ALWAYS BY YOUR SIDE (ZUTTO SOBA NI IRU) by aRiaHime
Disclaimer:
I'm only going to state this once. I do not own any of the Sailor Moon characters; they belong to Takeuchi-sensei. However, I DO own this story.
A/N:
Minna! Hisashiburi! As I have stated in my profile, this is the sequel to PCMO (Please Call Me Odango). I am still unsure of how many chapters it will be… It will probably be a short one or it might be longer. Either way, I hope you all will like it just as much. So, enjoy! (^_^)
= = Chapter 01 = =
Jyuuban High School
Greetings of 'Ohayo!' were clearly heard at the entrance of the school compound. It is about 7.40 am; students were seen entering the front gate of the school, some of them were chatting among themselves about the hot rumors that had been going around the school lately while others just listened to them attentively.
"Ne? Ne? Have you heard??" said one of the students to a friend beside her.
Lifting a brow; slightly puzzled by the question, her friend turn to face her and replied "Nani ka?"
Smiling, the girl said "That rumor of course!"
The friend said, "You mean…!" as she finally realized what her friend was talking about.
"Yeah! They were chosen to represent Japan this year!"
"So so! The school will be announcing it today even!" said another of the student who was listening to their conversation.
"Hai! I heard that too! I knew Mizuno-san will be chosen but I never knew that they were chosen as well! Not only are they smart but good-looking too!" interject another student nearby. This caused almost all the students there; to shriek in pleasure, imagining the faces of the said people.
"And they all are good friends as well! Ureshii na~!" squeal another girl which; breaks out another cry of happiness, from the majority of the female students.
Seeing the fuss that occurred around them, one of the male students shook his head and said, "Girls are just so weird. How can they find delight in that reasons alone? It's not like as if they are the ones that had been selected."
"But I've got to agree with them though… that group of people are indeed extraordinarily smart and very good looking bunch too." replied another male student beside him.
"Yeah… Lately, it also seems like Mizuno-san is becoming more and more appealing too. I never knew why I didn't notice her that much before." interjected another male student with a tint of blush on his face and immediately received nods of agreement from the other fellow male students.
"So so! Kino-san too! I wonder… is she seeing anyone?" said another male student dreamily.
"Don't forget! Aino-san! Doesn't she seem a lot more…? I don't know… much more gentle and adorable, lately too?" Said another male student and received the same nods from the others as well.
"Woah~! Mitte! Mitte! There they are now!" shouted one of the students suddenly.
As if on cue, all the other students gave way and stood facing to the in coming group that had just arrived. There were; the girl of the moment, Ami Mizuno, walking along with her two best friends and classmates; Minako Aino and Makoto Kino. And walking close behind them were two other people; Taiki Kou and Yaten Kou, of the infamous singing teen sensations, the Three Lights. These resulted in the other students to squeals and shrieks for them.
"Yaten-kun~!"
"Taiki-kun~!"
"Kakoii~!"
But all of these, nothing can be compared to the next two people walking close behind them. Just a couple of paces away are the newly admired, most envied and popular couple of the whole school; Three Lights lead singer, Seiya Kou and his lovely (but had the very unusual odango hair-style) girlfriend, Usagi Tsukino, walking hand in hand. Usagi was blushing uncontrollably having to listen to the whistles and squeals of 'Kawaii~!' from them; seemingly feeling very uncomfortable with it all, while Seiya just grins coolly at the receptions that they received.
"Seiya-kun/sama~! Tsukino-chan~!"
It has been over a month since Seiya and Usagi had officially become a couple. They are still the talks of the entire school even now. At first, Seiya's fan club was not very pleased with Usagi being his chosen one; as they called it. But after that episode of 'convincing' from Seiya's part, they finally approved of her although reluctantly. Because of that, the fan girls had suddenly increased in numbers that some of them had gone as far as even create a new fan club dubbed 'SeiUsa' and set up a web page to honor these couple. The day they had revealed to the whole school that they are indeed dating; thanks to Seiya's loud proclamation at the school ground, was the day that Usagi will never forget even if she tried. It happened, almost 2 and half weeks ago.
FLASHBACK
Usagi, Minako, Ami and Makoto had just step outside the school's front gates when someone was heard calling out to them. It was a group of guys from the nearby school. They all looked like a bunch of problem students judging by their rough mannerisms and looks. When the girls noticed who they are, we tried to run back inside the school grounds but were immediately blocked by one of them.
"Oi Oi…! Sweet cakes, where do you all think you're going?" said the person that blocked their way.
"Please let us through. What do you want from us?" Makoto said as she stood in front of her friends.
"Ho! Ho! Ho! It seems like we got one feisty chick here. I like you!" Exclaimed the person with a spiky blonde hair; who seemed to be the leader of the group, as he reaches out and grabbed for Makoto's arm. Makoto immediately yelped in pain by his rough treatment.
"Stop that! Let her go! What are you doing?!" Usagi said angrily as she tried to free Makoto's arm away from the spiky haired guy grasps while Ami and Minako was already surrounded by the other delinquents, unable to do anything.
"Yamette! Usagi! Don't!" cried Minako and Ami. This caused the other students to turn and investigate but seeing the scene before them, they were too scared to approach and interfere, knowing the delinquents' notorious reputation for causing trouble wherever they went. Not to mention, they also beat up innocent bystanders as well.
Amused by Usagi's attempt at freeing Makoto, the leader immediately caught Usagi by surprise as he grabs for her long hair and yank at them forcefully.
"Ittai! Let me go!" yelped Usagi.
"Usagi!" Makoto cried out as Usagi continues to struggle to get free.
"Hehehe! Wow! You're really beautiful. I think you suited me better. Why don't you be mine, huh?" laughed the spiky haired man, grabbing and tilting Usagi's face towards himself as he leans in for a 'better look' while Makoto was then tossed aside to his waiting friend. But before he could do anything, a sudden hard punch to the left side of his face had knocked him off of Usagi.
"Katou!" exclaimed his pals as they quickly went to his side. Caught surprised by the sudden hard blow towards his face, the spiky haired guy named Katou, immediately turns and shouted "Who the hell-!? Who did that?!"
"What do you think you're doing to my girl? You got some nerve! Teme! " Upon hearing the voice, Katou quickly turns to meet the source. There, stood an enraged but strikingly good looking guy with long black hair that was tied into a low ponytail, glaring at him and standing protectively in front of Usagi before signaling her to stand back.
Hearing those overconfident words coming from the long haired guy in front of him; whom he thought as looking girly and fragile, Katou quickly got up and tried to deliver a punch towards Seiya too. But being the star player for the school's renowned American football club and also a former senshi, Seiya easily evaded the incoming blow and consequently, had managed to hit another punch towards his opponent's stomach.
"Yarou…!"Exclaimed Katou; as he coughed, and again felt the stinging pain of Seiya's blow which he finds surprisingly strong.
"The only bastards that I can see here are you guys! How dare you try to hurt my Odango and her friends?" Seiya shouted back as he readied himself to give Katou another strike.
Noticing the dangerous look in his eyes, Katou signaled his friends to capture the other girls (Ami and Minako) who were still held by two of them. Nodding once towards Katou, they instantaneously tried to leave the scene with the girls as their hostages. But their attempt was thwarted when Seiki (the person who held Ami) and two others was suddenly knocked unconscious by someone from behind.
"That was surprisingly easy." Said the person, as he hugged protectively over Ami's shoulders and glared at Katou and the rest of his gang with an intense fury, which, gravely promised harm will surely be bestow upon them.
"Ta… Taiki-kun?!" Ami squeaked and instantly blushed when she realized just who the person was that held her. Noticing the jumpiness and nervousness from the blue haired girl's body reaction; immediately, a mischievous smirk was formed on the tall brunette's facial features.
The other delinquent that was holding Minako; noticing the sudden loss in their numbers, reluctantly released his grasp on Minako and push her aside. Fearing of becoming the next victim, he immediately tried to escape. But as before, he too, was suddenly knocked out by someone from behind and instantly fell unconscious.
"Hmph! You dare try to escape? How naïve are you?" Yaten said coolly as he gave a couple of kicks (which was rather hard) to the already unconscious guy's side. Even though his voice sounded calm then, his expression was a different matter.
"Arigato, Yaten-kun." Minako said with a blush as he pulls her up from where she had fell.
"Hn." Yaten replied before turning his face slightly sideways; away from Minako, as a blush of his own appears on his face as well.
Meanwhile, Katou was still relentlessly trying to deliver a blow after blow at Seiya but his punches never contacted. But after about a couple of minutes of Katou's ineffective attempts; deciding that he had humored him long enough, Seiya quickly side-stepped and finally gave the strike at the back of Katou's neck that immediately rendered him out cold. Glaring at Katou for the last time; as the delinquents were all taken to the nearby police station by the teachers, Seiya then promptly move to check on Usagi.
"Odango! Daijobu ka??" Seiya said as he looks worriedly over towards Usagi as she sat beside Makoto who was being checked upon by another student for her injured wrist.
"Em! Daijobu! Arigatou, Seiya." Usagi replied with a smile when she notices him approaching them with a troubled expression; as she stood up and held his hand to prove to him that she was indeed fine.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Seiya grabs Usagi by her arm; pulling her towards him, and instantly embraced her. "Yokatta! If I knew this was going to happen, I would never have let you girls walk home on your own!" he said as he held Usagi's head onto his chest which made Usagi instinctively hugged him back with the same affection.
Suddenly realizing their intimate public display, Usagi immediately let go of him and push him slightly away from her; blushing red as she did so, clearly embarrassed. "You know, you don't have to toy with the guy. I know you could easily beat him." Usagi said with a cute pout as she looks up at him.
Seiya just smiled at the pouting golden haired girl facing him; after staring at her for a couple of seconds or so, admiring the adorable expression on her face before he chooses to answer her. "I know. But I can't just let him go away with it. After all, he was going to do something awful towards my Odango." Seiya replied coolly and smirking cheekily at Usagi; as he ruffles her head affectionately, seemingly unaware of the curious crowd gathering around them.
Feeling slightly annoyed with his playful treatment, Usagi gave a glare towards Seiya to make him stop. But of course; knowing Seiya's personality, he just smirks and continues to ruffle the top of Usagi's head, making her flushed again but now with frustration.
A moment later; with a low voice while tugging onto Seiya's sleeve, Usagi said "Umm… Seiya?" noticing the increasing crowd that had encircled them and at the same time, she franticly thought /This is embarrassing…!/
"Hai? What is it, my Odango?" Seiya said as he leans slightly towards his beloved girl to hear her more clearly.
"Umm… ano sa… Why do you insist on adding 'my Odango' everytime…? Don't you always just call me 'Odango'? It's kinda… embarrassing…you know…" Usagi said as she whispers onto Seiya ear, clearly not understanding the significant of adding it to her already weird pet name.
Turning to stare, wide-eyed yet again, at the girl beside him for a couple of seconds or so; as he was somewhat taken aback by the unexpected inquiry, Seiya finally replied "Well, of course you're Odango!" and smirking playfully towards Usagi; which only caused her face to show a sign of confusion. But that expression did not last long, as it was soon replaced with a look of utter surprised as he had caught her off guard by suddenly hugging her and exclaiming loudly, "Demo! You're MY Odango!"
Hearing his declaration in this manner had really made Usagi flush furiously that day. Ami, Minako and Makoto just smiled watching their antics and Taiki, he just could not believe how naïve the couple was. While Yaten, he just sighed as he can feel some kind of a headache coming his way seeing his leader's public display of idiocy (in his opinion).
It was undoubtedly clear that; from that day onwards, they are going to have the attentions of all where ever they go now, more, especially at school.
END OF FLASHBACK
Even though Usagi was really embarrassed by Seiya's sudden declaration back then, she could not make her self continue to be angry with him as she was also truly happy because of that incident. For she now had truly realize that they are; without a doubt, together and are deeply in love with each other. She was then brought out of her musing when she felt a light squeeze on her held right hand. Blinking a few times and realizing that; they had already entered the school building, and they are now entering the school's shoe locker area.
(A/N: In Japan, the schools have special lockers stationed at the front entrance hallway for the students to change their own shoes with the white footwear, which is provided by the school. These are typical in any Japanese school, I think. Please do correct me if I'm wrong.)
"Doshita no, Odango?" Seiya concern tone was heard as she looks up at him and also noticed the worried expression he had as he removed his shoes and replacing them with the standard white one.
Shaking her head slightly from side to side, Usagi replied "Iie! Nande mo nai!"And beamed at him with that pleasant smile of hers that clearly says /Please, don't worry! I'm totally fine!/
Turning to face the golden haired girl; staring at her for another few seconds (as he did so) and seeming searching for anything wrong with her, he had found nothing. Finally convinced that Usagi was indeed alright; he smiled cheekily and said "We better hurry then. We don't want to be late now, do we? Ready?"
"Em!" Usagi replied with a big smile as they both sprinted towards the hallway, leaving their friends behind.
"Oi! No running in the hallway!" exclaimed the one of the school's student committee as they both ran pass by him and received a 'Hai~!' from the couple (whom still continues to run, of course).
"Why do they have to do this every day? Can't they just walk normally to class like normal people? Are they really that enthusiastic to attend class?" Yaten said and sighed as he removed his shoes and placing them inside his shoe locker and change into the school's white shoes, while he waited for the others.
"One good thing though; at least now Usagi-chan will arrive to school on time, thanks to Seiya-kun. Not to mention that her grades are steadily improving too!" Ami said as she turns to look at the others and unexpectedly saw the surprised looks from all of them. Apparently they did not realize it.
"You're right! I bet Usagi was too eager to walk to school with Seiya-kun to even realize it. Ne? Don't you think so too, Minako?" Makoto said and giggled as she too finally realized the miracle of it. Of course; when she said the last part, she had winked at Minako, who did caught onto her hint, began blushing furiously because of it.
Noticing the sudden redness of Minako's face, Yaten turns slightly and glance towards her and said "Hm? Are you alright?"
Startled by his unexpected curiosity towards her well being; instead of answering the silver haired bishounen, Minako just waves her hands about and laughed nervously at him. This is obviously because of the sudden major over load of blood to her head.
Being the typical 'Yaten' that he is; he stared at her (for a couple of seconds) and before he could stop himself, Yaten; with a rare smile adorning his face, said "You're weird but I don't mind." This of course, caused Minako to blush even further.
Abruptly; realizing that he had, in fact, said those words out loud, he too blushes and quickly turns his face away from Minako which caused him to receive some knowing smiles and snickers from the others, his undoubtedly conspicuous manners towards the said blonde.
"We better hurry… we'll miss class…" Yaten said with the blush, still visible to his friends and begin to walk away with Minako whom was following close behind as the others started to burst into laughter.
"…shut up…!" Yaten said with a low growl.
Tsuzuku (To Be Continued)
NOTICE: Updates will not be regular in comings. I will only post the next chapter when I had the time. Reviews are much loved! Thanks for reading. Sore Ja!
Translations:
Minna! – Everyone! /Everybody!
Hisashiburi! – It's been a long time! / Long time no see!
Nani ka? – About what? / What is it?
So so! – That's right! That's right!
Ureshii na~! – I'm so jealous~!
Kakoii~! – Cool~!
Kawaii – Cute
Mitte! Mitte! – Look! Look!
Oi! – A crude way of saying "Hey!"
Yamette! – Stop it!
Ittai! – Hurts!/That hurts!/Ouch!
Teme – bastard (cursing)
Senshi – Soldier
Yarou – bastard (cursing, same meaning as Teme)
Demo – But
Daijobu ka? – Are you alright? Or Are you Okay?
Daijobu – I'm Ok / I'm alright / I'm fine
Yokatta! – Thank goodness!
Doshita no, Odango? – Is something wrong, Dumpling? /What's the matter, Dumpling?
Nande mo nai – It's nothing
Sore Ja! – That is all! / See ya!