Blossom- Chapter 1

This is my first time writing a DRRR! fanfic, and perhaps the first time I've done something serious as well.

Reviews shall judge for the publish of the next chapter.

Give me some reviews, pretty please?

^.^

Today is the first day of spring, or as I could recall. Women walked with shopping bags, philanderers clothed in business suits, some teenagers strolled in tattered jeans. The sight in this town would have been awfully normal if only that cherry blossom tree wasn't planted there.

Well, even though it's nine-foot tall, people just pass by as if the tree's completely invisible. That tree is standing in front of a night club along a busy street that's located in the middle of a screwed up town- of course, it would be invisible!

Argh. I'm starting to think of odd thoughts again. An hour has almost passed, what the hell is keeping Tom so long?

"Um, Mr. Heiwajima?"

A red-haired woman appeared in front of me. She was wearing a short gothic dress and leather boots that I could swear she'd just gone to Harajuku. A scrapbook and pen were clasped between her hands and I thought I knew what she wanted. Well, I didn't actually care though.

I snatched a cigarette from my pocket and lit it to show that I don't mind her. But instead of running away because of shame, she flipped the scrapbook open and gestured for me to sign it.

"Y-your autograph please."

So she's actually asking for my signature? What the hell. I do have a celebrity for a brother but apart from that, I'm just me. Shizuo Heiwajima, the infamous bad-ass who's driven war to the glorious town of Ikebukuro is about to do a little favor for his only fan. Say, marvelous? Well, maybe this woman's just doing this because she collects signatures from notorious people. Or perhaps, she just likes bartender suits.

"Please?" She bowed down her head and pushed the scrapbook closer to my face. What a persistent woman. I could even see her trembling while holding out the pad.

"Good grief." Geez, I had to take my cigarette just to utter that phrase. I can't leave this place without Tom and this "fan' won't seem to give up quickly. I uncapped the pen from her hand and gave her my autograph.

"Here."

Doing that didn't even make me feel like a star. Instead, I just thought of myself as an idiot. Observers around us just saw 'bukuro's "strongest man" a giving his signature to a pitiable fan. And honestly, I didn't like the intrigued look in their eyes.

"Thank you! I. . . . . ah, thanks again!" I know she was about to say something but she just walked away with an unusual blush on her face.

"Woah! Taking chances while I'm not around, aren't you Shizuo?" I turned back and saw Tom looking at me with an annoying grin. He seemed alright, except for the kiss mark on his right cheek.

Tom must've seen the look on my face because he scratched his head and wiped the mark off him. "Er, there was this sweet lady there and she told me she'd like to give a simple token. I didn't though she'd-"

"I just hope you didn't give in for compensation." I don't want to hear more of his false excuses so I walked ahead. Well, I know it's rude now that he's my boss.

I've just stepped in front of the cherry blossoms tree when a yell broke from behind us. I looked back and saw the woman who'd asked for my autograph. She was surrounded by four guys and one of them had his hand on her mouth to stop her from screaming.

"Playing around in a crowded street with Shizuo Heiwajima standing just a few meters away? Now, that's a real foolish act. Or were they just wrong timing?" Tom snickered as he watched the scene with other spectators.

Robbery? What kind of assault are those men trying to do in front of a wide audience? I tried to observe but I'd just noticed one thing from the crowd. There were a bunch of sucked-up people watching the scenario- all of them except Tom, of course.

Only a few cared and the rest probably just eyed for entertainment. They thought it's another event for show-off. And perhaps, they're right.

A man from the group grabbed the woman's scrapbook. "What do we have here?" She tried to struggle herself free but the other man held her captive from behind. Idiots! Not even a single soul from the crowd dared to stop them.

The man flicked through the scrapbook and revealed it contents to the bystanders. It contained piles of pictures of a single man. I hate to admit it, but all those pictures had me in them.

"Hah, so you're a fan of that Shizuo eh?"

"Man, you mean that crazy bartender who throws vending machines?"

"Yeah, the blonde butler!"

Damn. That Shizuo? Do these guys they know who they're messing with?

"And what's with this silly handwriting? I never thought that man likes to draw doodles!" The man holding the scrapbook tore off the page with my signature and flipped it up for everyone to see.

"Did you all know that Ikebukuro's strongest man is still in kindergarten?"

Yeah, it's a crappy joke to pull off but most of the people actually laughed. Dammit, those men are really getting on my nerves now. Kindergarten? I know I'm not that smart but I'm not downright stupid either! Why do they care about my handwriting? Could they even write better than that? Those maniacs don't know where to put themselves. They absolutely have no knowledge about me and they have no damn right of insulting my handwriting!

"To shreds, you go." The idiot slowly tore the paper down to a half.

That was the worst remark I've received from this day and I really couldn't contain myself any longer. I can't remember how I did it but I lifted an ice cream stall from the corner and tossed it to their direction.

"Run, woman!" Luckily, she was able to hear me so she bit herself free from the surprised captor. Three of the men managed to scamper away but the man holding the torn paper wasn't fortunate to save himself from being hurt.

"It's always like this." Tom showed me a baffled look. It's the same look he'd been giving me whenever I do dangerous feats. He's been used to that though.

The red-haired woman picked her scrapbook from the ground and stared at the torn page. I saw her crying silently as she walked towards my direction.

"T-thank you. Again." She wiped her tears and tried to bow down in front of me.

"Yeah. Sorry about that page. I'll just give you a new one." I'm not used to talking a lot to people I've just met but men are weak to women's tears aren't they? I guess I have to console her a bit, just for a while.

"Really? Thanks!" She tried to put a smile and bowed again. Seriously, I've had enough of the bows today.

I took her scrapbook and pen and I wrote another copy of my signature.

"You're handwriting isn't that bad. Those people probably have poor eyesight."

That bad. Yeah, I know right?

I handed the scrapbook back to her and fixed my glasses. Well, I tried to give her a smile but I swear that didn't mean anything. I've just realized that it's not bad to give some thanks to someone who actually kept a book filled with stuffs about me. At least, I knew there's somebody who really cared.

"Goodbye, Mr. Heiwajima!" She gave me a sheer smile and walked away.

"Shizuo. That's one pretty girl you got there." Tom elbowed me on the back. That sudden jostle reminded me that I didn't know her name yet. Oh well. We won't be able to meet each other again anyway.

I reached for my pocket to take another stick but what I lifted out was a purple pen. It was her pen. A tag was hung from the cap of the pen. Ayame Yukimura. So, that's her name, huh?