Fan Fiction ❯ Tougenkyou ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

CHAPTER ONE:

The Angels of Tougenkyou

 

Saeki Chie tucked the loose strands of her hair behind her ear as a sudden breeze blew around her. It was early in the morning, but already she could see some people coming out of their houses, to head off to either work or school. This was a sight typical of Akita, and one that had recently become familiar to her, ever since she and her grandmother transferred here from Tokyo.

 

"Wow, I can't believe Obaa-chan and I have already been here for one year..." Chie said to herself, as she started to walk. As always, she took time in making her way to school, taking in the scenery. Along and across her side of the street stood rows of houses, some were small and simple like hers, and others were big enough to hold families of five or more. She passed through a couple of blocks before arriving at a busy intersection on the road, telling her that she was already out of the residential area and into the town proper.

 

As Chie waited for the green light, a familiar soft and gentle voice sounded beside her. "Good morning, Saeki-san."

 

She turned, and though she was surprised, she smiled back at her classmate. "Good morning, Obinata-kun." The warm smile he had given her made her almost forget how to breathe. It made her feel silly, but who could ever resist the charming smile and the gentle emerald eyes of Tougenkyou's Light Angel, Obinata Naoya?

 

Chie immediately tore her gaze away from him and stared at the ground, obviously embarrassed. She wished that the green light would hurry up.

 

She was trying to keep her large glasses from slipping off her nose when a hand suddenly caught her arm.

 

"There's the green light, Saeki-san."

 

Chie looked up and true enough, the red light had already switched to green. "Oh, uh..y-yes..." She stammered, while staring down at Naoya's hand holding her arm as he pulled her across the street. When they reached the other side, Naoya released her. He looked at her and grinned sheepishly. "I'm sorry I had to do that. It seemed like you didn't notice the green light…”

 

Chie felt a light blush coming onto her cheeks. "I-it's alright, Obinata-kun. I would have stood there all day if it weren't for you. Thank you."

 

He chuckled and that made her blush even more. "Your humor amazes me, Saeki-san." Then he looked on ahead. "Anyways, I think weshould head over to school now, or we might be late."

 

Chie nodded. "Yes, I agree." As she started to walk, her eyes fastened themselves either ahead or on the ground. She couldn't believe that she was right here, WALKING with Naoya, which was something that had never happened before.

 

Hrm, something about that last thought struck her curiousity.

 

"...It's the first time I've seen you around here, Obinata-kun..." She said quietly.

 

"Hrm?" Naoya glanced at her briefly, before looking on ahead. "...oh, well I live nearby. Though I'm very much surprised myself to see you at that intersection. Do you live around here, Saeki-san?"

 

She nodded in reply. "Obaa-chan and I live at the residential area past the intersection."

 

"...just the two of you?"

 

"Yes. My parents....died long ago."

 

"Oh," Naoya fidgeted slightly, and turned towards her with a concerned look. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up such a painful topic.."

 

Chie shook her head. "Not your fault at all, Obinata-kun." She glanced at him and gave him a reassuring smile. "I've gone past the depression stage already."

 

His face showed an unreadable expression before he smiled and looked back on the road ahead.

 

Naoya and Chie walked the rest of the way in silence, though it amazed her that the silence between them was rather...comfortable. She had imagined it to be quite opposite, since Naoya seemed to be an unreachable person, what with his beautiful features, great talent in sports, popularity, kindness, and gentleness. He had also just recently won the seat of presidency in the student council in last year's elections, and of course he is known for his intelligence and diligence in studies. Obinata Naoya had the second highest grade point average in the whole of Tougenkyou High, and has been consistent in that rank since his first year in high school, she had heard.

 

But their walk now had led Chie to think otherwise. In the past year, the only way she got to talk to him was through class projects, class presentations, and other academic whatnots, but perhaps this year...

 

...perhaps this year, she could be his friend?

 

They soon reached a quiet river, one that Chie was now familiar with, and along the end of the path stood the school campus. Though a public school, Tougenkyou High had the most unique and beautiful campus in Akita. Besides a crystal clear river greeting its students at the entrance, it was situated within the recesses of a forest. Just a few ways behind the campus, is a lake where the river ends.

 

It was no wonder that to be able to go to this high school has been a source of pride for its students as well as a dream of every elementary school student. And it was no wonder that to be able to go to this high school, a student must shed his blood and sweat in order to pass its entrance exam which was known for its utmost difficulty. Even more bloodcurdling, was the exam for transferree students. Chie felt thankful and lucky enough to be able to get into the school last year.

 

"...earth to Saeki-san. Earth to Saeki-san."

 

The sudden wave of a hand in front of her face made her jerk back to reality. She blinked twice, and turned her head to stare at the hand's owner. "Obinata-kun! Were you calling me?"

 

Naoya grinned. "Yes, I was, for a good five minutes."

 

Her eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth in surprise. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I was thinking about something, and..and I didn't realize that you were calling and..and um...er......"

 

There it was--that endearing sound which was Naoya's chuckling. He waved a hand carelessly. "It's alright, don't worry about it. Though it made me wonder...just what IS going through that head of yours, Saeki-san?"

 

The abruptness of that question as well as feeling him moving close to her made her cheeks burn a bright crimson. "A-a-ah..!! I was just admiring you---I mean the trees around you! And uh..the river! Notice how it's so clear today? And uh..the frog that just crossed the path! It's so green and slimy and uh...forget I said anything."

 

Chie looked away, really embarrassed now. A frog? Just how dumb can she get?!

 

For the third time, Naoya chuckled. He paused on his step, and was about to say something when...

 

"Eeeeeeeee!!!!! It's him!!! He's arrived!! The Light Angel has arrived!!!"

 

In less than two seconds, a mob of excited and squealing school girls have rushed over to where they were. Chie almost suffocated from lack of air and almost fell into the river as she struggled to get herself away from the swooning girls. Finally, she made it to safety. She looked back at the crowd looking for her classmate, and saw that he seemed to be trapped in the middle of them all.

 

...and he was still nodding and smiling like a gentleman.

 

Poor Obinata-kun, She thought to herself. Just then, she felt herself being shoved to the side by a girl.

 

"Step aside, person of no importance!" The girl glared at Chie rudely, before joining the crowd. "Naoya-kun! Look my way, Naoya-kun!!!"

 

Chie shook her head and sighed. "Yesterday it was 'Girl with Big Glasses', today it's 'Person of No Importance'...they sure are getting more and more creative with names everyday..."

 

She turned around, and was about to resume walking when she felt her bumped into someone "Ouch!" She exclaimed, and held a hand up to her nose. That chest she had bumped into must have been made of steel! She thought that she actually heard her nose crack...

 

"Watch it, Four Eyes!"

 

Chie bit her lip, the feeling of impending doom creeping upon her as she recognized that voice. She slowly lifted her head up to stare at the baby blue eyes of Daishi Ichiro.

 

"Hey hey hey, Ichi-kun. It's only Chie-chan. No need to kill someone this early."

 

Chie sighed in relief as another voice entered the conversation/potential humiliation. She looked up gratefully at another boy whose blue eyes showed humor and kindness instead of coldness like Ichiro's. Thank God for Sadaharu!

 

Ichiro glowered down at her for a moment, before turning away abruptly, causing his long flowing red hair to flip to his back.

 

As if on cue, roars and shrieks sounded throughout the area.

 

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!"

 

"Don't his blue eyes make you melt?!"

 

"God, I love his hair!

 

"God, I love ALL OF HIM!!!"

 

"He's so hot!!"

 

"He's so cool!"

 

"I love you, Daishi Ichiro-sama!!!!"

 

Chie saw Ichiro's form stiffen and his fingers clenching tightly into fists. She could almost see his anger veins popping out of his head. It was rather relieving though, that Ichiro's fans--one half of the student female population (the other half being Naoya's fans)--love to admire him from afar and not glomp him, unlike Naoya's fans. She looked away, barely stiffling a giggle as she heard as them cry out their declarations of undying love for him. And just why, would many girls fawn over this young man? He was the other most popular guy in school, and why wouldn't he be? He had extremely handsome features, extremely famous parents, is extremely rich, and an extremely talented musician. And of course, who could ever forget that he owned Tougenkyou High's top academic rank, having the highest grade point average in the whole school? Just as

Obinata Naoya was Tougenkyou High's Light Angel, Daishi Ichiro was its Dark Angel. He was called "dark" because of his cold and rude demeanor, but for some reason that only endeared him to his fans all the more.

 

This must be really humiliating for him. Chie thought to herself. She felt sorry for him...well, ALMOST. Serves him right for being so rude all the time!

 

It's not that she actually hated rude people, but this particular person was not only rude but also seemed to have some kind of hatred for her. There was never a day that passes by without him throwing glares or insults at her.

 

“All because of one little UNINTENTIONAL MISTAKE the day Obaa-chan and I moved here.”

 

A year ago…

 

Chie and her grandmother were standing at an intersection, and the young girl was looking around for any sign that would tell her where they should be. A certain store nearby caught her attention, and she immediately perked up.

 

"A music store!!" She grinned giddily.

 

"You might want to take a look at that store later, WHEN we have settled down in our house, don't you think, Chie-chan?" A soft laugh

sounded by her side, and Chie turned to face her grandmother with a sheepish smile on her face. "Sorry about that, Obaa-chan. You know how I get whenever I see a music store."

 

Her grandmother nodded. "Yes, you forget everything."

 

"Obaa-chan! It's not as bad as that!"

 

Her grandmother only grinned. That's what Chie loved about her grandmother. She was so unlike other old women. She was rather young, still in her early sixties in fact. She was also strong enough to clean and cook. But what she loved most about her grandmother was that she always had a smile on her face, no matter what the circumstances are. "And as an apology, I'd like you to go up to that nice young lady over there by the music store and ask her where the residential area is."

 

"Alright, alright." Chie stuck her tongue playfully at her grandmother, before walking up to a woman with unbelievably long and beautiful

red hair who was currently absorbed with reading a magazine. She tapped lightly on the woman's shoulder.

 

"Excuse me, Miss....."

 

 

"How was I supposed to know that woman was actually as HE? Oh man, if I knew that it was HIM standing there I would have stayed as

far away as possible." She said to herself.

 

"Tch. You have four eyes and you still are blind." Ichiro said over his shoulder, as he and Sadaharu walked away from her.

 

Chie groaned, though she had followed the two inside the school gates. "It has already been one year and he STILL hasn't let me live it down...."

 

 

 

Author's Notes:

 

Hi everyone! I know some of you might wonder about some things regarding this story. When I first put up the chapter, I've forgotten to put up notes explaining some of the confusing things. I'm sorry. Anyways, I've put them here this time so that it would clear things up.

 

1. Tougenkyou - this is Chie's high school, the main setting of the whole story. When translated to English, it means "Eden".

2. Akita - it is a prefecture (province) in Japan that is known for its abundance of nature

3. I'm sure most of you, if not all, are familiar with Japanese honorific suffixes such as "-chan", "-san", etc, right?

4. Words in bold or CAPS are emphasized; words in italics can either be a character's thoughts or flashbacks from his or her memory.

5. Obaa-chan - for those of you who aren't familiar, this is what Chie calls her grandmother, somewhat like "Grandma" or "Granny".

Well, that's all for today.

Till the next chapter!