Fan Fiction |
by Sheen and Smile :)
“Naoki, it isn’t true that she’s staying at your house is it?” Reiko, an extremely attractive and brilliant (she was from A class as well) girl secretly holding a torch for Irie Kun was standing next to him, clutching his hand, whilst his admirers were hanging around them waiting for his answer. Reluctantly, he nodded. A collective sigh, or rather wail, came up as he quickly moved away from them. Just then, he saw me and stopped. The flash in the dark eyes petrified me and I stood there motionless on trembling legs when he strode up to me.
“You baka,” he hissed ferociously to me. “Thanks indeed for messing up my life.”
“I’m sorry … I dropped it by accident …” My lips started quavering as tears welled up in my eyes. I really didn’t mean to create trouble for him. Then I turned and fled, not wanting to burst into tears in front of him.
Naoki’s POV
I was furious at the scandal that the photograph was creating, then I spotted my target and and made for her. Kotoko was looking like a deer trapped in the headlights of an approaching car, her large long lashed brown eyes were wide opened with a scared expression. After giving out to her, I felt some stirrings of guilt for the first time when she ran off, obviously crying. I have never made a girl cry before and to be fair as she was in the picture, my dearest mama must have been at least partially responsible. What happened to your manners Naoki? Thanks to her irresponsible behaviour though, I would have to put up with all the gossips for the next couple of weeks at least. I gritted my teeth and hardened my heart thinking of forthcoming intrusion into my private space by all the weak-minded busy bodies speculating to themselves (if I was lucky) or crowding around me with stupid questions regarding my PRIVATE life (if I was unlucky). Why was I so darn unlucky to have her staying with me?
I was knocking on her door softly when it gave way. As per normal, when Kotoko didn’t appear for dinner, guess who got sent to get her down? I frowned when I received no answer and decided to just go in with or without permission to make my announcement. Pushing the door open, I saw her slight figure huddled on the floor apparently asleep. I was about to leave the room, when a white envelope fluttered onto the floor from her desk. Bending down to pick it up, I noticed it was addressed to me – oh the love letter that she was going to give me. I decided to have a look at what this baka was capable of writing. It was only fair that I intruded on her privacy seeing how she had disturbed my peace, anyway, it was meant for me. I flipped it open and skimmed through the short note.
“Hi Irie Naoki,
I know you probably don’t know that I exist, but I’d just like to tell you that ever since I first saw you up on stage giving a speech two years ago, I’ve never been able to erase your image from my mind. I think you’re simply great – you’re so intelligent and so good at sports, I mean you can do anything. I know that I have no hope of you ever liking me back but I would so like to be your friend. I love you … …
Aihara Kotoko”
It written so simply, no poems and no artifice unlike the many lovey dovey letters that I have received over the years. I could just imagine her slaving over this short note for many sleepless nights. “It must have strained her capabilities to the limit to write this,” I thought wryly. Then I noticed that the letter had many blotches on it, I examined it more closely. The words had been blotched several times by tears. I folded that letter and placed it back on the desk, then I looked at the peaceful expression on her tear stained face before heading back for the dinning table.
“Yes Naoki?” I have no idea why mama has been so stern with me lately. I know she’s fond of Kotoko but to side with a stranger over your own flesh and blood? Fortunately, my face revealed nothing of my thoughts as I looked at her.
“She’s sleeping, probably tired.” Immediately, she stood up and started putting away a large portion of the food for Kotoko.
“Noriko,” Mr Aihara was looking rather embarrassed. “If that lazy girl of mine is still sleeping, let her eat whatever is left over, please don’t bother keeping so much food for her.”
“She deserves it for doing so well in the exams. Surely you must be proud of her Shigeo? She got the 100th place.” I looked at my mum quietly before continuing with my meal but I was mildly annoyed at the injustice. Firstly, the reason why she could do so well was because of yours truly sitting here. Secondly, yours truly had gotten 1st and Kotoko had only gotten 100th! Guess what praise did I receive? None !!! Not that I needed any because the exam was really too simple, but sometimes my mum is just so biased. I shook my head silently and decided to ignore their antics, after all I still had the last few chapters of my science fiction to go. Glancing at Yuki, I saw a rebellious expression on his face. He was obviously pissed that such a fuss over Kotoko was being made – he’s still young and it’s natural for him to feel jealous that his mother is taking so much notice of a what he calls “stupid girl”. Well, with his IQ (that is similar to mine), he’s rather precocious – mum and dad should take more notice of him actually.
Kotoko’s POV
“Ouch,” I tried to straighten my back only to find it too painful. Thanks to falling asleep in that cramped position on the floor, my back is aching so much that I can hardly turn. The good thing is, I feel bright and cheerful, ready to face the world again! Humming a tune, I burst into the dinning room and greeted Mrs Irie with a bright smile.
“Good morning, auntie!” My mouth dropped open at the sight of the breakfast that she had prepared for me. “… … w … wow …” I stammered looking at the array of sushi and sashimi that was standing at my place. Strangely enough I was the only person who had such a large meal. She beamed at me.
“Kotoko, you missed dinner last night! So I’ve taken out your dinner – you need to eat more. We didn’t want to wake you up coz we thought you’d be tired … …” she chattered away non-stop as I smiled at her and sat down to eat as much as I could. I snuck at peek at Irie Kun to see if he was still angry with me because of the notice board. To my relief and disappointment, he was looking his usual impassive self, quietly tucking in his soup and rice whilst Yuki greeted me with his perpetual glare. I wonder sometime why he hates me so much before my brain clicked – his room you idiot! I decided to ignore him and start tucking into my “breakner” (combination of breakfast and dinner).
Today’s train is exceptionally crowded. Suddenly, I felt a strange hand on a certain part of my anatomy that had no business to be there. I flushed and squirmed as another hand was placed close to the other hand. I wanted to twist around and elbow the two molesters in the ribs but my back was hurting too much for me to turn, and I was so closely surrounded by other passengers that I couldn’t move. I started wriggling in earnest, hoping that they would be scared off, but I could still feel the two hands squeezing my rear end. I could feel tears of frustration and anger starting in my eyes when suddenly I heard a voice that I never dreamt of hearing.
“Stop your juvenile behaviour this instance and take your dirty hands off her.” Immediately, the hands were removed and the passengers around me eased a little, allowing me space to turn around. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Irie Kun was standing very near me, his face was impassive as he looked at my attackers with arms folded across his chest. They looked like office workers, one in his 30s and one in his 50s. I fumed inwardly – such deprived creatures men are regardless of their ages.
“What do you mean?” One of them tried blustering.
“Yeah, get out of here you little punk before I beat the crap out of you.” The younger one said aggressively, clenching his knuckles tightly.
“Before you do that, I recommend you look at section 35 subsection 3 paragraph 1 line 2 of the constitutional law for the ruling on sexual harassment and paragraph 4 for violence, as well as section 200 (A) subsection 6 paragraph 7 for potential penalties against violence.” He sounded like a lawyer, my Irie Kun – my knight in shinning armour. My eyes shone like stars as I looked at his profile, the firm set of the chiseled jaw and the absence of fear in those stern dark eyes.
“Wha … at?” The two idiots sounded really confused and not a little intimidated as they both took a step backwards. “Who’re you trying to kid you little punk?”
“Hey,” I couldn’t resist at this point in time. “Watch what you’re saying, he has an IQ of about 200!” Immediately, they retreated completely with scared looks and the rest of the passengers backed away as well. From their expression you could tell that they were afraid of touching me even with the hem of their clothes. The arms uncrossed as his posture relaxed and the dark eyes looked at me.
“Go to the front of the train near the door.” He commanded. I obeyed instantly and felt like a queen when everyone parted before me, hastily retreating as far as they could as we walked through. Even as we both stood at the door, they left a wide berth. I looked at Irie Kun who was leaning against the side, glancing out through the window.
“Thank you so much, Irie Kun,” I wanted to kneel down and kiss his shoes – I was THAT grateful. Pathetic isn’t it, but I loved him so much! He turned to look at me.
“Why didn’t you do anything about it yourself?” He was reminding me of how effectively I had protected myself over the past journeys.
“I have a cramp in my lower back, I can’t turn – it’s too stiff.” I explained. His cool eyes held my gaze a second longer before he turned back to the window. Nothing had changed he was still the same cool Irie Naoki. The only problem was after that incident, I was more madly in love with him than ever.