LOVE LOTTERY ~ Niou Masaharu

Love Lottery ~ Niou Masaharu Side

Niou Masaharu could not remove the smirk off his face. Earlier, he asked Yanagi Renji if he could borrow his data about the girl, who, according to the "Matchmaking Lottery," he was most compatible with. Of course, the thought that the girl was his "perfect match" really piqued his curiosity, but what made him really interested in her was that, based from the facts he got from Yanagi, they didn't seem to be such a perfect match, at all.

Niou plopped on his bed holding a piece of photo. He got the picture from asking (or rather, scaring) the easily-intimidated photographer of the school paper. Looking at it made Niou smirk even longer.

A perfect match, eh? We'll see, Niou said, as he finally retired for the night.

**********

wanted to bang her head on the table in front of her.

Being a part of the Home Economics club, she was assigned to help the officers to set up the booth for the Valentine's Day event, managed mainly by the student council of the junior high division. Everything was supposed to be perfect – she was to participate with the club's activity and at the same time, she will have a great time by joining in with the Matchmaking Lottery. She already saw to everything – she was going to pick a very cute boy, and both of them were going to have a great time. Of course.

But now 's rose-colored vision of the day's event was broken into pieces.

It was all because of the flu.

"Why did Takagi and Iwasaki choose to get sick today?!" She was frustrated. Takagi Ayumi was supposed to dress up as a pretty stewardess for the first half of the event (as she had a date to attend to for the second half), and then Iwasaki Sumire was to take over, wearing a samurai costume. But due to unforeseen circumstances ( believes that the world was conspiring against her), both members of the Home Economics club were sick with the flu this Valentine's Day. The club was now in uproar, not just because of the incident, but also for the fact that Takagi's and Iwasaki's costumes did not fit to any of the girls around. This and that most of the female members of the Home Economics club had their own plans for the day.

Unfortunately for , she was the only one left in the club and even though she too had something else to do for the day (for she was done making the stuff that the club asked her to do), she finally gave in to the officers' demands and took Takagi and Iwasaki's place. As she expected, the girls' costumes did not fit properly, so she had no choice but to use the costume that she made earlier for a stage play about food.

detested her situation but she really had no choice but to stay and wait for her date. Not for the lack of trying, though. The situation was just pretty hopeless.

"Why do I have to wear a goddamn HOTDOG costume?!" She loudly complained. Sad to say, no matter how much she yelled, it failed to get the Home Economics club's attention. had been complaining since they forced her to be the usherette for the club's booth, and seeing that she already was wearing the costume, thought that they had nothing to worry about.

Noticing that nobody was paying attention to her, sulked even more. She tried sitting on the ground and made a face. This wasn't right. She had a date to attend to!

She tilted her head up and sighed, only to see a rather familiar figure approaching the club booth. She recognized the silvery-white hair, the sharp glances and the annoying-yet-amusing smirk on his rather sweet-looking lips.

gasped. And then cursed herself.

**********

Niou Masaharu somehow figured out why the "Home Economics club booth" the assigned place to meet up his date, . For one, the girl was one of the most active members of the club, so the girl was most likely be helping the club even though she had a date. Niou didn't mind. He wanted to check out what the sophomore "designer freak" was made of, and what was it about her that was supposed to make him like her.

As he approached the Home Economics club booth, he noticed a huge, funny figure sitting in front of the booth. The kiosk was actually a small one, displaying handmade cell phone cases, caps, and other crafts for sale. There were also some chocolates available for those who wanted to get their sweet treat for the day.

Despite the fancy look of the booth, what really caught his attention was the person sitting by it. The figure was wearing a cream long-sleeved shirt and pants, and then for the final touch (at least he thinks it was that), a huge "jumper" shaped like a hotdog. Niou was so amused that he wasn't able to hold out his laughter.

The funny-looking person, who was actually a girl, looked at him irritably. Niou tried to stifle his laughter but failed. Now the girl stood up and looked really annoyed.

Niou managed to walk to the booth and the girl. "Hi, I'm Niou Masaharu, your date for today. I assume you're… ?"

The girl glared at him with such angry intensity that it took him by surprise. Niou tried to examine her features quickly. If he tried ignoring her current outfit, she looked okay. She looked normal. Her aura seemed to be different, though, which just made him feel as excited as ever.

"You're laughing, white-haired punk." commented.

"Oh, and you call me white-haired punk now, eh? I think I introduced myself to you properly." Niou replied, his tone of voice reflecting his enjoyment of his current situation. He moved towards 's back and tried to hug her from behind. "Well then, -san, what are your plans for the day?"

tried to turn back, and her long hotdog costume hit Niou on the stomach. She really didn't know if she should laugh out of embarrassment because she looked stupid in front of her date, or if she should cheer because she somehow managed to get back at her date, who happened to be enjoying her current look.

Niou feigned as if his stomach hurt. "Ow, that really hurt, -san. We should do something about your costume really soon."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" demanded. They haven't started anything yet, and the boy was already pissing the hell out of her. What did he want, anyway?!

Niou tried putting some strands of his hair away from his face and smiled. "To tell you the truth, I am, -san. But I like your attitude, so don't be angry. How long are you going to wear that?"

Before could mutter an answer, both of them heard a voice approaching them.

"For the rest of the day, I suppose, because I'm going to be your Valentine's date, Niou-kun."

**********

"Iwasaki-san! So you are feeling well already?" blurted out upon recognizing the girl coming towards them. was so happy to see Iwasaki Sumire that she forgot what she was saying a while ago.

"Yes, because you're taking my place already." Iwasaki said, her tone mocking.

"Eh?"

"Oh geeze, what a stupid little girl! Don't you get it? I am not sick, thus, I am here. And you're going to take my place because I'm going to date Niou-kun." Iwasaki retorted.

was quiet. What did she say?

Iwasaki went to Niou and smiled at him. "We haven't seen each other for a while, Niou-kun."

Niou was smiling emptily at her. "Well, it's because we're not together anymore. What's the sense of seeing each other after what happened, right?"

The ebony-haired girl made a face, but managed to let out a smirk from her thin lips. "That's pretty rude of you, Niou-kun. Why don't we leave this place and go around the campus?" Before Niou could ever answer, he found himself being dragged by Iwasaki away from the Home Economics club booth. He saw 's face full of confusion, and Niou wondered, almost helplessly, if his real date was going to even try to do something about the whole situation.

**********

watched as her senpai and fellow club member, Iwasaki Sumire pull her date, Niou Masaharu, away from her. For a while, she tried to think, absorbing everything.

Okay, so Iwasaki's there already, so that means she is not sick. But because she's not sick, I am not supposed to be there anymore as Iwasaki-san should continue her work as the club's usherette despite of Takagi's absence. So why on earth am I standing here, wearing an utterly stupid costume and Iwasaki-san taking my annoying-yet-cute date away?

It took her a while to process everything, but when she understood what had just taken place, felt her blood boiling within her.

"Just what the heck was she thinking?!" She screamed, and people were looking at her. She could care less. She could not believe how stupid she was, but she wasn't going to let Iwasaki completely take over her date. No way. Iwasaki had to deal with first.

looked around, her eyes searching for something, until her attention landed on the takoyaki booth managed by the soccer team. She went there and noticed a ball on the chair behind the kiosk. approached the guys who were serving at the booth.

"Excuse me; are you going to use that?" She pointed at the ball.

One of the boys shook his head. "Not right now. Why?"

"Can I borrow it for a minute? I'll return it later."

The boys complied, and happily took the ball, giving them her thanks. Ignoring the call of the Home Economics club officers, she ran towards the direction where Iwasaki and Niou went.

**********

Oh yes Niou, this is such a great day. Niou quietly muttered as he found himself strolling around the school quadrangle with his former girlfriend, Iwasaki Sumire, who was hanging on his right arm. He didn't see this coming, really, and he was getting pissed. His respect for women in general was the only thing preventing him from telling the girl off.

Suddenly, Niou's cell phone vibrated from his pocket. Niou muttered a 'what now?' before answering it.

"Moshi Moshi."

"Niou-senpai! I have a problem!" It was the sophomore, Kirihara Akaya.

"Oh brother," Niou muttered to himself, as he quietly disentangled himself from Iwasaki (which at first was reluctant to let him go) and went near the soccer field.

"Okay, so what's with you calling me, Akaya?" Niou asked. For a minute, he listened to what the sophomore had to say. After hearing his teammate's story, Niou lost his patience.

"You did what?!"

"But I said I'm sorry already!" Kirihara said on the other line. In fact, the junior ace of the tennis team sounded upset. But Niou was already having some trouble of his own at the moment that he didn't think he was going to be able to take the role of a love doctor for Kirihara.

"Dammit, Akaya! You shouldn't have hurt her feelings in the first place! Look, just go find her and apologize. That's the only piece of advice that I can give you right now." Before Kirihara could even reply, Niou turned off his phone. He was about to escape Iwasaki's claws and go back to , when he saw a small crowd building up near where he left Iwasaki. He decided to check it out.

**********

"I told you to go back to the booth because we're dating!"

"Who told you that? You're supposed to do your job at the booth and now you're taking someone else's date!"

Niou Masaharu managed to squeeze himself in between groups of people. To his surprise, he saw Iwasaki Sumire with , who was still wearing her hotdog costume. They were having a shouting match in the middle of the quad.

"Oi, oi, just what the hell are you guys thinking?" Niou asked, as he tried to mediate between the two girls.

Iwasaki tried to hide behind Niou. "She's picking a fight! Disgusting."

was about to charge towards Iwasaki when Niou stopped her. "That's enough. Why don't we settle this, fair and square?" Niou then noticed the ball that was holding.

"How about dodgeball?"

"Are you serious? It's just the two of us." commented.

Niou smirked. "Well, I'll throw the ball, whoever gets hit first is out."

"That's a pretty stupid rule if you ask me. But ask Iwasaki if she's okay with it." glanced at the annoying girl behind Niou.

Iwasaki shook her head. "Why would I play a stupid game with an equally stupid girl? Besides, it's a ball game! I hate ball games."

Niou let out a triumphant smile. "Okay, that settles it. Iwasaki, you lose. wins this day."

"B-but wait a minute!" Iwasaki protested. However, Niou managed to pull 's hand right away and dragged the sophomore girl away from the location.

**********

"That's a stupid trick you pulled there, white-haired punk." commented as both of them managed to escape Iwasaki. Their feet carried them towards the back of school gym, a pretty secluded place advantageous to hiding themselves.

Instead of replying to 's statement, Niou Masaharu let out a very heartfelt laugh.

"What the hell are you laughing about?!" asked.

Niou tried to suppress his laugh, and then after a couple of seconds, answered her. "Nothing really. I just find it funny that you're still wearing that stupid costume."

looked down and saw that she was still indeed wearing her hotdog costume. She thought for a minute, and then slowly removed the huge thing off her, leaving her wearing only her cotton long-sleeved shirt and pants.

"Well, this ain't bad, I suppose." said, as she put the hotdog costume aside. She was surprised when Niou removed his dark-green ^[1] coat and put it on her shoulders.

"Wear it. The wind is still pretty cold around this time."

looked at the boy sitting in front of her and thanked him. She carefully put her arms inside the sleeves and wore Niou's coat. She again looked at the boy, now just in his white class uniform, and asked him.

"So, what are we going to do for today?"

Niou looked at her and without saying anything, pulled towards him and let her head rest on his chest. was surprised with his action, but sensing the warmth that was coming from him, she tried to settle down and enjoy the feeling.

There were so many things that they had to say to each other, but right now, sensing each other's presence was enough for them to know that things were going to be all right, later on. One thing they knew for sure, the lottery did its job really well. Valentine's Day, they both smiled at the thought, was an absolute success.

##########

February 13, 2007
Written by: Megane-ko
Edited by: linchpin

^[1] I am not sure if the boys' winter uniform is black or dark green (like their necktie), so I just put dark green (although I think it's black, but whatever).