Childhood Part VII – In Plain Sight – Start
"I hate Mondays." A 11-years old Komaru says as she smashes her head against the desk.
"P.E first thing in the week is pretty tough." A black-haired girl replies giggling at her displeased friend.
Another girl, this time with dark green hair also giggles. "I don't think it's that bad." Komaru snaps her head up glares at the girl.
"What is wrong with you Chieko-chan?" The other girl just laughs harder as the brunette then lifts her head up and throws he arms upwards. "GOSH, I HATE P.E!" Just as she says this, the sliding door for their classroom slides open, revealing a tall blond woman in a red jumpsuit.
"Good to know you don't like my classes, Naegi." The woman smirks as Komaru blushes and the other students burst into laughter.
"Wah! K-Kaori-sensei? W-Why are you here?" Scratching the back of her head, a embarrassed Komaru asks.
"Well, your homeroom teacher is sick, so I'll be in charge of your class today." Kaori walks towards the teachers desk and drops a bunch of papers over it. "And also, I have a message for y'all."
"Oh, and what is it?" Izumi Hina, Komaru's black-haired friend, asks.
"Remember that Halloween party that was canceled last minute past month?" The blond teacher asks, as she leans against the desk.
"Yeah, it was such a bummer." Chieko, that is sitting behind Komaru says. "I was really looking forward to that." She puts her hands behind her head.
The teacher smiles. "Well then, you can get excited again, because its happening!"
Komaru's eyes sparkle as she gets up from her chair. "Woah! Really?"
Kaori nods. "Yep, the faculty decided that, instead of the normal celebrations for the end of the school year, we'd throw a costume party instead."
"Yay!" Komaru and Chieko exclaim as they jump from their chairs and high-five.
The other students also celebrate, while Hina just smiles softly. "So it will be by the end of this month?" Hina asks, turning back to the teacher.
"Yes." The woman turns around and picks the papers that are on the desk up, she turns around and starts going from desk to desk, giving the students the papers. "Here's the invitations so you can give to your parents."
Komaru grabs hers and starts quickly reading it. "Say, do we need to only bring our parents?"
The blond woman laughs. "Of course not, but you can only bring up five people total."
"Eh, it's enough." The brunette smiles. "So I can bring Onii-chan and Chiaki-chan with me!"
Hina holds onto the invitation and smirks. "I wonder if my brother will be on his break by then."
"Oh! I'm so excited!" Chieko exclaims, barely containing herself. "I wonder what costume should I buy?"
Kaori walks back to the teacher's desk and gets behind it. "Well, I know you're all excited, but class is about to start, so, shut up and pay attention!"
" Yes sensei!" The whole class says as they salute and the woman laughs.
Soon enough, it's time for the lunch break.
Komaru is already munching down at her bento, making Hina and Chieko stare her down incredulously. "Calm down Komaru-chan, the food isn't going anywhere." The black-haired girl giggles while putting a hand over her mouth.
The younger Naegi glares at them and says with her mouth still full. "Shwt it!" She then gobbles down the food. "Everyone always complains about how I eat."
Chieko rolls her eyes. "That's because you eat like a tiger that hasn't eaten in a month." She smirks. "It's actually kinda funny."
"You're all a bunch of meanies!" The brunette pouts and looks to the side as her friends laugh.
While they laugh, Komaru opens her eyes and sees something through the window.
You see, the windows on her classroom are directly turned to the courtyard of the school and it's not uncommon to see groups of students eating there.
What got Komaru's attention was a single girl, sitting down under a tree reading a magazine, now, that by itself wasn't that big of a deal. Some students, mostly boys, used this time to catch up on the latest issues of their favorite manga instead of eating their lunch.
Heck, sometimes Komaru did that too.
But no, what called her attention was that, a group of three girls walked up to the one sitting under the tree and the one in the front of the groug snatched the magazine in from the other girl's hands, they then seem to start talking about something.
"Komaru-chan?" Hina calls, making the girl snap her head to look at her. "Something wrong?"
The brunette looks to the window again. "I think there's a fight down there." She points to the courtyard. "Look!" Her friends then look to where she is pointing.
The sitting girl gets up and puts a hand on her chest, she says something but the girl holding the magazine just laughs, before she lifts the other girl's magazine up and smashes it down, before stepping on it and laughing.
Komaru narrows her eyes. "I don't like the look of that."
Hina also turns more serious. "I agree." She bites her lips. "Don't you think they are-"
Chieko interrupts her. "We should go there to check it out." She gets up.
The other girls nod and get up, ready to sprint towards the courtyard.
"Wait!" Komaru says, before turning around and grabbing her bento. "Now we can go!"
The other two look at each other and roll their eyes, before cracking a smirk and running out of the classroom.
Getting down by the courtyard, the group of three girls are already gone, leaving the girl they are seemly picking on behind.
Said girl has a very pale skin, with teal-blue hair that goes down to her hips, on her face, she sports round rimless glasses.
The girl is now kneeled down, picking her dirty and slightly slashed magazine up.
Komaru approaches her and nonchalantly calls. "Hey you!"
"AH!" The girl yells, throwing her magazine high up in the air and putting her arms over her head and closing her eyes.
Now that she completely up, Komaru notices that she is quite tall.
"Woah, woah, calm down!" The brunette girl says, putting her hands on the other girl's shoulders.
"Oh?" Opening one of her rather large and round eyes, which are of a teal-green color, she blinks twice before pulling her arms down. "Ah! I-I mean, hi!" She waves awkwardly, then the magazine falls onto her head. "Ouch!" The girl groans as the magazine falls on the ground again.
"Are you okay?" Hina asks, getting closer to the to the two, Chieko being right behind her. "You seem distressed."
Chieko looks at her and asks. "Did those girls do something to you?" She then smashes one of her hands against her palm. "Because if they did-"
"N-No!" The glasses wearing girl says, interrupting Chieko. "They didn't do anything!"
Hina lift a eyebrow. "Are you sure?" The other girl nods, but the black-haired girl still wasn't convinced. "Are you-"
"A-Anyways!" She interrupts Hina, before turning around. "Lunch break is about to end." Running off to the second building, she yells. "I gotta go!"
Chieko watches as the girl disappears on the other building. "Those girls are definitely picking on her." She greets her teeth. "I don't like'em!"
The black-haired girl sighs as she kneels down and picks the magazine from the ground. "She forgot this." Turning to her friends, she shows them said magazine.
"Hey! I know that one!" Komaru says grabbing it from Hina's hand. "It's one of my favorite manga!" Her green eyes start to sparkle. "And it's the new issue too!"
"We should find that girl and give it back to her." Hina says, snatching the magazine from Komaru's hand. "Still, we should try and find out what's going on."
The younger Naegi nods, but before she can say anything, the bell signaling the end of break echoes through the school. "Oh man!" Komaru cries. "I didn't finish my lunch!" She looks down at her bento.
Chieko and Hina giggle, before the green-haired girl grabs Komaru's hand. "Well, after classes we should try and find that girl." She says and the other two nod.
With that, the three friends run back to school.
As classes end for the day, the trio of friends walk towards the second building where the mysterious girl ran off.
That is the building for the older students and the faculty room, which means she was probably older than then.
Komaru and her friends started going from class to class looking for the blue-haired girl.
Once they enter the classroom of class 7-B, they find the classroom almost empty, outside of a group of boys cleaning up the room.
"Excuse me?" Hina asks as she enters the room.
One of the boy turns to her and lifts a eyebrow. "Yes, what it is?" He asks, clearly bored.
"We're looking for a girl with blue hair." She then pulls the girl's manga and shows it to the boys. "She forgot this manga on the courtyard earlier today."
The boy look at his friends, then back to Hina. "They must mean the otaku." He comments, making Hina narrow her eyes. "Was she tall and wore glasses." The black-haired girl nods. "Yep, that sure is her." He points to the window. "She has already gone to the back gate, but if you girls are quick, you may still catch up to her."
Hina smiles and bows. "Thank you very much." Turning to her friends, she says. "Let's go!"
The girls nod and ran out of the class with her.
Luckily, the girls are able to catch up with the blue-haired girl at the back gate.
"Hey!" Komaru yells, getting the girl's attention. "Wait!"
The blue-haired girl looks to both sides before pointing to herself. "M-Me?"
"Yes!" The three friends reach her and while Komaru catches her breath, Hina pulls the magazines out and handles it to the other girl. "This is yours right?"
"Y-Yes!" She happily exclaims before grabbing the manga and holding it to her chest. "Thanks for bringing it back to me!" She bows slightly.
Komaru looks towards her and smiles. "It's nothing." She then gets closer to the girl. "But I have to say, you have some great taste!"
The tall girl looks towards Komaru and her large teal-green eyes start to sparkle behind her round glasses. "Do you like Kamisama Kiss too?"
The brunette nods furiously. "It's one of my favorites!" She puts her clasps her hands together and smiles. "The art is on point!"
The girl smiles widely while mimicking Komaru's gesture. "I know right! And the character designs are great too!" The two girls look at each other and nod knowingly.
Hina falsely coughs, getting the two girls attention. "Look, you two can talk about your manga as much as you like later." She then turns to the blue-haired girl. "But first we need to ask you something..." Hina looks at her.
The tall girl blinks before finally understanding what she means. "Oh, sorry. I'm Shirogane Tsumugi, nice to meet you!" She bows again.
"I'm Naegi Komaru!" The brunette says, grabbing the other girl's hand and shaking it excitedly. "And those are my friends, Izumi Hina-chan and Kurogawa Chieko-chan!" The two wave as their friend introduces them.
"Now, I want to ask something, Shirogane-san, if you don't mind?" Hina asks and the other girl nods negatively. "What are those girl doing to you earlier?"
Tsumugi flinches. "N-Nothing!" Her stutter comes back, showing her nervousness. "T-They are just some friends from class."
Chieko turns to face the girl. "Friends?"
Tsumugi nods. "Y-Yeah! They are my friends!" She adds a nervous laugh right after, making it more suspicious.
"But they looked so mean!" Komaru protests. "They even threw your manga on the dirt!"
Tsumugi scratches the back of her head. "T-That was just a joke!" She says, before whispering. "N-Not the most funny though."
Hina sighs. "I guess that's it then."
"What?" Komaru turns towards her black-haired friend. "That doesn't sound righ-" Hina covers Komaru's mouth with her hand and drags the other girl to the side, Chieko following them.
"Look, she doesn't want to talk about that, so we won't force her." Sighing, she continues. "We're just a bunch of strangers, she probably won't tell us anything anyways." The black-haired girl then whispers to her friends. "So for now, let's just try to befriend her okay?"
"But they are clearly bullying her!" Chieko protests. "We should tell the teachers!"
Hina shakes her head. "I agree, we should but-" She looks back to Tsumugi, who is now checking to see if everything is okay with her manga. "-don't you think it's strange that she calls them her friends?"
Komaru nods. "Yeah, it's kinda weird." She sighs sadly. "Friends don't do cruel jokes like that!"
"I think there's more to this situation than meets the eye." Hina says, before smiling. "So let's befriend her first, then get to the bottom of this!" Her friends nod and they walk back to where Tsumugi is.
"Say Shirogane-san?" Komaru says, getting the glasses wearing girl's attention.
"Y-Yes?" She asks, clearly still nervous.
Komaru smiles. "Want to go to the bookstore with us?"
Tsumugi blinks. "H-Huh?" She asks confused.
Komaru scratches the back of her head. "I mean, if you don't want to, it's okay-"
Tsumugi interrupts her. "N-No!" She then laughs awkwardly. "I-I mean yes! I would love to!" She clearly didn't have that much social experience.
The brunette turns to her friends and smiles. "Then let's go!"
"Hey Makoto-kun!" Honoka calls, knocking on her son's door. "Do you have a minute?"
"Yes, Okaa-san?" The brunette boy replies, pausing the game he was playing with Chiaki and walking to the door. "What is it?" He asks, opening the door for his mom.
"Well, I'm busy with some work right now and Komaru-chan is kind of late, so can you go and pick her up for me?" The older woman says with a apologetic smile. "She's probably at the bookstore down the road with some friends."
"Do you mind waiting for a bit, Chiaki-chan?" He turns to the girl inside his room and asks.
The mauve-haire girl shakes her head. "Actually, I want to go with you… I think."
Makoto smiles. "Great! then let's go!" Chiaki gets up and the two get out of the room.
"Oh, and before I forget!" Honoka approaches the two and gives the brunette some money. "I need you to buy me a book."
"A book?" Makoto asks and his mother nods.
"Yes, I've been reading a series from a new author that I found recently and the new book on her series just came out." The brunette woman smiles, before turning to her son. "Its called 'So Lingers the Ocean', got it?"
"Yes. I'll buy it." Makoto nods, before running back to his room and scribbling the name of the book on a little piece of paper.
With that, the two friends go downstairs and pick their respective hoodies up, before heading out.
"-Naegi-san you're so talented!" Tsumugi gushes as Komaru shows her some of the more recent drawings she's been practicing.
"I'm not that great." The brunette says with a wishful smile. "At least, not yet!"
"If you keep going like you're doing now." Hina sips on the coffee she is drinking. "You'll be a mangaka in no time."
"You're all flattering me too much!" Komaru laughs as she scratches the back of her head.
Chieko rolls her eyes. "And you're going to say you don't like being complimented?" She slurps on her milkshake and smirks.
The other girls laugh as Komaru pouts, although soon enough, she too joins on the laughter.
After browsing the manga section of the bookstore for a while, the girls brought a new copy of Tsumugi's manga and walked down the street towards a café that Komaru and Makoto liked to visit.
Tsumugi smiles as she watches the others laughing, for some reason, she felt very happy. ' Completely different from when I'm with-' She shakes her head before finishing the thought.
"Something wrong, Shirogane-san?" Hina is the first to ask, noticing the girl shaking her head.
"N-No, it's nothing." She forcefully smiles, before changing the subject. "And you Izumi-san? What do you want to do when you grow up?"
Sipping on her coffee, Hina smiles softly. "I want to be a fashion designer." Tsumugi's eyes lit up.
"Really?" The other girl nods. "Wow, so you know how to sew?"
Hina nods again. "I'm still learning, but I'm not that good at it yet." She pushes a strand of hair behind her ear.
"But where Hina-chan excels the most is on her designs!" Chieko says, making the other girl blush. "You should see her drawings, they are amazing!"
"C'mon, it's not that great." The black-haired girl says embarrassed.
"Now who's being humble?" Komaru says and everyone at the table laughs.
"Well, I do know how to sew." Tsumugi comments and everyone looks at her. "Although I don't draw my own designs."
"Wait, what do you mean?" Chieko asks and the tall girl continues.
"I like to copy the clothes from my favorite animes and mangas." She blushes as Komaru's eyes sparkle.
"Seriously?" The brunette practically throws herself at Tsumugi. "You do cosplay?"
"W-Well, I don't do cosplay." The blue-haired girl adjusts her glasses. "I just like to make the clothes." She says while scratching the back of her head.
"That's still amazing!" Chieko says and Hina nods by her side.
"Some of those have really complex designs." The black-haired girl comments, sipping the rest of her coffee. "You must be really good at making those."
"Hehehe." Tsumugi laughs awkwardly, she wasn't accustomed to receiving compliments.
Makoto and Chiaki come down to the bookstore close to the boy's house, a place called "Bookworms".
As they enter it, the old couple that owns the store wave to the two. "Oh, Makoto-chan!" The old lady says with a welcoming smile. "How are you today?"
The boy smiles back, before replying. "I'm great, Mitsuko-san." Getting closer to the counter, the boy pulls out the money his mother gave him. "Okaa-san wanted me to buy a book for her." Pulling up a note he scribbled before going out. "It's called 'So Lingers the Ocean'."
Mitsuko nods. "Oh, the new one by Fukawa Touko!" She smiles, before turning around. "They say she's a amazing writer." The old lady looks something up on her computer before continuing. "If I'm not wrong, she might be around your age, Makoto-chan."
"Really? That sounds amazing... I think." Chiaki asks, as an old man comes from the back of the store.
"Indeed." He puffs on his smoking pipe. "Mitsuko-chan couldn't stop crying once she finished one of her books!"
The old lady rolls her eyes. "That was you, dear."
The old man caresses his hair while letting out a loud laugh. "Oh, sorry, sorry, my bad." He smiles. "It's the age you see."
Mitsuko giggles before turning around. "Wait just a minute Makoto-chan, I'll go grab the book." With that, the old lady goes to the back of the store.
"Look at you Makoto-chan!" The old man approching the two. "Already found yourself a girlfriend?"
Both of them blush, before Makoto waves his arms saying. "Bunkichi-san!"
The old man laugh again. "I'm just joking Makoto-chan." He then walks past the two and goes to behind the counter. "But you two do seem pretty close."
"Well, Makoto-kun is my best friend after all… I think." The mauve-haired girl says with a deep blush on her face.
"Chiaki-chan…" The boy smiles, even though his blush is just as hard as hers.
Bunkichi smokes once again. "Oh, to be young and in love!"
Makoto raises his eyebrow. 'Haven't I heard that before?'
"Dear!" Mitsuko walks in and slaps the back of her husband's head. "Stop teasing the children!"
"Sorry, sorry." He smirks. "It's the age you see."
"You can't use that excuse for everything!" The old lady sighs as her husband laughs. "Anyways, here's the book sweetie." Handling Makoto the book, she smiles.
"T-Thanks, here's the money." He puts the money on the counter, but the old woman shakes her head.
"Take that as a gift to your mother." She smiles warmly. "You know, as a thanks for being such loyal customers since we opened."
"Wow, thanks Mitsuko-san." Picking the money back, Makoto turns around. "Oh, I almost forgot!" He turns back again. "Did Komaru came here today?"
Bunkichi nods. "Yes she did." He then smokes on his pipe. "I believe she said something about going to the café just down the street."
Bowing, Makoto says. "Thanks again for the book!" With that, he grabs Chiaki's hand and dashes out of the store.
"They are so cute together." Bunkichi says with a smirk.
"That they are." Mitsuko nods, before going back to behind the counter.
The girls kept on talking as the time passed and soon enough, the sun was setting.
"Oh, wow." Chieko says looking out of the window. "Time sure flies when you're having fun!"
Komaru nods. "Geez, is already this late?" She asks, looking to the clock on the wall. "Onii-chan must be worried."
Before Tsumugi can say anything, a black limo stops outside of the café and she widens her eyes. "Oh my Gosh!" The tall girl gets up, finally realizing what time is it. "I have to go!" She quickly picks her stuff up and pulls some yen out of her bag. "Here, you can pay for the coffee." Running towards the exit, she turns around and smiles. "It was really nice hanging out with you!"
Komaru waves. "If you want, we can do this more times!"
Tsumugi blinks, then smiles before getting out the door.
Makoto and Chiaki are now walking down the street, they let go of each other's hands, but the blush on their faces is still visible.
The two soon enough see the café where Komaru and the others are.
"Well, there she is." Makoto says seeing his sister through the window.
When they get closer to the establishment, the door suddenly bursts open and a blue-haired girl comes out running.
She comes out so fast that she ends up colliding with Makoto.
"Aie!" She cries as the two fall down.
"Are you okay?" The boy asks, before his face gets incredibly red, even more than when he was holding Chiaki's hand.
That is because the blue-haired girl's lips are incredibly close to his own. "Ow. Sorry for tha-" She opens her eyes and notices how close the two are. Hazel eyes meeting teal-green, before her face gets as red as a tomato and she stumbles back up, somehow letting her glasses fall in the process. "S-Sorry!" She yells before running to the limo and getting in, slamming the door shut.
Makoto blinks for a second before noticing something close to him on the ground. "Hey!" He lifts his hand holding the glasses up and yells. "You forgot your glasses!" The limo speeds up the street, seemingly not noticing his cries. "Oh, darnit."
Chiaki gets closer to the boy and helps him up. "Are you hurt Makoto-kun?"
"No. I'm good." The brunette boy replies, now looking at the glasses in his hands. "She forgot those."
"Onii-chan!" Komaru and her friends walk out of the café. "What are two doing here?" She asks seeing him getting up.
"Okaa-san told me to pick you up." He replies. "By the way, do you know that girl?"
"The blue-haired one?" Hina asks and Makoto nods. "I guess. We are just talking to her."
"Well, she forgot her glasss." The boy points to them and Komaru growls.
"That's the second time today that Shirogane-san does that!" Chiaki's ears perk up as she hears that name.
"Shirogane?" She ask and Komaru shakes her head. "I heard that name somewhere before… I think?"
Komaru looks at the mauve-haired girl. "Really?" Then, her stomach growls. "Ah, whatever, let's go home Onii-chan!" She grabs Makoto's arm. "I'm hungry."
Chieko blinks. "B-But we just ate!"
The boy just sighs, before smiling. "Fine. Tomorrow you can give those back to her."
The group starts heading back towards the housing area, although, without anyone really noticing, Chiaki grabs onto Makoto's other arm.
At the limousine. Tsumugi falls back onto the couch and sighs. "That was embarrassing." She whispers to herself before the small window separating the driver from her opens.
"Tsumugi-sama!" A black-haired man calls. "What are you doing?" His voice sounding annoyed. "I almost panicked when you aren't at the back gate!"
The blue-haired girl blinks before apologetic bowing. "I'm sorry Kubo-san."
"It's okay, just send me a message before you do that again." The man, named Kubo, sighs. "You're lucky I know the area around here."
"I was just hanging out with-" She starts explaining, before suddenly shutting up.
"With?" Kubo asks and notices when a small smile appears in the girl's face, then it disappears.
"-some girls from school." The man sighs.
"I see." He says, before quickly tossing something to her. "What happened to your glasses anyways?"
Tsumugi holds onto the glasses he tossed, just now realizing that she can barely see. "O-Oh!" Her face turns red as she remembers what happened. "I-I just tripped!" She says, a little bit more high pitched than intended.
The man just smirks and closes the little window.
Tsumugi feels her face burning with embarrassed, putting a hand on her chest, the tall girl smiles. "I wonder who is that boy?" She asks herself, looking out the window.
Childhood Part VII – In Plain Sight – End
Welp, the mysterious girl was Tsumugi.
I'll like to go over my thought process when I chose her over the others.
First things first: Tenko, Himiko and Angie never even passed through my head when I was thinking of this scenario, mostly because I couldn't think of anything to do with them by this point of the story.
Next we have: Kirumi and Miu, I actually thought about some scenarios involving them, but I just couldn't make it work in my head, so I gave up, also, Miu was a little too bombastic to this point of the story.
And finally: Kaede and Maki. I actually thought of scenarios that could work involving those two, but then some other ideas popped into my head and I though those other ideas are a lot better than having them meet Makoto while in their childhoods. So look forward to those two! Especially Maki, as her past is going to involve another student from Makoto's class.
Another motive why I chose Tsumugi is just because, one: I like her well enough, she's not my favorite from V3, but I still like her quite a lot.
And two: Because as one reader pointed out, she is basically a blank slate, so I can write anything on her backstory and it wouldn't really feel out of place.
Anyways, this arc will be a little bigger than the other ones, but I hope you'll all enjoy.
Well, see you all around!