Because I need a pick-me-up at 11 o'clock in the morning (so bite me, I just woke up) before I actually start working (I promise to start on my writing jobs after this), and because I've been experiencing the wonderful Last Song Syndrome for Where is Your Boy by Fall Out Boy for days now, I finally decided to write this. Actually, it was a toss between Battle Royale and GALS, but meh, I figured, I wrote too many GALS stories already. Might as well contribute to the ShinjixTakako love instead. Uhm, so yeah. Enjoy?

(And yes periperichan, I can see you bouncing up and down the walls of your room from here. Better tie yourself to a chair first.)

WHERE IS YOUR BOY TONIGHT

The first thing that Shinji Mimura realized when he woke up at four o'clock in the afternoon (or what he assumed was four o'clock, heck, stupid group study all-nighters) was that he was late for his three o'clock Calculus class.

Shit, he growled to himself as he tried to pull himself out of bed.

He had slept with yesterday's clothes (again), a faded pair of denim jeans and a red polo shirt, too tired to even bother changing when he got back to his dorm room from his third consecutive night (more like wee hours of the morning) study group. And I'm not even failing Algebra, he mentally smacked himself as he rolled to his side, only to realize that he was rolling into thin air.

"Ah crap!" he growled out loud, and with a loud thud landed unceremoniously on the floor.

Shinji's long-time friend Yutaka Seto peeked behind the door adjoining their rooms. "Mim?" he called, not noticing the pile of flesh and bones that was Shinji Mimura on the floor. "You alright in there?"

Shinji muffled a groan and picked himself up from the floor. "Damn it," he muttered, sitting on his bed. "Screw Calculus. I never liked the professor anyway." He attempted to go back to sleep, but Yutaka was already in his room, poking him awake.

"Go away Yutaka," he mumbled against his pillow. "I haven't had any decent sleep since last Tuesday."

"We have Literature together at five, remember?" Yutaka continued poking. "You've maxed out your allowable cuts for that subject. Get up."

Shinji whined. Literature. Ugh. Definitely worse than Calculus. At least in Calculus he could follow the formulas. In Literature, he couldn't even spell half of the words right. Whoever made the rule that Literature should be included in his curriculum anyway? He was a fucking Computer Engineering major, for Pete's sake. What did he need a course on Literature for?

"Wake up Mim," Yutaka ordered his best friend, pulling The Third Man off his bed. "What have you been doing these past few days anyway? I had barely seen you all week."

Shinji rolled over and tried to open his eyes. Why was he staying up so late for the past few days anyway? He had recently joined a study group for Algebra, led by a group of pretentious little pricks and bitches who thought they knew everything that needed to be learned in Math. He wished he could cut them short when they tried to solve those difficult problems using complicated formulas that they invented, and just tell them that he could solve the equation without so much as using paper and pen. But of course he didn't, because they would discover that he wasn't really there to learn.

So why did he bother joining a group who studied complex mathematical equations at such ungodly hours? Simple. She was there.

Shinji had an eye on her ever since their junior high years. He had never made a move though; come on, there were over a hundred girls in the whole school who'd give anything to fuck the famous Third Man. Why waste time on someone who wasn't the least interested in him, right?

And so they graduated from junior high, and much to his dismay, he found out at the start of the next school year that she transferred to another school and would not be their classmate anymore. Her best friend Hiroki Sugimura was a good friend, and when he casually asked him why she changed schools, Hiroki answered that it was a personal choice, that she decided that she didn't want to attend Shiroiwa High School anymore.

Takako Chigusa. Shinji never thought he'd miss any girl, but he missed Takako all the same. All his high school life he continued being a player, dating and sleeping around like an idiot, but at the back of his mind he always wondered why he never took the chance with Takako.

When they graduated from high school, Shinji never really thought about what course to take in college. Shuuya Nanahara, a good friend of his, said he wanted to take something related to music (Typical Shu, he had thought when Shuuya told him that.); Hiroki Sugimura wanted something connected to the social sciences (Typical Sugi, he had thought, shaking his head, Always one with the hero complex, always wanting to save the world.); and his best friend Yutaka Seto wanted something easy, so he chose Interdisciplinary Studies ("That way," Yutaka had beamed, "I get two minors at the price of one major!"). Shinji himself didn't care if he goes to college or not; he figured that real knowledge wasn't learned in school anyway. But his parents would have none of it, and so he chose a course that would at least interest him ("Computer Engineering?" Yoshitoki Kuninobu, another friend, asked when he announced his course. "And exactly what does a computer engineer do?").

On the first day of his Algebra class, a familiar bob of black hair with orange streaks greeted him as he tried to find an empty seat in the room ("Over here, handsome," he heard numerous calls from various female students, all giving him the eye.). He couldn't believe his eyes at first. Did Takako Chigusa go to the same university as he did? Why hadn't Hiroki told him about it? But then again, Shinji wasn't exactly on speaking terms with Takako during their junior high school years, so perhaps Hiroki didn't feel the need to share such information with him.

He scooted over to her, ignoring the calls from the other girls in the room, and sat on the chair next to her. She didn't even stir, but continued reading from a thick Physics book.

"Chigusa?" he asked, not missing the faint quivering in his voice. Seriously Shinji, must you be such a girl, he chided himself.

She half-turned and glanced at him. He held his breath as Takako narrowed her eyes and studied his face. Surely she remembers me, right? he thought anxiously as Takako continued to stare at him. But before he could repeat his greeting, the former Shiroiwa ace runner turned back to her reading, completely ignoring him once more.

"Hey," he tried again, "Don't you remember me? I'm…"

"Shinji Mimura," she recited, and he was pleasantly surprised. "Oh I know who you are." Shinji detected a kind of venom in her voice. "You're friends with that prick Sugimura."

Shinji never thought he'd hear the word 'prick' and Hiroki's name in one sentence. It was no secret that the martial artist was one of the nicest, gentlest guys back in their junior high and high school years. To call Hiroki a prick would be like labeling Shinji a devil's spawn. And weren't they supposed to be best friends?

Before Shinji could do a follow-up question, the Algebra professor entered the classroom and immediately gave a pop quiz. I hate first days, he muttered to himself as he fished out a pad of paper from his bag and began writing down the problems on the board.

Shinji told his friends about the incident during lunch. Hiroki visibly paled at the mention of Takako's name. This, of course, did not escape the intuitive stare of one Shinji Mimura.

"So what happened between you and Chigusa?" he asked casually, leaning back against the trunk of a big cherry blossoms tree. "She almost spitted out venom when she said your name back there."

"I'm not sure," Hiroki replied, tapping his nose consciously. Yutaka took the chance to fish out a sushi from Hiroki's lunchbox. "She just stopped talking to me weeks after we got into high school. I never knew why."

"Maybe he found another guy to befriend," Shuuya joked, finishing his onigiri.

Hiroki's face reddened. Again, Shinji noticed this. "She confessed, didn't she?" It annoyed him a bit, because Takako's feelings for Hiroki back in junior high was so obvious (to him, at least, who had always found himself keeping an eye on their pretty classmate) he couldn't understand why Hiroki never noticed it himself. Instead, he chose to crush over Kayoko Kotohiki, who, according to Shinji's not-so-humble opinion, was a troll compared to Takako.

"No way," Shuuya blurted out, almost choking on his food. "Takako confessed to you?!"

The other guys winced. "Geez Shu," Shinji complained, pretending to clear the earwax from his right ear. "Shout any louder so that the whole university could hear you."

"Sorry," Shuuya muttered, then turned back to Hiroki. "What did you tell her?"

Hiroki's face turned a deeper shade of red. "I told her I didn't think of her that way."

Shuuya, Yoshitoki and Yutaka's jaws dropped simultaneously. "You what?!"

Shinji merely shook his head. "You're an idiot," he said, realizing that he had lost his appetite. "Chigusa was the prettiest girl in class, and one of the smartest too. She was," and he paused for emphasis, "for lack of a better term, fucking hot. How can you not have a thing for her?"

Hiroki shook his head. "It's not that I didn't," he answered, tapping his nose nervously. Shinji knew Hiroki hated being the center of attention. "I just thought, well, she's way out of my league. You said it yourself. She's close to perfect. What does a guy like me have to offer her?"

Shinji stood up and dusted his pants in disgust. "You're an idiot," he repeated before turning around to leave, ignoring the calls Shuuya made.

Shinji couldn't understand why he had been so angry with Hiroki that day. Hell, it wasn't his business who his friend wants or didn't want to get into a relationship with, right? Shinji was just annoyed that Hiroki let a chance like that pass, when he himself had been beating himself up for the past four years for not making a move on Takako.

And that was why he joined the Algebra study group, even when he was doing well in that subject. Takako Chigusa was a member of the group. He found out about this when one of his more frilly classmates invited him to join them one cloudy afternoon. Shinji was about to refuse when he noticed that Takako had gathered her things and followed the group to the assigned meeting place. Thinking it would be a good chance to get re-acquainted with her, Shinji reluctantly accepted the invitation, only to be surrounded by rabid fangirls who wanted to impress him with formulas he didn't even care to know. And to add to his annoyance, Takako had sat a few chairs away, wearing a bored expression on her face. She didn't even bother looking at him, not once.

"Shinji," Yutaka's voice broke him out of his reverie. "Stop daydreaming and get up. We'll be late."

Sighing in irritation, Shinji finally assented and allowed Yutaka to drag him out of his bed and push him in the bathroom. I hope I see her later, he found himself thinking as he took off his shirt and opened the shower, yelping as the cold water woke him for good. He had forgotten that the water heater was broken.

Shinji did see her after class, sitting alone on one of the stone benches in the quadrangle of their university. He paused and considered approaching her, when he noticed that she was glaring at something, or someone, from afar. Shinji followed Takako's trail of vision and saw Hiroki a few meters away, walking uneasily as one Kayoko Kotohiki clung tightly to his arm. Shinji shook his head. Hiroki should have been thrilled to have Kayoko finally notice him. What the hell was he acting like a wimp for?

Shinji finally decided to approach the still-glaring girl on the bench. "Penny for your thoughts," he said, smirking as Takako glared at him instead.

"My thoughts aren't for sale," she hissed, and started gathering her stuff so she could leave.

"Can I get them for free instead?" he sat down beside her, watching as she furiously stacked her books back in her bag.

When Takako refused to answer, Shinji looked back to where Hiroki and Kayoko were disappearing to.

"You don't really hate him, do you?" he asked inquisitively, and Takako stopped fixing her things and glared at him instead.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" she hissed.

"You know what I'm talking about," Shinji smirked, loving the attention Takako was giving him (sure, he just might have cut his life span into half, but that was beside the point). "Sugi. You don't really hate him. Or, to put it more bluntly, you hate him more than you think you do, which goes to show that you really don't hate him at all."

Takako raised an eyebrow. "I don't recall ever telling you that I hate him." And with a huff, "I don't even recall telling you anything."

Shinji's smirk did not falter. "You didn't have to." A nod at Hiroki's previous position. "You liked him, and he chose Kotohiki instead. I don't blame you for being angry."

Shinji could see Takako narrowing her eyes more. "I do think Sugi's an idiot though." That earned him a raised eyebrow.

"What the hell are you getting at?" Takako asked, more like, growled. "I swear Mimura if this is one of your pickup lines to get me to sleep with you I'd…"

"Whoa whoa," Shinji cut in, raising his hands in mock defense. "Don't get your panties all bunched up. I'm only giving a personal opinion."

Takako frowned. "And what opinion might that be?"

Shinji shrugged. "I just didn't think that Sugi'd be dumb enough to let go of a grade-A babe like you."

Shinji knew Takako was taken aback. What, he thought amusedly, You never got a compliment like that before?

"Whatever," Takako hissed, grabbing her things. "I don't like him anymore anyway."

Shinji watched as Takako leave. "Damn Sugi," he whispered to no one, "You screwed up big this time. I don't suppose you would mind if I pick up the pieces, huh?"

"I'm telling you Mim, don't do it," Shuuya advised as they both lied lazily in Shuuya's dorm room. They were waiting for the others, as they were planning to do a slasher film marathon to celebrate the upcoming weekend.

"What?" Shinji feigned innocence.

Shuuya shook his head. "I know what you're planning," he said. "Come on, we've known each other since junior high. You think I don't know you well enough by now?"

"What are you talking about, Shu?" Shinji continued with his charade.

"Chigusa," Shuuya finally said, exasperated. "You're planning to add her to your list of achievements, don't you?"

Shinji was genuinely insulted. Sure, he had dated a number of random girls whom he considered trophies, but he never thought of adding Takako in that category. Shinji had always thought that if he were ever lucky enough to get Takako to go out with him, he'd actually start considering a serious relationship with her. Only if she wanted to, of course.

"I don't," he answered, annoyed. "She's not like other girls. I'd never do that to her."

"Right," Shuuya mocked, rolling his eyes. He received a pillow to his face as a response.

"Hey!"

"I'm serious," Shinji continued. "Takako," he liked the way the name rolled onto his tongue, "She's probably the only good thing left in this university, female population-wise."

"Hey, that's not true," Shuuya frowned. "There are other decent girls studying here."

"Like who?" came Shinji's retort, smirking.

"Well," Shuuya considered. "There's Noriko. You know Yoshi has been crushing on her ever since our first year in junior high." A pause. "And Yukie. She's different from the rest, she's…"

"Alright Romeo," Shinji chuckled, noticing the faint blush on Shuuya's cheeks. "We both know you've had the hots for Utsumi since high school. Point taken." A smirk. "Still, I wouldn't want to date them. They're reserved for you and Yoshi, remember?"

Shuuya blushed deeper. Shinji laughed.

"I'm telling you Mim," Shuuya, after recovering from embarrassment, continued. "Don't do it. Chigusa, she has a long history with Sugi. Sure, he rejected her and all, but just how long do you think it would take him before he realizes his mistake? Wouldn't want you and Sugi to fight over a girl, would you?"

Shinji frowned. Sure, he'd always thought Hiroki would one day get off his ass and finally ask Takako out, but his friend never did, and suddenly Shinji wished Hiroki wouldn't.

"Want to know a secret?" Shinji said slowly, and his tone of voice was enough to make Shuuya really look at him. "I think I want Sugi never to realize what he's missing." A pause. "I think," he continued slowly, "I think I want Takako Chigusa for myself."

Getting Takako to notice him was no easy feat. He went out of his way to join the clubs she was a member in, even to the extent of joining the track team so that he could spend more time with her. Still, Takako remained aloof, indifferent. He had tried to strike up conversations with her a couple of times, only to be mobbed by fangirls before he could utter a word at Takako's direction. It was insane, actually, that the same girls who fawned over him during his high school days were the same bunch who drove him to hide every so often in broom compartments in college.

Shinji would later charge it to dumb luck that he finally got Takako alone enough to strike up a decent conversation. Track practice just ended, and he was sitting all alone in the club's room, changing into his regular clothes, when he heard the door opened and closed. He turned, his pants still unzipped and his yellow shirt still bunched around his shoulders, and watched as Takako breezed in nonchalantly, as if seeing him half-naked was a common sight.

"Hey," he greeted, noticing the usual indifference on her face. "I never thought of you as a peeping Tom."

"Fuck off," Takako snarled, opening her locker and fishing out her water bottle. "I'd actually pay not to see you naked."

"Careful," Shinji smirked, zipping up his pants, "Don't say such things until you haven't tried them yourself."

"Oh grow a set," Takako rolled her eyes, wiping her forehead with a towel. "I'm not trying anything you would want to offer."

Shinji shook his head and leaned against the nearby wall. "You always this angry?"

Takako glared at him. "Only to pricks like you."

So now he was at par with Sugi-the-prick.

"Come on, can't we be friends?" Shinji grinned. "I promise not to hit on you if you don't want to."

Takako rolled her eyes. "Please. Why wouldn't I? You're an expert in flirting, right?" Shinji couldn't help but detect a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Shinji chuckled. "I guess that's what I like most about you," he told her and waited for a violent reaction. None came. Instead, Takako raised and eyebrow and grinned (Damn she's pissed off now. I think I overdid it.). "Oh?" she asked. "And what's the punch line?"

"Huh?"

"You know, the part where you tell me that it's all a joke."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Takako's grin widened. Shinji began to seriously fear for his life. "Let me get this straight," she hissed, taking a step forward. "You're telling me that you sincerely like me?"

Shinji gulped. "Uh, yes?"

Takako's grin disappeared. "Asshole," she whispered as she turned around to leave.

"W-wait!" Shinji called, and to his relief, Takako turned to face him again.

""L-look, I know that right now, you'd rather kiss a skunk that me," and Takako almost nodded in agreement (Ouch, way to bruise a guy's ego.), "But won't you give me a try? I'm not half as bad as Sugi is. I promise to… well, I promise to make it worth your while."

Takako opened her mouth to reply, but words didn't escape her. Shinji thought that she was considering his offer. There was a glint in her eyes that said she desperately needed to be loved, and a hope that perhaps, just maybe, Shinji could give her the love that Hiroki could never give. Shinji vowed to himself that if Takako gave him a try, he would forget about his philanthropic ways and be a one-woman man, whatever that required on his part.

Finally, Takako shook her head. "Thanks," she answered, smiling, really smiling, gently, "but not interested. At least, not now." She turned to leave again. She paused just in front of the door and faced Shinji again. "I'll keep what you said in mind though."

And with that, Shinji was left alone in the track team's locker room, a feeling of incomprehensible sadness enveloping him.

He wanted to chase after Takako and make her understand that he was serious, that he really did want her, want her more than any other girl he had wanted before, that he was willing to take a chance with her, a chance Hiroki never took, because he was too much of an idiot to see what he had been missing. He wanted to confess his feelings he had kept hidden from everyone since he first saw her during their second year in junior high, sitting alone in a chair near the window, reading quietly a red book with creamy paper and blue ink. He wanted to tell her that she had been the one, always had been, and probably always will be, the only girl that could make him nuts and sane at the same time.

But Shinji didn't. Instead, he promised himself that he will take his time with Takako, until she finally gave him the chance he needed to prove to her that he could be so much better than the guy she was still in love with.

Four months later:

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me, Shinji."

"…"

"Listen, you want to go out tomorrow evening? I know we're busy with finals and all, but there's this new joint a few blocks from our school that serves all sorts of ice cream. I thought you needed a break."

"…"

"Chigusa?"

"Takako."

"Huh?"

"Seriously. If you want to seriously go out with me, you better start calling me by my first name already."

"Oh. Oh! Does that mean…"

"What time?"

END

I now realize that the title did not make any sense whatsoever (or if it, I couldn't tell). But anyway, I think Shinji was a tiny bit OOC here, but we can attribute that to the fact that they had all matured just the tiniest bit (yeah right). And yes, this is a one-shot. See the word "END" there? Definitely a one-shot.

I seriously need to write a TakakoxHiroki story next time. I miss them being together. Sigh. Oh Battle Royale, why must all your interesting characters die? Erm, anyway, please take the time to review. It will make this kyd a very happy camper (or something like that).

It is now a few minutes before 2 p.m. Now, off to do real work!

- kyd