It was an ordinary day in West Shinjuku, Japan. The sun was shining, the sky was clear and every kid was awaiting dismissal from school. Rika Nonaka had transferred into the school her friends, (Takato Matsuki, Henry Wong and Jeri Katou) were in from her old private school. The four of them were all in homeroom awaiting the bell to ring so they could go home for the weekend.
"Alright students, listen up. There is gonna be a dance tomorrow night for anyone that wants to go." said their teacher Ms. Asaji. "The dance starts at 7 and goes until midnight. Food and drinks will be provided and it's a $2.00 admission fee. You can come alone or bring a date. And before you even ask Kazu, no you cannot DJ the dance because of what happened last time."
"AWW MAN!" Kazu whined at his desk.
The bell ring and everyone cheered.
"Have a good weekend everyone" she said happily.
Everyone got up from their desks and left with the exception of Takato, Jeri, Henry and Rika.
"Come on guys, I wanna get to the ice cream shop before Kazu eats it all… again" said Rika impatiently.
"Hold up a second Rika" said Henry, throwing his backpack over his shoulder.
"Hey Takato, this dance sounds like fun, don't ya think?" Jeri asked the brunette.
"Yeah I guess, hey Ms. Asaji are you chaperoning the dance?" he asked his teacher.
"Are you kidding? That's mister Nakamora's job. I've worked hard all year putting up with you kids, especially Kazu, I'm off to Maui tonight!" she replies happily. She then sprints out the door, papers flying in her path.
"Wow, she is a friendly teacher isn't she?" Rika asked sarcastically.
"You're telling me…" Takato replied.
The four of them, left the classroom and walked to their lockers. The boys lockers were closer to the classroom while the girls lockers were more down the hall.
"So Takato, who are you thinking of going to the dance with?" Henry asked the goggle-headed kid.
"Well, I wasn't planning on asking anyone …" he replied blushing, taking books out of his locker and placing them in his backpack.
"Come on Takato you've been crushing on Jeri for months why don't you just make your move already!" He asked, placing his own books in his backpack.
"How did you know?" he asked.
"Well two reasons. One you blush just at the mention of her name."
"No I don't"
"Jeri" and sure enough, Takato's cheeks turned pink. "Told you" he said smirking.
"Oh Zip it!" he said blushing more.
"And reason number two is your cousin Kai told me you like her and that you openly admitted it"
"Kai when I get my hands on you, your SOOOO in for it!" Takato mumbled under his teeth.
"Just ask her to that dance already Takato" Henry insisted.
"Tell you what, I'll ask Jeri if you ask Rika" he replied with a smirk of his own.
"What makes you think I want to go to the dance with Rika?" he asked, trying his best to hold back a blush.
"Well let's see, you wrote in your Diary about how you would just LOVE to kiss Rika and escape without a broken nose."
"YOU READ MY DIARY?" He asked embarrassingly.
"Yep, I read it that time you asked me to come over and babysit Suzie with you. I read it after Suzie started to dress YOU up as princess pwetty pants" he responded trying to hold back his laughter. "When I saw you wearing nothing but a bonnet, a bib, a pacifier and a diaper I'm pretty sure I nearly wet myself laughing!"
"I bet that was a very funny sight" Rika commented behind Henry's back, Jeri at her side.
"AH RIKA! H-how much of that did you guys hear?" he asked nervously.
"Just up to that part where Suzie played Dress Up with you, why?" Jeri asked the bluenette.
"Oh, no reason…"
"Now Jeri, can you come with me for a second? Henry has something important to ask Rika." The goggle-headed brunette said with a large grin on his face.
"Ok Takato…" she replied.
Takato grabbed Jeri's hand and they raced to the end of the hallway and hid behind the corner, Henry sending him an "I'm-Gonna-Kill-You" glare.
"So Henry, what did you wanna ask me?" Rika asked him.
"Well uh… I was, gonna ask you if you would, maybe… wanna go to the Dance with me?" he asked, preparing himself for a beat down.
Rika just blushed and looked away.
"No, I would not…" she started.
"Oh…" he said sadly.
"But…" she continued, "I would love to go anywhere else with you."
Henry's face lit up like a kid in a candy store.
"Great, so where would you like to go? Movies? Dinner? Wrestling match?"
"Sounds perfect"
Suddenly Rika's phone began to ring. She pulled the phone out of her pocket and answered it.
"Hello? Mom?" she asked into the phone.
"SWEETY!" she screamed, causing Rika to pull the phone away from her ear. "I CANT BELIEVE IT YOU HAVE A SCHOOL DANCE TOMORROW NIGHT!"
"MOM! If you don't quit screaming I'm gonna go deaf!" she yelled into the phone.
"Sorry sweety, but I can't believe you're going to your first dance" She replied. "I got the email and I can't wait to take you shopping!"
"Actually mom, I-"
"I'm taking you shopping for a brand new dress as soon as you get home!"
"But I-"
"See you when you get home, bye Rika"
Rika's mom hangs up and so does Rika, who is now in shock.
"Looks like I'm going to the dance after all" she said with a sigh.
"Oh well, I guess we'll just have to have a miserable time together" Henry pointed out.
"Yeah I guess, at least I'll get to see Kazu and Kenta dance" she said with a smile.
"But, they're terrible dancers"
"I know, that why I want to see them, they're goin strait to youtube"
Henry chuckles a little. "Well then I guess I'll see you here tomorrow night?"
Rika follows Henry's laugh with hers. "Yeah I guess so" Rika tries to leave but Henry stopped her.
"Don't go yet, let's watch Takato try and ask Jeri out."
"Oh this outta be good" she says evily.
The two walk down the hallway towards Jeri and Takato. When they are in a range where they can see and hear them, they stopped and watched the Goggle-headed Brunette try and ask out Jeri.
"So, Jeri, I was wondering… if you're not busy tomorrow night, would you like to… go to the dance with me?" he asked desperately.
"Of course Takato! Yippe!" she cheered jumping in his arms in delight. Takato, taken back by Jeri's affection, lost his balance and both the brunettes fell to the floor. They both got up and laughed.
"Well I guess I'll see you here tomorrow night." He said happily.
"Can't wait." She replies, just as happily.
"Finally!" Henry blurts out, startling Jeri and Takato to jump.
"Its about time you asked her out" said Rika grinning.
"Well I-I uh…" Takato's face was now beet red.
"Anyway, how about we go get some ice cream, the boys pay" she suggested.
"Oh I like that idea!" Jeri added.
"Why do we have to pay?" they both whined.
"The guys always pay for the girls, duh" Rika said, smirking.
The boys just grumbled and walked with the girls to the ice cream shop. When they got there their jaws dropped to the floor.
"I told you guys we should get here before Kazu eats everything but would you listen? NOOOO!" Rika complained.
The entire ice cream shop was completely empty and the only thing left was Kazu with a very large stomach. The others soon left and headed home for the weekend, each of them with empty stomachs.
(Takato's house)
"Mom, Dad, I'm home from school" Takato shouted, walking in the back door of his family's bakery.
"Hello Takato, your home early. You normally go out for ice cream on Fridays with your friends. Kazu clean the store out again?" His father asked.
"Yep." he replied sighing.
"Well there's a cupcake in the bread box beside you if you're hungry" he told his son.
"Thanks Dad"
Takato opened the bread box and took out a chocolate cupcake with vanilla icing and rainbow sprinkles. He was about to take a bite of it when…
"!" a scream came from the bakery, causing Takato to drop his cupcake on the floor.
"Aw, my cupcake…" Takato moaned while picking up the cupcake. His mother came in from the front of the bakery and ran up to Takato and hugged him tightly.
"Takato honey, why didn't you tell me you have a Dance tomorrow night?" she asked, still squeezing him tightly.
"Mom… cant… breath…" he spat out, his face turning purple from lack of oxygen.
"Sorry sweety" she then let him go and he took a deep breath.
"Thank… you…" he said in between gasps.
"Anyway, as soon as we close I'm taking you to the mall and I'll buy you a brand new outfit for you to wear for your dance!" she cheers.
Takato's face turned white as a sheet. He remembered the last time his mom bought him a new outfit. It was a blue shirt with a yellow smiley face on it, and some orange pants with a pair of green ugly sneakers. He had to wear it for picture day and it was a miserable day for Takato.
"Oh that's ok mom, I can buy it myself, you can just give me the money and I'll go with Henry" he repied with a fake smile.
"Well, ok if you're sure…" she said sadly.
"Smart move son…" his father whispered into his ear.
"I know…" he whispered back.
"Well come on honey, you need to help us with the store, we're surprisingly busy today with kids from your school" she told him.
"Kazu cleaned out the ice cream shop again…" he told her.
"That explains it..." she said to herself.
And so, Takato helped his parents with the bakery until around 7 o' clock then they ate supper. Afterwards, Takato called Henry and they went to the mall. As of now, they were walking around the mall looking for an outfit for themselves.
"Hey let's try in there" Takato suggested, pointing to a store specifically for boys clothes.
"Sure, I love that store" he replied.
Both the boys walked into the store and they began to try on a bunch of different clothes, but neither of them could find anything that looked right.
"Henry I've tried on 10 different outfits and nothing looks right" Takato exclaimed, looking at the brown jacket and pants as well as the white t-shirt he was wearing in the mirror.
"Same, nothing looks right…" he agreed, looking at himself in the mirror wearing a gray jacket and pants and black t-shirt.
"Excuse me boys, do you need any help?" asked a girl that looked about 18 behind them in a store uniform.
"Yeah we do… neither of us can find an outfit that works" replied the bluenette.
"We have a dance tomorrow and we're trying to find just the outfits for our dates" Takato added.
"Oh well hold on one second, I think I might have something you can try on, you two just go take those clothes off…" she replied walking over to a shelf full of clothes and taking a few things from different piles. She then walked back over to the boys and gave them each a pile of clothes over the door of each cubicle.
"Here you go, go try these on tell me what you think?" she said, taking the clothes they had previously worn.
"Uh thank you…" Takato replied, he began to try on the clothes he was given, Henry doing the same. 2 minutes later, Takato came out wearing a black jacket with a white, t-shirt and dark blue jeans. Henry then came out wearing a navy blue jacket a black t-shirt and black jeans.
"Wow, these are amazing!" Takato exclaimed.
"Yeah, it feels just right!" Henry followed.
"Well I'm happy to help you two, check out is over there" she replied pointing to a counter with a casj register on it.
"Thanks, we'll be right out" they both said, walking back into the cubicles and changing into their regular clothes. They then walked out and over to the checkout, where they each paid for their new clothes and then left.
"Well, now that we got some new clothes, I think we're gonna need some new shoes to go with them." Henry suggested.
"Good point, hopefully this won't take as long" Takato replied.
So they both walked into the nearest shoe store and browsed through the hundreds of pairs there, until finding there sizes. They both tried on multiple pairs of shoes until finding some black ones that matched their new outfits. They paid for them and then left again.
"Ok, we've got some new clothes and new shoes, I think it's time we go now" Takato replied yawning.
"Tired?" The bluenette asked him.
"Yep, now I know what they mean when they say "Shop 'Till Ya Drop"" he says tiredly.
"Well let's go home, we got what we came for"
"Ok…"
And the two boys left the mall and walked home to each of their houses. The boys changed into their night clothes and went strait to bed.