Sidekick 01 - I Like Senpai
Edited: 2012.12.30
SIDEKICK CHP01 - I Like Senpai
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- We know the sidekick who stands beside the heroine and support her. At times, she is overprotective of the protagonist and condescending of others. Usually, she is encouraging. She is intelligent and independent, yet the popular boy always fall for the naive and often insecure heroine.
Well, then this is a different story; a sidekick's story.-
< S_ Middle School
Inside their chaotic classroom during self-study, Ai and Satomi had pushed their desks together.
"Saa-chan, which high school are you applying to?" a depressed Ai asked Satomi, her chin propped on her desk. "I want to go to the same school as you, but you're really smart and I don't think I can get into the same school."
Satomi smiled down at her. "I want to go the same school as Ai-chan, too. We'll make it together."
[I am Satomi Nakamura. 15. Junior high school. Ninth grade.]
[My best and childhood friend is Ai Mochizuki.]
[We are preparing for our high school entrance exams. But, I have a problem.] >
< Satomi waited for the bus beside two other junior high girls. While they chatted, she was lost in thought alone. (Which high school should I apply to?) She stared off into the distance, expressionless, as the bus came to a stop before them.
Satomi entered behind the two girls and took one of the empty seats. She dropped her bag onto her lap and stared with blank eyes out the window. (I wonder what Ai-chan's thinking.)
(It has to be a high school where Ai-chan can get in.)
She sighed as the bus made another stop and a group of high school students stepped on; a loud gang of five to six boys. Sports bags slung over their shoulders implied they were just heading home from after school extra-curricular activities.
(Rude. Immature. Monkeys.) Satomi thought when the din they were making continued. She turned her attention away from the rowdy bunch and zoned in on the conversation of the two girls who had entered the bus with her. They had taken the seat behind hers.
"Don't you think those guys are kind of cute? I wonder which high school's uniform is that."
"That's T_ High School. My sister goes there. I'm going there next year, too."
(Must be nice to have decided.) Satomi thought.
"He's hot."
"The one with brownish-red hair, right?"
"You think so, too?"
"Totally. I wonder if he has a girlfriend."
The group of boys, oblivious of the eyes on them, burst into laughter. Distracted, Satomi resisted the temptation to tell them to shut up. She turned and found herself staring at the earlier mentioned boy with red-brown hair. He donned the same summer uniform as his companions, but wore long sleeves that were rolled up to his elbows. She noticed that he had four ear piercings in his left ear. Satomi also agreed that he was handsome, but that didn't stop her from hating him. (How annoying.)
The bus came to a stop.
"Hey, time to go!" one of them called out unnecessarily.
They trampled down the aisle to the door as noisily as they had entered.
"Aw, they're leaving already," one of the two girls said.
A woman who had taken a seat near the front of the bus was fast asleep and her handbag had fallen into the aisle. As the first boy walked past her, he stepped on the bag, but moved on as if he had not noticed.
Satomi fumed as she watched, waiting for at least one of them to stop.
Following their leader's example, the rest of the boys trooped out carelessly until the bag was dirt encrusted. Just as Satomi's anger reached its brink, the last boy stopped before the woman. He was the same boy with red-brown hair. He retrieved the fallen bag and tried to dust it off as efficiently and quickly as possible. He returned it to the woman's side at the same time that she woke up.
Finding herself faced with a young and handsome youth, the woman jerked back in surprise. He only smiled and without a word, strolled down the rest of the aisle and out the bus to where his friends were waiting for him.
Her heart pounding, Satomi quickly turned her head and stared out the window at the group.
"What were you doing?" his friends asked.
The one grinned and said in fluent English, "Being a gentleman."
"There you go again!" they cried.
Satomi's eyes remained on the boy's laughing face as the bus drove away. Her pulse continued to drum in her ears.
She touched her flushed cheeks and decided. (T_ High School. That's it.) >
< A few months later.
T_ High School
Loud and excited voices could be heard from outside the freshmen classrooms.
Inside Class 1-A, students chatted with acquaintances and friends as they waited for class to begin.
A refreshed and happy Ai turned in her seat to face Satomi who had taken the desk behind her. "I can't believe we're actually in the same class again!"
Satomi smiled at her enthusiasm. "I'm happy we're together."
"The Opening Ceremony was boring, but I was still excited. This is our first day as high school students!"
"But the atmosphere is still the same," Satomi said, eyeing her lively classmates.
"Ah... My high school romance will begin." Ai looked up at the ceiling dreamily and clapped her hands together.
Satomi squared her expression. "Hm? So you're actually here to find a boyfriend."
Ai looked at her friend with a triumphant smile and a glint in her eye. "All fifteen years of my life and I've never had a boyfriend. Well, starting from this day, Ai-chan will find love!"
Satomi grinned. (That's so like her.)
The homeroom teacher entered. "Okay, sit down freshmen."
The middle-aged man stood at the front podium with the chalkboard at his back and facing his students as he claimed their attention. "I'm your homeroom teacher. You will call me Miyazawa-sensei. As I take attendance, I would like for the person whose name I called to stand and introduce him or herself."
Satomi zoned out, remembering her recent conversation with her friend. (What will Ai-chan think of me if she knew the reason I decided to come here was because of a boy?) >
< "Saa-chan, are you going to the archery club meeting then?" Ai asked after school. The classroom they lingered in was nearly empty.
"Yeah. I'm sorry, Ai-chan. You can go home first," Satomi said.
Ai shook her head. "I will wait for Saa-chan." She smiled. "I'll be at the shoe lockers."
Satomi returned her smile. "I'll try to get out as early as I can."
"See you later." They clapped hands and Satomi went off.
Ai watched the taller girl disappear and sighed. "Maybe I'll tour around the school grounds. It's still a long time before Saa-chan returns." >
< Outside the school building, Ai passed the tennis courts and saw the freshmen already dressed in their training uniforms lined up before the captain and coach. The juniors and seniors practiced at the further courts.
(I wonder if I should join a club this year too.) Ai thought, grabbing hold of the iron fence with both hands and leaning in to have a better look. (Our clubs might end at the same time, too. I wouldn't have to wait for Saa-chan anymore.) The idea made her happy.
A sudden loud noise in the distance surprised her. It sounded oddly like cheering.
In her search for the source of the noise, Ai came upon the soccer field. A group of girls were crowded at the sidelines. Amazed at what she was witnessing, Ai watched from the back.
"Yuki-kun!" a few shouted simultaneously.
Ai saw the soccer club members jog from one goal to another. Some of the freshmen lagged behind while a few of the veteran players kept a constant pace.
"Yuki-kun looks worn out. My god. They've been running continuously for almost thirty minutes already. When will they stop?"
Entranced, Ai looked on as the boys continued to run.
"Do you have Yuki-kun's water bottle ready? Is it cold?"
Curious now, Ai wondered who this Yuki was that the girls were making a fuss over. (Yuki-kun?) In her head, she compared the faceless Yuki to a boy named Jun who had been the most popular boy in their middle school.
The coach blew the whistle for the boys to stop running and gave them permission to take a water break. Immediately, the group of girls surged forward and crowded around one boy, a boy with red-brown hair and four ear piercings in his left ear. He was strikingly good-looking.
Exhausted, Yuki wiped his forehead with his wrist sweatband and took up the water bottle that a girl offered.
"Thanks." He smiled at her, causing the group to swoon.
"A playboy?" Ai concluded out loud.
"You're wrong," a voice said from behind her.
A girl, the one who had spoken, came to stand beside Ai. She was a little taller than the freshman, around Satomi's height. To relieve any harshness out of her earlier denial, the girl smiled down at Ai. "He's not a playboy. Just very proper."
She turned and stared intently at Yuki and his excited group of followers. "Even if he's known to fooling around sometimes, Yuki-kun is polite to everyone. He just doesn't push anyone away. That's all."
Ai stared at the taller girl and raised an eyebrow, confused at her knowledge and defense of this Yuki. "Who are you?"
The girl laughed at her blunt question. "Sorry. I'm Minami, a senior and the soccer team's manager."
She indicated her occupied hands and Ai finally noticed she carried two plastic bags full of healthy snacks. "They get hungry easily so I often prepare snacks beforehand."
Minami started towards the field, but stopped again. She turned around and locked eyes with Ai.
"You know, Yuki-kun's a really nice person. You shouldn't judge others before getting to know them. I'm telling you this, because I don't want you to get the wrong idea about him."
Ai blinked at her.
Minami smiled. "You can say I'm a Yuki fan, too."
Then she turned and continued on her way, leaving Ai alone. >
< "Ai-chan!" Satomi called when she saw her friend waiting for her by the shoe lockers.
Ai stood up and waved. "Saa-chan. How did it go?"
"The club has nice equipment, better than our middle school. I guess T_ High School spends more money on their clubs than ours did. Were you bored?"
Ai smiled and shook her head. "No. I had fun. I took a tour of the school grounds."
They began for head home side by side.
"I watched the soccer club practice for a bit. I also met the team manager. Her name's Minami."
Ai stared straight ahead as she continued softly, "Minami-senpai seems like a really nice person."
Satomi scrutinized her. "Ai-chan?"
"It's great to like someone. I want to like someone, too." Ai sighed up at the sky.
Suddenly determined, she gripped her hands into fists and pumped them into the air. "Yosh! I'm going to try even harder to find a boyfriend!"
Satomi laughed. Ai turned to her and said, "Anyways, I found the school idol, Saa-chan! He's so handsome! You wouldn't believe!"
A mischievous glint sparkled in her eyes. "I'd like to investigate him. Maybe I can find why he's so popular." She chuckled to herself as she calculated. "And maybe I can find what I want in my boyfriend." >
< Night.
At her desk in her room, Satomi lay down her head and stared off into space. (I haven't seen that boy at all. Was he a senior last year? Did he already graduate?) Just thinking about him, her heart ached.
She gripped her pencil tightly and pressed her lips firmly together.
Twisting her head so that her chin rested in her hands, Satomi closed her eyes. (I want to see him again, but it feels impossible.) >
< After school, Ai waited for Satomi once more. But instead of just waiting, she used the time to start her investigations. Exaggeratedly donning on a large trench coat over her own uniform, Ai stood outside the boys' changing room.
She looked at her surroundings and made sure no one was around. No one saw her. There were also none of Yuki's fan girls around. They were probably at the field waiting for him.
Leaning back against the wall, Ai gathered her courage and took a deep breath.
"Hey, this girl looks suspicious," a boy said, breaking into her moment.
Ai jerked out of her own world. She had not noticed that the members were already finished changing and were coming out of the changing rooms. The ones outside laughed at her surprise.
Ai flushed and decided to flee, but she turned and saw that they had surrounded her with no way out.
"She's a freshman."
"Cute."
"Why's she here?"
"Another Yuki fan?"
"Hey! He's not the only popular one."
Intimidated as they all gathered around her, Ai trembled. Her face burned. Just as her embarrassment couldn't get any worse, another voice broke through the mutterings. "Come on, guys. Let's go. Leave her alone. The old man will kill us if we're late to the field."
The newcomer was Yuki. He had come out during all the noise and stood behind them all.
Once the boys moved back, he saw Ai and smiled at her. "Hey. Run along now, kouhai-san."
His smile and kind eyes wrung out all of Ai's stiffness and fright. She relaxed, even if her pulse quickened.
"Aw man, Yuki, you ruin all the fun," his friend declared.
But nonchalantly the members turned their attention away from her and went on their way. >
< They reached the field. As soon as they stopped before the coach, he announced, "Arai, it's your turn to run the errands with the freshmen."
"Shucks!" Yuki cursed. His friends chuckled.
"Don't forget you're actually supposed to instruct the younger ones, Yuki," they teased.
"Cool it," he retorted in English. He turned to the three freshmen he was to accompany. "C'mon.">
< Satomi stood in the aisle of a convenience store, facing a dilemma.
"Nakamura-san," the captain had said. "Can you run the errands for Sakamoto-san today?"
"Yes," she had answered immediately.
Now Satomi stood, looking solemnly down at the rows of different bandages with a furrowed brow. (Which ones am I supposed to get?)
"Ah, Nakamura-san, you're here too," a voice said, interrupting her thoughts.
Satomi turned to see a boy from her class join her in the aisle.
"Are you running an errand for your club, too?" he asked her.
"Yes," she answered, turning back to look at her options.
She crossed her arms. "I don't even know what to buy or how much. My senpais only wrote 'bandages' on the list."
He laughed. "You're pretty weird. In these kind of situations, don't you just go with what you think is right?"
"But budget is important," Satomi replied seriously, her expression calming. "And I don't want to buy much more than is needed."
"Heh. This is actually the first time I've heard you say so much since we've started school," her classmate expressed. "In class, Mochizuki-san and you are always together and it's hard to approach you guys." He smiled while he envisioned their classroom. "But you're actually very easy to talk to. And Mochizuki-san..."
He grinned sheepishly. "She's really energetic."
Satomi turned back to look at the rows of bandages blankly. "Yeah, Ai-chan's cute," she said, stating his true thoughts.
She said nothing more, standing silently and making her classmate suddenly awkward.
"Hey, kouhai-san, what's taking you so long," another voice interrupted.
Yuki stepped into the aisle. The two freshman turned to the new face.
Satomi saw him and her eyes widened.
"Oh, senpai," the boy said hurriedly. "I'm sorry. I got distracted."
He inclined his head in apology and indicated Satomi. "I was talking to Nakamura-san. She's from my class."
(Control yourself.) Satomi ordered and she steeled herself until she became expressionless, even though her hands that gripped her hakama shook with the effort.
She also bowed to Yuki. "Nice to meet you, senpai. Sorry for having detained your person."
"Is there something wrong?" he asked, quickly catching on to the tense atmosphere between them.
"Well, actually, there i--" the classmate started, but Satomi quickly jumped in.
"No. There's not. I've figured it myself, thanks." Concealing her nervousness, she quickly grabbed three boxes of the nearest bandages, nodded her farewell to the two, and stormed out of the aisle.
She left Yuki and her classmate confused.
"Is she just in a hurry, or does she hate me?" Yuki asked his stunned lowerclassman.
In the next aisle, Satomi stopped and breathed deeply to calm her racing heart. (I found him!) >
< Lost in her own thoughts when practice ended, Satomi did not notice herself come face to face with Ai.
Ai observed her distracted friend's face. "Saa-chan, what's wrong?"
Satomi blinked at the question, trying to focus.
"I've been calling you for a while now and you won't answer," Ai continued.
Satomi chuckled. "Nothing. I was reflecting. How was your day, Ai-chan?"
Ai immediately flushed and stared down at her feet. "Well..."
Satomi stood beside her with her usual poker face and said, "'Fess up."
Ai's head swung up and a small fire burned in her eyes. "Saa-chan, I found someone I like."
Satomi was surprised. (So quickly?) "Who is the guy?"
Ai gulped. "I told you about him; the popular one. His name is Yuki Arai. He's a junior. He's also in the soccer club."
(Soccer club.) Satomi tilted her head to the side and frowned as a memory evaded her. "Is he a good person?"
"Well... he's popular with both the girls and guys. I heard that he kind of fools around. Sometimes. But that's it! He's really gentle," her friend added.
Satomi dropped her arms. "He's not that great. Sounds like a playboy to me. I don't like him already." But she reached over and slung an arm around her friend's shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll support you. As long as he turns out to be a good person." >
< It was dark out.
Satomi studied at her desk like usual when the image of the red-brown haired boy returned to her. The lead of her mechanical pencil broke. Thinking nothing more of it, she told herself to focus and continued what she had been doing. >
< Another school day. Ai crouched down and peered around the corner. Next to her, Satomi stood nonchalantly, hidden by the wall. From where Satomi was, she could hear the girls talking to this Yuki-kun.
(What's so great about this guy?)
"He's always surrounded," Ai muttered in disappointment.
Satomi leaned against the wall behind her. "Why'd I have to come along?"
"You're supportive of me, right?" Ai replied confidently.
She straightened nad stood beside Satomi, her expression dead serious.
Satomi blinked down at her as Ai said, "Saa-chan, I'm going to confess."
Alarmed, Satomi retorted, "Ai-chan, think about it carefully. You don't even know him very well yet."
"I know." Ai smiled up at her. "But I want to have a better reason than those girls to stand beside him. I want to know him better."
Ai's strength amazed Satomi. (That's exactly how I feel.) "Do your best. I'll do whatever I can to help you."
"Yes!" Pumped, Ai clenched her hand into a fist. >
< "If you're too nervous to speak to him, write a love letter."
At Ai's house, Satomi and Ai worked together in her bedroom.
"Yosh!" Ai bent over her table looking studious.
"Write down everything you feel." Satomi sat across from her. She leaned forward to check on her friend's progress.
Ai looked up happily. "Okay. Saa-chan's the best."
Satomi smiled and patted her hand affectionately. "Get to work. It's much harder to write a love letter than you think."
While Ai worked on her letter, Satomi stared at the spot over her bent head and became preoccupied with her own planns.
(Ai-chan's trying her best. I should do what I can too. I'll look around first and get his name.)
She smiled as the boy with red-brown hair returned to her. Her eyes wandered down to Ai. Satomi's smile remained, refreshed by seeing her friend so focused. (And I'll tell Ai-chan once I find him.) >
< "Today, after school and after your club, can you accompany me?" Ai had asked Satomi.
After her extracurricular activity, Satoshi rushed out of the changing room to the soccer field.
"Saa-chan!" Ai shouted and waved as she saw Satomi approach.
Out of breath, Satomi asked, "Where is he?"
Ai pointed to a crowd of girls. "Surrounded."
Extremely nervous, she brought her hands together and rubbed them together in her anxiety. "I'm praying, help me!"
Satomi smiled and reassured her with a hand on her shoulder. "It's all right. You said he was a gentleman. He won't reject you outright. He'll read your letter and give you a fair answer."
Ai breathed in a big breath of air. "Calm down, Ai-chan. You can do it."
Satomi touched the back of her head. "You ready? You sure you don't want to wait until he's alone?"
Ai's eyes blazed with determination. "I'm ready. He won't ever be alone so this is it."
But as they made their way towards the group of fan girls, Ai's step faltered. She quickly turned around and tried to run away. Satomi blocked her.
"Saa-chan! I can't do this!" she cried.
Satomi set her foot down defiantly. "My all-nighter was not for nothing."
Ai made a face, but she turned around to continue once more.
Finally, they were at the edge of the group.
Satoshi was so focused on Ai, she only then turned to look at the target of her friend's affection.
Only one boy stood in a crowd of adoring girls. This person's back was to her, but she thought she recognized him. (Red-brown hair?)
Ai glanced at Satomi, trying to find reassurance. She bit her lip nervously, inhaled, and determinedly straightened her back.
Then she gathered her strength and said in a loud, clear voice, "Arai-senpai."
The crowd paused and turned around as one, intimidating.
Yuki turned to face the two freshmen. "Yes?" He stared at them, unable to recognize Ai. Then his eyes wandered to Satomi and his memory clicked.
"My kouhai's classmate." This was directed at Satomi. He forgot Ai who had called him.
But Satomi had already frozen. Ai became extremely nervous once more and seeing that Satomi did not make a move, she said nothing.
"What do you want?" one of the girls snapped.
Satomi stared speechlessly at Yuki and her hands shook. She gripped the bottom of her skirt to stop herself from trembling.
(This is not true.)
(It can't be.)
They stood in front of Yuki Arai, the person Satomi had been searching for.
Ai quavered and Satomi finally noticed.
Like always, Satomi tried to exert control over herself. Although unsuccessful, she still stepped forward and placed a trembling hand against Ai's back.
Encouraged, Ai inhaled again. She brought up the letter she held in her hands and offered it to Yuki.
Satomi felt her chest constrict as she watched. (Arai-senpai is Ai-chan's first love.) >
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SIDEKICK CHP02 - One Step Closer