A/N: WOO HOO! Last to final chapter….. And about chapter 15…remind me never the mess with chapter arrangements again. shakes head Well hope you enjoy this one!
Thanks: Vera-Sama, Notta Writer, seshygirl04, Guren, Hoshi-Hiru,
Warning: Adult language and (lol) excessive smiling.
Chapter 16
Ichigo arrived home in time for dinner, watching smoke billow out of the kitchen. Shuichi wa fanning it with a magazine while Yuki looked on irritated. "You're late! Where have you been!?" Her tou-san snapped. "Sorry, Tou-san... I went to meet…Some friends." "Friends, huh? Well while you were seeing friends you okaa-san was attempting to burn down our house." "Yuki, that is SO NOT true!" The raven haired man huffed sounding insulted. "Could of fooled me, baka-chan…" He said with a smile to his lips then disappeared into his study once more. Her okaa-san kept fanning at the black billowing smoke. Ichi coughed as she neared the acrid place and took her parent by the arm tugging him away. "Okaa-chan…Why don't you go rest in your music studio while I deal with this, kay?" Shuichi smiled and took his child into his arms. "Kay, Ichi-honey….." He then retreated upstairs and Ichigo inspected the kitchen as he did this. The air was still acrid with black smoke that made her cough. Yet other than that, not much damage had been done. She turned the exhaust fan on over the stove and began to clean the mess her okaa-san had made.
He sure can be a pain sometimes…But I can see why tou-san loves him. She laughed out loud at the expression he gave when Yuki always told him how much his cooking skills sucked.
Dinner was ready an hour later and Ichigo dutifully set the table humming as she did so. Her family would be all right. The baby would be born without strife in the family. I helped oji-san Tohma keep his secret…and I got no closer and bringing Mika-san back. She sighed at this depressing thought. Obaa-san, please come back. He's sorry—and he misses you. "Tou-san! Okaa-san! Dinner!" she called out through the house, setting the last place setting. She then thought about the silver haired woman. Was she still here, she hadn't seen her? The blonde girl bit her lip and watched as her parents came out of their rooms. Shuichi's eye widened at the meal before him. "Wow! Ichigo, you really out did yourself, honey!" "Yeah, guess I did." Seeing her okaa-san's beautiful happy expression warmed her heart entirely. "Didn't she, Yuki?" He asked, elbowing his partner. "Mmmm." Her other parent sat down along with Shuichi. Ichi sat down next and watched as her parents began to consume her meal.
The concert tomorrow night is going to so rock!
"Hey, Ichigo!" Keiko hollered, her long black hair trailing behind her as she ran towards her, Nene following her.
"Hey, Girls!" She grinned wide, waving her hand enthusiastically.
"Ichi, are you ready for the concert tonight?" Nene asked, smiling.
"Is Ryuichi Sakuma's best friend Tohma Seguchi?"
"I take that as a yes."
"Hell yeah…"
School
"Oi! Shindou! Haven't seen your fine ass in a while!?"
Ichigo froze in her place. Damn it, didn't he have anything better to do!? It was like a daily ritual for him to sexually harass her everyday. He slunk towards her and she watched him with sharp eyes. "Ichigo?" Keiko voiced. "Go ahead; I'll take care of this perv." "But, Ichi…" "Get to school, I don't want you two be late!" The two hesitated for a second then ran for the school. "Cocky aren't you, Shindou?" "I SAID…" She focused a high kick towards his chest. He jumped back. "MY. NAME. IS. NOT. SHINDOU!" Cursing, she then aimed another kick at the side of his head. He moved again, slipping past her and coming up beside her grabbing her arm and harshly twisting it behind her back. He pressed her against the school wall. "Listen you stupid bitch!" he snarled. "You've been making me look real stupid!" His hand crept towards her skirt. She struggled and threw her head back, smacking the back of her head against his forehead as a last resort.
He cried out in pain and that was when Ichi drove her elbow into his solarplexus, knocking the wind out of him before delivering a kick to his groin at his most vulnerable moment.
"You…." He fell to his knees. "You bitch! I'm going to…"
"What!?" a voice hissed. "What are you going to do, punk!"
Ichigo snapped her head up, brushing blonde hair out of her eyes.
Standing in front of her in the gorgeous sunlight was the boy with the amber eyes. Seiya Asai. "Seiya?" Her eyes widen. "What the hell are you doing here?" "Passing by and heard something going on," he shrugged. "I just happened to come along on you." Seiya walked forward and boot his foot to the other boy's back, knocking him down further. He set the boot on Naka's back and pressed heard. Her knight leaned over with hands in his pockets. "Who the hell are you?" Yamamoto hissed. "That's not important. The question is WHO the HELL do you think YOU are?" "Seiya's face took on a crude look. "Why don't you take your ass out of here, before I get mad?" He took his foot off the boy's back and glared at him, walking over towards the girl from the other day. "Hey." "You didn't need to do that…" He studied her. "But thanks anyway…At least someone has class." The amber-eyed boy looked to the other boy on the ground. "Do yourself a favor, dumbass, and hit the bricks!" "Who the hell..." Her "savior" shot Yamamoto an evil look, one worthy of Ichi's adoration. "I said GET LOST!"
Naka Yamamoto grumbled and cursed as he got off the ground and rushed off.
When he was gone, Sieya looked to Ichigo. "Do you deal with that shit everyday?"
"Yeah…" She sighed. "But he's never gotten this…serious. I was scared for a moment. Thanks for showing up."
"No problem. Just helping a damsel in distress."
"Is that all?"
She shook her head then and granted him one of her beautiful smiles. He smiled back. "I never caught your name."
"I guess…that's because I never threw it."
Seiya snickered at the joke.
"Sorry that was lame."
"No…That's all right." He eyed her waiting.
"Uesugi. My name is Ichigo Uesugi."
"Ichigo…means Strawberry. Nice." He was grinning wickedly. Yet, again it was not perverted. She found Seiya way too cool to be perverted.
"Yeah….my mom's idea."
The two of them stood there for a moment.
"Look, Strawberry…Would you like to go out with me?"
"As in on a date?!" She was smiling too like he was.
"Yeah. A date."
"I'll have to think about that…" At his stunned expression she burst out laughing. "I'm just kidding…" She paused. "Tell you what…" Ichigo began to rummage in her back pack for something. Seiya watched her as she pulled out a small piece of paper that looked to be a ticket of some sort. Smiling with her amethyst eyes this time, she offered it to him. "Come to my okaa-san's concert okay?" He took it and read it. His eyes widened. "Your…parent is THE Shuichi Shindou of Bad Luck." "Yup…" Seiya had heard that the rock star had a child with his partner, Japanese novelist Eiri Yuki, but he'd thought such an occurrence was just a rumor. "Cool." He grinned. "I'll be there. Wouldn't miss your birthday for the world?" And with that the boy left just a quickly as he had come. How in the world doe he know, if he didn't even…? To say the least she was stunned and grateful. She would keep giving her assessment of him as it stood. He was ultimately cool with a slight badass attitude. Seiya was incredibly good-looking and his amber eyes were intoxicating. "Hmm..." She started towards school. "I wonder what our children would look like." She grinned at this.
Lunch
Ichigo approached her friends with a smile to her face. She didn't have any worries about Naka Yamamoto approaching her anymore. Upon entering the school she'd immediately went to the principle's office and reported him as a case of sexual harassment. She hadn't done it before, but that was because she'd thought she could handle herself. Ichi finally resigned that she could not, the perv was getting way too aggressive for her to handle any longer. She shook her head mentally and sat down with her friends. "So…Ichi…are you going to tell us what happened?" Nene asked, scarfing down her food. "Something good." (1) Her two friends gave her blank looks. "Wait a minute and back the car up…Naka Yamamoto was involved and it was something good?" Keiko questioned. "No, no…" She was grinning maddeningly. "It was AFTER Yamamoto…" "What was after Yamamoto?" "Something good." Ichi laughed as she repeated this. "Yeah, but what?" She kept silent. "Ichi, c'mon tell us! This is big!" Keiko whined. "Okay, okay…" Her eyes focused on their faces. "I had Yamamoto down when…" They held their breaths. "This gorgeous guy showed up."
"Gorgeous guy?" Nene queried. "How gorgeous?"
"What guy?" This was Keiko.
"Well, I've met him before…"
"How gorgeous?"
"Very gorgeous." She took a bit of her sushi.
Nene: "You met before? Where?"
"Ice cream shop."
She ate another bite.
"Oooooo…."
Ichigo continued to eat.
"And?"
"And I invited him to the concert?"
"You what?!"
"I had a extra tickets anyway. Plus I can't turn down a guy with such sexy amber eyes, can I?"
She giggled while her friends just looked on. At this moment she was neither Shuichi nor Yuki, but all teenage girl.
It was good to be young.
Concert
Ichigo watched with rapt fascination backstage in the large dressing room as the members of Bad Luck got ready for the farewell concert. Oji-san Hiro was tuning his guitar; Suguru Fujisaki was meanwhile sitting down and watching the silhouette behind the screen that was her okaa-san. "It can't take you this long can it?" Fujisaki muttered looking bored. "I need to look good." Shuichi shouted over the top of the screen. "So look good, just don't take so long doing it." He muttered next. "Ease up, Fujisaki-san.." Ichigo murmured cheerfully, pirouetting around in her black skirt and strawberry crop top. Her janglely earrings clanged like tiny wind-chimes. "Half of the artist's presentation is his stage outfit. Okaa-san's gotta look good." "Beside…" Hiro picked at his guitar a bit more. "I think I heard Nittle Grasper and Electric Shock heading for the stage anyhow." He looked to Shuichi's silhouette then Fujisaki. "We have time." "Ichi-honey!?" "Yeah, Okaa-san!" she said in a sing-song voice. "Hand me that choker, okay?" The girl's eyes searched around and spotted what her parent called a choker it was a thin, leather-belt-like collar with a small black shiny S on it. Ichigo knew for a fact this had been given to her okaa-san by her tou-san as a birthday present.
She picked it up and craned her hand around the screen as her mama had insisted. "This is ridiculous you know."
"I don't want you to see me yet…"
"Okay…"
"Now, I want you to go back into the audience and talk to be with your friends. You're missing the opening acts, honey…"
Ichigo picked up her denim jacket up and shrugged it on. "Okay, okay…I'm going."
"ICHIGO! OVER HERE!"
Ichigo made her way over, pushing through the crowd, listening to Nittle Grasper's Ryuichi Sakuma belting out a song known as Shining Collection. She finally made it to Keiko and Nene's side. "Made it!" She hollered. "How's your okaa-san!?" Nene hollered back. "He's great! But he wouldn't allow me to see his outfit! "Too bad!" "Yeah!" Her friends' grins deepened. "What're you two smiling for?!" "Ichi! We have a surprise for you! Guess who showed up!" They parted, revealing Seiya Asai dressed in dark blue jeans and baggy gray shirt and black leather jacket. He was smiling, the strobe light dancing in his amber eyes. "SEIYA! You're here!" "What's shaking, Strawberry-girl!?" He spoke getting closer to her. "Nothing much. How do you like the concert so far!?" She asked, turning her gaze towards her okaa-san's friend, Ryuichi. "Isn't Sakuma-san great!?" "Oh yeah! Thanks for inviting me!" "No problem! Excuse me…" She turned toward the stage and pumped her fist in the pair, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "GO RYUICHI" "I LOVE YOU, RYU!" another girl hollered after her. Ichigo cast a glance at Seiya and noticed he was watching her, smiling.
He IS beautiful… She grinned at him. Could this night get any better?
"Good evening, Tokyo!" Shuichi Shindou hollered as the spotlight hit him. "I am Shuichi Shindou and we are Bad Luck!"
Two other spot lights hit Hiro and Fujisaki.
The crowd went wild, screaming at the top of their lungs.
"Welcome to Bad Luck's Farwell Concert!"
The crowd screamed again.
Yet all Ichigo could do was watch her okaa-san with pride. He was wearing tight black jeans and a dark violet shirt, covered with a black duster. He was wearing black fingerless gloves gripped around the microphone and his choker, amethyst eyes shining through the canopy of black bangs. She smiled some more and suddenly felt an arm come around her shoulders. Ichi was startled at first but then realized it as the warm embrace of her tou-san she looked up at him and smiled. Seiya to say the least looked startled. "Seiya! I'd like you to meet my tou-san…Eiri Yuki!" He gave a relieved grin and held out his hand to the older man. "Please to meet you, sir!" Yuki look at his daughter then looked at the amber-eyed boy. "So you're my daughter's new boyfriend I'm guessing?" He eyed the extended hand. "Tou-san…" The blonde girl blushed deeply. "Not yet." Seiya winked boldly at Ichigo. "But I'm hoping!" "Really?" The stoic novelist arched his eyebrow. He was impressed. The boy's got guts….Just what my little girl needs. "Yes, sir." The young man flashed a devilishly smile. "Shhhh!" came a hush from the three girls.
"Okaa-san's talking, Tou-san." Ichigo scolded. "You should know better."
Shuichi was walking across the stage saying, "I'd like to open the concert with a new song of mine, written especially for this occasion. It's called Sparkling…a duet with my good friend Ryuichi Sakuma." Ryuichi came onto the stage once more; red head band lifting his brown bangs out of his blue eyes. He lifted his arm and waved at the crowd, microphone in his other hand. "I'd like to dedicate Sparkling to my baby girl…" Ichigo groaned. "…Ichigo Hana for her sixteenth birthday!" She shook her head, tear entering her eyes. "Yo, guys! Can we drop a spotlight on her!?" It was no sooner said then done. A white light cloaked her and the cameras focused on her. She shielded her eyes and smiled in the camera crew's direction. "That's my little girl! Give her a big round of applause, folks! Today she turns sweet sixteen!" The audience around her clapped loudly and Ichigo turned toward them. She wasn't embarrassed at all anymore. Today was her day after all... Ichi laughed. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" She blew kisses to the camera. Shuichi laughed seeing the attention his daughter was getting.
"Okay, Ichi-honey, you camera hog!"
She laughed at her okaa-san's words. "SORRY, OKAA-SAN! TAKE IT FROM HERE!"
He nodded. "And now…" He looked to Ryuichi. "…without further ado….Sparkling!"
Ichigo watched as her mama began to sing, feeling her tou-san's arms envelop her once more and listening to her friend's scream. "Happy Birthday, Hana-chan…" A soft voice said. She beamed happily and caught sight of her oji-san. He came up next to her and her tou-san. "Thanks, Oji-san!" He smiled kindly. "Now…" Yuki turned towards Seiya who'd been watching the three intently. "…as I was saying…." "Tou-san no…" "It's for your own good, girl." "Oh is this a new friend…?" Tohma inquired crowding the boy. "Yeah, a potential boyfriend…." "Potential? Really? I find that most interesting, don't you, Eiri-san…?" The blond smirked. "For once I couldn't agree with you more, Tohma." "Quite." He looked to the amber-eyed boy. "What is your name?" "Asai. Seiya Asai." A cool stare. "Well, Seiya…You take good care of our Ichigo, will you? She's very precious to us. Isn't that right, Eiri-san?" "Extremely precious." Yuki agreed. "So...You take good care of her…" The Shacho of NG looked to his brother-in-law. "And we won't have to come after you ass. Got it?" The protective father finished. Ichigo stared at the two men eyes wide and completely and utterly astounded.
"Understood." Seiya's gaze didn't waver from theirs, but the girl could've sworn she saw and heard him gulp.
Meanwhile the crowd continued the scream and cheer, oblivious to everything. And while Ichigo should have felt like dying right then and there…She took the moment for what it was worth and smiled, looking to the stage.
Yes, tonight was definitely perfect.
Next Chapter: Epilogue
(1) "Something good." (look familar, that's because her okaa-san says it after his "night" with Yuki lol) Just thought I'd add some Shuichiness in. lol
A/N: WELL I LIKED THAT! Yes I'm shouting… How did you like it? Please review, okay!? Appreciate it!