Suginei: It's been on my mind for a while, so yeah. Got the idea while reading a bunch of... shoujo... manga... so don't be surprised if it feels... well, typical.
"1156... 1156... wow, as expected of Natsumi-san! You got in!" Haruna squealed. She came to cheer for her upperclassmen, after all, it was the day where they announce where the seniors were going in high school!
And of course, Natsumi, Aki and Fuyuka were all aiming for Raimon High.
Aki moved around among the crowd, her eyes glued to the board. 1374... 1376... She stopped. A smile began to form on her lips, "Found it, 1384." She was immediately glomped by Haruna, followed by Natsumi who simply gave her a warm congratulation.
The three managers huddled together, with Haruna being the most excited of them all, squealing their names and shouting out congratulations over and over again at the top of her lungs. "All right! I'm going to work hard next year in order to get in as well!" She vowed.
Natsumi chuckled, "You have to work hard this year as well, young lady."
"I know that!" Haruna said cheekily.
Aki giggled softly at the scene. But wait... weren't there supposed to be... four managers? "Where's Fuyuka-san?"
They glanced around the event, there was no way they could miss Fuyuka, she's the only girl they know who has purple hair... on top of that, she's pretty standout, seeing that her figure was quite elegant, clean and plain, unlike most junior high girls who like to accessorize themselves too much.
"There!" Haruna said, adjusting her glasses, pointing towards the far side where a huge board stood in front. Fuyuka seemed to be the only one standing there. "Whoa..." Haruna breathed, "How in the world did we miss that?"
Aki stepped towards her carefully, avoiding the crowds that just kept coming. Geez... why was it that people forget about their sight in these kind of events? "Fuyuka-san?" Aki called softly, tapping lightly on the other girl's shoulder.
"Fuyuka-san!" Haruna popped up as well, looking at her upperclassman, "What's wrong?"
The girl was literally... frozen. Her hands clutching the piece of paper with her number written on it. Her eyes staring straight ahead. Natsumi glanced at the paper, "1442..." she looked at the board. It was there. "Congratulations, Fuyuka-san!"
Fuyuka didn't respond, she simple raised a shaky finger and pointed at the top of the board where the school's name was written.
Aki, Haruna and Natsumi looked at it. For a moment, there was silence. "Teikoku?" ... "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH? TEIKOKU?"
"W-what...?" Haruna stuttered, "But... huh?"
"Fuyuka-san... scored that high?" Aki gasped. It actually wasn't that surprisingly seeing that Fuyuka was a hardworking girl... but to be able to reach Teikoku's acceptance average was just... scary...
Fuyuka was obviously scared as well, "W-what should I do?"
Natsumi was the first to recover from the shock, "I-In any case, this is a good thing. It's not everyday that a public junior high school student succeeds in entering a private high school. You really outdid yourself!"
"Y-yes..." Fuyuka murmured, "I-I'm still... in shock... that's all."
"Aw, man!" The girls were startled as they heard a loud yell. A guy kicked at the ground angrily, "I scored lower than Fudou?"
At the name "Fudou", Fuyuka's head twitched to the side.
Sure enough, that gangster looking boy was there. It's been a while since they've last met, and his hair seemed to have grown longer... not to mention that white streak was no where to be seen anymore.
"Pssht, what a loser." He scoffed, yawning as if the whole thing was just bothersome. His style of clothes have changed as well, to a much... "warmer" style. Long baggy jeans and a leather jacket.
"You don't have to say it that way." Another familiar voice... Sakuma Jirou.
"Though, you can't deny that fact that Fudou did score the highest out of the three of us." Genda Koujirou put in.
Fuyuka just stared at them without noticing herself. Forget about Sakuma and Genda... she had expected Fudou to drop out once he reached high school. Not that his grades were bad, in fact, they were super good, almost always on the top of the chart! But because he never bothered to do things that were bothersome to him... I wonder what made him want to go to continue school?
Sakuma looked around, "Say, I guess Kidou continued on to Raimon, huh?"
This time, it was Natsumi who spoke, "What do you mean? If he gets a high enough score, he can go to Teikoku as well, right?"
"You don't know?" Sakuma glanced at her, and of course he recognized her, but this doesn't seem like the right situation to form a nice reunion scene... "It doesn't matter how high your score is as long as you hand in the application form to the right place, what matters is only if your score reaches the lowest acceptable score the school needs."
The girls became even more confused now. Fuyuka was sure that she applied for Raimon... so... how did her number ended up on Teikoku's score board?
"Hey, you," Fuyuka jolted as Fudou's voice sounded, "Are you really that scared?" His piercing gray glare shot at her coldly. She shivered and glanced around her, without noticing, she had automatically hid herself behind Natsumi and Aki. She couldn't even find her voice to reply to him. "Never mind." He growled, "Come on, Sakuma, Genda. It's getting too stuffy here."
That... was the fine reunion Fuyuka had with her first love... and also the start of her high school life with these three.
Fuyuka sighed as she put down her bag on her new desk. It was the right decision for her to come to school one hour early, for the school was so big that she got lost a couple of times before finally getting the map right. And by the time she made it to her classroom, the first bell for homeroom was already ringing.
"Excuse me," A lion's shadow loomed over her. Fuyuka honestly thought of freaking out for the first time in her entire life. A low chuckle could be heard, "Relax, it's just me, Genda."
"G-Genda-kun?" Fuyuka was finally able to move again, relaxing a little.
"Cool, we're in the same class." He sat down next to her.
"U-um..." Fuyuka looked at him, startled that he would choose to sit next to her. After all, there wasn't a seating chart.
Genda caught her stuttering, "Sorry, hope you don't mind?"
"N-No!"
Genda laughed, muttering to himself as he watched Fuyuka, frantically distracting herself by looking out the window, "I can see why that guy's interested in her..."
"D-did you say something?"
Genda smirked, Cute... "I was just saying... that it's nice to be in the same class as you since the other two bastards are in a different class. I though I'd be quite lonely."
"I-Is that... so?" She blushed, then after a moment of thinking, she added, "Thank you, Genda-kun."
"Hm? For what?"
"For befriending me." She said, giving him a gentle smile. "We never got to talk to each other much back in junior high, so I was quite shocked when you came up and talked to me so casually."
Genda looked away, suddenly feeling embarrassed, "D-don't mention it... I mean, Raimon and Teikoku... have histories together down the line after all."
"Yeah!" She gradually opened up to this wild-haired boy, but... it didn't change the fact that there was only one boy for her...
The lunch bell rang, "Kudou-san, why don't you join us?"
Fuyuka, holding her lunchbox turned around, noticing Genda waving to her from the door. Her heart jumped as she noticed Sakuma and... Fudou... standing near the doorway. "W-where are we going?"
Sakuma smirked, "That's an innocent question, Miss, don't you read any shoujo manga?"
"Ah, and you're saying you do?" Genda teased.
"I have a sister." Sakuma replied calmly.
Fudou rolled his eyes, "Yeah, sounds just like you to be rummaging through your sister's manga collections."
Sakuma sighed, years with putting up with this had really trained his patience, "She asked me... to read them to her."
Fudou and Genda burst out laughing, "WHAAAAAT? BWAHAHAHA!"
Fuyuka couldn't help giggling herself. "So... where exactly are we going?"
Sakuma, a slight blush spreading on his cheeks glanced over at her as he made his way to the stairs, "Where do guys hangout the most in mangas? The rooftop, of course."
Genda nudged his best friend playfully, "Looks like you did a lot of research."
"Shut up. I just wanted to make conversation!"
The group made there way up to the roof, with Genda and Sakuma walking in front, still bickering and teasing each other, Fudou and Fuyuka walked a little behind them in silence. Her hands which were gripping her lunchbox became sweaty with nervousness. The staircase was so cramped that for a moment, she felt their shoulders brush against each other... "Ah!"
Fudou suddenly snaked his arm behind her waist, grabbing hold of the handrail, his body between her and the rushing crowd of people which were running down the staircase. Fuyuka blushed as his chest came to view right in front of her face. It was then that she noticed just how much taller Fudou had grown. H-He's shielding me?
"Looks like those two already reached the top." Fudou sighed, still guiding her slowly upwards this way, "Seriously, you're way too fragile."
"S-sorry..." Fuyuka looked down with embarrassment.
Fudou sighed, shifting his position so that he was facing her square on, his arms grabbing onto the handrail which Fuyuka was lightly pinned to, "Be honest, right now, you wish that Endou was here, right?"
"W-what?" Fuyuka was shocked to hear this confrontation.
Fudou glared at her viciously with his gray eyes, Fuyuka felt as if they had X-ray vision. "Don't lie... you wish that you were in Raimon with him right now."
Fuyuka couldn't find her voice to protest. "I-I..."
"Fudou! Kudou-san!" Genda called from upstairs, "Did you guys get carried away by the current~?"
"Grow up, Lion-head." Fudou muttered, stuffing his hands into his pockets and making his way upstairs.
"Hey, I'm not a type of Chinese food!"
Fuyuka's heart was still thumping... but it wasn't because of fear... Fudou-kun looked... so furious... and his face... was so close that... She touched her face lightly, I could feel his breath..."Fuyuka!" This time it was Sakuma, "Come on!"
"C-coming!" Fuyuka said quickly, picking up her pace as she made her way up the stairs.
Genda nudged Sakuma as Fuyuka came to view, "First-name basis?"
Sakuma shrugged, "We grow close with our managers, you know, during FFI?" He smirked, rubbing it in real good, reminding Genda painfully that he was the only one who didn't take part in FFI at all.
"Alright, alright!"
Surprisingly, view on the rooftop was terrific, and Fuyuka felt that she could breath easily again. She knew that it won't be easy to survive in this fancy private school, but at at least Genda and Sakuma were nice to her... as for Fudou... she really couldn't figure him out... I... want to know more about Fudou-kun... and grow closer to him...
"Fuyuka, you like high places or something?" Sakuma asked as he noticed her staring at the scenery, deep in thought.
"O-oh, well..."
"Staring at the Raimon mark, I bet." Fudou scoffed. Fuyuka's chest tightened. Why was he being so mean to her?
"That's not... it..." She turned to face Fudou, but he wasn't looking at her at all. Rather, he refused to. His expression was cold and hostile. "...Fudou-kun..."
Genda patted her gently on the shoulder and made her sit down between him and Sakuma, "Don't worry about him, he's always had a bad attitude."
"U-un..." She still couldn't help glancing towards him worriedly between bites of her own lunch.
"Whoa, Kudou-san, your lunch... looks really delicious..." Genda said, glancing over at her own homemade lunchbox after finishing his sandwich he bought from a breakfast store.
"Ah... I'll pack one for you if you want." Fuyuka smiled gently.
"Alright! You're the best!"
"Then can you make one for me as well?" Sakuma asked.
"Sure thing." Fuyuka replied. Her eyes brimming with kindness. She looked over at Fudou hopefully.
To her disappointment, he didn't respond. But what Fuyuka doesn't know, was that he had indeed glanced over at her a couple of times as well. And had asked himself over and over again, "Why is it that she can smile at anyone, just not me?"
Suginei: Thank you for reading! Please review! I'll try to update soon once I get a couple of reviews, lol :P