I decided to watch the Lucky Star OVA again today. I have one question. At the end of the first half, the part with Cherry, did the dog die when she closed her eyes? I showed it to a friend, and he thought the same thing.

Lucky for me, the fanfic isn't canon, so if Cherry kicked the bucket for some reason, it doesn't matter

Chapter 4

With Slaughtered Infinity

Minami Iwasaki-

My alarm sounded around 6am like it always did. Yawning, I pulled the covers off, sulked to the bathroom where I brushed me teeth, and changed out of my pink pajamas. I felt twice as tired as normal; what a strange dream I had? As I slipped my school uniform on, I stared into my deep, drooping eyes. Jeez, I even dreamed I went to bed around two last night, and my body felt like it only got four hours of sleep. My heart sank when I stepped out of my room and realized the massive piles of bags and instruments stacked downstairs. My house was big, and the guys left an even bigger eyesore in the middle of the room.

My dog, Cherry, snuggled right next to the instrument cases. Her white body on the black cases reminded me of the chess board. I stroked her head. "Good morning Cherry." Besides her breathing, she didn't move. "Cherry, it's time to wake up." Still no movement. "Cherry, come on wake up."

"You need to say something about food." A chill ran up my spine, causing me to jump. John laughed as he watched my reaction; his hands quickly found a way to my dog.

"I think I know my dog," I replied, pushing his hand out of the way to pet her.

John grinned. "A challenge I see. Her name is Cherry?" I nodded. "Cherry, I got a big juicy steak for you." She seemed to go into a deeper sleep. John grunted as he realized his initial plan failed. "Cherry, food!" No response. "Cherry, Minami fell down a well, and she needs your help."

"Don't tease my dog…"

"Ah sorry about that," he laughed, "What are you doing up so early?" I pointed to my uniform. That's right; Americans didn't have school in the summer. Our summer break was only two weeks.

I explained, "I need to leave early so I can get to school. I have to take the bus."

"Is the school really that far?" I didn't want to talk about it.

I changed the subject. "Why are you up so early? Aren't you tired?" John belted the giggles away. It started to get annoying as he tried to act to friendly.

"I always wake up around six," he answered, "It's so hard to change sleeping styles after using one for so long." I nodded.

"And then when you do break it," I added, "It's nearly impossible to wake up at the old time."

"Exactly." John went back to petting Cherry. Despite being asleep, I could tell she enjoyed the attention. The only other people she reacted this way to were mom and Yutaka-chan; Cherry rarely interacted with my other friends.

I asked, "Do you have a dog?"

"Don't like animals." He could have fooled me. John and I showered Cherry in more affection than she'd had in a while. Finally, her white head popped up, seeing who her new best friend was. She licked John's hands a couple times before staring at me, almost asking why this strange guy was here.

My mom entered the room with a bowl of food in hand. "Oh, I see Cherry-chan is up. She never wakes up this early." She set the food in front of Cherry. Sniffing her food, our dog returned her head to the floor, dozing off in a second. "Oh my, she never eats when I give her food."

John stood up. "Dogs are a strange bunch. Oh, thank you for letting me and my friend stay at your home."

"It's no problem," my mother replied with a smile, "My daughter never brings home any boys." She left with a laugh, knowing that I went redder than sheet. Thanks for that one mom… However, John didn't seem to mind her joke.

He grinned at me. "Don't worry; I've never brought any girls home either."

"That's because you have a small penis…" I was tired of people scaring me this morning. Nero stood in between us; his ninja skills allowed him to sneak up to us with no problem. With my heart still racing, Nero dropped down and rubbed my dog. I started to notice a pattern here. Nero would insult just about anyone he pleased if it meant a cheap laugh.

"Good morning," I muttered.

John looked less thrilled than I was. "Nero, what did we talk about on the plane?"

"Dude." Nero shot his thumb to the sky. "I understand your strong urge to be a woman. I know it's why you want Patty to help you find your inner lady." My eyes glazed over as I watched John. Please tell me Nero was joking. Seeing my reaction, John frantically shook his head.

"Nero's playing around!" he yelled, "Isn't that right buddy?"

"Sure thing sweet heart." He mumbled back. A dull silence filled the room. Nero busily scratched at Cherry while John and I watched him. Normally, Miyuki came over, and we would head to school together. With her family housing two guys though, I wasn't sure that would happen. As if I was on some form of lucky streak, the doorbell rang. That was probably Miyuki.

I answered it; however, Miyuki wasn't the only one standing at the door. Actually, Patty and the two other band members joined her. For the record, Patty lived quite far away and traveling to Miyuki's house took a couple of minutes.

"Hey there guys," Patty yelled, forcing her way in, "How'd everyone sleep?"

"Just fine," John answered, "I see you brought everyone with you." Dean and Randy were busy looking around my house as though they lived in a place smaller than a cardboard box.

Miyuki explained, "While Dean, Randy, and I were on our way over, we ran into Patty."

"I was on my way to see you," she announced. From her bag, she drew four manga, shoving the volumes in John's face. "These are for you!"

Instead of John taking them, Nero snatched them away. He quickly opened the one up, gazing through the different pages. He bust out into laughter. "See John, what did I tell you?" He flashed the picture from inside the manga. On the page was a girl looking no older than sixteen (or younger if you considered the art). The panel zoomed right in on a pair of panties. "This is what I talking when I said I didn't want to come here."

"Anime and magna is great," Patty grabbed her books back, "Besides, I knew John would love the fan service in this manga."

John chuckled. "Uh, I like real girls more than 2-D ones." Except for me, no one seemed to pay attention.

"Patty, let me take to a strip club sometime," Nero announced, "I'll show you what real guys jack off to." A feeling of embarrassment raced through the entire group with the exception of Nero. He seemed to be the only one capable of talking about this without even breaking a sweat. Lucky for us, Dean seemed to have a tendency to change the topic randomly.

"Oh my God," he yelled, pointing at Cherry. Nero's last words slipped his mind. "You have a big, white dog." He charged up to Cherry, bending his knees to be more at her level. With wide eyes, He placed his hand on her head. "Does she wrestle?"

I shook my head. "She sleeps a lot."

Dean ignored me. "Come doggy. Let's see you have." Cherry yawned again, unfazed by Dean's challenge. This wasn't good enough for Dean; he jumped on her back, shaking around like a man having a seizer. "Fight doggy, fight!"

"Would you not hurt my dog," I pleaded, seeing him use Cherry as a rocking horse.

"Dean, stop humping their dog," Nero kicked him off. Throughout that entire ordeal, Cherry didn't move a muscle. She really was the most relaxed dog on the planet. Sometimes, it was almost scary because I didn't know if she was dead or not.

"As you can tell, Dean loves animals," Randy informed, "Don't you have dog of your own?"

"Yea," Dean replied, "but it's a gay one that my sister picked out. It's really small, and I can belt it across the room with one foot." Oh, that sounded painful. While Dean returned to petting Cherry, John checked his clock. His left eyebrow rose.

He asked, "What time do you guys have to go to school?"

"Oh my," Miyuki frantically yelled as she checked her watch, "I wasn't keeping track of the time. We need to go now if I'm going to get the class notes." I pulled my cell phone out to check the time. It almost dropped out of my hands. If we didn't go now, I would miss my shift at the nurse's office. Patty was the only one who didn't seemed strapped for time.

She said to her cousin, "We'll see you guys later. I'll introduce you to some of my friends after school." We were already at the door as she leisurely followed us. Oh, we were so going to be late.

Vvvvvvvvvvvvv

John Martin-

The day ticked by as we hung out at Minami's house. Her mother was kind enough to make lunch and allowed us almost free run of the house. We spent the day playing cards as Japanese TV is really fucking weird. Cards didn't last long either considering Nero stacked the deck every time. Around ten o clock, we ran out of things to do except see the town and hope something interesting happens.

However, Iwasaki-san approached us with a box wrapped in a napkin. "Could I ask you guys a favor? Minami was running so late that she forgot her lunch, so would you bring it to her?" I nodded my head, accepting this fetch quest. Considering we didn't have anything else to do, we embarked to Ryou High school. When I mean embarked, I mean we got hopelessly lost and Iwaski-san's map was the most god awful thing I've ever looked at. Before we knew it, it was almost eleven, and we weren't even to the bus station yet. By twelve, we discovered the gates of the high school.

Nero looked at us all. "Ok, I refuse to step foot in this school."

"Then why did you come with us?" Cock Face posed.

"Cause I was bored," Nero rebuked, "but it's summer. In summer, Nero doesn't set foot in anything that has the word school, tutor, books, or cafeteria in its name. Got that?" Nero leaned his back up against the gate, looking all cool and stylish.

"A shame," I started, "I bet we could start meeting all of Patty's hot friends too because they all go here. Oh well, you can wait." My blackmail sent Nero into a tailspin. Caught between beautiful girls and his hatred for school, his head nearly exploded.

He yelled, running after us, "Damn you John." The inside of Ryou high reminded me of most Japanese anime schools. In the front, they had a locker to put their shoes, stairs leading to the second floor, and hall ways that went to class and club rooms. Dean became infatuated with the show lockers.

"What are these?" he posed, sniffing it.

"What are you, a dog?" Nero insulted pushing him out of the way, "It's obvious that this is a…locker of some kind." Nero threw the thing open. Either someone hadn't locked it or they didn't have locks in them. Inside was a pair of sneakers. It was a show locker, so what did they expect?

"I think we should leave it alone," I suggested. Nero flipped me the bird while he removed the shoes from their spot. With pink strips on the side, they were girl shoes for sure.

Nero mumbled to himself, "Are they not allow to wear fucking shoes or something…?" As we put them back, a loud bang smashed right next to us. Nero dropped the shoes in fear; they toppled to the floor, scuffing against the tiled ground. The person who nearly plowed into us was a beautiful girl in pig tails. Her purple hair flowed to her lower back. Her hands reached for Nero's neck, just barely missing it.

"What the hell are you doing with my locker?" She demanded.

I stepped forward to explain the situation. However, Nero decided to give one his more interesting and far more vulgar versions of the story. "You see, I was going to take my nut sack and stick in the heel of you shoe. Gonna jiggle it around a little bit." Before Nero could harm our reputation any further, I quickly took my hank and pushed him into the lockers. His face struck against the hard metal, creating a huge bang. This girl's show fell to the ground.

"I'm very sorry about this," I said as I returned her shoe. She took it from me, hording it as if it was money.

"Exactly who are you guys?" she yelled.

"Calm down for a second," Cock Face tried to reason. This chick was anything but calm. Her teeth grinded together as her hands held her hips firmly in place. Honestly, I didn't blame her. I'd be pissed if someone went through my shoe locker than threatened to defile my poor shoes.

Dean tried his cover story, "Hi, I'm selling these fine leather jackets."

"Then where are the jackets?" This gal was not in the mood to play. Realizing he's been caught (though I think a two year old could catch it), Dean thought up his award winning excuse.

"I must have left them in my other pants." Good job Dean, I give that a one out of five.

"I'm going to get a teacher if you don't tell me who you are?"

Nero laughed from his spot on the floor. Surprisingly, he hadn't recovered yet. "Ohhhh, a teacher, I'm shaking, I'm shaking." He pulled himself to his feet. His body shook as he held onto the locker for dear life. I hope the impact against metal didn't leave brain damage or anything. "Listen beautiful, we're an American band."

"An Ameri-" the girl stopped. She gave each of us a quick run look over before face palming. "You wouldn't happen to know a Patricia Martin?"

Dean piped up, "That's your cousin John." No shit Dean…

I guess the best course of action was a formal introduction. "Hi there, I'm John Martin. Patty is my cousin. Do you know her?"

"Sorta," the girl muttered, "She lives with one of my friends…" Oh, this girl knew the Izumi's. If Patty was right, the Izumi family was rather fun loving, but this girl seemed the exact opposite. She felt distant, picky, and realistic. She'd prolly get along with Nero if he didn't act like an ass 24/7.

"Did you hear awesome things about us?" Dean posed.

Our new friend didn't want to chat. "I only heard you were coming, nothing else. Look what are you guys doing here?" I held up the lunch with the napkin.

"I need to deliver this to Minami Iwasaki. She forgot it."

"How noble of you…" Though I kept grinning, the word bitch ran around my mind. Ok, Nero and Dean might have fucked around, but I didn't do anything to deserve being treated poorly. These guys must really affect my reputation…

"Do you know where we can find them," Cock Face asked, "I really don't want to be here all day." Before pig nails could point the way, two other girls came around the bend. Seeing their friend, they approached us; Nero instantly targeted one of them with his eyes. His mouth began drooling, literally. Nero only got like this once, and that was when he saw these waitress's tits.

The one girl with short brown hair and a hang on the right side of her mouth tossed her arms around pig tails. "Hey Hiiragi, who are your friends?"

"Trust me, I don't know them…"

"While then, hi, I'm Misao, Misao Kusakabe," our fang girl replied. Very outgoing, something Nero usually liked in a girl. However, his eyes were not focused on her; they gazed at the delightful figure of Misao's companion. The other girl had long orange hair done up so her forehead appeared larger. With bright eyes, she smiled.

"I'm Ayano Minegishi," she greeted, shaking Nero's hand, "It's very nice to meet you. Hiiragi, you didn't tell us you had foreign friends."

Hiiragi grunted, "I don't. They're related to someone you don't know." Misao leaned on her twin tailed friend, looking slightly missed.

"Jeez Hiiragi, you never introduce us to your friends. What are we chopped liver?"

"It be better if you didn't meet them…" While those two exchanged this interesting conversation, Nero attempted to throw the moves on Ayano. Now, most people might consider Nero's moves to be vulgar, nasty, and over the top. However, when on the hunt, Nero was the perfect gentlemen.

"Your country is gorgeous," he said as he held her hand, "It beats America hands down."

She smiled. "Your Japanese is surprisingly good."

"I learned it just so I could see this beautiful," he replied, "but nothing will compare to what I'm gazing at right now." Ayano's face went bright red. So, Dean, Cock Face, and I stood around waiting for this to end. The lunch in my arm still had yet to be returned to the owner. Poor Minami might not get to eat today.

Lucky for us, Dean was a overbearing as he was dumb. "Guys, we need to get this lunch to Minami. She could starve!"

"Thank you for that Dean," I said, "Would someone be willing to point us in the right direction?" I pointed to Misao and Hiiragi. "You two can argue about you love." My finger swung around to Nero and Ayano. "You two can get to know each other."

"Class is about to start real soon…" Hiiragi returned, "You can give me the lunch, and I'll have Konata deliver it." No… I wanted to see Patty. Of course, I didn't say this in risk of blowing my cover. It would take about five minutes to hand this off and stare at Patty's…bosom .

"We can handle it," I assured, "Right guys?" The rest of the band glared at me. They really didn't want to be here. Hiiragi was also glaring.

She motioned to the hall just right of us. "The first years are down there." We thanked her before speeding off. Nero said his final words to Ayano, who looked unsure of what to do. Cute girl, must have never experienced what it's like to be hit on by a guy. Misao gave us a wave while Hiiragi rolled her eyes.

I turned before they headed up the stairs. "I didn't get your first name Hiiragi."

She shot me a glance; a smile peeked on her face. "Kagami…" She instantly went sour. "I only told you because you know Patty." Then, she was out of site.

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

We found Patty and Minami in their respective first year class. Luckily, class hadn't started by the time we found them, but the teacher, a gruffer looking man, prepared to start the lesson. I entered carrying Minami's lunch; the class's eyes focused on us. Being American, we looked nothing like anything they'd seen before.

Patty jumped from her seat. "John, I told you we'd meet up when school was done. You're like those girls from Shuffle!; they won't leave the main character alone." Sorry to bust your bubble Patty, but you were anything but the protagonist of this story.

"Hey, we brought lunch for Minami…" Nero shot back, "So don't be scolding my man here." Taking the napkin wrapped box, he placed it in front of Minami. "You're lunch." Her short green hair hid her green eyes. Brushing it away, she looked up at us.

"Thank you…" she muttered.

With salmon colored hair, the girl in front of her said, "Isn't that great Minami-chan? You were worried about your lunch."

"Thank you," Minami reiterated with more confidence.

"These band members may be sad sacks, but they are useful for something," Patty joked. I held Nero back to prevent him from attacking her. Being called a sad sack was anything but a compliment, joking or not. I sighed as I realized my pretty cousin had it out for us.

The salmon haired girl poked at Minami. "Are these the guys Patty was talking about?"

"Yup, this is my cousin and his band," Patty answered for Minami. He went from right to left. "This is John, Nero, Dean, and Randy."

Nero reminded. "He prefers Cock Face."

"But Randy is appreciated…" Cock Face muttered. Unlike the other time Randy's offensive nickname was given, the salmon hair girl didn't mind. Either she was used to this sort of thing, or she was too dense. Judging from her stature, she was dense.

"I'm Yutaka Kobayakawa," she greeted, "It's nice to meet you." As Nero and I watched this girl, an almost urge to hug her came over us. Actually, it almost felt maternal. Instead of merely watching, Dean decided to give her a big hug, randomly. Yutaka blinked once before realizing that this random guy was hugging. "Um…hi…"

Dean said while rubbing her hair, "It will be ok. Nothing will harm you." Minami and Patty swiftly pulled them off.

"Sorry about that," I apologized, "Dean is special."

"Special Ed if you know what I'm saying," Nero muttered, "Isn't that right Dean."

Dean grumbled. "I'm not stupid. My doctor says I have a slight mental deficiency. It doesn't mean I'm a retard."

"Actually it does…"

As Nero and Dean spouted, Patty glanced around the room. She targeted a girl with long black her, lying on the desk. She looked nearly dead with head turned around.

"That's Hiyroi," she said, "but I think she is sleeping."

The girl moved. "No, I'm awake. I had a deadline last night… I'm beat, dead, KOed."

"Did you draw something cool, Tamura-san," Yutaka asked. The girl named Hiyori turned her head. The group gasped as if we were watching a horror movie. Her face was beyond dead; she was a walking zombie. All the color from her face was gone as her spirit held on by a thread.

She muttered, "Yea, I finished my latest manga. How are you guys doing?"

"Ok," Cock Face answered. He turned to Minami. "Is that girl always this dedicated to school?"

"No," Minami shook her head. "She's dedicated to her drawings, and if she does poorly in school, no more manga club." Geez, her parents seemed harsh. I'd heard of parents taking away TV, games, and sport but never drawing. What happened to refusal to silence the artist?

"Yea," Hiyori muttered on, "my parents really don't get it sometimes. Oh well, I get good grades and go to class. They don't really mind."

Before Yutaka could comment, a loud bang rang through the classroom. The teacher stood in front with his ruler; his eyes looked furious. "You can all continue this conversation after class!" The band, shaking in our boots, bowed and fled the classroom. Looks like we'd be attending school during the summer…

Vvvvvvvvvvvvv

Well, I wasn't able to introduce Tsukasa in this chapter. She'll be in the next one though.

I've started having trouble writing this which never happened with my first version. I started playing Higurashi When They Cry and that seems to take up all my mental energy. It seems I can barely put words on a page without some urge to have John mutilate everyone with a baseball bat.

Looks forward to the next chapter.