I'm stressed again with the budget meeting and stuff... so many numbers but I noticed that when I'm at the peak of stress, that's the time where I can write stories....anyways... enjoy my comeback on JE fic!XD

Ninjas…

We can read about them in Japanese history books. Basically, they are widely known during the feudal period, altogether with samurais. They were fast, ‘invisible’ , and most of all, they possess some kind of powers. In our age today, we rarely think about the possibility of them existing. Yes, we can watch them in anime shows. And yes, there are still schools that teach ninjutsu as a form of martial arts but…

Are there still real ninjas out there?


……………..
*knock knock*

“Please come in!” A petite girl wearing a nurse’s uniform peeked inside the room as soon as she heard him answer.

“Dr. Yamashita, there’s an emergency at the ICU room. Apparently, we lack doctors at this time of the night and there are three patients in ‘code’ right now. We need your help.”

“Ok, I’m coming.”
“FINALLY! Some action!

~Five Minutes Earlier
“GAAAHH!!! I’m so bored!!!” Dr. Tomohisa Yamashita, cardiologist at a certain hospital in Tokyo, exclaimed inside his room. He just got back from his usual ‘boring’ rounds. He checked the progress of the patient, prescribed medicines and now, he will do his usual stuff of writing reports and checking his records. Just thinking about it makes Yamashita sigh. It’s been a long while since he experienced his ‘adrenaline’ rushing due to emergencies. He needed it now or else, he might die out of boredom in his night shift. And then, an idea popped in.

“Hey, what if I summoned ‘him’?
Unknown to his colleagues, he’s a true ninja. He descended from a line of ‘black’ ninjas where they can give sufferings to humanity because of their powers. They don’t do that anymore and just try to blend in with normal people but there were certain times (times like what Yamashita was experiencing right now) where they use their powers for selfish reasons. Yamashita made some hand signals and hit the ground with his right palm making a thick smoke appear. When the smoke subsided, a handsome, but short guy appeared.

“What is it you want master?”

“Ryo… I’m really bored.” Yamashita plainly said.

“Do you want to play ‘who’s the greatest killer’ game?”

“Uhhhm, no not that. And besides, I’ve eaten lots of meat lately so I’ve lost some abs… You’ll easily beat me with that hot body of yours.”

“Yeah right, and last time we played it, I’m the winner.” Ryo snickered.

“Yeah, by just ONE girl… and ohhh… she’s not a girl anymore..she’s a GRANNY!”

“She’s still a girl… You just can’t accept that you lost to me.” Yamashita just sighed and decided to change the topic. His ‘servant’ can really be a arrogant sometimes (just like him)

“Anyways.. I want you to create a commotion where they will need my help. Got that?”

“Yes master.” Ryo went to the center of Yamashita’s room. He mumbled something and from his bare back, an electric guitar emerged. He got it and placed it in front of him. He strummed the strings and started singing… yelling.

“YEAH!!! YEAH!!! YEAHHH!!! KIMI WO IRODORU SUBETE NO YOUSO BOKU GA MAMOTTE MISEYOU”
……………

“Not guilty!” The presiding judge hit the circular wood with his wooden hammer, signaling the end of the session. The ‘suspect’ was now hugging his attorney tightly, thankful that he emerged as the winner. On the other side of the court, the victim and his family was not happy with the result. The fresh graduate lawyer was also not happy with his first case and he knew, something was wrong with the decision.

“I will find the truth.”

~Five Hours Later

“Huh? Where am I?” The man’s drowsiness quickly vanished as soon as he realized that he’s in a foreign room. Add to that, he was tied up tightly in a chair. He saw a dark figure leaning on the door and he can’t recognize him or her due to the poor lighting.

“You’re here on your ‘will be’ graveyard… if you don’t tell me the truth.” The figure moved closer towards the man. He gasped as he realized who the person was.

“You’re the lawyer of Kamenashi!!! You’re attorney Shigeaki Kato!”

“You’re correct Mr. Akanishi.”

“Wh.. what do you want from me?!” Akanishi asked.

“I just want the truth Mr. Akanishi.”

“Well, the hearing was finished five hours ago right? The judge said that I’m not guilty! I didn’t cheat on him!”

“If you’re telling the truth, then why are you trembling?” Akanishi didn’t respond to Shigeaki’s question. The lawyer adjusted his glasses and put his hands behind him. “I see that you’re practicing your right to remain silent… but I can make you reveal the truth.” Shigeaki said and with that, he made hand signals behind his back. Akanishi coughed when a thick smoke suddenly appeared.

“What the hell was that?!” When the smoked vanished, he noticed another man beside the lawyer.

“Why did you summon me, master?”

“Tego, make this man scream the truth. Got that?”

“Anything you wish.” With that Shigeaki left them in the room. Akanishi eyed the blonde hair guy.

“Hi! I’m Tegoshi! I’m going to sing you a song….”

“TOTEMO DAIJI NI OMOU KARA…IAAA..IAAHHH…IAAA IAAAHHHH AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!”
Akanishi cringed at the powerful voice. He wanted to place his hands over his ears but he was tied up.. He was really helpless at this situation.

“KIRA KIRA HIKARU, ANO HOSHI NO YOUNI, FUTARI NO ASHITA KAGAYAKASE TAKUTE!!! MOU HANASANAI HANASHITAKU NAI.. KIMI NO HOKA NI WA MOU NANI MO IRANAI KARA

YEAAAAHHHHH~~~!!!!!”

“ALL RIGHT I’LL TELL THE TRUTH!!!!”

………………..
“Mr. Koyama, please tell us what’s your secret?” In a certain hotel, there’s an ongoing press con of a newly hailed ‘prince’ of restaurant business. He was just a manager of a certain restaurant five years ago but when he resigned and established his own brand, he became well known. His restaurant was well accepted by consumers because of the exquisite taste and affordability. The ‘wonky’ eyed man smiled warmly before answering.

“My secret? Well, I just have someone who’s really great in distinguishing the tastes of food.”

~Five Years Ago

Koyama Keiichiro locked his door and did some hand signals. After the thick cloud of smoke vanished, a man, appeared.”

“Stressed again?” The man asked.

“Yeah… I did the staff’s schedule, attended the budgeting two days ago, yesterday’s the store review, I’m finishing the month end reports, ooohh.. don’t forget the payroll and internal audit this week.”

“Woah, talk about being a workaholic.”

“I’m not workaholic, you know that Massu… Sometimes, I think about resigning from that restaurant.”

“Then pass your resignation letter and start your own business.”

“Uhh, isn’t that will make me A LOT stressful?”

“No, because you have powers and I’ll help you… just make sure it’s food business.”

“Thanks… MASSU..PERMAN~” Massu lightly punched his master’s shoulder for making fun of him.

~next day

“Ok Massu, are you ready?”

“YES!~” Koyama made some hand signals and placed both of his hands on the large rectangular table in his dining area. After the smoke vanished, there were hundreds of small plates with various foods on the table. Massu started his ‘job’.

“This one’s a little bit spicy…. Yum yum…just put a little bit of salt next time… yum yum…hmmm, don’t ever serve this one…..yum yum… please make another of this one.. pretty please?”


The End

Woah!!!! It's been really that long?!?!?! I can't believe it. I haven't been updating for half a year.. I guess I'm just too busy with work.. Actually, this fic that I'm about to post was initially entitled, "Stressed" coz I'm really stressed right now..but I 'played' again..and it became...'cute' so I decided to change the title...ahaha...enjoy reading!



I am staring at the monitor for almost an hour now and yet, not a single sentence has been written on the page. I WROTE something for the past hour but whenever I pressed a key, my mind went blank and then it took a little too long to press the next letter. I sighed out loud. This is going to be a long night.

First of all, let me introduce myself, I’m Takahashi Ai; a manager of a certain restaurant and a ‘fiction’ writer. I wrote stories as a hobby. My forte would be writing comedy and horror themed stories but I sometimes do drama and romance... Just don’t ask where I get ideas from the last one because even if I’m almost 24, I’m still lacking a ‘significant other’.

I have already written about a hundred stories of various genres but now, I’m in a pinch. I’ve acquired the dreaded ‘writer’s block syndrome’. Well, technically it’s not a disease or something, but it’s not what most writers would like to have. I have lots of ideas going on my mind right now but I just can’t fully express what I want to tell to my readers. Add to that, being a manager, there were lots of responsibilities that you have to do and lots of problems to solve. So for an amateur writer like me, vague ideas + stress = writer’s block.

I shifted in my seat as I put my fingers back on the keyboard. I wrote a sentence then erased it… Wrote another one, not satisfied… erased. I grumbled as I stopped the urge to hit my laptop. Thank goodness that technology has already advanced right now. If not, then I would still be writing in a piece of paper. If it really were a piece of paper, I would have crumpled it a lot of times now and threw it in the trash can. Sad to say, my laptop is a little bit expensive than a piece of paper… scratch that… WAY TOO EXPENSIVE to throw just like a trash. And just imagine just how many ‘trees’ would have been cut down for the hundreds of paper I would have thrown.

I’ve been thinking hard but all I can think about is this: store review, how to increase the sales, audit and making the guests happy. My ‘managerial’ mind really works alongside my writer side whose thinking about a very beautiful girl trapped in a castle with a ‘vegetarian’ vampire and a group of friends who ate something at a certain party and was turned into a ‘sentai’ group. With my current situation, I’ll not be able to finish something. How I wish I didn’t become a manager.

I’ve always liked my job… that’s before, when I was just a mere team leader. But I STILL like my current position; I just don’t like the additional responsibilities. Before, I can write three different genre stories at the same time but now, I can write three paragraphs in 10 minutes and end up deleting it again and again. Sometimes I want to quit being a manager due to stress but my co-manager was preventing me.

Niigaki Risa, my co-manager who helped me a lot with the paper works and handling our staffs. When I was about to hit my head on the table after our area manager had a little talk with me on the phone to rant how dismayed she was, Risa quickly put her hand between my head and the table. I’m not exaggerating, it did happen. When I was really annoyed at our staff for making a mistake, she would be the one who would talk to that person. But before that, she would pull me inside our office, play some soothing music from the computer, give me a juice or an iced tea and then leave me alone to relax. When the date for the ‘dreaded’ store review was announced, Risa already readied the papers that I would report. She even made a survey about our competitors and their promos so I can explain fully why our sales went up… or worse, go down.

I’m the ‘shy’ type of person. Wait… egoistic? Hmm, I don’t know how to call it but I can’t really say out loud how thankful I am to her. So, I just sometimes put Risa as my heroine in my stories… I put a different name but her characteristics were almost the same. She nearly died from this certain story of mine where she was trapped inside a cave for three days, but I made sure that there’s a certain ‘Takahashi Ai’ helping her out. This is the only way I could repay her for all the things that she’s done to me. On another story, ‘Risa’ and ‘Ai’ went to an amusement park and had a fun time together. I made ‘Risa’ puke after riding the roller coaster ... Don’t get me wrong! I’m not actually biased about my stories. I made ‘Risa’ laughed hard when I screamed my ‘manly’ scream inside the horror house. I named ‘Risa’ as Lisa and me… Lovely. Both foreign names because even if I’m Japanese, there were quite a few international readers reading my blog. Can you believe that?! I managed to keep my own blog considering my tight and stressful schedule! That’s something to be happy about.

Anyways, I had enough from reminiscing things that didn’t even happen in reality and possibly, will never happen in the future. For the 8 hours that I’m working, Risa and I only spent 4 hours together. One of us would be the opening manager and the other, the closing manager. If one of us has a day off, the other one will have a straight duty. That’s just how things work in our restaurant so I know that ‘that day’ will never come. I turned my focus back on my monitor and tried to write something. I saw Risa bumped into the door earlier. Maybe that’s a good idea on another comedy fiction. What should I name her this time? I already named her Sayumi (the narcissist who was turned into a bunny by a revengeful witch named Koharu), Reina (the closet yankee-girl who works in a maid café), Eri (the dorky school girl who has a serious heart disease), and Aika (the girl who loves animals, specifically her pandas Junjun and Linlin, but has yet to learn how to ‘love’ humans).

I closed my eyes. Thinking about the name wasn’t that hard before. Maybe I’ll just change the ‘S’ with ‘K’. I’ll name my character ‘Rika’. There, that’s settled. Now about the genre... Mystery? Drama? Horror?I guess I’ll just stick with comedy first.

For the characterization, I noticed that Risa can sometimes do cutesy stuff, and can be a little bit stubborn. Ohh, and sometimes our staffs call her the ‘reaction queen’! Maybe I’ll include that character of hers. Hmmm, Will I include myself or not? There’s a guest complaint earlier at the store, and Risa was the one who talked with the ‘fuming’ guest. She knew I’m not good with those stuffs. Okay, I’ve decided I’ll include myself so I can repay her. My name…. I guess Hitomi will do. I was about to cry earlier but Risa told me that I have wonderful eyes so I’ll better not ruin it with my tears.

Now here comes the plot… It’s comedy so a plot wasn’t that necessary right? So Risa slipped and bumped her head earlier. She opened the blender while it’s still rotating thus making the mango shake burst out right to her face. What else… Hmm... We were drinking coffee earlier; Risa burned her tongue and due to the shock, she now has coffee stain on her blouse. Talk about ‘unlucky’ day. So here comes me, the one who was laughing hard at her. The one who applied ice on her head, the one who got her own handkerchief and wiped her face… The one who helped her remove the stain inside the restroom.

Come to think of it, maybe I’ll just give ‘Ai’, I mean, Hitomi a cool character. The Hitomi who didn’t had a laughing marathon. The Hitomi who caught her before she bumped her head. The Hitomi who stopped her from opening the blender and the Hitomi who reminded her that the coffee was REALLY hot. Yeah, that’s something I could never do in real life.

And now that it’s been settled, I’ll begin writing the story…

It was a normal day at the Musume Restaurant. There were quite a few guest eating at lunch time due to the bad weather outside.

Wait… that was yesterday. It was pretty sunny earlier. Erased.

It was a beautiful and sunny Monday morning at Tokyo, Japan but the Musume Restaurant manager ignored the scenery and was running really fast. She over slept this morning and…..

Hitomi was supposed to be a cool character!!!! I’m the one who’s late… Not her…. GAAAHHH!!!!
I slumped on my chair, hitting my head lightly on the table. All the planning failed; I’m back at the starting line. I guess I wouldn’t have an update on my blog this month.

Suddenly, my phone vibrated, indicating that a message has been received. I flipped it open and saw my co-manager’s name on the screen.

“Hey Ai!!!! We managed to meet our target sales this month! You wouldn’t have a problem when the store review comes, isn’t that great? Anyways, you’re the closing manager tomorrow right? Let’s celebrate! I’ll wait for you after operating hours. It’s a great way to unwind and we really haven’t hang out ever since I have been transferred to this branch. I hope we can know each other better. <3
--Risa--

I smiled because of two reasons. One, our operations manager will not yell at me this month and two, Risa and ‘Ai’ will finally be able to have a ‘chill’ time together. No work related and problem related talks tomorrow night. I started thinking about the possible things we can do together at that time. Were there other restaurants still open after 10? Were there still arcades, karaoke, or mall at that time? If not, I guess we can just hang out at the park… or the bay side.

I quickly typed my reply.
“Sure.”

I placed my phone on the table and stared AGAIN on the monitor. I wasn’t thinking about the story anymore; I was thinking what kind of chill time we could do tomorrow night.

………….…….
“I’m sorry you have to wait for four hours.”

“No it’s okay. I went to shop for a couple of things before going back here. So shall we go?” Rika stood up and grabbed my hand. “So how much we’ve earned today?”

And here I thought that we’re supposed to have some ‘chill’ time with no work-related talks. I’m thinking about a nice payback for ruining the evening.

“Well,” I paused to look at her. She looked back at me, curious as to why I’m grinning like crazy. “Half the normal sales for our average Monday sales add to that our net sales last Tuesday. Our running Average Daily Sales last night became higher than our ADS last Wednesday giving us the idea that..”

“We sold a lot today than yesterday, right?” I nodded. Rika playfully punched my shoulders and we resumed our walk. It’s quite a chilly night for September that’s why Rika was still holding my hand. At least that’s what I’m thinking as to why she hasn’t removed her hand yet. Deep inside me, I DON’T want her to remove her grip on mine.

“Where do you want to eat?”

“Any place that’s still open at this hour.”

And so Rika pulled me into the first restaurant we saw that’s still open. We ate… a lot. I guess I’ll just exercise for two weeks to get back to shape. Yep, that’s how MUCH we’ve eaten. We drank. Well, just a little bit. Even though it’s my rest day tomorrow, I don’t want her to have a very bad hang over just because of me. After all she will be having a straight duty tomorrow. It’s nearing midnight when Rika decided to walk near the bay side.
………………..

I was thrown out of my reverie when my phone vibrated again. It’s still Risa.

“You don’t sound so enthusiastic there… I guess what I heard from our staff is right. You hated celebrating your birthday. Well, I guess that will change tomorrow night. I’m going to give you a gift.<3
--Risa--

Oh yeah, my birthday is on the day after tomorrow. Now I remembered as to why I requested that day as my rest day. Well, it’s not like I hated it, it’s just that I don’t like thinking that I’ll be a year OLDER again that’s why, I don’t NORMALLY celebrate it. I celebrate it ALONE; playing my PSP, watching anime, downloading movies and writing a story. Yup, that’s the real me.

I was about to reply her when I thought about something.

………………
‘Nee, Hitomi.”

I reluctantly left my gaze at the beautiful scene in front of me and looked questioningly at my partner… who was not looking directly at me but at her watch. Right, she needs to go home because she still has a duty tomorrow.

“You want to go home? It’s okay, I’ll help you get a cab.”

“No, just wait.” Now I’m really confused. She kept staring at her watch, as if she wanted to kill it for being so slow… or fast. That is until I heard her ‘silent’ countdown.

“5,4,3,2,1….. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AI!!!!!” She lunged forward and hugged me. Well, it feels quite comfortable being hugged by someone… like… this… I looked at her, tears threatening to fall.

“Ho.. how did you know?”

“I had my sources.” She replied, still grinning like a kid. “Here, I got a gift for you.”

She removed her arms from me to get something in her bag. My mind went blank at the sudden loss of heat. I wanted it back and so, I grabbed her and pulled her closer to me. I felt her body become stiff.
“Ai?”

“Thanks… not just for this night… Thank you for being there for me every day.” Suddenly, my mind can’t catch up with what my body was doing. I just see myself, holding her chin up, and leaning forward to kiss her.
………………..


Wait!?! Did I just think about that?!?! I didn’t seem repulsed by the thought and I actually feels…good. I sighed out loud. Now, I have a hint as to where I’m getting my ‘romantic’ ideas in my fiction. I’m officially in love with ‘Rika’. So I guess my supposedly comedy fic will be written as a ROMANTIC-comedy fic.

That is…. If only I could write what I’m thinking…. Wait, wouldn’t it be better if I could actually ‘DO’ what I was writing?

The End

Somehow I'm glad that I haven't posted this fic last January...I'm really busy right now to write something and I just have to log in and post this fic so that I'll have even just one post this February..I doubt whether I can continue writing this march...I've been transferred to an even FAR-ther work place..so yeah...anyways, I hope you enjoy this one, a continuation of my Inside the Elevator One shot Series.>XD





Every great story has its back ground. Sometimes, it just popped out of one’s mind, much like a bulb lighting inside the head while crying out ‘Eureka’. Other times, a good story can be based on experience, or something that have been seen or read. And for one Reina Tanaka… it could be both.

It started one day, when her two best friends were acting a little ‘too’ close to each other. Reina looked at them quizzically. It was just last week where they had that little ‘play’ where the older one, tried to ‘protect’ her from the narcissist; but now, it seemed that the two ‘leveled-up’ in terms of closeness. The great ‘Tanaka-Deka, wanted to know the truth.

She started observing/stalking her friends. She saw how the bunny would take an extra ‘touch’ on the turtle’s hand; a quick but definitely ‘lovingly’ kiss on the cheeks; a tight hug that’s becoming habitually… as in everyday, every hour.. and every minute that the two spent time alone together. They were ‘not’ that always ‘alone’, sometimes they spend their time with the leader or sub-leader… or even with her but still… Reina felt that they’ve become ‘too far’ from her.

Reina remembered the dialogue a week before; the day before it all started. Even though she’s not good at using the high-tech box; with a thing named after a pest and a lot of buttons with characters, she decided to use it (against her will of course). She typed in slowly first of the two ‘label’ that she had remembered. Reina was shocked with the result. When she typed the second-one, she was overwhelmed at the great number of supporters. The turtle was right; there were more ‘TanaKamei’ pairings than the ‘TanaShige’ ones. Reina followed the links and she was greeted with a page where Morning Musume ‘stories’ resides.

Reina’s wonky eyes grew wider as the genre jumped from normal Momusu stuffs, to sci-fi, to paranormal, to fluff, and lastly… to the ‘ero-side’. Reina stayed unmoved for the past hour. She managed to read three TanaShige ‘ero’ fic and most of it was really out of character. They were intoxicated? They were not yet on the right age to drink and she would definitely not ‘do’ it on a really dirty public restroom. She rested her eyes first and let the reality sink in. There were people, more specifically, fans that made stories like that to them. Considering that she’s the one who started that ‘play’ thing on Hawaii and on the DVD magazine, but those fans were really ‘exaggerating’ it.

Reina continued reading and this time, she read those with ‘TanaKamei’ tags. Reina blinked many times as she read the different stories. Since when did she become a mushy person? Ok, she’s a good person inside her yankii attitude but crying ‘overly’ when Eri left her? Trying to kill herself? Being over romantic to Eri? Being the ‘initiator’? She can’t even imagine herself starting those kinds of things towards her friend. Reina snickered. The fans should try to investigate more. But she can’t really blame it right? After all, it’s all fiction. Her eyes were so tired from reading all of those stuffs that she decided to turn the computer off… but she noticed something that she should have noticed earlier on… A KameShige fic.

…………………
Finding the Truth

“OHAYOU~!” The narcissist extraordinaire and the atomic aho greeted cheerily. The other members greeted them back, but not the little yankii. She went towards the turtle and pulled her away from the bunny.

“Hey, are you alright? What happened last night?”

“Yeah, you can say that I’m still in one piece. We just talked.. Oh, she let me have enough sleep.”

“Ehh?? How’s that???” Reina asked, quite shocked that Eri got a different treatment than her.

“I don’t know.. Maybe because, we’re best friends.”

“But I’m your best friend too! We’re Rokkies!”

“Uhhh.. maybe because, we’re a little bit too close to each other.”

……………………
It was a normal day at the studio. The girls were trying to learn the choreography for their new song. Reina couldn’t help but notice the way the bunny and the turtle ‘communicate’ with each other. They were a little too close from comfort during breaks. When she mingled with them, the two started acting awkwardly. Reina smelled something fishy going on between the two. Reina knew how ‘evil’ Sayu can be sometimes and she was thinking that she might be planning something against the current leaders so her and Eri can be the leader. Thinking of the possible every day ‘narcissistic’ routines that the ‘future’ sub-leader will make them do was making her head ache. Reina decided to learn the truth.

“Hey guys! Want to go shopping today?!”

“SURE!!!” Almost all of the girls answered back. Reina turned to her fellow rokkies who was looking like they were planning something else.

“How about you two? Come on, it’ll be fun!”

“I’m sorry Reina but I promised Eri that I’ll treat her today. JUST her.”

“You’re going to treat me?” Eri pointed at herself.

“Yes~!” Sayu forced a laugh. Reina knew something was wrong the moment ‘Eri’ was a little bit slow to play along with Sayu. The other girls started pulling her away from her fellow rokkies and was excited about shopping that they didn’t mind whether the two was going with them.

“Oh well, there’s always a next time to find the truth.
……………………..
“So, what did she ask you?” The bunny asked the turtle after their rehearsals.

“She just asked me why you gave her a different treatment than me. She’s really annoyed that you only let her sleep for an hour while you gave me at least four hours of sleep.” Sayumi chuckled and hugged her so called ‘best friend’.

“Of course.. she’s different. She’s not the one I truly love.” Sayumi held Eri’s chin and kissed her passionately on her lips. Eri abruptly pulled away as she remembered that they were still inside the studio.

“Sayu, not here. Someone might come back.”

“No one will comeback. Reina invited them go to shopping with her right? So don’t be afraid… after all, I locked it after they’ve gone away.” Sayumi smirked as she remembered what she had done earlier. Eri was shocked at the ‘naughtiness’ of her girlfriend at first and then smiled.

“You really are evil sometimes.”

“Well, only for you.” Sayumi answered before diving in for another kiss.

The End

~PM me if you want the perv. :D~





…………………
“HOLY CRAP!!!!” Reina exclaimed as she read that ‘single’ fic. It looked like the ‘author’ has some kind of ‘psychic powers’ and used it as tool to ‘spy’ on their daily lives. Reina hovered her fingers on the keyboard. Her inner self wanted to ‘read’ that ‘ero’ fic but at the same time… she felt really bad for her two friends. Given that the story was really, really close to the real thing that happened last week, she wanted to know what happened when those two were alone inside a room. She secured and tied little angel-Reina and proceeded with making an account on that forum.

………………
“Tanaka-san, what are you doing alone here?” The tall ‘miracle’ member asked as soon as she saw her sempai looking blankly at the vast space in front of her.

“Searching for inner peace of mind.” Reina replied nonchalantly. Koharu was about to poke her on her side to check whether she’s just asleep and sleep talking when Aika came, hugging Reina immediately from behind.

“Tanaka-san! Let’s go shopping after practice! Help me pick a good camera.”

“Can I come along too?! I wanted to buy a new belt.” Koharu squealed with delight.

“Sure! You can come along with us, right Tanaka-san?” Aika hugged tightly the little yankii which made the one involved to snap out of her reverie and remembered what she read last night:



Koha-Rei pairing (rated R)
Wrapped
Summary: Reina was obsessed with Koharu but the other liked Aika. Reina invited Koharu to her house for a tea party, drugged her and used a belt to tie her up to her bed. Warning: Not for the faint hearted.


ReiKa pairing (fluff)
Click
Summary: Aika asked Reina to be her model in her photography assignment. Aika made Reina wear different sets of clothes which made the ‘photographer’ make mistakes on her shots. Contains lovey-dovey scenes that would make any fans go wild at this pairing.

“GAAAAHHHH!!!!!” Reina shouted and ran away from her two, stunned kouhais. Reina needed to ran away from them as soon as possible. The writer really was a psychic. Her feet ran and ran until it took her to the direction of the elevator. When the door opened, Reina saw her two best friends inside, kissing and groping each other. The two quickly stopped what they were doing when they saw a frozen Reina in front of them.

“Hi there Reina! Where are you going? We still have practice today.” Sayumi asked, without a trail of embarrassment on her voice for being ‘caught-up-in-the-act’. The other one was doing badly and was turning into a tomato. The two moved out of the elevator and walked towards the room where Reina was a moment ago. Reina made the two stop on their tracks with her ‘bold’ question.

“Just what are you doing inside the elevator?” Reina ‘fearfully’ asked the two culprits. She didn’t really want to hear the truth, it’s just that she’s curious whether that ‘author’ has hit the spot.

“Ahhh… nothing.. we are doing nothing.. Right Shige-san?” Eri nervously looked at the girl beside her.

“I think she deserves to know it. She’s still a rokkie.” Sayumi looked straight in Reina’s eyes. “Look Reina, Eri and I have been officially dating since last week… and it started right after our phone incident. Remember I called her? So there. We’re lovers now and I think you know what ‘lovers’ usually do right?” Reina’s color left her face. That ‘author’ was really right.

“I know… you don’t have to mention it to me.” Reina went inside the elevator and pushed the close button. Somehow, her imagination’s still ‘showing what she read on that ‘ero’ KameShige fic in which that ‘author’ described vividly.

“This is all your fault… YOU HEAR THAT!!! YOUR FAULT!!! STUPID ELEVATOR!!!!” Reina banged the lifeless metal door with her fist. If only they didn’t see that YoMiki scene before… if they didn’t see that TakaGaki scene… if she didn’t let her ‘deka’ side took over and observed KameShige, then she would still have her sanity. A couple of floors down and the elevator door opened. Reina looked up and saw the taller of the Chinese members. She pushed the button of the floor where they will practice their new dance routine for their PV. As the door closed, Reina saw the other one pulled something from her bag.

“Ohayou Tanaka-san! Want some banana?” Reina’s mind went blank.

Jun-Rei Pairing (drama, angst)
Alone: Chapter 4
Summary: Reina was a loner in her school until a Chinese exchange student decided to get closer with her. Junjun was on the elevator with Reina and decided to start talking to her with an aid of a banana. Will Junjun succeed on making the girl her friend when Reina definitely didn’t want the other to know the truth behind her past? Chapter 4 is up and contains a lot of drama.

“NOOOOooooo!!!! LET ME OUT!!!!! I’M STRAIGHT!!!!!!!!”

The End

This is just a rant at my 'Rika' mode...a.k.a. fangirl mode at an Anime Con.XD



To start it all, I just went to this anime con to watch my former co-worker at his gig in that convention... Well, he was into really... REALLY heavy metal type of music (he's a drummer of a band), and then when I brought him into an anime con last September and watched some bands performing anime songs... he was somewhat 'awed'. And then last December, he told me that he joined a band who's performing anime songs at conventions... I'm proud of him...

So yeah, it's Sunday, a hectic day for restaurants... and being a team leader, I can't afford to request for a rest day so I just asked for an opening shift. After my work, I quickly went to the said event but sad to say... They already performed and my friend was on his way to work... So what else can I do... I put on my 'Rika' mode (if I used 'Charmy' mode, someone will react.XD) and bought lots of stuff...XD




A personalized kanjani 8 mug..Lime green for Ohkura..ahahaha..THere's no Yassan.T_T (blue)



I quickly grabbed this as soon as I saw the 'Zetima' label...ahahaha.XD




I don't know what came to me when I bought this one..I guess, because I found it funny how Tsunku looked really 'gay' at his pics here...hehehe.>XD



Of course... It's Utada..who wouldn't want her?XD



When I found this... I hyperventilated...Seriously..XD




Ok... THE REAL RIKA JUST MANIFESTED AT THAT BOOTH!!!


Where there's Rika.. There's YOSSY!!!!! I wanted to faint at that time..really..XD



Ahhh.. the girl's snack...ahahahaha... I can still remember their Pocky Commercials..XD




Ok, I just saw this when I was buying the cds... YoshiGaki... they are my best friend's 'favorite' pairing or so.. so I bought it... Though I never actually came across a fic with YoshiGaki..hey! That's an idea..maybe I'll write one..LOL





Since I started 'hyperventilating' and picking up momusu cards... the seller dig into his box and found this one for me.... A MAKI GOTO FIGURINE!!!! At that moment... I felt like I was already in heaven..XD


All in all...that's all the things that I bought today... costs me a thousand box.XD




And that is all my Hello!Project things collection....ahahaaha...It's been a fun day at that convention... should I make an omake of fangirl based on this?ahahahahaha.XD

Ahahahaha...since I can't make a vid out of this song..I decided to make a TakaGaki song fic instead...Enjoy!XD





Ai Takahashi just finished taking a bath after an hour… that is because she finished a level of ‘Final Fantasy XII’ game on her PSP. It’s her ideal way to relax on their hectic schedule. She dressed up and sat on her couch to read her favorite book.

Ai:

“Aah, an afternoon alone with
My favorite book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."
No roommate to bother me.
How could it get any better than this?”

Ai cringed when she heard the door open and in came the Reaction Queen, straight from their ‘GakiKame’ show.

Risa:
“Oh, hi Ai!” Risa greeted excitedly and sat down in front of Ai.

Ai:
“Hi Risa” Ai replied flatly.

Risa:
“Hey Ai, you'll never
Guess what happened to
Me on the subway this morning.
This girl was smiling at me and talking to me”

Ai:
“That's very interesting.” Ai responded monotonously and focused on reading her book. Nothing will stop her from finishing the last installment of J.K Rowling’s story.

Risa:
“She was being real friendly,
And I think she was coming on to me.
I think she might've thought I was gay!”

As soon as she heard the last word, Ai looked up from her book and stared at her grinning best friend. Ai cleared her throat before answering.

Ai:
“Ahem, so, uh, why are you telling me this? Why should I care? I don't care.” She then decided to change the topic.

“What did you have for lunch today?”

Risa:
“Oh, you don't have to get all defensive about it, Ai..” Risa grinned at her friend. Ai raised her voice as soon as she heard the ‘D’ word.

Ai:
“I'm NOT getting defensive!
What do I care about some gay girl you met, okay?
I'm trying to read.”

As to prove her point, Ai raised her book, on her eye-level to completely ignore her friend, and started reading a paragraph or so. Risa remained quiet for a while and then decided to continue her ‘attack’ on her best friend’s ‘preferences’.

Risa:
“Oh, I didn't mean anything by it, Ai.
I just think it's something we should be able to talk about.”

Ai:
“I don't want to talk about it, Risa! This conversation is over!!!” Ai snapped.

Risa:
“Yeah, but...”

Ai:
“OVER!!!” Ai, yelled as she glared at her friend. Risa on the other hand didn’t seem affected at all.

Risa:
“Well, okay, but just so you know …” Risa stood up from her chair, making Ai look at her presence before starting to sing and dance.

“IF YOU WERE GAY
THAT'D BE OKAY.
I MEAN 'CAUSE, HEY,
I'D LIKE YOU ANYWAY.
BECAUSE YOU SEE,
IF IT WERE ME,
I WOULD FEEL FREE
TO SAY THAT I WAS GAY
(BUT I'M NOT GAY.)

Ai tried to process what was happening to her friend. She made a mental note to separate her best friend from a certain turtle so that turtle will not be able to impart her craziness to Risa.

Ai:
Risa, please!
I am trying to read....” Risa just grinned at her making her somewhat irritated.
“What?!”

Risa:
IF YOU WERE QUEER

Ai:
“Ah, Risa!” Ai face-palmed herself. Risa was really acting weirdly all thanks to the ‘Ahou’ queen.

Risa:
I'D STILL BE HERE,

Ai:
“Risa, I'm trying to read this book.” Ai waved the book in front of Risa but the younger one just ignored it.

Risa:
YEAR AFTER YEAR

Ai:
“Risa!!!”

Risa:
BECAUSE YOU'RE DEAR
TO ME,

Ai:
“Argh!” Ai covered her ears with her hands just to make her best friend’s noise go away.

Risa:
AND I KNOW THAT YOU

Ai:
“What?”

Risa:
WOULD ACCEPT ME TOO,

Ai:
“I would?” Ai pointed at herself.

Risa:
IF I TOLD YOU TODAY,
"HEY! GUESS WHAT,
I'M GAY!"
(BUT I'M NOT GAY.)
I'M HAPPY
JUST BEING WITH YOU.

Ai:
“Watch Takarazuka plays, High-King recordings...” Ai tried thinking about different things just so she can escape her predicament.

Risa:
SO WHAT SHOULD IT
MATTER TO ME
WHAT YOU DO IN BED
WITH GIRLS?

Ai:
“Risa, that's GROSS!” Ai countered back. Eri must have given her best friend something for Risa to act ‘crazily’ like this.

Risa:
No it's not!
IF YOU WERE GAY
I'D SHOUT HOORAY!

Ai:
“I am not listening!” Ai covered her ears and started running away from the delirious ‘bean’.

Risa:
AND HERE I'D STAY,

Ai:
“La la la la la!” Ai tried to mask Risa’s voice with her own but it seemed that the other person was immune to it.

Risa:
BUT I WOULDN'T GET
IN YOUR WAY.

Ai:
“Aaaah!”

Risa:
YOU CAN COUNT ON ME
TO ALWAYS BE
BESIDE YOU EVERY DAY,
TO TELL YOU IT'S OKAY,
YOU WERE JUST BORN
THAT WAY,
AND, AS THEY SAY,
IT'S IN YOUR DNA,
YOU'RE GAY!

Ai:
“BUT I'M NOT GAY!” Ai shouted frustratingly.”

Risa:
If you were gay.

Ai:
“AHHHHH!”

The End

Yey!!! I MADE IT JUST IN TIME!!!! ahahaha...I got extended from work and thank goodness there's no traffic at this time of the night. So, I'll just get straight to the point... HAPPY B-DAY RIKA!!!! This FINAL chapter's my gift for you!!!XD


Rika typed her comment on Kuwagata’s blog but before she decided to send it, she thought that it contains a lot of information on the writer’s part. She just posted the first part and then decided to just send her analysis through PM.
Charmy

Hi there, Kuwagata-san. Finished your fic and I want to congratulate you for making me cry.. No pun intended.. but yeah, that was a really good ending for your fic. My best friend would squeal as you decided to end it as TanaShige. Or is it? ahahaha..So this is your answer right? I’ll just PM you my analysis coz I know, you don’t want me to expose your real identity here…Just reply if my ‘theory’ is wrong but mind you… I’m very good at analyzing stories…. Why? Because I had a pretty good grade in our Personality Psychology class. So, I’ll send it to you now~! XP

Rika clicked the send button. She grinned as she remembered to highlight the word ‘TanaShige’ as an answer to those who were fighting before. She was glad that after giving that lecture, those readers decided to not to take pairings seriously and be open minded about it. And they were still commenting on the story.

“If only those guys knew the real story…” She then opened another browser and typed in her personal e-mail account. She pasted her ‘analysis’ on it and sent it to Hitomi’s business e-mail account. She forgot to ask for her ‘personal’ account and since she had a database of the employees’ e-mail addresses, she used it to find Hitomi’s account.

To: yoshizawa_hitomi@ishikawagroupofcompanies.com.jp
From: kawaiicharmy@yahoo.co.jp
Subject: Analysis on Searching for the Light

Hey there! Sorry if I had to e-mail you using OUR official add..but yeah.. I forgot to ask you about your other email add so I had no other choice…Unless of course, you want me to tell the whole world about the real Kuwagata…LOL

First of all, I think, your story is not that ‘parallel’ on Miki’s story, since you’ve said it’s more on symbolism type. So… here’s my guess… Eri and Sayu are one… I mean..well, based on what I’ve learned on Miki’s story… You liked her… So I guess, Eri’s your ‘other’ side, (and her sickness was being gay towards someone)… and Sayu’s the normal one… I was having a hard time to decide who’s who at first because Sayu’s really hard to predict. And, you killed Eri… I think that means, you killed your feelings towards Reina… or Fujimoto-san in real life... and since Eri asked Sayu to be friends with Reina… I think you’re telling me that you wanted to be friends with her again right? And what you did with the ending… I think, “Eri’s” wish came true. Although… that doesn’t explain why Miki had to slap you in the park…I don’t mean to be rude or something. Just don’t answer it if you don’t want to. But how can you say that the two of you were alright when you left after Miki slapped you? Well, there is that hug but still… Hmmm… So there’s my analysis… I really hope you can reply to this PM. Don’t think that I’m just being nosy or something. Honestly, the two of you were fairly close to me that’s why I want to understand what happened before. I really hope that it’s already fixed now, just like in your ending. 


Rika clicked the send button and logged off on her account. She took a glimpse at her ‘temporary’ apartment. She almost didn’t notice it but it’s almost time for her to leave this cozy place. She lay on her bed and tried to get some sleep.

“Don’t be. I’ll wait for you, promise.”
“GAAAHH!!!! STOP PESTERING MY MIND!!!!” Rika shouted frustratingly. Somehow what happened earlier keeps popping out of nowhere. Her mind was playing some nasty tricks to her as she can’t seem to forget their ‘date’ especially Miki’s kiss. She knew she was blushing as she touched her lips; even though it’s just a short contact, she can still feel Miki’s lips on hers.

“Think rational Rika… It just can’t happen! Why did you do that! You’re giving her false hopes! She’s already hurt before and now, you will hurt her more! You’re a coward Rika. You just can’t do that. You have dreams. You have a good future ahead of you!”

“A good but sad future if you ask me.” Rika sat up from her bed and looked around. She was trying to remember whether she locked her door or not. When she remembered that she locked it, she returned to her lying position.

“Why do you keep on running away from reality? Why you just don’t grab the chance that you’ll be happy?”

“Who’s there!?” Rika shouted. The voice didn’t reply.

“I must be imagining things. Maybe I’m stressed out from work.”

“You’re stressed because you can’t face who you really are.”

“Who the heck are you?! And why are you telling me this things?!”

“Sorry if I haven’t properly introduced myself. My name’s Charmy.

“What?! Charmy?!? Hey that’s my…”

“Yes, your name… sometimes you’re so slow ne. I’m you if you don’t notice it.”

“So that means it’s all in my head…. WILL YOU JUST DISAPPEAR! I want to sleep!” Rika closed her eyes tightly and covered her ears. She knew it wouldn’t be effective because the voice was coming from inside her.

“Sorry.. but I can’t do that.”

“May I ask why? You’re just a figment of my imagination. YOU are not REAL!”

“Yes you are correct. I’m just a figment of your imagination… you know. I’m tired too and I really want to sleep.. so stop thinking about me and make me vanish already.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do! You just keep on popping out of my head!”

“You know why? It’s because your other side, represented by me, can’t rest until you solve your problem..I mean OUR problem caused by your ‘Reina’.”

“There’s no problem right! I already solved it. It just can’t happen okay. That’s my answer so stop bothering me.”

“You represent the head part and I represent the heart. My answer and your answer are contradicting each other that’s why we’re in this mess.”

“God placed our head to the higher part of our body to be used first before the heart.”

“But sometimes, we have to use our heart for the same reason as to the head because, it’s the right thing to do. We perceive the heart as weak but actually, it’s the stronger among the two.”

“Stronger?? If we follow my heart, we’ll only get hurt in the process and then…”

“Then we’ll be able to learn eventually. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. They are the one’s teaching us a lesson.”

Rika sighed. It’s really hard to fight with her inner mind especially if it was just showing her the truth… It’s hard to accept that her ‘other’ one was winning against her more ‘rational’ side but then again… love’s not really rational right?

“I hate you…”

“Correction… You hate yourself… because I’m you too.”

“Fine, geez… You know. I’m really tired. I know you can feel it too so let’s just settle this topic tomorrow. How’s that?”

“I’m okay with it. At least you’ll have a clearer mind to analyze things, Ms. I’m A+ in Psychology subject.”

“Shut up!” With that said, Rika immediately fell into the dream land.

……….
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY RIKA-CHAN!!!!” Ayumi half shouted/ half greeted her best friend as soon as the door to their mansion opened.

“Thanks!!! You really have a way with greetings right?” Rika rolled her eyes and opened the door wider for her best friend to get inside.

“Well, you squealed at my ears many times when you’re fangirling over Ohyass and Three-Tums. It’s just a little payback for making me deaf for many years now.”

“Geez, Ayu, you are so thoughtful. You haven’t forgotten that.” Rika replied sarcastically and then the two started laughing.

“Share the happiness with me.” The two looked towards the direction of the voice and saw Rika’s mother in the dining hall. Ayumi skipped towards her and hugged her best friend’s mom, which she considered as her second mom.

“Ka-san!!! You look gorgeous in that dress.” Ayumi complimented.

“Thank you Ayu. Now that’s what you call a compliment, right Rika.”

“Ka-san… you’re not a teenager anymore… It doesn’t fit your image.” Rika replied which earned her a light nudged courtesy of her best friend.

“Come on Rika. It looks nice on her.. Just chill ok? It’s sometimes good to try the unconventional rather than the tradition.” Mrs. Ishikawa nodded her head in approval as she pat the shoulders of Ayumi.

“Now, who’s hungry?”

………………
“Happy birthday Rika!” Mr. Ishikawa greeted as soon as he entered the dining hall. The three of them started eating the appetizer when Mr. Ishikawa arrived. Rika got up from her chair and hugged her father.

“You’re late. And you’re the one who doesn’t want to be late.”

“Just got stopped by someone.” Mr. Ishikawa moved away from her daughter and went to kiss his wife before sitting in his chair. Today was exclusively a family celebration. Rika celebrated her birthday party last night at their main office. Ayumi’s parents were present there too but they had to excuse their selves early to catch their flight to America for a business trip. Most of the executives of the other branch were present like Mr. Nishida of Saitama branch and Ms. Abe of Hokkaido. Hitomi was also there too and she gave Rika a watch as a gift. She then handed her a pink folder. Hitomi whispered to her that she really tried hard to write that ‘kind’ of story; a steamy and ero fic about her favorite pairing, TanaKamei. The party ended an hour after midnight but through that time, Rika felt lonely… She’s missing someone badly.

“Why didn’t you go to the party last night?” Mr. Ishikawa directed her question at Ayumi.

“I already told Rika-chan about it a week ago… She didn’t tell you?”

“Sorry, I forgot! Ahahahaha.” Ayumi playfully hit the back of Rika’s head, making her jerk forward a little.


“Oh by the way. Here’s your REAL gift, last night was just a prelude.” Mr. Ishikawa handed her daughter a small envelop. Rika looked quizzically at her father as she was thinking what was inside.

“Is it a check? A gift check? Another ticket to a Hanshin game? A plane ticket for my visit to another branch?”

“Why don’t you open it now?” Mrs. Ishikawa smiled at her daughter. Ayumi nudged her so Rika peeled the sides and pulled out its contents. Rika and Ayumi was shocked at what Rika received as a gift.

“You two have fun in watching that concert. Just make sure you’ll be back after midnight.” Mr. Ishikawa said as he drank his coffee. The two were still speechless. Mr. Ishikawa gave them a VIP ticket to the Hello! Project’s Chinese New Year Concert next month where Three-Tums and Futari are going to perform. Ayumi finally decided to say something after being awestruck for a minute.

“I told you, your parents are cool.” Ayumi nudged at her immobilized friend. Rika looked seriously at her father.

“Wha…wh… how.. did you find out?”

“Well, it’s because you left your ‘secret’ cabinet unlocked when you were still in college and when I opened it, I was greeted by anime and Three-Tums paraphernalia.” Rika’s father smirked as he remembered something. “Tanakamei Forever huh… If you asked me, I like the yankii and narcissist combo.”

“YEAH!!!!Wat to gO To-chan!!!! TanaShige rocks right?” Ayumi yelled excitedly as she shook the hands of Rika’s father. Rika was shocked at the revelation. She felt like someone possessed her father. Her ‘real’ father wouldn’t act like that. She turned her attention to her ‘unmoved’ mother, as if asking for a help or explanation. Her mother looked towards her and smiled warmly.

“If you ask me,I like the KameShige pairing. Best friend’s still the best, right, Rika and Ayumi?”

“KASAN!!! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!?! Ayu’s JUST my best friend!!”

“Yeah ka-san, Rika already has Rein…hmphh!” Rika quickly covered her friend’s mouth before she spilled anything ‘confidential’. Her parents grinned at her.

“Rika, let go of your best friend’s mouth… I’ll ask her something.” Mr. Ishikawa said sternly.

“But…”

“Rika….. let her go.” Rika has no choice but to obey the words of her father. She leaned back on her chair and glared at Ayumi. Mr. Ishikawa turned her attention to her daughter’s best friend who was slightly shaking from the glare of Rika.

“Now Ayumi, can you repeat what you’ve said earlier?”

“Uhhh… Rika already has Reina. You know.. She idolizes Reina so much. Ahahahaha.”

“Oh really? I thought that she’s more of an Eri fan because there are tons of Eri’s posters on her cabinet.”

“And don’t forget Eri’s photobooks, dear. She completed all the releases.” Mrs. Ishikawa followed. Rika was sure that her face was bright red from embarrassment.

“Of course, she’s my daughter. I know she would complete that. Just like my collection of Dragonball.”

“eehh?!?! To-chan.. are you… an otaku before?” Ayumi questioned.

“Yeah… and you know what.” Mr. Ishikawa looked at Rika, “your mother and I met in an Anime Convention where there’s a concert of SMAP.”

“NO WAY!!!”

……………………
Rika entered her room and went directly to her table where her laptop was awaiting her. There were many things that she learned today. She learned that her father was an anime otaku while her mother was so into SMAP. Her father showed her his ‘secret’ cabinet full of dragonball DVD’s, figurines and other things. She opened her laptop and decided to write something before her birthday was officially finished.

After all, she promised it.

…………………..
Second Chance

“Ohayou minna!”

“Ohayou Ms. Michishige!” The people in the boutique answered as the raven-haired girl entered. Sayumi Michishige, the daughter of the owner and president of a certain brand of perfume, went to manage the newly opened store in Kobe. She will stay there for a month or two until she saw that the store can stand alone. Before she was assigned by her father there, she was the store manager of the Saitama branch for three months. Apparently, her father opened another branch in Hokkaido so she was sent there to train the people working in there. She’s a good leader, daughter and person but there’s only one flaw to her excellent personality…. She’s a closet Otaku. Most people associate the word OTAKU with men but there are also girl’s like her who are addicted to Anime. As a proof, she has a collection of manga, Anime DVD’s and MP3’s, posters, cards, magazines, etc. in their house. She even had some costumes of her favorite Anime characters which she always wear in Anime conventions, which her parents didn’t even know.

The Kobe branch is much smaller than in the pioneer store in Hokkaido. There were only five of them inside the store. She was close with all of them except with the management trainee. Managers were supposed to look approachable and friendly but this girl was somewhat different. She was warm and caring when it comes with the customers but when there were no people in the shop, she preferred to be left alone.

“Good morning Tanaka-san! Let’s have fun today!” Sayumi greeted the new management trainee but was answered by a snob. She’s the boss and her subordinate was acting like this towards her. A way to punish insubordination was by suspension but Sayumi tried to restrain her ‘evil’ side and tried to be civil first. What she meant by ‘civil’ is by ‘teasing’ the other girl.

And that’s what the boss was doing every single day. And every single day, her efforts were being returned in a form of snob, glare, hiss and a frown. It went for a week and Sayumi was really considering making a verbal and written warning before suspending the girl but a miracle happened.

“Isn’t that the DVD of the new season of Kyou Kara Maou?” Sayumi’s eyes widened. Her ‘secret’ has been out and most importantly, the one who saw it was Ms. ‘Glaring’ girl.

“Uhhh… yeah.”

“Ahhh, there are many Yaoi parts in there especially between Yuri and Wolfram.” Sayumi turned around and stared at the girl behind her who was grinning widely. “And the ending was just priceless.”

“NO WAY?!? YOU KNOW THIS ANIME!?!?” Reina swiftly covered her boss’ mouth as the other staffs were looking at their direction.

“Ahahahaha, don’t mind us. We’re just discussing something about the monthly sales analysis.” Reina lied. The staffs went back to their work. “Geez, do you plan on telling the whole world that you’re an otaku? Do you want the staffs to make fun at you because of that?” Reina whispered as she let her hands off Sayumi’s mouth.

“Thanks… you’re an otaku too?” Reina just replied with a smile. And that’s the start of a beautiful friendship between the two.
…………………..
“Reina, can I borrow your Vandread DVD?” Sayumi asked as she scanned the DVD collection of her friend while she was waiting for the other to finish her bath. Reina yelled her affirmation. “Reina, can I borrow your Ouran Host Club DVD?”

“SURE!!!”

“Reina, can I borrow your Tsubasa Chronicle DVD?” This time, there was no answer. “Reina? Can I...” The door of the bathroom opened and Reina came out with a white towel draped on her body.

“Just get what you want to borrow.” Reina said casually but the other one was not listening to her intently because the other one was busy staring at her. “Hey… Did you hear what I said?”

“Uhh.. yeah.. I heard it. Thanks.” Sayumi quickly move her attention back on the DVD’s but her mind was constantly showing Reina’s body.

“Geez… this is the result of watching too much yuri animes…”

………………
“Good Morning! Welcome to…”

“Reina!!!!” Sayumi’s eyes twitched as the girl with a toothy-grin ran past her.

“Oi, Eririn.. Wacha doin’ here?” Sayumi has only a little knowledge about dialects but she knew that Reina just said that in Hakata-ben. She turned around and saw the ‘girl’ hugging Reina. Reina saw her questioning eyes and move away from the girl.

“Ms. Michishige, this is my best friend, Kamei Eri.” Then turning to the girl, “Eri, this is the owner of this store, Michishige Sayumi.” With that said, Sayumi saw the girl’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Ow..ner?”

“Yeah.” Sayumi tried to say it in a nice way but she was sure that she sounded proud there.

“I’M SO SORRRRRYY!!!!! REALLY!!!! I’M SORRRY!!!! I DIDN’T KNOW YOU WERE THE OWNER!!!! SORRRRRRRRYYYY~!” Eri started bowing down excessively that Sayumi and Reina were getting dizzy over her. Reina held her back to stop her. Reina turned towards Sayumi.

“Sorry about that.. She’s the Ahou-Queen.”

“Hey! I’m your best friend but you’re ruining the name of the turtles in front of your boss!” Sayumi chuckled. Eri was a complete opposite of Reina and she was wondering how the two ended up being best friends.

“Hey, it’s okay. Tanaka-san, why don’t you take your break and talk to your best friend. I’ll take over for now.”

……………………
For the next five days, the three spent time together. Eri was into anime too and the three of them would have a pajama party at Reina’s house where they will watch different animes until the wee hours of the morning. And on their last night, the truth came out one night.

The three of them were sleeping together in Reina’s not so wide bed. Reina was in the middle while the two were on the side. Sayumi was awoken by some whispers coming from the two. She didn’t open her eyes and just listened intently on the conversation.

“Reina. Please, come back to me.”

“I can’t. I’m busy here.”

“You can’t or you don’t want to?”

“Let’s not talk about it tonight. She might wake up.”

“Ohh… so you’re busy with your boss. I should have known.”

Sayumi resisted opening her eyes. The topic was about her. She tried to control her breathing so Reina wouldn’t feel that she’s becoming tense and thus blowing up her cover.

“Eri, I already told you before… I can’t love you the way you loved me. You’re my best friend. I don’t want to ruin that and besides, you have Gaki-san now.”

“We’re already through because you’re the one I truly love! Can’t you understand that? I tried loving Risa the way I loved you but… I can’t seem to forget you.” Sayumi can hear Eri’s light sobs. Reina moved a little bit towards her best friend’s direction.

“Look, you can’t love two persons with the same zeal for each. The result will always vary because those two people are not the same. Well, sorry if I can’t fully explain it to you, but I hope you grasp the idea there.”

“Please, I beg you… just try to love me… more than a best friend. Even just for a day.” Eri begged. Sayumi felt Eri’s arm on Reina’s hips, tightened.

“I don’t know about that…”

……………………
“Hey, where’s your alien friend?” Sayumi asked even though she knew the answer. She was awake pretending to be asleep when the turtle left the kitten’s apartment.

“She went back to our home town. An emergency came up.”

“Ohhh…”

“Yeah… so, what are you up to today? There are still lots of animes to choose from.” Reina asked, forcing a smile on her face which Sayumi quickly noticed.

“Why don’t you follow your friend? It’s clear that you’re somewhat lonely today.”

“I’m not lonely? I’m glad that ahou-queen was not pestering me.” Sayumi thought deeply. Maybe a little ‘push’ will help her friend realize something.

“If that’s the case then, let’s enjoy ourselves together. How about watching Strawberry Panic together?” Sayumi inched her way closer towards Reina which caught the other off guard.

“Wacha doin’?!” Reina blurted in her native tongue as Sayumi caressed her face.

“Come on… I know you think that I’m hot and sexy.” Sayumi leaned forward to whisper something on Reina’s ears. “What are you waiting for?” Sayumi moved forward to kiss Reina’s lips when the other pushed her away.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing?!”

“Reina… I’m your boss, you should do what I told you or else, you’re fired.”

“No I won’t I would rather kiss Eri than you!” Sayumi pointed at the shorter girl while grinning widely.

“AHA!!! Now the truth finally came out from your own mouth! You love your best friend!!!”

“Ehhh?!? NO!!! I was just… I was just…”

“I heard your conversation earlier… She went away because she was broken hearted courtesy of you. What are you afraid of? She really loves you very much and I know she won’t do something that will hurt you.” Reina decided to remain quiet. Sayumi can see that the other was contemplating. “Look, just follow what your heart says. Don’t mind what the other people will say to you. It’s your own life.” Reina’s eyes lit up as she looked at Sayumi’s warm smile.

“Go to her and ask for a second chance.”

The End

Written by : Charmy
Posted : January 19






oh yeah..that's the ending!!! *runs off to hide from those who wants to kill her*
that's the last chapter but I'll make an epilogue..hehehehe..fooled you there.XD

A good way to start the new year is a story about how the colors of the fireworks came about...ahahaha.. I imagined this while I'm still at work and I really had to hide my face and pretend that I was busy so that they won't see me smiling like crazy... HAPPY NEW YEAR GUYS!!!!




One fine evening, a young couple was staring at the clear night sky when suddenly, fireworks exploded from afar, giving different colors to the sky.

“Nee, Ai-chan. Do you know how they put different colors in the fire crackers? Do they put food coloring in the gun powder?”

“Why would they put FOOD coloring there? Risa, you are really funny.”

“But, how can they produce those yellow, green and pink colors?” Risa looked back at her lover who was holding her from behind.

“Hhmmm, there’s a story that I’ve read on a book about fire crackers. It’s like an urban legend.”

“Come on, tell it to me.”

……………………
“Once upon a time, even before China was being ruled by an emperor, there were three powerful kingdoms. The North, Middle and South Kingdoms were ruled by three, young queens. The North Kingdom was ruled by Queen Junjun. The kingdom was much like Sparta. They were focused on military tactics and kung-fu. The people respected their queen because of her prowess in the battle field. Her tall figure and awesome brute strength was enough to make their enemies ran away from her.

The South Kingdom was ruled by Queen Aika. That kingdom was like Athens. The queen wanted her people to be intelligent and creative so she put up many schools. The queen even gave scholarships to those with ‘special’ ability like her. She became queen not by blood or marriage but because of her high memory capacity. She can memorize a list of names or things in twenty minutes.

Queen Linlin was the ruler of the Middle Kingdom. The people there were happy and contented with their lives. They were the traders and businessmen of the old China. Queen Linlin was a jolly queen and she wanted her people to be like her. Every morning, the citizens of her kingdom would gather near her palace. When the first ray of sunlight illuminates the statue of the queen, Queen Linlin would come out of her room and laugh with her people.”


…………….
“What?!?! EVERYDAY??? They are laughing with the queen?” Risa asked quite shocked at her girlfriend’s story.

“Yeah, according to that book, it’s like the queen wanted to start their day right with a laugh. They even nick named her the ‘HAHA Queen’.”

“Really weird queen if you ask me. So, where do the colors of the fire crackers fit in?”

………………….
“These kingdoms have different Gods that they worship. For the North Kingdom, they worshipped the studious but narcissistic, pink hare-God, Sayu. The South, they worshipped the fiery yellow tiger-God, Reina and for the Middle Kingdom, the subtle and shy green turtle-God, Eri. As you noticed, the gods that they were worshipping were in contrast with what the kingdoms were doing. And it was noticed by a young, mischievous traveler named Koharu.

Koharu visited the South Kingdom first. When she heard that there’s a ‘Memory’ Competition and the winner will get a free meal, she decided to join, only to be surprised that she will have to compete with the queen. It was a tough fight but still, the Queen won. Even though Koharu lost, the queen still gave her a free meal and a free tour of the kingdom.”


“And this is the shrine of our Tiger God, Reina.”

“Hhmm, who made this statue? Your god has wonky eyes.”

“Don’t say that about our God. She might kill you with her Fiery Glare.”

“Ok, I won’t but still… her eyes… it’s a little disturbing.”


…………………….
“After visiting the South Kingdom, she went to the Middle Kingdom and ‘interrupted’ the morning routine.”


“WHERE IS IT??? WHAT’S THE REASON OF YOUR LAUGHING MARATHON? I DON’T SEE SOMETHING FUNNY! SHARE IT TO ME~!!!”


“Even though she disturbed their routine, since she’s on the land where only happiness exists, she was forgiven by their good queen.”

“You know, you should stay here in our kingdom. You’re a jolly person too.”

“I can’t stay in just one place. I’m a traveler and I would want to see different places before I die.”

“If that’s the case, then let out tortoise-god, Eri, guide you on your journey.”

“Ehh? Why does your God’s thighs are like that?”

“That’s because she uses her power called Thunder Thighs.”

“Thunder Thighs? Shouldn’t it be Thunder shell or something? She’s a tortoise. She’s supposed to have low leg powers right?”


………………………
“When she reached the North Kingdom, they were in the middle of their Daily Exercise. Queen Junjun was not happy with the disturbance that she made the traveler do push-ups, 100 times.”


“UWAAAH~! I’M SO TIRED!!!!”

“That’s your punishment for interrupting our exercise.”

“Geez, will you lighten up? It’s just an exercise.”

“It’s not JUST an exercise. It’s important for us to have good body built.”

“Ehh? If you’re so into ‘body building’, then why does this statue of this girl looks so skinny? She looks like a wimp if you ask me.”

“Don’t you dare disrespect our hare-God, Sayu! She will punish you with her ‘venom tongue’!”


…………………….
“Koharu stayed at the shoreline of the North Kingdom, ready to go out of China the next day. While she was asleep, the 3 Gods were having a confrontation in their sky palace.”



“I’LL KILL THAT GIRL!!! SHE SAID I HAVE WONKY EYES!!!”

“Hey, calm down. Lower your voice, I’m trying to sleep here.”

“In case you were asleep earlier. SHE BAD-MOUTHED YOUR THIGHS!!!”

“ZZZzzzzzzzz.”

“Geez, Reina. You’ll get wrinkles on your face if you don’t stop what you’re doing.”

“BUT, THAT KID’S REALLY ANNOYING!!!! DON’T TELL ME YOU’RE NOT ANGRY WITH HER WHEN SHE CALLED YOU A WIMP!!!!”

“Well, I don’t mind being called a wimp as long as I’m the cutest god there is on the entire heaven.”

“ARRRGGGHHH!!!!! ARE YOU REALLY THE NORTH KINGDOM’S GOD?!?! YOU WON’T EVEN FIGHT!!!”

“And look who’s talking… your kingdom is a peaceful and intellectual kingdom. And if you have a ‘brain’, then you’ll realize that you have to stay calm and at peace with your inner self.”


“The tiger god was really angry with Koharu and the hare-god amplified her ‘grouchiness’. She grabbed a carrot and threw it towards the hare-god but her ‘wonky’ eyes made it hard for her to aim and thus, hitting the sleeping tortoise-god.”


“THAT WAS MY FOOD!!!! I’ll KILL YOU!!!”

“WHO DISTURBED MY SLEEP!?!?!?! YOU’LL PAY FOR THIS!!!!”

“FINE! LET’S FINISH THIS ARGUMENT TONIGHT!!”

“The tortoise-god opened her shell and out came an army of little turtles. The tiger-god growled and from her breath, formed an army of little kittens. The hare-god hopped around and from the wind that she produced, came an army of little bunnies. The 3 armies clashed with each other and when they clashed, they produced a wonderful color in the sky followed by a loud bang. Koharu was woken up at the sound and she watched the spectacle with awe, not knowing that she’s the first one to start it.”


…………………..
“And that’s how the firecracker’s colors started based on the book by ‘Murasaki Aoi’.” Ai finished her story. Risa remained quiet, as if she’s still processing something.

“So, I guess, the pink colors came from the bunnies then, the green ones, from the turtle and the yellow colors came from the kitties?”

“Yes. Cool right?”

“Yeah, cool story. I didn’t know that there’s a legend about that. You really love reading books. I guess, you lived in that South Kingdom in your past life.” Ai laughed at what her girlfriend just said. The two continued watching the night sky being lit up with fireworks.

“Nee~ Ai-chan, I wonder if Koharu’s still the cause of this ‘heavenly war’ right now.”

“Hmm, I highly agree.”

“Why?”

“Well, because after that incident, Koharu went here in Japan and annoyed our own gods Izanagi and Izanami.”

“Ohh, she really is mischievous.”

“Yes she is… Can we please stop talking about her? Let’s just enjoy our date here.”

THE END

Did I made it? I posted it right on time right??? Ahahahaha... HAPPY NEW YEAR GUYS!!!! what a way to start 2010...hmm, that means... I'll still be writing for the rest of the year..anyways...enjoy this 2nd to the final...yeah, you heard me right... the next one will be the FINAL chapter... and no amount of deal would make me post it sooner... I'll post it as Rika said... on her birthday..so you'll have to wait for 19days more to read it..I'll not stall this chapter any longer. Enjoy reading!




……………..
“So? What if I’m Kuwagata? It’s not really MY story… got that? So please just move out of my way.”

“SO THAT’S IT!!” Rika blurted. After staring for minutes in front of her computer, the ‘data’ input has been processed in her brain and she finally ‘almost’ understood what Miki meant.

“So.. wait… She’s not Kuwagata in that forum… but she’s Tenma. It’s either she has two usernames in that forum or… she’s not really Kuwagata, but then again, she said she’s Kuwagata. Hmmm, but if she’s not Kuwagata, then that means… HOLY CRAP!!!! Yoshizawa-san??? No way.”

“Who wrote this story?”

“Ahhhm… my … my friend. I was just...”

“I don’t know. We haven’t seen each other for a while.”

“My PC broke, I can’t proof-read her fic so yeah, she sent it to me via mail instead. Kinda low-tech right?”

“Speaking of reading. My friend’s on a roll, she told me that she already finished last night the fifth chapter of ‘Searching for the Light’.”

“Well, my friend was bothering me to check her draft. It’s almost midnight when I sent her the chapters. I bet you read it that’s why your eyes were like that?”

“Well, I believe she’s inspired to write every day… and if it’s based on something, expect it to be updated frequently than her fanfics with original plots.”

“I didn’t think about that one…”

“Hmmm, when I think about it, I think that’s not considered plagiarism. She didn’t copy the whole story although the idea’s still there… but it’s really different. That’s my opinion.”

“Hmmm, I guess she will end it up like the story. She’s a really sadistic person and she likes it when her main characters die. But she’s a masochist too… sometimes.”

Memories of her conversation with Hitomi flooded her mind. It’s as if she’s watching straight from a television and it showed her the important memories only.

“OMG! She’s just like Reina! She’s talking in a third person point of view!” Rika got her cell phone and was about to call Hitomi. But she realized that it’s already past midnight and the other was probably fast asleep. She will just have to call her tomorrow morning or go to her office. With that, Rika closed her laptop and decided to sleep.

……………….
“So, what now?” Miki glared at the person in front of her. She really didn’t want to talk about her ‘escapades’ but her friend was REALLY bugging her.

“Ayaya, can we please not talk about this for now? I mean, it’s already 1 in the morning and I’m already tired.”

“Hmmm, just a little bit of information? PLEASE?!?!? I’m your best friend and… come on!!! TAN~!!!! PLEASE~~!!!!” Aya started shaking the shoulders of Miki. No matter how hard she glared at Aya, it seemed that the other was already immuned to it.

“OKAY!!! Just stop shaking me! You’re making me dizzy.”

“Yey!!! So, uhhh… what happened?”

“Got on a date, saw Hitomi again, got in a bicker fight… resumed date… wrote a fanfic, oh yeah.. and then my best friend is bugging me. That’s it.” Miki muttered sleepily. She’s really exhausted and still hasn’t fully recovered on the ‘talking’ marathon that they’ve done at Maki’s house.

“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!?! How am I going to understand it?”

“You asked for a LITTLE information. And I gave you one. Now stop asking questions and go to sleep. GOOD night!”

“Is that how you treat your FORMER love now that you found someone new?”

“Aya?!” Miki rolled her eyes as she saw Aya making her famous puppy eyes. Miki knew she would fall for the trap if she would not look away. She closed her eyes so that she will not see her ‘weakness’. “Look. I’m tired now. My energy’s been drained. I just want to get some decent sleep.”

“Alright. I’ll give you a decent sleep. But promise me, tomorrow morning, you’re going to tell me the whole story. Got that?”

“Yeah, promise. Good night!” Miki hugged her best friend without ever opening her eyes, and went towards the bed. Miki faced the wall and was about to sleep when she felt that there’s someone on the other side of the bed. She turned around and saw Aya smiling sheepishly, with both of her hands under her head.

“May I ask you… What are you doing?”

“Sleeping?”

“Uhhh… here?”

“Come on Miki, have you forgot whose house is this? And whose bed is this?”

“ARRRGGHH!!! Ok fine it’s yours. Just let me sleep ok? No big movements!” Miki faced the wall again and closed her eyes tightly.

“Who’s the messy sleeper here?”

“AYA!!! LET ME SLEEP!!!”

“Ok~! Geez… Tan, lighten up. You’re so grouchy like an old person.”

“I’m not old. You are.”

“HOW MANY FREAKING TIMES SHOULD I TELL YOU…. I’M NOT OLD!!!!”

“LET ME SLEEEEP!!!!” Aya didn’t retaliate as she decided to let her best friend get her sleep. Instead, she hugged Miki from behind and nuzzled closely on her neck.

“Do you really plan to let me sleep?”

“Actually, I’m helping you get your sleep.” Miki felt Aya’s lips form a smile on her neck. She just let out a sigh as she held Aya’s hand on her waist and drifted off to dreamland.

………………….
As the morning came, a girl was awakened by the sounds of her phone ringing. She blindly searched for her phone, not bothering to take a look at the monitor to know who was calling her.

“Hello?”

“RIKA~!!!! So how’s the date turned out with Miki?”

“Huh? What are you saying?”

“Geez, did you forget? I left you two yesterday… Well, I purposely left you two that is.”

“Uhhh, who am I speaking too?”

“Is that the way to treat your best friend? It’s me, Sayu!”

“Sayu? Sayu?.... Hitomi? Uhh no, she’s Risa…wait… best friend….. AYU!!!! What the heck was that?!”

“Ahahaha… so ERI? How’s Reina? Did she treat you really good? Come on tell me~!”


………………………………….
“Well, how can I explain it… Uhhh, good?”

“Come on Tan!!! You’re no different than last night!”
…………………………………
“It’s kinda awkward.. We role played a TanaKame scene.”

“REALLLY?!?!?! So Miki’s being straight forward with you?”
………………………………..
“Uhh, yeah and then, I held her hand.”

“MIKI!!!! OH MY GOD!!! You’re really the straight forward type!!”
…………………………………
“I guess so…And then she… uhh.. you know… hugged me.”

“OMG!!!! OMG!!! DO you know that I’m hyperventilating right now?!? Rika that was… KYAAAHH!!! Just like a real TanaKame scene.”
…………………………………
“And not just that. I caressed her cheek and said some sweet stuff.”

“KYAAAHH!!~ And how did she react by that?”
………………………………..
“Umeboshi? Way to ruin a good moment there Rika. And since when did you like umeboshi?”

“Come on Ayu… I don’t know how to react to those kinds of…. You know!”
………………………………
“And you bought her umeboshi?”

“I was about to, but then Hitomi came.”
………………………………
“Ohhh, the other manager popped out… is that the friend of Kuwagata?”

“Yeah.. and it turns out that Miki and Hitomi knew each other.”

……………………………..
“And she followed me into our role play thing, and became Risa.”

“Ohhh… Hitomi’s still updated with the latest buzz. She knew ‘GakiKame’ fans are multiplying. So what happened next?”
……………………………..
“They used the ‘role play mode’ to fight. I’m still not sure about the root of their fight though.”

“Ahhh… It’s really hard to be in the center of conflicts. So what did you do?”

……………………………..
“Rika pulled us into a quiet place to settle our thing and then… we settled our thing.”

“So… Hitomi and you are friends again?”
………………………………

“I can’t hear them clearly but Miki said that they’re ok…. And she continued the date.” Rika took a peek at her wall clock. She still has time to do her morning chores before going to work. She just needed to finish her chat with her best friend.

“You know. You two are really like Reina and Eri. You’re weird. And Miki’s really yankii, my hand still hurts a little from her grip. Anyways, what happened next?”

“I’m going to be late if I don’t hang up now.” Rika excused. Should she tell her best friend what happened with their ‘date’? Up to now she, herself, can’t imagine as to why she allowed herself to be dragged in this so called ‘mess’. She’s the president’s daughter and Miki’s one of their employees. Not to mention a ‘girl’ employee. Rika massaged her temples. She’s been into too much ‘Shoujo Ai’ or even ‘Yuri’ genre with the Three-Tums that somehow it’s back firing at her own life.

“Come on Rika. I know you can make it in your office in just 20 minutes. So, what happened? TELL MEEEE~~~!!! PLEASE~~!!” Rika cringed at the high voice of her best friend and let out a sigh. She’s still her best friend no matter what.

“Well, she took me into this another restaurant with some live music performance and great ambience and then she accompanied me to my house… and…”

“THAT’S SO SWEET!!!!! You know. I’m not imagining a Rika x Miki scene… I’m imagining a REINA x ERI scene! That was so sweet!!! Geez, Rika… you’re such a lucky girl!” Rika smiled at the comment but decided to remove that smile from her face.

“AYU!!! Come on, Miki’s a girl! I’m a girl!”

“Reina and Eri are girls too. I don’t see any problem with that.” Ayumi defended.

“Ayumi, we’re living in the REAL world.” Rika retaliated. She heard her best friend chuckle a bit. She already knew she would get some ‘stupid’ argument after that chuckle.

“They are living in the REAL world too. And you should know that because WE are attending their concerts.”

“But… Their relationship.. you know.. Tanakame, TanaShige and KameShige thing are just a figment of our imagination. It’s just can’t happen in real life.”

“Really? How sure are you about that? Did you already do a research about that? Come on Rika, reality’s even ‘magical’ than the movies or fanfics if you think about it. We say that ghosts or creatures don’t exist but there are evidences that they exist. There are lots of ‘impossible’ things happening everyday at the different parts of the world, we just don’t know it because of the lack of media or information.” Somehow, her best friend has a point. Before Ayumi would only give her crazy answers whenever she was asking or telling her point but now, she’s answering sensibly.

“Ok, I must say that you have a point there but still, I think, they are just doing purely ‘fan service’ because it’s what their fans, like me… and you, want.”

“If you put it like that then I’ll become a fan of YOUR pairing. Hhmm.. Fujimoto Miki and Rika Ishikawa… It could be IshiMoto but since Miki’s the one leading, I think it’s better if we named it FujiKawa. What do you think?” Rika face palmed at what her friend said. Ayumi’s taking their discussion really far.

“AYUMI!!!! ARE YOU REALLY PUSHING ME TO THE ‘OTHER SIDE’?!? ARE YOU REALLY MY BEST FRIEND?!?!” Rika yelled playfully. Somehow, the blush on her cheeks wasn’t cooperating with what she’s saying.

“No, I’m not pushing you to the other side and yes, I’m your best friend.”

“Then why does it seem like you’re pushing me towards Miki?”

“I’m not pushing, I’m just merely telling facts from my observations. You were really happy when you changed her. You bugged her in ways a superior would never do, in ways that you would never do to someone who you just met. You seemed really happy when you were talking with her when we were in the restaurant. Rika, the signs are right there in front of you, ready to pounce at you anytime. You just have to grab it.”

“I don’t want to grab it! Is this even legal?”

“I guess the right question is, is it even accepted here? If you worry about it too much then go to Spain, or Belgium, Canada… or Sweden! You can have your marriage there and then straight to honeymoon.” Ayumi followed her comment with a laugh that’s different from her normal, ‘fangirl’ laugh. It’s more on the ‘crazy’ laugh.

“SHIBATA!!!! It’s really early in the morning!”

“Hai, hai… I’m just stating my opinion. You don’t have to be angry. ”

“Well, you’re the one making me angry.” Rika pouted even though she knew her friend wouldn’t be able to see it. She took another glance at her clock and decided that she really needed to end the call. “Anyways, if you’re just going to annoy me at the start of my day, I’ll hang this up. I need have to prepare now.”

“Ok, I’ll just annoy you later.”

“Geez, thanks, you’re really my best friend.” Rika replied sarcastically.

“Good luck with your love life. I’m officially into FUJIKAWA now. I’ll write fics about you two, ja~!”

“AYUMI DON’T YOU…. dare.” Rika put her phone beside her. Her best friend cut off the line even before she even completed her sentence. She sighed out loud. Her friend has a point. Ever since she ‘officially’ started in her work, her father sent her into different branches ranging from a month up to five months. Her three-month stay in Hokkaido was, for her, the happiest and at first she didn’t know why. Her father also noticed it too and thus, she was given a day to visit it again five days ago. Ayumi’s right. All the facts were there, hitting her every time. It’s just that she didn’t notice it… or was trying NOT to notice it. Rika grabbed her pillows and screamed on it before deciding to finally start her day.

……………….
“Ohayou!” Rika turned around to see the owner of the deep voice.

“Ahh, Ohayou, Mr. Nishida. You’re pretty late this morning.” Rika made it into their office 5 minutes before her official work time due to her early phone call. Usually, Mr. Nishida was earlier than her normal arriving time of 20 minutes before the official work time but now, it seemed that she reached the office first. The door of the elevator opened and the two went inside. They were staying on different floors.

“My car broke down but I managed to fix it in time. So, how have you been? It’s just a few days from now and then you’ll go back to Kobe. I hope that you enjoyed your stay here.”

“Yes, I really enjoyed my stay here. And I learned a lot from this branch.” The elevator stopped on Rika’s floor. She stepped out and turned back as she heard the older man said something.

“We also learned a lot from you. Do your best today. See you later!” Rika smiled at Mr. Nishida before the elevator door, closed. She walked towards her office to start her work and it seemed that she will be quite busy before she will go home as Mari showed her a list of meetings and paper works that she needed to attend. During her lunch break, she just ate her lunch silently, without even checking her laptop for updates. She has lots of paper works to do so she completely set aside her fangirl side for the first time since her stay in Saitama branch. As she was munching and checking some papers, her phone rang. Rika rolled her eyes and mumbled a silent prayer before answering it.

“Oh please… I hope it’s not Ayu.”
“Good afternoon, Ishikawa Rika speaking. How may I help you?”

“Uhh, hi… so uhhh.. My flight back to Hokkaido is tonight at 8. Can I see you after your work?” Rika blinked many times. Rika wanted to scold herself from blushing as soon as she heard Miki’s voice.

“Uhh, ok. Where?”

“Let’s meet at that restaurant last night. I want to treat you again before I go.”

“Ok. There’s so many things that I want to clear with you after reading that fic. I want to ask it now but I have much work to do before I go back to Kobe five days from now. So I’ll just see you later at 5.”

“Alright. Uhh….uhhh… Take care always.” Rika knew Miki wanted to tell her something else but it seemed that the other can’t say it.

“Sure, you too. Bye.”

“Bye.” Rika clearly heard Miki sighed before she fully put down the receiver. Somehow, hearing Miki’s voice made her heart beat really fast.

“What’s going on with me!!!! This cannot happen!!! My dad’s gonna kill me!!!” Rika managed to finish her meal without a glitch and continued her work. She managed to finish ALL of her work an hour before 4 in the afternoon. She stretched her arms as massaged her eyes. She pressed her intercom and called for her secretary.

“Yaguchi-san, kindly pick up the files. I’m already finished with it.” After a couple of minutes, Mari emerged from her door and picked-up the papers. Before going out, Mari gave her a present.
“What’s this?”

“A goodbye present. I want to be the first one to give you one.”

“Thank you very much! I appreciate your efforts.” Rika gave a hug at her secretary at this branch. She was thankful that she met a certain Mari Yaguchi who has been a great helper. Rika went back to her seat and took a good look at her office. She stayed here for at least a month and she knew somehow, she’s going to miss it.

“Ahhh!!!” Rika suddenly exclaimed. She grabbed her phone and called someone whom she should have called earlier.

“Yasuda-san, is Yoshizawa-san there? Kindly tell her to go here in my office. Thank you.” With that said, she put the receiver down and waited patiently for the other party to arrive.

“Uhh, Yasuda-san said that you wanted to see me.” Hitomi greeted after knocking on Rika’s door.

“Yeah, Gaki-san, I need to talk to you about something.” Rika smiled as she said that. She can’t believe she’s the one who started the ‘role play’ mode, in which the other one gladly played along.

“Is it about last night with Tanaka-san?”

“Yes… I’ve already asked her what happened but she told me to read a fic instead. And that fic, was…well, I think it’s about you and Reina’s story.”

“Well, what’s there to explain when you already know the whole story?” Rika saw Hitomi’s sad expression on her eyes.

“I need to clear something on my mind… Are you, the real Kuwagata?”

“Yes… and no at the same time. It’s our nickname. I’m Kabutomushi and she’s Kuwagata… but I decided to use the latter in that blog… so as not to forget her completely.”

“I see.”Rika leaned back on her chair, trying to imagine what happened between the two friends. “Do you and Miki… I mean, Reina already fixed your differences last night?”

“Yes.”

“You’re still having a hard time talking about this right?” Rika asked as soon as she noticed Hitomi fidgeting over the topic.

“Yes…. But if you really want to know what happened, I think I’ll update my fic tonight. But you’ll have to analyze it yourself because I’ll tackle it through symbolism.”

“Ok, I think I can manage that.” With that said, Hitomi left Rika’s room as the other readied herself for another ‘date’.
“They are both alike; expressing their explanations through fiction.”

…………………
“Hi there! How’s your day?” Miki stood up as soon as she saw Rika coming near her table to pull out a seat.

“Thanks!” Rika sat down on the chair while Miki get back on her on seat. “Well, I’ve been pretty busy this morning. I have to finish a lot of paper works before I go back to Kobe.” Rika mumbled a simple thank you as the waiter gave her the menu. They ordered their food first before Miki finally continued their conversation.

“When are you going back?”

“Five days from now. “

“Ohh.” That was all that Miki can say because her mind was drifting somewhere else. She was being very nervous every time she took a glance at Rika.

“You alright Reina? You’re sweating profusely. Do you have a fever?” Rika touched Miki’s forehead to check her temperature. Miki quickly swatted her hand away. Rika was stunned at the action.

“Yeah, Reina’s fine. Reina’s just nervous… about my flight. That’s all.” Miki lied. Based from her experience, Rika will start to worry about her about that simple thing.

“Then don’t take that flight! You know, just like Final Destination. Something might happen… and I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.” Miki saw a light blush on Rika’s cheeks. The other girl decided to look away from her and turn her attention on the waiter who was serving their food.

“Does Eri worry about Reina?”

“Of course.. you’re… my friend.”

“Ohh.” The two silently started eating their meal. Miki knew they were in an awkward situation and she needed to fix it up before she will board her plane. After eating, Miki took Rika to the nearest park. There were few couples walking around the park at that time so Miki decided to take the chance to confess her feelings for her ‘boss’.

“Uhh… Reina only have an hour left before she’ll go to the airport but before Reina will go, Reina needs to say something.” Rika’s heart started beating really fast as soon as Miki said those words. Rika took a deep breath and decided to act naturally.

“What is it, Reina?”

“Well, you see, Reina was really angry with her heart. Before, her heart was pure and full of kindness towards her friends but something happened and Reina’s heart turned into ice. It was covered with impenetrable ice that even Reina herself had a hard time removing. Somehow, someone came into Reina’s life that started melting the ice that Reina unknowingly put up, and now, it’s completely melted.” Rika listened intently on what Miki was saying. Deep inside her, she knew she was the one Miki was pertaining too. “Reina tried scolding her heart and did her best to not let the person into her life because Reina knew she would only get hurt in the end. But Reina’s heart was stronger and even though she knew she would get hurt, it wants to take the risk.” Miki looked straight into Rika’s eyes. “Reina’s in love… with a turtle.”

Rika wanted to melt at the way Miki ‘confessed’ her feelings. Her other half wanted to say yes right at that moment but still, her ‘rational’ side won the argument.

“Ano, that turtle is me right?”

“Yes, my one and only Eri.” Miki took Rika’s hand into hers, hoping the other would receive her.

“I’m sorry that I destroyed the ice wall that you built.”

“But I’m really thankful that you manage to break it down.”

“Ok, uhh.. I appreciate your confession... no, what I mean is… I appreciate your love for me, but I think,” Rika paused, still thinking of a ‘lighter’ way to say it, “ I’m still not ready to accept your love. You’ve fallen in love with a turtle who wouldn’t want to go out of her shell. There are lots of factors to that but the number one reason is fear… fear of the unknown. Turtles’ feel secured inside their shell and I think it will take some time for a turtle like me to go out of my security zone.” Rika explained but her heart felt heavy as she was doing it. Add to that, Miki’s almost teary eyes made it hard for her to stop herself from hugging the other one.

“It’s alright with me. Reina will take her time and instead of putting up an ice wall, I’ll develop myself and become a shell. So when Eri will finally decide to go out, I’ll become her shell and protect her from outside forces.” Rika finally let her tears fall freely from her eyes as she lunged forward and hugged the other girl.

“I’m so sorry.” Rika cried on Miki’s chest as the other girl hugged her back and stroked her hair. Miki took a deep breath as she, herself, was having a hard time holding her tears. She mustn’t cry now. Rika need her strength.

“Don’t be. I’ll wait for you, promise.” The girls remained in that position for what seemed like an eternity before Miki took the courage to move away. “Reina has only one request before she goes away.”

“What is it?”

“Will Eri let Reina kiss her goodbye?” Rika didn’t answer instead, she closed her eyes. Miki put her hands on Rika’s shoulders and pulled her closer to her. It was nothing more than a quick, chaste kiss on the lips. Even though she really liked it, Miki has to pull back. “I have to go now. Thank you, for everything.” Miki walked away but was stopped when Rika hugged her from behind.

“On my birthday. I’ll post a fanfic. Be sure to read it.”

“Sure. See you again.”

Rika went home as soon as Miki went to the airport. She was really tired from all the stress in work and the emotional turmoil that she was going through right now, but she definitely needed to read Kuwagata’s next chapter. She opened her laptop and typed in Hitomi’s blog. Her sleepiness vanished when she saw that the next chapter has already been uploaded.

……………….
Chapter 11

“So, what is it this time?” Reina asked as soon as she got on the place that Sayumi said. Sayumi decided to go for the ‘direct’ approach too.

“Do you have feelings for my best friend?” Reina was taken aback at the other girl’s question but decided to answer it none the less.

“Well, I’m asking that to myself too. Lately your friend’s making me confused.”

“What if I told you that Eri likes you, how would you feel about that?” Reina blinked at the other girl. She still find Sayumi quite hard to read and she’s definitely having a hard time analyzing as to why the other girl’s telling her stuffs like this.

“Why are you telling this to me now?”

“Because Eri’s too ashamed to tell it to you in person. Being her best friend, I want to help her out.”

“Really?” Reina crossed her arms trying to get the real intention of the other girl.

“Yeah, you don’t believe me do you?”

“Well, based from experience… yes. You’re hard to read… But I feel that there’s something else that you want to talk about.”

“And what’s that?”

“Earlier… before you called. I felt like.. I don’t know. Somehow I felt like Eri’s in danger or something. It’s pretty late when you ran out of the court. I guess, the sun rose up even before she was able to go inside her house right?” With that said, Sayumi removed her gaze from Reina and her smile vanished. Reina knew she hit the spot. “Is she alright?”

“For now.” Sayumi responded. Reina looked away from the girl. She somehow felt guilty as to why Eri wasn’t able to go home earlier. If only she noticed the time. Sayumi sensed what the other girl was thinking. “It’s not your fault. We knew it will come to her sooner or later.”

“What?”

“Her death… it will definitely come sooner or later.”
…………………..
“Hey there Reina! What are you doing here?” Eri tried to greet cheerfully even though she doesn’t have enough power on her voice. She gave her best friend a questioning look as to why the other girl was here.

“I felt that something bad happened to you earlier and I asked Sayumi to take me to you. We didn’t notice the time earlier and the sun rose up even before you went inside your casket right?” Reina tried to lighten up the mood a little bit by bringing up the ‘vampire’ thing.

“Yeah, but you didn’t need to worry that much. I’m a tough vampire; I won’t go down easily without a fight.” Eri reassured her friend by holding onto Reina’s hand and squeezing it a little bit.

“I’ll gladly help you with your fight.”

…………………
For the next three months, Sayumi and Reina were always visiting Eri and if it’s their lucky day, Koharu would tag along with them. Aunt Iida would always cook for them as they cheered up the little turtle. As the days go on, Eri’s health grew weaker and weaker. And the weaker she became, the more Reina wanted to stay by her side.

“Hey, are you sure you’re not sick? You look paler than before.” Risa commented. She noticed that Reina lost some weight and she’s always running away right after the school was over. She didn’t even have the time to play basketball with them on their free time. Reina was completely taken by her ‘vampire’ friend.

“Yeah, I’m alright. I’m just, well… doing some important stuff.”

“Would you mind sharing what that ‘important’ stuff is?” Ai asked, concerned at what her friend was acting for the past few months.

“I think in due time I’ll tell you about it, but for now, let me do this alone.” The two saw the seriousness in their friend’s eyes that they just let her do her way. Reina immediately excused herself as she saw Sayu waiting for her outside.

“Did you tell your friends?”

“Nah, I don’t want to bother them. Besides, they’ve only seen Eri once.” Sayu was about to reply when her phone rang. She answered it and Reina saw how Sayu’s facial expression changed to shock.

“It’s Koha-chan.. We need to go to the hospital, fast.”

…………………
“Eri… wake up… Eri... We’re here now.” Eri slowly opened her eyes as soon as she heard her best friend’s voice.

“Hey.” Eri weakly replied. “How’s school?” Reina bit her lip as she saw how Eri gave her best effort to smile and pretend like she’s not in pain. Reina wanted to tear up right at that moment but knowing Eri, she would just ‘forcefully’ laugh at her weakness.

“Fine.. how about you? How are you feeling right now?”

“I’m much better now that I’ve seen the two of you.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Well then, what do you want me to say to you?” Sayumi opened her mouth but her voice didn’t come out. Reina put a hand on Sayu’s shoulder.

“Eri, are there still things that you want to do?” Sayumi glared at her. She didn’t know what came to Reina’s mind. Eri stared at Reina’s determined eyes. She let out a dreamy smile as she told them her answer.

“I want to do a dunk… That’s the only thing I haven’t done ever since I started playing basketball.”

“Then, get stronger… and when they discharge you from this hospital, we’ll play basketball.”

“Promise?”

“yes.. I promise. Rest now and be stronger.”

…………..
“What the hell are you thinking?! Are you insane?!? You do realize that Eri’s weak.. and she’s becoming weaker every single day!!! Look at me when I’m talking to you!” Sayumi pulled back Reina, only to be surprised to see her crying for the first time.

“I know… I just want her to do her dream… so she will not have regrets later. I know it’s hard for us.. but it’s even harder for her. Please, help me with this… I beg you.” Reina pleaded over the now crying girl. “Look, from what I’ve read, fewer than 40% of individuals with this disease survive beyond the age of 20. Eri’s nearing her 20th birthday and we don’t know whether she will die earlier or later. With her current state, I don’t know how long she would last so I want to do this… for her… And I need you to help me. Please, Sayu.

……………
“Why do you need to cover my eyes?” Eri asked her cousin who was pushing her wheelchair.

“Well, because it’s a surprise.”

“Where are you taking me?”

“To the usual place” Koharu continued their journey and after a couple of minutes, they reached the place. “Here we are… you can now take it off.” Eri took off her blindfold and saw that they were in the court. She squinted her eyes and saw that Sayumi and Reina were already there, waiting for her.

“Hey guys! What are we going to do here?” Koharu pushed her closer towards the two and that’s the only time that she noticed that there’s a large trampoline underneath the basket. Reina grinned excitedly.

“We’re here to see you dunk the ball.” Eri’s eyes widened as Reina took her ‘request’ seriously. Reina walked closer and offered her a ‘piggy back ride’. “Let’s go. Hold on to me.”

Reina was able to carry Eri’s current weight with ease. Sayu put a strap to ‘lock’ Eri to Reina so she wouldn’t fall when they will jump. Reina and Sayu climbed up the trampoline as the latter gave the ball to Eri. Koharu was on the side, busy filming the entire event on Eri’s camera.

“Here, hold the ball tightly.”

“Thanks Sayu.” Eri mustered all her strength just to hold the ‘heavy’ ball.

“Ready when you are.”

“I’m ready.” Reina started jumping on the trampoline, slowly gaining height as she put force on her jump. She jumped a little closer towards the hoop so that Eri can do the ‘dunk’. She tightened her grip on Eri as they neared the basket.

“Come on Eri…. You can do it!” Sayu yelled, encouraging her best friend.

“Yeah!!! Do a windmill!!!” Koharu cheered. Eri focused as she neared the hoop. She readied herself as Reina jumped higher on the trampoline. She raised her hand and did a two-handed windmill. Sayu and Koharu applauded as the ball went through the basket perfectly. When their ‘bouncing’ stopped, Reina put Eri down and gave her a hug.

“That was great! I was just expecting you do a regular dunk instead you did a windmill. You’re really great!”

“Thanks.” Eri mumbled. As she hugged back her friend.

“You don’t have worry about us. We’ll be fine. We’ll see each other again at the finish line.” Reina whispered so that only Eri would hear it. Eri tightened her hold on Reina.

“Thanks a lot. Let’s play basketball when we meet again.”

…………………….
“Hey, what are you doing there?” Risa called back as soon as she noticed that their other friend was not following them.

"Just saw a good book.... It's about taking care of your skin."

"Yeah Sayu... you and your narcissistic ego strikes again." Ai commented and the three laughed.

"Hey! I'm not that narcissistic!!!" Reina went close to her and patted her head.

"Yeah, yeah... and I don't have wonky eyes... Geez, Sayu... you're like that ever since I've known you."

"Whatever... Let's just continue shopping."

An hour later, the two excused themselves and went off somewhere.

"I can't believe it's already been three years."

"Yeah... But I know, she's happy where ever she is." Reina replied as she looked towards the sky. "Hey, let's buy your book."

"What book?" Sayu asked as Reina pulled her back towards the bookstore.

"You know, the one which tackles on taking care of your skin."

The End

……………………
Rika didn’t expect that she would cry over a fanfic. Her imagination was really vivid that she felt like she was watching a movie. She was about to type a comment but, it’s Hitomi’s ‘explanation’. Instead of making a public comment.. She decided to PM the author instead.

TBC




by the way... you have 19 days to 'interpret' Searching for a Light before Rika will post her interpretations...nyahahaha.XD