A New Friend!

[strange desire]

The day started like any other day. I woke up and brushed my teeth. I said hello to my neighbor, Suzu Suzuki, who returned the best smile she could this early in the morning.

"Morning, Suzu!"

"G'morn'n, Ikuno," she replied. Suzu has a hard time in the morning because of her condition. But she's not the only one! I had quite a hard time too, but I'm slowly waking up.

We were both running late, though. I returned to my dorm and dressed like a whirlwind. Next I went to the common room, where I made some toast and put some jam on it. Classic high school breakfast!

By the time the toast was done, Suzu was passing by, so I gave her the second slice.

"Today's going to be a good day! You can do it, Ikuno!" I told myself.

Suzu gave a trademark hum through her toast. It was one of the cool things she did that added to her cool allure.

Class started like any other class... or so we thought! Our teacher, Mr. Tobioka, gave us all a surprise announcement.

"Everyone, please welcome your new classmate," said Mr. Tobioka.

Class 2-3 was getting a new student!

The girl entered the classroom timidly, which didn't look right. She was tall, and had strong-looking legs and arms, even through the uniform blouse. Her beautiful hair streamed behind her like flowing water, but it was messy. She looked sad and scared, and I didn't like that.

"H-Hi, I'm Miki Miura," said the new girl as she stood beside the teacher. You could tell she was scared, but you could also tell she was trying to look tough. It was working, too! She looked like she could explode right out of the blouse if she wanted to!

But she seemed really sad, so when we were supposed to clap, we all gave an extra-loud round of applause! (Except the boy with his arm in a sling because he had broken it.)

"I h-hope we can all get along," said Miki Miura awkwardly. She bowed deeply, and that's when I first saw why she had come to Yamaku because she had her hands behind her back before she bowed.

She was missing a hand. In the spot where it was missing, was wrapped bandages that were clean white, contrasting with her tanned skin. It matched the uniform blouse though, so it didn't look weird or anything.

Miki's seat was the one right behind mine! Lucky me! And since Suzu sits next to me, lucky Suzu! But Miki didn't say anything all class until we got split up into groups for an assignment. She still looked kinda sad, but kind of tough.

When the assignment was announced, I gave Suzu a wink and made a move!

"Hi there! I'm Ikuno Komaki, and this is Suzu Suzuki," I said to Miki.

"Hi," said Miki back apprehensively.

"Yo," said Suzu leaning over the back of her chair, trying to look cool again.

"Wanna work together? It'll be fun!" I said enthusiastically.

"Mmm-hmm," Suzu hummed.

"Okay," said Miki after she thought about it! Success!

We all got started. Miki had just arrived, so she wasn't really caught up with the material, but between Suzu and me, we got it all done super quick! I noticed that Miki kept her missing hand below the desk the whole time. It seemed a little hard to write without holding the paper down with another hand, but she did it!

"Thanks for your help with it, Miki," I said.

"Yeah, thanks," she said back.

Not long after that was lunch time. Suzu and me weren't done being nice to Miki though! So I asked her to eat lunch with us. She said yes!

And when someone arrives at a new school, you have to take them to the roof! It's tradition!

"Welcome to the roof!" I bellowed when we got there.

"Wow!" Miki gasped. She had just arrived, so she didn't have a lunch with her, so me and Suzu shared ours with her.

But mine was from a vending machine...

And so was Suzu's...

"But lunch always tastes better with friends!" I said.

Suzu nodded while she munch, munch, munched on her bread. I let Miki sit on the seat with Suzu while I sat on the ledge against the fence. It's a narrow ledge but it wasn't too bad because I've got kind of a big butt. Miki ate really fast, almost as fast as Suzu, and it seemed like they were going to race each other, but it was such a nice day they decided to relax instead.

Suzu had to take a nap then since she always naps at lunch time, so she found another seat and laid down on it and used her bag for a pillow.

"Good idea Suzu!" said Miki and then she laid down on her seat too!

I wasn't sleepy so I watched people walking around the grounds from the fence. The roof is really high up, so it's kind of scary sometimes, but not always. There's a broken piece of the fence where someone could fall through if they got too close.

"What a good day!" I said.

Classes started again after that. We didn't have another group assignment, but Miki seemed to be a little happier after lunch. She still didn't say much though...

Finally, classes were over. We asked Miki where her dorm was, and it turns out she's in another hall. Bummer!

"But, today's not done yet!" I said and gave her my cell phone number. Suzu gave her hers too.

"What should we do?" said Suzu.

"Why don't we







- -- --- -- -

The rest of the page is blank. I think I can see why; the handwriting has been steadily getting worse over the last half page, like she couldn't keep her hand steady anymore. Not surprising, after she had to be helped to the nurse's office.

I close the notebook and lay it in my lap. For a few minutes, I try to make sense of what I've just read. Maybe I shouldn't have read it in the first place. I saw my name on the page and just couldn't stop from there. Maybe ignorance would be bliss, but then again, I'm not sure I'd want to spend the rest of the year not knowing that she's been doing... this.

I knew this girl was strange. We've sat next to each other for two months and barely said more than "hello" between us. I mean, we're all a little strange around here, but she's a stranger in a strange land. All she does is write in this notebook, all day, and this is what she's been writing?

You know what's scary about this? It's not that she wrote a story about some imaginary friendship with me and the new girl. I get that; being lonely can do weird shit to people, I know. What I'm really surprised by is how right she is.

'Cool allure' aside, she's got me down, even down to that stupid slur I have when I've just woken up. I can't really disagree with how she's got me acting here besides the fact that I'm speaking to her. But it's weird; I've only ever heard someone use that impression of me to make fun of me. This doesn't feel like that at all. It's not a joke. I'm not a joke.

And then there's Miura, too. She's been here less than a week, but all of those little ticks are right; again, aside from talking to anyone.

The only thing that isn't real is the main character. The girl that sits next to me is not the same girl as in these pages. This is so creepy.

But despite that, I open the notebook again and scan the pages one more time. It's maybe even worse the second time through, but at the end I'm left with one lingering thought: What happens next?

I'm literally reading creeper fanfic about myself, and yet I want to know where it's going. I wish my life were this exciting! Waking up with a smile, saying "Hi!" to a neighbor, eating lunch on the roof with classmates; sounds great. That reminds me, it's time for me to go unconscious again today.

I'd better get back to my room before I throw my schedule off. I'll have to return this notebook. Maybe after my nap. Definitely after my nap. Poor girl will probably be lost without it after she gets out of the nurse's office. She should put her name on it so someone doesn't mistake it for mine again. What a wake-up gift, huh?

I'll bring it to her later. Maybe I'll say hello. Maybe I'll invite Miura too, since she's the star of our story. Seems like an awful lot of trouble to stir up, though.

Maybe that would be a bad idea. Maybe not.

[brythain]

*grin* now that's a wonderful new idea! it's amazing how many exclamation marks she uses! what a way to introduce a new character! (well an old one who never gets any exposure!)

[Mirage_GSM]

Well, to be honest I wasn't impressed - until the twist came along.
That was really interesting.

Seeing how Ikuno reacts to getting the notebook back would be interesting as well, but this is probably fine staying a one-shot.

[Gajzla]

Well, to be honest I wasn't impressed - until the twist came along.
That was really interesting.

Seeing how Ikuno reacts to getting the notebook back would be interesting as well, but this is probably fine staying a one-shot.

I had the same reaction, until I read the twist now I'm depressed =p It's good to see ikuno getting some more love.

[AntonSlavik020]

Well, to be honest I wasn't impressed - until the twist came along.
That was really interesting.

Seeing how Ikuno reacts to getting the notebook back would be interesting as well, but this is probably fine staying a one-shot.

I had the same reaction, until I read the twist now I'm depressed =p It's good to see ikuno getting some more love.

Same. I was very meh at best at this story until the twist. That made it really interesting.

[strange desire]

Thank you all for reading. I was worried about the length of the first part; glad to see it wasn't too long.

Seeing how Ikuno reacts to getting the notebook back would be interesting as well, but this is probably fine staying a one-shot.

The original idea came from a larger project involving Ikuno. I spread myself too thin and stalled out on it, but I don't consider it dead yet.

what a way to introduce a new character! (well an old one who never gets any exposure!)

It's good to see ikuno getting some more love.

And this was the inspiration. Exactly zero fan art in the Mishimmie and nothing in the Library despite sitting next to the Most Popular Secondary.

[Gajzla]

And this was the inspiration. Exactly zero fan art in the Mishimmie and nothing in the Library despite sitting next to the Most Popular Secondary.

I think some people are put off by her being a Cameo. I admit I only chose to include her in my fanfic because I liked her eyes. (That sounds a lot more creepy than it is) and that diabetes gives you a beautifully varied list of symptoms to play with. Though I always thought she was the student with one thumb mentioned in the VN. It wasn’t until I read the wiki and looked at the picture closely that I realised she wasn’t =D

Happy to hear you plan to continue this, looking forward to the next part.

[transient wonders]

Wow, what an amazing plot twist there! That sudden shift completely caught me by surprise. Pretty sad twist, of course, but intriguing for sure. I did not really care much for Ikuno before reading this story and... I still don't really care that much for her, but she interests me a bit now. I definitely look forward to reading more about Ikuno if you decide to continue this.

[strange desire]

I think some people are put off by her being a Cameo.

I wasn't aware of this. Zoinks! I'd love to read the source material, but it seems there's no full translation. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

[griffon8]

That was so much better than I expected it to be from the first lines. Good to be surprised every now and then.

Funny, usually for a new fic that already has commentary on it I look at the comments to decide whether or not to bother reading the fic. Glad I broke pattern so the twist was a complete surprise.

[Oddball]

Color me intrigued. (Of course you'll have to talk to Rin to figure out exactly what color that would be.)

Very nice twist on an old formula and i's always nice to see some of the lesser characters get a bit of love.

[YutoTheOrc]

Yes! I was, like many others, skeptical at first, but that twist..that twist. I can't wait to read more, I've always liked Ikuno as a Cameo and was fascinated to see how she would be played out in a fan-fic. I'm glad I wasn't disappointed!

some toast and put some jam on it

Oh the cliched breakfast

Loving it, looking forward to reading more!

[HipsterJoe]

Yay for having an unreliable narrator and an incredibly meta story premise - Katawaception. You nailed the genki girl persona for the first half, but I don't know if I could handle much more of it.