A/N: I got the story idea while watching several episodes over and over again. I noticed whenever Risa screws up, or when Otani does something stupid to Risa, Nobu-chan comes in the scene with a frightening, but humorous temper. Especially at the times where she kicks Risa, says inappropriate stuff that girls wouldn't normally say, and other stuff. By far, besides Koizumi and Otani, Nobuko's my favorite character. So I just had to make this story. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Lovely Complex. :)
Anger Management
...
Nakao silently proves that his girlfriend, Nobuko, needs more anger management help than Koizumi and Otani.
...
...
"Nakao-chan, shouldn't you be practicing for basketball club right now?" asked a tall, light ash blonde-haired boy.
"Yes, I'm supposed to be in practice, and so does Otani. But he's missing and the other members of the team told me to wait for him," a dark brown-haired boy replied calmly. It was strange for a high school boy to answer nonchalantly to a question like that, especially since it involved his favorite sport and missing a chance to participate in it. Heikichi Nakao was slightly odd, having a soft personality and a different way of seeing things. "Don't worry, Suzuki. I can wait for him."
The tall boy nodded and waited alongside him in the small area outside the basketball court of Maido High. Like Nakao, Ryoji Suzuki had a reserved persona, which made others wonder of his mysterious nature.
"I just hope Otani's not quarreling with Koizumi-san again," Suzuki said. Nakao nodded.
"Yeah. Whenever they fight, it's like… you need to call someone for anger management help," Nakao replied, adding soft laughter in the end. Suzuki released a deep-voiced chuckle.
"Suzuki-kun," a soft voice said. Both Nakao and Suzuki turned their heads and saw a short, black-haired girl walking towards them.
"Chiharu-chan," Suzuki responded.
"Otani-kun can't come," the girl said, her violet-tinted blue eyes gleaming with anxiety.
"What? Why?" Nakao asked worriedly.
"He had a fight with Koizumi-san again just because of a tiny matter," she replied, her voice sounding like a whisper.
"Sorry you had to waste your time waiting with me," Suzuki said. Nakao shook his head.
"No, it's alright. I'm not even angry. Plus, I did want to have a break from basketball today… Tanaka-san, where's my darling Nobu-chan?"
"Oh… Nobu-chan's… I'll bring you there."
The three left the basketball-playing area as quickly as they could. The two boys followed Chiharu to the garden area of their school, which was exactly in the center of their campus. They panted as they reached the place. The first sight they picked up was a slightly short auburn-haired boy shouting things at a taller, red-haired girl who had tears in her eyes. But Nakao didn't pay attention to the quarreling figures when his eyes found a sandy-haired girl seated on one of the school benches, eyeing down the duo angrily.
"Enough! This is just stupid!" the sandy-haired girl yelled in fury. Her orange-brown eyes appeared to have a tiny flame burning within it just because of her anger.
"Oh no… this is bad," Suzuki said to Chiharu.
"Fine! If you won't listen, I'll just go!" the tall girl shouted. She ran out of their sight with tears in her eyes.
"Risa! Risa! Wait!" Chiharu yelped. After watching Risa Koizumi run away in sadness, their attention leapt to Atsushi Otani's, who was currently burning in the vision of the sandy-haired girl.
"Otani… you're the biggest idiot I have EVER met!" the girl shouted, pulling the tie of Otani's uniform. The boy gasped for air as the girl shoved him to the ground painfully.
"Wow, Nobu-chan sure is strong," Suzuki whispered in a scared tone.
"I know," Nakao said with a hint of joy in his voice. Nobuko Ishihara was Nakao's confident and strong-willed girlfriend. She was determined in things that mattered to her, strengthening Nakao's love for her. She was very beautiful and intelligent, and Nakao couldn't ask for a better girl to be in love with. But he had to admit, Nobuko had a problem with her anger at times. Her fury, compared to a nasty fever, would make the thermometer explode at the very second it was touched.
"Stop bullying me!" Otani shouted. Nobuko's eyes looked like fireballs in the distance.
"I'm not bullying you! I'm just giving you what you deserve!" she shouted in rage. "It's your fault! Everything! Risa didn't do anything and yet, you still accused her for your faults? You might as well be the most idiotic midget that ever lived!"
"Nakao! Tell her to control herself!" Otani yelped in fright. Nobuko's stare fell on her boyfriend, still fiery as ever. Nakao knew better than to side his best friend over her, especially in her state of anger.
"No, no, she's right," Nakao said, despite not knowing what Otani did.
"Suzuki-kun! Tanaka-san!" Otani yelled as Nobu started kicking him on the shin, him remaining in the fetal position.
"I'm not going to drag myself into that," Suzuki responded.
"What happened, Nobu-chan?" Chiharu asked. Nakao considered Otani lucky that Nobuko couldn't resist her best friend.
"Otani ditched a date with Risa just to flirt with some girls and he accuses her of cheating on him because Kohori-kun helped her carry a big box in work! What an idiot!" she snarled. Nakao walked closer to Nobuko and embraced her.
"Now, now, Nobu-chan. Getting worked up with anger is bad for the heart," he said calmly. Otani stood up and started muttering rude comments, but was shocked that Nobu decided to breathe in deeply and allowed her anger to evaporate.
"Thank you, Nakao-chi. I just had to do that," Nobu said, squeezing Nakao tighter in their hug. She let go a few seconds later, and stared down Otani.
"I didn't ditch the date!" Otani said, trying to defend himself. They all scoffed in disappointment.
"Then what did you do yesterday?" Nobu shouted angrily.
"I…" Otani rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I… last week… I promised one of the kids I teach basketball to that I would teach him how to steal the ball… but I forgot I made plans with Koizumi already. There! Happy? I can't possibly let a kid down if I want to become Otani-sensei in the future!"
Nobu groaned in frustration and grabbed Otani's uniform collar. "Then what were the girls for?"
"She was the sister of the kid! I didn't flirt with her! She hugged ME! I didn't hug HER!"
"Liar!" Nobu barked.
"Nakao-chan, it's not healthy for her to be that angry," Suzuki said.
"I know. She'll calm down later. Don't worry! If you're supposed to worry, I'm going to worry first," Nakao said.
"Why did you accuse her of cheating again? If I could only throw you to outer space, you know! She's already traumatized by the first time you did that!"
"I didn't say cheating! I said…"
"What? What did you say? As far as I could remember, you said, "You were the one hugging up to that diner midget! You really are having an affair behind my back!" Do you think that what you said didn't mean that she was cheating?" Nobu said furiously. Passer-bys stared at them for long minutes until Suzuki and Chiharu told them to ignore the scene.
"I was talking without thinking! Do you think it's easy to think while you're angry?" Otani asked loudly. Nakao's eyes widened as Nobu gripped Otani's hair and pulled it repeatedly. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Let me go! My hair! Stop! It hurts! Nobu-chan!"
"Darling!"
"Nobu!"
"Nobu-chan!"
With simultaneous responses from the three, Nobuko released her firm grip on Otani's hair, now messy and disheveled.
"I'm angry! And I can still think clearly! That's because I'm not a heartless and foolish midget like you!" she spat. Nobu started breathing deeply and returned to her seat, placing her hand on her chest.
Silence wavered amidst them afterwards. Nobu was tired for accosting Otani with a mouthful of words. Otani fell into a deep state of thinking, like he always does every time something happens between him and Risa. Suzuki and Chiharu sat down on a separate bench while Nakao approached his girlfriend.
"I'm sorry." Otani broke the silence, feeling remorse for his actions.
"Don't say sorry to me," Nobu said, trying to sound nicer. "You should say sorry to Risa." She sighed before continuing.
"You should really stop quarreling with her. I'm tired of seeing her cry and have a hard time when you do something stupid. Try being more romantic with her or something."
"Gyaaaaaah! Don't say such embarrassing things! Like that'll ever happen!" Otani screeched. Nakao shot him a death glare – he didn't want Nobuko to start a furious rampage again. His cheeks turned red and he apologized.
"Embarrassing? You're lucky she doesn't think that having a short boyfriend is embarrassing, especially since it's you," Nobu said harshly.
"Of course she wouldn't. I'm cool," Otani said coolly. Nobuko glared at him again, and he apologized once more.
"You should treat her as how you'd like her to treat you. I can't believe I helped her get you! She really cares about you! But you… you! You say that it's embarrassing to call her beautiful in public!"
"If I did tell her she was, then she'd realize how beautiful she really is and leave me," Otani grumbled.
"She's not that heartless. She loves you and you only! Do you think she's as dense as you are?"
Nobuko gave another rant as Otani listened in guilt.
"But you know, you two are perfect for each other, even if you act like a pig-head. You two have bad anger issues and can't live without each other," Nobuko said. "I'm going home. My parents are going to fetch me by the entrance. Darling, do you want to come?"
Nakao nodded and glanced at Otani sitting on the cold pavement with his eyes firmly watching the ground. Maybe he was doing some thinking.
...
After helping Nobuko enter her parents' car, he and Otani headed home. Suzuki and Chiharu left with a different path.
"Nobu-chan's scary when she's angry," Otani said, shivering.
"I know," Nakao replied.
"I know? I know is all you can say? Stop her from being that angry! Her eyes are like… like… eternal blazing fire pits when she's angry! Do you know how bad that is?"
"It's very bad, if you ask me," Nakao said, still calm as ever. "I'm just going to tell you this once – don't provoke her anger."
"She's the one getting angry!" Otani said ballistically.
"Well, it's because she loves Risa a lot. They're best friends; she cares for her a lot. And if Koizumi-san gets hurt, it's bound that she'll get angry. And lately, you're always the reason why Koizumi-san gets hurt," Nakao told him. He chuckled softly and watched Otani ponder in confusion.
"It can't be helped. Besides, isn't she used to it?" Otani asked. "Koizumi and I fight a lot of times."
"Oh, we're all used to it. But it hurts her to see Koizumi-san sad. I mean, won't it bother you if your girlfriend is sad?"
Otani rubbed the back of his neck again. "Well… I… I guess."
"So you're feeling bothered right now?" Nakao asked.
"Yes. Very. I didn't mean to say those things to Koizumi. I just…"
"Talk without thinking, I know," Nakao said in a joking tone. But despite that, both of them knew it was true.
"Nakao… can I ask you something?"
"Sure! Anything," Nakao replied.
"Well… do you think if Koizumi realizes how… how… how… argh! I can't say it!" Nakao raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay. Fine. Do you think if Koizumi realizes how… b… be… beautiful… aagh!"
"How beautiful she is? Go on."
"Okay. So… do you think if she realizes it, she'll leave me?" Otani asked, feeling very flustered at the moment.
"Otani, that is one of the stupidest questions you have ever asked. Of course she won't. She loves you very much. She wasted a lot of effort on you. But if you continue treating her like that, she might leave you," he answered. "Wait… don't tell me that's the reason why you don't show your romantic side!"
Nakao fell into a laughing fit as Otani's face turned beet red in humiliation.
"It's not funny! I am romantic! But not always! If I'm always romantic with her, that would be boring. Having small fights is… it's like our thing!" Otani exclaimed.
"Yeah, we all know that. But when she starts crying, that shows your small fight isn't small anymore, and you should stop."
"You and your girlfriend are really good in making me feel guilty," Otani snapped. "But she's scarier."
"Don't say that about my cute Nobu-chan. She's not scary. She's the cutest."
...
The following day, Nakao entered his classroom with a simple smile. He sincerely hoped that Otani and Koizumi were able to make up from that silly quarrel they had. Otani, after all, asked Nakao to accompany him to the lovely abode of Koizumi's family. Nakao ran for it when Otani rang the doorbell.
"Take it off! Take it off now!" Otani shouted. He was standing beside Koizumi, who was lazily listening to his shouting on her seat. The boy clutched her wrist and revealed a shimmering blue bracelet with letters engraved on it. Nakao wasn't able to distinguish the writings though. He looked for his girlfriend and saw Nobu watching the quarreling lovebirds by the window sill of their classroom.
"Darling!" Nobuko squealed. She ran towards him and smothered him with a tight hug.
"I don't know what you did, but thank you for making Otani apologize," she said softly, hoping not to bother the two.
"I just brought him to Koizumi-san's house," Nakao replied humbly.
"Why would I take it off? You said it's mine! And since it's mine, I can do anything with it!" Koizumi shouted.
"EH? I bought you that gift! You should be thankful to me! And since you're thankful, take that off because I said so!" he bluntly snapped.
"Is this how you apologize to your girlfriend?" Koizumi teased.
"I only apologized because Nobu-chan would unleash her scary wrath upon me if I didn't!" Otani exclaimed.
Nobuko let go of their hug the moment Otani finished the sentence. After a few seconds, Otani was begging for mercy as Nobu pounded him with punches until Koizumi asked her to stop, which took quite a long time before it happened.
Nakao laughed as he remembered what his girlfriend said yesterday. But you know, you two are perfect for each other, even if you act like a pig-head. You two have bad anger issues and can't live without each other. To be honest, his Nobu-chan needed more help in anger management than Otani and Koizumi combined. But alas, Nobuko's anger did have some good sides too.
"Nakao! Tell your scary girlfriend to stop!"
"I told you she's not scary! She's cute!"
A/N: Well, that's that. I hope it's okay. :) Please R&R, no flames hopefully.
