Fated by the Stars [1/2]
Title: Fated by the Stars
Genre: General, AU
Fandom: Fourze
Characters: Sakuta Ryusei, Nozama Tomoko, JK, Utahoshi Kengo, Joujima Yuki, Sawashiro Miu
Summary: Amanogawa High is a normal High School with no weird creatures appearing. Of course that is if you think Tomoko and the others are completely normal (which is to say "no, not really").
Tomoko x Yuki
Amanogawa High is a prestigious school which lets students decide on their own path and focus their time on it. Athletes are given the chance to train more, and students who want to go to high-class universities are given the chance to study more.
People in there are pretty normal. Students talked about love, pop culture and the usual topics.
But of course, in any school, there are 'peculiar' ones...
"Did you see her? That Freshman?"
"Yup, yup! She had black eyeliner and she was holding... what the hell was that?"
"They say it was Snake skin! Seriously? Why would you bring something like that to school?"
Tomoko Nozama continued walking, paying no heed to the students staring and whispering bad thing about her. As long as she keeps quiet, she'll be okay. They will soon forget about her and leave her alone. It has always been this way anyway.
"AAAAAAAH! I'M LATE! I still need to-" The loud girl bumped on her and fell down on her butt. "Oof!" She looked up with wide eyes. Tomoko waited for the fear to flash on her face. But it did not come. Instead, she scrunched up her face as she stood up and repeatedly bowed down. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I wasn't looking and-" She caught sight of Tomoko's black watch. "AH! I'M LATE! Kengo-kun will-"
And she ran off just like that.
"Saw that?" The whispering voices started once again. Tomoko continued walking. "That was Joujima Yuki, second year. She's a weirdo too."
"That's Joujima? They say she worships the stars and she talks to aliens."
"Seriously... Why do they even go here?"
"Right? There's no space for weirdos like them here!"
...
The second time Tomoko saw Joujima Yuuki was when she went to the canteen. The other tables were occupied by the cliques. Sportsmen stayed at one side, cheerleaders at another, and nerds stayed at the other table. Tomoko had nowhere to go but the empty table at the very end.
"Can I-" She started, glacing at the girl.
Yuuki smiled widely. "Sure, sure!" Her smile had no sense of fear or suspicion, two emotions other people always show around her. It was an innocently pure smile. "You're Nozama Tomoko, right?" She laughed. "Kengo-kun, the one I always eat with, is sick today so I'm eating alone."
"You're..." Tomoko's voice was quiet and low as usual. "Interesting."
Usually, people would freak out when they hear her speak. But Yuuki simply smiled, "You are too, Tomoko-chan!"
Tomoko
Despite the rumors about her and the clear disdain people show around her, Tomoko never thought she should change her self. She was who she was, and pretending to be 'normal' was just not right. What was wrong with believing in the supernatural?
As long as she remembered, she has always been 'different'. She heard voices nobody else hears, she saw visions nobody saw, she felt the presence of things that nobody felt. Her mother said she was cursed. Her father told her it was just her imagination.
Ritsuko was the first one to tell her "No, it's not your imagination. You're different because your special." Tomoko thought Ritsuko was her first friend.
Except Ritsuko was simply a fan of the occult who tagged along with Tomoko because of her 'special powers'. When things got crazy, when their old teacher died and stayed in the faculty, Ritsuko told her to stay behind with her and communicate to the teacher.
Knowing that it was a bad idea, she refused. Precisely because Ritsuko was her first and only friend, that was why she refused. She did not want her to be in danger.
The day after, Ritsuko did not talk to her, did not eat with her, did not even look at her. She lost her already. Their friendship... was just that shallow. She was not of use to Ritsuko, and so she was thrown away.
When she went to High School, she learned to not care anymore. She learned to just let it be. To believe in what she believed in and to not let anyone hurt her. She distanced herself from everyone.
That doesn't mean, however, that she doesn't feel lonely.
Ryusei
Ryusei transferred to Amanogawa during his second year. An esteemed martial arts instructor invited him with a scholarship. It was an ideal plan.
He was fairly popular in school though, with girls flocking him every morning and boys asking him to hang out every after class. Despite his devotion to training, they still all liked trying to squeeze time out of him to hang out.
That's why it was hard for him to make this decision. He would miss his friends. In the end though, his passion to be stronger won out and he accepted.
"Goodbye." His best friend of too many year, Jirou, patted him on the back and smiled warmly. "Visit us sometimes."
Ryusei had laughed then, saying "It's not that far. Of course I'll visit."
He did not expect that the 'visit' would occur just a day after his transfer.
Mina, a classmate, called him just after his class ended. "Something's wrong with Jirou" she said. Jirou was writhing in pain, muttering things they did not understand. Then he just suddenly fell asleep. It has been days since then but he hasn't woken up. They went to the doctor but they could not find anything wrong.
"You don't have any clue why?" Ryusei tried to control his emotions but he could not. It was scary, just thinking of what is happening to his bestfriend. "That idiot..."
He ran off to the gate, intent on helping Jirou as soon as he can. Because of his hurry however, he bumped into someone.
"Ah... senpai." It was a guy with a ridiculous hairstyle and fashion sense. It was too colorful for Ryusei's eyes. The guy's eyes widened. "AH!" Ha smiled knowingly and snapped his fingers as if he just realized something. "You're that transfer student from Subarahoshi... Sakuta Ryusei-kun?"
"Yes." He simply nodded before looking down at his clock. "I'm in a hurry so..."
"No, no, no..." The guy stood in front of him, smirking naughtily. "I haven't introduced myself. I'm JK. I am the best information source in this whole town."
Distractedly nodding, he said "Okay, nice to meet you." before walking past him.
"Sakuta-kun, are you just going there with no information whatsoever?!" JK shouted at his back. "I know of a way... to help your friend regain consciousness!"
Ryusei stopped on his tracks. "Really?" He asked as he looked back. "How?"
"Go to the back of the building, at the bush under the first window. Tomoko Nozama is always sitting there after class. She will definitely be of some help." JK grinned, his eyes showing how he was calculating everything in his mind.
Not knowing whether to trust him or not, Ryusei asked "Why are you telling me this? Don't you need any payback?"
Smile widening, JK shook his head and gave a peace sign. "I just think it's interesting."
Ryusei did not dwell on that answer and simply ran to the back of the building to look for the girl that could help Jirou. He saw her crouched behind the bush, her back leaning on the wall, her eyes trained on the ipad on her lap.
"Nozama Tomoko?"
Tomoko x Ryusei
It was unexpected, to say the least. One, she did not know anyone who knew about her hiding place. Two, she did not expect anyone to care about her hiding here. And three, she never expected a senpai to actually barge in and ask her to go with him outside.
It smelled fishy. She was sure he had an ulterior motive.
"Come with me. I need your help."
He looked so desperate though. His aura was muddled with confusion and frustration but it did not have anything that signalled dark thoughts. He had pure intentions.
Reading his expressions, she nodded quietly and stood up. Her eyes never stopped staring at him as they walked out of the school. "...what help?" She decided to ask. As usual, her voice emitted that scary tone she was accustomed to use.
"My friend..." His mind was obviously in chaos right now as he was having a hard time explaining the situation. "My friend fell asleep and isn't waking up. The doctors said he's okay but... I don't know what happened." He looked so frustrated, so angry at himself for not knowing what to do.
She simply nodded, realizing that this was about her powers once again. No one would approach her without it, after all. They only come to her because they need her. But... Seeing this guy fretting over his friend, she thinks it's okay to help again. She wants to see how he would look once his friend wakes up.
...
She finds a playful little ghost sitting on Jirou's body. It wants to have Jirou all to herself, apparently. She told Jirou that she will give him strength to be stronger than anyone, so Jirou let her do whatever she wants. She possessed him, but his body could not take it so it rejected her. But in the process, his soul was also displaced.
"A peculiar case..." she muttered, looking at Jirou's face. Glancing up at Ryusei, she narrowed her eyes and said "You just thought I'm the peculiar one, didn't you?"
"I- I di-didn't!" He shook his head repeatedly.
She laughed a bit at his flushed expression before turning serious and looking straight at the little girl spirit. "What do I do to make you leave him?"
The girl placed her right index finger on her temple as she closed her eyes. "I..." She shrugged before smiling cutely. "I'll leave this body now. I'm glad I was able to talk to someone at least. Tell them I'm sorry. I just wanted to say that." She winked at her then flew away. "Goodbye. Make sure Jirou would go back to his body okay?"
Tomoko smiled a bit before nodding and waving her hand. "She left." she muttered. Looking around, she spotted Jirou's sitting cross legged at the side. "Jirou-kun... Can you try to-"
He shook his head, stood up and walked to his body. He sat beside it and tried to place himself inside it but was immediately repelled. "My body..."
She walked to his side and resolutely said "I'll help you. Tonight is a full moon. Don't worry."
Ryusei looked on in complete bewilderment as Tomoko spoke, looking at the air as if something was there. He wonders if he can trust this girl. "Nozama-san... what do you-"
"The spirit said sorry." was her immediate reply. "Jirou-kun is scared but he said not to worry. 'Ryusei is strong so please bring my body to the Amanogawa rooftop and help Nozama-san' he said." She calmly looked straight at Ryusei and pointed to the unconscious body of Jirou. "We do the ceremony today."
"Why should I believe you?" Ryusei decided to ask. It was stupid to just go believe her and bring Jirou's body elsewhere. Who knows? Maybe she's planning to offer Jirou's body to the devil.
"Hmmm." She looked at Jirou, thinking of what to say. Jirou smiled and whispered something to her. She smiled as well. "Jirou said if you don't believe me, he'll never give back all your Jet Li DVDs."
A blush covered his cheeks. "O-okay! Fine! I'll believe you. But don't ever tell that to anyone."
Tomoko loved the way Ryusei's aura spiked up before calming down considerably. It was so clear to her that this guy was a good person despite his obvious fear of her.
...
They brought Jirou to the rooftop. It was still just the afternoon, about 2 hours before the moon comes out. Ryusei sat beside Jirou's body, looking at the sky while waiting. Tomoko sat at the corner, looking at her ipad with a serious expression.
"What's that?" He asked, trying to start a conversation.
"I'm looking at the chart of the moon." She answered briefly.
"Hm. Is that so." He dropped the topic then, seeing how disinterested she is. It was the first time he talked to her, after all. He didn't know her personally and only asked her help because of that JK person. "I'm sorry for suddenly calling you. I didn't even introduce myself properly." He faced her fully and said "I'm Sakuta Ryusei, 2nd year transferee."
"I know." She replied, looking at him straight in the eye. "It's okay."
Ryusei wondered why she was like that, why she looks at him with such clear eyes and yet look away so quickly.
They kept quiet for the remaining hours, both deep in their own thoughts.
...
It has been two weeks since that incident. Tomoko woke Jirou up successfully and they parted ways then. (Jirou still visited regularly, of course. And numerous times during his visits, he would go to Tomoko's hiding place and talk to her.)
Ryusei found no reason to see her again. If Jirou wants to thank her repeatedly, he was welcome to do so. Ryusei was thankful too, but he did not think that Tomoko would need to see or talk to him.
He was walking around the campus then when he saw her. She was sitting on the ground, her things cluttered around her. Her eyes... were really lonely. "Nozama-chan...?" He approached her slowly. "What happened?"
She looked up at him with large eyes. "Ah. Ryusei-san." She shook her head. "It's nothing. I fell down." She gathered her things and placed them in her bag.
"Nothing...?" He glanced at her notebook which had red letters on it spelling 'witch'. He frowned as he stood up and helped her. "If they're bullying you..."
"Hm?"
His eyes widened when he realized what he was about to say. Looking away he said, "Well... you helped me out once and I haven't paid you back yet. So..." He scratched the back of his neck, wondering why the hell he suddenly had the urge to say this. "So let me protect you from whoever those people are."
She stared at him for quite some time, obviously shocked and unable to comprehend why he was saying that. "Ryusei-san..." She blinked a bit. Then, as if understanding something, she smiled. Her face took on a lighter glow. "Thank you."
...
His idea of protecting her was to invite her to watch practice every after class and to sit with her on the 'weirdo' table. As long as he was around, she would never be bullied. After all, everyone knew how strong he was. Having him as an ally would mean definite protection.
Or so he thought.
He just took his eyes off her for a second and when he looked back, she was gone. He excused himself from practice and ran around looking for her. "Tomoko-chan! Tomoko-chan!"
He caught sight of her cornered at the side of the building, fear in her eyes as she looked around the girls and boys surrounding her. A girl had a bucket of water on one hand, poised to throw at the prey.
"You-" Ryusei sent a flying kick towards the pail, effectively spilling its contents towards the bullies. "Scram!" He shouted, glaring at each one of them. Fearful for their lives (at this point, anyone would recognize him as the handsome martial artist transferee), they ran away on all directions. He did not follow them or thought of who they were. He was sure he scared them properly. He looked at her direction, checking for any injury. "What happened?! Why did you-"
Tears fell from her eyes. She sprung forward, hugging him suddenly.
"Tomoko-ch-"
"Thank you..." She whispered, her voice showing her relief. "Thank you..."
He awkwardly placed a hand on the back of her head, returning the hug and keeping her close. "I told you I'll protect you."
Tomoko x JK
JK knew everything that is happening in Amanogawa. He knows who the members of each clique is, he knows the secret places in school, he knows the hottest places in town, and he knows exactly where to party. You could say everyone knows him as well. He is always invited to parties and the likes.
That also means he knows all about the weirdos, and all about the higher ups. He knows who to call when certain problems arise. But the thing is, he did not like getting entangled in things like that. He would rather be safe in his place than help anyone. He did not like getting attached.
"I wonder why..." He found himself wondering one day as he saw an unlikely pair walk past him. It was Ryusei and Tomoko, a pretty boy and a goth. What a weird combo. "Why did I help that..."
He still remembers the first time he saw Tomoko hiding behind that bush. He was loitering around as usual, searching for secret places and for secret 'incidents'.
"Fufufu..." He heard a creepy laugh from behind the bush and so he peeked a bit. "This will..." What he saw was a girl wearing a black cape looking at pictures of pictures of constellations. "Tonight it will be venus, huh..." The girl was muttering to herself.
She obviously did not notice him so he simply watched her, careful not to make a sound. "Eh..." She suddenly shivered, looking to her left and right. "I feel someone..."
Eyes widening, he ran away.
...
Being the kind of person he was, he immediately looked through the profile of Nozama Tomoko. It wasn't that he was completely curious... just a bit. He just wanted to know what kind of suspicious things she really does.
As days passed, he found himself looking at her across the canteen hall. She always eats with the outcasts, with Yuki who was branded as a communicator of aliens and Kengo who always fainted for no reason but still got the best grades.
Tomoko always listened to Yuuki blabber about the stars and about the voice of the universe. Just as Kengo did, she listened without much change in expression except for the occassional creepy smirk she gives when Yuuki says something interesting for her.
She was not like the girls JK usually hang out with.
...
Perhaps it was fate when he bumped into Ryusei. He just heard about the Subarahoshi Incident from a friend from that school, and he also found out that it was the transferee's best friend. Somehow, he was sure it was something supernatural.
And who else should be called when it comes to supernatural things? Of course it's the one and only creepy girl of Amanogawa: Tomoko Nozama.
What happened after was not something JK expected. He was sure it would end at Jirou and Tomoko becoming casual friends. Ryusei was just not the type of person to meddle with someone else's life, especially with a goth like her.
But they defied his expectations. He knew she was being bullied, but he never expected Ryusei to come to her rescue. JK knew he could stop all those bullies as well, to save that weird girl he has been interested lately. However he did not. He did not want to put in effort to save that girl despite how much his heart was telling him to.
He just wanted to be the popular informant he usually is. An informant that never does anything more than get and give information.
No matter how much he wants to save Tomoko, he would never do so. He is a coward, he knows.
So when he sees Ryusei saving her from the bullies, he places down the bucket he was holding (he completely forgot why he had it in the first place; surely he wasn't planning to save her?) And then he ran away from that scene.
Days later, as he watches Tomoko eat lunch with Yuki, Kengo and Ryusei (who seemed to be happier than when he first arrived here), he smiles and propose a toast to his table mates.
"For what, JK?" Miu, the University's student council president and reigning 'queen', looked at him curiously.
"Nothing much." He laughed. "Let's have a toast for everyone's happiness!"
"Weirdo." Miu laughed as well as she raised her glass up.
"I'm obviously not the weirdo here." He glanced at the 'weirdo' table, seeing Tomoko giggle about something as Ryusei took a box of natto away from her hands. He touched his cup with the others, letting the clinking sound of cups conceal the sound of his heart breaking.
So yup. It was getting ridiculously long so let's leave the Yuki x Kengo x Miu side to later. There will also be a follow up on TomoRyusei's relationship (because there needs to be more fluff, of course) and in JK's... uh, job as the informant.
Genre: General, AU
Fandom: Fourze
Characters: Sakuta Ryusei, Nozama Tomoko, JK, Utahoshi Kengo, Joujima Yuki, Sawashiro Miu
Summary: Amanogawa High is a normal High School with no weird creatures appearing. Of course that is if you think Tomoko and the others are completely normal (which is to say "no, not really").
Tomoko x Yuki
Amanogawa High is a prestigious school which lets students decide on their own path and focus their time on it. Athletes are given the chance to train more, and students who want to go to high-class universities are given the chance to study more.
People in there are pretty normal. Students talked about love, pop culture and the usual topics.
But of course, in any school, there are 'peculiar' ones...
"Did you see her? That Freshman?"
"Yup, yup! She had black eyeliner and she was holding... what the hell was that?"
"They say it was Snake skin! Seriously? Why would you bring something like that to school?"
Tomoko Nozama continued walking, paying no heed to the students staring and whispering bad thing about her. As long as she keeps quiet, she'll be okay. They will soon forget about her and leave her alone. It has always been this way anyway.
"AAAAAAAH! I'M LATE! I still need to-" The loud girl bumped on her and fell down on her butt. "Oof!" She looked up with wide eyes. Tomoko waited for the fear to flash on her face. But it did not come. Instead, she scrunched up her face as she stood up and repeatedly bowed down. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I wasn't looking and-" She caught sight of Tomoko's black watch. "AH! I'M LATE! Kengo-kun will-"
And she ran off just like that.
"Saw that?" The whispering voices started once again. Tomoko continued walking. "That was Joujima Yuki, second year. She's a weirdo too."
"That's Joujima? They say she worships the stars and she talks to aliens."
"Seriously... Why do they even go here?"
"Right? There's no space for weirdos like them here!"
...
The second time Tomoko saw Joujima Yuuki was when she went to the canteen. The other tables were occupied by the cliques. Sportsmen stayed at one side, cheerleaders at another, and nerds stayed at the other table. Tomoko had nowhere to go but the empty table at the very end.
"Can I-" She started, glacing at the girl.
Yuuki smiled widely. "Sure, sure!" Her smile had no sense of fear or suspicion, two emotions other people always show around her. It was an innocently pure smile. "You're Nozama Tomoko, right?" She laughed. "Kengo-kun, the one I always eat with, is sick today so I'm eating alone."
"You're..." Tomoko's voice was quiet and low as usual. "Interesting."
Usually, people would freak out when they hear her speak. But Yuuki simply smiled, "You are too, Tomoko-chan!"
Tomoko
Despite the rumors about her and the clear disdain people show around her, Tomoko never thought she should change her self. She was who she was, and pretending to be 'normal' was just not right. What was wrong with believing in the supernatural?
As long as she remembered, she has always been 'different'. She heard voices nobody else hears, she saw visions nobody saw, she felt the presence of things that nobody felt. Her mother said she was cursed. Her father told her it was just her imagination.
Ritsuko was the first one to tell her "No, it's not your imagination. You're different because your special." Tomoko thought Ritsuko was her first friend.
Except Ritsuko was simply a fan of the occult who tagged along with Tomoko because of her 'special powers'. When things got crazy, when their old teacher died and stayed in the faculty, Ritsuko told her to stay behind with her and communicate to the teacher.
Knowing that it was a bad idea, she refused. Precisely because Ritsuko was her first and only friend, that was why she refused. She did not want her to be in danger.
The day after, Ritsuko did not talk to her, did not eat with her, did not even look at her. She lost her already. Their friendship... was just that shallow. She was not of use to Ritsuko, and so she was thrown away.
When she went to High School, she learned to not care anymore. She learned to just let it be. To believe in what she believed in and to not let anyone hurt her. She distanced herself from everyone.
That doesn't mean, however, that she doesn't feel lonely.
Ryusei
Ryusei transferred to Amanogawa during his second year. An esteemed martial arts instructor invited him with a scholarship. It was an ideal plan.
He was fairly popular in school though, with girls flocking him every morning and boys asking him to hang out every after class. Despite his devotion to training, they still all liked trying to squeeze time out of him to hang out.
That's why it was hard for him to make this decision. He would miss his friends. In the end though, his passion to be stronger won out and he accepted.
"Goodbye." His best friend of too many year, Jirou, patted him on the back and smiled warmly. "Visit us sometimes."
Ryusei had laughed then, saying "It's not that far. Of course I'll visit."
He did not expect that the 'visit' would occur just a day after his transfer.
Mina, a classmate, called him just after his class ended. "Something's wrong with Jirou" she said. Jirou was writhing in pain, muttering things they did not understand. Then he just suddenly fell asleep. It has been days since then but he hasn't woken up. They went to the doctor but they could not find anything wrong.
"You don't have any clue why?" Ryusei tried to control his emotions but he could not. It was scary, just thinking of what is happening to his bestfriend. "That idiot..."
He ran off to the gate, intent on helping Jirou as soon as he can. Because of his hurry however, he bumped into someone.
"Ah... senpai." It was a guy with a ridiculous hairstyle and fashion sense. It was too colorful for Ryusei's eyes. The guy's eyes widened. "AH!" Ha smiled knowingly and snapped his fingers as if he just realized something. "You're that transfer student from Subarahoshi... Sakuta Ryusei-kun?"
"Yes." He simply nodded before looking down at his clock. "I'm in a hurry so..."
"No, no, no..." The guy stood in front of him, smirking naughtily. "I haven't introduced myself. I'm JK. I am the best information source in this whole town."
Distractedly nodding, he said "Okay, nice to meet you." before walking past him.
"Sakuta-kun, are you just going there with no information whatsoever?!" JK shouted at his back. "I know of a way... to help your friend regain consciousness!"
Ryusei stopped on his tracks. "Really?" He asked as he looked back. "How?"
"Go to the back of the building, at the bush under the first window. Tomoko Nozama is always sitting there after class. She will definitely be of some help." JK grinned, his eyes showing how he was calculating everything in his mind.
Not knowing whether to trust him or not, Ryusei asked "Why are you telling me this? Don't you need any payback?"
Smile widening, JK shook his head and gave a peace sign. "I just think it's interesting."
Ryusei did not dwell on that answer and simply ran to the back of the building to look for the girl that could help Jirou. He saw her crouched behind the bush, her back leaning on the wall, her eyes trained on the ipad on her lap.
"Nozama Tomoko?"
Tomoko x Ryusei
It was unexpected, to say the least. One, she did not know anyone who knew about her hiding place. Two, she did not expect anyone to care about her hiding here. And three, she never expected a senpai to actually barge in and ask her to go with him outside.
It smelled fishy. She was sure he had an ulterior motive.
"Come with me. I need your help."
He looked so desperate though. His aura was muddled with confusion and frustration but it did not have anything that signalled dark thoughts. He had pure intentions.
Reading his expressions, she nodded quietly and stood up. Her eyes never stopped staring at him as they walked out of the school. "...what help?" She decided to ask. As usual, her voice emitted that scary tone she was accustomed to use.
"My friend..." His mind was obviously in chaos right now as he was having a hard time explaining the situation. "My friend fell asleep and isn't waking up. The doctors said he's okay but... I don't know what happened." He looked so frustrated, so angry at himself for not knowing what to do.
She simply nodded, realizing that this was about her powers once again. No one would approach her without it, after all. They only come to her because they need her. But... Seeing this guy fretting over his friend, she thinks it's okay to help again. She wants to see how he would look once his friend wakes up.
...
She finds a playful little ghost sitting on Jirou's body. It wants to have Jirou all to herself, apparently. She told Jirou that she will give him strength to be stronger than anyone, so Jirou let her do whatever she wants. She possessed him, but his body could not take it so it rejected her. But in the process, his soul was also displaced.
"A peculiar case..." she muttered, looking at Jirou's face. Glancing up at Ryusei, she narrowed her eyes and said "You just thought I'm the peculiar one, didn't you?"
"I- I di-didn't!" He shook his head repeatedly.
She laughed a bit at his flushed expression before turning serious and looking straight at the little girl spirit. "What do I do to make you leave him?"
The girl placed her right index finger on her temple as she closed her eyes. "I..." She shrugged before smiling cutely. "I'll leave this body now. I'm glad I was able to talk to someone at least. Tell them I'm sorry. I just wanted to say that." She winked at her then flew away. "Goodbye. Make sure Jirou would go back to his body okay?"
Tomoko smiled a bit before nodding and waving her hand. "She left." she muttered. Looking around, she spotted Jirou's sitting cross legged at the side. "Jirou-kun... Can you try to-"
He shook his head, stood up and walked to his body. He sat beside it and tried to place himself inside it but was immediately repelled. "My body..."
She walked to his side and resolutely said "I'll help you. Tonight is a full moon. Don't worry."
Ryusei looked on in complete bewilderment as Tomoko spoke, looking at the air as if something was there. He wonders if he can trust this girl. "Nozama-san... what do you-"
"The spirit said sorry." was her immediate reply. "Jirou-kun is scared but he said not to worry. 'Ryusei is strong so please bring my body to the Amanogawa rooftop and help Nozama-san' he said." She calmly looked straight at Ryusei and pointed to the unconscious body of Jirou. "We do the ceremony today."
"Why should I believe you?" Ryusei decided to ask. It was stupid to just go believe her and bring Jirou's body elsewhere. Who knows? Maybe she's planning to offer Jirou's body to the devil.
"Hmmm." She looked at Jirou, thinking of what to say. Jirou smiled and whispered something to her. She smiled as well. "Jirou said if you don't believe me, he'll never give back all your Jet Li DVDs."
A blush covered his cheeks. "O-okay! Fine! I'll believe you. But don't ever tell that to anyone."
Tomoko loved the way Ryusei's aura spiked up before calming down considerably. It was so clear to her that this guy was a good person despite his obvious fear of her.
...
They brought Jirou to the rooftop. It was still just the afternoon, about 2 hours before the moon comes out. Ryusei sat beside Jirou's body, looking at the sky while waiting. Tomoko sat at the corner, looking at her ipad with a serious expression.
"What's that?" He asked, trying to start a conversation.
"I'm looking at the chart of the moon." She answered briefly.
"Hm. Is that so." He dropped the topic then, seeing how disinterested she is. It was the first time he talked to her, after all. He didn't know her personally and only asked her help because of that JK person. "I'm sorry for suddenly calling you. I didn't even introduce myself properly." He faced her fully and said "I'm Sakuta Ryusei, 2nd year transferee."
"I know." She replied, looking at him straight in the eye. "It's okay."
Ryusei wondered why she was like that, why she looks at him with such clear eyes and yet look away so quickly.
They kept quiet for the remaining hours, both deep in their own thoughts.
...
It has been two weeks since that incident. Tomoko woke Jirou up successfully and they parted ways then. (Jirou still visited regularly, of course. And numerous times during his visits, he would go to Tomoko's hiding place and talk to her.)
Ryusei found no reason to see her again. If Jirou wants to thank her repeatedly, he was welcome to do so. Ryusei was thankful too, but he did not think that Tomoko would need to see or talk to him.
He was walking around the campus then when he saw her. She was sitting on the ground, her things cluttered around her. Her eyes... were really lonely. "Nozama-chan...?" He approached her slowly. "What happened?"
She looked up at him with large eyes. "Ah. Ryusei-san." She shook her head. "It's nothing. I fell down." She gathered her things and placed them in her bag.
"Nothing...?" He glanced at her notebook which had red letters on it spelling 'witch'. He frowned as he stood up and helped her. "If they're bullying you..."
"Hm?"
His eyes widened when he realized what he was about to say. Looking away he said, "Well... you helped me out once and I haven't paid you back yet. So..." He scratched the back of his neck, wondering why the hell he suddenly had the urge to say this. "So let me protect you from whoever those people are."
She stared at him for quite some time, obviously shocked and unable to comprehend why he was saying that. "Ryusei-san..." She blinked a bit. Then, as if understanding something, she smiled. Her face took on a lighter glow. "Thank you."
...
His idea of protecting her was to invite her to watch practice every after class and to sit with her on the 'weirdo' table. As long as he was around, she would never be bullied. After all, everyone knew how strong he was. Having him as an ally would mean definite protection.
Or so he thought.
He just took his eyes off her for a second and when he looked back, she was gone. He excused himself from practice and ran around looking for her. "Tomoko-chan! Tomoko-chan!"
He caught sight of her cornered at the side of the building, fear in her eyes as she looked around the girls and boys surrounding her. A girl had a bucket of water on one hand, poised to throw at the prey.
"You-" Ryusei sent a flying kick towards the pail, effectively spilling its contents towards the bullies. "Scram!" He shouted, glaring at each one of them. Fearful for their lives (at this point, anyone would recognize him as the handsome martial artist transferee), they ran away on all directions. He did not follow them or thought of who they were. He was sure he scared them properly. He looked at her direction, checking for any injury. "What happened?! Why did you-"
Tears fell from her eyes. She sprung forward, hugging him suddenly.
"Tomoko-ch-"
"Thank you..." She whispered, her voice showing her relief. "Thank you..."
He awkwardly placed a hand on the back of her head, returning the hug and keeping her close. "I told you I'll protect you."
Tomoko x JK
JK knew everything that is happening in Amanogawa. He knows who the members of each clique is, he knows the secret places in school, he knows the hottest places in town, and he knows exactly where to party. You could say everyone knows him as well. He is always invited to parties and the likes.
That also means he knows all about the weirdos, and all about the higher ups. He knows who to call when certain problems arise. But the thing is, he did not like getting entangled in things like that. He would rather be safe in his place than help anyone. He did not like getting attached.
"I wonder why..." He found himself wondering one day as he saw an unlikely pair walk past him. It was Ryusei and Tomoko, a pretty boy and a goth. What a weird combo. "Why did I help that..."
He still remembers the first time he saw Tomoko hiding behind that bush. He was loitering around as usual, searching for secret places and for secret 'incidents'.
"Fufufu..." He heard a creepy laugh from behind the bush and so he peeked a bit. "This will..." What he saw was a girl wearing a black cape looking at pictures of pictures of constellations. "Tonight it will be venus, huh..." The girl was muttering to herself.
She obviously did not notice him so he simply watched her, careful not to make a sound. "Eh..." She suddenly shivered, looking to her left and right. "I feel someone..."
Eyes widening, he ran away.
...
Being the kind of person he was, he immediately looked through the profile of Nozama Tomoko. It wasn't that he was completely curious... just a bit. He just wanted to know what kind of suspicious things she really does.
As days passed, he found himself looking at her across the canteen hall. She always eats with the outcasts, with Yuki who was branded as a communicator of aliens and Kengo who always fainted for no reason but still got the best grades.
Tomoko always listened to Yuuki blabber about the stars and about the voice of the universe. Just as Kengo did, she listened without much change in expression except for the occassional creepy smirk she gives when Yuuki says something interesting for her.
She was not like the girls JK usually hang out with.
...
Perhaps it was fate when he bumped into Ryusei. He just heard about the Subarahoshi Incident from a friend from that school, and he also found out that it was the transferee's best friend. Somehow, he was sure it was something supernatural.
And who else should be called when it comes to supernatural things? Of course it's the one and only creepy girl of Amanogawa: Tomoko Nozama.
What happened after was not something JK expected. He was sure it would end at Jirou and Tomoko becoming casual friends. Ryusei was just not the type of person to meddle with someone else's life, especially with a goth like her.
But they defied his expectations. He knew she was being bullied, but he never expected Ryusei to come to her rescue. JK knew he could stop all those bullies as well, to save that weird girl he has been interested lately. However he did not. He did not want to put in effort to save that girl despite how much his heart was telling him to.
He just wanted to be the popular informant he usually is. An informant that never does anything more than get and give information.
No matter how much he wants to save Tomoko, he would never do so. He is a coward, he knows.
So when he sees Ryusei saving her from the bullies, he places down the bucket he was holding (he completely forgot why he had it in the first place; surely he wasn't planning to save her?) And then he ran away from that scene.
Days later, as he watches Tomoko eat lunch with Yuki, Kengo and Ryusei (who seemed to be happier than when he first arrived here), he smiles and propose a toast to his table mates.
"For what, JK?" Miu, the University's student council president and reigning 'queen', looked at him curiously.
"Nothing much." He laughed. "Let's have a toast for everyone's happiness!"
"Weirdo." Miu laughed as well as she raised her glass up.
"I'm obviously not the weirdo here." He glanced at the 'weirdo' table, seeing Tomoko giggle about something as Ryusei took a box of natto away from her hands. He touched his cup with the others, letting the clinking sound of cups conceal the sound of his heart breaking.
So yup. It was getting ridiculously long so let's leave the Yuki x Kengo x Miu side to later. There will also be a follow up on TomoRyusei's relationship (because there needs to be more fluff, of course) and in JK's... uh, job as the informant.