Yumi pulled out her makeup set and put it down on her desk and crossed to her wardrobe, picking out the clothes for the evening. It was going to be nothing huge, so she picked out something nice yet casual: a blue pair of shorts and a bright blue little baby-t. Yumi dressed quickly, put on her sandals and checked herself in the mirror. OK, bright outfit sorted.
Now for hair and makeup. Hair first... Yumi shook up her hairspray and fluffed up her long dark hair, spraying it carefully to hold it in place. Big is better. Colour. The orange spray-on hair colour was sprayed over her hair. Yumi checked her reflection again and sprayed in the patches she'd missed.
Perfect nearly. Makeup time! Yumi drew thick lines over her eyelids, flicking the ends outwards in an Egyptian style. She skipped out on mascara and blusher, not really seeing a point today and headed straight onto a bright pink lipstick. It was not bright enough to clash with her hair or her outfit but provided a healthy midway. There was just one thing left...
Her evening handbag lay on the bed by the window. Into it Yumi slid her purse, makeup essentials and (after taking a quick peek out of her bedroom onto the landing and down the stairs, that she was not being observed), drew a small revolver out from under her bed and put it carefully into her bag.
Now, Yumi hadn't killed anybody, and wasn't planning on starting, it was just in this part of Tokyo, she had to be careful. Her friend Tomoyo had been beaten brutally and nearly killed by a gang, a few months ago. There were too many bad people who hung around after dark. It was after that Yumi had started training (privately) to use guns. She knew that if she wanted to go out she had to be able to defend herself. Her parents didn't know. Neither did her little brother. She just wanted to be able to feel strong. Yumi knew she was far too headstrong for her own good, but she still wanted to be safe. Her strength of character may not be so defensive against three or four men her age who could easily overpower her. The boys round here had sometimes no sense of morality. Yumi slung her bag over her shoulder and looked at herself in the mirror. Dressed to kill! Yumi grinned. Now to go and find the guys.
Yumi slipped down the stairs and called out to her mother in the kitchen.
"I'm going out now, mother."
"Keep safe, Yumi." The same response as always.
"I will." And the same reply. Yumi unlocked the front door and went out onto the dark street, the neon lights flashing. Yumi set off at a walk down the street over towards her favourite haunt. The guys would be waiting for her. The streets shone with light but there were not too many people around, strangely enough. Yumi flicked her bright orange hair back. Japan was awesome. She loved it: wouldn't rather be any other nationality. It was great being Japanese. Yumi paused slightly as she saw something in the sky overhead. In Tokyo it was hard to see the sky by any stretch of the imagination (due to the light the city gave off), but this was truly different. A shooting star danced across the sky, whiter and brighter than any star that Yumi had seen before. It was huge, like it was part of a meteorite burning up in the earth's atmosphere. Yeah, that was probably it. Yumi carried on walking down the road. Besides, whatever that thing was, it wasn't going to bother her tonight, if not ever.
How very wrong she was...