Disclaimer: Lovely Complex and all its characters isn't mine. Though I wish it was. Especially Seiko. XD

This short takes place after Risa confesses to Atsushi on the rooftop, during the festival.

Note: I tried to convert the Osaka-ben to some sort of an English variant…but I quite well failed and just started using some sort of redneck-like accent.

Enjoy!

Flashback

On top of the building, under the sparkling fireworks

"…you"

Atsushi turned his interest from the explosions and lightshows to the girl he was standing next to. Risa Koizumi was dressed in a yukata and with her hair held up with decorated pins, anyone would've recognized her as a standard Japanese girl. Except that she was about 30 centimetres taller then the average girl of her age. But height shouldn't matter…right?

"What'cha sayin over there?" Atsushi wondered as he looked at her.

Now it Risa's turn to look at the one who was keeping her company. Short red-brown hair, a sorta dopey look in his eyes and more of a delinquent appearance then anything else…even though he would probably be laughed at if he were to turn delinquent while being so small. Nevertheless, this was the person she liked. Was it about his appearance? Was it about his personality? Was it just because they were so opposite of each other, yet so alike in many ways? She didn't know yet, but she had to say it.

Gathering up her courage, Risa closed her eyes, sucked in a large gulp of air and looked straight at Atsushi with the most serious expression on her face.

"It's YOU I like, Otani!"

Atsushi said nothing, just stared blankly as he pondered. Risa, in her turn, flushed bright red and started thinking up random ideas in rapid succession.

"Great, so you said, yay, you finally got it out. Happy now, giantess? You just embarrassed yourself in front of him; you'll never hear the end of it. But wait, what if he responds to my feelings and returns them? No way, he's such a blockhead; he doesn't even know what I'm talking about. Does he? He might even become angry at me because I'm talking such nonsense or that he gets the wrong idea!"

Meanwhile, while Risa was lost in thought, clutching the sides of her head in agony at one moment and surrounded by shine and sparkly eyes at the other, Atsushi had already walked up to her. Then, his face split into a grin and he nudged Risa in the side with his elbow. "Oh cut it out. You're embarrassin' me." He said jokingly. Risa was simply shocked at his stupidity.

A few days later, at school.

The All Hanshin-Kyojin duo was now at war. Or at least, that's what it looked like. Risa was mad at Atsushi for not realizing her true feelings and Atsushi was mad at Risa for not telling him what made her so pissed off. And because of both sides being stubborn like mules on a hot day in whatever country, it will probably take a long time for either side to give in. During the break, where Atsushi finally found some peace and quiet in the quiet school grounds. Well, almost, because Seishirou was obviously watching him, squealing as he thought up numerous things that made his Otani-sempai so wonderful.

"Would ya mind comin' out here already?" Atsushi called to him. Seishirou was overjoyed and ran as girly as possible. He knelt beside Atsushi who was lying on his back, looking up at the clouds. "Good afternoon, Otani-sempai." He chided, smiling as brightly as he could.

"Good was not the word I was thinkin' about at all…" Atsushi muttered, though Seishirou probably didn't hear him. He was too busy concentrating on the small bit of flesh that peeked out between Atsushi's shirt and pants. Atsushi let out a long sigh as he thought about the whole situation.

"Sighing like is not good for you, Otani-sempai; you'll deflate like a balloon!" His attempt at an innocent joke were lost at Atsushi, who was now shifting his position to find a more comfortable spot.

"Hold on, Otani-sempai, I'll take care of it." He said as he stood up and sat down on his knees just above Atsushi's head. With his slender hands, he carefully lifted Atsushi's head, shuffled forward on his knees and laid it down, providing a pillow for Atsushi. Atsushi realized what he was doing only a few seconds later. With flailing arms and sputtering protests, he tried to break free from Seishirou's grasp. He didn't succeed however; Seishirou was pretty strong for such a small guy. Realizing it was futile to struggle, Atsushi laid his head down and just tried to relax as much as possible, even though he was quite mortified by realizing that he was lying on a guy's lap.

"There now. Aren't you more comfortable, Otani-sempai?" Seishirou wondered as he softly stroked Atsushi's hair. Atsushi in turn, mumbled something incoherently, but didn't disagree with him, it WAS relaxing. He sighed once more.

"You're worried about something, aren't you, Otani-sempai?" Atsushi opened his eyes to look at Seishirou; all he could see in his expression was worry. Worry about his sempai and about what he was experiencing. He then sat up and turned to look at Seishirou. "It's just that…ugh, I don' even know if I should be talkin' about it with ya, it'd be more like gossipin'." Seishirou shook his head lightly. "Please don't talk like that, Otani-sempai. You're worried about something and you need someone to talk to. Right?" Seishirou smiled softly, while Atsushi laughed nervously. "Yeah, you're probably right…dammit, why can people read my thoughts so easily…" He wondered to himself as he flung back a flock of hair which was hanging in front of his eyes. A casual gesture, but Atsushi usually did that to straighten his thoughts a bit. "That amazoness Koizumi is mad at me for some reason which she won't tell. Can ya figure how annoyin' that is?" Seishirou nodded slightly. "Ever since that night of the festival, she's been acting all weird." Seishirou cutesy put his index finger to his cheek and thought about it. "Oh? What happened then, if I may ask?" Atsushi replied with a wave of the hand. "Oh not much. We were just talking, enjoyin' the fireworks and everythin'. Then she suddenly pretends she confessin' and this is where I end up." Seishirou eyes widened with surprise.

"Ah…I see…" Was the only thing that escaped Seishirou's lips. (Vocal cords actually, but that's nitpicking XD) He then forced himself to smile, even though he was hurt. "Then…you should just talk to her, Otani-sempai. She probably doesn't know that you misunders-" Seishirou was cut short by a raised hand from Atsushi, who spoke in a determined, slightly agitated voice. "I won't be that kind of thing, no way. Ms. Mount Fuji can come over here and apologize, not the other way around." At this point, it was Seishirou's turn to sigh. He had chosen to fall in love with quite a fool. No matter. "Ah, Otani-sempai…I don't mean to be rude, but I think there has been a misunderstanding between the two of you. Koizumi-sempai probably said something which you didn't hear correctly or perhaps you wanted to hear her say something and thought you heard that instead." Seishirou said as he took Atsushi's hand in his own, calming him down. Atsushi didn't pull his hand away, which surprised Seishirou, in stead he seemed to be lost in thought. "So…I wanted to hear Bigfoot say that she liked me…? What kinda monkey talk is that? No freakin' way that that's possible!" Atsushi said with a sort of half-confused/half-angry look.

"Oh dear…this is not going the right way…" Seishirou thought. "Ah, no Otani-sempai, that's not what I meant…" Seishirou laid his hands on Atsushi's shoulders and a tone of calm seriousness appeared in his voice. "Look, what I meant to say was…I just don't want to see you two fighting like this. You're good friends, even if you're arguing all the time, I know that and I simply couldn't stand it if this fight would mean that your friendship would be broken." Seishirou said with tears forming in the corners of his eyes. Atsushi looked honestly surprised, then smiled softly as he ruffled Seishirou's hair. "Don't ya'll be worryin' about me, I'll be fine. You're a great guy Seishirou, even if yer a little weird." The praise Seishirou got from Atsushi made a feeling of pure bliss erupt from his heart and he couldn't do anything else besides slamming Atsushi to the ground with an unexpected tackle hug. Atsushi tried to pry him loose while uttering various shouts of shock and protests, but Seishirou was so happy, he wished it would last forever.

"Hooo…so only a few minutes with Seiko has turned you gay as well, midget?" A menacingly playful voice came from behind them. Risa turned and ran back towards the school, laughing in a way that she's only capable of. Atsushi quickly scrambled out under Seishirou's hug and ran after Risa, shouting insults towards her as he chased. Seishirou was left behind and smiled as he saw the two running and teasing each other. "This is the way it should be." Seishirou murmured as he folded his hands in front of his heart.