Author's Notes: So... rather than updating my other work, I'm creating a new short series. Well, actually this was supposed to be just a one-shot but it became too long for a one shot so I gotta divide them. I think this would only be 4-6 chapters long...? I'm not sure yet. But I already know where I'm going.

Distant Fields

Chapter 1:

How they met

They first met on a hot summer afternoon.

Blue long bangs unflatteringly stuck on his forehead, making him look more of a nerd than he usual was. His thick circular glasses stayed loose on his nose. His sweat-drenched shirt felt disgusting against his skin. His blue jeans felt too hot for his taste, he regretted not grabbing that ugly khaki shorts his mother gave him as a present during Christmas, but sadly he was in a hurry so he took whatever clothing he could find from his closet, completely forgetting about his comfort. His old black Converse squeaked as it rubbed against the hot-summer pavement, ignoring the way his laces were untied completely. It was a miracle that he didn't trip on it.

The bluenet stopped for a moment, taking out the blueberry ice Popsicle from the convenient store plastic bag. He ripped the plastic using his teeth, pulling out the delicious treat and shoving it in his mouth with no finesse before tossing the wrapper back in the bag. He actually had another one in there, a strawberry-flavored one, but decided to eat it later on when he arrives at his secret hideout.

You might be wondering where this so-called 'hideout' is.

Well, it's just an old children's park that was a few blocks away from his home. It was so old; he wouldn't be joking if he described it as 'ancient'. It has been there since he was in nursery. He was already 13 years of age, and you can guess that the park was obviously worn out. Most parents forbade their children from playing here, for all the 'rides' are rusty and dangerous because no one dared to repair it. And with that, this place was completely forgotten by almost everyone and most people called it as 'haunted'.

'Haunted,' The bluenet scoffed as he lick the cold dessert.

But he didn't forget. This will always be special in his life. Even if his classmates found him immature for hanging around such place, he didn't care.

It was the only place where he can be himself.

He continued walking, until he arrived at his destination. He turned and was about to enter its premises when he found a being inside his paradise.

That park, his 'secret hideout', was currently occupied by someone.

He gasped loudly, taking a quick step back as he hid behind a tree before the intruder could notice him. His felt his knees weakened and he pathetically fell down on the ground. He placed his hand on his chest, his heart was beating uncontrollably. Cheeks were flustered, could it be from the heat or from surprise that he was not sure himself.

You might think he was over-reacting. But it couldn't be help. This boy was a rather… shy individual. No, calling him 'shy' was an understatement. He was an extreme case of an anti-social and it was because of the constant bullying he received at school. If he were to choose, he would rather not attend that so-called 'place of learning' and instead lock himself inside their house, living his life as a hikkikomori.

But sadly, his household is more chaotic than the outside world.

He angrily gritted his teeth, clenching his fist. He wanted to scream; he wanted to tell that invader to get out of his property! He wanted to punch a tree and scare that person away, just so they would leave him alone.

'But sadly,' The bluenet sighed. 'I think it would do me no good to have another person added to the list of people who despised and wanted me dead.'

He crawled away in defeat, knowing immediately that this was a losing battle. There was no point even if he tried; he would just turn more of a laughing stock than what he already was. Anyway, he already knew that the thought of trying to tête-à-tête with other people would get him nowhere. If they hate him because of whom he is, then he'll let them know that he hated them more. Every single one of them are the same, all of them are just a pain in the-!

… Until the heard the sound of guitar strumming and a sweet and syrupy voice singing.

Kaigan wo midasu kaze suna no oshiro wo tsukuru, kodomotachi

Mousugu sono yume no tsuzuki ga kitto mireruwa

Tenshi ga iruno kumo no hashigo ni anatatachi wo mamotte

Kanashimi subete wa shiranakute iino mada

Blue eyes widened. Automatically, he found himself standing up in order to get a glimpse of the owner of that innocent voice. He was even more shocked to see a girl who looked much younger than him, strumming the guitar as she comfortable sat on the worn-out swing. She had red-haired that was tied in a bun, which made him wonder if it was her natural hair color or not. Her face was pale white, free from any make-up and all those girly crap. Her eyes were close; she looked so serene as she continued singing the song. She was wearing a red blouse, pink thigh-high, and pink flats. He couldn't help but take note how beautiful she looked even if she was trying to keep her appearance simple and glamour-free.

Also, he couldn't help but gape at her lusciously pale legs. What was more appealing was that she had her legs crossed to support the guitar, her skirt slightly hiked up and he could see a little bit of her striped panties.

Yukimashou nakama tachiyo ano sora wa dare no kuni

Mai agaru tamashii atsuku

Risou no sobani chikazukitai

She made one last strum before ending the song. Long lashes fluttered open, revealing golden orbs that reminded him very much of a cat's eyes. Those stunning eyes widened, for what reason he did not know.

"Hello."

It took a moment for him to realize that she was referring to him. Her speaking voice was also soft and gentle; it was somehow refreshing to hear rather than those squealing pigs he heard back in his elementary school. He blinked, pointing at himself, mouthing 'me?' The rosette chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand that she used to strum a while ago.

'Of course he was referring to you, you idiot!' He shouted internally.

"Is there anything you need from me?" She softly asked.

He gasped, thinking of what he should reply. Well, he was just planning to leave when he just heard a nice voice and the sound of a guitar and so couldn't help but check who—

Wait a minute.

Blue eyes dilated in horror, he was caught staring like a pervert!

Immediately, he spun his heels and scurried away like a rat running away from a cat. She continued calling behind him, but he completely ignored it.

That was abominable! The bluenet huffed, face was red. He continued running even if his knees felt tired from exhaustion, he was not an athletic person so simple exercises like this was too much for him to bear. I would not be surprised if a rumor has spread across the neighborhood that I am a debauched boy stalking a poor innocent girl!

When he arrived back to his house, he did not say any polite words such as 'I'm back'. He knew that his father was drunk and stinking with the smell of cigarettes, making out with a beautiful prostitute back in the kitchen. He was oblivious to his son's arrival, he also didn't care. But when he forgets the time and his wife who was exhausted from work arrives, another fight will ensue. And if he was drunk enough, he would beat his wife as if she was the one at fault for breaking his fun. This cycle has been continuously repeated in this household, every single day when he arrives in this dreaded place called his 'home'.

Call the bluenet a pathetic son for not telling his mother about his father's traitorous ways, disloyal to her when he doesn't do anything when his father beats her up. He tried it. He tried stopping this from the day he was able to walk and could speak in his clumsy infant tongue 'Tou-sama stop hurt 'Kaa-chan, until the age of 10, when his father decided to share his anger with his son, telling him if he did this again; he won't be able to walk after the next beating.

He went straight to his room and firmly locked it with its 5 padlocks. He turned his computer on and after that he plugged his electric keyboard that his mother bought when he was once again, the top of the class, and switched it to life. He took the MIDI wire from his table and connected it on the instrument as well as his computer. He comfortably sat on his computer, starting up the program he used to compose a song. He grabbed the headphones lying on his computer and positioned it on his head. After the program finished loading, he heard a gentle voice shout 'I'm back' at the front door.

He already knew what's going to happen; he immediately opened one of his projects that he had been working on profoundly. He braced himself and started counting.

3

"You good for nothing—" A voice that sounded so kind a few seconds ago sounded murderous, so loud it passed through the thick walls of his room.

2

The prostitute screamed as a plate was thrown to her face.

1

While the man yapped at his wife in slurred speech, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"

0

Before he could hear the reply of his mother, he was trapped in the world of music and a blanket of comfort wrapped around his body, assuring him that everything would be alright.

After an hour when he finished his composition, he assumed that the war outside was already over, he remembered the strawberry Popsicle inside the plastic bag. Call him stupid, but there was a part in him the hoped that it was still frozen. He took the bag that was messily thrown on the bed before pulling out the wrapped-popsicle. Without a word, he tore it open and a disgusting pink sludge fell on his pants.

It was melted.

The next time they met, she was the one that saw him first.

It was sunset, the whole place looked as if a kid decided to play around and throw orange paint everywhere— but in a good way. It wasn't that hot, it was cool actually. He was sleeping on the small rotten slide when—

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeey!"

… Someone shouted at him. His eyebrows that naturally gave him this 'mean look' were currently furrowed, making him look as if he wanted to murder someone. Eyes were bloodshot; he wasn't able to sleep last night because his parents were making more of a ruckus than usual. He rose up from his position, looking for the owner of that voice who dared ruin his sleep—

There in front of him was a girl with short red-hair, creepily smiling at him like a scientist planning to dissect his experiment.

Blue eyes widened, he jumped in mortification and he fell down from the small slide, face first. He groaned, rubbing his sore front. It wasn't such a great height, but that doesn't mean it also didn't cause him great pain. He turned around, trying to have a better look of the girl who scared the shit out of him. He immediately glared when he realized who it was.

"You." He snapped back venomously, the petite girl was taken aback.

Of course, he didn't plan to sound so menacing. He tried to sound a little, but his 'little' seemed to scare most children and most of his classmates tell him he's a snarky asshole. But it didn't matter; he doesn't care about what they think of him. He—

"You know," She pouted, he couldn't help but notice she looked kind of adorable. "It's bad manners to leave suddenly when someone's talking to you!"

He stared at her, unable to comprehend what she just said.

"Um… okay?" He shrugged, climbing back on the slide. "What do you want me to do?"

She turned red in anger; small delicate hands were place on her hips.

"You are such a rude man!"

"I know." He nodded in agreement. "Now little kid, I don't know what you want from me but—"

"I am not a kid!" She declared, slightly offended by his words. "For your information, I will be in middle school this coming school year."

"Right. And I have a yellow Lamborghini and fucking Lady GaGa's drives me to school."

Golden eyes widened. "You do?!"

He shook his head in disbelief; he lied down again, ignoring the girl who claimed to be the same age as he.

"Hey, if you're so mature," She made a big emphasis on the word 'mature'. "Why are you hanging out in the middle of a children's park?"

He sat up once more to look at the rosette. He analyzed her from head to toe; he couldn't help but be astounded by her question and might actually believe her that they're on the same year level.

"I didn't say I was mature."

"Well, you implied."

He was very impressed.

"So what are you doing here?" She asked. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, why is she acting as if they were friends

She skipped towards the swing, only did he realize that she brought the guitar again today. It was placed on top of the swing, understandable because who would want their guitar case to be defiled by a muddy and uncared for playground soil. She brought out the guitar and started playing, he wondered if she was planning to let him speak in the first place or if she knew that he wasn't planning to reply.

He lied again on the slide, feeling sleepy with the beautiful melody she's playing. He assumed that it was her original composition for he has never heard of it before. Just as he thought that his eyelids were going to fail him, she started singing. Eyes immediately sprang back to life and he couldn't help but listen to her attentively.

dare mo nai heya de hitori (It's just me – here, in – this room, – all alone.)

shizumu taiyō o nagameru (I sit, stare – out at the setting sun.)

futo osowareru samishisa ni (Overwhelmed – by a sudden – floating loneliness,)

kuchizusa melody (I sing a MELODY.)

namae no nai sono uta ga (This Nameless Song will go, – and fill up the room,)

boku no kokoro o sotto tsutsumu (wrap around – my little heart, – a gently soothing tune.)

darenimo kikareru kotono nai (And no-one else will lend an ear – to this simple hum.)

boku dake no uta (But it's – mine, it's fine – for one)

She stared humming softly, making the same sound as the instrumental of the song.

The bluenet couldn't do anything except watch her silently, moved by such a simple yet sad song. Her composition and his composition are different by a huge degree, but there was something similar in their works: it had sincerity and sadness in them. He didn't know what her life and real personality is, but he's willing to see more of her to find a deeper sense from song.

After one last strum, she finished. The rosette peeked at him expectantly, waiting for his reaction. He wanted to say that it was beautiful, wanted to ask him she was inspired to create such heart-warming song. But sometimes, he doubts his mother that he was really a prodigy because sometimes he does stupid things that just came out of nowhere.

Just like now.

"This is my secret base." He said in a blunt voice. "You're intruding, get out of here."

What the hell?! The bluenet made the scream face in his mind and he was pretty sure he crumpled to the ground when he saw the hurt look the red-haired made after hearing what he said. His mind probably remembered her question before and he couldn't help but sputter out his answer.

Way to go on 'wanting to see more of her'… A voice inside his head said mockingly.

This is one of the many reasons why people dislike to plain despise him. He tends to say hurtful and harsh words out of nowhere even if he didn't mean it. He had this dark, depressive aura that usually scares the heck out of other people and his tone always seemed too proud and superior to the point that even adults felt offended by his nature.

He waited for the worst reaction that he can elicit from giving a bad impression to a person he just met. He waited for equally harsh words, insults and all the other hurtful things he heard from the people around him.

'Ah, why am I even trying?' He sighed. 'They'll just hate me anyway because of my personality.'

But instead, the girl became as red as her hair. She immediately stood up and placed her guitar on a black guitar case on her side. Suddenly, she started apologizing in such a high-pitched voice he couldn't help but compare her to a noisy baby rat.

"I-I-I am sorry!" She squeaked, her voice an octave higher. The zipper of the case made a crunching sound as she pulled it close. "My family just transferred here so I don't know much about this place! I didn't know which place I can go and which place was already taken. I didn't mean to barge into your personal area like this. Pleasedoforgiveme!"

The bluenet raised an eyebrow. Her… personality changed completely. It was as if the person talking to him now was different from the girl who popped out of nowhere and started harassing him. It was the first time he met someone that was equally jittery as he was. Except, he tends to sound cold and cruel while she sounded as if one mistake was going to take her life and now she's begging for forgiveness, saying her words in one go to the point she was barely understandable. He couldn't believe that she was this calm girl who was singing openly in the middle of a park a few seconds ago.

"I… it's alright." He turned away, though his voice still sounded cold. Her sudden change of demeanor somehow took him by surprise. "It's not like I own it or anything."

"B-but…" Those attractive eyes looked at him, as if it was seeing right through his soul. The bluenet, who was really uncomfortable when people looked at him, immediately flinched. She gasped, looking away as well as covering her eyes. "I am very very sorry if my eyes are disturbing you. I did not mean any harm with the look I was giving; my eyes are naturally like this. Please do forgive me, I really am—"

"Stop that." He growled, but it was just supposed to be a sigh. How it turned this way, that he didn't know. "Don't apologize."

She blinked, before looking down at the ground. "People told me that my eyes are offending." She whispered.

"Well," The boy rolled his eyes. "They're jerks. I think your eyes are pretty, they're the ones who are offending for saying such harsh words."

Says the boy who just said something equally rude a while ago.

"Really?" Eyes widened, slightly embarrassed by his compliment. But immediately the cheerfulness faded away. "But why did you react like that?"

Finally, he looked at her. Though it was painfully hard for him, he tried his best to make eye contact.

"I just have difficulties with people looking at me. Usually, all they give me are scorns, which made me look away because it got stuck inside my mind that people would only look at me poorly. So even when people give me kind looks, I either automatically make a face or just turn away. Most people I met find me offending. And if you got hurt because of what I did," Finally, he broke down and looked away, scratching the back of his head. "I'm sorry."

She smiled gently at him, shaking her head.

"I'm not upset." She said. "To tell you the truth, I was shocked that someone came forward to bother reply to me when I talk to them. In the countryside, people would turn away in disgust calling me a 'freak of nature'."

He sighed.

"I guess both of us are easily judged by the people around us."

The rosette chuckled and nodded in agreement.

"So," He hummed softly, it was the same song she sang just a few minutes ago. "Why did you come here again?"

Shyly, she looked down with a blush on her pale cheeks.

"I…" She hesitated before continuing. "thought you'd be here. And I was right."

He blinked. "You were looking for me." He said it like it was more of a statement rather than a question.

She timidly nodded.

"Why?"

"I… thought we could be friends?"

He deadpanned, wondering if she was being serious or was just joking.

"Excuse me?" Did she realize that she sounded like a 7 year old?

"Because you looked like you're the same age as I so…"

"We don't like we're the same age."

She completely ignored his slightly insulting statement and continued. "But then you told me to 'get out of here' so I thought you didn't like me and my music and so I got scared and…" She stopped, realizing that she was starting to babble aimlessly.

"I noticed," He said. "That you're way of speaking changed. At first, I thought you're the same as those stupid girls at school who are nosy and imposing, but suddenly you sound like the shy type out of nowhere."

"This is my real personality." She whispered, quivering. "In my old school, I had no friends because of my personality. But then, I noticed that strong and brave girls tend to get more friends… so I tried to imitate some anime that I watched. I thought I could pull it off, but it seemed like…"

She sighed.

So we were the same. The bluenet noted. We are lonely people who only needed friends.

"Say," The boy said, for once in his life he was making a decent conversation with someone without unintentionally saying something snarky or sarcastic. Well, he already did but she easily forgave him. "You said you're new here. Want me to show you around when I got the time?"

"Y-y-you would do that?" She asked, really surprised. It seemed that rarely did she receive any kindness from anyone that she reacted like this; to the point it made him feel slightly annoyed. "For someone you only met?"

"'For someone I only met for the second time.'" The bluenet corrected.

Once again, she ignored it. "Why would you do that?" She asked curiously.

Why oh why indeed, he himself did not know the answer. Was it because he was interested with the song she just sung? Was he curious about her musical capabilities? Or was it because he felt that they had the same situation, that they are somehow, oh how cheesy this sounded even to his own ear, connected? Either way, he kept it cool and replied in a monotonous voice.

"Why not?"

It seemed like his explanation didn't matter, or she was just too happy to find a friend as soon as she transferred here in Fukuoka. She smiled at him, eyes slightly tearing up in happiness. She let her guitar down on the floor and headed straight towards him. He arched an eyebrow, wondering what she was planning to do when she gave him her hand. Blue eyes widened, surprised at the sudden friendly gesture.

"My name's Nanami Haruka." She grinned cheerfully. "Pleased to be your acquaintance, neighbor-san!"

He looked at her hand for a few seconds before reluctantly shaking it.

"Ichinose Tokiya." Was his quick answer.

"Tokiya-kun...?" Haruka said his name as if it was a funny foreign word.

Tokiya blushed.

This was the first time that a girl the same age as him called him by his first name. It made him feel tingly for some reason. Was it... happiness?

"Tokiya-kun. To-ki-ya-kun. TOKIYA-KUUUUUUUUUUUUUN-"

Okay, now she was just being annoying.

"Stop that." He growled, but this time it wasn't so convincing.

"I just can't help it!" She giggled. "You're my first friend!"

"In Fukuoka?" Tokiya raised an eyebrow.

"In my WHOLE LIFE!"

He choked on particularly nothing.

"What's wrong?" Haruka blinked innocently.

"Nothing." He whispered. You just made it sound as if I'm special or something. Tokiya shook his head. "What's the title of the song?"

It took her a moment before she replied.

"Namae no nai uta."

"Nameless Song?" He deadpanned. "Seriously?"

Haruka beamed proudly for her originality.

"… Weirdo."

"HEY!"

But sadly, a few days after that her mother filed for divorce. He was taken custody by his father, but Tokiya will be in the care of his mother during vacations. For the other half of summer, Tokiya was in Tokyo with his mother. He was also having a part time job so when he gets home he won't have to live with his father's money and as soon as he finishes middle school he could leave this God-forsaken house and transfer to Tokyo where he could live with his mother in peace.

He never thought of her once.

Author's Notes: Thank you to BoyInMegane and xxXMythiaXxx for being my first readers and giving me suggestions! Sorry, Mia, but I intended the last paragraph to be really rushed. I just want you all to feel 'what the heck?' with this one!

Reviews, favorites and alerts are always welcome!