Disclaimer: SuperGALS! belongs to TV Tokyo and ADV Films and its characters were created by Mihona Fujii, not me.

Author's Notes: My good friend Missa got me totally hooked on this series. Unfortunately I've only seen the first eleven episodes. So if there's some stuff in here that doesn't jive with the later half of the series, that's why. The last two DVD's haven't even been released yet to my knowledge. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this! And if you've never heard of SuperGALS!, go buy it! It's fantabulous! And yes, I watch the dub...it's really good! The ADV voice actors rock!

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Life Could Be a Dream

by Kristen Elizabeth

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The streets of Shibuya were quiet. Too quiet.

On the morning of Hounan High School's graduation ceremonies, a pin could be heard dropping on one of the paved streets. Ran Kotobuki was graduating from high school and everyone had dropped what they were doing and come out to see the spectacle.

"It really is amazing," Aya Hoshino commented, looking around the gymnasium. It was already packed, and the ceremony wouldn't even start for another ten minutes.

"Yes," Miyu Yamazaki agreed, brushing a blond lock of hair behind her ear. "Ran probably doesn't even know half of the boys who've come to see her graduate."

"No, I meant that she's graduating at all."

"HEY!" Ran's red-streaked head appeared from around Miyu, a murderous expression on her face. "Shut it, Hoshino! God, you'd think it was, like, a miracle or something."

Aya's porcelain cheeks flushed pink. "I'm sorry, Ran. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. It's just that…"

"It almost didn't happen," Miyu finished up for her. "Miyu knows that Naka-teach almost didn't sign your diploma."

Ran turned her death glare onto her other best friend. "Do I have to smack down both you bitches?" Tossing her hair, she folded her arms across her uniform. "Besides, Naka-teach has always adored me. He's just never realized it."

Miyu lowered her voice and whispered to Aya, "He couldn't bear the thought of having her fall asleep in his class for another year." Aya smothered her giggle with one slender hand.

"I heard that!"

Anyone watching the trio of girls, and there were quite a lot who were, couldn't help but be struck by the picture they presented, even as they squabbled like children. Two blondes and a brunette, so much alike, yet so different. At eighteen, each girl was undeniably beautiful, but each in a different way.

Aya, whose long, black hair cascaded over her shoulders and back like a silk waterfall, had an intelligent, classy beauty that made her seem far older than her years. She spoke softly when she spoke at all, and despite the years she'd spent with the other two, her words were always polite and precise. Her smile was sweet without being sugary, and her eyes revealed depths in which a man could be lost.

Miyu, with her smooth cap of blond locks tipped in peachy-pink at the ends, possessed a quiet beauty that could have been labeled as cute if not for a tinge of melancholy. But appearances were deceiving. Although she appeared to be as fragile as a sakura leaf, anyone who truly knew Miyu knew that iron and fire coursed just below her delicate surface, and if riled, she was a force best left unchallenged.

And then there was Ran. The self-proclaimed, but undeniable, ruler of Shibuya. Japan's number one gal. With her honey-colored hair crimped, scrunched, and highlighted with a fashionable streak of red, her beauty came from her inexhaustible strength and spirit. There wasn't a boy who'd met Ran, save for one, who hadn't immediately joined her endless line of admirers.

That one boy was currently making his way into Hounan High School's gym, desperately trying to keep a low profile. But even if his private school uniform hadn't stuck out in the crowd, there was no way that Rei Otahata could have blended into any crowd. As the number one hottest high school guy in Tokyo for three years running, his handsome face had appeared in countless magazines and had hung over more girls' beds than some TV actors. It was all a waste of time as far as he was concerned. A big, fat waste of time…much like attending this ceremony.

He'd said as much to his best friend, Yuuya Asou, who was currently scanning the bleachers, searching out two seats. Yuuya, who'd never quite gotten enough votes to rise from his second place ranking in the hottest guy poll, was the one who'd wanted to come to Hounan's graduation, and he'd wanted to for one reason and one reason only. Her name was Ran Kotobuki.

"There! Look, they're even close to the gym floor," Yuuya declared, pointing to an empty place a few rows up. "We'll be able to see Ran…I mean, the girls really well!"

Rei shook his head. "Whatever. I'm just here."

"Where else were you going to go?" Yuuya asked him as they made their way to the seats. "We graduated yesterday."

"Then why are we still wearing these uniforms?"

His blond best friend paused. "Good question. Habit, I guess. I don't get you, Rei. Why wouldn't you want to see Aya graduate?"

"We've been on a few dates," Rei reminded him. "It's nothing serious."

"But it could be. If you'd just admit you've been crazy about her for years."

As they sat down, Rei sighed as though the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. "I never admit to anything. That way, nothing can be pinned on me."

"Yeah, that way nothing can happen to you either," Yuuya said. "Playing it safe isn't like you."

"I'm not playing it safe," his dark-haired friend replied, an edge present in his voice. "I just have no intention of tying myself to that sort of girl."

Yuuya frowned. "Aya's nothing like Ran, best friends or not." His expression grew dreamy. "Ran…"

"Here we go," Rei muttered. "If you're going to drool, could you please not get any on my pants?"

Down on the gym floor, Ran paused in her rant against her two best friends. With her typical split-second ability to redirect her attention, her gaze swung up towards the bleachers. "Aw, damnit! My whole family is here." Her eyes narrowed. "And no comments about how they're just as surprised that I'm graduating as everyone else, Miyu!"

But Miyu wasn't listening. Her focus was solely on the spot where Ran's family sat clustered together. In the middle of the tight-knit group of policemen and women (and junior detectives), the love of her life, who just happened to be Ran's older brother, sat looking tired, but oh-so handsome in his slightly wrinkled blue uniform. Her darling Yamato had filled in for another policeman the night before, and he'd been up for well over twenty-four hours. Yet there he was, at her graduation. Miyu let out a little sigh of happiness.

"You realize that big bro's going to crash, like, as soon as he closes his eyes for more than a second, right?" Ran nudged her friend. "He'll be totally useless at the kara-mara later."

"Miyu and Yamato aren't going to kara-mara," Miyu informed her.

Ran's expression nearly boiled over. "What? We've had this planned for weeks! I've given up a new set of nails *and* more octopus balls than I can count just to save up enough money to last all night long, and now you're backing out? That is so whack!"

"Maybe they want to spend some time alone, Ran," Aya suggested timidly. "I might do the same if…someone asked me out."

"Someone like Otahata?" Ran asked, a look of evil mischief quickly replacing the outrage on her face. Aya's cheeks turned positively red, giving the truth away. "You know what you should do? Just walk up to him and make him your boyfriend. There's no way he could turn you down!"

Miyu tore her eyes away from Yamato long enough to reprimand her friend. "Aya isn't as forward as you are, Ran."

"It's not forward. He should be honored that such a super gal wants him on her arm."

Aya looked down at her hands. "Rei could have any girl in Shibuya…no, any girl in Japan. I mean, he's been very nice to take me out before, but I don't expect anything more."

"That's just your problem, Aya," Ran complained. "You can't just sit around and wait for a guy to figure out what's up. If we all did that, nothing would ever happen! If Miyu had waited for big bro to kiss her, she might still be collecting stickers and making wishes!"

Miyu smiled. "Miyu waited as long as she could, but finally she simply had to make the moment happen. And it was so wonderful…"

"Yeah, yeah." Ran waved away the topic and the unpleasant image of her brother and best friend kissing. "Listen, tonight's the perfect opportunity for a little mission, Aya."

"A mission?" she repeated, warily.

"Operation Otahata," Ran declared, pulling at her chin like a mad scientist scheming up a fresh plot. "We'll make him admit he likes you if it kills us all!"

Aya gave Miyu a pleading look. "Are you sure you don't want to do kara-mara?"

Miyu shook her head, a secret smile still playing on her lips. "Tonight is just for Miyu and Yamato."

****

As soon as the ceremony was finished and each Hounan High student had received their diplomas and awards, Rei stood up to stretch his legs. People streamed down the bleachers, heading for the sons, daughters or friends. He had to admit that the lack of pomp and circumstance in the public school graduation had been refreshing. It had been a fond farewell to childhood, rather than the solemn marking of yet another milestone in one's educational career, like his own ceremony had been.

Yuuya seemed to agree with this. "I think it's great that everyone in their class got some sort of award. No one was left out."

"No one really stood out either," Rei said dryly. But that wasn't true. One person had stood out. Out of her entire class, Aya had received more academic achievement awards than anyone else. It seemed that even ditching cram school to hang in Shibuya with Ran and Miyu and devoting more time to herself than to her studies hadn't been able to diminish her natural intelligence.

Rei found himself searching her out in the crowd. He wanted to see her, wanted to remind himself of all the reasons why she wasn't his type and why it was good that they were just friends. But when he spotted her posing for pictures with her two blond friends, he suddenly forgot them all. Even when squeezed between Miyu and Ran, she was composed and serenely beautiful. Annoyance tugged at him. How was he supposed to keep his focus when she was always distracting him?

"Let's go congratulate them," Yuuya said, starting down the steps.

"You go." Rei slipped his hands into his pockets with cool detachment. "I'm heading out."

His friend groaned. "Come on, Rei! You know I can't just go up to Ran alone!"

"This could be the reason why, after nearly three years, you're still just 'second place' to her."

"That kinda hurt, Rei."

He felt a twinge of guilt, especially when he caught Yuuya's crestfallen expression. But he couldn't help it. He called things as he saw them. It was just his way. "Fine," he gave in. "Let's go."

After being stopped for a few photos and some autographs with some squealing gals-in-training, the guys finally reached the trio of friends. They were already surrounded by their families and a small flock of Ran's drooling admirers. Rei could almost feel Yuuya's mood dissipating. Sometimes he wanted to shake his friend and make him realize that the more he chased after Ran, the less likely she'd be to ever see him as anything more than a friend.

Ran's voice carried over the crowd. "Otahata! Second Place!" She waved them over. "You came!"

Aya, flanked on either side by her parents, glanced over at them. Her cheeks were pink, but it could have just been the heat of the gym. Rei cleared his throat and shrugged. "Well, we didn't have anything else to do. Everyone in Shibuya is here."

"Don't get all carried, Otahata." Ran rolled her eyes. "So, you and Second Place are still doing kara-mara with us tonight, aren't you?"

"Sure!" Yuuya replied with too much enthusiasm. "Maybe you and I can do a duet, Ran."

She pretended to think for a moment. Before she could reply, an arm snaked over her shoulders and an unmistakable voice replied for her, "Not 'til Machida Black has his duet. Oh yeah!"

It was Rei's turn to roll his eyes. Machida Black, or Tatsuki Kuroi as he was known to anyone who didn't buy into his showboy routine, had somehow managed to sneak up on them unnoticed. This was quite a feat for Ran's boyfriend, as he usually couldn't take two steps without doing something to attract attention. He fed off of attention, was a junkie for attention. From his bleached blond spiky hair and deep, fake tan, to his clothes that challenged even Ran's in their outrageousness and his para-para dance moves, he was all show. And all annoying.

Yuuya scowled. "I was asking Ran." Under his breath he added, "Dumbass."

But Ran just laughed and hugged Tatsuki. "How long have you been here?"

"Long enough to see you nab the excellence in gym award," he replied, pulling off a move that was sort of a jive rendition of running in place. "Run, run, Ran! That's my gal!"

"Yeah." Yuuya looked away. "Your gal."

Aya put a hand on the sleeve of Yuuya's black uniform. "I'll do a duet with you," she promised him.

His mood visibly lifted, but not by much. "Looking forward to it, Aya."

Although he knew she was simply being Aya, kind and considerate, Rei couldn't suppress a tiny spark of jealousy that flared up in the center of his chest. "Glad that's settled then," he noted, his tone sardonic.

"Now if we could only get my bro to give up his gooey night of romance with Miyu, we'd have everyone we need for a super-amazing night of fun!" Ran declared.

Yamato and Miyu joined them, holding hands. Ran's older brother looked tired, but happy. "Sorry, everyone," he apologized.

"You'll just have to settle for an amazing night of fun," Miyu added. Looking up at her boyfriend, she continued, "Sing a song for us." In a move that was considerably bold for him, Yamato lowered his head and gave her a soft kiss in front of everyone.

Ran stuck out her tongue. "Don't make me gag." Turning her attention to the rest of the group, she ordered, "Forget them. This is my graduation night, and it's going to be the best night ever!" Her fist shot into the air. "Who's with me?"

Tatsuki saluted. "As ever, Machida Black is ready to get down and boogie!"

Aya's smile was weak. "I'm with you, Ran."

Yuuya nodded shortly. "Count me in."

Rei gave one final sigh. "Like I have a choice." He glanced at his watch. It was barely five in the afternoon. It was going to be a very long night.

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To Be Continued