"The Tatsumiya Junior High School Annual Date Auction"
By DarkCyradis
Edited 1.14.11

Disclaimer: Soukyuu no Fafner and all its wonderful characters, trademarks, etc, belong to the awesome people at Xebec.
Rating: G
Genre: Humor, Romance
Warnings: Spoilers for the first half of the series (this fic takes place between episodes 18 and 19 of the TV series, probably).
Pairings/Characters: This is a pretty general fic, but will contain some light, sweet SouKazu in later chapters. ;-) Please enjoy!

Chapter 1: A Naïve Promise

"Come on, Kazuki-kun, it'll be fantastic!" Yumiko cried, arms waving, hair flying, face bursting with an overbearing enthusiasm and energy that the mild-mannered Kazuki found himself utterly unable to stand up against. She bore down on the cornered Fafner pilot and flashed him her most dazzling smile. "It just wouldn't be complete without you—and it's for such a good cause, too. Say you'll do it!"

"I-I…" Kazuki stammered, wanting to voice one of the myriad doubts and questions swirling about his head, but Yumiko and her three cronies were pinning him with such expectant, exuberant gazes that he felt there was absolutely no proper response in this situation but to agree. He nodded meekly. "Okay."

"Ohhh! Kazuki-kun, you're wonderful!" Yumiko cried amidst the cheers of her intimidation squad. "Just think what a turnout there'll be once word gets out that you're participating! Oh, Kazuki-kun, you won't regret this!" Kazuki braced himself just in time as the excited women folk coalesced upon him in a brief but suffocating group hug and then subsided happily down the hallway.

"Thank you so much, Kazuki-kun! Be at the school auditorium tomorrow night at 7pm!" Yumiko called as she and her friends disappeared around the corridor's corner, their giggles echoing long after them.

"The Tatsumiya Junior High School Annual Date Auction?" Mizoguchi sputtered.

"Yep," said Fumihiko.

"B-b-but, Kazuki!" Mizoguchi cried, grabbing the boy by the shoulders and shaking him frantically. "Do you know what they'll do to you?"

"Mizoguchi, I hardly think the fourteen-year-old girls of Tatsumiya Junior High will be quite as dangerous as the Festum that my son is accustomed to battling," Fumihiko said, calmly sipping his steaming cup of tea.

Kazuki nodded in agreement. "It's not like I'm going to become their slave or something, Mizoguchi-san. I'm just supposed to take them out for one night."

"A night's a long time, kid," Mizoguchi muttered, but cut off at a warning look from Fumihiko. He sighed and released Kazuki, settling with a huff back into his place across the dinner table from his host.

"The auction is a fundraiser for the school's summer festival," Fumihiko continued. "The entire island enjoys those festivals and they give the children a chance to be creative and carefree."

"But still, Makabe," Mizoguchi said, making a visible effort to calm himself, "Don't you think this is a bit of an extraneous activity for Kazuki? I mean, as a pilot on active duty, he should probably get as much rest as he can when he's free."

"That's precisely why I'm allowing him to do it," Fumihiko said. "Times like these and chances to make memories with his friends aren't too easy to come by these days. I don't want Kazuki to miss more than he already has."

When Mizoguchi still looked doubtful, Kazuki gave him a smile and said with more certainty than he felt, "I'm sure it'll be fine, Mizoguchi-san."

"For your sake, kid," Mizoguchi muttered into his bowl of rice, "I sure hope so."

The next night at 7pm sharp, Kazuki appeared at the junior high's auditorium, where the auction was to take place. At a suggestion from Yumiko, who had called him that morning to remind him of his promise, he had switched out his usual cargo-pants-and-t-shirt ensemble for a pair of black slacks and a button-up navy blue shirt his father had bought him ages ago. Surprisingly, it actually seemed to fit the contours of his body better now than it had a year ago—quite exactly, though thankfully, not overly snugly—and even elicited a hum of approval from Yumiko when he had reported to her backstage.

"Excellent!" she said, her eyes glowing as she gave him a quick look-over. "One look at you and those girls are going to blow whatever spending limit they put on themselves tonight—I guarantee it!"

Though most of Yumiko's bidding speculation talk was quite beyond him, Kazuki nodded politely along with her until she finished with a cheerful, "Just you wait, Kazuki-kun—this is going to be phenomenal!" and sent him off with a little push to join the other "eligible bachelors" waiting in the backstage wings.

Yumiko's handiwork was impressive—she'd managed to recruit not only every male Fafner pilot, but the stars of every athletic team and club at the junior high school, the twenty-something DJs at the local radio station, and the young master of the Tatsumiya kendo dojo. The Alvis personnel gathered in one corner for solidarity. Kazuki was unsurprised to note that Soushi was the only one missing amongst them.

"Michio-san, even you got roped into this?" Mamoru was saying incredulously.

Michio sighed. "Well, apparently, even dating the coordinator doesn't give me immunity from being auctioned off the block. In fact, I was the very first person Yumiko recruited. She said it was because I was her boyfriend that I had to participate." He sighed again as the boys gave him sympathetic looks. "I just don't understand women. Don't they get jealous seeing their men with other girls?"

"Not if it's for a good cause~!" Yumiko's muffled but cheerful voice called from somewhere deeper backstage. Michio sighed again.

As the auditorium began to hum with the chatter of the girls and women who were streaming steadily in, Sakura and Canon took a moment to sneak away from their ushering duties to rally their male colleagues.

"Good crowd out there, boys," Sakura said in a conspiratorial whisper. "You won't have to do much to win them over."

"Yes, there appears to be a lot of excitement already," Canon confirmed.

"That's actually kind of what I'm afraid of," Mamoru sighed.

"Well, personally, I am looking extremely forward to this!" Kenji declared, adjusting his bowtie.

"Knowing you, you probably volunteered for the job, didn't you?" Sakura muttered, eyeing him. At Kenji's exuberant nodding, she caught him in a headlock and demanded, "And just what part of being gawked at and bought by a roomful of girls is so exciting, huh? You exhibitionist!"

"Anego~~! Ow, ow, ow, let go!" he whined as Sakura tightened her hold and noogied the top of his head, much to everyone's amusement. The laughter dispelled the light tension that had been building in the atmosphere backstage, and Kazuki briefly forgot what impending trial awaited him. But at just that moment, Yumiko came bustling onto the scene and spotted her stray ushers.

"Uh-oh," Sakura said, spotting the irate Yumiko as she gave an angry squawk and began storming toward them.

"We should return to our posts quickly," Canon suggested.

Sakura nodded. "Definitely! Well, guys," she said, glancing around the circle and giving the boys a cheering wink and smile, "you'll be great. Don't be nervous!"

Canon solemnly patted Kazuki's shoulder. "If there is a threat, we will ensure no harm comes to our fellow pilots."

Despite his nerves, Kazuki had to smile at that. "Thanks, Canon. We're counting on you."

Canon snapped her heels together and saluted smartly just before Sakura caught her arm and flew down the left wing stairs and into the auditorium again.

"Those two…!" Yumiko growled, giving up her chase as she arrived by the boys. She was looking rather splendid for the occasion as well, having donned a dazzling sequined dress since the last time Kazuki had seen her. He marveled silently at the extremely tall, treacherous-looking spike-heeled shoes she'd strapped onto her feet and watched in amazement as she not only managed to balance in them, but ran about quite freely, hassling the lighting crew and various volunteers as they finished their pre-show preparations. Finally, at about ten minutes to curtain, Yumiko and Kaname-sensei, her auction co-organizer, gathered the boys for a last-minute pep talk.

"Now, how successful this auction ends up being depends a lot on how charming you boys can be," Yumiko told them severely. "The more exciting you are up there, the higher the bidding will go. So smile, wink, dance, flirt—do your absolute worst! I am personally giving you a free pass to let your inner Lady Killers out tonight!"

"That said," Kaname-sensei cut in smoothly, "remember that this is a junior high school event and that most of the audience and bidders will be young girls. So both on stage, and on your dates, I expect you all to conduct yourselves as complete gentlemen. No racy or suggestive actions at any time, understood? " Here she flashed a warning look at Michio and the other older boys, all of whom broke into a sweat and began nodding quite vigorously to show that they understood. She also threw a sidelong glance at Kenji, though it seemed to go thoroughly over his head as he continued preening and checking his reflection in a nearby pane of glass.

With a few last instructions about curfews (the dates were to end at 9:30pm at the latest and the boys were to escort their dates to their doorsteps) and suggestions for places to take their dates, each boy was handed a blue envelope containing 3000 yen to cover the night's expenses. Kazuki tucked his into his pants pocket and wondered if he would be allowed to keep the change if they didn't use the whole amount tonight. His father wasn't much of an allowance-giver, and Kazuki felt guilty spending their grocery funds for items for himself. It was just, lately, he found himself craving a certain type of juice sold in the vending machines inside Alvis once in a while, and often passed by one wishing he had some spare change.

Well, drinking too much sweet stuff probably isn't good for me anyway, Kazuki thought. Truth be told, he'd never been much of a juice-drinker, but—and perhaps it had more to do with the comfort it had given him in the midst of a stressful situation—there was just something about that juice Soushi had bought him during their odd little "talk" that he really liked. In fact, he sort of wanted some right now.

Just as his train of thought was leading quite naturally to its usual, brown-haired, gray-eyed terminus, the house lights went down and the anticipatory buzz of voices in the audience tapered off. Yumiko tossed a last wink and wave over her shoulder at the boys and then strutted out under the stage lights.

"Welcome, everyone, to the Tatsumiya Junior High School Annual Date Auction!" her magnified voice declared over a welcoming roar of applause. "I'll be your host and auction master for the evening, Toomi Yumiko! Thank you so much for coming out to our auction tonight—as you know, this fundraiser provides the funding for a number of school and community activities, including the summer festival…" Yumiko's voice continued rattling off the many excellent events and activities that the night's proceeds would go toward, but Kazuki had stopped paying attention when he noticed Mamoru and Kenji standing near the curtains, fussing excitedly over something. Upon looking up and spotting Kazuki watching them, Mamoru waved him eagerly over.

"Check out that crowd!" Mamoru whispered. He stepped back to reveal a small peephole that had been cut into the curtain. He held up a small flap that apparently lay over the hole normally and gestured for Kazuki to take a look.

When he peeked out, Kazuki was surprised to see that not only were most of the tiered seats in the back completely filled, the entire floor in front of the stage where plastic folding chairs were usually set out for graduation ceremonies and the like, was packed full of more audience members standing up.

"Standing room only!" Mamoru chuckled. "We're like rock stars!"

"And there are so many cute girls out there!" Kenji sighed happily. "It's like a dream come true!"

"Yeah, I wonder who I'll be taking out tonight," Mamoru said thoughtfully. "I've never been on a date before."

Kenji elbowed him slyly. "Anyone in particular you're hoping will bid for you?"

Mamoru thought for a moment then said, "Maybe that girl Tomoko from Class 2? I think she's a manga fan too, so at least we'd have stuff to talk about together."

Kenji sighed. "Mamoru, talking about manga is the last thing you should be doing on a date!" He brightened again and threw an arm around Kazuki's shoulders. "How about you, buddy? Anyone in particular you're hoping will win you?"

"Anyone in particular?" Kazuki shrugged. "Not really."

"Oh, come on!" Kenji persevered. "No one at all? Not even a certain brown-haired cutie with an adorable voice?"

Kazuki blinked. When Kenji had said "brown-haired," the first person he had thought of was Soushi, but Soushi didn't have a particularly beautiful voice. Strong and resonant, perhaps, but Kazuki wouldn't have called it adorable. As for Soushi being a "cutie"…

Misreading the bewildered look on his friend's face, Mamoru shoved Kenji's arm off and patted Kazuki's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, man. No one ever understands what this perv is talking about."

"Perv?" Kenji cried.

"Shh!" Kaname-sensei had appeared behind them and was glaring at them as she held a finger to her lips.

"Sorry!" Kenji and Mamoru whispered, bowing repeatedly until she sighed and strode off again.

"Hey, wet-nosed brats," Michio called teasingly to them in an undertone. "Better settle down—the bidding's about to start!"

"Ooh, who's up first?" Kenji asked as they rejoined the line of boys standing near the stage entrance.

Michio shrugged. "No idea—it's up to Her Majesty's whimsy of the moment, apparently." He made a face. "She calls it 'feeling out the crowd.'"

"Well, whatever she feels out of them, I hope she won't call me up first," Mamoru said, suddenly looking nervous again. "I hate having to go first at anything."

Naturally, Yumiko's bright voice burst out at just that moment, "First up, let's welcome Kodate Mamoru!"

"Oh, great," Mamoru sighed, casting a last, martyred glance at his friends before squaring his shoulders and striding out onstage. As the cheers of the crowd burst out anew and washed over the nervous boys remaining backstage, Kazuki felt a brief, powerful yearning to be back in his safe, boring little home, having the same, boring little evening of monosyllabic dinner conversation with his father per usual. But it was too late to leave now.

It's going to be a long night… he thought, and prayed that whoever did win him wouldn't mind if he couldn't think of much to say.

That's it for chapter 1! Chapter 2 is 90% complete (and wacky—prepare for bidding craziness and to see who ends up going out with who! :D), so I should have it up here soon. Please leave a review if you enjoyed the fic so far! :)