SPOILED MEETS BRAT (fic) Part 1
LOL. So much for me being on hiatus. I just had to finish this. XD
Title: SPOILED MEETS BRAT
Characters: Tegoshi Yuya, Takishima Irish (OC), Atsuto Uchida, NEWS members and mentions of Toru (OOR), Takishima Shinji (OC)
Rating: G
Length: One-shot
Word Count: Approx. 7,500
Summary: Tegoshi has always been so sure of himself. He gets and does whatever pleases him. He’s the ultimate spoiled brat. However, when Irish entered his life, he started getting frustrated…
A/N: This story is a bit cliché, an idol falling for a girl who doesn’t know him. But I did my best to put some twist on it and… well, enjoy! J
P.S. I don’t know why, but upon coming up with the idea for the plot, Ate Jin (or Irish, Idol or whatever) came into my mind. So I decided to make her the heroine of this story~
Tegoshi’s cellphone suddenly rings, making him startle. He hastily scoops it from his jeans’ pocket and didn’t even bother to check the caller ID before pressing the answer button and putting it on his ear.
“It’s me.” He says, tilting his head a bit to the left just like what Massu does when his fringe get in the way. He reckons another visit to the salon would be a good idea.
“Ah, Tegoshi? Are you free today?” The voice from the other line inquires.
“Oh, it’s you! Yeah, great timing. I’m taking some time off from work today.” He grins. Finally, something to keep his boredom at bay.
“Where to?” He pauses for a while to listen to the other party’s instruction, then nods. “Okay, I’ll be there. See you.” He presses the end call button and started preparing while humming NEWS’ song, ‘Sakura Girl’.
~~~~
Opening the refrigerator door to get her daily dose of milk, Irish notices her big brother Shinji getting all busy. She swigs some of the milk before asking her brother.
“Nee, Shin-nii. Going somewhere?”
“Oh, Irish. You’re up early.” Her brother replies a little distractedly, “Weren’t you awake until late last night flailing over that rock band’s latest promotional video?”
“It’s One OK Rock. Mou~ when will you ever remember their name?” Irish complains, pouting her lips a little.
But Shinji just waves his hands in dismissal, “Whatever, I don’t have time to memorize every name I encounter,” He then continued with rummaging his things-or is he actually trying to arrange them? Irish couldn’t tell. For her arranging and messing up one’s stuff looked the same.
Irish shakes her head and gulps some more milk. She really can’t believe how bad his brother at remembering names. She remembers how it took her brother about 10 meetings with her friends before their names finally registered to his picky system. She felt bad about that especially since one of her friends actually likes her dope of a brother.
“So, getting back to the topic, you seem to be going somewhere?” she asks.
“Nothing. Just going out with some soccer friends to kick some ball,” her brother says.
Her eyes lit up upon hearing her brother’s reply. “Really? Can I go with you?”
Shinji suddenly stops and looks at her suspiciously. “Why is that?”
“Well,” Irish clears her throat and tries to keep a straight face, “I’m a little bored here.”
“No,” Her brother said flatly.
“Whaaaaaaaat?” she exclaims, incredulous and feeling herself break into million tiny pieces. “But, Shin-nii--” she tries to protest, but was immediately cut by her brother.
“You just want to see Atsuto right? It’s not like you’re going to do anything useful in particular.”
Irish’s shoulders slumped. She was busted. But then her face lit up upon getting an idea.
“I could be your assistant,” she beams at her brother in a manner she knows he could not possibly resist. She was, after all, his one and only cute little sister. She almost gagged at the thought of being called cute.
“What?” Shinji frowns.
“You know, I could carry your stuff. Since you always bring too much stuff,” being a certified OC and all, she wanted to add, but decides to keep her mouth shut. She puts an emphasis on the word ‘always’ instead. Once again she flashed her brother her cheeky smile, with matching puppy eyes now, “Pretty please?”
Her brother sighs in resignation. “You really like him, don’t you?”
Irish felt herself blush, but answered her brother with her head held high, “I do.”
“Okay fine. But don’t do anything silly, I forgot his name but I think Atsu mentioned that his popular friend’s coming with us-”
Irish didn’t even let her brother finish. Smiling and jumping triumphantly, she dashes to her room to get changed.
Shinji sighs once again. He leans down to continue packing his things when Irish’s head suddenly appears on the door.
“Shin-nii?” she calls.
He looks up with raised eyebrows, “What, now?”
Irish gave him a toothy grin, “Thank you.”
Shinji was taken aback and managed just a nod.
His little sister’s head disappears from the door and he could hear her humming while going upstairs. A small smile formed in his lips as continued with his packing.
~~~~
“It’s been awhile!” Tegoshi greets his soccer friends cheerily upon entering the small stadium. He is feeling heated up and has been itching to play soccer for a while now. In fact, he’s already warmed up and is wearing his Tegoshi 10 JNT uniform.
“Tegoshi! You’re finally here,” one of his friends greeted him, giving him a high five. He returns it and they hugged each other, the guys’ way.
“Yeah, and I’m in perfect condition to kick some freaking ball,” Tegoshi says, grinning wide.
He felt a small tap on his left shoulder and turns to look at who called his attention. He was greeted by Uchida’s dashing smile.
“Atsu! It’s been a while!” he properly faces him and shakes his hand, gripping it tight.
“Yo, Tegoshi. Thought you’ve already been eaten by one of your kittens. Haven’t seen you around lately,” Uchida replies jokingly.
Tegoshi laughs heartily, “Of course not! My kittens are very well tamed.”
“Is that so? Then I’m glad,” Uchida smiles.
“So where’s Shinji?” Tegoshi asks for he didn’t see any trace of Shinji upon scanning the faces in front of him.Even though Tegoshi has only played against him twice, he admits that Shinji is exceptionally good for someone who is not even a member of the National Team.
“Oh, him? He texted me that he’s going to be a bit late,” Uchida informs him.
“Is that so? Weird,” Tegoshi says thoughtfully, “that guy’s seldom late, right?”
“Yes,” Uchida confirms. Then he adds, “Seems like he decided to bring Irish-kun.”
“Irish who?”Tegoshi asked, bewildered.
“Irish-kun’s Shinji’s little sister,” Uchida informed him.
Tegoshi beamed. “By any chance, is she a high school student?” he asks, not even bothering to hide his excitement.
Uchida gave him a sharp tap in his chest, “Oi, oi. Hands off her. If you value your life, keep your distance. Shinji will surely kill for his one and only cute little sister.”
Tegoshi laughs, “Just asking, keep it cool man. So, is she?”
Uchida shakes his head in resignation, “You really have to do something about that fetish of yours. You have a lot of high school fangirls, don’t you?”
Tegoshi looks at Uchida innocently, “I do, what about it?”
“Nothing,” Uchida sighs, “Yeah, Irish-kun is in 3rd year high school, preparing for her college entrance exams. She’s pretty brainy you know. Seems like she’s aiming for TouDai. Not that I have any doubt about her passing the exam.”
“Brainy, huh?”Tegoshi smirks, “I bet she has some kind of hidden peculiarity. All of them brainy people have.”
Uchida looks at him strangely, “You think so?”
Tegoshi claps his hand in front of him and stretches it, “I do. And I’m pretty sure about it.
~~~~
Upon entering the small field in which her brother was about to meet his soccer buddies, Irish couldn’t help but feel giddy. She was finally going to see the love of her life again, after all. The thought of seeing Uchida Atsuto made her heart go wild. It’s been quite a while since she last saw him, much less talk to him. It’s that season, and the National Team has been going overseas to defend the country in the soccer field.
She remembers the first time her heart fell madly in love with Uchida was when she watched him strike a goal during a critical moment.
She was feeling really depressed that time because she failed one of the biggest exam of her life. Her brother, Shinji, not knowing what else to do to cheer her up decided to bring her along to one soccer match held in the country. He thought that it might somehow distract her of her misery. And it did. That time Uchida was not so much of a known player, but seeing how hard he was striving to earn his team its much needed point, he immediately caught her attention. After that she watched him getting interviewed and was struck by what he said.
“I experienced a lot of failure, but I thought nothing would happen if I continue to just sulk in one corner. It would just make me stuck and I’d hate not moving forward.”
He said that with much conviction and from that day on, her heart has been his.
Her brother, Shinji, is the captain of their school’s soccer club at that time, and for the first time she became interested in the said sport so she asked her brother to teach her much to his surprise. She didn’t know that she was in for a surprise when her brother asked her to go with him to a practice match, and saw the very Uchida Atsuto there.
Her brother abruptly stops and she bumped into him, making her snap back into the present.
“Shin-nii, what is it?” she asks, a hint of annoyance sounding in her voice. She flattens her dress and checks her hair for any damage.
“I’ve been wondering about this for a while now, Irish, but…” he pauses and looks at her from head to toe, “what’s with that ridiculous get-up?” he says, one eyebrow arching up.
“Tee hee.” She beams at her brother; “I look feminine enough, don’t I?” she tries out some pose to show off her dress, which is a soft shade of pink with floral prints.
“What are you trying to do, huh?” Shinji asks, irritated.
“What’s wrong with my outfit? Doesn’t it look nice?” she pouts.
“The dress itself looks nice, but why are you wearing that?” Shinji explains, putting emphasis on the word you, “I’m not saying you don’t look pretty on it, but isn’t your wardrobe composed of those black gothic shirts with lots of skulls in them? That’s what you always wear.”
“Well, I could not possibly wear them in front of Atsu, right?” Irish snaps.
“That’s ridiculous.” Shinji shakes his head in disbelief, “You are trying to change the way you dress up for the sake of Atsuto?”
“What else could I do?” she frowns in frustration, “Didn’t Atsu say in an interview that he likes sweet and feminine women? If that’s what he looks for a girl, then I will be feminine for him. Now let’s go inside nii-chan.” She says dismissively and starts walking to the door.
Shinji couldn’t help but sigh in exasperation, and followed her sister inside.
~~~~~
The game has already started when they entered, and some of her brother’s soccer buddies sitting on the bench waiting for their turn to play greeted and praised Irish for her dress. She barely manages to give them a smile when a player in the field caught her full attention.
She almost drooled at the wonderful sight laid out before her eyes to feast upon. Uchida looks gorgeous as always in his soccer jersey with matching sweat that makes her want to run straight to the field to wipe them, and then apply them to her very skin. Every move he makes is so graceful to her eyes.
She was so busy gawking at him that she neglected the shouting she barely hears with her pounding heart. Somehow a nagging voice inside her head told her that they were actually alarming her and she was forced to detach her gaze from Uchida for a while to check what the commotion was all about.
Not even having enough time to react to it, a blur of black and white greeted her and suddenly she felt something hit her hard on the face, making her feel dizzy. The impact of it made her fall flat on the ground. Her eyes followed the thing that hit her and found that it was a soccer ball. She put her finger on her nose and saw a crimson-colored liquid that was no doubt blood. Suddenly the soccer guys surrounded her, her brother on the lead and immediately attended to her side.
He looked worried, but somehow she sees another expression she could not name, being still dizzy from the hit.
“You okay?” he asks with his eyebrows meeting in worry. Then he leans on her ear, “okay sis, you have to calm down,” he says pointedly. “You have to-”
She didn’t let her brother finish and brusquely stands up.
“Who did this to me?” she asks angrily. Her ego was too hurt to have time to listen to his brother’s warning.
The soccer players surrounding her all turned to look at a certain guy. He was rushing to her side, sweat glistening on his forehead. He had blond hair, just like her beloved Toru, but he was way too flashy to be compared to Toru.
“I’m sorry, I-” he was saying.
The guy was stopped by her clenched fist. He fell hard on the ground. She just punched him on the face.
There was collective gasps heard from the people around them but Irish didn’t care. Her brotherjust made a this-is-what-I’m-fearing-of look.
“Back at you!” she yells at him, still fuming.
The guy stares at her, eyes wide and disbelieving. He was holding his left cheek where her fist landed. Irish thinks that he looked familiar, but she didn’t bother to try and remember where she might have seen him.
“Hmpt!” Irish turns her back on him and starts stomping away when the sight of Uchida looking greeted her, making her stop dead on her tracks and bit her lower lip.
She totally forgot about Uchida’s presence in her annoyanceto that stupid blondie.
“Atsu-kun, I-” she starts.
“Hey.”
When Irish heard that familiar voice she felt like all her nerves was boiling in anger. She forcefully faced the guy who called her attention.
He was walking toward her with extreme annoyance written all over his face.It made her flinch and it was all Irish could do to not run away from this fierce predator and hide behind Uchida.
“You’ve got nerve, turning your back on me after hitting my face like that,” the guy snarls, intense gaze landing on her face which made her knees buckle a bit.
Irish tries to speak but no words came out of her lips. She was saved from the humiliation when Uchida stepped in front of her and in between them, blocking her from the guy’s unnerving gaze.
“Keep it cool, Tegoshi. The girl was just carried away by her emotions,” Uchida says.
The guy whom Uchida called Tegoshi tries to rebut but the Uchida raised one arm, signalling him to stop, “Besides,” he adds, “if not for your clumsiness with that sloppy kick, she would not be hurt that led her to hit you.”
That shut him up, but he still threw Irish some dagger looks before turning his back on their party.
Irish lets out a relieved sigh but it was suspended mid-air when Tegoshi, seeming to remember something, once again turned to face her.
“Is... I-” he pauses, as though trying to pluck up the courage to speak up, “What I mean is, are you okay?”
Irish raises one eyebrow at him, “Do I look okay to you? My nose bled, is that your concept of okay?”
“Why you little-” Tegoshi starts to say, but decides otherwise. “Go have a check-up, I’ll take care of the bill,” He turns his back on them and walks away without saying another word.
Irish’s eyes followed his retreating back.
“Let’s go,” Shinji puts his arm around Irish’s shoulder and led her.
“Um, wait, Shin-nii…” she hesitates for a while, then turns to Uchida. “Atsu-kun, it’s good to see you again. And… thank you.” She gave him a small smile.
~~~~~
Irish and Shinji both bowed at the doctor who did her check-up.
“Thank you very much,” Shinji says, closely followed by Irish.
They turned to the door and exits.
“Good thing it wasn’t anything serious,” Shinji utters, obviously relieved.
“But still, why didn’t we charge the hospital bills to that annoying guy?” Irish interjects, irritated. “If not for him, I would have spent more time with Atsu,” she pouts.
“Oh, stop whining,” he says, messing her hair up.
“Who is that guy anyway? Why is he even playing with Atsu?” Irish wonders, “Did you see how clumsy he was? He might injure Atsu, he couldn’t even properly kick a ball.”
Shinji was about to reply when a voice took over.
“Sorry for not being able to properly kick a ball.”
The two siblings turned to look at the speaker, and Irish lets out a barely audible gasp.
“You,” her eyes narrowed, “what are you doing here?”
To her surprise, the guy just shrugged nonchalantly.
“Same as you,” he says.
That was when Irish noticed the piece of gauze pad on his left cheek, in the spot where her fist mercilessly landed.
She smirks. “Heh, too scared to even get a scratch huh? Why even play soccer if you’re afraid of a tiny gash?”
He flashes her an irritated look. “So you really don’t know who I am?”
“Yeah, I don’t.” she said flatly.
“Well, for your information,” he says pointedly, “I’m NEWS’ TegoshiYuya.”
Irish pauses for a while which made Tegoshi grin triumphantly. After all, it’s not likely that there exists anyone who doesn’t know him. In Japan, at least.
“What NEWS?” Irish asks.
Tegoshi looks at her like she just came out of his toilet bowl. “What? You mean- you don’t know NEWS?”
“It sounds familiar, but anyway I don’t care so why would I even bother?” she shrugs.
Tegoshi was seriously getting pissed at her.
“Shin-nii, let’s go home now. The sight of this guy makes my nose hurt.” Irish turns to her brother who has been watching them with a strange glint in his eyes.
“What?” Irish asks, eyes narrowing yet again.
Shinji immediately puts on a poker face, “Nothing, sis. Come on, let’s go,” he turns to Tegoshi to bid him goodbye, but he was already stomping away, obviously very irritated. He smiles mischievously. “I think you just challenged an idol, my dear sister.”
“Idol who?” Irish says, raising an eyebrow. “I’m hungry, Shin-nii. Let’s go grab something at the konbini on the way home.”
~~~~~
Weeks after that incident between Irish and Tegoshi, Irish overheard her brother talking to the phone which she reckons was one of his soccer buddies. Sensing that another opportunity to see Uchida is just a few puppy eyes away with her brother, she started baking cookies for the players, with special touch on Uchida’s share. Since baking is not really her forte, she successfully baked edible and appetizing looking cookies after several burnt and inedible batches. She wrapped them in a beautiful pink wrapper (the color she hates the most- she prefers black, or red, anything but pink), and tied a cute ribbon to complete the package. Of course, Uchida’s cookie was in a separate pack, and she put more effort in it.
“Yosh,” Irish grins triumphantly, “you are so gonna fall for me, Atsu-kun.”
She was happily humming when her brother called her to say that it’s time for them to go.
~~~~~
At the stadium, Irish sits giddily while waiting for the players’ break. To her utmost annoyance, the blondie was there again to ruin her day. Not letting the bad vibes get to her, she deliberately forgets about his presence-rather, she tried to forget about his existence on the field. When her most awaited break time comes, she hastily stands and offered them some of her cookies. When the pack for the player was emptied, (with only Uchida left to eat) she shyly opens the separate package containing his share. Uchida was about to get the last piece when a hand suddenly grabbed the cookie from the pack. It was Tegoshi.
“Itadakimasu~” Tegoshi immediately threw the cookie into his mouth and starts to munch on it.
Irish was too taken aback to even form words. She looks at Tegoshi as though he is a tiny insect she would very much want to crush under her foot.
“Bleah,” Tegoshi chokes, “what is this? Are cookies supposed to be this salty?”
He then looks at Irish, and a puzzled look formed on his face upon seeing her enraged expression, “What?” he asks innocently, eyes slightly widening in wonder.
Irish throws Tegoshi dagger looks, as though that can erase his existence in the universe. “That. wasn’t. for. you.” Irish starts to say, emphasizing each and every word.
Uchida, somehow picking up the tension in the atmosphere, puts his arm around Irish, making her blush. “Maa, maa Irish-kun. Forget about that cookie.”
“B-but-” she stammers, but was stopped by Uchida’s seductive smile. “I’m thirsty, and my tumbler’s already empty. Would you come with me to the vendo machine?”
“O-okay…” she says shyly, lowering her gaze to hide the smile that’s betraying her demure image.
“Yosh, let’s go,” Uchida invites.
~~~~~
Tegoshi’s eyes followed Irish and Uchida’s retreating backs and feels irritated.
Did she just ignore me?
He thought. Then he turns to Kyo, one of his soccer buddies. “Hey, Kyo. Are those two seeing each other?” he asks, pointing them with his lips.
“Eh?” Kyo startles, “Why do you ask?”
“Oh, nothing,” Tegoshi replies evasively, “Just… just wondering. Takishima seems to be so-” he pauses, searching for the appropriate term, “fond of Atsuto, and vice versa.”
Kyo studies him, which leaves him feeling uneasy. Finally, he says, “They’re not going out. Everyone here is fully aware that Shinji’s sister likes Atsu, but it seems that Atsu just sees her as a little sister, nothing more.”
“Oh, I see,” Tegoshi says, exhaling. He didn’t notice that he was holding his breath while waiting for Kyo’s answer, and now he feels a prickle of pain in his lungs. He sighs again.
Wait, why did I feel relieved to know they’re not going out?
He wonders. He reckons that is just because he’s annoyed with Irish, and he wouldn’t be able to handle it if his friend started going out with her. He shakes his head as though his actions could erase what is on his mind and then proceeded to playing soccer.
~~~~
Irish was happily looking at the soccer merchandise displayed at a store in Shibuya when suddenly a pair of hands covers her eyes. She smiles.
“Atsu-kun~!” she removes the hands from her eyes and turns.
Her smile dissolves when Tegoshi’s scowling face greets her.
“You? What are you doing here?” she asks, knitting her eyebrows.
“Nice to see you, too,” Tegoshi replies sarcastically. “So, is that the only way you greet someone you know?”
Irish turns her back on him, “I don’t know you,”
“How many times do I have to tell you that-”
What he is about to say was abruptly halted by a shriek coming from a girl.
“You’re TegoshiYuya from NEWS, right?” the girl says excitedly.
“Uh, y-yeah, I am…” Tegoshi stammers, still taken by surprise.
“I’m a huge fan! Please shake my hand!” the girl bows and shuts her eyes a bit too hard, in Tegoshi’s opinion.
“Oh, sure,” he gives the girl a very sweet smile, then sneaked a glance at Irish. His smile was wiped away and turned into a scowl when he saw that Irish was once again occupied by soccer merchandises.
“I always watch you on ItteQ, and I also listen to TegoMass no radio,” the girl exclaims, snapping Tegoshi’s attention back to her. He immediately plastered a smile on his face.
“Thank you very much. Please keep on supporting both NEWS and TegoMass,” he says, shaking the girl’s hand.
“Kyaa!”
The girl screams and walks away thanking him, and he smiled and waved back. He then turns to Irish.
“Hey,” he calls.
Irish deliberately ignores Tegoshi, and continues her flailing over the merchandise. She yelps when she saw a soccer guide with the Japan National Team on the cover. She grabs it and shows it to Tegoshi.
“Look, look,” she starts, shoving it right at his face, “doesn’t Atsu look so gorgeous here? I mean he’s always gorgeous, but I have to give credits to the photographer for this soccer guide,” she blabs away, not noticing Tegoshi’s scowl.
Tegoshi grabs the magazine and flips a few pages. “See this?” he says, showing a specific page from the said guide, his very own corner, ‘I will become the Soccer King.’
Irish stares at the page blankly, “That guy looks familiar,” was her only statement.
Tegoshi couldn’t help but look at her incredulously. He really couldn’t believe this woman.
“It’s me. ME.” He says sharply, pointing at his picture and his chest alternately, all the while making the magazine shake.
“Ah, I see,” she replies indifferently.
Tegoshi lets out a frustrated sigh. “You know, I-”
“You were on TV,” Irish suddenly says with eyes shining, making Tegoshi halt.
Finally. He thought.
“I watched Soccer earth once, because Shin-nii told me that Atsu would be a guest there,” Irish informs him.
“Really? So you were able to watch me?” Tegoshi says, getting all thrilled.
“Yeah, maybe that’s why you looked familiar,”
Tegoshi grins triumphantly. “And then?”
“That’s it. I didn’t bother to take notice of you because I was mainly focused on Atsu,” Irish shrugs.
“What? So you mean, I didn’t even strike as someone appealing to you?” Tegoshi exclaims a little too loudly, making the other customers of the store take curious glances at then. Embarrassed, he bowed to them and lowered his voice, but the edge was still there. “Is that it?”
Irish looks at him as though he’s losing it. “Yeah, so?”
Tegoshi sighs in frustration, “Never mind,” he gives Irish the magazine, turns his back on her and stalked off without saying another word.
Irish follows his retreating back, a puzzled look on her face. “What’s with him?” she shrugs and looks at his picture in the magazine and talks to it, “You should not aim to be the soccer king anymore, dork. You are already the walk out king, so why bother?”
Title: SPOILED MEETS BRAT
Characters: Tegoshi Yuya, Takishima Irish (OC), Atsuto Uchida, NEWS members and mentions of Toru (OOR), Takishima Shinji (OC)
Rating: G
Length: One-shot
Word Count: Approx. 7,500
Summary: Tegoshi has always been so sure of himself. He gets and does whatever pleases him. He’s the ultimate spoiled brat. However, when Irish entered his life, he started getting frustrated…
A/N: This story is a bit cliché, an idol falling for a girl who doesn’t know him. But I did my best to put some twist on it and… well, enjoy! J
P.S. I don’t know why, but upon coming up with the idea for the plot, Ate Jin (or Irish, Idol or whatever) came into my mind. So I decided to make her the heroine of this story~
Tegoshi’s cellphone suddenly rings, making him startle. He hastily scoops it from his jeans’ pocket and didn’t even bother to check the caller ID before pressing the answer button and putting it on his ear.
“It’s me.” He says, tilting his head a bit to the left just like what Massu does when his fringe get in the way. He reckons another visit to the salon would be a good idea.
“Ah, Tegoshi? Are you free today?” The voice from the other line inquires.
“Oh, it’s you! Yeah, great timing. I’m taking some time off from work today.” He grins. Finally, something to keep his boredom at bay.
“Where to?” He pauses for a while to listen to the other party’s instruction, then nods. “Okay, I’ll be there. See you.” He presses the end call button and started preparing while humming NEWS’ song, ‘Sakura Girl’.
~~~~
Opening the refrigerator door to get her daily dose of milk, Irish notices her big brother Shinji getting all busy. She swigs some of the milk before asking her brother.
“Nee, Shin-nii. Going somewhere?”
“Oh, Irish. You’re up early.” Her brother replies a little distractedly, “Weren’t you awake until late last night flailing over that rock band’s latest promotional video?”
“It’s One OK Rock. Mou~ when will you ever remember their name?” Irish complains, pouting her lips a little.
But Shinji just waves his hands in dismissal, “Whatever, I don’t have time to memorize every name I encounter,” He then continued with rummaging his things-or is he actually trying to arrange them? Irish couldn’t tell. For her arranging and messing up one’s stuff looked the same.
Irish shakes her head and gulps some more milk. She really can’t believe how bad his brother at remembering names. She remembers how it took her brother about 10 meetings with her friends before their names finally registered to his picky system. She felt bad about that especially since one of her friends actually likes her dope of a brother.
“So, getting back to the topic, you seem to be going somewhere?” she asks.
“Nothing. Just going out with some soccer friends to kick some ball,” her brother says.
Her eyes lit up upon hearing her brother’s reply. “Really? Can I go with you?”
Shinji suddenly stops and looks at her suspiciously. “Why is that?”
“Well,” Irish clears her throat and tries to keep a straight face, “I’m a little bored here.”
“No,” Her brother said flatly.
“Whaaaaaaaat?” she exclaims, incredulous and feeling herself break into million tiny pieces. “But, Shin-nii--” she tries to protest, but was immediately cut by her brother.
“You just want to see Atsuto right? It’s not like you’re going to do anything useful in particular.”
Irish’s shoulders slumped. She was busted. But then her face lit up upon getting an idea.
“I could be your assistant,” she beams at her brother in a manner she knows he could not possibly resist. She was, after all, his one and only cute little sister. She almost gagged at the thought of being called cute.
“What?” Shinji frowns.
“You know, I could carry your stuff. Since you always bring too much stuff,” being a certified OC and all, she wanted to add, but decides to keep her mouth shut. She puts an emphasis on the word ‘always’ instead. Once again she flashed her brother her cheeky smile, with matching puppy eyes now, “Pretty please?”
Her brother sighs in resignation. “You really like him, don’t you?”
Irish felt herself blush, but answered her brother with her head held high, “I do.”
“Okay fine. But don’t do anything silly, I forgot his name but I think Atsu mentioned that his popular friend’s coming with us-”
Irish didn’t even let her brother finish. Smiling and jumping triumphantly, she dashes to her room to get changed.
Shinji sighs once again. He leans down to continue packing his things when Irish’s head suddenly appears on the door.
“Shin-nii?” she calls.
He looks up with raised eyebrows, “What, now?”
Irish gave him a toothy grin, “Thank you.”
Shinji was taken aback and managed just a nod.
His little sister’s head disappears from the door and he could hear her humming while going upstairs. A small smile formed in his lips as continued with his packing.
~~~~
“It’s been awhile!” Tegoshi greets his soccer friends cheerily upon entering the small stadium. He is feeling heated up and has been itching to play soccer for a while now. In fact, he’s already warmed up and is wearing his Tegoshi 10 JNT uniform.
“Tegoshi! You’re finally here,” one of his friends greeted him, giving him a high five. He returns it and they hugged each other, the guys’ way.
“Yeah, and I’m in perfect condition to kick some freaking ball,” Tegoshi says, grinning wide.
He felt a small tap on his left shoulder and turns to look at who called his attention. He was greeted by Uchida’s dashing smile.
“Atsu! It’s been a while!” he properly faces him and shakes his hand, gripping it tight.
“Yo, Tegoshi. Thought you’ve already been eaten by one of your kittens. Haven’t seen you around lately,” Uchida replies jokingly.
Tegoshi laughs heartily, “Of course not! My kittens are very well tamed.”
“Is that so? Then I’m glad,” Uchida smiles.
“So where’s Shinji?” Tegoshi asks for he didn’t see any trace of Shinji upon scanning the faces in front of him.Even though Tegoshi has only played against him twice, he admits that Shinji is exceptionally good for someone who is not even a member of the National Team.
“Oh, him? He texted me that he’s going to be a bit late,” Uchida informs him.
“Is that so? Weird,” Tegoshi says thoughtfully, “that guy’s seldom late, right?”
“Yes,” Uchida confirms. Then he adds, “Seems like he decided to bring Irish-kun.”
“Irish who?”Tegoshi asked, bewildered.
“Irish-kun’s Shinji’s little sister,” Uchida informed him.
Tegoshi beamed. “By any chance, is she a high school student?” he asks, not even bothering to hide his excitement.
Uchida gave him a sharp tap in his chest, “Oi, oi. Hands off her. If you value your life, keep your distance. Shinji will surely kill for his one and only cute little sister.”
Tegoshi laughs, “Just asking, keep it cool man. So, is she?”
Uchida shakes his head in resignation, “You really have to do something about that fetish of yours. You have a lot of high school fangirls, don’t you?”
Tegoshi looks at Uchida innocently, “I do, what about it?”
“Nothing,” Uchida sighs, “Yeah, Irish-kun is in 3rd year high school, preparing for her college entrance exams. She’s pretty brainy you know. Seems like she’s aiming for TouDai. Not that I have any doubt about her passing the exam.”
“Brainy, huh?”Tegoshi smirks, “I bet she has some kind of hidden peculiarity. All of them brainy people have.”
Uchida looks at him strangely, “You think so?”
Tegoshi claps his hand in front of him and stretches it, “I do. And I’m pretty sure about it.
~~~~
Upon entering the small field in which her brother was about to meet his soccer buddies, Irish couldn’t help but feel giddy. She was finally going to see the love of her life again, after all. The thought of seeing Uchida Atsuto made her heart go wild. It’s been quite a while since she last saw him, much less talk to him. It’s that season, and the National Team has been going overseas to defend the country in the soccer field.
She remembers the first time her heart fell madly in love with Uchida was when she watched him strike a goal during a critical moment.
She was feeling really depressed that time because she failed one of the biggest exam of her life. Her brother, Shinji, not knowing what else to do to cheer her up decided to bring her along to one soccer match held in the country. He thought that it might somehow distract her of her misery. And it did. That time Uchida was not so much of a known player, but seeing how hard he was striving to earn his team its much needed point, he immediately caught her attention. After that she watched him getting interviewed and was struck by what he said.
“I experienced a lot of failure, but I thought nothing would happen if I continue to just sulk in one corner. It would just make me stuck and I’d hate not moving forward.”
He said that with much conviction and from that day on, her heart has been his.
Her brother, Shinji, is the captain of their school’s soccer club at that time, and for the first time she became interested in the said sport so she asked her brother to teach her much to his surprise. She didn’t know that she was in for a surprise when her brother asked her to go with him to a practice match, and saw the very Uchida Atsuto there.
Her brother abruptly stops and she bumped into him, making her snap back into the present.
“Shin-nii, what is it?” she asks, a hint of annoyance sounding in her voice. She flattens her dress and checks her hair for any damage.
“I’ve been wondering about this for a while now, Irish, but…” he pauses and looks at her from head to toe, “what’s with that ridiculous get-up?” he says, one eyebrow arching up.
“Tee hee.” She beams at her brother; “I look feminine enough, don’t I?” she tries out some pose to show off her dress, which is a soft shade of pink with floral prints.
“What are you trying to do, huh?” Shinji asks, irritated.
“What’s wrong with my outfit? Doesn’t it look nice?” she pouts.
“The dress itself looks nice, but why are you wearing that?” Shinji explains, putting emphasis on the word you, “I’m not saying you don’t look pretty on it, but isn’t your wardrobe composed of those black gothic shirts with lots of skulls in them? That’s what you always wear.”
“Well, I could not possibly wear them in front of Atsu, right?” Irish snaps.
“That’s ridiculous.” Shinji shakes his head in disbelief, “You are trying to change the way you dress up for the sake of Atsuto?”
“What else could I do?” she frowns in frustration, “Didn’t Atsu say in an interview that he likes sweet and feminine women? If that’s what he looks for a girl, then I will be feminine for him. Now let’s go inside nii-chan.” She says dismissively and starts walking to the door.
Shinji couldn’t help but sigh in exasperation, and followed her sister inside.
~~~~~
The game has already started when they entered, and some of her brother’s soccer buddies sitting on the bench waiting for their turn to play greeted and praised Irish for her dress. She barely manages to give them a smile when a player in the field caught her full attention.
She almost drooled at the wonderful sight laid out before her eyes to feast upon. Uchida looks gorgeous as always in his soccer jersey with matching sweat that makes her want to run straight to the field to wipe them, and then apply them to her very skin. Every move he makes is so graceful to her eyes.
She was so busy gawking at him that she neglected the shouting she barely hears with her pounding heart. Somehow a nagging voice inside her head told her that they were actually alarming her and she was forced to detach her gaze from Uchida for a while to check what the commotion was all about.
Not even having enough time to react to it, a blur of black and white greeted her and suddenly she felt something hit her hard on the face, making her feel dizzy. The impact of it made her fall flat on the ground. Her eyes followed the thing that hit her and found that it was a soccer ball. She put her finger on her nose and saw a crimson-colored liquid that was no doubt blood. Suddenly the soccer guys surrounded her, her brother on the lead and immediately attended to her side.
He looked worried, but somehow she sees another expression she could not name, being still dizzy from the hit.
“You okay?” he asks with his eyebrows meeting in worry. Then he leans on her ear, “okay sis, you have to calm down,” he says pointedly. “You have to-”
She didn’t let her brother finish and brusquely stands up.
“Who did this to me?” she asks angrily. Her ego was too hurt to have time to listen to his brother’s warning.
The soccer players surrounding her all turned to look at a certain guy. He was rushing to her side, sweat glistening on his forehead. He had blond hair, just like her beloved Toru, but he was way too flashy to be compared to Toru.
“I’m sorry, I-” he was saying.
The guy was stopped by her clenched fist. He fell hard on the ground. She just punched him on the face.
There was collective gasps heard from the people around them but Irish didn’t care. Her brotherjust made a this-is-what-I’m-fearing-of look.
“Back at you!” she yells at him, still fuming.
The guy stares at her, eyes wide and disbelieving. He was holding his left cheek where her fist landed. Irish thinks that he looked familiar, but she didn’t bother to try and remember where she might have seen him.
“Hmpt!” Irish turns her back on him and starts stomping away when the sight of Uchida looking greeted her, making her stop dead on her tracks and bit her lower lip.
She totally forgot about Uchida’s presence in her annoyanceto that stupid blondie.
“Atsu-kun, I-” she starts.
“Hey.”
When Irish heard that familiar voice she felt like all her nerves was boiling in anger. She forcefully faced the guy who called her attention.
He was walking toward her with extreme annoyance written all over his face.It made her flinch and it was all Irish could do to not run away from this fierce predator and hide behind Uchida.
“You’ve got nerve, turning your back on me after hitting my face like that,” the guy snarls, intense gaze landing on her face which made her knees buckle a bit.
Irish tries to speak but no words came out of her lips. She was saved from the humiliation when Uchida stepped in front of her and in between them, blocking her from the guy’s unnerving gaze.
“Keep it cool, Tegoshi. The girl was just carried away by her emotions,” Uchida says.
The guy whom Uchida called Tegoshi tries to rebut but the Uchida raised one arm, signalling him to stop, “Besides,” he adds, “if not for your clumsiness with that sloppy kick, she would not be hurt that led her to hit you.”
That shut him up, but he still threw Irish some dagger looks before turning his back on their party.
Irish lets out a relieved sigh but it was suspended mid-air when Tegoshi, seeming to remember something, once again turned to face her.
“Is... I-” he pauses, as though trying to pluck up the courage to speak up, “What I mean is, are you okay?”
Irish raises one eyebrow at him, “Do I look okay to you? My nose bled, is that your concept of okay?”
“Why you little-” Tegoshi starts to say, but decides otherwise. “Go have a check-up, I’ll take care of the bill,” He turns his back on them and walks away without saying another word.
Irish’s eyes followed his retreating back.
“Let’s go,” Shinji puts his arm around Irish’s shoulder and led her.
“Um, wait, Shin-nii…” she hesitates for a while, then turns to Uchida. “Atsu-kun, it’s good to see you again. And… thank you.” She gave him a small smile.
~~~~~
Irish and Shinji both bowed at the doctor who did her check-up.
“Thank you very much,” Shinji says, closely followed by Irish.
They turned to the door and exits.
“Good thing it wasn’t anything serious,” Shinji utters, obviously relieved.
“But still, why didn’t we charge the hospital bills to that annoying guy?” Irish interjects, irritated. “If not for him, I would have spent more time with Atsu,” she pouts.
“Oh, stop whining,” he says, messing her hair up.
“Who is that guy anyway? Why is he even playing with Atsu?” Irish wonders, “Did you see how clumsy he was? He might injure Atsu, he couldn’t even properly kick a ball.”
Shinji was about to reply when a voice took over.
“Sorry for not being able to properly kick a ball.”
The two siblings turned to look at the speaker, and Irish lets out a barely audible gasp.
“You,” her eyes narrowed, “what are you doing here?”
To her surprise, the guy just shrugged nonchalantly.
“Same as you,” he says.
That was when Irish noticed the piece of gauze pad on his left cheek, in the spot where her fist mercilessly landed.
She smirks. “Heh, too scared to even get a scratch huh? Why even play soccer if you’re afraid of a tiny gash?”
He flashes her an irritated look. “So you really don’t know who I am?”
“Yeah, I don’t.” she said flatly.
“Well, for your information,” he says pointedly, “I’m NEWS’ TegoshiYuya.”
Irish pauses for a while which made Tegoshi grin triumphantly. After all, it’s not likely that there exists anyone who doesn’t know him. In Japan, at least.
“What NEWS?” Irish asks.
Tegoshi looks at her like she just came out of his toilet bowl. “What? You mean- you don’t know NEWS?”
“It sounds familiar, but anyway I don’t care so why would I even bother?” she shrugs.
Tegoshi was seriously getting pissed at her.
“Shin-nii, let’s go home now. The sight of this guy makes my nose hurt.” Irish turns to her brother who has been watching them with a strange glint in his eyes.
“What?” Irish asks, eyes narrowing yet again.
Shinji immediately puts on a poker face, “Nothing, sis. Come on, let’s go,” he turns to Tegoshi to bid him goodbye, but he was already stomping away, obviously very irritated. He smiles mischievously. “I think you just challenged an idol, my dear sister.”
“Idol who?” Irish says, raising an eyebrow. “I’m hungry, Shin-nii. Let’s go grab something at the konbini on the way home.”
~~~~~
Weeks after that incident between Irish and Tegoshi, Irish overheard her brother talking to the phone which she reckons was one of his soccer buddies. Sensing that another opportunity to see Uchida is just a few puppy eyes away with her brother, she started baking cookies for the players, with special touch on Uchida’s share. Since baking is not really her forte, she successfully baked edible and appetizing looking cookies after several burnt and inedible batches. She wrapped them in a beautiful pink wrapper (the color she hates the most- she prefers black, or red, anything but pink), and tied a cute ribbon to complete the package. Of course, Uchida’s cookie was in a separate pack, and she put more effort in it.
“Yosh,” Irish grins triumphantly, “you are so gonna fall for me, Atsu-kun.”
She was happily humming when her brother called her to say that it’s time for them to go.
~~~~~
At the stadium, Irish sits giddily while waiting for the players’ break. To her utmost annoyance, the blondie was there again to ruin her day. Not letting the bad vibes get to her, she deliberately forgets about his presence-rather, she tried to forget about his existence on the field. When her most awaited break time comes, she hastily stands and offered them some of her cookies. When the pack for the player was emptied, (with only Uchida left to eat) she shyly opens the separate package containing his share. Uchida was about to get the last piece when a hand suddenly grabbed the cookie from the pack. It was Tegoshi.
“Itadakimasu~” Tegoshi immediately threw the cookie into his mouth and starts to munch on it.
Irish was too taken aback to even form words. She looks at Tegoshi as though he is a tiny insect she would very much want to crush under her foot.
“Bleah,” Tegoshi chokes, “what is this? Are cookies supposed to be this salty?”
He then looks at Irish, and a puzzled look formed on his face upon seeing her enraged expression, “What?” he asks innocently, eyes slightly widening in wonder.
Irish throws Tegoshi dagger looks, as though that can erase his existence in the universe. “That. wasn’t. for. you.” Irish starts to say, emphasizing each and every word.
Uchida, somehow picking up the tension in the atmosphere, puts his arm around Irish, making her blush. “Maa, maa Irish-kun. Forget about that cookie.”
“B-but-” she stammers, but was stopped by Uchida’s seductive smile. “I’m thirsty, and my tumbler’s already empty. Would you come with me to the vendo machine?”
“O-okay…” she says shyly, lowering her gaze to hide the smile that’s betraying her demure image.
“Yosh, let’s go,” Uchida invites.
~~~~~
Tegoshi’s eyes followed Irish and Uchida’s retreating backs and feels irritated.
Did she just ignore me?
He thought. Then he turns to Kyo, one of his soccer buddies. “Hey, Kyo. Are those two seeing each other?” he asks, pointing them with his lips.
“Eh?” Kyo startles, “Why do you ask?”
“Oh, nothing,” Tegoshi replies evasively, “Just… just wondering. Takishima seems to be so-” he pauses, searching for the appropriate term, “fond of Atsuto, and vice versa.”
Kyo studies him, which leaves him feeling uneasy. Finally, he says, “They’re not going out. Everyone here is fully aware that Shinji’s sister likes Atsu, but it seems that Atsu just sees her as a little sister, nothing more.”
“Oh, I see,” Tegoshi says, exhaling. He didn’t notice that he was holding his breath while waiting for Kyo’s answer, and now he feels a prickle of pain in his lungs. He sighs again.
Wait, why did I feel relieved to know they’re not going out?
He wonders. He reckons that is just because he’s annoyed with Irish, and he wouldn’t be able to handle it if his friend started going out with her. He shakes his head as though his actions could erase what is on his mind and then proceeded to playing soccer.
~~~~
Irish was happily looking at the soccer merchandise displayed at a store in Shibuya when suddenly a pair of hands covers her eyes. She smiles.
“Atsu-kun~!” she removes the hands from her eyes and turns.
Her smile dissolves when Tegoshi’s scowling face greets her.
“You? What are you doing here?” she asks, knitting her eyebrows.
“Nice to see you, too,” Tegoshi replies sarcastically. “So, is that the only way you greet someone you know?”
Irish turns her back on him, “I don’t know you,”
“How many times do I have to tell you that-”
What he is about to say was abruptly halted by a shriek coming from a girl.
“You’re TegoshiYuya from NEWS, right?” the girl says excitedly.
“Uh, y-yeah, I am…” Tegoshi stammers, still taken by surprise.
“I’m a huge fan! Please shake my hand!” the girl bows and shuts her eyes a bit too hard, in Tegoshi’s opinion.
“Oh, sure,” he gives the girl a very sweet smile, then sneaked a glance at Irish. His smile was wiped away and turned into a scowl when he saw that Irish was once again occupied by soccer merchandises.
“I always watch you on ItteQ, and I also listen to TegoMass no radio,” the girl exclaims, snapping Tegoshi’s attention back to her. He immediately plastered a smile on his face.
“Thank you very much. Please keep on supporting both NEWS and TegoMass,” he says, shaking the girl’s hand.
“Kyaa!”
The girl screams and walks away thanking him, and he smiled and waved back. He then turns to Irish.
“Hey,” he calls.
Irish deliberately ignores Tegoshi, and continues her flailing over the merchandise. She yelps when she saw a soccer guide with the Japan National Team on the cover. She grabs it and shows it to Tegoshi.
“Look, look,” she starts, shoving it right at his face, “doesn’t Atsu look so gorgeous here? I mean he’s always gorgeous, but I have to give credits to the photographer for this soccer guide,” she blabs away, not noticing Tegoshi’s scowl.
Tegoshi grabs the magazine and flips a few pages. “See this?” he says, showing a specific page from the said guide, his very own corner, ‘I will become the Soccer King.’
Irish stares at the page blankly, “That guy looks familiar,” was her only statement.
Tegoshi couldn’t help but look at her incredulously. He really couldn’t believe this woman.
“It’s me. ME.” He says sharply, pointing at his picture and his chest alternately, all the while making the magazine shake.
“Ah, I see,” she replies indifferently.
Tegoshi lets out a frustrated sigh. “You know, I-”
“You were on TV,” Irish suddenly says with eyes shining, making Tegoshi halt.
Finally. He thought.
“I watched Soccer earth once, because Shin-nii told me that Atsu would be a guest there,” Irish informs him.
“Really? So you were able to watch me?” Tegoshi says, getting all thrilled.
“Yeah, maybe that’s why you looked familiar,”
Tegoshi grins triumphantly. “And then?”
“That’s it. I didn’t bother to take notice of you because I was mainly focused on Atsu,” Irish shrugs.
“What? So you mean, I didn’t even strike as someone appealing to you?” Tegoshi exclaims a little too loudly, making the other customers of the store take curious glances at then. Embarrassed, he bowed to them and lowered his voice, but the edge was still there. “Is that it?”
Irish looks at him as though he’s losing it. “Yeah, so?”
Tegoshi sighs in frustration, “Never mind,” he gives Irish the magazine, turns his back on her and stalked off without saying another word.
Irish follows his retreating back, a puzzled look on her face. “What’s with him?” she shrugs and looks at his picture in the magazine and talks to it, “You should not aim to be the soccer king anymore, dork. You are already the walk out king, so why bother?”