KONEKO-CHAN: HOMECOMING
EP1: "WAKING UP"
It has been 3 years since the events of Nyan~ Neko Sugar Girls, life remains the same as usual.
But for one burgundy-haired catgirl, things have changed differently; Life now consists of painful sorrows, unbearable lonesomeness, and depression.
Ever since she lost her greatest friend, life has been bleak and full of grey colors...until now; For Amaterasu's will is a strange thing indeed.
(Fade in to a shot of a small, humble house resting near a little quiet stream. The sounds of crickets and the stream flowing can be heard.)
(Slowly zoom into the house, the sound of a TV can be heard in the background.)
(Cut to the TV playing a commercial of dancing sushi)
(Slowly zoom out to reveal a dark, unkept living room)
(Cut to the Tv. The commercial ends and it starts playing the national anthem of America-Japan with its flag waving in the background. It then cuts to static)
(Cut to a alarm clock on a table. It has the time of 12:29. Suddenly the clock starts ringing like no tomorrow)
[BEEEP][BEEEP][BEEEP]
(Cut to a first person view of koneko)
(Koneko slowly opens her eyes, first thing she sees is the alarm clock. she tries to turn it off but she is disoriented by the blinding light of the television. She goes to rub her eyes)
(Zoom out of Koneko's eyes to see her laying on a dirty green couch, rubbing her eyes and yawning.)
(Koneko then smashes her palm on the clock, shutting it off for the night)
"Oh despertador, ¿Por qué debes llamar tan tarde?"
(Koenko stretches around for a little bit before resting herself on the couch)
(Koneko looks different; now with bags under her eyes, tangled hair, and so forth.)
(Suddenly her stomach rumbles in hunger, koneko being slightly surprised by how loud it was)
"Debería comprobar lo que tengo en la nevera..."
(Koneko gets up and walks to the kitchen, avoiding any junk on the floor)
(Cut to koneko entering a dark and unkept kitchen. On a countertop is a cracked framed picture of koneko, raku, and hitoshi in a event of some kind.)
(Cut to a inside view of a fridge. The inside is practically empty with only a bloated can of tuna remaining)
(Koneko opens the fridge, grabs the can of tuna and closes the fridge)
(Cut to koneko pulling out a chair and sitting next to the countertop. She opens and can and gags at its horrible smell.)
(Despite that, she starts eating it with her fingers as quickly as she could.)
(She then looks up at the framed picture and stares at it silently, putting the tuna can down)
(Flashbacks of greater days fill her mind in contrast of her current days of depression; Flashbacks of her crying on the countertop, her lying on the couch all alone, and other similar flashbacks then fill her mind.)
(Koneko tears up, then starts to sob silently. She felt a all too common pain in her heart; Loneliness. At this rate, she longed for anybody to tell her that things would be okay)
(Cut to a few moments later, Koneko is thinking to herself while looking outside a window at the moonlit sky.)
"Oh Amaterasu, My kokero wishes to go on no more... Im tired of being sad...Im tired of being alone..."
(She turns away from the window)
"Im tired of living..."
(Koneko walks out of the kitchen and back to the living room where she lays on the once more)
(She looks up at the ceiling, pondering to herself. Her face is blank, empty of joy)
(For a moment, all is silent.)
(Then, koneko turns her gaze to a small stone statue of Amaterasu up on the top of a shelf.)
"..Maybe you can help me"
(Cut to koneko placing down the small stone statue of amateratsu on the table. koneko places 3 candies and some tinder inside a bowl carved into it)
"Take these sweets as a offering, my mistress."
(Koneko puts her hands together and she starts to pray)
"Oh my mistress, i come to you in my time of need for i have no one else to go to... I only ask for 3 things..."
(Koneko starts to close her eyes and starts to tear up)
"I want to know if r-raku-chan is happy where she is.. She was so y-young, but she left so soon from this world..."
(Koneko tries to wipe off her tears)
"I want hitoshi to find peace... he must be hurting as much as i am, nya. It wasnt his fault.."
(Koneko looks up, tears in her sad eyes)
"L-last thing i w-want is a-a sign, my mistress! I-i want to know h-how to m-move on! but h-how!? how can i move on?! I got no one!!"
(She tries to hold in her tears and sits herself back on the couch.)
(Koneko stares at the static on the Tv for hours on end, changing positions on the couch many times)
(After awhile, she is seen just staring at the floor. Out of sheer boredom she picks up a crumpled newspaper and uncrumples it.)
(She starts reading it, flipping pages before noticing something; A airline coupon to a to old homeland; Catampas.)
(Koneko raises the newspaper closer to herself and straightens herself on the couch. She raises her eyebrow in questioning)
"Amerjipan Airlines is offering a one-way flight to catampas for only.."
(A Look of surpise fills her face)
"83600 Yen?! I cant even afford to pay electricity anymore..."
(She crumples, then throws the newspaper. She then grabs a bottle of whiskey and chugs it down)
"...Why that much denero? I remember catampas being a poor place"
(Cut to koneko pulling out a somewhat old laptop and turning it on. She then opens a internet browser and opens up to a search engine; Toogle. She types away)
{CLACK TAKKA TAKKA CLACK TAK TAKKA}
(The screen displays several news articles; "Catampas; Worlds fastest growing nation", "Catampas; A new Economic Superpower?', "Catampas to be richer than the Dubai Emirate in less than 10 years?' and so forth.)
"This isn't the catampas i remembered..."
(Koenko gets up and walks to a nearby safe. She takes out a key from under a pillow and opens the safe with a satisfying click.)
(The inside of the safe is nearly empty; only a small pile of yen, a picture of raku-chan, and a scrapbook old as koneko-chan)
(Koneko gently grabs the book and takes it out before closing the safe. Cut to koneko sitting herself down on the couch with the book on her lap)
"Maybe this book can refresh my memory..."
(Koneko puts her hand on the cover of the book. It is incredibly worn and has the words "Recuerdos familiares" on it)
(Koneko opens the book. Koneko flips through pages full of pictures of her childhood in catampas. Some pictures are of teenage koneko working with her cocker-spaniel father in a field of rice, a picture of her as a child on a bench with her sister eating popcicles, and many other pictures of her life in a poor, rural town)
"This is the Catampas i remember, i even remember selling our work donkey just for 3 bags of cornmeal when i was just a little gatita!"
(Koneko puts away the book and continues with her search. She types in the name of her hometown; Osatan, and little is shown except its location, a few outdated news articles, and how it is currently rather poor)
"I guess nothing has changed after all these years then."
(Koenko chuckles to herself and smirks. Her ears perk up in slight happiness.)
(She then notices a article that's only a few hours old, her curiosity grows and she clicks on it)
(She reads it for a sec, then she gasps in surprise)
"A-A holy temple in construction?! And they want shrine maidens for hire once its complete?! This has to be a coincidence!!"
(She quickly turns to the statue of amateratsu; Smoke can be seen coming from the ashes it holds.)
(She then picks up the statue in a burst of joy)
"This is a sign from amateratsu! I knew i wasn't truly alone after all!"
(Koneko holds the statue close to her face and starts rubbing her face against it, purring loudly)
(She then stops out of embarrassment and blushes.)
(She picks up the newspaper and looks at the coupon again; staring at the price of the plane ticket. The price still overwhelms her)
"Even though you gave me a sign, How would i be able to pay for such a thing..."
(She puts down the newspaper, lays on her back and stares at the ceiling. For a moment, she has no idea what to do.)
(Then, a idea fills koneko's head. she then gets up from the couch in revelation)
"¡SÉ LO QUE DEBO HACER!"
(Cut to a back view of koneko staring at everything in her home. She laughs in joy as she now knows the will of Amaterasu in its fullest)
(She calms her laughing)
"Ill start when you raise the morning sun the morning sun. Okay, nya?"
(She plops herself down on the couch and sleeps, a smile in her face)
(Fade to black)
(Fade in to a small stack of papers with the title of "DEED OF HOME OWNERSHIP".)
(Slowly zoom out of the stack of papers. It is the afternoon and koneko can be seen moving boxes of junk into nice rows.)
(In the garage sale is pretty much everything she has ever owned; from her couch to her fridge. Everything has a tag with a price with small happy face stickers.)
(At the driveway is a big sign in bold letters that state; GARAGE SALE, NYA. EVERYTHING MUST BE SOLD!!! :3)
(Cut to koneko placing down a box of junk, then proceeding to sit down on a small folding chair. She has a pitcher of ice cold green tea in her hand)
(Suddenly, a small electric car pulls over on the drive way. A rather busty figure exits the car)
"KONEKO CHAN, ARE YOU HAVING A GARAGE SALE?"
(It was Vet-Sama)
(Vet sama can be seen wearing a rather tight white t-shirt that doesn't really hide much and a fashionable pink uniform for her vet days.)
"Oh buenos dias, Vet-sama!"
(Koneko gets up to show Vet-sama the stuff she plans to sell, but out of nowhere vet-sama hugs koneko-chan tightly, boobs right next in koneko-chans face.)
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN 3 YEARS! ARE YOU DOING ALRIGHT?"
"I-im fine! Really!"
(Koneko tries to push Vet-sama away slightly, but fails due to Vet-Sama's grip)
"IM SO GLAD YOU'RE OKAY"
(Vet-sama stops hugging koneko chan and then pats her on the head in a playful manner.)
"I-im fine Vet-sama. Ive just been busy with... things"
"I UNDERSTAND, KONEKO. WE ALL HAVE THINGS TO DEAL WITH"
"Yeah... Yeah we do.."
(Konkeo turns to the stuff for sale)
"As you can see, im going to sell all my things including my home"
"WHY SO?"
"Well, i want to start a new life vet-sama. i asked amateratsu herself and gave me a sign"
(She takes the coupon from her pocket)
"They're opening a holy temple in my childhood hometown and they want shrine maidens! This is amateratsu's will and i will follow it till the day raku-chan stands by my deathbed. You get what i mean?"
"YOU'RE VERY DEDICATED TO AMATERATSU, AND I CAN APPRECIATE THAT. BUT WONT YOU GET HOMESICK LEAVING RED OAK TOWN?"
"Its amateratsu's will, vet-sama. And we can still talk using Skerp"
"SKERP?"
"Yeah! we can talk to each other face to face from anywhere"
(Koneko takes out her laptop. It displays koneko's account with only one contact)
"...THINK YOU COULD SHOW ME HOW IT WORKS?"
"Its easy! First you start by-"
(A alarm noise can be heard from vet-samas shirt pocket. she pulls out a brand new smartphone and gasps)
"I GOT TO GO! ITS ALMOST OPENING TIME!"
(She gives koneko-chan a small hug before hopping in her electric car and waving at koneko)
(Vet sama drives off of the driveway and onto the distance. koneko sighs and goes back to work.)
(Cut to a timelapse of her moving things, selling things, counting money, and resting a bunch of times.)
(End timelapse and cut to a open kawaii lunchbox full of yens and coins. nearly everything has been sold)
"Your almost there koneko.. your almost there..."
(Cut to the deed of ownership resting on a table. Zoom out to koneko and a another person making a deal.)
(The other person writes koneko a check and walks off, whistling)
(Koneko sits down on the folding chair and looks at the evening sky. In one of her hands, a check. and in the other a pitcher of tea)
"Im so tired... but ive finally done it."
(Koneko rests for abit, satisfied of her achievement. Near koneko is a travel bag, packed to the brim.)
(Koneko gazes at the sunset for abit, then getting up and putting on her travel bag.)
(She walks to the boundaries of her house, and looks at it one last time, then walks to the evening horizon)
(Fade to black)
(Fade into a moonlit sky)
(Cut to koneko, she is walking down a lone, quiet highway by herself. She is humming a familiar 80s tune with a smile on her face)
(Koneko stops and looks up at a large green road sign that reads; OSAKA: 80 KM With some graffiti on it. Koneko grabs a map from her pocket and looks at it.)
"By the time i get there this coupon will probably expire..."
(Koneko sighs)
(Koneko puts the map away and looks at the sign again. At first the thought of her walking 80 Kilometers would be a daunting task, but then a idea cracks her head; Instead of walking, why not ask for a lift?)
(Cut to koenko standing by the sign with her thumbs up as high as they can be.)
(Cut to a timelapse of cars passing by her without a second thought. Koneko tries to get their attention, but fails in many attempts)
(End timelapse)
(Cut to koneko sitting down near the sign on the grass, still holding out her thumb. She looks around her; nobody in sight)
(Koneko sighs and slowly puts her arm down in defeat. She then lies against the sign and puts the backpack to her side. She slowly starts to close her eyes to sleep.)
(Then the sound of a car pulling over awakens koneko. She looks up)
(Its vet-sama's small electric car. Vet sama rolls down her window and pokes her head out slightly.)
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE ALL ALONE KONEKO-CHAN?"
"O-oh Vet-Sama! Im just trying to get to Osaka, but my legs just couldn't keep up anymore"
"WELL YOU GOT A VERY LONG WAY TO GO TO OSAKA, KONEKO-CHAN. COME, ILL TAKE YOU TO OSAKA."
(Koneko gets up and walks over to vet-samas car. She opens the door and enters. The car then drives off)
(Cut to the inside of the car)
(For a few seconds there is nothing but the sound of the car driving, but then vet-sama starts small talk)
"SO ARE YOU HEADING ANYWHERE IN PARTICULAR IN OSAKA?"
"Take me to the airport, i don't want to be late for the flight"
"TO THE AIRPORT IT IS!"
(Koneko looks outside the window to the view of the nighttime japanese landscape. Vet-sama turns on the radio to the tunes of the now popular City-Pop)
"HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WALKING FOR KONEKO? RED OAK TOWN IS VERY FAR FROM OSAKA"
"Not sure. But i can say for certain that poor my feet hurt and my back is terribly sore. What about you, nya?"
"I WAS JUST GOING FOR A NIGHTTIME DRIVE, IT CALMS THE MIND FROM THE STRESS OF TODAY."
"Does it now?"
"YEP. BUT ITS ALWAYS NICER WITH A FRIEND."
(Koneko chuckles softly)
"Then i might do it too someday!"
(Koneko looks at vet-sama and she smiles, ears perking upwards)
(Cut to a landscape shot of the road and the car driving into the horizon, city-pop fills the air with its tone)
(Display title card: {KONEKO-CHAN: HOMECOMING}
(Cut back to koneko staring out the window, The city of osaka can be seen the distance glowing brighter than anything in the distance)
(Cut to the old styled radio. It reads FM 1.67 TOP HITS OSAKA RADIO)
[YOU ARE LISTENING TO: TOP HITS 2013. Good night osakans! Im your host, Hatsune Mika and i have to say that song fits perfectly for a good ol drive around downtown osaka! Weather is crisp and clear and traffic is low. Next up; A song by famous group WHAMMY! and their top hit; Enjoy what you like right after these messages]
(Cut back to koneko)
"Hey Vet-Sama?"
"YES?"
"Far much farther to Osaka?"
"NOT MUCH FARTHER, KONEKO-CHAN. WE SHOULD BE EARLY FOR YOUR FLIGHT"
"Good to know. I dont want be to stranded in a airport without a home"
"WELL YOU KNOW.. IF THINGS DONT TURN OUT I COULD ALWAYS LET YOU STAY WITH ME"
"Wait wha-"
(A phone rings; blaring out its ringtone of a baby laughing)
"ILL GET THAT"
(Vet-sama pulls her phone from her shirt pocket and hold it to her ear)
"MEI NORTH SPEAKING HOW MAY I HELP YOU?"
(A familiar voice can be heard from the phone. Koneko looks at vet-samas phone in surprise)
"Heyyy whats going on thiss radical night? Nya, rawr."
(Wham Rap! (Enjoy what you do) starts playing in the background)
"OH NOT MUCH HITOSHI-SAN. JUST DRIVING AROUND AGAIN, YOU KNOW HOW IT GOES"
"Sounds pretty smooth, Mei. Anything else goin on?"
"THAT, AND IM CURRENTLY HAVE A OLD FREIND WITH ME"
"Mind if i speak to them?"
"SURE THING HITOSHI."
(mei passes the phone to koneko. koneko grabs it and holds it next to her ear)
H "So whos the cool cat i am speaking too this fine night, hmm?"
K "H-Hitoshi? Is that you?"
H "Of course it is koneko-chan! Where have you been these past 3 years?"
K "Well, these past three years ive been.. lost shall we say. But now i have found direction. How about you Hitoshi?"
H "Oh im fine koneko, me and geoff have become closer then ever. And we even adopted a very desu koi fish as a pet!"
K "Does it have a name?"
H "His name? hmmm.... Oh yeah! his name is Salmon and hes such a big boy! But boy does he love to jump out of his fish tank! Oh and let me introduce geoff to you, im sure he would be excited to talk to you!"
(Hitoshi can be heard telling geoff to come talk to koneko.)
G "Sorry hitoshi, but i gotta feed Salmon tonight. You know how hungry that boy can be"
H "alright then dude. Sorry, but geoff is busy right now. Maybe you can talk to him another time koneko-chan?"
K "Whenever hes available then. Say, i remember seeing you at the local IKE-"
(A loud wet splat can be heard, geoff starts panicing)
G "HITOSHI SWEETIE THE FISH ESCAPED AGAIN!!!"
H "OH FRICK I GOTTA GO WRANGLE THE RASCAL BACK TO ITS TANK AGAIN! ILL TALK TO YOU LATER KONEKO-CHAN!!!"
(The call ends, Both Mei and koneko start laughing at the rather absurd situation.)
"Must be alot of work to deal with a koi fish, huh?"
"IVE HANDLED A LOT OF FISH BEFORE, BUT NEVER A KOI FISH"
(Koneko looks to up Vet-Sama)
"Say, you never told me your name was Mei North"
"YOU NEVER ASKED. AND BESIDES, I LIKE BEING CALLED VET-SAMA. IT ROLLS OFF THE TOUNGE"
"I think you have a beautiful name, Mei. Its lovely"
(Mei slightly blushes)
"T-THANKS KONEKO-CHAN"
"Just being honest!"
(Cut to a montage of the car entering a tunnel, then shots of it passing though the Cassette-Futurist city of Osaka in its full glory)
(End montage and cut to the car parking in a parking building.)
(Cut to the inside of the car. Koneko is checking her backpack for everything she needs for the trip ahead.)
"B-BEFORE YOU GO KONEKO-CHAN, TAKE THESE FOR WHEREVER YOU GO"
(Mei passes koneko a first-aid kit, 25 dollars, and a peice of paper with both hitoshi's and her number on it.)
"Thanks mei, i will be saving these for sure!
(Mei starts to sniffle. Koneko looks at may in confusion)
"Why are you crying mei? ill be sure to call you whenever i can!"
"I-ITS NOT THAT KONEKO"
(Mei grabs koneko and hugs her like no tomorrow. Mei rests her head ontop of konekos, then she caresses koneko's tangled hair gently)
"IM NOT SURE HOW TO DESCRIBE IT, BUT I WILL MISS YOU DEARLY KONEKO. YOULL BE ALL ALONE WITH NOBODY TO ACCOMPANY YOU..."
"I-i wont be alone! i-i got amateratsu by my side, she will guide me like she has guided you through life, Okay mei?"
"A-ALRIGHT. I T-TRUST BOTH YOU A-AND YOUR WILL IN AMATERATSU TO KEEP YOU SAFE... Y-YOU GOT THAT?..."
(Mei ends the hug, then grabbing konekos head and kissing her on the cheek softly like a mother would)
(Mei finally lets go of koneko. Koneko grabs her backback, opens the door gets out of the car, with anticipation in her eyes.)
(Koneko then closes the car door)
(Mei rolls down the window and looks at koneko)
"TAKE CARE, KONEKO-CHAN. BE SURE TO CALL ME, OKAY?"
"Understood. Sayonara, Mei."
(Mei rolls up the window and drives off into the exit, leaving konekos sight for good.)
(Koneko is now all alone again. she sighs and makes her way to the airport)
(Cut to some shots of koneko entering the airport, buying a ticket, waiting on a chair, her waiting in line, and then her entering a 747 and talking a seat.) (Koneko looks around her, The plane is nearly empty. Soft elevator music fills the background. Koneko places her backpack aside her and she looks outside at the window; A view of the city and the airport fills the window)
"Such a beautiful sight..."
(The elevator music ends and a announcement begins)
[THANK YOU FOR FLYING AMERJIPAN AIRLINES. OUR DESTINATION IS TOHO, CATAMPAS. SMOKING IS NOT ALLOWED ON THE AIRPLANE AND FOOD SHALL BE PROVIDED FREE OF CHARGE TO THOSE WHO BROUGHT A COUPON. BUCKLE IN YOUR BELT AND BE READY FOR TAKE-OFF. ENJOY YOUR FLIGHT!]
(The lights turn off, leaving the inside of the plane dark with the lights outside the only source of light.)
(The plane soon enters a runway, and it begins takeoff)
(Koneko straps in her seatbelt and looks outside the window; watching the world go by)
(Koneko thinks to herself)
"May you guide me to greener pastures, amateratsu..."
(Slowly fade to black)
END EPISODE 1