My first Mendol one-shot that I decided to write after being inspired by another fanfiction of an anime series! It's really cliché but I really hope you'll like it regardless.
Just Another Off Day
"THIS SUCKS! Why am I the one who always has to do retarded things like THAT?!"
Kawachi Nami a.k.a. Kai of the up-and-coming all-boys idol unit, 'Persona', yelled out in frustration while tightening herself with the chest-binding bandage that she had been wearing ever since the start of her idol career where she obviously doesn't appear on media as a normal girl, but a charming bad-boy archetype dude.
"Why not just think of it like… hmm… when you're having fun with us?" Her cute-faced friend, Otawa Hinata a.k.a. Kuu who is also from the same idol unit, suggested while rolling around lazily on her bed.
Nami snapped back, "How the HECK am I supposed to ENJOY myself when I'm going out with RAY?!"
"W-Well… I don't think Ray is that bad… I mean uh… look on the bright side! You get to hang out with Music 10's current Top 1 idol! Normal people would've died just to experience that!" responded Wakamatsu Asahi a.k.a. Riku who is the taller girl of the three in 'Persona', clenching her fists in excitement just to try consoling her restless friend.
"Then why not YOU go out with her?!" The now-blonde hair 'boy' exclaimed as he loosely let his tie hang around his collar and roughly put on his coat, leaving the room and his friends behind him with a loud slam of the door.
…
"Ya~hoo~!"
All three girls shouted in glee as they plopped back onto their beds with bright smiles apparent on their faces. It was a rare occasion that they managed to get an off day from their sadistic director, Saeko-sachou, who would've worked them to the bone, but they were free from that today after their successful sudden live gig that took place the previous night. Their off day was just to reward and indirectly thank them for doing their best regardless of how exhausted or sudden the event calls for. It was definitely the most delightful news that the girls heard all day when Saeko-sachou broke the news to them herself.
"Off days are undoubtedly the best~!" Nami proclaimed, punching her balled up fist into the air energetically.
"Agreed!" Asahi agreed, punching into the air as well.
"Hinata agrees too!" Of course, Hinata did the same.
Nami lifted herself up briefly and looked at her two friends lying beside her, "So? Wanna go karaoke? Or eat delicious food that we've been longing to eat? Or go shopping at the malls? Or… Or—"
Before Nami could continue showing how excited she was in suggesting what to do for the whole day, Saeko-sachou barged in with her aide, Marilyn, by her side, fawning over the manager as always.
"Kai. Get changed. NOW."
"Eh~…?" Nami scratched the back of her hair in annoyance, "Why should I Sachou? Didn't you say it was our 'long-awaited off day' today?" She continued protesting but stopped abruptly when the director dumped her Kai attire right on top of her without warning, the latter then struggled to get her precious disguise off her.
"A call from the studio is why I'm putting hold onto your off day, Kai. They're in desperate need of help," Saeko-sachou crossed her arms, "It seems that Ray-san will not perform if she doesn't go out with her beloved Kai. That's why," the director explained with a stern look on her face.
"R-Ray…" The shoulder length-haired brunette felt a sudden chill down her spine before continuing to defend her rights on enjoying her precious off day, "S-So?! If she doesn't perform, what the heck does it have to do with me?!"
"It OBVIOUSLY has EVERYTHING to do with you!" Saeko-sachou gestured to Marilyn to hand her her infamous 'weapon of punishment'—her whip—and whipped it towards the floor, causing the three girls, especially Nami, to yelp in fear involuntarily.
"If you don't go out with her, she won't perform tonight. And if she DOESN'T perform tonight, you three will be off air tomorrow night, and that means you'll be unknowingly disappointing your fans that have been waiting to watch you three perform for the whole week since they'd use your slot to replace what Ray had missed!"
"The heck…" Nami sighed deeply and noticed that her two friends were busy trying to help her put on her clothes silently, causing her to deliberately jump away from her bed, "T-The heck are you two doing?!"
"Helping you put on your clothes obviously~" Hinata stuck out her tongue in a cute manner.
"Yup. If you don't hurry to serve the Princess, we'll lose part of our jobs… and you know what that means right? Nami…?" Asahi looked at Nami with a scary-look on her face which made the latter overthink about the consequences and gave into defeat with a defeated shrug.
"Fine fine… all I have to do is go out with her, right?"
Saeko-sachou answered her with a nod, "Once you're ready, please proceed downstairs so I can brief you again on what you'll be doing with Ray. Understood?"
Nami rolled her eyes, "Yeah yeah…"
After the director and her aide left the room, Nami looked towards the ceiling, clenching her fists to her sides with her eyes closed and vent out her frustration.
"THIS SUCKS!"
…
Downstairs, at the living room, Saeko-sachou was sitting on the sofa patiently with both her legs and arms crossed, with the addition of her right hand holding onto the grip of her whip quite firmly while Marilyn was in the kitchen brewing tea for her beloved director.
"I'm ready, Sachou~…" Nami, who was now dressed up properly as Kai, reported to duty in an unenthusiastic manner which Saeko-sachou decided to not pay her attitude to mind.
"Good. Now," Saeko-sachou gestured him to come closer as her was standing quite a distance from where she was sitting, the latter obviously feeling his legs getting wobblier and wobblier each step he took to get close to the director at the sight of her malicious whip before he was unexpectedly handed two tickets, as well as an envelope.
"Huh?" Kai examined what he was handed with closely, eyes beaming in surprise at what his director had just given him, "Aren't these tickets for admission to the newly opened amusement park nearby…?!"
The director nodded delightfully, "Correct. And that envelope is—"
"100,000 yen?!" He was amazed by the amount of money that was inside of the envelope.
"Let's just say it's your allowance for the whole day. If you have any extra money left, please do return it to me. Are we clear on that? There will be no dishonesty on this!"
"… Stingy L freak…"
"What. Did. You. Just. Say?" A whipping sound of a whip was heard.
"U-Uh nothing Sachou! I heard you loud and clear!" Kai deliberately stood up as straight as a ruler and saluted to the director in fear of being whipped.
"If everything's clear, leave at once! Shoo shoo!" Saeko-sachou flung her hand outwardly, gesturing Kai to get out of her face in which he did with a shrug.
xxx
"Kai~ Kai~ I can't wait to see Kai~" sang Ray, the big-shot Diva who had appeared various times as the Top 1 position holder of Music 10 as well as the self-proclaimed lover of Kai, with a random melody she thought of in a moment as she skipped cheerfully through the hallway of the outside of the office to meet her loved one excitedly.
Unaware of her surroundings, she accidentally bumped into a person who managed to catch her from falling by supporting her with a hand supporting her back, balancing the both of them.
"S-Sorry! A… Are you… al…" The voice of the person who bumped into her started to shake and stop abruptly as his eyes widened.
"Nngh… you should be more… careful…" The girl who was taller than him by nearly a head ended her sentence abruptly as well when her eyes sparkled at the sight of the person she had bumped into and caught her, "A-Ah! Kai!"
"R-Ray!" Kai literally flung himself away from her before she could do her usual 'greeting kiss' in which he succeeded with a groan, "W-Why the heck are YOU here?!"
"I'm here to pick you up for our date, dummy~ Saeko-sachou told me to come here personally~" She answered lovingly. Kai shivered in response.
She then swiftly clung onto Kai's left arm with a playful smile, "Let's get going, Kai~!"
The blonde-haired boy rolled his eyes with a forced smile as they left the building.
"Yeah yeah… Let's get this over quick. Ugh."
xxx
They took a taxi and arrived at their destination with Kai dashing out of the cab, looking as exhausted as ever. Ray was clearly trying to make a move on him throughout the whole ride, so he had not much of a choice but to protect himself. Even the taxi driver gave them a funny look when he received his payment from Kai and left.
Ray ran lightly towards the entrance of the amusement park, arms opened wide like a kid, "Uwaa~ so this is the new amusement park!" She turned to look at Kai, who had his hands in his pockets coolly and a forced happy look on his face, "Kai, look! Look! We're here!"
"I can see that without you telling me that…" He said under his breath and rolled his eyes before continuing his complaint softly, "Geez… why the heck am I here with this stupid airhead when I could have been enjoying my rare off day with those two…" He ended with a pout.
"Kai…? What's wrong?"
Without knowing, Ray's face was a few inches away from his with a worried look and Kai took a step back to increase the distance between him and her instinctively, "U-Uh… N-Nothing! A-Ahahahaha!" He forced out a laugh before mechanically walking pass the entrance of the amusement park, not waiting for Ray at all.
"W-Wait for me, Kai!" And so she sped up to follow the awkward looking Kai.
Xxx
Meanwhile, another group of people were coincidentally in the theme park too.
"You sure we should be doing this…? Kuu thinks it isn't right to be spying on people's love affairs…" A boy with black hair and blue highlights on parts of his hair asked his dark brown-haired friend.
"I know it's not right but still! If anything happens, we can prevent it from getting out of hand! Plus…" he took out the entrance ticket that was in his pocket with a smirk, "… It's the Sachou's orders right? It'd be a waste if we didn't come to see how this place looks like at the same time."
"I guess you're right Riku…" Kuu replied hesitantly.
The both of them left their positions, which was right behind a random bench near the entrance, away from Kai and Ray's field of vision and speedily got up to follow the 'couple' as stealthily as they could by blending into the crowd.
Xxx
By the time Kai and Ray had taken a few of the rides and checked out the infamous Haunted House, it was already late noon. But Ray was still full of energy and wanted more, much to the dismay of the exhausted Kai. Usually he wouldn't get tired because of amusement parks, so he blamed it on the person he came with.
"Kai-kun! Let's go on the Ferris Wheel next! I want to enjoy the breathtaking scenery of Japan with you~" She tugged onto her beloved's sleeve quite hard which annoyed Kai and instinctively tried to shrug her off him as they walked, "Ugh seriously! Get off me! It's hard to walk—"
He stopped his complaining when he heard a loud cry nearby. When he looked around, he was able to quickly spot the source of the crying in the form of a little girl who was in the age range of six to eight years old, near the barrier of the Merry-Go-Round ride. There was a navy blue-coloured balloon that was attached to a string, with the end tied onto the wrist of the little girl's hand.
The 'couple' nodded in agreement—for once—and headed towards the direction of the crying little girl to see what was going on.
"Yo," Kai caught the girl's attention before attempting to console her by kneeling down slightly to match her line of sight, "… You lost or something?"
The girl nodded while sobbing and Ray proceeded to wipe her tears that kept flowing out from her eyes with a handkerchief, "Don't cry little one… Papa Kai and Mama Ray will take good care of you until we find your parents, okay?"
Kai retaliated instinctively, "I'm not PAPA Kai and nor are you MAMA Ray! We're bringing her straight to the PA area so they can announce the presence of a missing child, okay?!" His tone of voice as he retaliated followed by an annoyed pout lightened the spirits of the lost little girl who giggled slightly, even though sobs could still be heard.
"H-Hehehe… Onii-san is funny…!"
"Of course he is. He is the man who made me fall head over heels for. And now, we're idiots in love~ right Kai?" Ray smiled innocently at the pouting Kai who was ready to retaliate.
"NO WE ARE NOT!" He put both his hands to his sides, "Don't go teaching a minor weird things, idiot!" He lectured with Ray nodding submissively. They seemed so animated that the little girl couldn't help but continue to giggle at the somewhat funny argument that went on between the 'couple'.
Kai looked at the little girl who was smiling wryly and smiled warmly at her, "Well then… enough of that, let's get going yeah?" He then took her free hand and started to walk off with her, Ray trying to tag along behind them as fast as she could but was blocked by the crowd that has been gathered unknowingly through the pathway of the amusement park.
"Kai…! You're walking too fast…! Wait!" She called out, but to no avail. He was already quite a distance away from her. All she could do was stand dumbfounded in the crowd until a hand pulled her out of it and brought her to a quieter area…
xxx
"So you're here because…" Kuu pointed at Riku, "… You felt Riku's presence here…?"
A tall and suave young man who was endowed by a white coat and had curly brown-blond hair, nodded with a smile.
Riku sighed, "Look uh… Katsuyuki-san…" She ruffled her hair slightly, "Kuu and I are kinda busy right now… so—"
The director of Sunny Music glared at Kuu as he cut Riku's unfinished sentence, "W-What are you doing with Riku…" He animatedly had his arms wide open, "… in a place… LIKE THIS?!"
"Definitely not what you're thinking…" Riku answered softly in a calm voice.
"Umm Riku…? We really need to go! We're losing them…!" whispered Kuu who nudged Riku's arm slightly.
The latter nodded before they left silently, leaving Katsuyuki-san alone to digest, imagine and monologue dramatically on the spot, catching the attention of many people who passed by, "… Amusement park… Riku on a date with Kuu…? No…! I… I love you Riku…! And yet… why… wait—"He finally snapped back to reality, "R-Riku?"
He looked around his surroundings, only to be seen by a few pairs of eyes looking at him with a weird look and realizing how embarrassing of a situation he was in, he quickly, but steadily, left the scene, desperately looking for his 'partner'.
"Riku…" He called out his 'partner's' name under his breath as he searched for the spying pair.
Xxx
"Thank you for finding our daughter, Sir!"
"I-It's nothing really~ Hahaha~" Kai chuckled sheepishly, feeling quite shy for being a good Samaritan.
"U-Umm Onii-san…?" The girl suddenly called out to Kai, averting his gaze, "… Where's the funny Onee-san…?"
"Eh?" Kai looked around him but Ray was nowhere to be found,"R-Ray…? Oh… no…"
That was when, a terrible flashback flashed through his mind momentarily. This flashback is only triggered when Ray was involved.
…
"How could you make Ray upset?!"
*WHACK*
"Oww!" Nami cried out in pain as he backside was getting a serious whipping thanks to Saeko-sachou.
"If it happens again," Saeko whispered into Nami's ear with a screechy and unpleasant voice, "… Your punishment won't be as light as this one! Remember that!"
*WHACK*
"OOOWWWWWW!"
….
"Oh gosh…" Kai started to tremble in fear, "I-I gotta find Ray… otherwise…" He put a hand to his behind and imagined a horrible scene, "… I'm going to die…"
"Onii-san…?" The girl called out, breaking Kai's daze.
"O-Oh sorry. Onii-san has to go find that stupid—uh no—funny Onee-san now so," he gave a light pat on the little girl's head before turning around and ready to leave, "See ya, kid!"
"Bye bye, Onii-san!" She waved happily at Kai who did the same and her parents thanked him again with a brief bow.
Once both sides were out of sight, Kai had a trail of imagination running in his head that was unpleasant and it started to worry him, "I'm so~ dead if Ray gets upset just because I lost her here…!"
As he rummaged through the crowd, out of the blue, he lightly bumped into someone once again.
"A-Ah not again! Sorry… wait… RIKU?!" He exclaimed in surprise at the sight of the person he just bumped into.
"K-Kai!" Riku did the same, with Kuu appearing from behind Riku.
"The heck are you both doing here?! Wait a sec… I could've sworn I saw someone who looked like Katsuyuki-san on one of the benches on the way to the Bumper Car ride…" Kai pondered slightly before Riku shook him to prevent him from pondering too much into useless things.
"T-That aside, where's Ray? D-Don't tell me you both…"
Kai cut his sentence, "If you're thinking we argued, we didn't! I-I just lost her without knowing! This stupid place has too many people, you can't completely blame me!"
"Hopefully Ray hasn't been abducted by anyone suspicious…" stated Kuu which made her get the death glare from both Kai and Riku for jinxing things, were they to even happen.
"Alright. Let's not waste time. We should split up and search for her," Riku's suggestion gained the approving nod of the other two.
"I'll go to where the Ferris Wheel is. That's where we were planning to go before we split up," Kai said calmly.
"I'll check around the food and beverages stall. If anything, she could be there to relax," Riku informed.
"Then Kuu will… hmm…" He put a finger to his chin in thought before deciding, "… Kuu will try the toilet area! When you gotta go, you gotta go after all~"
"Great! Let's do this! Persona!" They gathered in a small circle and stacked their hands atop of one another in the center, followed by their famous 'battle cry'.
"OSU!"
Xxx
"Man, what a coincidence! Just when I was assigned to find ways to take photos of the famous Ray-san, she really appears in an unexpected place!"
"… Hmph. I only allowed you to take my photo just because you said Kai will be here… now I doubt you."
The cameraman who went by the name of Jiro who was also Asahi's childhood friend, nodded confidently to protect himself, "H-He'll be here! I'm sure of it…!''
"Asahi…! Please appear with your friend out of nowhere now… pleaseeee…"… Were the thoughts that were actually going through his mind as he looked at how impatient Ray was getting.
Lo and behold, Riku appeared. It was just as she predicted, but under different circumstances.
"R-Ray! I found you! And…" She looked at the familiar man beside her, "J-Jiro?!"
"You…!" Ray approached Riku, eyes lighting up with hope, "… You're one of 'Persona's' members right…? Did you see Kai anywhere?" She clasped Riku's hands together with hers as she asked.
"Yeah! Kai is actually—"
"GET AWAY FROM HER YOU CREEEEEEP!"
Xxx
"Hmm… No signs of the two girls yet? Okay…" said an aged man in coat with sunglasses as he put his handphone into his pocket after ending the call.
"Ah…! Kuro-nyan!" Kuu said with an excited voice, but when he was about to approach him, he realized he was still in his Kuu getup, so there was no way he would make a blunder and expose himself as Otawa Hinata to her 'Prince Charming'. All he could do was shrug in disappointment and looked around the toilet area before deciding to meet up with Riku at the food and beverages stalls, which Kuro-nyan seemed to be heading towards to.
"Oh well~. He must be going there to get a piece of strawberry cake or strawberry smoothie or something~. Doesn't hurt to follow him a little longer~," said Kuu to himself before following the man in coat.
Xxx
Back to Ray and co., a loud voice was heard through the crowd that was followed by a powerful swinging punch straight into Riku's left cheek which sent him falling to the ground in pain.
"OWW! That REALLY~ hurts!" Riku cried in pain, touching his now-bruised cheek and looking at who his assailant was, who so happened to be…
"KAI?! SERIOUSLY?!"
Kai was panting hard, as if he had been running around everywhere and not just searched the area he said he would be searching. He had a genuinely concerned face, much to their surprise, as he usually wouldn't even give a care to whatever Ray gets herself into. It seemed like he was concerned that Ray was interacting with a stranger, not being able to see clearly from the crowd that is, so he punched whoever it was without a second thought albeit a friend or a stalker.
To him, or so he thinks, it was to protect himself from getting into trouble with the terrible sadistic Director of his. But in Ray's eyes…
"K-Kai! You're… my hero!" She had already fantasized about the whole scenario turning into a 'save me from the enemy' scenario. She quickly took the chance to hug him, with the latter snapping out almost immediately of his supposed blind rage due to his body contact with her and pushed her away as usual.
"U-Uwaa!" cried Kai, "R-Ray!" He turned to see who he had just hit, only to see it was Riku who had an unimpressed look on his face and was getting help from Jiro to get up from the ground, "O-Oops… I-I'm so sorry, Riku!"
"I-It's fine… then again… you were really that worried eh? I could feel it in your punch," the dark brown-haired boy smirked teasingly at his blonde-haired friend who ended up turning flustered from what he had just said.
"T-That… is SO not true!" He denied, covering his cheeks that were turning red by each second.
"Aww… Kai… you were really worried about my well-being…?" Ray's eyes lit up and cheerily went up close to Kai once again, wanting to kiss him as always.
The latter struggled to push her off as always, "N-No! Y-You're disillusioned! I definitely did not punch Riku to protect you or anything of the sort!"
"Tsundere Kai is sooo cuteee~" Her teasing, followed by her continuous desire on wanting to kiss him gave him energy to break free of her 'evil clutches'.
"We're in public, idiot…!" He crossed his arms and gave Ray a demanding look, "If you stop this harassment, I'll take you to the Ferris Wheel. That's our last stop for the day before you get on to performing later at night. Got that?!"
Ray happily nodded and latched herself onto Kai's arm without a word and he decided to not care anymore and they walked off towards the Ferris Wheel after saying their goodbyes—and apologies—to Riku and Jiro.
Riku sighed in relief, "… Geez… what the heck was that…" Riku touched her bruise and he squinted his eyes in pain, "… Man…. It hurts."
"Maybe we should go to the first aid? There should be a first aid around—"
"Nah it's fine," Riku smiled reassuringly to his childhood friend, "I'll patch myself up back at home. Thanks for the concern, Jiro."
He chuckled shyly in return.
"Let's get going, Riku~. Kuu's getting kinda tired…"
"Sure thing—EH?! Kuu?! Where did you come from?!" asked Riku in shock of the sudden appearance of her friend, who just speechlessly responded with a peace sign and an innocent smile.
Looking at Kuu, she also noticed a familiar looking man in sunglasses near the ice-cream stall and on instinct, decided they should really get going before anything bad happens. So after greeting Jiro goodbye, both Riku and Kuu left the amusement park, leaving Kai and Ray to enjoy their last moments of the day together on the Ferris Wheel.
….
In the evening, the trio found a note stating that Saeko-sachou and Marilyn would be out till midnight, to the girls' delight. At least this would make up for the time that was used up for that eventful day and so they had a sushi feast with the money that Saeko-sachou had given Kai in the living room.
The programme that was on at that time was the music programme that Ray was on. Weren't it for Kai, she wouldn't have made an appearance in tonight's programme. This made Nami smile without realizing it and that caught the attention of the two.
"You really seemed like you had loads of fun today huh, Nami?" inquired Asahi teasingly with a playful smirk on her face.
"W-Wha-?! N-No! It was a huge waste of my precious off day! Are you mad?! But maybe…" Her denying face suddenly softened for a brief moment, "… I did sorta… have fun. Just a teeny~ weeny~ bit." She gestured how small the 'fun' she had was, and the two laughed.
"Nami is really dishonest huh? If Kuro-nyan were to hang out with Hinata, I'd be really happy~" said Hinata.
"Kuro… nyan? Who was that again?" asked Asahi.
"O-Oh uh... n-no one…! Ehehehe…" Hinata smiled meekly and pointed at the sushi on the table, "W-We should really hurry up and eat…!"
"Yeah… it'd be bad if the Ls come back and wipe out all our food…" Nami shook her head at the thought.
Asahi smiled, "Alright then! Thank you for the—"
"Food~."
"EH?!" The trio exclaimed at the same time when they saw Saeko-sachou and Marilyn pop out of nowhere.
"W-What the heck are you doing back here so darn early?! It's not even midnight!" protested Nami.
"On the contrary Kai… this is my agency. I get to return a-ny-time I want to~. Don't forget that fact. Also…" She gave Nami a glare of death that pierced straight through her heart, "Where's the extra money from today? 100,000 yen is a bit too much to be used in one day, don't you think so?"
The trio gulped and turned to each other speechlessly.
Saeko-sachou looked at how exquisite the sushi platters look like and questioned them once again, "… Don't tell me… you used it all on the food…?"
Still no answer. But they were already sweating buckets in nervousness.
"Looks like… it's punishment time. Don't you think so? Marilyn?" Saeko-sachou gestured for her whip once again.
"Anything you say, Sachou~" Marilyn just smiled and handed Saeko-sachou her whip.
The trio instinctively stood up from the floor they were sitting on and slowly stepped away from where Saeko-sachou was, "U-Uh wait…! I-I can explain…!" yelled Nami, trying to protect everyone.
"No explanation needed. PUNISHMENT IT IS!" The sound of the whip resounded in the living room and the painful cries of the girls were heard as usual.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
As for the food, they were shared by Saeko-sachou and Marilyn respectively, with the trio having cup noodles for dinner in their rooms and a sore bottom.
FIN.
Author's note:
I think it's pretty obvious which character I like in the Mendol series since it's based mainly on her/him. Really hoped that everyone who reads this fic would like it and please support my other fics, even though they might be updated in a long period of time, too! Thanks for reading once again and please R & R after finishing so I know what I can do to improve yeah?