Whales Make Great Matchmakers
Meimi Haneoka walked the halls of her school, St. Paulia, silently. She was walking past the boy's lockers and couldn't help but sneak a glance at the locker that belonged to Daiki Asuka Jr. She stopped in front of it and felt her heart stutter a bit as she reached out and touched the cold metal of the locker.
The lock was missing, so she could have gotten in if she wanted to. But she had no reason to. She was perfectly happy knowing that she had exactly what she wanted- the lock. You see, there is a little legend that circles around St. Paulia. If you should somehow manage to get the lock of the boy you like, and fasten it to the fence on the east side of the roof, the boy will ask you to dance at the festival party that the school hosts once a year. Meimi smiled as she looked out the window and towards the east fence where she knew that the lock was fastened.
And Meimi knew who had been the one who had placed his lock on the fence. It was Saint Tail. And she was one of the only people who knew about Saint Tail. You see, by day, Meimi Haneoka was an ordinary school girl, struggling with boys and homework. But by night, she pulls off incredibly and fantastic heists as the mysterious Saint Tail! She is pursued by Asuka Jr., the son of the famous detective, and he is fiercely determined to capture Saint Tail. But only she and her friend Seira knew that she was Saint Tail.
"Meimi, what are you doing here?" Meimi jumped at the sound of the voice. Usually, she was really alert. However, of the late her senses had been dulled. Meimi turned around quickly and was suddenly face to face with the boy that she most wanted to see- Asuka Jr.
"A- Asuka! Hi! I was just, um... You know..." Meimi stuttered.
Asuka nodded and walked off towards class. "You were just being a ditz like usually."
Meimi blushed and let her head drop. Then, all of a sudden, there was a loud thwack and Asuka was left on the floor with a large bump. Meimi ran towards the school chapel with a large bucket that had a dent in her hands.
"Jerk!" Meimi screamed as she let her long red hair trail behind her. "I hate you!"
Meimi slammed the confessional door behind her. She didn't need to check to know that Seira was the nun in there at the moment.
"Meimi? Is that you?" Seira asked through the thin screen.
Meimi nodded. "Yeah." She said as she dried her eyes.
"What's wrong?" asked Seira, deeply concerned for her friend that seemed to always have to be fighting the world.
"Asuka is such a jerk!" Meimi screamed at Seira.
"I am sorry, but, what did he do that could upset you so?" Seira asked, hoping that if Meimi confessed, it would help to take the pressure off of her chest.
"He... he didn't do anything different. I don't know why I feel like I need for him to be so much- well, I guess that I don't want him to treat me like Meimi. I want him to treat Meimi like he treats Saint Tail." Meimi said as she dried her eyes, feeling good that she had such a good friend to lay her troubles on.
Seira nodded understandingly. "And speaking of Saint Tail, we have another lost lamb do take care of."
Meimi smiled. A mission was just what she needed to make her feel better. Asuka chasing her like she was the only thing that mattered- that would make her feel better.
"What's the problem?" Meimi asked as she leaned forward.
Seira smiled. Meimi's happiness meant a lot to her, and she knew that she needed something to distract her. A mission would do just that. "Well, a few hours ago, a man came in from that water park."
Meimi nodded and smiled. "Are you talking about Mystic bubbles? I love that place! Weren't they about to go out of business before they got that new attraction?"
Seira laughed. "Saint Tail is getting better and better at this! Well, apparently, the man who donated the finless whale has asked for the return of it. When the Saiyaki said no, and that he had agreed to donate the whale, the papers disappeared. The next day the whale was gone.'
Meimi nodded with a frown on her face. 'This could be difficult... A whale...'
"Seira, what was the name of the man that took the whale back?" Meimi asked, her earlier problems completely forgotten.
"You might of heard of him- his name is Sayko Toguro." Seira answered. Meimi gasped.
"He is the richest man in all of Japan!" Meimi exclaimed standing up.
"Which is another reason why this case will be so difficult. Sayko can pay off the police- he has the money." Seira said with a mischievous smile. "But I think that he is still no match for Saint Tail."
Meimi smiled and stood to leave. "No one is a challenge to Saint Tail..."
Seira opened the door of her side of the confessional and watched Meimi leave. 'Please be careful my friend.' Seira frowned slightly. 'I have a bad feeling about this...'
Meimi walked home with a lot on her mind. She was trying to determine how she could get a whale back to it's proper owner. She figured that out quickly. All she had to do was figure out where the whale was being held and send a calling card to Asuka Jr. so that he could come and try to find her.
That part was all easy, and Meimi hurried home so that she could get home faster.
The next day at school Meimi walked carefully to her classes, waiting for when she could place her calling card in Asuka's lunchbox without him not noticing. Finally, near lunch, The opportunity smacked Asuka in the face.
"Hey! Asuka! What were you thinking?!? You let saint Tail have your lock?!?" Lina, a girl who was determined to steal Asuka from Saint tail, who she thought he had a crush on, demanded.
Asuka looked up at Lina with a tired look on his face. "First you bother me. Then you bother Haneoka. Now you are messing with Saint Ponytail? What's your problem Lina?"
Lina blushed. She hadn't expected Asuka to get mad. "I just don't know why you would give your lock to a stupid thief! I bet that you like her! You do, don't you?!?" Lina screamed.
Asuka put his lunchbox down. "Why would I like a thief?!? What sense does that make!!!???!!!"
Meimi smiled as she saw that not only could she deliver her calling card, she could also get revenge on Asuka for being mean to her earlier. She giggled lightly as she whispered "one... two... three..." and did a magic trick so that the box was replaced with her special box that would open to reveal her calling card.
Asuka sighed and picked up "his" lunchbox. "I can't believe you Lina. You're such a jealous b..." Asuka opened his lunchbox and heard a loud poof.
Lina looked over his shoulder to see what she knew was a Saint Tail calling card lunch.
"I will come for the finless whale at the Sayko Toguro Residence tonight.
Love,
Saint Tail."
Lina looked at asuka with a bored expression. "Are you going to eat that calling card?" She asked loud enough that asuka's friends could hear her. They did.
"Dude! You got another calling card lunch from Saint Tail!!!" One boy, Suichi, screamed as he looked over Asuka's shoulder.
"Yes I did! But that doesn't give you all the right to steal my lunch!!!" Asuka screamed, hoping to save his lunch. But it was inevitable that the other boys would eat it. They always stole his Saint Tail lunches. He had never even gotten to eat a single bite of it.
Asuka looked longingly at his meal that was devoured before his eyes. As soon as it was finished, the three boys that had scarfed it down went back to their own lunches. Asuka picked up his empty lunchbox and cried.
"You guys suck!!!"
Meimi giggled from the background. 'Now for Saint Tail's appearance.'
"Mr. Toguro, do you know why Saint Tail is going to try to get your whale?" Asuka asked as he looked in to the whale pool with curiosity.
Sayko shrugged. "I have no idea. I have wanted to protect whales since I was young and I think that it is awful that a thief would want to steal something so rare when I am trying to protect it.
'Hmm... This isn't Saint Ponytail's style. Sayko isn't telling me something.' Asuka thought as he threw a fish in to the pool and watched the whale swallow it in one gulp.
"Thank you for your time, Mr. Toguro. We shall set up around the pool tonight so that we can capture Saint Tail." asuka said as he surveyed the surroundings. He noticed a large sun roof overhead. "Can you open that sunroof?" Asuka asked.
"Yes, mechanically from the security room." Sayko answered. "Why? What do you have in mind?"
Asuka smiled. "You'll see. Just open it when the whale sings."
Sayko didn't understand, but he nodded. "I hope you know what you are doing. I have heard that you have apprehended Saint Ponytail many times but have never been able to successfully capture her. I wish you better luck this time."
Asuka nodded. "I hope so too."
Meimi slowly opened the door to her patio. She stepped out in to the cold night in only her thin pajamas. She held a small top hat.
"Forgive me, Lord, for the tricks up my sleeves." Meimi whispered as she let the magic from her hat overwhelm her and change her in to the elusive Saint Tail. Meimi smiled as she looked down at her apperance.
"May the good Lord protect and watch over me." Saint Tail whispered as she jumped off in to the night.
Asuka lay in wait in a small crevice that was in the pool of the whale. He knew that if he waited here for just a few more minutes, Saint Tail would appear on the sun roof.
He looked at the whale, who was floating on the surface of the pool. "Show time." Asuka whispered as he pulled a small whistle out of his pocket. He had gotten it from his grandpa, who worked at Mystic bubbles, when they started to stick more items about whales. From what he understood, they were going to be getting a new whale. He didn't know from where though.
He blew slightly on the whistle and heard a very high pitched song. The whale suddenly stopped floating and started to sing along with him.
A few minutes later, the sun roof started to open. And there, on the cill of the roof top, stood Saint Tail.
"Good evening, detective." Saint Tail said quietly as she jumped down and landed on the edge of the pool. "And good evening to you, finless whale."
Asuka gasped. Saint Tail was within his arms reach, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to reach out and grab her.
Saint Tail heard him gasp and froze up. Then she realized who was behind her and she loosened up slightly. "Detective Asuka." She whispered with a slight smile on her face. She didn't turn around because she knew that if she did, he would see her face and realize who she was.
"Ponytail..." Asuka whispered, still frozen in his place.
Saint Tail frowned. "You still don't know who I am... "
Suddenly Asuka felt the spell of the moment broken and realized that he was going to let Saint Tail get away if he didn't hurry up and do something.
"Saint Tail... I will capture you!" Asuka screamed as he lunged at Saint Tail. She slowly turned around as she felt the wind current change. She smiled as she saw him jump out of the corner of her eye and stepped to the side.
Asuka screamed in fury as he hit the water of the pool with a very loud splash.
"Sorry, detective. But I will not be caught that easily." Saint Tail said over the sound of Asuka coughing and screaming colorful words at her.
Saint Tail frowned. "I hope that you will capture me, though. Someday. I won't let anyone else capture me. I promise." Saint Tail grabbed the small whistle that Asuka had dropped.
She looked at it for a few seconds before realizing what it was. "Asuka, can I please have this?"
Asuka coughed. "I don't care! Just don't cheat by flying on those balloons again!"
Saint Tail smiled. "Alright, you have a deal!"
Saint tail pulled out her hat. "I have a new trick for you, detective!" She yelled. "Now watch carefully!" She threw the whistle in to the hat and pulled out a small plug.
"You better be paying attention!" Suddenly the room was filled with whale shaped balloons and the water was draining in to the air.
"What's going on?" Asuka demanded as he pulled himself out of the pool. "You said that you weren't going to fly!"
Saint tail smiled. "I said that I wasn't going to use my balloons! This is a new trick!" She said with a smile. Then she threw down a small slip of paper to Asuka Jr., who caught it with ease.
"Saint Tail you coward!!!" Asuka screamed as he jumped up and down in anger. He looked at the empty pool. Saint Tail had stolen the finless whale. He looked down at the slip of paper. It read:
I have retrieved the finless whale of Mystic Bubbles.
Asuka read the note and looked toward the security camera, where he knew that Sayko was sitting and watching.
"Sayko! What did you do?!?" Asuka demanded as he rubbed the note on the security camera.
Two days later...
Meimi smiled as she grasped the small whistle shaped like a whale. She was sitting in the confessional and talking to Seira.
"You should have no regrets, Meimi. If it wasn't for Saint Tail, we would have another lost lamb." Seira told Meimi through the thing sheet between them.
"Who said that I had any regrets? I had a wonderful time. And I think that I will go to see the whale now that it is back in it's proper place." Meimi said as she fingered the whistle.
"What's that you have there, Meimi?" Seira asked.
Meimi gasped. She didn't know that Seira could see her. "This is a whistle that Asuka gave to saint tail."
Seira smiled. "Did you know that when a whale sings, no matter how far away the other whales are, they will hear the song and come."
Meimi smiled. "Like this?" She asked as she blew softly in to the whistle with her eyes closed.
"Wow Meimi! That's really good! You sound almost like a real whale!" Seira exclaimed as she clapped.
Meimi blushed. "I learned from Asuka. He played that tune to the whale." Meimi said as she smiled at the whistle.
"And you heard his song?" Seira asked.
Meimi blushed and almost didn't answer. Then, quietly, so that Seira almost couldn't hear her, she whispered "Yes."
"I will see you later, Seira." Meimi said as she grabbed her backpack.
Asuka saw Meimi enter the confessional. He couldn't understand why, but he felt like he needed to apologize for teasing her. He just didn't know what he felt. That was why he did the most defensive thing possible- he pushed her away. However, he felt that he needed to try something else.
Asuka sat in a pillar until he saw Meimi leave the confessional. He was about to follow when he saw Seira exit from the opposite confessional with a light smile playing on her face. He felt like he had just missed something very important.
However, Asuka is a dunce. (No one can argue, and I can point out many times when he is the stupidest guy in the world) So, he just followed Meimi, who was heading home.
When he had followed her about a block away from school, he thought that it was an opportune time to make it up to her.
"Hey Haneoka!" Asuka screamed as he caught up with her. Meimi stopped in her tracks as she reconized the voice- Asuka Jr.!
She turned around and gave him her best fake smile. "Hello detective. Caught any thieves today?" Meimi said coarsely. Asuka flinched. It was about then that he realized how badly he had hurt her.
"Listen, um... Haneoka... I was wondering, you know, if you aren't to busy this weekend, if you would like to go to Mystic Bubbles with me? My grandpa works there, so we should be able to get a behind the scenes tour. I will pay." Asuka said as he kept his head down on the ground.
Meimi didn't speak. She couldn't. She was to shocked. Happy, yes, she was very happy, but she was more shocked than anything.
"Listen, Meimi, if you don't want to go, we don't have to. I just thought that I owed it to ya' since I was, you know, so mean. Please forgive me. I... I don't want to be on bad terms with you."
Meimi blushed as she looked him in the face. Asuka slowly reached out and grabbed her hands. "You're the only person who makes me feel good. I... I want to be friends with you."
Meimi smiled and couldn't stop the tears that feel from her eyes. "I would love to go there with you..."Meimi lowered her head so that Asuka couldn't see her tears of happiness. "If you would really like for me to come."
Asuka smiled and lifted her head so that her eyes met his. "I wouldn't want anybody else to come."
Meimi smiled and couldn't help but think to herself one thing. 'He heard my whale song...'
Asuka and Meimi silently walked towards Meimi's house. And for a split second their hands brushed against each others and they both blushed, and then smiled.
The End