Author's notes: This is a pre-game fanfic surrounding characters in the Japanese game Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!. They belong to iNiS, of course, and I just RP as Ryuuta occasionally. This started as a drabble that got way too long, so it became five chapters. Enjoy! And comment, as comments are yummy with ketchup. :3
Ryuuta Ippongi never had the best of luck growing up. To many, he looked like he was destined for failure at everything: he struggled in school, he fell in with the wrong crowd on numerous occasions, and had a notably short temper.
Nobody ever questioned why, just that he was a 'problem child' and it was left at that.
Ryuuta dropped out of school to help his father earn money, who had fallen into depression after his wife left him. It was next to impossible for a student to work a full time job, and when they collided too much he chose to help his father. He got into fights because he hated seeing bullies pick on those younger than them, and he would put himself on the line for anyone who needed it. His friends ended up sucking him into trouble, but it was due to that underlying desire to help everyone around him without worrying over what sort of trouble he could get into.
He tried. He really did.
Never one to believe in fate or anything of the sort, Ryuuta merely considered it to be an odd streak of luck. He finished his delivery and was on his way home, taking a short cut in between an alleyway on his way home. Bike riding was always tiring, and he abandoned it in favor of exhaustion, instead resorting to pushing the bike uphill.
i "Osu!" /i
The junior high student had no idea he was cutting around through the high school, and the loud shouts from nearby startled him. Curiousity eventually won over and he wheeled his bike closer to the field, watching with wide eyes.
Five boys and three girls clad in matching uniforms cheered and posed to loud music and piercing whistles. Ryuuta set his bike against the side of the fence that seperated him from the practice field, folding his arms and resting them and his chin on top of the fence as he watched.
He'd heard of the cheering squad, and how they went above and beyond to help people, but he never actually met any of them. He never needed help from someone, or from i anyone /i , that badly.
Ryuuta never would have guessed that they were in high school, having assumed them to be so much older, but there was still a pang of admiration all the same.
The alley between the buildings that lead him to the far end of the practice field became his chosen path every day for the next week, until finally he was spotted. Practice must have ended early, because soon the tallest, bulkiest member of the Yuuhi Ouendan was coming over to him. Startled, Ryuuta stepped away from the fence, nearly knocking over his bike in the process.
"Oy, kid." He replied gruffly, and for a moment the 'kid' with spikey red hair had no idea how to reply.
"..Y-Yes?" The junior high student had to tilt his head back to look up at the older student. He was I tall /i .
"Are you interested in joining the Ouendan?" The lumbering beast of a man replied, expression beyond intense. Ryuuta wondered if he ever smiled, or did anything but scowl hatefully at everything he looked at.
"I.. uhh.." Was he? He had become so interested in observing them, in watching their moves and their crisp gakurans and learning how they helped people, that the idea had crossed his mind. "I.. yeah, sure.."
The man stared down at him, sharp piercing gaze going right through him. Ryuuta tried to affix his own glare in return, trying to not look as intimidated as he felt. Height difference was painfully apparent, and Ryuuta felt like he was three feet tall. Regardless, the man eventually looked away, arms folded across his chest.
"There are tryouts next week." He replied, each word crisp and demanding of attention. "You think you're up for it?"
Ryuuta's heart skipped a beat at the inquiry, and he looked past the large burly man to peek at the other ouendan members as they wound down from practice. The music had been turned off, but he could hear them all talking excitedly over something.
Friends through a cause, with something to believe in.
The junior high student grinned widely. "I'll be there."