Letters to the Present

Note: I was inspired to write this because of the anime/manga Orange. You can watch Orange on crunchyroll or kissanime, like I do! You can also read about the basic plotline on Wikipedia. Please review and enjoy~

Chapter 1: Advance→Tomorrow

The sounds of an obnoxious alarm clock filled the air, causing a groan from beneath a pile of pink bed sheets. A mop of messy red hair rose from under the covers, a pallid hand slamming down on the 'off' button of her alarm clock. Sighing, small feet touched the cold floor, shifting over to a dresser with a mirror connected to it. A purple hair brush combed through the tangled red locks, exposing the female's tired violet eyes. Her hair fell to her shoulders, now combed and presentable with a slight wave at the ends. She pulled off her pajama top and buttoned up her white uniform shirt, slipping on her blazer after pulling up her skirt. Small hands tied the light blue bow to symbolize her year and then fiddled around to put on her black knee socks. Looking at herself in the mirror again, she yawned from exhaustion. She wasn't just physically tired; she was tired of going to school. It was boring; she just sat in the back and minded to herself, sometimes going to practice her piano for leisure. But, it was all in vain—she was to become a doctor, everything else would be meaningless in the end.

"Maki-chaan! You're going to be late for school!" A feminine voice called out, causing Maki to turn to exit her room. Trudging to the door, she slipped and fell, landing flat on her butt.

"Ow!" Maki bemoaned, sighing in irritation as violet irises stumbled upon an envelope. Brows knit; the red head reached for the envelope and held it up to her face. The envelope was pink, with a rose sticker on the front, on the back read 'Maki Nishikino' in black ink—no sign of who or where it was addressed from.

Opening the letter, several pages fell and scattered all over her bedroom floor leaving only a few in her hand. The pages were a light pink with rose embroidery, black ink filling the pages from top to bottom on both sides. The front of the first page read:

Dear Maki Nishikino,

I am writing this to you from 10 years in the future. Hello, how are you? I know right now you're dreading school and wishing your parents would back off. You sneak to the music room and play the piano to your hearts' content until your mother begs for you to come home. You sit in the back of the classroom so no one will talk to you; barely speaking to anyone as you mindlessly do your work and somehow manage to get decent grades. You want something more in life, something that will make you happy and feel in control of your own life. I'm right, aren't I?

Maki stopped at that first paragraph, shaking her head and reading it over again. 10 years in the future? Who would write such a thing? This must be a joke, maybe a small drabble she wrote in class to escape boredom. Violet irises cautiously continued to read, red eyebrows knitting in confusion.

I'm right because I am you from 10 years in the future. I'm sure this will take you a while to digest, so I'll tell you the sequence of events that will happen in the next 6 months or so. Today Principal Minami will announce the closing of Otonokizaka in three years time.

"Eh—?!" Maki questioned, re-reading that exact line over and over again. How can it be abolished? Maki just got there! In three years it will shut down? "No, this is just crazy I—."

"Maki! Come on you're going to be late!" Maki's mother yelled from downstairs, casing her daughter to jolt up yet hit her head on her doorknob.

"Ow…" The red head bemoaned, rubbing her head as she glanced at all the scattered papers on the floor. "Damn it…" Maki cursed at herself quietly, scrounging around and gathering all of the letters, shoving them into her music folder and darting down the stairs.

Violet irises were glued on the piece of paper, continuously re-reading how the high school that she had just gotten into was doomed to be abolished. Maki refused to believe it, knowing this must be some prank that someone was playing on her. This was too much for her to handle! Sighing, Maki tucked the paper into her bag, but quickly stopped upon hearing the cry of a girl. Eyes squinting, she saw a ginger-haired girl collapse into the arms of her friends who repeatedly called 'Honoka-chan!' to the unconscious (and overly dramatic) girl. Purple orbs shifting from the skeptical of these girls to the sign they were blocking. Cautiously maneuvering past these girls and to the sign, it read:

Otonokizaka is scheduled to be closing

Maki's eyes widened, mouth opening a little in pure shock. How could this be? Not just how can the school close? How could this prank letter be right?! Rummaging through her bag, Maki pulled out the letter and picked up where she left off.

Otonokizaka will be closing due to the lack of enrollment in the school, which sparks the reason why I write this letter. I have so many regrets in this life, Maki. I let childish fears and inhibitions restrict me from doing what I wanted most in life—I think somewhere deep inside you know what that is too. Please Maki; do not let these mistakes and pool of regret continue to fester, do not let your future be plagued by doubt and denial. Maki paused from reading, shaking her head and running a hand through her hair. This… this was too much. This letter must be fake; and even if it wasn't—how could she possibly fix all of the mistakes that her 'past self' had made?! Maki wanted to crumple up this phony piece of paper and throw it away in the trash, forgetting it and continuing on with her life. Yet, something told her to read on and not forget about this letter—it told her to read and change her fate. Of course, Maki assumed this was just anxiety or fear talking, but she continued to read.

…Today, a second year orange haired girl by the name of 'Honoka Kousaka' will get the idea to become a School Idol. She overhears me playing the piano and singing, requesting for me to join her and her two friends Kotori Minami and Umi Sonoda in becoming a school idol. Due to my fear of rejection from my parents, I decline bluntly. She requests several times after that, in which I continue to tell her no. Eventually she asks me to be her composer and not an idol, begging for my help; I yell at her to leave me alone. Soon the group gives up on me and begins to flounder… I regret declining their offer, please Maki, do not turn Honoka away.

"School idol?" Maki questioned, moving the pink piece of parchment and pressing it against her chest. She always listened to classical music and never really paid attention to popular music, but she did remember her middle school classmates continuing to say how much they wish that they where a 'school idol'. Glancing to the side, violet irises fell upon the same group of girls as before, two frantic girls holding one girl… an orange haired girl. Taking a slow step towards the girls, her eyes fixated on the bowtie that hung around the unconscious girls' neck—a second year's bowtie. Her ears continued to hear the two girls repeat 'Honoka-chan' over and over… was this girl the one Maki turned down? Violet irises glanced back to the paper she peeled from her chest, continuing to read.

…Please go research what school idols today, I know you don't know what they are—but you will. There is an idol research club ran by one person, named Nico Yazawa. Nico is very important to me, and has always wanted to be a school idol. Nico is not with us anymore, please meet her and speak to her for me. Also, please do not forget to go play in the music room today, just listen to Honoka before you turn her away.

Sincerely, Maki.

The first side of the page was finished, causing Maki to ponder on what to do next. Nico isn't with us anymore? What could that possibly mean? Before she knew it, the school bell began to ring, signaling all the students to head to their classrooms. The two girls reeled this 'Honoka' away to the infirmary, leaving Maki stranded in the hallway. She turned to head to her classroom, but the ink that was smeared all over the letter from her future was also imprinted into her mind, unable to be erased. Before she knew it, Maki dashed off the opposite way of her classroom; heading to this 'idol research club', wherever that was.

The redheaded girl spent thirty minutes wandering the school searching for this 'idol research club', slowly beginning to lose hope. She was already pretty doubtful of this letter in the first place, so why was she searching for this club she knew nothing about? Sighing in irritation, she stopped in her tracks and turned to leave. As she was trying to exit to return to class, she smacked into this girl, knocking both of them to the ground.

"Ow!" Bemoaning, the tsundere rubbed her butt and looked at the girl who she ran into, who was obviously annoyed.

"Watch where you're going!" The other barked, knitting her black brows. Maki studied the girl closely; she had black hair tied into pigtails, a flat chest, pale skin, red eyes, and just a small physique. "You can't just bump into super-idol Nico and not apologize!" Violet irises widened, blushing lightly as the other yelled at her. Nico…? Idol…? Maki shook her head and leaned over the other, grabbing her small hands and looking her in the eye.

"You're Nico? Can you tell me where the idol research club room is… p-please…?" She was obviously embarrassed, being a tsundere and all. But, she wanted to see just how many things her letter would get right; and so far two things it said were correct: the closing of Otonokizaka, and meeting Nico Yazawa who was claiming to be a 'super-idol'.

"Y-Yes I'm Nico!" Nico blushed and pushing the other; standing up, the raven haired girl placed her hands on her hips. "Who are you, and you still haven't apologized—rude!"

"I'm Maki, and sorry for hitting you but you'd better speak to me with some respect!" Maki barked, placing her hands on her hips as well.

"Respect?! It's respectful to apologize to people when you knock them over!" The two girls bickered for some time, before Nico huffed and headed to the room the two stood outside of. Maki's eyes saw flames once the other so rudely ignored her and walked into the other room.

"Hey! I'm talking to you—!" Violet orbs widened upon looking around at all the décor in the room. A shrine of young girls with microphones, names, frills, everything girly and musical was sprawled out all over the room. These were idols…? "Is this… the idol research club…?" Maki spoke in awe, eyes finally falling on the super-idol.

"Yes, all things idol are here! Why would you want to know?" Nico spat, narrowing her eyes at Maki. The red head narrowed her eyes in response, opening her mouth to give some back handed comment, but she was interrupted by the ringing of the final bell, signaling for the students to leave and return home. The red headed girl turned and left, leaving Nico bewildered.

Maki sat on the piano bench, hands shakily hovering above the keys. Ever since this morning when she read the letter, her mind has been a jumble. Maki used to play without a care in the world, but now she's been all over the place and too scared to play. Idols? Her future self writing to her? This is too much… way too much. Maki reached for the piano cover to close it and just… be done for the day, but something tugged at her to play. Maybe it was anxiety; maybe it was fear, but something inside made her slam her fingers on the keys. Her hands trembled as she began to play a simple melody, mouth opening as she began to finally sing.

"Aishteru Banzai…" The words flew out of her mouth like little birds, fingers beginning to play more smoothly. She was interrupted by the clapping from outside of the room; immediately looking over to who had made her stop. It was a ginger haired girl with a second year bowtie—Honoka! Maki darted up and opened the door, letting out an embarrassed: "W-What are you doing?!"

"Be a school idol with me!" Honoka cut right to the chase, holding onto Maki's hands.

"E-Eh?! N-No!" The Nishikino barked, stepping back from Honoka and crossing her arms.

"B-But—."

"P-please leave! I don't… I don't like when people watch me play!" Honoka looked crestfallen, staring at the other girl and sighing; bowing and making her exit. The imprint of the message her future self flashed in her mind again, causing Maki to cringe and blush from embarrassment. Goddamn it… sighing, the tsundere let out a: "Wait!" to Honoka, which caused her to turn around.

"T-tell… tell me more about this…s-school idol…stuff…"

Note: I hope you all enjoyed this, please review, it means a lot to me!