Kuwagata said:
-Charmy- Glad you could comment again. ^-^



Rika was unpacking her things in her new room; her room for a whole month. It was an apartment by their company for those employees who came from far prefectures. Her father arranged everything before she went in there. There was a 42 inch HD television coupled with large speakers and a DVD player; a black leather couch and a sophisticated center table in the living room area. The refrigerator was filled with different kinds of foods and drinks. There’s also a gallon of vanilla ice cream on the freezer. Her room was the best room that she had on her trips. Her queen sized bed was as soft as her real bed at home. The pillows were made from synthetic fibers, which were as soft as cotton or feathers, without her worrying to have an asthma attack. The bed sheets used were as smooth as silk but its thick enough to withstand the cold air given off by the air conditioner.
Rika sat on one side of the bed and got her cell phone. She smiled at the cute pink accessory hanging at the side of it. As she predicted, Ayumi treated her to a restaurant and gave the accessory for commenting on someone’s work besides her. She typed a mail; one for her father and the other to Ayumi telling that she arrived safely at the new place. She opened her laptop and checked whether there’s something new about her favorite group, the ‘Three-Tums’, and to check if there’s a new fanfic on the forum.
She spent a full hour browsing the web, downloading new videos and reading new fics. She was getting hungry for it’s almost noon but before she decided to go downstairs, she checked whether her favorite writer has updated her fic. And she did. She was happy to see a new post entitled ‘chapter 2 but before reading it, she checked the comment’s page on her previous post. There was a reply.
Kuwagata said:
Thank you for ‘secretly’ following me all this time. I’m glad that you’ve come out of your shell. And about your request, I’ve already uploaded the next chapter. I hope you will comment again.
Rika smiled as she read the reply. She clicked the back button and opened another window. She went to a site of her favorite group to download new videos while she was reading the new chapter.

………………………..
Chapter 2:
“You’re going to play again? I’ll not let you go until you’ve eaten your dinner.” Eri’s auntie said as she saw the two coming down the stairs holding a basketball. She laid her painting tools on a table, removed her apron and went to the kitchen to prepare their dinner.
“Of course we’ll eat first! I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast.” Eri laughed. He put the ball on their couch and went to the kitchen to help her aunt. Sayumi considered Eri’s house as her second home so she also helped in preparing dinner. When all was settled, the three of them sat on the dining table. They stayed for thirty minute in the table because they enjoyed their conversation. Sayumi was telling them that she was picked as the muse of their section for the coming Sports Festival in their school. Eri got excited over the news that she was choked because of eating and squealing with joy at the same time. When the meal was over, Eri picked up the ball and their bags before opening the door.

“We’re going out now!”

“Ok, take care! The sun will rise at 5 in the morning. Be sure that you’re here by then.”

“Don’t worry aunt Kaori, I’ll make sure she gets home safely.” Sayumi reassured. Eri pulled her friend out of the house and they head towards the court. The two played a game; the most number of shots made at the free-throw line within 60 seconds, wins. And 5 seconds before the time expired, Eri’s shot went into the basket, tying her score with Sayumi. All she needed now was another shot to be declared as a winner. But her concentration was destroyed when she saw a familiar person walking on the other side of the street.

“3….. 2….. 1! Time’s up!!” Sayumi screamed. Eri hasn’t thrown the ball on the basket. She stayed there, motionless for a couple of seconds. “Earth to Eri! Don’t worry about it; at least we’re tied right?”

“Hold this for a while.” Eri gave the ball to Sayumi and ran outside to chase the girl.

“Hey! Where are you going? Wait for me!” Sayumi got their bags on the bench and ran after her fleeing friend.

A girl wearing a uniform, with a yellow cap, was oblivious that someone was running after her. She was listening to her iPod when Eri tackled her on the ground.

“Itai… hey, would you watch where…”

“Kamei Eri desu!” Eri said energetically. The other girl was bewildered over her sudden outburst.

“Huh?!?”

“My name’s Kamei Eri.”

“So?” The girl retorted. She was slowly getting irritated by this girl.

“You can call me Eri… or Eririn. I don’t mind at all.”

“Look …” The girl glared at Eri. She didn’t know what to do; whether to call the police to help her, or to help this girl who looked like she just escaped from a mental asylum.

“My favourite colors are pink, gray and white… My favourite foods are spaghetti and yogurt… not spaghetti WITH yogurt.. that taste’s bad” The girl didn’t have a time to say anything for Eri always interrupts her.

“Ma…matte..”

“I want to become your friend!”

“Eh?!? Nani?” The girl’s eyes opened wide. This ‘crazy’ girl just popped up out in the blue, and now she’s asking to be her friend.

“I want to become your friend!”

“Cho… chotto matte…”

“My hobby is reading books and I’m good at running… my favourite sport is basketball. I want to be your friend…”

“Sumimasen… I’m sorry about that… we’re going now.” Sayumi appeared from behind and apologized to the girl. She pulled her friend away.

“Sayu! What are you doing?!”

“That should be my line. Why did you attack that girl?

“I’m not attacking her, I was introducing myself!”

“Yeah, you’re just introducing yourself.” Sayumi stopped pulling Eri and faced her. She tried to imitate Eri. “My favourite foods are spaghetti and yogurt… not spaghetti WITH yogurt.. that taste’s bad” Sayumi reverted to her old self. “That’s so lame, you know that?”

Eri watched her friend imitating her. She just realized how stupid she looked in front of that girl. “I look stupid…. WAAAHHH!!!! WHY DID I DO THAT?!? Why didn’t you stopped me earlier?!?”

“Baka! You’re a fast runner! I had a hard time catching up with you.”

“But why did you hear what I’ve said?”

“Because you’re so loud when you become overjoyed with something!” Eri was stunned. Sayumi sure knew a lot about her; even the things that she didn’t know about herself. She has been her friend for 6 years now, make that her ‘only’ friend ever since coming to her aunt’s house in the Yamaguchi prefecture. Sayumi looked at her seriously.

“I was a little bit jealous over there.”


TBC


………………….
Charmy: KYAAAHHHH!!!! Your version’s so cool! (biased, LOL) I like the part where Eri enumerated her favorite foods. Your ‘spaghetti with yogurt’ made me roll on the floor. It looks like there’s a KameShige hint in there. Hmmm, now, I have no idea what you will do on the next chapter. I’m getting excited over your next update… TanaKamei ROCKS!!!
I ‘did’ comment again… XD
Rika proceeded with her unpacking after lunch, while downloading new videos and stuffs. Her room has a broadband connection so she’s ‘exploiting’ her new laptop for her old one just broke down two months ago. She didn’t throw or sell it to a recycling center but she kept it in her room because of its sentimental value. She received her first laptop from her dad when she was a freshman in high school. It’s larger and heavier than her current laptop and it doesn’t have ‘Wi-Fi’ access yet, but thankfully, it’s equipped with a modem that lets her browse the internet. Thus, her ‘fan-girling’ progressed, with the help of Ayumi of course. She has a locked cabinet inside her room. It contains hundreds of concert DVD’s of various artists and Anime series along with her backup data DVD for her downloads in the net. And now that she will be gone for a month, she brought at least 10 blank DVD’s for all downloads she will do while staying in Saitama.
She burned the recent J-drama where the main characters are the ‘Three-Tums’. She prepared some snacks before watching what she downloaded on the DVD. The series lasted for six hours so it’s already dinner time when she rose from the couch. She haven’t read the description of the series (a thing she always did whenever she downloaded something that has to do with her favorite groups) so she was shocked that its story revolved on a group of five girls gifted with psychic abilities. She learned that aside from ‘Three-Tums’, Ai Takahashi and Risa Niigaki of ‘Futari’ were there also, and all of them gave her a ‘nice’ time screaming her heart out. If it weren’t for the sound proof wall, then her neighbors might have already knocked on her door to check why she’s screaming.
And that’s how she spent her first day in Saitama. About her first ‘working’ day, due to her inability to sleep the night before because of the terror that the series gave her, her usual arriving time at the office, which is 20 minutes before the time, was reduced to 5 minutes. She had to literally imitate ‘The Flash’ to get there on time. She was greeted with respect as soon as she came inside their office.
“Good morning Ms. Ishikawa, welcome to our branch!” A man wearing the usual office tuxedo appeared from a corner and greeted her. She knew this man from the annual year-end meeting set by her father. The success of this branch was partly because of him and the kind of work management he’s implying.
“Good morning too, Mr. Nishida! I’ve seen last month’s sales report and I want to congratulate you for being the highest earning branch again. You have good policies and great workers.” Rika extended her hand and congratulated the president of the Saitama branch, who is only 5 years older than her father.
“But the best one is still the main branch, and I guess, that’s because you and your father are really good in handling people and managing the company. I’m really honored that you will stay here for a month, even though you’re here like a trainee.” The man smiled. Whenever there’s a meeting on the main branch, he always makes it a point to talk with Rika. He was intrigued at first when he learned that a high school student was the reason why the main branch was doing well in the market. The moment Rika first spoke in the 1st quarter meeting years ago, he was awed by her ingenuity and superb logical thinking to find a suitable solution to the problems presented, that even some of them thought it’s impossible at first. From that moment he respected the girl and made it a point to talk with her whenever possible. He considered her his daughter too.

“So, shall we start our orientation?”

…………………..
Mr. Nishida started the day by introducing Rika to each department heads and their staffs. He also explained the rules and regulations of their branch. It was Rika’s turn to be impressed for they were following the Theory Z; one of the theories of management where the management integrates the positive features of Japanese and American firms. The rest of their branches, including the main branch is following the ‘Scientific Management of Taylor’ where the management determines the best way to perform the needed tasks and what are the job outputs to be expected. Also, they get the best person for each task and further train him to do the job properly. Even though they have a different type of management, they can still follow the mission and vision of the company.

When lunch break came, Mr. Nishida treated Rika on their cafeteria. Even though its break time, they were still discussing things related to their work; from the SWOT Analysis, to the business plans. At the back of Rika’s mind, she was somewhat sad. Sad that her break time was still used in work. That her precious ‘on-line’ time was taken away from her.

“I’m going to show you your own office where you will stay for the month.”

“Ehh? I have my own room here? But I thought I was just a trainee?” Rika joked. She knew that her father or even Mr. Nishida wouldn’t allow her to share with someone else’s room. After all, she was still the COO of the Ishikawa Group of Companies.

“Hahaha, of course you do. You’ll still do your paper works and stuffs while following our policies and most of the time, you’ll be a spectator on how we do things here. Now, let’s go.” Mr. Nishida brought Rika to a small room. It’s a normal office room; a table with two chairs in front and a couch near the door. There’s also a computer on one side of the room coupled with a 4-in-1 device with printer, scanner, copier and fax machine. It’s a lot smaller than her real office where she had a private kitchen and a restroom.

“It’s not as cozy as your office…”

“But it has the basic things I need for my work. It’s alright with me. Thank you.” Rika cut in. Mr. Nishida smiled and walked back towards the door.

“Your secretary will come when the break’s over. She will notify you about the schedules and what you will do here.”

“Hai, arigatou.” Rika sat on her chair when Mr. Nishida closed the door. Because she was in a hurry earlier, she forgot to bring her precious laptop. She looked over the computer longingly.

“No! Bad idea… That computer is for office work only! I won’t fall over this temptation!”

Rika browsed some papers over her table. She was having a hard time understanding what she read because that TanaKamei fic that she read last night was plaguing her mind. She thought of possible things that will happen in the next chapter; one version was TanaKamei and the other, KameShige. She was so into her world that she didn’t notice that someone was inside her room.

“Ano… good afternoon Ms. Ishikawa.” Rika blinked many times at the short-haired girl in front of her. “Are you feeling well?”

At that Rika ‘awoke’ from her fantasy. “Ahhh… good afternoon. Sorry, I didn’t notice you. How can I help you?”

“I’m Yaguchi Mari, your secretary.” The girl smiled.

“Oh, is that so? Mr. Nishida said that you will orient me with the schedules and other things.”

“Hai, I’ve brought your schedule here.”

Mari picked up her notebook and enumerated to Rika her schedule for the rest of the day. She also instructed Rika to push the number 1 button in the intercom if she wanted to contact her. Rika learned that she needed to attend the three o’ clock meeting. They finished the ‘briefing’ at around 2:30 in the afternoon. She stood up and went to the meeting room. There’s a large oval table in the middle. At the other end of the room, there’s a podium with microphone and a white board that can also serve as a ‘screen’ for the projector. She sat in one of the chairs but immediately stood up when she heard the door open. She saw a blond-haired girl enter the room.

“Good afternoon.” Rika said enthusiastically. The girl stared at her for a moment before nodding.
“She didn’t probably know me. I didn’t see her earlier.”

The girl sat on the opposite side of Rika. She was silent all the while. Rika wanted to speak with her but it seems that the girl was thinking something and didn’t want to be bothered. At last, Mr. Nishida came.

“Yoshizawa-san, I’m glad you can make it to the meeting.”

“I made sure that I will finish my business trip before lunch time.” The girl replied. Rika looked back and forth towards the girl and Mr. Nishida.

“Oh, by the way, this is Ms. Yoshizawa Hitomi, our Chief Marketing and Sales Manager. She’s your version here” Mr. Nishida winked at Rika. She understood it.

“So, she’s the reason that this company is doing really well.”

“Glad to meet you.” Rika said and extended her hand for a hand shake. “I’m Ishikawa Rika from the main branch, I’ll be staying here for a month.” Just saying her surname made the girl’s eyes widen from shock. There are only to Ishikawa’s managing the company; her father, the President and the overall chief executive officer of their company and her, the chief operating officer.

“Gla... glad to meet you to.”

The meeting started at exactly three and ended at exactly five. Nothing much happened during that meeting except that Hitomi can’t look straight at her face whenever she’s saying anything. “It must have been quite a shock to her. She didn’t greet me formally when she first entered.” Rika smiled to herself.

When she entered her apartment, the first that she did was to eat her dinner. Then, she opened her laptop and checked whether there’s a new chapter on that ‘Taiyou no Uta’ version of Three-Tums. There’s no update yet, but a lot of people have commented on it.

Eri_S.L.A.V.E. said:

A NEW UPDATE!!!! Yey! Glad you decided to write a KameShige fic! Please do continue it! Eri and Sayu is my OTP!!!!XD

Elevator_Party said:
A yellow cap? Hmmm, is that the cap Reina wore on their Resonant Blue PV where it has ‘Destinys Heartful’ written on it? XD
Sayu’s jealous… She should yell ‘Help Me’ right now. LOL

NiNi said
I have other version in my mind…LOL
Eri: *tackles Reina on the ground* I’m Kamei Eri from Team-Kamei San!”
Reina: “LOOK WHERE YOU’RE WALKIN’, DAMMIT!”
Eri: *runs away*

Kuwagata said:
-Charmy- Glad you could comment again. ^-^

-Eri_S.L.A.V.E. – I also included in my tags that it’s TanaKamei. I won’t tell whether there’s a twist or not. Just continue reading it. ^-^

- Elevator_Party- Yes, I’m glad you noticed it too.

-NiNi- That’s a good one. You based it on their ‘Yankee Crouching Battle' in Maiido Arii right?

Rika laughed at one of the comments given. She also watched that show and she squealed with delight as Reina bumped into Eri during their ‘dance’ routine. Another TanaKamei hint for her.