Gouenji stood against a light post, watching people hurry down the busy sidewalk. He was waiting for someone, and as he stood it started to snow lightly. Gouenji sighed and pulled up his sleeve to check his watch. 4:45... she was late. He pulled his sleeve back down and shoved his hands in his pockets. He'd give her another five minutes. Then he was leaving.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Gouenji-kun."
Gouenji glanced over his shoulder and smiled. Natsumi waved and hurried up to him. "Hey. It's about time you got here."
Natsumi slapped his arm lightly. "Oh hush. I'm not that late." she took Gouenji's hand and they started down the sidewalk. "So what do we have planed for today?"
Gouenji shrugged. "Nothing."
"Nothing? Then it shouldn't be a problem that I was late." Natsumi said.
"Plans or no plans, being late is still rude."
Natsumi rolled her eyes. "Oh whatever. Hey, why don't we go to the park?" She said. "The snow makes it really pretty this time of year."
"Sounds good." Gouenji said. The two of them headed for the park, hand in hand. When they got there, Natsumi smiled and looked around.
"Wow," she said.
"You were right about it being pretty." Gouenji said. "Yuuka would love to see this."
"How is she doing?" Natsumi asked. "She's been awake for a while now, but is she home yet?"
Gouenji shook his head. "No, not yet. In a few days, though."
Natsumi smiled. "That's good to hear. I want to see her again soon." When Natsumi and Gouenji first started dating, Gouenji had taken Natsumi to meet Yuuka. At first, Natsumi was a bit awkward – she was never good with kids – but soon the two hit it off pretty well.
"She wants to see you too." Gouenji said, then he chucked. "All she talks about is Natsumi this and Natsumi that."
Natsumi slapped his arm again. "Oh, stop it." she smiled. "But you can't really blame her."
Gouenji smiled and put his arm around her waist. "So, where are we going now?"
Natsumi pointed to a path near a bridge. "Let's go there." she said. They started walking, and on their way Natsumi heard some noises. "Do you hear that?" she said.
Gouenji raised an eyebrow. "Hear what?"
"Shh, listen!" Natsumi hissed. She strained to hear, and soon she could make out sniffing noises. "I think someone's crying."
"We should check it out," Gouenji said. He and Natsumi started searching the area around the path, and soon Gouenji waved Natsumi over to where he was standing.
"Did you find it?" she asked. Gouenji nodded and sat down on the ground. Natsumi raised an eyebrow as she headed over to her boyfriend's side. "What are you doing on the ground?"
Gouenji, who looked like he was talking to something, held up a finger. "No, it's okay. I'd be happy to help you."
"Gouenji, what are you-" Natsumi walked up behind him and looked over to see what he was talking to. She saw a little boy, probably seven or eight, sitting down in the snow crying. Next to him was a heap of snow and rocks. "Uh... oh."
The little boy sniffed and wiped his eyes on his mittens. "W-who is she, Gouenji-san?"
"Her? Oh, that's Natsumi. She's my... friend." Gouenji said. Natsumi made a noise and crossed her arms.
"Friend?" she said. Gouenji turned around and mouthed 'I'm sorry' and turned back to the boy. "Oh, I get it. Well, your friend is going to leave you soon if you don't-"
"Oh, I'm sorry if I'm keeping you from Gouenji-san." The boy bowed his head. "Thank you, Gouenji-san. But you don't have to-"
"What's your name?" Natsumi asked. The boy looked up and wiped his eyes again.
"I-I'm Katsuo," he said.
"Okay, Katsuo, what do you want?" Natsumi asked. Gouenji turned around and frowned.
"Hey, Natsumi, don't be-" Gouenji started, but Natsumi cut him off.
"No, it's okay. I just want to know what's going on." she said. Katsuo pointed over at the heap of snow and sniffed.
"Well, I was here playing in the snow. Then some bullies came and started bugging me, and one of them knocked over my fort." he said. Natsumi nodded. "And I wanted to see if... if Gouenji-san could help me get back at them."
"I'm sorry that they bullied you, kid. But Gouenji and I have places we need to be." she pulled Gouenji off the ground and tried to drag him down the path. "Good luck."
Gouenji dug his feet into the ground and grabbed Natsumi's arm. "Hey, listen. This kid... he said he looks up to the Raimon Eleven. It would mean a lot to him if I just, you know,"
"No, Gouenji. He's just some stupid kid who's crying over some stupid thing. Now, come on. Let's just go." Natsumi took a few steps away and looked back at Gouenji. "Are you coming or not?"
Gouenji was looking over his shoulder at Katsuo. He stood up and looked down at his wrecked fort and started wiping his eyes again. "Natsumi... he reminds me of Yuuka."
Natsumi sighed and rolled her eyes. Come on, Natsumi. Just keep going. Don't let the whole Yuuka guilt trip get to you. A little voice in her head said. She looked back again, at Katsuo. He looked so sad, though... No, Natsumi! Look away! the voice said again, but she sighed. "Alright, fine. Let's go help him." she walked back over to Katsuo, and Gouenji smiled. Great, Natsumi. You've gotten really soft.
"Oh, shut up!" Natsumi snapped. Gouenji shot her a look. "Uh, that was nothing. Let's just go and get this over with."
Once they were back with Katsuo, he looked up and smiled. "Oh, Natsumi-san, do you want to help me too?"
Natsumi looked away. "Uh... yeah. Gouenji and I will help you with your bully problems." she felt something grab her, and when she looked down Katsuo had his arms wrapped around her waist. He looked up at her, and his smile looked way to wide for a normal human face.
"Oh, thank you so much! This is so cool, the Gouenji-san is going to help me! And his friend is here, too!" Katsuo buried his snotty face into Natsumi's coat, but before she could snap at him Gouenji came up beside her and put an arm on her shoulder.
"Thanks, Natsumi." he smiled, and Natsumi smiled back. She tapped on Katsuo's head, and when he looked up a string of snot that was stuck to her coat stretched all the way to his nose. It was probably the most disgusting thing Natsumi had seen, but on this little kid it looked almost... cute.
"Katsuo-kun, where are these bullies that you were talking about?" Natsumi asked. Katsuo turned and pointed behind him.
"They ran away over there, to the playground." Katsuo said.
"Can you lead us there?" Gouenji asked. Katsuo nodded and ran in the direction of the playground.
"Come on!" he said. Gouenji and Natsumi followed close behind him. They all stopped when they reached some snow covered bushes, and Katsuo crouched down. Gouenji and Natsumi did the same, and they pushed the branches aside to get a better view at everything. "There they are."
On the playground, there were three boys, all around the same age and maybe a bit older than Katsuo. One of them was pretty tall and lanky, an another was short and a bit chubby. But the one in the middle, who appeared to be their 'leader', was a huge, bulky kid with close cut hair and huge limbs. Natsumi guessed he weighed about as much as Kabeyama did, and when Natsumi saw his face, she almost screamed. He had the ugliest, meanest, and scariest face she had ever seen on a person, and this kid was probably ten years old.
"Are they the bullies?" Gouenji asked. Katsuo nodded and frowned. The bullies were now chasing kids off the play sets, and the huge kid was laughing. His laugh was like a cruel cackle, and when the other two laughed it made it sound ten times more horrible.
"They like to pick on all the kids that play around here." Katsuo said. He pointed at the huge kid. "That one's Takashi. He's their boss."
"Boss?" Natsumi said. "He looks more like a dictator if you ask me."
"The other two are Mao and Nao." Katsuo said.
"Aw, matching names. How cute."
"What kinds of things do they do?" Gouenji asked.
"They like to break kids' snow forts and stuff. And they like to chase kids off the playground, and they steal stuff and make fun of us." Katsuo said. "My little sister doesn't play here anymore because they were so mean. She used to love going to the playground with me." He looked like he was about to cry again. "I'm her big brother, and I'm supposed to take care of her. But... but I can't."
Gouenji put his hand on Katsuo's shoulder. "Hey... I understand how that feels."
Natsumi sighed and looked away from the two. She hated getting emotional... and well, this whole big brother bonding session was getting kinda... yeah.
"I-I just want her to feel safe here again." Katsuo said. Gouenji nodded. He stood up and looked over at the bullies, who were now punching each other in the arms.
"I'll go talk to them," Gouenji said. "Natsumi, you keep an eye on Katsuo." he made his way through the bushes and walked up to the play set.
"Is Gouenji-san going to be okay?" Katsuo asked. Natsumi shook her head.
"Of course."
-.-.-
"Excuse me," Gouenji said. He was at the base of the play set, looking up at the bully trio. Takashi, who had the tall lanky kid, Nao, in a headlock looked down at Gouenji and frowned. "Can I have a word with you?"
"Hey, it's that fancy soccer player, Gouenji Shuuya." Takashi said. He released Nao, and he fell down with a thud. "What are you doin' here?"
Gouenji crossed his arms. "I've heard that you guys have been causing trouble around here."
"Yeah. So what?" Takashi said. Mao – the shorter, fat kid – walked up and stared down at Gouenji.
"We chase away the babies so it's more fun to play here." he said.
"That's not very nice, is it?" Gouenji said.
"I never said it was nice." Takashi said. Gouenji raised an eyebrow and sighed.
"Well, I'm asking you guys if you could please stop it. Other kids like to play here too, and you shouldn't be so mean to them."
"Aw, Mr. Fancy soccer player wants us to be nice!" Nao said. Takashi smacked him on the back of his head.
"Ah shut up. Get me a snowball." he demanded, and Nao scurried away to fetch his boss one. When Nao came back, his arms were full of snow. Takashi smirked and grabbed a ball.
"And what are those for?" Gouenji asked. Takashi just smiled.
"No one tells me how to run my playground." And with that, Takashi started chucking snowballs at Gouenji.
"Wha-" Gouenji said. He covered his head and ran back to the safety of the bushes. He could hear Takashi and his pals laughing behind him, and Gouenji scowled.
"Did it work?" Katsuo asked, an eager smile on his face. Gouenji brushed snow out of his hair and shook his head.
"I tried, but they pelted me with snowballs." Gouenji said. Katsuo frowned and Natsumi brushed snow off his jacket.
"Well, we tried. Can we go now?" Natsumi asked. Gouenji frowned at her, and she sighed. "All right, fine. What else can we do, though?"
"Did you say they got you with snowballs?" Katsuo asked. Gouenji nodded, and Katsuo rubbed his chin, as if he was deep in thought. "Hm..."
"I'm not going to lie... a few of those kinda hurt." Gouenji said. Natsumi shook her head.
"You'll live." she said. "You know, those stupid bully kids are starting to get on my nerves. What did they say to you, anyway?" Natsumi asked.
"What got to me is that the Takashi boy said that this was 'his playground.'" Gouenji said. "Dumb kid acting like he's so great..."
"Wow, I've never heard you talk like that before." Natsumi said. "Especially about little kids."
Gouenji shrugged. "These kids are jerks. And I'm not going to put up with them." he said. Natsumi smiled.
"Hey, I think I have an idea!" Katsuo said. He waved Natsumi and Gouenji over, and he explained his idea. Gouenji smiled, and Natsumi shrugged.
"I guess it couldn't hurt. You two have fun with that." she said. Katsuo grabbed her sleeve.
"B-but Natsumi-san, we need your help too," Katsuo said. "Because, you know... there's three of them, so there should be three of us."
"He has a point," Gouenji smiled. Natsumi frowned.
"Alright, fine. But if I get hit in the face-" she threatened, but Katsuo smiled.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure they won't get you."
"Now, let's get started on making our 'ammo'," Gouenji said. The other two nodded and got to work.
-.-.-
"Hey, Mao, how many licks does it take to get to the center of a-" Nao started, but then he looked out in the distance and squinted. "Hey, Mao, it's that Katsuo kid and his stupid soccer friend."
Mao waddled over to the edge of the play set and looked over. "Yeah... we should tell the Boss." Nao nodded and hurried over to Takashi, who was leaning against a pole and sleeping.
"Whaddya want?" he snapped. Nao jerked back and frowned.
"Uh, Boss... Katsuo and Mr. Fancy Soccer are back. They got a girl, too." Nao said.
Takashi stretched and snapped his fingers. "So they came back for more, eh?" he stood up and went over to the edge of the play set with Mao.
"G-Gouenji-san?" Katsuo said. His arms were full of snowballs. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
Gouenji nodded. "If you want to get them to leave you all alone, it's best to give them a taste of their own medicine."
Natsumi frowned. "Ugh... when can we start throwing these things? They're getting heavy. And I'm cold."
"Just wait." Gouenji said. "Hey, Takashi!" He called.
"What do you guys want?" Takashi, who was now standing at the very edge of the play set, looked down at the three.
"I want my playground back!" Katsuo said. Natsumi smiled. That kid was something else. Nervous one second and all fired up the next...
"And what are ya gonna do to get it?" Takashi snickered. Mao and Nao joined in, and Katsuo grabbed a snowball.
"This!" He chucked the snowball as hard as he could, and it hit Takashi square in the face. He stumbled backwards, and he brushed the snow off his face.
"Aww... You asked for it!" Takashi yelled. He ordered Mao and Nao to get snowballs, but Gouenji and Natsumi started throwing snowballs themselves. Before Mao and Nao could get anywhere, Gouenji hit Mao, causing him to slip down a slide, and Natsumi had Nao covered head to toe in snow. Katsuo kept throwing snowballs at Takashi, but he kept dodging them.
"Is that all you got?" he called. Gouenji and Natsumi looked at each other and nodded. And is if on cue, both of them threw snowballs at him, causing him to fall backwards on his butt. "Ouch!"
Mao and Nao scrambled to their feet and ran away, with Nao in tears. Takashi was close behind them, and before he was out of sight, he turned back and yelled at Katsuo and the others.
"Alright, have your stupid playground! I was getting tired of it anyway!" And with that, he was gone.
Katsuo dropped his snowballs and smiled. Natsumi noticed his larger than normal mouth, and he started jumping and punching the air. "We did it!"
Gouenji and Natsumi dropped their snowballs as well, and Gouenji picked Natsumi up and twirled her around.
"Nice aim," Gouenji said. Natsumi laughed and smiled. It did seem a bit mean, but she never knew how fun it was to hit kids with snowballs. And that Katsuo kid was happy, too. He could have his sister come back to play with him, and things would be good at the playground again.
And before she could register what was happening, Gouenji kissed her – right on the lips. It wasn't very slow or complex, just a quick little peck on her mouth. He put her down and went over to high-five Katsuo.
Natsumi put her hand to her mouth. Gouenji had just... given her her first kiss.
"Thank you so much, Gouenji-san!" Katsuo hugged Gouenji around his waist, and he looked over at Natsumi. "Thank you too, Natsumi-san... uh..." Gouenji looked over at her, too, and he raised an eyebrow.
"Natsumi? Why are you so red?" he asked. Natsumi walked over to him and slapped him across the face. "Ouch! What was that for?"
Natsumi put her hands on her hips and glared at Gouenji. "Gouenji Shuuya, that happened to be my first kiss!"
Gouenji put his hand on his face. "Really? Why are you so upset then?"
"What do you mean, 'why are you so upset'?" Natsumi went on. "My first kiss was not supposed to end up like this! It was supposed to be much more romantic, and I hardly think that a stupid playground of all places is appropriate for this kind of thing!" She continued to rant on and on about her first kiss to poor Gouenji. Katsuo stuck out his tongue and shook his head. Kissing? How gross!
"Ew... I'm never gonna kiss a girl!" he said. He looked over at Gouenji, who was frowning and trying to apologize to his angry girlfriend. Katsuo smiled and waved at Gouenji. "Good luck with Natsumi-san!" he said, and with that he started to run home.
"Katsuo? Don't leave me!" Gouenji called. Natsumi crossed her arms.
"Are you even listening to me?" she demanded. Gouenji sighed.
"Yes, Natsumi..." he said.
Right now, he really envied Katsuo...
-.-.-
AN
Well, here's Gouenji x Natsumi! I'm sorry it's late, I had some troubles with the uploading stuff on .
Anyway, where I live the snow was JUST starting to melt and it was really starting to feel like Spring... and then it goes and snows on us, so now we have eight inches ;0; Stupid Midwest weather!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you don't think the ending is terrible ^^;; (I just wanted to get it done, hehe.) Up next is Gouenji x Haruna!
Icee Suicune ;D
