Ikuto-kun?"
He didn't know if it was the smile, the tone of her voice when she said 'Ikuto-kun', or the way the sunlight hit her just right, but whatever it was, it had two deep blue cat ears pop out on Ikuto's head.
With an even brighter smile, she reached up boldly and gently scratched right behind his cat ears. "Ikuto-kun is so cute, nyeh?"
Again, he didn't know if it was the smile, the tone, or the way her gentle fingers scratched him, but he felt blood rush to his cheeks uncharacteristically. He was the type of person to CAUSE those reactions, not have them. Either way, a small part of him deep inside relished the feeling of being pet affectionately.
"This is the TRUE Pruu-chan!" Airi beamed brightly at the affectionate blunette she came from.
With another loud 'pop', the mouthset disappeared and Pruu's outside character returned. She was on her hands and knees, one hand outstretched and stroking Ikuto's cat ears, and her face was so close to his, she could feel his breath on her face.
Instantly, she pulled back and let blood rush to her cheeks. "I-I am so sorry, Tsukiyomi-san! That- That was completely out of character! I…I…" She lost her ability to speak rapidly.
The cat boy merely smirked in reply. "What happened to 'Ikuto-kun'?" he teased.
A lump formed in her throat from the embarrassment and she felt her face burn up more. "I…. I have to go! Goodbye!" She stood and rushed to get out of Ikuto's sight and off the roof.
As soon as she was out of sight, the bell conveniently rang, making Ikuto smirk at the good timing.
"That was interesting," he said to his mini companion.
"She's funny, nyah!"
Pruu was trying to stay calm as she dressed in her PE uniform. Anything to distract herself from what had happened on the roof. She was wearing her PE sweat pants and the zip up jacket. She absent mindedly put her uniform in her bag instead of her locker as she went to go sit at her normal spot at the PE area.
"I'm sorry, Pruu-chan," Airi apologized for the thousandth time. "I didn't know you'd be so embarrassed."
"Just don't do that again without telling me," she whispered back, not wanting to be heard. "That was the most embarrassing thing I've ever done in my life."
Airi nodded and looked around the PE area with her curious orange eyes. "What game are we playing today?" she asked.
Pruu sat down by the gate like usual and looked at the ground. "We're not playing anything, Airi. I'll get sick."
"Can't we take a vitamin and play a little?" the ebony haired chara suggested pleadingly.
"It doesn't work that way. If I do things like playing sports and work my body like that for too long, I'll get sick. Mom and Dad just prefer if I was dismissed altogether from the class, but it's required, so I walk laps once a week for credit."
Airi looked displeased, but didn't pursue the topic.
"Can we play a game when we get home?" she quietly asked. "Like maybe cards of video games?"
Pruu found a little smile forming at the innocent request. "How about we watch a funny movie together?"
Airi smiled brightly. "And we can listen to music and talk?" She seemed very excited about the whole thing.
"Yeah. We can listen to music and talk." She felt like she was taking care of a little kid. Playing games, talking and other simple things. It was so childish, yet made Pruu a little giddy on the inside. She hadn't had any kind of fun in a while.
"Woops!" Something wet splashed all over Pruu suddenly, giving her heart a jolt. She looked up suddenly to see Hio holding a medium sized bucket, with a sneer on her face.
"Sorry, TachiBAKA. Didn't see you there when I tripped. It's pretty hard to see losers like you all over the place." The laughter from her posse encouraged her. "You made me spill all this water. You know what? That means you should go and refill the bucket of me." She dropped it next to Pruu with an amused laugh.
That was it. Invisible to the regular eye, a mouthset appeared with a 'pop' and Pruu stood up quickly.
"Leave me alone!" she yelled, startling the group of girls and drawing the attention of other.
"Hio, you're a horribly wicked person and I'm tired of this horrible treatment! I hate the way you treat me when I did NOTHING to you! Leave me alone, you stupid, stingy, conceited little brat!" She was panting heavily from the sudden outburst and her throat was hurting from yelling.
Hio and her group stood there in shock as people slowly gathered around the opposing forces.
"What did Hio do?"
"What made Tachibana explode like that?"
"That's pretty scary…"
Hio tried to regain her bearings when she heard the teacher's whistle. "Well, well, you're just an ugly little freak with no friends! No one likes you!"
Airi's soft voice was heard, worry laced in the words. "Pruu-chan, you're not a violent person. Don't let her get the best of you."
She was briefly ignored. Footsteps of nearby teachers were heard coming towards them to break up the potential fight.
"Well, you know what, Hio? I don't-" She suddenly cut off when she slightly choked and started to cough. The coughing got worse until she was in the middle of a fit of coughs. Students moved away to make way for the teachers who were trying to get through.
"Hio-san, Tachibana-san, what happened?" One of the teachers was rubbing Pruu's back to sooth the coughs.
Tears stung her eyes at the pain the coughing brought her throat. She barely had time to breathe between coughs and her head was throbbing with need for oxygen. Dizziness was brought on my a light headed feeling and she felt the floor crumble beneath her as she faded into black. Only one voice reached her ears before everything went dark.
Airi…..
Bunnii: Sorry this isn't an amazing chapter, but it leads up to a good one next. And let me clarify Pruu's condition. It's not anything like cancer, it's more of a bronchial/ immunity deficiency thing. My brother has it. If one has this and stresses their throat out (crying, yelling, screaming, singing loudly, ect.), it can cause horrible coughing fits, illness, and fainting. Please no flames… Reviews are appreciated and thank you to darkangel42264 (got the name correct?) fro pointing out a slight flaw I'll fix soon. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I tried to make it long because I have school and people enjoy this one. Update on ANIMA coming very soon. Thank you