[Drabble Series] When Fandoms Collide (Part 6)
Procrastinating! |D Because I spent a whole day studying and yeah, I need a break!!
Title: 涙売りの少女 / The girl who sold her tears
Author: shiroikazex
Pairing: Yabu Kota/Maeda Atsuko, Yabu Kota/Takahashi Minami
Genre: Angst, fluff
Rating: PG
Note: The flashback is set a few years before the rest of my drabbles, when Atsuko was in middle school. Inspiration taken from AKB48's Namida Uri no Shoujo. Lyrics here.
The atmosphere freezes over almost entirely the moment Atsuko's eye meet with that of the tall male seated beside Minami.
"So um," Minami is a bundle of nerves, though oblivious . "T-This is um--"
"Yabu Kota, nice to meet you," he says quickly, sensing that Atsuko has recognized him.
"N-Nice to meet you."
Nostalgia overwhelms her. Minami's boyfriend is no longer wearing the flannel shirt that he was. In Atsuko's mind, the blurry image of a carefree yet caring high school boy appears.
"So," the half-drunk salaryman approached her where she stood against the wall of the underpass. "How much for you?"
Her brain stopped short, and for a moment she was scared--truly scared. But she had decided on this, hadn't she? There was no backing out now.
"U-Um, well, I--"
"Hmm, how old are you?"
"16," she lied, as if an older age would have made her feel any better about what she was about to do. She wanted to run. He disgusted her with his alcoholic breath and the way he was looking at her, looking through her school uniform.
"How's 8000yen sound?"
She paused, not knowing if this was a high price or a low one.
"Um..."
"First-timer, huh," he laughed and played with a lock of her hair. "10000 yen then."
She thought of her oppressive family, her ever-towering pile of work, her packed schedule filled with classes after classes, her overachieving siblings and the "friends" she had made in school. Everything could go to hell. Along with her. But everything would, and that would feel so damned good.
"Ok--"
"Wait!"
She turned to her left, down the end of the underpass, and there stood a tall boy, perhaps just a couple of years older than she was, in a stylishly messed up uniform with his bag slung over one shoulder. The salaryman dropped his hand and stepped back.
"Who are you, brat?" He called out to the high schooler. The boy came forward, unafraid, with a gangster's swagger.
"Not anyone you would old, dirty old man. Don't mess with my girl--" he swung an arm uceremoniously around her shoulders. "You'll regret it."
The salaryman snorted and turned on his heel. She was yanked by the arm all the way out of the underpass and led to a playground nearby, before the boy let go of her arm and turned on her.
She found her voice, finally, having been paralyzed for the past few moments.
"I-I'll scream if you do anything."
The boy barked out a laugh.
"And you wouldn't have if he did anything--ah yes, because he had money, right?"
"That's not true--"
"Then what is?" He sat himself down on the swing, still with his air of nonchalance. "I don't get why pretty girls like you would do this sort of shit. Put yourselves down to that level."
"You don't understand."
"Look," his tone became gentle, and he fixed her with a serious look. "If you need money, this isn't the way. You're better than this. And there's a lot more in life for you."
She felt tears welling up in her eyes, but she blinked them back. She wasn't going to cry in front of some boy she just met, no, not even if he had a point and just sent her on a guilt trip to hell.
"So, what's your reason?"
"It's none of your business," she snapped, and a tear accidentally made its way down her cheek. It caught a ray of light from the lamp post, and he was up on his feet in a second, swiping the droplet off her cheek with a quick flick of his thumb.
Her heart fluttered.
"Fine, so be it," he shrugged. "Just remember what I said. Those things are beneath you. You're a cute girl, probably talented too, just believe that you can do more things in life. I believe that."
"W-Why are you telling me all this? We don't even know each other."
He smiled, a charming one that warmed the depths of her heart.
"I have my reasons, I guess. Don't let me catch you doing that again."
He flicked her gently on the forehead and walked out of the playground, out of sight.
She never saw him again.
They chat like there is nothing between them, like there never was. Minami excuses herself to the toilet for a while, and suddenly, Atsuko runs out of things to say. She lowers her eyes as he fixes her with the same serious expression he did, way back.
"I'm glad that you're fine now, really."
"Thanks..."
"Well, at least now I finally know your name."
She smiles at the comment. Warm memories, perhaps the warmest of her empty teenage fills her up.
"Same here, you left before I could ask. I always wanted to say thank you. For everything. For changing me into who I am now."
"Would that be a change for better or a change for worse?" he smirks lopsidedly, and she laughs.
"For the better, I am sure. Otherwise who knows where I would be now. Still selling whatever was left of me, perhaps."
He smiles, just as Minami returns, and they go back to being acquaintances that have just met.
Title: Candy
Author: shiroikazex
Pairing: Takaki Yuya/Masuda Yuka
Genre: Romance, fluff
Rating: G
Notes: Set a few years before my other drabbles, when Yuka and Takaki were in middle school. Based loosely off AKB48 Team B's Candy. English subbed video here.
Summer nights in Osaka, too warm to be spent indoors. She prefers to spend it on the roof of her house, with her iPod and nothing else. Tonight is the same. She appreciates the cloudless skies while music fills her ears.
An entire bag of candies lands beside her, and she looks up in surprise. She sees him scaling up the ladder that she has propped up against the side of the house, and she unplugs her earphones from her ears, regaining her sense of hearing.
"'Sup," he asks casually as he seats himself beside her.
"Nothing."
"When girls say that it's hardly ever true, you know," he chuckles and takes one of her hands in his own, entwining their fingers. "It's about the singing competition, isn't it?"
"Damn it, Yuya, why can you always guess?"
"I wouldn't be your boyfriend otherwise."
She smiles and leans against his shoulder.
"So? Jealous that the other girl won?"
"Yeah," she sighs. "I don't know. I keep thinking that someday someone would notice me but maybe, maybe I'm just not cut out for it."
"You're gonna let one stupid competition decide that?"
"No, but it's kinda discouraging."
"You'll be fine," he then proceeds to rip the pack of candies open, and hands her one. "Candy?"
"It's bad for the throat, you know I don't eat sweet stuff."
"Just one, come on, it'll make you feel a ton better, trust me."
She gives in and pops the hard candy in her mouth. Instead of sweetness exploding in her mouth, she feels it coming out slowly as she sucked on it. The sugar spreads through her veins like magic.
"Is it too sweet?"
"It's just nice, thank you."
"Told ya," he chuckles. "I'm not a big fan of these, they're not the kind I really like, but I mean, just like how you would appreciate these sweets, somewhere out there, someone would appreciate you. I believe in that. So keep going. And just... eat more candy, seriously, they're good for you. Mentally, at least."
She laughs and wonders just how much of her sudden elevated mood could be attributed to the sugar in her bloodstream.
"Yeah, sure."
They settle into a serene silence, with nothing to disturb them apart from the crickets whining about the heat, and finally she finds the courage to ask, "So... are you really moving to Tokyo?"
He keeps quiet, and she knows the answer.
"I see, well, it doesn't mean that we have to stop seeing each other right? We can hang out during weekends and things like that."
She can tell that he is forcing himself to smile, but she ignores it. She knows what's coming, too well.
"Yeah, we can," he answers and kisses her on the forehead. "I'll miss you."
"Just send me candy," she says and he chuckles. "I'll remember you this way."
"Anything you ask for, Yuttan, anything."
She attaches a flavour to her summer nights from then on--a sweet and sour cherry flavour, to be exact. Just like her first romance.