Screaming Siopao: This is my third Gals! fanfic. Rei and Aya are SO out of character here that I might as well make this an AU story. This fic is actually based on a manga I tried to compose, but it was taking much too long to draw up so I figured that writing it would take much quicker. (: It'd be awesome if I could make this into a real manga or anime someday, though!

By the way, this story is written in first person, which will be in Aya's point of view. We'll see if I play around with the POV as the story progresses.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gals! or its characters, but the story plot is originally mine.

A Wishful Blossom

Chapter One - Irresistible

By: Screaming Siopao

"What? A light?" I said to myself as I squinted my eyes. I was traveling through some sort of dim tunnel. Really, I didn't quite know where I was. But, I just kept on walking into the unknown, anyway. Ahead of me, there was a glowing figure that radiantly shone. I became quite attracted to it, actually. It was like I couldn't help my feet from walking towards it. Also, my natural born curiosity always did get the better of me. I kept on walking and walking; it seemed like the walk almost went on for forever. It was like a never-ending journey towards that figure, it seemed.

The figure actually looked like… a man. Each step I made towards him clarified his physical features bit by bit. He looked quite familiar, actually. If only I could just get a closer look…

Suddenly, I was already running. I hadn't even noticed that my feet had picked up the pace. It felt like I was flying! Never have I ran this fast before. It felt invigorating; almost like I was invincible.

I slowed down to a stop so that I could have a chance to catch my breath. I was a few feet from the figure, and I could see his face almost perfectly now. He had dark brown hair, almost black. He looked a bit tired and he was still in his pajamas…

Wait. No…

"D-Dad?" I gasped. It couldn't be.

"Yes, angel," he responded calmly as he flashed me a smile that caused the skin around his eyes to wrinkle.

"B-But, daddy. Why are you here?" I asked. "You… You're dead," I stated, shaking. "You're still even in the pajamas you died in…"

"Look at you now," my father said in awe. "So big and grown up."

"Yes, dad," I whispered in sadness. "It's been three years. Why… how are you here?"

"Silly girl," he smirked. "I'm always here. Always."

"But…" I said sadly. You're gone, dad. You're gone.

"Aya?" he said.

"Y-Yes?"

"Aya…" he repeated my name.

"Yes, I'm here."

"Aya!"

"Dad, why do you keep saying my name?" I cried as I clung onto his arm. "Dad? Dad…"

"Hello! Aya!" I heard a womanly voice call out through my dad's mouth. Someone was also roughly shaking my shoulder.

"Daddy!" I screamed as I plunged straight into the air. I immediately opened my eyes and smelled the aroma of chocolate chip waffles in the air. I realized right away that I was on my bed, in my room.

Wait, what? That was all a dream? I looked over to the left side of my bed-- Mom was there with her hand placed on my shoulder. Well, that would explain the shoulder shaking. And the repetition of my name, too. She was probably calling my name to wake me up; it wasn't my dad after all. My dream and reality mixed.

"Aya, dear," my mom said. "You were having a dream about your father again, weren't you?"

"Yeah," I sighed. "You could tell?" She chuckled at my question.

"Well, you only said his name aloud about three times."

"Oh."

"I miss him too, Aya, but we both have to be strong," she told me. "I know it's been three years already, and it's still hard to adjust to just the two of us. But, I know you can do it, baby. You're a strong girl. After all, you are seventeen, now."

"Yeah. Thanks mom," I said. "Love you." She kissed my forehead and told me the same.

"Now, go get some breakfast and get ready for class," she said.

"Ugh," I complained. "Do I have to?"

She shot me a look that sort of said, "Get your butt out of bed or so God help me…"

I groaned. "Fine, fine."

"I'll see you later," she bade as she got up and walked out of my room. "Have a good day in school."

Ugh… School.

I completely dreaded it. Why? Because school thrived with the male population, whom I am not a big fan of.

First off, men only left you. I found this out when my father overdosed when I was only fourteen years old, just about three years ago. It was unintentional; don't get me wrong. I know my dad wasn't suicidal. But, he was still taken away from me and mom. I know he didn't mean to leave me, but it still hurt. A lot.

Also, men only hurt you. An example? I found this out the harsh way when my middle school crush ripped up the confession I sent him and laughed about it with his friends.

That was my first and last crush.

Okay, so I was short, quirky, and kind of nerdy-looking back then with my thick rimmed glasses and perpetually ruined hair… but he didn't have to be so cruel. Guys could be such insensitive jerks, you know?

I brushed away these bitter thoughts away and reluctantly got out of bed so I could head for the bathroom to wash up. By this time, mom was already out of the door and headed for work. She had double shift today… again. I got undressed out of my pajamas to put on my uniform. I slipped on my pleated skirt and threw on my loose white socks. As I buttoned up my top, I headed down the flight of stairs to the kitchen. I grabbed a waffle and a newly shipped novel of mine as I walked out of the house, while locking the door, of course.

As I walked to school, I bumped into some friends-- Rie and Satsuki. They were excitedly talking about their new manicures and spa treatments for their skin. That is, until the popular class president Rei Otohata, from my homeroom, and a bunch of his groupies passed by. I heard him talking about some prestigious award he got, or something. What a boaster.

"Oh, my gosh!" Rie squealed. "It's Otohata!"

"Isn't he just so, uber cool?" Satsuki screeched. "He's perfect!"

"I'm going to go up to him and talk to him. Maybe he'll notice my brightened skin!" Rie said as she ran towards Rei's group.

"You coming?" Satsuki asked.

"I'd rather not," I declined, totally apathetic.

"Aya! You can't stay away from men forever!" she told me.

"Wanna bet?" I asked.

"Suit yourself," she said and left me behind so she could join Rie.

I saw Otohata look back at me, as if he was wondering why I hadn't joined his group as well. That's right, pretty boy, I won't sink down to other girls' levels and worship you, as if you were some sort of god. Gag me.

I walked up to the entrance of the high school by myself. Hounan High. Yup. This was my school. It was chalk full of trendy gals and, unfortunately, guys. My mom didn't like the idea of an all-girls school, and believed that I need a little diversity in my learning environment.

As I resumed my walk up to the entrance, I suddenly saw a skateboard roll right in front of me from the corner of my eye. Crap. Too late.

I stepped on it and I, the klutz that I am, fell forward. Behind me, I heard hoots, laughs, and wild banter.

"Nice panties," a second year boy teased. One of his other friends laughed insanely.

"Froggies," another guy laughed. "Cute."

Another reason why I hated men? They were perverts to the extreme.

I blushed madly and tried not to pay any attention to them as I gathered my things. This has happened to me at least once or twice before. I couldn't believe that I could be so vulnerable to these pathetic men. I was better than they were. I was definitely smarter than these dimwits, that was for sure. If only I wasn't so timid… then I would totally show these guys a lesson.

"Oi," another guy, not part of the group of pranksters, walked up to the incident and said. "You guys shouldn't be mistreating a young lady like this."

What? Someone was… sticking up for me? I looked up through my tousled hair and saw a tall figure with raven hair. Also, his voice sounded pretty familiar. There was no mistake that this was Rei Otohata. Ugh, why him? He just had to display a phony, heroic feat in front of the student body, huh? His groupies were even watching closeby… Great.

"What are you going to do about it?" one of them asked.

"Well, I could always report you all for your unruly conduct, and bringing that," he eyed the skateboard, "to campus grounds and disrupting other students. I'm sure the faculty would favor my side. After all, I am class president."

Ugh, what a conceited person. He sure loves to hear himself talk.

The three students all scoffed, but went their separate ways anyway. They obviously felt a bit threatened. As they distanced themselves from my location, Otohata turned to me and held out his hand.

"Are you okay, Hoshino?" he asked me delicately. I looked up to face him and immediately felt hot blood race across my cheeks. That face! No wonder he was so popular. He was utterly gorgeous.

"I-I was fine before you got here," I said, trying to hide my blushing face. Your smooth tricks probably worked on the entire girl population, but I refused to let them get to me. "I appreciate your help, but I don't really need it. I'm perfectly capable."

I got up, gathered all of my dropped books, and fixed my skirt. I looked at my hands and legs, which were pretty scratched up from my fall. I guess that I'd have to make a quick trip to the girls' room. I then briskly headed in towards the building with my head down, totally disregarding Rei Otohata. It was best to avoid eye contact during times like these. I felt rude for just brushing him off like that, but there was no way I was going to let him see my face.

o0o0o0o

I was alone in the bathroom, thank God.

My hands… were trembling. I guess I got a bit shaken from the incident. No worries. Just walk into class and act natural, right? No one needed to know about what happened. That Otohata better had not gone and blabbered to the whole class about it… That would be humiliating. I would hate him even more if he just told one single person.

I washed up my hands and wiped my legs, removing all the gravel and dirt. I quickly rinsed my face to freshen up a bit. The morning bell rang.

Shoot. I'd better hurry.

When I entered my classroom, I saw Miyuu and Ran, my two best friends.

"Aya!" Miyuu exclaimed. "There's a cut on your knee!"

"What?" I said as I looked down. Oh, woops, I must have missed that in the bathroom. "I-It's nothing. I'm fine."

"Mou, Aya, can't you be more careful?" Ran complained. "We can't always look after you like a little sis, you know."

I giggled. I was sort of like the little sister amongst my friends, wasn't I? I sort of liked that. It made me feel safe. I always wanted older siblings, anyway.

"Yes, I know," I said. "Sorry, I'll try to watch where I'm walking." I couldn't tell them boys were messing with me again. Ran would flip out and kill them all, most likely. She was very over-protective and always had a temper; those two things didn't really go well with one another, if you were Ran Kotobuki.

I sat on a desk and took out my new book that I had been anticipating to read for some time now. I opened to chapter one and began reading the first few lines.

"Nerd," I heard Ran mutter under her breath. I gave her a glare; a playful one, of course. This was the way we bantered with each other.

"Kotobuki!" Nakanishi-sensei yelled as he entered the room.

"What's up, Naka-sen?" Ran responded.

"Office. Now," he demanded. Ran groaned.

"Not again! I swear, I didn't do whatever I'm being blamed for. It was the aliens!" she lied as she walked out of the door.

"Can it, Kotobuki!" I heard Nakanishi-sensei say as they were walking down the hallway.

"Oh, that Ran," Miyuu sighed. "She's hopeless." I giggled at this. Ran always did get into trouble, but she was still a great, bubbly friend. In a way, I envied her. She was outgoing, athletic, and funny. I was studious, ambitious, and timid. We sort of complimented each other, I supposed-- of course, I'd be the more responsible counterpart.

From Miyuu's bag, I heard a little jingle play. She reached into her bag, smiled at the caller ID, and answered her cell phone.

"Hello, Yamato-kun!" she chirped as she got up from her chair. "Yes, Miyuu had breakfast…" she continued as she gave me a face that signaled she wanted to go to a more private place. Yamato was Ran's older brother, and Miyuu's boyfriend. I motioned for her to go, and with that, she left the noisy homeroom. I could understand why she wanted to leave. In the corner of the room, there was a bit of a commotion going on. A crowd, about a third of the classroom's population, was spread around one single person sitting at a desk. I peered over my book to see what all the ruckus was about.

"Yeah, and so the hitter didn't have a chance," said the voice of the person who was in the center of all the attention. "I struck him out; piece of cake. I thought he'd be a more worthy competitor, really. Guess no one's a match for me, huh?" The crowd cheered and hooted at this.

"You're totally my idol!" a male student said in awe.

"Yeah, I wish I was an MVP like you," another guy said, obviously jealous.

"Yup, I even received this medal," the so-called "MVP" showed off. The crowd became even more impressed and began congratulating him, and such. "This thing is proof that I'm one amongst the elite."

I didn't have to think long about it to know who was at the center of all that unnecessary attention.

Rei Otohata.

What else was new?

Another reason why I despised the male sex: they were obnoxious show-offs.

"You're so amazing," I heard an annoying gal say. "I would be so lucky to have you as my boyfriend." She sounded like the type of girl who would get her hands on anyone with a notable title. She looked like one, too. Woops, Aya, stop criticizing. Concentrate on your reading!

At that second, Rei looked over to where I was sitting and our eyes met for one split second. I shot my eyes back into the pages of my novel.

Dangit, he saw you staring, Aya! Just go back to your book, already! It's bad enough that we ran into each other this morning! Okay, so chapter one…

"Well, sorry, ladies," Rei nonchalantly apologized to the sea of women congregated around his desk. "But, I've got my eyes set on someone else already."

"Aw, really?" another girl said with an envious tone. "Who?"

"Let's just say, she's quite an interesting girl," he said with a playful, yet mysterious grin.

o0o0o0o

Ah, lunchtime. I always loved it, because this was my own private time. Miyuu and Ran were my best friends and all, but I really liked to spend this time on my own. I always picked to sit under the same cherry blossom tree in the front courtyard-- it was my absolute favorite place to be.

Today, I had a simple meal of unagi rolls and onigiri, with some cookies for dessert. I also had that book I was reading from homeroom.

"Chapter two," I began. As I read on, a few petals gently fell on the pages. I always did love cherry blossom season-- it was so calming. I inhaled the sweet and simple scent of the blossoms and suddenly felt like I was a child again. My dad would always take me and my mom to see the cherry blossoms at around this time. I guess this was why I always picked this spot to eat lunch; it made me feel so nostalgic…

"Hey!" a voice from behind me boomed. At this, I almost dropped my entire bento box in shock.

"What? Who's there?" I asked, a bit shaken. No one usually came around here except for me. The person popped out from behind the tree and exposed himself.

"Just me," Rei Otohata said. Ugh, not this guy again. Was he following me or something?

"Look," I said, not making one second of eye contact with him. "I know you must be looking for some sort of payback from earlier, but I really don't have any money, so…"

"What?" he said in mild surprise. "I don't need payback. I just wanted to personally ask if you were okay, in private."

"I told you before, Otohata-san," I said looking at my book the entire time. "I'm fine."

"Geez, just call me Rei. You don't have to be so polite."

"Okay, Rei-san," I responded. He rolled his eyes.

"Well, I don't think you are fine, because there's a cut on your knee."

"What?" I said looking at it. "That's nothing at all. I totally forgot that was even there."

"If you don't properly clean and cover it, it could get infected."

"But it's nothing, really. I--"

"Good thing I have this sanitary wipe and a bandage!" he exclaimed proudly.

"What?" I said, a bit baffled. "Do you always carry those around?"

"No, I stopped by the Nurse's office before I came here. I heard from your friend earlier in class that you had an injury."

"Oh," I whispered as he quickly tended to my knee.

Why did this guy care so much for my little scratch? Wasn't he just some self-centered egotist? Shouldn't he be in class bragging about another medal he got, or something?

"You…" I began, still staring down at the book on my lap, never veering my eyes away from it. "You didn't tell anyone, did you?"

"About this morning?" he asked. "Of course not. If you're worried about me doing something like that, then you must really think of me as a low person."

Well, I did, admittedly.

"You know," he spoke as he finished treating my cut. "It's okay for you to look me in the eye," he said as he swiftly took his index finger and lifted my chin upwards, forcing me to look away from my book and stare at his oh, so beautiful face.

I gulped.

"You act so distant, Hoshino. You're not like other girls, but you're interesting. You're none like I've ever met before. You're always hiding your face from me," he mentioned softly. His eyes stared intently into mine. I've honestly never seen, or heard, him this serious before. "You know, I really wish that you would smile at me, like you do around your friends."

"W-Why?"

"Because… your smile is capable of brightening up an entire room."

I instantaneously blushed, and shook myself away from his touch. It was driving me insane.

"Maybe you should get going," I suggested as I looked back down at my book. "Wouldn't your girlfriend get upset if she saw you here with me like this?" He just laughed at my question.

"I don't have a girlfriend," he stated plainly.

"Oh. I just assumed, since you're so popular and all…"

"For a smart girl, Hoshino, you're pretty naïve," Rei teased.

"What? Excuse me, but I--"

"Just kidding," he said as he reached out and patted my head.

Again, I blushed at his touch.

"I'll let you finish your book. Must be interesting since you seemed to have stared at it the whole time I was here," he said as he got up and began walking towards the building. "See ya," he bade with a dazzling smile and a wink.

My heart skipped a beat.

Another reason why I couldn't stand guys? Well, even though I tried to avoid them as much as possible, this one was just downright irresistible.

Ugh, my mind was in a pathetic haze. I looked at the pages of my book and, suddenly, the words meant absolutely nothing.

I would never get to finish this book as long as that boy was on my mind, would I?

A Wishful Blossom

Chapter One - Irresistible: End.

Screaming Siopao: Well, stay tuned to see what happens to our male-loathing Aya-ppe and flirty Otochi. Please leave your reviews, so I know whether to continue this or not. (: