The Case of the Golden Microphone
It's just another normal day at St. Paulina's, Meimi and Asuka Jr. cutting at each other's throats about Saint Tail until Sister comes in.
"Haneoka! Asuka! Stop that arguing this instant!" Their debating subsides and they sit down. "I have an announcement to make. St. Paulina is having it's first-ever talent show!" Everyone starts to talk amongst themselves. "If you would like to be in the talent show, meet me at my desk and write your name and your talent." No one stood up, until Asuka Jr. walked up to the teacher. Meimi stares in amazement and admiration at the only soul who was brave enough to walk up and sign. The orange-haired lost thought as she was in front of the teacher's desk as well. "Well, Ms. Haneoka, this is a surprise." She signs it and for her talent, she writes: "Mag--Singing", almost writing the word magic. 'Whew.' she thought, walking back to her seat. "Hmmm...Haneoka and Asuka. I can't wait."
The class period ends and Asuka waits for Meimi and her gang to come out the classroom door.
"So what will you be doing, Meimi?" Ryoko asked, curious.
"I'm gonna sing," She said with confidence.
"Sing?" Kyoko asked, a little worried. "Are you sure?"
"Of course I am! You all are going to support me, right?"
"Of course we are," Seira answered with her usual glowing smile. As they walked out, Meimi is grabbed away from her posse by the man of her dreams.
"So, Haneoka, what made you do it?"
"I just wanted to..."
"What are you doing for the talent show, Haneoka?"
"Um, I'm gonna sing."
"Sing? HA!" He said, starting to laugh, flaring up Meimi's face.
"Oh yeah, Mr. Detective, what are you doing for the talent show?"
"I'm going to do magic." Meimi eyes went wide.
"Really? What tricks do you know, Asuka Jr.?"
"None. That's kinda why I waited for you at the door..." She is surprised.
"Let me guess. You want me to ask my father to help you?"
"No." She looks at him, confused now. "I want YOU to help me."
"Me?" What was Asuka Jr. doing? Was he beginning to figure it out? "Why me?"
"Well, with your father being a magician and all, you had to learn something from him."
"Um...I'm sorry. I'm not as good as my father."
"It's Ok. I'm not trying to learn anything serious...just a rabbit-out-the-hat trick here, a card trick there..."
"Oh." 'Whew.' she thought, relieved. "All right, Asuka Jr. I'll help you."
"Thank you."
"Meet me at my house tomorrow and we'll get started."
"I'll be there." He leaves.
"Be careful, Meimi," Seira warned her best friend. "Don't let him know too much."
"I'll be careful."
"We have another lost lamb, but you probably shouldn't take it."
"Seira, if I don't, who will?"
"Are you sure, Meimi?"
"Why? Is it that bad?"
"No." They walk over to the church and Seira tells her the story. "A singer by the name of Beautiful had her golden microphone stolen by a rival singer, Miiyazaki Haruko. She won it on the Singing Sensation Show, which was a competition looking for the best singer. Beautiful came in first and Miiyazaki in second. Just as she was about to receive her microphone, the lights went out and when they came back on, her trophy was gone. Since then, she couldn't come up with any songs. Her achievements were what kept her going, she said. This was a real accomplishment. She wanted it back. The problem is that when Beautiful went over to her house, she claims that she didn't take it, though she clearly saw it in her room."
"That rude woman!" Meimi said, all fired up. "No worries. Saint Tail's on the case!"
"Meimi, Miiyazaki's going to put it on auction tomorrow afternoon."
"WHAT!? Who gives an auction in the afternoon? Honestly?"
"That's the same time you told Asuka Jr. you would help him for the talent show."
"That's right..." Then, she remembered. "No problem! I'll just send him a note and that'll take care of that."
"Also," Seira added, "We have to get it before 3:00pm. Beautiful overheard her talking to her guards about her schedule."
"But, we're still in school then..."
"You'll have to take a leave of absence."
"If that's what it takes...I'll do it."
Next morning, Asuka Jr. got a wake-up call when he heard a loud burst in his room. He woke up with confetti all on his bed. Then a little paper with a pink ribbon appeared on his lap.
"This afternoon, I will steal the golden microphone from the Miiyazaki residence. St. Tail." Meanwhile, Meimi, who was just outside his house, giggled. 'I always wanted to do that,' she thought as she headed to school. She must've been walking slow, because she could hear him calling her. She stopped and turned around to an exhausted Asuka Jr.
"Haneoka, there's something I gotta tell ya."
"Yes?"
"I won't be able to make it to our appointment. Something just came up."
"But, the talent show is tomorrow." She said normally, disguising her words.
"I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you. I promise."
"Huh? Asuka Jr., you just asked me to help you..."
"Still, I feel bad not sticking to our arrangement. I gotta go. Later." He runs back the opposite direction.
At St. Paulina's, Meimi looked carefully at the clock and then at Seira to know when to make her move. When the clock hit 12, Seira nodded and Meimi puts a sick-like expression on her face.
"Meimi? You Ok?" Ryoko asked.
"You don't look so good," Kyoko added.
"Sister, Meimi appears to be sick. Could I take her home?" Seira asked.
"I trust you, Mimori-san." She grabs Meimi and takes her out the school.
"All right. It worked!"
"Hurry, Meimi."
"Right."
While Meimi's getting prepped up for her appearance, Asuka Jr. awaits Saint Tail's arrival at the Miiyazaki residence.
"She's coming here? For what?" Haruko asked.
"She wants your golden microphone. How exactly did you get it, may I ask?"
"I won it at a contest," she lied. "But I don't want it anymore, so at 2:30, I plan on selling it."
"Then I just have to guard it until then."
"You better," she demanded, giving him a glare.
"Uh--Yes, ma'am."
Saint Tail makes her way to the Miiyazaki residence. She hops into a tree inside the parameter. She watches as guards with canines are protecting the outside.
"One!" she says silently, getting ready. "Two!" She pulls out her hat. "Three!" Out the hat there's a curtain. The guards suddely notice it, but are too late as it makes them disappear from the house. With no guards guarding the front, she took her usual route, above the house.
Meanwhile, Asuka Jr. is investigating this so-called winner of a contest. "What contest was it?" He asked, acting like he cares.
"Why, the Singing Sensation, of course!"
"Really? Isn't that the--wait a minute..." Just then, the lights went out. "She's here."
"Who? Me?" Saint Tail asked happily, suprising her classmate like usual. But this time, Meim--err, Saint Tail was behind him. "Here, detective." She places something in his pocket. Asuka Jr. quickly turns to grab her, but she was too fast for him. Then, she just vanished. No sign of her, but he knew she was still in the room somewhere. He went into his pocket and pulled out what Saint Tail gave him. It was an egg.
"Uh-oh..." He said, knowing what would happen next. POP! It blows up in his face and he falls unconscious, surrounded by confetti. Saint Tail then reappears before Ms. Miiyazaki.
"Hello, thief," The 2nd place singer chuckled.
"Funny. I was about to say the same thing." She replied with a grin. Hearing that, Asuka Jr. snaps back to reality. Before he could say anything, Saint Tail snapped her fingers. The Golden Micrrophone appears in her hand. "Thanks a lot. I'll just be giving this back to the REAL winner, Ms. Beautiful."
"Hold on, Saint Tail!" He shouted, getting up quickly trying to catch her. Saint Tail got on her large pink balloon and left. "Ahh! Not again..."
'Hee-hee. He's so cute when he's angry.' She thought. 'Guess I should be heading back home, but first...'
At Beautiful's house, there's a ring of the doorbell. She answers, but see no one. She looks down and sees her trophy in a basket with a note. It read: "I believe this is yours." She quickly picks it up and looks up, saying "Thank you."
Saint Tail manages to make it back home without being noticed. She quickly changes back in her room. Just as she finished, her mother shouted, "Meimi! Your friend is here!" She goes outside her room.
"Seira, is that--" Then, as she went down the stairs. She saw that it wasn't Seira...but Asuka Jr.! "Oh!"
"Hey."
"Hi." Her mother is just staring at them as they both have their heads down, trying to hide the blush on their faces.
"Wait...you're Asuka Jr.? The detective boy?"
"Yes."
"Nice to finally meet you. Sorry about you not catching Saint Tail and all."
"Thanks. Next time, I'll be sure to catch her."
"If you didn't catch her by now, she must be really good." Meimi couldn't help but blush at her compliment. "So, what brings you here, detective?"
"Well, Haneoka, I mean MEIMI was gonna show me how to do some magic tricks. We have this talent show tomorrow and I had a previous assignment earlier today." Meimi gets redder as he just called her by her first name.
"Is this true, Meimi?" She asked the little girl.
"...Yes."
"Well, what are you just standing there for? Show him."
"Right. Let's go." She walks down to him and they leave the house.
"Where are we going?" He asked.
"To a magic shop. You can't do magic without any equipment." They arrive at (a place I just made up) AbraKadabara! Magic Shop.
"Hello there. How may I help you?" The clerk asked them.
"One hat and one pack of cards, please." He gives them what they asked for. "You're paying, right?"
"Um..." He then rubs the back of his head, starting to laugh. "Heh heh. I don't have any money right now."
"(sigh)" With that, she payed for his equipment. They left the shop and went to the park. "All right. Magic is just an illusion to get people's attention. Watch as I pull something out this hat." She places her hand into the hat and pulls out a ball. "Huh?"
"Wow. Is that what was supposed to come out?"
"No. It's supposed to be a rabbit."
"Wow. You were right. You're not as good as your father..." He starts to laugh, but she gets P.O.'d.
"Fine! wanna joke? I won't help you." She starts to leave.
"Wait! I'm sorry!" He runs to catch up with her. "I'm sorry! Please...you're my only hope."
"All right. But no more jokes!"
"I promise."
"Now let's try this again." She pulls out a rabbit. "Tada!"
"Wow, you did it. Ok. Let me try." He reaches into the hat and pulls out...a ball? "Ahh man." She starts to giggle. As they went on to the card trick, Asuka Jr. seemed to get it right away. "It's getting late. Let me take you home."
"Huh?" She blushes at his kind gesture. "Um, Ok." They walked together towards her house. 'Think of something...anything!' she thought to herself. "So, you let her get away again, huh?"
"Huh? Of course not...yeah. She escaped." He said all slumped. "Next time, I will catch her."
"Hmm. Asuka Jr.?"
"Yeah?"
"What made you want to do magic for the talent show?"
"Well...I remembered your father being a magician, so when she asked if anyone wanted to be in the talent show, I thought, 'why not? let's give it a shot.' Maybe it would give me some lead to why Saint Tail can escape so easily."
"Uh-huh."
"Then I supposed that if he knows how to do tricks, then you would, too."
"Oh. So you did it...to get me to help you?" He blushes as she just figured him out. She snickers. They arrive at her house. "I had a great time."
"Yeah. Me, too. Thanks for the lessons."
"Keep practicing. Practice makes perfect." They stare away each other for a moment, then Meimi opens her door. "Well, good--"
"Meimi, wait."
"Yes?" He bent his head down and kissed her cheek. "Oh..."
"Thanks."
"N-n-no problem." He leaves after that. She closes the door and runs to her room. She rests on her bed and recalled what just happened a few seconds ago. 'He kissed me...' she thought. 'Could that mean he...'
Next day, during the talent show, Meimi sang in front of the audience:
You've been searching forever now what will you do?
Even when we were not together I was still very close to you Look into my eyes, my love tell me what you see.
you came to me from up above when I fell and you caught me.
I was once gloomy down and feeling sad Then a sudden shock went through me seeing what I never had Then I tripped on a rock and just then I realize that I was in another state of shock when I was met by a pair of green eyes
With his black suit and his green tie my lips were on mute he was handsome, I could not lie He picked me up in his strong arms and like a wife he carried me he gave me those darling charms and from then, I knew we were meant to be You've been searching forever now what will you do?
You know that I would never ever want to leave you..." With that, she looked at Asuka Jr. behind the curtain.
"Tell me, am I the one, my love that only your eyes will see?
The only one you can think of.
is...it only...me?" Asuka Jr. stares at her with a look of surprise. 'Is she...asking me?' He snaps back when everyone starts to cheer on her.
'Wow. She can sing,' he thought. Then it was his turn. He attempted his tricks successfully. Meimi was so proud. He looked at Meimi and winked. She blushed.
Soon, after school, Meimi waits for him. He sees her.
"Hi."
"Hey."
"I wanted to...um...congratulate you. You did the tricks."
"I couldn't've done it without you." She blushed again.
"No problem."
"Also, I had you all wrong."
"Huh?"
"That song...it was beautiful..."
"Oh," she gets redder. "Thank you."
"You really can sing."
"Thanks."
"About that last part of the song, though..." 'So he DID notice...' she thought. "Were you...um..."
"...Maybe, Asuka Jr. Maybe not. You're the detective. You figure it out." She said, happily, running to her house. "Bye!" She leaves him.
Before he left, he only said one word..."Meimi..." then went on his way home.
The End