Behind a Smile: 01: Beginning of an Infatuation
Author's notes: I'm happy that people got interested in this ficcie of mine and read, of course, reviewed! I'm really happy!
And yes, I think I made them too perfect. ^^ But hey, they're perfect right? Hope you guys aren't too bothered by that. ^^
Disclaimer: A. Pikachu does not own RK or any of its characters. The plot is taken from a similar plot made by Megori, taken from the fan fic 'For the Sake of Friendship'. Some differences may occur from my fic and from Megori-san's. Arigato gozaimasu.
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01::Beginning of an Infatuation::01
**
The very first of the autumn leaves flew past by the figure stepping out of the car. With the autumn wind playing with his locks, colored of a cross of ebony and russet, Seta Soujiro only smiled as he caught a few glimpses of the leaves rushing past.
"Soujiro, you're home." Said his aunt, capturing his attention. Smiling once again, Soujiro took his bag from the backseat of the car and turned to the maroon-haired lady standing by the huge doorway.
"Ah, Yumi-san." Soujiro mentioned, closing the car door. Walking briskly towards the double doors with his bag in hand, Yumi let Soujiro walk in before she closed the door to their home.
"How was school?" Yumi asked, her purple eyes cast upon Soujiro's retreating figure.
"It was just fine." Soujiro replied; that complacent grin yet again pasted on his lips.
"And Misao-chan?" asked his aunt, raising her eyebrows.
"Fine." He said, stopping in his tracks once he got to the second floor, the strap of his bag still clutched between his fingers. "She's perky and cheerful as usual."
"The others?" Yumi inquired, pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. She stared up at the teenage boy standing above her.
"They're doing very good." Soujiro answered, turning to his bedroom door, which was far along that corridor he was staring at.
"Alright then. The maid will call you down for dinner." Yumi finished their conversation, walking away to the large patio awaiting her a few meters ahead. Soujiro only grinned and continued down the corridor, his mind concentrated on nothing else but going to his room.
Seta Soujiro, a rich, famous teen admired and worshipped by students back at his school, only lived a simple life. His parents died in a car crash when he was three, leaving him to the tender care of his aunt and uncle, Shishio Yumi and Shishio Makoto. His uncle, whom he simply but respectfully called Shishio-san, was a multi-millionaire businessman who was always away, abroad, or staying in other countries for a period of time. His aunt, whom he calls Yumi-san, stays at home, or sometimes attends parties as the delegate of Shishio's company whenever Shishio wasn't around. So in some sense, Yumi and Shishio were partners in Shishio's business.
Opening his bedroom door, Soujiro walked inside and threw his bag on a nearby chair. He closed the door behind him as he unbuttoned his uniform for a short while, opening the blinds that covered his windows with a free hand. Successful in letting the late afternoon sunlight in, Soujiro flipped on the switch, letting his eyes adjust to the light illuminated by the fluorescent lamp. Satisfied, he went on undressing himself and picking up a comfortable blue t-shirt before his cell phone rang.
The polyphonic tone of '1/3 no Junjou na Kanjou' rang throughout the room, echoing in his ears. Hurriedly pulling down the shirt, Soujiro scampered for his cell phone, hidden somewhere within the confinement of his school bag.
Finding it at once, Soujiro pressed a button and held the phone to his ear.
"Hello?"
He smiled sheepishly as he recognized who it was.
"SOU-CHAN!" said his best friend, Makimachi Misao. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing. I just finished pulling a shirt over my head before you called." Soujiro replied, sitting on his bed. "What about you?"
"Nothing. That's why I called you." Misao said on the other line, her voice sounding angelic to Soujiro's ears.
"Listen," Soujiro started, looking thoughtfully at the mirror to see if he looked okay. "I'll call you later on landline – this is costing you too much, alright? I'll call you after dinner."
He could imagine Misao's pouted lips as he said the words. "But Sou-chan…! I have sooo much to tell you and I need –
Soujiro hastily cut Misao's sentence short, noticing that the maid was already knocking on his door. "I promise I'll call you, Misao-chan – I just need to go now before Yumi-san goes ballistic on me." He said with a smile. "Is that alright?"
"Alright. Call me, okay?"
"Okay." Soujiro finished their conversation in a reassuring tone, safely placing the cell phone in his pants' pocket before opening the door, acknowledging the maid with a smile.
*
Closing the door behind him, Soujiro sighed and eyed the cordless phone before him with his blue eyes. Sighing once again, Soujiro picked up the cordless phone and started to dial his best friend's phone number.
"Konbanwa." Soujiro said to the person on the other line. "Is Misao-chan there?"
Omasu, one of Misao's cousins, recognized Soujiro's voice immediately. "Ah, Soujiro-kun! It's you! Wait a minute, okay? I'll get Misao."
Waiting patiently, hearing Omasu's far away screams ('Misao!! Phone – it's for you!!'), Soujiro plopped down on his royal blue bed.
"Sou-chan!" came Misao's excited greeting, as she too plopped on her deep green bed, her fingers twirling with her phone's cord. "At last you called!"
"I promised I was going to call, Misao-chan." Soujiro replied, making a small giggle come from Misao. Misao, meanwhile, played with her phone's cord as she started to talk.
"Anyway, Megumi-chan told me things about Aoshi guy and it seems he's soooo perfect!" Misao said, immediately taking the topic to Shinomori Aoshi. "He's the richest guy in the university, he's the star of the college soccer team, and he has very good grades! He's perfect! He's a college sophomore, right, so…
Soujiro smiled weakly to himself as he listened patiently at Misao's rants about Aoshi. Something at the back of his mind nagged him, but knowing that what possibility his mind was screaming about was not true, Soujiro only shrugged it off.
Silently wondering, Soujiro smiled once again as Misao started to swoon on phone. He wondered how his best friend would become so obsessed and engrossed with a person she only met earlier that day. And yet there he was, listening to her as she droned on and on about how great a guy Aoshi is. She hasn't even talked to the guy, for god's sake.
"Misao!!"Soujiro suddenly straightened up, apparently nodding off as Misao continued on. But Misao's sentence was cut short by her grandfather and caretaker, Okina.
"Wait a sec, alright, Sou-chan?"
He only mumbled incoherent words, for he himself was pretty sleepy. After all, he was used to sleeping late in the night but only to wake up late in the morning. Well…if you call 9:30 in the morning late.
Soujiro could hear Misao and Okina's verbal disagreement, with Okina ending the conversation with 'You need good night's sleep, and if you don't get that, you won't get pretty, my little Misao!'
And that sentence shut Misao up…well of course, after she screamed 'Jiya!!!' and stormed off to her phone.
"Ano ne, Sou-chan…"
Soujiro smiled weakly once again, rubbing his eyes a little as he replied to Misao's words. "Yeah, I heard. I'll see you tomorrow at school."
Misao bid goodbye, which included 'I hope I'll see Shinomori-sempai tomorrow,' sending Soujiro chuckling as he wearily placed the cordless phone back on its base. Getting up to brush his teeth, Soujiro was successful in doing so and he changed into his sleepwear, eager to close his eyes and look forward to the bright tomorrow.
* the next day: 7:30 am *
He got out of the car, his bag slung on his shoulder. Smiling at the driver, Soujiro closed the door and proceeded to walk into the school's premises.
"Sou-chan, over here!!" screamed a familiar voice, making the dark-haired supposed-to-be Tenken to turn his head to his best friend, standing by the building with their other friends.
"Ara, Misao-chan." Soujiro exclaimed, utterly surprised to see Misao at school at that time. "How come you're here at this time? You're not supposed to be here until…" He paused for a moment, checking his wristwatch. "7:45."
Kamiya Kaoru sighed heavily, gaining Soujiro's attention. "She wanted to get here earlier than expected to see Shinomori-san. You know her…" she added with a yawn.
They spent the next five minutes talking about what they would do that day, until…
"I'll check if Shinomori-sempai's already down there!" Misao suddenly said, running off to somewhere.
"Ano ne, Kaoru-san…" Himura Kenshin said, staring at the perky girl who just ran off, Megumi and Soujiro following her patiently. "How could Shinomori-san be here if he's a college sophomore?"
Kaoru sighed audibly, her head hanging low. "How am I supposed to know?"
*
Adrenaline ran through her veins, her heart beating faster with each step she took, Makimachi Misao held a wide grin upon her lips. Surely Shinomori Aoshi was already here, right? So thinking positively, she smiled and started to run faster, only to be stopped by someone she bumped into.
"Misao-chan!"
"Misao-chan!!"
Scrunching up her nose as she landed on the concrete with a thud, with her skirt flying, Misao grunted.
"Gomen nasai." Said a smooth, unknown voice, making the girl look up at the speaker in curiosity. Soujiro and Megumi stopped in their tracks as they recognized who it was that volunteered to pick the girl up.
Misao was then found lost in a pool of ice blue eyes, held behind a graceful set of bangs that adorned his face. Clumsily standing up, she stammered out a few words that only the person before her could hear.
"I—iie…" she murmured, still staring up at the man's blue eyes.
"Daijoubu?" the man asked, letting go of Misao's hand as she stood up. Misao only nodded with a small nod, still amazed at handsome this person was.
"I'm so sorry. I think we haven't met," said the person, extending his right hand for a handshake. "Boku no namae wa Shinomori Aoshi. Kimi wa…?"
Misao was still awe-struck. "A…atashi no n-name wa Ma-makimachi Misao…" she drifted off, unaware of her friend's stares.
"Ah, Makimachi-san." Aoshi said, smiling a very small smile. "Now are you sure you're okay?"
A slight tinge of pink raced across Misao's cheeks. Laughing a little bit, the slightly nervous Misao answered the 20-year-old's question as she tried to cover up her nervousness. "Hai! I'm fine!"
"Oi, Aoshi, how long are you going to take?" they heard a voice, cutting off Misao and Aoshi's simple conversation. Aoshi turned to see Yukishiro Enishi, a friend of his, waiting a few feet away.
"I'll be right there, Enishi." Aoshi said, waving a hand. "I'll be looking forward to seeing you sometime, Makimachi-san."
With a small smile Aoshi turned around, his hair following his every movement. A fangirl smile playing on her lips, Misao dreamily turned around to face Megumi and Soujiro.
"Oh my god can you believe it?! Shinomori Aoshi talked to ME! I bumped into HIM! Oh my god, this is so GREAT!!! Ah, Shinomori Aoshi!! Oh my god, I still can't believe he talked to me, Makimachi Misao!!! This is just so great…don't you think so, Sou-chan?"
Knocking the dreamy stare off her emerald eyes, Misao peeked at Soujiro's bowed head.
"Sou-chan?"
Soujiro, snapped out of his little reverie, raised his head, the trademark smile placed on his lips. "Are, boku wa?" he asked, apparently not listening. "Boku wa daijoubu desu yo, Misao-chan, Megumi-san."
"Are you sure, Soujiro…?" Megumi asked, peering at the dark-haired teen. "I mean, you looked pretty –
Soujiro didn't let Megumi finish her sentence. "Don't worry. I'm alright."
* lunch break: 12:00 pm *
With a concerned look on her face, Takani Megumi silently placed a hand on Soujiro's shoulder, gently making him follow her to a nearby tree. The group was eating lunch outside on the school grounds, with Misao once again swooning over the famous Shinomori Aoshi.
"Hey you," said Megumi, looking at Soujiro as Soujiro looked at her.
"Hai, Megumi-san?" Soujiro asked back, still smiling.
"You were…clenching your fist earlier on – when we met Aoshi." Looking back at Misao and checking no one else was in earshot, Megumi continued her set of words. "Is everything alright?"
Opening his eyes, revealing a beautiful shade of blue, Soujiro tried to look innocent of what Megumi was accusing him of. "Of course it is, Megumi-san! What would make you think that something was wrong?"
"The fact that you didn't seem to like it when Misao's talking about Shinomori-san."
That comment made Soujiro's smile unconsciously falter.
"It's all right with me, Megumi-san. I'm her best friend – I should be happy for her."
Megumi looked at him, suspicion arising in her veins. "Are you…sure?"
Smiling once again, Soujiro repeated his answer.
"It's alright with me, Megumi-san. I'm he best friend – I should be happy for her."
Author's notes: I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!!!!! Please, r&r!!!!! ^^ ^^ ^^
P.S: I forgot to tell you guys that this ficcie would turn out as Sou/Misao. ^^ So sorry Aoshi/Misao fans…^^;