Beautiful Stranger
A Seiya/Usagi alternate reality fanfiction
drive_me_mercury@hotmail.com
Naoko owns SM, I don’t!
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“Seiya?”
“Hmm?” I broke out of my daze and looked at the girl sitting beside me in the limo.
“We’re here.”
I glanced out the window to find that, indeed, the car had stopped and we were parked outside the restaurant. “Ah. Uh… you’re right.” I exited the car and walked around to hold the door open for her.
“This place?” A surprised look came over her face.
“No good?”
“Eh? No, it’s fine! I mean… wow, this is supposed to be a really classy and expensive restaurant. All the rich people and celebrities like to come here! And they serve Tokyo’s finest fugu dish! Eh, er… I know that ‘cause I read it in a magazine.”
I chuckled. “I’m glad I chose a good restaurant, then.”
“Hmm. So does an average musician like yourself really make enough money to afford restaurants like this?”
I eyed her suspiciously. “Are you trying to insult me?”
She grinned from ear to ear. “Is it working?” That managed to elicit a half-smile from me and a shake of my head. Why did she have to be so damn cute like that?
We entered the restaurant, and I saw her eyes widen a bit at the interior – dripping with chandeliers and tuxedoed waiters and soft music, and rooms and tables decorated in the finest style.
“Your name, sir?” the stuffy host prompted after a rehearsed greeting and bow.
“Kou Seiya. Reservations for two.”
The man perused his book in front of him, before looking up. “I’m sorry, sir, but there is no such name on my list.”
“I made reservations. It should be there,” I said tersely, not in the mood to be polite to strangers.
He checked over his list once more. “I do not see your name under the reservations.”
“Well, check again!”
He didn’t, but rather folded his hands over the book and gazed at me calmly. “I’m sorry, sir, but I cannot give you a table without a reservation.”
“I have reservations!” I was growing impatient. “Your people have apparently screwed them up. I demand to have a table given to me, now.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, sir.”
I grabbed the reservation book off the stand despite the man’s protests. Glancing over the pages, I found he was right. My name was not on the list. I dropped the book in front of him again. “I want to talk to your manager.”
Our staredown lasted for only a few seconds, before the host bowed slightly. “As you wish, sir.” He walked away to another corner of the dining room, out of listening range, but still within view. Another man appeared and they seemed to be conversing – probably simply to humor me… hell, I’ll bet that other guy wasn’t even a manger.
I felt a hand on my arm. “Seiya… what’s going on? We don’t have reservations?”
“Don’t worry about it, Odango, I’ll get things straightened out.”
Mr. oh-so-polite-and-snobby host returned after a minute or so. “I’m going to have to ask you and your lady to leave, sir.”
I wasn’t going anywhere yet without a fight. “I am not leaving. I made reservations for tonight. Ah, that’s right. They’re probably under the name of Okamachi,” I said, using a name I remembered seeing in the reservation book.
“Okamachi-san and his party have already arrived and been seated,” the man stated, seeing straight through my weak attempt. It was worth a try. “There are no tables available for you. Please leave immediately.” His look clearly said – You don’t belong here. But what made me angry was the way he glanced at Odango also. As if she wasn’t good enough for his snobby establishment.
A tug at my sleeve. “Seiya, it’s ok. We’ll eat someplace else.”
I gripped my hands on the pedestal that held the reservation book (so as not to strangle the pasty, stuck-up host in front of me) and lowered my face closer to his. “Look – ” I glanced down at his nameplate, “Hideki, do you know who I am?”
“Frankly, sir, I don’t care to know.” Aside to a waiter who was standing behind him, I heard him say, “Bring security, Kanzaki-san.”
He was lucky I had my hands on that pedestal, else I would have strangled the man. “Dammit, all I want is a table for one hour!” I was beginning to raise my voice and customers were curiously looking this way. “Do you call this good customer service? You lose my reservation, and now you’re gonna throw us out?! What kind of business are you running?! I ask to see the manager and I get a snub nose?” I noticed two security guards appear to the left, and figured this was pointless, even if I was still angry. “Forget it, we’ll take our business somewhere else.”
As I turned I saw one of the guards put a hand on Odango’s forearm to escort her out. I swear I saw right lights flash past my vision. I was already frustrated to the point of exploding, and that was all it took. Before I could think my fist had swung and one restaurant security guard sat on the floor with a bloodied nose. “Don’t touch her,” I muttered darkly. We left the place immediately after that.
The warm evening air greeted us as we stepped out onto the sidewalk. The light was slowly fading into twilight. The streetlights had come on and reflected their light in the puddles of water left over from yesterday’s rain. A garbage can waiting to taken away provided a convenient way to vent the last of my frustrations.
“Kuso!!” The can clattered loudly across the sidewalk after meeting with my foot, striking the building, and rolling back until it was still and silent again. I didn’t look, but I felt her standing several feet behind me.
“Seiya…” Odango’s voice – soft, worried.
Of course I knew why the reservations weren’t there. I had asked Yaten to make them two days ago because I was too busy to make the call. Why would she pass up a chance for sabotage that I’d blindly given her? I didn’t blame Yaten – two days ago it was still just a joke, and her intentions probably hadn’t been malicious. I realized now how insignificant that stupid bet seemed now. I half-turned in her direction. “Gomen. We’ll find another place to eat.”
I walked ahead, with no particular destination in mind. I needed to clear my head, and somehow make up my mind what I was going to tell her tonight. And how…
A voice from behind pulled me back into the present, and I realized I’d been leaving Usagi behind with my long strides. Heels clacked lightly against cement as she made up the distance between us, a little winded. “Wait up, I can’t walk that fast in these shoes! Are you sure nothing’s wrong?”
“Everything’s fine,” I lied. “Where would you like to eat? Our driver isn’t coming back for at least an hour, so it looks like we’re stuck walking. Unless we take a taxi.”
“Oh, let me!”
“Eh?” I was confused as to what she was suddenly excited about.
She explained a little sheepishly. “I always wanted to call a taxi – like they do on TV.”
I stared for second, and almost laughed. “Uh… okay, you can call it.” And then I did laugh.
She stomped her foot. “Don’t make fun!”
“Sorry.”
She skipped into the street to hail us a taxi. Watching her wave her arms at the passing cars, her sunny yellow dress standing out like a flower in the gray, drab city, I felt that sense of dread weighing down on my shoulders again. A sigh escaped my lips. Tonight was going to be harder than I thought. Okay, okay, don’t focus on that. Figure out now where we’re going to be eating dinner. In this high-class district of Tokyo, we probably wouldn’t be able to get a table without a reservation, but perhaps with a small bribe…I reached into my pocket to check how many bills I had put in my wallet. My… wallet… Oh shit. Just when I thought this night couldn’t get any worse.
I looked up again. Odango wasn’t having any luck with the taxi. Now I didn’t have any money I pay one with, so it was pointless. I must have left my wallet in the limo. How could I be so stupid? Odango jumped out of the way of a reckless driver who paid her no heed as he sped by. He didn’t stick around for the earful of insults she shouted after him, either. “Idiot!!” Determined, she stuck out her arm once more to hail a passing cab, but as she took a step backwards, her heel must have caught in a crack of the pavement. She toppled backwards, arms flailing, landing flat in the wet, dirty street.
I rushed into the street, as she started to pick herself up. “Daijoubu?” I asked as took the hand I offered.
“I – I think so,” was her reply. “Oh…” She looked down in dismay at her mud-spattered dress. I felt my heart sink at the sight of the sunny yellow dress, now stained with ugly grey.
“I’m sorry, Odango. I ruined your dress.”
She looked up with surprise. “Seiya, it’s not your fault! If wasn’t so clumsy… But it’ll wash out.” We stepped back onto the sidewalk. “Now, if there was just one taxi in Tokyo that would pick us up…” She made a face and stuck out her tongue in her ungraceful manner. “I can’t believe nobody stopped for me! I must have stood there waving my arms for five minutes! What’s wrong with taxi drivers these days!”
“I think we’re going to have to walk anyway,” I broke the bad news to her. “I left my wallet in the limo. I don’t have any money with me to pay for dinner, much less a taxi.” I pulled two tickets out of my pocket and held them out half-heartedly. “We can still go to the show if you like, if we wait around for an hour until it starts.”
“Oh…” She looked at the tickets silently for several seconds before her face lit up with a mischievous grin. “Aha! So you’re not the rich idol you claim to be! Left your wallet in the limo, sure I believe that!”
Her joke struck me not in the way she’d intended, as the two pieces of paper fluttered to the ground. She’s right. You never were an idol, just a pretender. “I’m sorry, Odango. I guess I ruined the evening for both of us. I’ll take you home.” With that, I turned away.
I had walked several steps when I heard her voice behind me. “Seiya, wait! I’m sorry, I am. I didn’t mean that. I do believe you! We can go see the show!”
“It’s okay. I don’t even care about the show.”
“I didn’t mean to make you mad…”
“I’m not mad at you, Odango. Truly. It’s not about what you said. I just – have a lot of things on my mind right now. But believe me, I’m not upset with you.”
“O – okay,” she replied softly. She opened her handbag and peered into it. “Um… I spent all my allowance at the game center yesterday.” She sheepishly held out a few mere coins.
“Don’t worry about it, really. I’m sorry I ruined the night for you.”
“Seiya… are you sure you’re okay?”
“Look, it’s nothing…”
“It is something! What is it? Why can’t you tell me?”
I hung my head with a sigh. “Yaten quit.”
“What?”
“She quit. Left the band. Three Lights is over.”
“I’m so sorry,” she gasped. “What happened?”
I shrugged. “We had an argument… We both said a lot of things… and she…”
“She?”
My heart skipped a beat. “D – did I say ‘she’? I meant ‘he’. I’m not thinking straight, am I?”
She looked with concern. “Do you want to sit down?”
“No,” I replied. “No, let’s walk.”
We walked, and the whole story came pouring out - Yaten’s and my differences, our disagreements over how the band should be run, and our final argument (omitting a few minor details, of course). Odango listened, never saying a word, but only nodding here and there. As I came to the end, I felt like half the stress had been relieved, although the troubled emotions were still there.
“I’m sure you can work it out, can’t you?” she reassured. “Come to a compromise?”
“Yeah…yeah, you’re right. Thanks for listening, Odango.”
“No problem.”
“And I – I apologize for how I acted earlier tonight.”
“It’s okay.” Her smileful forgiveness, instead of cheering me up, was making me feel all the worse for the way I’d treated her. We walked in silence after that, and I didn’t even notice that we had wandered out of the high-class district and into a more run-down neighborhood. After sharing all that with Odango I was starting to think that maybe half of what Yaten had said wasn’t too far from the truth. I had been selfish, never thinking once about the way others might feel or how my actions might affect them. Three Lights may have been my brainchild, but it was more than just me, and over the past few weeks, I’d been pushing the other two farther and farther away. Ever since I’d met Odango, I wanted to pretend it was all about her, but it wasn’t. Else why would I still be lying to her? It was still about me.
“You seem far away.”
“Huh? Oh.” Her voice brought me back to semi-reality. I shook my head in disgust. “Yaten was right.”
“What?”
“She’s right! I’ve been selfish, I’ve been an idiot. I can’t see how they’ve put up with me until now! I’m a terrible person.”
“Don’t say that. I know you, Seiya, and you’re not at all – ”
There she goes again with that damn optimism. “You don’t know that!” I burst out. “How can you say that when you don’t even know the whole truth!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Look… you don’t know me.”
“And you’re saying if I knew the real you, I would hate you?”
“Yes, you would.”
She was silent for several moments, and then, “You said I don’t know you, yet you presume to know me, and what my feelings would be?” Her words were questioning, and not angry.
“What?” It wasn’t at all something I would expect her to say. She never ceased to surprise me.
“Why would you say that? I’m sure Yaten will forgive you, right?”
I shook my head. “This isn’t about my argument with her.” If I could just bring myself to say it…
“Seiya, you keep referring to Yaten as ‘she’. Is…”
Silence.
I hung my head. “Yes. Yaten is female. So is Taiki, and… and…”
I took a deep breath.
“…so am I.”
It took several seconds for me to gather the courage to look up and see her reaction. She seemed confused, then her eyes looked me up and down, and her hand came up to her mouth. “Y – you are, aren’t you?” she said finally, as if realizing it hadn’t been joke.
“Look, I’m sorry for not telling you – ”
“I don’t get it. Why?”
Why? I couldn’t think of a single good reason for her question. Of course I knew the reason this had all started, but that didn’t mean anything now.
“I can’t believe you lied to me… like this. Was this some kind of joke?”
“No! No, of course not. Look I know I should have told you earlier, but it was all Yaten and Taiki’s idea. You see, they had a bet – ”
“A bet?!”
“Odango, I…” What was there to say? What could I say? Yes, it was all for a bet. I used you to get 5,000 yen and that’s only reason I ever asked you out. No! Not the only reason! I didn’t realize it at first, but… I was so stupid.
But she was silent now. Her fist was bunched near her side, and… oh God, was she crying? “I see…” she whispered. “I should have known… you were too good to be true. Baka Usagi…”
I’d never hated myself more than I did at that moment. “I never meant to hurt you. I’m sorry.” The words seemed so useless. After a long awkward silence, I said, “I’ll take you home.”
We had no money, but I decided if I could call a taxi I’d pay him once we got to my apartment, and give him the cash to take Usagi home. The thing was, I had no idea what section of town we were in and didn’t see any taxis in sight. I glanced back to see if she was still following behind me, and she was, about 50 feet back, her head slightly down. I couldn’t even guess what was going through her mind. Well, I could. I didn’t want to, but my conscience made me anyway. She hates me. Do you blame her? No.
Where were all the damn taxis in this city? The sunset had all but disappeared now and it was growing darker. Suddenly I heard a shout from Usagi behind me, and before I could even turn to react, a body smacked into my shoulder, nearly knocking me over as it caught me off guard. The body, a man in a ratty baseball jacket, didn’t mutter so much as a “sorry”, but kept running as if an imaginary German shepherd was snapping at his heels.
“My purse!” I whirled to face Odango, purse-less, and in a moment realized what had happened. Within seconds I had turned around and was chasing full-speed after the thief. No one was going to rob Odango and get away with it. The bastard couldn’t outrun me. He glanced back to find he was being pursued, and picked up his pace. But I was already gaining on him, and within two blocks I had tackled the man to the sidewalk. He tried to get up to flee again, but I had latched onto his jacket and wasn’t letting him go anywhere without dragging me with him. I demanded to have the purse back, and realizing I wasn’t letting go so easily, he swung his fist in a punch that, because of the awkward angle, landed pretty harmlessly on my neck. Still grasping his jacket under the arm, I made a grab for the purse in his other hand and jerked at the strap. He still wasn’t letting go of it, and seemed determined to take Usagi’s 60 yen with him, as his boots placed a hard kick to my shins. I decided in that moment to use a judo move to sweep his feet out from under him. Just as I did, his right hand holding the purse grabbed a fistful of my shirt. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a flash of silver from his other hand, but it was too late to change my movements, because he was falling backward and pulling me with him, with the blade in between us…
It was shock more than pain. Actually I don’t remember any pain then. I don’t remember much of anything from that moment. All I know is that seconds later my head was on the pavement with a killer headache and the world was going in and out of focus. There were footsteps, a female’s scream, and distant voices. I still clutched the yellow purse strap in my hand, as the city and the noises drifted farther and farther away. My last conscious thought was to wonder whose blood was pooling on the sidewalk…
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I just love cliffhangers, don’t you? ^_~ Don’t kill me, and don’t worry, I’m starting the next chapter right away! It won’t take as long as this one to put out. Once awful final exams are done with, I’ll be able to sit down and actually finish this story! Sorry for taking so long with this chapter, but I hope it was worth the wait. I know the “moment of truth” seems a tad rushed, to me, at least – I may just rewrite that part later on. Anyways, hope you liked this chapter, and please review/send me your comments. ^^