"One, Please"
By: Nuriko Schezar
Note: This is a story inspired by Moulin Rouge. No, Tsubasa is not a "dancer" (not with Kazuma-chan to keep the ecchis away from her! ^_~.) Actually, I was at the movies seeing that movie with my friend, NEGIG_Hikaru_Yuy (read her fics!), and we sat *alone* in the center of the back row, so when anyone came in the theatre we'd growl at them (not too loudly by the way...) so they'd avoid us. Hehe... it worked! Then, in the middle of the movie, Hikaru-chan had to 'step out,' leaving me alone with all the concessions. I was in the position in which Tsubasa is described while she is watching Pin-Pin-chan. While sitting there alone, I pictured Tsubasa in that exact same position, and since before the movie started, a question about Clueless was on the screen, the stepsibling relationship was fresh in my mind. Then that night, this was started. I hope you enjoy it!! Another thing: when Tsubasa is talking to that random boy, I don't think I got her in character. If anyone could email me chibiriniuk@yahoo.com or post an idea in the review you will be completing an idea on how to make it more in character, please do so! Also, if you would like to beta read this, do not think that I will be offended. I will be grateful! Arigatou~
Disclaimer: The rights to KareKano are not mine; they are Tsuda Masami's, but Kazuma-chan has told me he belongs to me, and had that not been the case, I wouldn't own him either.
Shibahime Tsubasa leaned on the movie poster for Pin-Pin-chan, a movie for which she had been waiting months! To occupy her time, she observed the copious amount of children skip along, their hands in their mothers'. They giggled and laughed in remembrance of Pin-Pin-chan's misadventures.
'They have no idea how lucky they are,' she thought with a sigh. 'I can't even remember my mother. I never had the chance to laugh with her or be held by her. These kids are all happy with their mothers, and don't even know that some people don't have mothers or even fathers. I am luckier than those people are, though. Even though Papa needed someone else, it was Kazuma-chan and his mother.'
The theatre had only been showing three movies that day: the horror movie, the chick flick, and the family movie, Pin-Pin-chan. Due to the approaching twilight, only two more showings of Pin-Pin-chan remained. If they were to see it on its opening day, the tickets would have had to be purchased soon, and Tsubasa was determined to see it that evening.
"Hey, baby," cooed a voice behind her. She turned around to see a boy of similar height wearing a uniform she recognized as a local grade school's. His white dress shirt was unbuttoned halfway down, he wore a cocky grin, and his hair was slightly unruly. If she was younger, had never met Arima, and if ecchi-boy had a more agreeable personality, he might have been someone with whom she would have liked to spend her time. "You wanna watch a movie with me? We can go see Scream 5 and you can hug on me, cry on my shoulder, and be as scared as you want."
Her fists tightened and struggled to keep from pounding the young boy like bread dough. "You little pervert! How dare you hit on a junior in high school! I'm actually waiting on someone right now, so if you would please leave me alone, I'd really appreciate it."
"Baby, older women are just my type. How 'bout you ditch this guy and come with me? I'm better than he could be." He was not selling himself at all by this method, and Tsubasa was about to letting her fists do just as they wished.
~~**~~
"Aw, guys, stop it..." blushed Ikeda Kazuma.
He and the rest of Ying-Yang had been wandering around the city, as well as many fangirls following them. The band was commenting on Kazuma's wonderful ability to collect fans for them.
"Kazuma, you're so cute! That's why everyone loves you the most!" cried Atsuya.
"Atsuya-san, please..."
"I think it's time to kiss him already!"
"But the girls..."
Kazuma eventually lost in this battle, as expected. However, the unexpected part was the fangirls who decided to join in on the glomping. Martin then realized he could get glomped if he transformed into bishounen mode, so he did, and the girls enjoyed it immensely.
"Er, guys, I'll catch up with you later, ok?" Kazuma called, seeing this opportunity to escape the girls.
"Don't forget about rehearsal tomorrow, ok, Kazuma!?" Atsuya yelled back amidst the mob.
Kazuma had already raced around the corner. The idea of Ying-Yang's growing popularity was rather pleasing, but this new concept of fangirls was very displeasing to him.
As his path led him toward the movie theatre, he noted a girl's voice yelling something along the lines of "ecchi kid." Once again, he had seen Tsubasa being harassed by a male; only this time, a young boy was the culprit. Why wasn't Arima stopping it for her?
'She was so happy when she found out Pin-Pin-chan was going to have his own movie, and she was even more so when Arima-kun offered to go with her. Why isn't he with her?' he pondered.
~~**~~
"Get away from me, you ecchi-kid!" Tsubasa's fist was held high in the air and if he dared to try and touch her, he would get a big whack! across his face.
He leaned in to try and grab her hand, but his intentions were thwarted when someone grabbed his wrist. The ecchi-boy looked up and saw a young man with bleached-blonde hair, a spiked dog collar, torn jeans, and another collar on his wrist.
"Hey, you leggo 'a my arm!" yelled ecchi-boy to Kazuma.
"Only if you apologize to my friend here," instructed Kazuma. He looked down at his stepsister. "Are you OK, Tsubasa?"
"Hmn. I'm fine, Kazuma-chan." A slight blush had crept across her nodding face.
'She calls him '-chan' and he calls her by her given name. They must be really close,' thought ecchi-boy. 'I probably should apologize; this guy in the spiked dog collar looks kinda scary.'
"OK, I'm sorry, miss. I hope you and Kazuma-chan have fun watching the movie." He pulled his arm from Kazuma's grasp, and dashed away, leaving cloud of dust.
Kazuma looked at Tsubasa, who was looking down at her fingers toying with her purse. "Kazuma-chan...," she began.
"He was such a creep wasn't he? I'm glad I got there in time. I don't know what a little guy like him would have done. All that matters is that you're all right."
"Thank you, Kazuma-chan. You've already helped me with an ecchi like that before. If you hadn't --"
Kazuma interrupted, "--So, I thought you were meeting Arima-kun here. Which showing are y'all going to see of Pin-Pin-chan?"
"Arima never showed up. It was the 7:00 show. But, there are only two more left. He probably got caught up with something." Her tone wasn't the cheerful one shouting "Kazuma-chan!" that he was used to hearing; it was lonely and sorrowful, replete with heartbreak.
'Arima-kun, the one she loves, isn't here. She was looking forward to this, and he's not here to be with her.'
Tsubasa fidgeted with her purse some more. Why wasn't Arima there yet? Kazuma placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Tsubasa, do you want me to stay with you until he comes?"
"No, Kazuma-chan, you were probably with your music friends before. You should go see them; Arima is going to come. Don't worry about me." She pulled away from his grip, still staring at the ground.
"Tell Arima-kun I said, 'Hello,' OK?" he said as he turned away. To the corner he walked before he stopped and spied on Tsubasa from behind it. She remained there, leaning against the Pin-Pin-chan poster, staring off into space. Many guys walked by, but not one of them was Arima Souichirou. The 7:45 show passed by, leaving only the 8:15 movie. Why wasn't he coming?
8:05, still no sign of him. Tsubasa then sauntered over to the ticket booth. She stood on her toes and leaned over the counter.
"One, please."
~~**~~
The theatre was emptier than she expected; she even had her own row. She stuck out her feet and twiddled her toes in her straw platform sandals that couldn't even touch the floor. They were supposed to make her look older so she would not have to worry about ecchi boys like that anymore. It was a good thing Kazuma came to rescue her, but she would have preferred Arima in his stead.
Why didn't he come?
She reached for the large drink next to her. *Sip, sip.* He knew how important the movie was to her. She munched on a few cookie dough bites.
Chirpy music sounded, signaling the start of the movie. Pin-Pin-chan and his friends sang and danced around happily.
"Always trust. Always love. Things will always work out in the end."
Trust. Ha, they have your trust, and then abandon you at the most crucial moments.
Love. It'll never happen to me.
In the end…it'll never work out.
By the time the song ended, Tsubasa had devoured her box of cookie dough bites and moved onto the Twizzlers package. The end of the Twizzler hanged from her gnawing teeth.
On the screen, Pin-Pin-chan played with his friends. They were always with him, no matter what sort of trouble he brought about.
'I wish he would be with me. I'm all alone here,' thought Tsubasa. She slumped over in the padded seat. Her feet could now touch the floor, but her eyes couldn't see the screen. That didn't matter to her, though. She didn't even care about the movie anymore. 'Where is he?'
Even though the movie was had been going on for at least half an hour, she heard a late-arrival sit in the chair beside her.
'Why would some late arrival come and sit right next to me? There are over fifty extra seats, so why next to me?' She turned her head to see the smiling man beside her. Kazuma-chan. 'He came to keep me feeling lonely.' Tsubasa sat up and offered him a Twizzler, returning his smile.
The ending theme resounded, its lyrics echoing the opening theme's lyrics.
"Things will always work out in the end."