"Hanagaki! Where's that new chapter!"
"My motivation decided to take a vaycay, Sayu," I sighed as I sat hunched over my desk filled with papers and drawing supplies. With a blank stare at the empty page, I pushed back my ombre blonde waves.
"Have you been taking your meds?" she asked with a sigh as she closed the front door.
"... maybe... I forgot," I said after a moment of thinking.
"How can you forget? It's written on your fridge."
"Just because it's somewhere that I should see it, doesn't mean I will," I lazily defended as I laid back in my swivel chair.
"Yeah, go figure," she groaned as she ruffled her brown locks. "Go take them and listen to some rock music to get you back in the mood. I'll hang here for a bit," she said as she took a seat on my old black couch, setting her bag beside her in the process.
"Don't want to break the news yet?" I chuckled as I got up and took off my glasses.
"What? That our top gal had another flumped week?" she sarcastically asked.
"No, not at all. Just that the great Danaju picked up another hobby," I replied before taking my meds with a glass of water. Then I took a seat at my desk again and turned on the TV, going to the music app.
"Oh, God, what this time?" she asked with exasperation.
"Well, you're sitting on it," I absently said as I scrolled through my recommended playlists. They mainly were English indie, lo-fi, and j-pop now.
She looked at the blue-toned blanket under her and sighed. "Knitting?"
"Yep," I replied as I picked a j-rock playlist.
"You're irredeemable, ya know that?" she said as she grabbed her bag and stood up. "I'll be back next week to check up on you."
"'Kay~ Text me reminders to take my meds, please," I said as I put my glasses back on.
"Yeah, I will," she said before leaving.
I turned the TV up a bit before turning back to the paper. After a few minutes of nothing, I took out my chapter script and read through it, making a few adjustments here and there. Why the hell is he talking that way? That's too OOC... Thoughts like this came to mind along with an array of others as I read through, which led me to look at future chapters and forget about the page I was supposed to be illustrating.
A loud ring eventually erupted from my phone, pulling me from my reviewing and editing work. Notebook and pen still in hand, I rolled to the counter that the annoying ringing came from and answered without looking at the caller ID.
"Danaju Hanagaki speaking," I answered as I closed my notebook, knowing I would zone the conversation out if I read anymore.
"Hey, Sis, it's Take."
"Oh, hey, sorry, I didn't look at the number," I chuckled.
"No problem," he weakly chuckled.
"What's up?" I asked, hearing the change in his tone.
"Do you remember Hinata?"
"Your Ex? Yeah, why? Did you grow a pair and ask her out again," I sniggered, giving a sly look to nothing in particular.
"Daju!" he exclaimed with a blush, I imagine.
"Kidding, kidding," I waved off. "So?"
"She passed just a couple of days ago..."
"Shit, man... Sorry to hear that. She was a good person." She really was. Even with dealing with my brother's constant antics, she really was good to him. Not to mention, she was the only girlfriend he ever had.
"Yeah, she was... I just thought I'd let you know."
"Yeah..." I trailed off, sitting back in my chair. "If-"
"I'll talk to you later, Sis."
"'Kay, take it easy."
"You too," he said before hanging up, leaving my ear with the sound of the disconnected call.
With a sigh, I looked at the time. "3:45," it read. "Alright," I said to myself, standing up. "I need some more notebooks and pens."
After shutting the TV and lights off and locking the door, I headed out to the craft store. Unlike my twin, I never moved away from our hometown. I know all the good stores, views, and shortcuts. To move to a different city just felt unimaginable. It would have reset everything I built up here. I've never liked change much, so I've always made it a point to stay nearby. If I had moved, I may have never gotten the mangaka gig that I have now.
~
A couple of hours went by and I ended up getting more than what I needed and even ended up going to the yarn and fabric store around the corner. I had gotten a nice arrangement of colors and was actually getting excited to try making a sweater this time.
"Alright, that'll be 6,782 yen," the cashier said as he totaled my order.
"Okay," I mumbled as I dug the money out of my wallet.
Weirdly, everything started fading to black for a moment and I blinked, passing it off as the normal dizziness I get occasionally. Then, as soon as it brightened up, everything went completely dark.
...
A bright light blinded me as my vision cleared up. Shit, did I get sent to the hospital? Things came into focus and the first thing I noticed was a net, then behind it a vaguely familiar person with a badminton racket. What the heck's going on? With a quick move of his arm, he smashed the birdie. Shocked, I swung my arm at the small, mostly harness projectile that was aimed straight at my face. With a whistle of air and a light "thunk," it flew high above the net and landed in the opposite court's corner.
"That's game!" the referee standing at the court's side announced.
Unsure of what was going on, I looked around as people started dispersing to another game and spotted my old badminton bag. Did I pass out? Am I reliving my old memories? Or dreaming? Sayu's gonna be so stressed... I made it to my bag and put my racket in and noticed a black strand of hair fall in front of my shoulder. Curious, I sifted through my pockets and found my phone. "Holy, crap, an old flip phone..." I muttered before opening it. July 4th, 2005. "Huh? 12 years ago? I must be having one hell of a flashback..." I muttered. It all feels as if it's happening now, I thought as I clenched my fist. It all felt too real, more so than any lucid dream I'd had. If this is 12 years ago, I definitely have my black and white wolf cut. That style was so sick~
"Hey, Daju, that was a great play!" I looked over to the voice and spotted a younger, more delinquent-looking Sayu. She had her old short violet hair paired with all the silver earrings and choker that she eventually ended up getting rid of in high school.
"Psh, of course, it was, There's no way I'd lose," I smirked, going easily into my old habit. I've always had high standards for myself when it came to doing stuff, just not when it gets done necessarily. To top it off, junior high was part of my peaked time. I worked out every day, so I had plenty of muscles(especially for a girl), my grades were second in my grade, and I didn't take shit from anyone. Boys my age and older would regularly start fights with me because, well, I looked like a guy. A lot of girls complain if they have flat chests, but I've taken advantage of that ever since I could remember. Thinking back on it, that's probably why I got into being a delinquent for a while.
"Tch. Showoff." I threw a glare at the guy a little ways behind Sayu. He had close-shaven black hair and was almost twice my size.
"What was that?" I growled as I stood up.
"Daju-"
"Ehhhh? Are ya deaf?" he scowled.
"Ha," I scoffed. "I just want to make sure I heard you right before I break your arm." And this is why I tend to be a recluse- so I don't have to pay for someone else's hospital bills. Having anger issues isn't good for the wallet.
"A squirt like you couldn't if you tried," he said with a smirk.
"Come on, Daju," Sayu said as she tried to drag me away by the shoulder. "He ain't worth it."
"Hiding behind your girl now? Whatever. A little pussy ain't worth it," he said before turning around.
"That's it!" I exclaimed as I dropped my bag and he turned back around with a smirk. "You want a broken arm, I'll give you one!"
"In your dreams!" he shouted as he threw a punch.
I dodged it, causing it to fly harmlessly past my face, before grabbing his arm and quickly snapping the elbow backward. After a sharp "crack," he fell to his knees, holding in a scream.
"Let's get out of here," I said, grabbing my bag.
"Was that really necessary?" Sayu sighed. Despite looking like a punk, she's always been overly worried.
"I don't deal with people's insults. Besides, he started it."
From what I remember, this was a typical day in middle school. Every other day or so, I'd play some badminton and get into a fight with someone along the line before grabbing some grub and going home. It was the time of my life.
"I'm gonna head home. Catch you tomorrow," Sayu said after we left the ramen shop.
"Yeah, catch ya later," I waved. I really am lucky to have her, I thought with a smile. She's the only one that's had the patience to deal with me all these years. She's even the one that made me get a mental screening, and it turned out that I had ADD. The meds actually help me stay on task when I remember to take them.
Eventually, as I walked home, the sun began to set. It felt nice, being out at night again.
"What the?" I muttered as three guys sprinted past me, barely managing to avoid running me over. Kids, I shook my head. After a few moments, I came up to the old park I'd play at with Take when we were little. Speak of the devil. There he was, in all of his lame glory. I mean, who gave him the bright idea that blonde looked good on him? Then I noticed a kid in front of him. He was a few years younger and had black hair. Then they shook hands. "Hey, Take!" I called out with a wave. He looked over, shocked before everything went black.
A/N- Hey guys! I recently got into this, so I figured I'd make a fanfic. I haven't read the manga yet, so it'll be based off the anime.