Hey, everyone, welcome to Chapter 2. What's this I see here... a stirring of plot? Perhaps, perhaps. But also, perhaps not. Moving right along!
"Luka…"
Luka shifted uncomfortably. There was an annoying pressure in her side.
"Luka…"
Perhaps she'd left her cell phone in her pocket last night. Luka moved her hand in a vaguely waistward direction, hoping to seize the offending appliance and throw it across the room – bonus points if it went out the window.
"Luka!"
Instead of hard plastic, Luka's hand met someone else's. Around that time, the sounds that had been escalating in volume and plaintiveness resolved themselves into an actual word – her name – and Luka opened her eyes.
Several things became apparent as she did so. First in precedence: her head hurt. This was likely due to the windows on the wall across the room; they faced east, where the sun – as was its wont – currently was. Second in precedence: this was not her bedroom. The hardwood floor and white-painted walls made that clear enough, but the additional fact that she was lying on the battered old couch rather than on her bed helped. (Somehow) third in precedence: there was a six-foot-five, black-haired woman in fleece pajamas lying across the back of the couch, poking her in the side with one elegant finger. Luka's bleary blue eyes met the other woman's mismatched pair – red to Luka's left, deep blue to her right – and a contented smile spread across her tormentor's face.
"Oh good, you're awake now," the woman said, letting her arm flop down to rest on Luka's stomach. "Sitting up here was getting a little uncomfortable." She kicked her slippered feet to illustrate her point; since her legs hung about a foot over the edge of the couch, it was a fairly ridiculous image.
"'Morning," Luka mumbled, rubbing at her eyes. Yokune Ruko, Luka's flatmate and best friend, was an unusual person at the best of times; sleep-deprived and hung over, there was no way Luka was up to the task of conversation with her, so she let herself tune out her heterochromatic friend while she took better stock of the situation. As she'd noticed before, she was in the apartment's common room, a big open space that combined lounge with kitchen. The sunlight that had woken her was indeed natural sunlight; somehow or other the burning lances of morning always managed to dodge around the glassy skyscrapers between the sun and the apartment to catch Luka in the eye. Judging from the angle, it was still pretty early, maybe about ten A.M. –
Luka shot vertical, narrowly missing Ruko's forehead with her own. "What time is it?" she shouted, wincing as she rolled to her feet and dashed toward her room.
Ruko shrugged, slipping off the couch and back under the kotatsu she had contributed to the apartment's furniture when they'd rented it. The table's ancient heater rumbled audibly, and Ruko fairly purred with happiness, spreading herself out over the scratched wood surface. "Maybe ten-thirty?" she called, after a moment of quiet bliss.
"Shit," Luka fairly shrieked, peeling off the xiongsan. She threw open her wardrobe and fumbled through her drawers, changing quickly into new clothes. No time to shower; she'd just have to sit far away from people. To top it all, as she swung the wardrobe doors closed, she caught her finger in the gap.
"You're always in such a hurry," Ruko commented as Luka stormed back into the kitchen, sucking her finger annoyedly. "Relax a bit. Classes don't start until noon anyway –"
"Your classes don't start until noon, Ruko," Luka almost snapped, stuffing papers into her bag. "I, on the contrary, have an English exam in half an hour."
"Oh. Sorry," Ruko replied, yawning. "I would've woken you up earlier, but that cute blue-hair guy said I should just let you sleep it off…"
Luka stiffened. Kaito had had to bring her home? The day could hardly get worse, and it hadn't even started properly yet.
"I'll be back… sometime," Luka said, pulling on her coat and settling her bag across her shoulders. "Don't go back to sleep; you need to catch the eleven-thirty train into town, remember?"
"Got it. Good luck on your test," Ruko said sleepily, pillowing her forehead on her hands on the table. Luka pulled open the door and stepped out into the stairwell; a jingle of keys later, she was gone.
After a few minutes' silence, Ruko sighed. "I guess this means she's not making breakfast…"
"Shit, shit, shit," Luka muttered, pushing her way through the bustling crowds filling the sidewalks. The morning was bright, clear and cold, the January chill focusing Luka's stubbornly-fuzzy head like a lens. Unfortunately, the last thing she needed right now was help understanding just how screwed she was.
The train station finally loomed into view, and Luka allowed herself a small sigh of relief. Starting up the stairs, she checked her watch: ten forty-five. Just in time to catch the train into the University, if she hurried. The rumble of the approaching train was already resounding through the station.
Luka hustled up the remaining stairs, pushing past business-suited salarymen and mothers towing children of various ages. The buckles on her bag jumped and clattered against their clasps as she ran, and she fumbled one-handed in her wallet for her train pass as the doors opened and people disembarked. "Come on, come on," she whispered, feeding the little cardstock rectangle into the reader. She pushed at the turnstile bar… which refused to turn.
"Please renew your train pass," a pleasant female voice said from the little speaker in the top of the turnstile. "You have zero yen remaining. Please renew your train pass."
"You're kidding," Luka sputtered incredulously. She shook ¥100 coins into her hand, thanking whatever deities came to mind that she hadn't cleaned the change out of her wallet last night. The fare was ¥800… she had to have enough. Had to.
She shoved the last of her coins into the slot and strained against the bar. Any second now, it would start to turn. Any second… she heard the last coin jingle down into the basket. Any second now.
"Please insert another ¥50," the voice said. "Your paid fare balance is ¥750. Please insert another ¥50."
Luka stared at the digital readout. She'd put eight coins into the slot, eight ¥100 coins. Unless… A thought struck her, and she hit the coin return. Seven ¥100 coins fell into the cup… and one ¥50 coin, identical except for the little hole in the middle.
"You are kidding," she decided to no one in particular. The train marshal's sudden shout caught her attention, and she looked up to see the doors on the train beginning to slide closed. Oh, hell no.
Paying no attention to the fact that she was in a skirt, Luka vaulted the turnstile bar. Her feet hit the floor and she moved, feeling her toes dig into the concrete as she hunkered down and sprinted like she hadn't since grade school. People inside the train began to notice, and shouts began to float out of the rapidly closing doors: "You can make it!" "Go, go, go!" The train marshal turned confusedly, then rapidly stepped out of the way as he caught sight of the madwoman hurtling toward his train. Luka stretched out a hand, gathered her legs beneath her, and pushed –
The doors made a little hissy sound as they closed fully. Luka's eyebrow twitched and she ground to a halt, barely two feet from the threshold. She'd never noticed that noise before. The doors were obviously laughing at her, and she glared at them as they started down the tracks.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we can't stop the train now," the marshal said, rubbing the back of his neck. "The next train is in ten minutes… you can ride for free, alright?"
"…That's fine," Luka said. Letting her shoulders sag, she turned back to the turnstile – at least she'd get her money back. Or she would have, if a small, grubby child hadn't just pocketed it. Well, it wasn't even enough for a train ticket, anyway…
"Today can't get any worse," she murmured, taking a seat on a nearby bench. The other end was occupied by a teenager in a junior high uniform, who was giggling at something on his cell phone. Luka leaned back with a sigh, closing her eyes. Ten minutes… she'd really have to haul ass to get to class at an acceptable level of 'late' at this point. She wondered if it even really mattered anymore; English was only half her major, after all, and she had semesters enough left to switch over to a full major in music…
The giggling boy was getting really annoying. Cracking an eye open, Luka sat up, craning her neck to see over his shoulder. What was displayed on the phone's little rectangular screen was a pair of women's underwear, pink with lacy bits on it. She sniffed, closing her eyes again. Teenagers… Come to think of it, she thought she had a pair just like that. Come to think of it, she was wearing them right now. Come to think of it, she'd vaulted over a turnstile in a skirt. Luka felt her opinion of her own intelligence drop.
"Hee hee, [photo get]*," the boy muttered excitedly. A shadow fell over the screen, and he turned around, surprised. Luka took advantage of his confusion to pluck the phone from his grip. "Hey," he tried, standing up. Wordlessly – not even looking at him – Luka walked the short distance to the rail well and dropped the phone in, taking care to get it as close to the third rail as possible. "Hey, that's my phone," the boy said, voice escalating. "Do you know how expensive that wa –" He choked off as Luka's eyes met his. After a moment, he fell backwards, landing on his rear. Luka nodded perfunctorily at him and sat back down on the bench. Ten minutes. How long could that take?
For once, not too long. She was awoken by the train marshal gently shaking her shoulder. "The next train has just pulled in, ma'am," he said. "Please, come aboard."
Luka stifled a yawn. "Thank you," she said. She stood, turning to the track, where the train had indeed just arrived. People were pressed up against the doors, impatient to get off, and Luka smiled again. She might even get a seat.
"I'm sorry for your luck," the marshal said as they approached the train. He waved her over to the side as they neared the doors, making space for people departing. "I know you're in a hurry, but I'd rather not have put you on a commuter train…"
Luka blinked, then looked again at the train. Yup. Those people weren't pressing against the door of their own free will; there was a reason commuter trains were called 'sardine cans'. She sighed. If she immediately dropped English 301, there might be time left to sign up for a vocal theory class in its time slot…
"Thank you for riding," the same female voice said, tinny over the train's speakers, as the doors opened and the few passengers who were leaving got off. "Welcome to West Hata, Kuniaku City. Thank you for riding." The people remaining on the train immediately expanded to fill what little space had been freed up – there was a sound like a gust of wind, fifty people heaving synchronized sighs of relief – and Luka pulled her bag's strap farther up her shoulder. This was going to be difficult.
"Here," someone called. "There's room here." Luka looked around, and after a moment her eye was caught by a hand waving at her. It was fine-boned and small – almost like a child's – and the nails were painted an eye-popping teal. Gratefully, Luka grasped the hand and stepped onto the train.
As the doors closed behind her, Luka found herself shoved uncomfortably into a short girl with remarkable hair. It was pulled into twin pigtails that fell to the bottom of her shoulder blades, but that was not the remarkable part. The remarkable part was that her hair was the same color as her eyes – a vibrant blue-green, several shades lighter than her nail polish. "Sorry I ran into you," the girl said, leaning back a little to pull her face away from Luka's chest. "I had to kind of pull you on. At least you're here, though, right?" she smiled disarmingly.
"Thanks," Luka said, returning her first genuine smile of the day. "I usually catch a much earlier train, so I don't end up on sardine cans much…" she trailed off, sniffing the air. "Does something smell to you?" she asked after a moment. Being packed in with people wasn't an unusual experience for her, but being packed in like this – not dancing, just standing in one place – was suffocating, and she didn't need weird smells to boot.
The other girl frowned, looking around at the salarymen clinging grimly to the straps overhead. "Like what?" she asked. "I don't smell anything."
"Like…" Luka took another sniff. It was pungent, and very recognizable, but her brain still felt off, and it was refusing to identify the smell. "I can't really say, but it really smells. Really badly. Someone forgot to take a shower," she muttered, and the girl giggled.
"Well, I don't know," the green-haired girl said, shrugging. "If you recognize it –"
"I do," Luka exclaimed, interrupting her. "I've got it. Leeks!"
There was a deadly silence aboard the train.
The other girl shrugged off her backpack, wrestled it around in front of her, and unzipped it. "This is my lunch," she said flatly, pulling a whole leek from the bag. Luka opened her mouth to apologize, but the girl simply slid the leek back into her bag and melted backwards into the crowd. The leek smell went with her, but somehow Luka felt even worse when it was gone.
What seemed like an hour later, Luka turned the corner to Kuniaku University's foreign language quad. The big brownstone building on the corner closest to her, Minato Hall, was the English building, and Luka hurried toward it. The clock set into the building's façade just below the roof read eleven-ten; if she was lucky, Leon-sensei hadn't gotten around to passing out the tests just yet.
"Luka-san!" Luka pulled up short and looked around at the familiar voice. Near the Hall's main entrance stood a young man in jeans and an open windbreaker; he made Luka cold just by looking at him, and she pulled her coat tighter around herself.
"Gakupo," she said, smiling as she joined him at the top of the short flight of steps. "Sorry I missed you last night; Mei-san needed me to come in."
"It's quite alright," Gakupo assured her, smiling back. "But… we're late, you know, Luka-san."
"I've told you twenty-five hundred times, you don't have to call me Luka-san," Luka replied, brushing a strand of purple hair behind his ear. She leaned in to kiss him, closing her eyes as their lips met, and sighed contentedly as she pulled away several seconds later. "I needed that," she said. "Today has been a very bad day so far."
"We shall hope that it improves as it goes on, then," Gakupo said, taking her hand. Together, they walked into Minato Hall, and the sound the door made as it closed behind them echoed through the empty quad.
* If you see square brackets in my stories, it generally means that whoever's using them is speaking English, or some other language that the point-of-view character understands but that someone else wouldn't necessarily. Just getting that out there, heh.
Oh, shocks! You got your Lukapo in my Luka/Miku fic. Could this be trouble for later...?
Again, lots of song references, and maybe a bilingual joke or two. VocaloidOtaku folks, be sure to mention any finds in the thread; I wasn't lying about the cookies.
Cheers, everyone!