The Secret Arakita Yasutomo Fanclub

by Ashurato

Part One

"What the fuck is this?"

Arakita sneered in annoyance as he withdrew a clear cellophane bag tied with a bright blue ribbon from his clubroom locker. Beautiful little chocolate pieces shone like gems from within the plastic packaging. "Toudou, quit leaving your shi—" But before Arakita could complete his sentence, his thin eyebrows rose so high in surprise that they almost reached his hairline.

"Haha, it's difficult being this popular. One of my fans must have left it for me," said Toudou as he (sexily) ran a hand through his hair, still damp from early morning practice. The fact that they were in a male club's locker room (an area whose pungency guaranteed that no self-respecting girl would enter) seemed to be lost to him. He walked the few steps from his locker to Arakita's and held out his other hand expectantly. "Give it here, Arakita."

"Nevermind, it's not for you. Go away."

The smile on Toudou's face faltered and his arm dropped a few inches in what looked like disbelief. His tone turned testy as he pointed towards Manami and Shinkai who had just walked in through the door. "Is it for either of them, then? Manami, you little bastard! I knew you were planning on stealing my fans!"

"Ahaha, I have no interest in that, Toudou-san."

"Yasutomo, Jinpachi."

"Annoying." Arakita slammed his locker door closed with more force than usual as an irritated glower settled over his features. "If you want it so much, take it. I don't have time for bullshit like this." He unceremoniously tossed the bag to Toudou and stalked out of the clubroom.

"Ah, Arakita-san. Good afternoon…?"

Arakita barely give a grunt of acknowledgement to Kuroda whose polite entry greeting fizzled in the wake of his sempai's stormy departure.

"Toudou-sempai, what just happened?" asked Kuroda as he worriedly watched Arakita's figure move further and further away. "Arakita-sempai seemed more on edge than normal. Did practice not go well?"

"Or did it have something to do with that little bag, Toudou-sempai?" said Manami as he stared pointedly at the evil satchel in question. His tone was light, but he could not quite stop the amused laughter from twisting his lips. "Your fan club should really pay attention to which locker is yours."

But the ace climber did not reply and continued to stare at the bag in his hands as if he expected it to spontaneously combust into flames. After a minute of dumbfounded disbelief, Toudou flipped over the bag to show the other three a tag that they previously were not able to see.

Arakita-san.

I admire you.

Shinkai's smile did not disappear, but the depths of his eyes were cold.

As night fell, students and faculty left the school grounds to make for their homes. However, one lecture hall at the far side of the campus exploded with noise.

Kuroda, President of the Hakone Gakuen Secret Arakita Yasutomo Fanclub, slammed an empty can of Bepsi on the podium. He was beyond pissed off. He called an emergency meeting of their secret society to discuss what happened earlier that day, but he did not expect the reaction to be so extreme. The seats in the 50-seater hall were all occupied by young men in various states of distress and each voice rose in urgency with every second that passed.

"Shut the hell up, all of you! We don't have time for your crap, so sit your asses down!"

The uncharacteristic roar from the normally mild-mannered silver-haired second year reverberated through the hall. Previous arguments halted and all the attendants returned to their seats with identical looks of shame.

"Yu-Yuki…" Izumida had both hands raised in a half-calming, half-defensive motion as he stood next to a raging, strangely authoritative Kuroda. He had previously only heard rumors of Arakita's fanclub from hushed locker room whispers. The idea of Arakita Yasutomo, former yankee, having a following to rival Toudou's originally seemed so ridiculous that it was laughable to even imagine its existence.

Little did Izumida know that it was the most heavily guarded secret in Hakone Gakuen, practically one of the school's Seven Mysteries, and Izumida was almost certain that it did not actually exist. He would have remained in the dark if he hadn't been worried over Kuroda's unstable state after morning practice. Kuroda had physically dragged him to the meeting after school without a word of explanation after learning that afternoon practice was cancelled.

But now that Izumida was proven wrong, he could not decide which was the more shocking piece of information: that the club's rather numerous participants were ALL male… or to learn that his long-time friend was the ringleader.

Andy, Frank, I thought Yuki used to hate Arakita-sempai… Frank twitched as if in reassurance.

"Which one of you did it?" Kuroda's voice was quiet, but it vibrated with barely suppressed rage. When no one stepped forward to claim responsibility, he sighed and shook his head as anger made way for sympathy. "Look, whoever decided to leave that little token in Arakita-san's locker, it's not like any one of us here can blame you. We all stayed in the shadows to support Arakita-san and followed the non-interference rules so that he can concentrate on his training for the Inter High-"

A familiar voice piped up from the back of the room. "Inter High is over now. There's no reason to keep this secret any longer, is there?"

"Machimiya, I don't even know why you keep coming here! Get lost!"

The Hiroshima student at the back of the hall just scoffed and shrugged but did not rise from his seat. "It's Machimiya-san. Show some respect, second-year. Do you know how many hours I rode on the train to get here?"

"And it will only take five seconds to kick you out, Machimiya," warned Kuroda. "You aren't even student of Hakone Gakuen."

Machimiya shot out of his seat and pointed to a blushing Onoda who also stood at the back of the classroom next to a smiling Manami. "Then how do you explain that little Sohoku runt?"

Onoda stiffened and dropped his gaze to his hands as a blush darkened his cheeks. "Ma-Manami-kun said I should attend. Arakita-san helped me a lot during the Inter High and I really admire him a lot."

Admire…? The word struck a chord with Kuroda. "Onoda-kun, were you the one who left the chocolate in Arakita-san's locker?"

"Oh, did Manami-kun put it in Arakita-san's locker? It was only to thank Arakita-san for helping me during Inter High! But I didn't think I would have the chance to see him anytime soon, so I gave it to Manami-kun to-" Onoda's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and he turned towards Manami who stood beside him. "Manami-kun?"

"Ahaha-" Manami's innocent smile widened exponentially as he pulled part of a familiar tag from his uniform pocket. "I may have forgotten that this part came off from the bag when I put it in Arakita-san's locker."

Thank you for cooperating with me during Inter High!

Onoda Sakamichi

There was no one in the room who did not (to some degree) viciously imagine wrapping their hands around the blue-haired climber's neck. But the sighs of relief were almost palpable as each of the men dismissed the unassuming young Sohoku climber as a threat.

"Oi, this changes nothing," warned Machimiya. He crossed his arms over his chest to convey how serious he was. "Inter High is over and there's nothing binding the Wolf of Hakone Gakuen any longer."

Kuroda's eyes narrowed and the beginnings of a snarl formed on his lip. "What are you suggesting?"

"Simple," Machimiya smirked and gestured to everyone in the room. "All of you stay out of my way."

It was not clear who threw the first can of Bepsi at Machimiya, but the satisfying "thunk" of the empty can as it connected with the sprinter's head was quickly followed by many more. The room erupted into pandemonium once again and this time, Kuroda jumped teeth-bared into the fray despite Izumida's tearful attempts to strong-arm him back.

In the middle of the ruckus, Manami ushered Onoda out into the night and out of the free-for-all brawl in the hall. "Haha, this is the liveliest I've ever seen the club. Are you all right, Sakamichi-kun?"

Onoda patted himself down and nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. I didn't mean to cause so much trouble."

"Don't worry about it. Wasn't it fun to see how appreciated Arakita-san is? Surprising, right?" laughed Manami. He gestured for Onoda to follow him towards the direction of the bicycle club. "If you have time, we can check the club to see if Arakita-san might still be there. He hasn't stopped training three times harder than anyone even though Inter High is over and practice was cancelled, so we might get lucky."

They walked in silence for a few minutes and when they could no longer hear the crashes and bickering from the hall they abandoned, Onoda pulled on Manami's sleeve to catch his attention. "Uhm, Manami-kun, can I just ask one thing?"

Manami tilted his head to the side quizzically but continued to walk. "A question? Sure. I'll answer if I can."

Onoda did not reply immediately and waited until they were right outside the bicycle club building to voice his concerns. None of the lights were on, indicating that there were no people in the building. His cheeks were stained a light pink bright enough to remain visible even in the dimming light as he tried to work the words he wanted to form out of his throat. "I-I'm just a little surprised. Ever since Arakita-san dropped back on the third day just before the sprint finish, I though that… that Arakita-san and Shi… Shinkai-san were… uhm… I mean, I saw the look on Shinkai-san's face, and I thought that they-"

The smile on Manami's face showed all of his teeth as he avoided the question by cutting off Onoda mid-sentence. "Ne, Sakamichi-kun. Do you think you can help me with something for Arakita-san?"

"Manami-kun?" Onoda failed to completely brush off the feeling of dread that raised goosebumps on his arms at the sight of the strange devious light in his friend and rival's eyes.

"Don't worry, it'll be fun," smiled Manami as he opened the door.

Part One - End

Authors Notes:

- Yowamushi Pedal characters belong to Wataru Watanabe.

- I thought my fanfic writing days were over, but I fell in love with Arakita and Shinkai (dammit). Toudou, Shinkai, and Manami have fanclubs. I simply decided that Arakita needed one too (haha). I'm thinking two or three parts for this short story.