Monarch 2: Connections

Chapter 1 - Katsuki

Three months after the incident with Haruna's stepfather.

Haruna and her mother, Tsukasa, have settled down again. Haruna still had some trouble opening back up to her friends, Katsuki, Rekka, and Kazuyuki; but mainly she felt terrible for how she treated them. Especially Rekka.

But to Haruna's relief, Rekka and the others treated her like nothing had happened. If anything, Rekka had finally throttled down the heckling. It rarely happened, and when it did... Haruna usually started it. But Rekka was still her usual, cheerful self. Now that the four of them were on the same page again, they started going out almost every weekend. To say they spent all of their free time together would be a slight understatement.

But after a while, Haruna and Rekka wanted to spend time by themselves every once in a while. Katsuki felt slightly hurt at first... But she realized she was actually feeling slightly jealous. She could tell Haruna was growing close to Rekka... Very close. But Katsuki couldn't help but feel happy for Haruna. Rekka is nice and caring. And Katsuki knew she could trust Rekka to take care of Haruna when she couldn't.

Katsuki couldn't be terribly upset about Haruna and Rekka wanting to spend time alone, though... Because that allowed her to spend time with Kazuyuki... So it wasn't all bad. Katsuki felt at ease around Kazuyuki. She always felt wound up in a good way around Haruna. It was like Haruna was giving Katsuki an endless supply of energy when they were together. But, that wasn't the case with Kazuyuki.

Whether it was because Kazuyuki never raised his voice at all, even if he was worked up about something; or because he shared almost the exact same interests as her. Perhaps it was both.

Katsuki's childhood was like a rollercoaster. She would make herself as scarce as possible during grade school and parts of middle school. This proved difficult because of her natural blue hair and intense light blue and amber eyes. During her early days in school, it caused her classmates to be in awe of her. They'd always compliment her hair and eyes, saying how beautiful they were... But at a certain point, her classmates started to think that neither were natural. They started chastising Katsuki for trying to stand out by dying her hair and wearing colored contacts.

Because of this, the praise she was getting turned into bullying in middle school. Admiration turned to jealousy amongst the girls in her class. Katsuki went from being one of the most popular kids in her grade to the biggest loner. It made her realize how two-faced people can be.

After that, Katsuki accepted that she was better off alone... That was until a certain tall black-haired, hyperactive girl transferred to her middle school. On that day, Katsuki had been cornered by a group of delinquent kids. They were awful, saying things like she was just an attention hog and that she needed to change her looks to get people to notice her.

They went so far as to attempt to cut her hair... But they didn't get far.

"Katsuki?"

Katsuki shook her head to bring herself back to the present. She looked across the table to see Rekka and Haruna staring at her with confusion.

"Are you okay, Ka-chan?" Haruna asked. "We've been trying to talk to you for a bit now about the Autumn Festival."

"Oh..." Katsuki rubbed her eyes. "Sorry... I haven't been sleeping well lately."

"Anything on your mind?" Rekka smiled, wildly. "Maybe lost in thought about what kind of yukata to get?"

"I already have a yukata, thank you very much!" Katsuki pouted, playfully. "It's got stars and a moon on the back."

"Ohhhh!" Rekka smiled. "That sounds cute! It's fitting for your name, huh?"

"Hehe..." Haruna giggled. "I wonder how Kazuyuki will react when he sees it?"