Sunday, February 19

Weird things have been going on lately. First Touma walks in humming to himself, and saying that no matter what I say, the two of us are going to a party! Talk about strange. Then, Seiji dumps all his shoes but his three pairs of brown high-tops. Finally, e-mail came from Shuu saying that he went to America to learn Elvis Presley songs. He’s going to be performing at a restaurant that Nasuti’s partner in some project owns, right here in Toyama. I’m sighing at this moment, only because I’m tired of the paranormal. I want a normal life again!

Flashback in the mind of Mouri Shin:

The door on the three troopers’ shared apartment shut. Shin immediately looked up from the recipe book he was reading, and turned towards the blue-haired boy who had just walked in.

“Hey, Touma, where’ve you been? Did you have that much trouble finding a book to buy?”

Touma, who had his nose in a book, looked up from the pages.

“Hmm, yeah, and I met a childhood friend at the bookstore. I haven’t seen her in years!”

Shin scratched his head. Did Touma, genius and bookworm, just say he had a friend that was a girl?

“Excuse me? Did you just say your friend was a girl?”

Touma nodded and proceeded to the table where Shin was sitting. He put down his book and pulled out two small envelopes.

“What does it matter if she’s a girl or a guy? Anyway, she invited us to a party.”

“Party? Why would she invite you? You wouldn’t go unless it was some convention of bookworms.”

Touma’s face made a scowl. “Very funny, Shin, but I’m going.”

“You what?!”

“I’m going. I don’t care what you say; I’m going.”

Shin stood up and headed toward the kitchen. “Lunch will be ready shortly, so you might want to go get Seiji---“

At that same moment, Seiji poked his head through the open space by his room’s door. “Shin? Has the garbage man come yet?”

“Huh? Garbage man? No, he hasn’t passed yet. Why?

The blonde-haired boy kicked a large bag of shoes out of his room.

Touma stared blankly at the pile of footwear. “You’re throwing your shoes away?!”

Seiji nodded and proceeded towards the side door of the troopers’ apartment. “Why not?”

Shin blinked and looked down at the pork and vegetable meal he was cooking. A slight smell of smoke made him turn off the stove.

“So,” Touma asked, “what’s for lunch?”

“Hey, Touma, Seiji, check this out. I just got e-mail from Shuu. Do you want to read it?” Shin spun in his chair.

Touma stepped into Shin’s room and leaned over his shoulder. “Seiji’s busy making sure he’s not throwing away any shoes he wants, but sure, I’ll take a look.” He stooped down and peered at the screen.

“ELVIS PRESLEY?!” They both screamed out simultaneously. Seiji peeked into the room.

“Did I just hear Elvis Presley?” Shin nodded and motioned for Seiji to come read.

The blonde womanizer looked down at the text. “Elvis, huh? Hey, take a look at this. He’s performing at Osaka Dansuhooru. I’m going there this weekend.”

Touma looked up. “You’re going there, too?”

“Yeah, some girl named Ayama Sanger invited me. Do you know her?” Touma’s eyes widened.

“I don’t just know her, she’s my best friend from when we were kids! Ugh, I can’t believe she invited you. This isn’t going to be fun. Shuu singing Elvis Presley songs, you flirt with every girl in sight. The only sane things there will be me, Shin, and Ayama.”

Seiji shrugged and walked off to check his shoes.

Hey, Otaku here, that’s all for the prologue of part one of Tenku no Hashiba Touma: Atsuatsu! This is basically to set up the story and to get the setting straight. Chapter one is coming up soon!