Note: Hello, Troublesome_Monkey_dono signing in. Well, it's been a terribly long time hasn't it? I haven't touched a Lovely Complex fanfiction for years. Though, surprisingly enough, I still get reviews/favs from my old fanfics. Thank you very much for those who read by work and liked them. It does make me smile to see that I've moved manage to move some people. So, thank you.
However, since I wrote those fanfics when I was twelve, I believe my style of writing practically makes me cringe now. Well, I'm in college now so let's hope my style of writing improved somewhat from that time. Of course, I'm not any better with grammar/spelling/writing as I was before so forgive me for any mistakes I would make in this one. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my ramblings.
Summary: In a world in which Koizumi Risa is happily married to her childhood best friend Yoshi and Otani Atsushi manages to earn enough money to buy beautiful engagement ring for his lovely Kanzaki. It starts when these two meet. "Did you ever think, that maybe in another life, we would have been in love?" Snort. "Don't be stupid."
Chapter One: Hello
Otani Atsushi meets his cursed abomination in the most clichéd way possible. He spots her sitting alone in the bar, facing away from him as she twiddled with her drink. There was no symphony of angels or even a corny country love song that buzzes in his ears as he stares. There was no magical explosion of fireworks in his head and there definitely was no feeling of fluttering butterflies in his stomach. Otani merely stares.
He takes in the creamy skin of her back that her dress exposes, eyes darting down until he catches sight of soft milky legs tucked demurely in front of her. Bare shoulders are tangled with soft waves of hair, moving to and fro as she moved her head side to side with the music. He manages to crane his neck enough to see the side of her face. She's beautiful, he decides. Her face is polished with light make up and the smile she's wearing is the only real accessory she needs.
He makes his way to her before he even notices. It wasn't because he was interested, he admits quite bluntly. She's beautiful, he knows, but he's hardly the man that falls to his knees to a beautiful woman. But he's interested in another sense, he supposes. Why in the world is a cute model such as this one entertaining herself alone in the bar? The air is light and joyous, as any clichéd wedding would be. The happiness that spews around them is almost revoltingly sickening as everyone gushes that the blushing bride and proud groom that centered themselves on the dance floor. So then why is this one here?
"You alone?"
She twirls toward him, drink stopping inches away from her lips, and he watches as she practically jumps two feet in surprise. "Ah!" she squeaks in response as the red wine tips and seeps it's way to her white dress. "Ah! No! No!" she cries as she watches the rich color spread, hands slamming her drink down hard enough for the glass the shatter. "Wh- No way!" she yells again, pushing herself away from the bar counter just in time before the liquid dribbles down the length of her ruined dress. "Oh...Nobu's gonna kill me!" she moans to herself. She begins to mutter profuse apologies at the bar tender who merely sighs and offers to clean up the mess. She makes an impatient little sound, surveying the damage nervously as eyes trailed on the broken pieces of glass that coated the bar counter.
"You're bleeding."
"Huh?" She directs her gaze to the man standing next to her. He's short, a good head smaller than herself. He looks young, she decides immediately, perhaps five to seven years younger than herself. She pouts sourly at him, silently blaming this stranger for the sudden mess that she's created. Of course, in all fairness, it wasn't truly his fault as it was her own stupid clumsiness. But still...
"Kid," she starts as she moves away grab the wads of tissue from a nearby dispenser, "you're too young to drink alcohol you know." She presses on her cut for a moment before turning back to him. "Try a Shirley Temple or something," she adds offhandedly as she tries to help the bartender clean up her mess
She pays to mind to the boy beside her until she realizes that he hasn't moved away yet. She turns back to him curiously, only to find that he had plastered an insulted look on his young face. "Yes?" she ventures to ask.
"I'm Twenty Three," he answers evenly. And he earns a laugh. It wasn't even that amused giggle that he expected most demure looking girls to have. It's an outright chortle that spews forth from those luscious lips. She doesn't bother to stop herself as she throws her head back and cackles her way into oblivion. The slow face of irritation blooms his way into his flushed face and he's not entirely too sure why in the world he even bothered to approach this woman.
"Sure you are," she answers between laughing fits. She comically wipes a stray tear that leaked its way to the surface, one arm braced against her stomach for support. "Whew!" she breathes out entirely satisfied, "Don't lie kid. You're like what? Seventeen? Sixteen?"
"I'm serious."
"You don't have to lie. I'll buy you that drink if you're so desperate. With you baby face; I know you can't do it." She watches him entirely amused, as the expression on his face immediately darkens.
On the other hand, Otani Atsushi was not amused. He feels himself glaring daggers at this beautiful stranger and he's entirely hoping he gets a chance to rip away that bout of laughter that's playing on her face. He knows that he looks young. Hell, he gets his fair share of reminders every time he steps into work and is mistaken to be one of the high school students he teaches. He even admits that he finds no comfort in the fact that he watches his student's grow to insane heights during times of puberty. But still, he was a fully grown man, as short as he was. And this was just insulting.
"I'm serious," he grounds again through gritted teeth. "I'm -"
"Oh Risa-chan!" He stops short when he feels a warm hand place situates himself on his arm. The warm smell of vanilla and cinnamon finds its way to his nose and he can't help but smile silently despite the irritation that bubbled in his gut.
"Kanzaki," he whispers. He sneaks a glance at the girl that curled himself against him. She's warm, he notes offhandedly, and absolutely lovely. He's known Kanzaki for years. It was another clichéd meeting he supposes. Girl meets boy. Boy swallows his fear and asks out girl. Girl agrees and it's five happy years of dating. Boy makes awkward proposal under a romantic starry night. Girl says yes and it becomes a year of bliss. Add two years of happy love making and it becomes that ideal romantic novel for an angsty teen. Well one without the immortal blood sucking hybrid vampire.
"Atsushi - kun," Kanzaki says as she smiles up at him. He smiles back, entirely satisfied that Kanzaki had looped her arm around his. "I see you've met Risa- chan. She runs Horizon, the place I work at." She politely introduces Otani, the adorable fiancé.
"Fiancé?" he hears the woman wonder aloud. Mouth forming a small comical 'o', she quickly chuckles again before throwing them an obnoxious grin. "So he's twenty three after all?"
He smiles courteously enough, hiding the bubble of contempt and irritation he's beginning to feel just by looking at this woman. The first impression he has of Koizumi Risa; She's a bitch.
He finds himself nursing a strong alcoholic beverage afterwards, whose name sounds like an remote erotic stripper. He's not quite sure how many he has, but the whirling of colors that swirled around him was enough for him to conclude that perhaps this should be the last one for tonight. He was never keen on drinking too much because the consequences always managed to linger for days. He's got work in two days too.
"Eh? No way! I really thought he was seventeen! Or eighteen at least!"
Otani sighed, the spell irritation bouncing back before he's got time to gather himself. He throws her a glare that she doesn't even see or care about, before turning back to his drink and downing it with a giant gulp. He shouldn't be sensitive about it. He knows. He's usually more than happy that Kanzaki and his other loved ones didn't care that he was as short and young looking as he was. He knows. He's rationalized it. But, it's hard not to care.
"Well, at least you'll always have a young looking husband Kanzaki!" he hears the damn woman jib lightly.
He sighs, rolling his eyes. Okay, perhaps one more drink of whatever the bar tender decides to make. He signals for another glass and the bartender, whose been idly sitting behind the counter watching the scene merely throws him a sympathetic smile before setting to work. He sets the drink in front of him minutes later and he takes a large gulp before he starts to regret it.
"Speaking of which, where is your husband Risa-chan?" he hears his Kanzaki ask. He's taken aback and almost chokes on the beverage before he whips his head towards the girls in question. How the hell is this bitch married?
Risa laughs again pointing a finger at the bar where he sat. "He's the one serving drinks. Yoshi always makes the best Martinis and Bloody Marys. He promised Nakao that he would serve for the wedding."
Stupidly, Otani finally looks up from his drunken haze to check the man that was crazy enough to marry this woman. And he stares. He's not quite sure what sets the man apart from all the others in the venue. He's wearing a simple light blue striped polo tucked under black trousers. He's groomed nicely, he notes. He's quite tall, perhaps five or six inches than his fiancee's boss of there. He's back to wiping the multitude of glasses in front of him, before choosing to look up and greet the crowd that set their eyes on him.
"Hello," he greets back coolly. Cool hair. Good fashion sense. Masculine face. Strong lean body. Otani feels himself stare more and more. Don't get him wrong. He's more than comfortable with his sexuality. So much so he's not afraid to point out whether a man or a woman is good looking.
And holy shit, he's gorgeous.
Note: Well that's it for now. I believe this is the shortest one I've written. Ever. But I felt like this was the perfect time to cut off because I'm simply tired and I couldn't think of another better way of ending the first chapter. Anyway, let me know what you think guys. This story was one that was conceived when I was traveling back home from the Philippines and was stuck in Hong Kong International Airport for four hours waiting for my connecting flight. So, I suppose it was poorly thought out seeing as I was sleep deprived back then. Still I hope you enjoy it! I can almost hear many of you rooting for Otani rather than Yoshi. But you'll have to stick around to see what happens right?
Troublesome_Monkey_dono signing out!