Author's note: You might need some vocabulary to clearly understand what's going on. So here we go:
- Motoki - Andrew's Japanese name
- hai - yes
- nani - what
- daijoubu desu - I'm all right/fine/ok
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"Animania" or " an evening with consequences"
"Come on buddy, join us tonight," Andrew pleaded. "It surely will be fun and all five girls will be here too." Darien rolled his eyes. "Andrew, please tell me what is so fascinating about anime that you have to waste a whole evening watching one after the other? Besides I have an assignment due to the end of next week. It's a really important and long essay and I should work on that…" "Oh my God!" Serena exclaimed and caught him off. "It is Saturday afternoon and the only thing you think about is school? I can't believe it! You know what Darien? You desperately need a social life!" He shot the blond who stood next to him a dark glare. "What do you know Meatball Head! At least I have good grades and don't fail every test!" he shot back. "You are such a jerk Darien! Anyway you really should come to our anime night. That is far better than sitting at home alone and studying. Boy, you have a whole week to do this stupid assignment. And apart from that, if you come here tonight and pretend to have fun you could accidentally have some." Serena gave him her sweetest smile and left the counter to join her friends before he could reply anything to her last comment.
Instead Darien groaned in annoyance and stared grimly into his coffee. "You know pal, she is right," Andrew said carefully, "you really should go out more often and have fun. You study and you work after class. I think such a break would be good for you. Just go out with us and have good time without thinking about school or work. Please come here tonight and join us for the anime marathon. Besides I really need you here! You won't leave your best friend alone with a bunch of teenage girls, will you?" he asked with puppy dog eyes. Darien sighed in defeat. "All right Andrew, you won. But I do it only because you are my friend and if I should survive this, you owe me one!" Andrew smiled thankfully at him. "Thank you so much Darien and don't worry you will have a great time. See you at 8pm then!" With that Andrew left the counter to take the orders from the guests who had arrived just a minute ago.
It literally had been an anime marathon and when they decided to go home it was three o' clock in the morning. So the boys had decided to walk the girls home and from Darien's point of view the night hadn't turned out as bad as he had thought in the afternoon. He had a few more verbal fights with Serena and the last one ended in a popcorn war between them but in the end everybody got involved in it. So while the rest of the group was chatting happily on the way home Darien followed them quietly, lost in his own thoughts. 'Maybe this time Andrew and my Meatball Head were right this afternoon. Maybe I should go out with them more often on weekends. I really had great fun tonight, something I didn't have for who knows how long. I really enjoyed every minute of it and that not only because of my dream girl.' The ebony-haired man was so deeply in thought about himself and his life that he recognized the light pole a second too late. He collided with it in full force and landed hard on his back. When the others turned around to him to see what had happened they couldn't help but giggle.
"The - I'm perfect in everything I do - Darien Shields didn't watch where he was going. And you call me a klutz." Serena said teasingly. While Darien shot the blonde a dark glare Andrew walked over to his friend trying to suppress his giggles. "Hey Darien, are you all right. I hope you haven't hit your head to hard." Darien just stared at him, confusion clouding his midnight-blue eyes. "Hey buddy, you look a bit pale. Are you ok?" Andrew asked again, the amused look on his face replaced by one of concern. "Nani?" Darien asked slightly confused but then remembered his friend's question and nodded slowly. "Hai, daijoubu desu." Andrew and the girls could only stare at him with a worried and questioning look on their faces. Finally Lita broke the silence. "He must have hit his head harder than it seemed." The others nodded in agreement.
"Girls, maybe it is better if I take Darien home immediately. He seems to be a little bit confused and is not acting like himself. Maybe he has a small shock or something like that." Andrew said and shot his friend another concerned look. "Could you walk home by yourselves or take a taxi? I really don't want to worry about your safety." " Sure thing Andrew. We can look after ourselves." Raye answered. "You guys can stay at my place tonight. That's closest from here and you can save the money for the taxi." "Thanks and good night girls! See you tomorrow in the arcade!" Andrew said and grabbed Darien's arm. "Come on pal, I'll take you home." "Hai, Motoki-kun," Darien murmured before he followed him slowly into the direction of his apartment.
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I hope you liked the first chapter. Please let me know what you think and stay tuned for the next chapter.