GOSSIP AND OTHER THINGS
By: Matt Taylor
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, so please don't pay me for their use.
Rundown: Sena and Suzuna run afowl of Mimi Ando, Deimon high school newspaper gossip columnist, plus, Jumonji intervenes in an attempted mugging, and runs into a slightly familiar face.
Pairings: Sena X Suzuna, Jumonji X Katsuko
Notes: Katsuko is the Yuhi Guts manager.
PART ONE.
1.
"So, are you gonna use yours?" Suzuna asked.
"I don't know, it seems kind of wrong." Sena said
"Oh come on, he gave them to us, so we should at least use them."
"Well…I suppose so."
"Great! Let's go!" With that Suzuna grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him towards the sign. Sena looked down at the small plastic card in his hands, and up at the flashing neon sign.
KATSUYA'S ALL STAR MINI GOLF.
Sena then looked down at the card in his hand again, and wandered what this night was going to be like. Sena ran to catch up with the girl, who was already going in the door.
"Excuse me sir." Suzuna said to the middle aged man behind the corner. The man turned around, not bothering to disguise the bored look on his face.
"Can I help you?" He asked, his voice stating that he didn't really care if they wanted something.
"Yeah, me and my friend here would like a pass." Suzuna said, all smiles, ignoring the look on the man's face. The man let out a long drawn out sigh. With this, he turned around, and began getting two putters, and some balls. Sena caught up with her, and she flashed him a mischievous grin that caused Sena to gulp slightly.
"Okay, here you go." The man said, unceremoniously plopping the putters on the counter in front of them. "That'll be twenty five bucks."
Suzuna's eyes turned devious. Sena gulped again.
"You know mister, I don't really appreciate your attitude." She said.
"Ppsshh!" He said, "Look kid, this isn't what I really do, I play keyboards."
"Oh, how fascinating." She said. She suddenly put her own card up in front of him. "Will this cover it?"
The man took it and stared. All of a sudden his eyes grew wide with fear, and all the blood drained from his face. His hand was visibly shaking as he handed the card back to her.
"Hey, why don't you k-k-k-kids go in free tonight?" He said, strained grin stretching across his face.
"Really?" Suzuna asked, throwing her best "innocent" look on. Sena looked down at his own card and sighed again. The card had a picture of Sena himself on it, along with these words written on the top.
"The owner of this card is a friend of one Yoichi Hiruma, and is to be treated with all due services of Yoichi Hiruma himself."
This was, of course, Hiruma's "reward" for helping him finally reach the Christmas Bowl, and everyone on the Devilbats team had received one right before Hiruma's graduation.
"Any friend of Hiruma's is a friend of us." The man said, still grinning through clenched teeth.
"That's so sweet." Suzuna said, taking her putter. Sena took his own, and the basket of golf balls. He bowed slightly at the man, as Suzuna went out to the field, and he ran to catch up.
2.
It was already a long night, Jumonji really didn't need this. He forced off another attacker, and slammed him hard into a wall.
Dammit! He was certain he had left this kind of stuff behind when he joined the football team!
He had just been on his way to see Kuroki and Togano at a small nightclub on the other side of town, when he saw them. A group of about five punks, knocking around some girl. The common sense part of his mind told him to walk away, as it had nothing to do with him. But the closer he got to the scene, the more he felt his muscles tense up, and his eyes drawn to the girl. She looked to be around his age, and something about her struck him with the strangest sense of familiarity.
Before he knew it, he was slamming his fist into the face of the nearest guy. Jumonji took a brief moment to look over the guys there, and felt a sick sense of familiarity. He remembered his past as a punk like them, and wondered briefly if this would have been his future. But he didn't have time for such considerations, as the rest of them rushed at him.
Years of training in football had made Jumonji a great deal stronger and tougher than he had been as a punk, and the punches these guys threw felt like nothing at all. Jumonji blocked a punch and gave one to the mohawked guy in front of him, and then kneed him in the stomach.
"This ain't your business, blondie. Get lost." Said one of the three remaining punks, a guy with blue dyed hair, and a nosering. After his almost easy handling of the first two, the other three were falling back, but looked angry.
"Why don't you guys get lost? You're no match for me." He said with casual disdain. "What a bunch of tough guys you are, knocking around one girl."
"That's it! Pound his ass in!" With that the other three ran at him. A few minutes later all three were on the ground, unconscious. Jumonji adjusted his shirt, which had been ruffled in a few places, and turned towards the girl.
"You okay?" He asked, helping her up. She had a defiant look on her face, which showed she was more than ready to have taken on all of those punks herself. He was right that she was about his age, and she had her hair done in a style he had seen among some of the more sporty girls around town. Shoulder length in the back, and swept out on the sides. It was deep brown, to match her eyes. She wore moderately tight workout pants, sneakers, and a t-shirt with the symbol for Yuhi high school on it.
Yuhi. Why did that stir his memories.
"I could have handled it." She said. "But thanks anyway."
"No problem." He said, noticing some bags of groceries on the ground. He sighed, and figured that since he was in good samaritan mode…
"Let me get those."
"Oh, that's alright." She said, reaching for them, but he got there first. He turned around on her, smiling. "So where do you live?"
"This way." The girl humphed, and walked off, with him following her. Soon enough they were outside a middle class looking apartment building. She turned around and gave him a reluctant smile.
"Look, sorry I was rude before, Thanks a lot." She said, taking the grocery bags from him.
"No problem. Be more careful though. This isn't really a nice neighborhood."
"Heck, I know that, I've lived here since I was a kid." She said, smiling more for real now. With that she lapsed into silence for a minute.
"Katusko Konjo."
"Huh?" He asked.
"My name, dope." She said, smiling again.
"I see. I'm Kazuki Jumonji. Nice to meet you." He said.
"Nice to meet you. You know, once again, I could have handled those guys." She said, with understated pride.
"Probably, but I don't like punks."
"All punks?"
"Pretty much. You see, a few years ago I was one of them." He said, his eyes growing slightly grim.
"What happened?"
"A miracle." He said, his face growing brighter. "Well, my friends are waiting for me, I better get going."
"Right." She said, turning towards her door. With that he began to walk away.
"Hey Jumonji!" She called after him.
"Don't be a stranger." She said, he smiled, and flashed her a thumbs up.
3.
"Come on Sena! Hole in one!" Suzuna shouted, with all the energy from her years as a cheerleader going into it. Sena focused his attention down on the small green sphere. Damn it! He was going to get a hole in one here!
Okay! Here it went, he had the shot perfectly lined up, he was calm, focused, ready. With that, Sena hit the ball. Sena watched it, eyes open with hope, as the ball slowly rolled directly towards the hole.
Closer
Closer
Closer
Closer!!
There!!!
Past!!!
Damn!!
"Sorry Sena" Suzuna said. Sena sighed again, and moved to where the ball stopped. Dropping it into the hole with a small hit.
"Good work Sena! You finally scored below six." She said, holding up the score card. "Let's see, I currently have a score of 37, and yours is, let's see, six plus six plus six plus six plus six plus six plus six plus…"
"It's okay Suzuna." He said, holding up his hand. "I don't want to hear my score."
"Oh come on. You yourself said you hadn't been on a mini-golf course since before you got into high school." She said walking up behind him.
"You're right, I guess after all the success of my football playing, I got used to it." He said, grinning and rubbing the back of his head.
"Well, either way, loser pays for the winners dinner, remember?" She said, grinning. Sena sighed again, thinking about his poor wallet. She came over and took his hand.
"C'mon, we had fun, didn't we?" Sena looked up and smiled.
"Yeah, it was." He had been going on these outings with Suzuna every weekend, and though he usually ended up paying for her dinner, he always had fun. For a brief forbidden moment, he wondered if this was what dating felt like, but he then blushed hard and shook it off. "What do you say we go to Italian place over on Fourth street tonight?"
"You mean "Antonio's?" Isn't that place rather expensive?" She said, looking surprised. Sena just smiled, not bothering to think about what his wallet would look like tomorrow, and the explaining he'd have to do to his mother.
"My treat." He said, still smiling.
Suzuna blushed slightly, and smiled back. "Sure thing."
4.
Neither of them had noticed her. The two of them had been staring at each other for a few moments, and had walked off to turn in their putters, and hadn't noticed the girl hiding in the bushes. When they were gone, she crawled out and stared after them.
She was a teenage girl of medium height, long brown hair, and a pretty face. Her blouse, and jeans were covered in leaves from following the two of them through the bushes all night, but after viewing that last scene, she was certain it was worth it. What an incredible scoop this was! Just what she needed to finally get her career off the ground.
Who was she? She was Mimi Ando, author of "Mimi speaks," the gossip column for the Deimon High school times, and she had jus found what was sure to be her breakthrough story. She could already see the headline.
"Mimi breaks the news, Deimon sports legend, Sena Kobayakawa is dating former school cheerleading captain!!"
She grinned and began to giggle in anticipation.
END OF PART ONE.