A/N: Welcome back. I still haven't figured out what ruined my prototype run. But we're back online. As my favorite anime series, I've come back to give it the story it deserved. I will first follow the anime, then migrate to the manga as the series ends. I will first redo the starting chapters before making new ones. In case you've forgotten since last time, you're the same age as Hotaru. You have heterochromia and live with your aunt. With the base information out of the way, let's start again. Shall we?
Narrator-san: The sky. Clear and endless. A reminder that something is always above you. A reminder of eternity. That eternity unchanging and infinite. Very much unlike life. Full of unpredictability and change. While some things may seem eternal to us, truly they do change. How does change find you?
It pans to show a small village. Many places are shown one after another. The sound of a recorder and ocarina can be heard in the distance. A girl with purple walks down the street accompanied by an older boy with a bandaid on his nose. But their existence is only shown for a second before going back to showing the setting. While there are several houses, they don't look very urban. We see our two characters from before walking past an older person with a basket on their back. Our characters head to a small shack with two apples in it. That's their convenience store and it was recently restocked. The boy leaves an unknown amount of yen in a small box and takes an apple with him. Focusing on a different set of people, we see two girls struggle to get ready for school. A tall one with orange and a smaller one with brown hair. Once the girl with orange hair fixes her uniform, she heads out the door with the other. Heading to another household, we see a girl exit from it. She has long black hair and a pink shirt. Overall, this place doesn't look like it's aged in fifty years. Bamboo forests, rivers, streams, sakura trees, and the sounds of the railroad. There isn't any detectable modern technology around. And that's how it's always been. Finally, we settle down on the purple-haired girl from before. She continues to play her recorder while the boy with her tries his best to match her tone.
Y/n: As usual, this place is quiet. But it's a peaceful quiet. A non-deafening type. But sometimes, Renge wonders, do we live in the country? We don't.
Natsumi: "Ren-chon! Y/n-chi!"
They turn around to the person calling their names.
Y/n: Live in the country? We don't. At least, I don't think so. Though, I don't really mind if it is the countryside, because there's still so much fun to be had.
Natsumi: "Mornin."
Y/n: "Hey."
Renge talks with her recorder in her mouth. This causes her to sound jumbled.
Natsumi: "Say that again?"
Renge: "Nyanpasu!"
Y/n: "Hm?" AH, right. "Nyanpasu."
Natsumi: "I still don't get it. What does that mean?"
Renge: "Nyan... Pasu!"
Natsumi: *She answers back with hallowed eyes* "Nyanpasu..."
Renge: "Is Koma-chan coming?"
The person they are talking to is Natsumi Koshigaya, and her sister is Komari Koshigaya. Having caught up, they head to the bus stop.
Natsumi: "She left earlier." *She sighs* "Such a nice day, and we have to go to school..."
Renge: "I'm still a bright and shiny first grader, so it's fun for me."
Natsumi: "That won't last long. School is tough, you know?"
Y/N: "Sometimes it's okay to be dim. I like rainy days more anyway."
Natsumi: "That's because you like making teru teru bōzu with ren-chon."
Y/N: "I can confirm this as a factual statement."
Natsumi: "Why do you keep trying to use big words?"
Y/N: "Because they can make me seem smart!"
Natsumi: "Is that what nee-chan told you?"
Y/N: "Perhaps."
They walk back a few paces to watch Renge.
Renge: "We had miso soup with horsetail shoots this morning."
Y/N: "I had an egg muffin and some bamboo shoots."
Natsumi: "We had egg soup with horsetail shoots and onions."
They squat down and pick some horsetail shoots. Behind them, the sounds of a bus can be heard.
Y/N: Wait a second. "That's our ride!"
Natsumi: "Run, Ren-chon!"
Komari: "Renge! Natsumi! Y/N-son!"
Natsumi: "Nee-chan!"
They all get into the bus and sit in the back.
Renge: "Nattsun, did you see the news today?"
Natsumi: "No, I was in a hurry."
Komari: "I didn't either."
Y/N: "I saw a portion of it."
Renge: "Too bad, today's news was exciting."
Natsumi: "Did something happen?"
Renge: *She puts her hands on her cheeks* "There was an old guy doing radio calisthenics outside the window behind the host. It was really cool."
Y/N: "Eh?" I guess nothing's cooler than a fit body and exercise.
Natsumi: "Why did that make you feel excited?"
Y/N: "I guess it's rare to see older people still doing that sort of thing."
They continue the rest of the bus ride in silence. When they eventually get there, there sits a sign that reads, Asahigaoka Branch School.
Natsumi: "It's still kinda chilly."
Y/N: "It's always chilly, in my opinion."
Renge: "The classroom feels different than yesterday."
Natsumi: "How so?"
Y/N: "I feel the same thing." Is someone coming? I can feel another energy reading.
Sensei: "Mornin. Take your seats."
The teacher walks in, but behind her is someone they've never seen before. They all sit down in their respective seats while looking at the new person. A few awkward seconds go by before she speaks.
New Girl: "Um..."
Sensei: "Can you introduce yourself?"
Newbie: "Heh? Um."
She sets down her bag and starts writing her name in chalk.
Natsumi: "Ichijou... Hotaru."
Hotaru: "U-Um... I'm Ichijou Hotaru. I moved here from Tokyo."
Komari: "Wow! From Toyko?!"
Y/N: "Impressive?" What's a Tokyo? Like the drift?
Natsumi: "That says Hotaru?"
Renge: "I've never seen that character before."
Natsumi: "What grade?"
Hotaru: "Fifth."
Y/N: "Oh, you're in the same grade as me." Wait a second, she's a bit taller than me. By at least two inches or so. How's that possible?
Komari: "Younger? She's younger than me?!" That's another person who's younger than me but taller.
Y/N: "Man. We really don't have the best of luck when it comes to people from Tokyo."
Natsumi: "She doesn't look like a fifth grade. Did you get into trouble at your old school?"
Hotaru: "No, it's because of my dad's work."
Natsumi: "Oh, well, that sounds normal."
Y/N: "Indeed. I think that's how a few people ended up here."
Renge looks Y/N in the eye. They both nod their heads. They both get out of their seats and raise a hand.
Y/N/Renge: "Nyanpasu!"
Hotaru: "H-huh? Uh. N-Nyan..."
Sensei: "Take a seat."
Hotaru: "Right."
Renge: "That's it! There's an extra seat!"
Y/N: *In English* "An astute observation! Renge!"
Komari: "Did they just notice it?"
Hotaru: "Oh! That was English... I think?"
Y/N: *Back to Japanese* "I hope so."
Renge: "Nice to meet you, Hotarun."
Hotaru: "Hotarun...?"
Y/N: "It seems she's already given you a nickname. That's pretty fast."
Sensei: *Hits the chimes* "First period has begun, please take out your work."
Natsumi: "What's first period again?"
Komari: "Japanese."
It goes by showing each student's worksheet or review guide and their desk setup.
Hotaru: "Oh, everyone's in a different grade."
Y/N: "Except us. I'm also in fifth." What a height difference we have. Not giant, but still notable.
Renge: "I'm in first grade."
Komari: "I'm in eighth."
Natsumi: "I'm in seventh. And Nii-san here is in ninth."
Hotaru: "But you're all in the same classroom?"
Natsumi: "Yeah."
Y/N: "That's how it always is, no?"
Hotaru: "All different classes, too?"
Komari: "What do you mean, different classes? This is the only class."
Hotaru: "There are only five students in the entire school?"
Y/N: "That's not counting James-san."
Over in the corner, there is a small planted bamboo with a face drawn on it.
Renge: "So now that you're here, that makes seven."
Y/N: "Very niceu, Renge."
They high five one another.
Komari: "Since we're all in different grades, we mostly study on our own."
Hotaru: "On your own?"
Y/N: "Yup, but now we can be study partners! Though helping Renge study will still be the top priority."
Renge: "Did you get your workbook?"
Hotaru: "Oh, I did..."
She takes it out of her backpack. The rest of the day is a blur, so let's skip it. Now it's outside time. This is where they get to exercise. Or just play outside and give the teacher a break.
Natsumi: "What should we do today?"
Renge: "I think... Dodge ball! I'm good at dodge ball!"
Y/N: "That's because your small."
Natsumi: "Agreed, but either way."
Hotaru: "Um... I wondered when I was on my way to the classroom... What are all those buckets for?"
Natsumi: "Oh, they're just to catch leaks."
Y/N: "What else would you use, cups?" That would be rather inefficient.
Natsumi: "I guess you could try bowls, but that would be a waste. So try not to get too close to them."
Hotaru: "I see. It'd be a pain if a bucket got moved and we couldn't tell where the leak was."
Y/N: "Hm? What's that about?"
Natsumi: "No, that's not why. The floor around them has rotted due to the moisture. If you get too close, you'll fall through."
Hotaru: "Huh?"
Natsumi: "I'm just kidding. No idiot has fallen through the floor before. We're just supposed to be careful."
Behind them, Natsumi's brother fell through the floor.
Y/N: "I gotcha, Suguru-san."
Hotaru: "I see."
Suguru: "They're really just going to leave me."
Y/N: "I just happened to look behind me, and a good thing I did."
He helps get him out of the floor. Y/N gets thanked one last time before he runs back to his friends.
Natsumi: "Here it comes!"
Komari struggles to grab it but is still successful. Renge and the rest are walking back and forth while this happens.
Natsumi: "Take that!"
She decided this time around to throw the ball at someone. That person is Hotaru. But she didn't give it enough force or direction, so it bounced next to her, and it went over Komari's head.
Komari: "Darn it!"
Natsumi: "Huh?"
Y/N: "You weren't trying, right?"
Natsumi: "Nope! No way, no way. My arm was just sore, that's all."
Y/N: That makes some sense, I guess?
Komari retrieves the ball and throws it at Hotaru once again.
Renge: "Hotarun!"
Hotaru is unsuccessful and it bounces between her legs and is caught by Natsumi.
Y/N: "Tough break."
Natsumi: "Hotarun's out."
Hotaru: "I shouldn't have tried to catch it..."
Y/N: *He puts a hand on her shoulder* "You really shouldn't have tried to catch that."
Hotaru: "Yes, probably not."
Renge: "Y/N-son, I found a key on the ground."
Y/N: "Oh, very shiny!" Monke brain love shiny things. It has a really nice design.
Hotaru: "Oh, that's mine."
Y/N: "Yoink. I'll take that, that's mine now." Neat.
Hotaru: "Eh? My key! Can I have it back?"
Natsumi: "What's that the key to anyway?"
Komari: "What happening?"
Y/N: "I've stolen a key."
Hotaru: "Please give it back soon. No one in my family will be home tonight, so I brought a house key."
Y/N: "It looks really nice. Let's play tag with it."
Natsumi: "Hey, Ren-chon, do you lock your house door?"
Renge: "No."
Natsumi: "Nee-chan, ours doesn't lock either, do they?"
Komari: "I've never seen a lock."
Natsumi: "Me, either... Y/N-kun?"
Y/N: "I've never seen a lock before, and this is a rare sight seeing a key. How much do you want for it anyway? I'll buy you three spins at the gachapon."
Komari: "Woah! That's a great deal."
Hotaru: "Sorry, but I need this, so no deal."
Y/N: "Sadness." *He gives her back the key*
Everyone else looks at her, and then the key again.
Natsumi/Komari/Renge: "You're unusual."
A/N: With our last release going to trash, I'm glad this one is working a lot better. It'll be slow to updates, but I'll work to make sure there's enough to keep everyone happy. That's all for now, I'm going to work on reworking the next chapter. Goodbye for now. -Kishimino-san.