Sakuno felt like slapping herself.
Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, STUPID.
Ryoma invites her to a party, and what does she do? She runs away in two seconds flat!
She talked with Tomoka for a while about the party, which thankfully distracted her a little. They chatted excitedly about the party together as they walked home. Halfway through the conversation,Tomoka was staring strangely at her.
If anything, Sakuno knew and dreaded that look. It was that same look in Tomo's eyes when she had shown her the cheerleading outfits.
She winced at the memory.
Tomoka's mom owned a costume store, and she had given them the outfits with a smile, insisting that they try it on the next time that the Regulars had a competition. She couldn't refuse Tomo's mom, so she had agreed to put it on, and when she had, it was one of the most embarrassing things she had ever done in her life!
Tomo had sported the short blue skirt and the yellow midriff with pride and (to Sakuno) what seemed like fiery passion, but all Sakuno could seem to get herself to do was hold the pom-poms in front of the shirt and pray that the skirt was long enough. and as it always seemed, Ryoma showed up at one of her humiliating moments.
The only thing she really remembered after that point was the surprise in his eyes.
She'd be lying if she said that she wasn't half-happy that he got to see her. After all, the look on his face was priceless. Still, it wasn't like she didn't know the equation to teenage minds: Boy plus Girl in Weird Outfit equals Staring session. And it didn't really count as a staring session. He looked at her for three seconds before mumbling something, pulling down his cap, and walking away.
So as Tomo set her eyes on her now, Sakuno couldn't help but feel a little, well, scared. Tomo was her best friend. But who wouldn't be even the teensiest bit scared of someone who delighted in dressing them up in weird outfits?
Tomo smiled at her and offered Sakuno her hand.
"Come on, since we don't have that much homework, why don't we go to my mom's costume store?"
Sakuno gulped but nodded. Really, what could she do? Ryoma's party was a costume party, wasn't it?
After calling her grandmother to tell her where she would be, Sakuno cautiously took Tomo's hand and allowed herself to be led to the building.
At the end of the day, Sakuno sat at her desk in her bedroom doing her homework. She finished and put away all of her assignments, pulled on her pajamas, and set out her school uniform for the next day. Heaving a sigh, she flopped down onto her bed.
She couldn't help but get back out and peek at the costume in her closet.
Tomo's mom had helped her pick it out. She knew that Sakuno didn't like things too short or skimpy, or something too flashy and gaudy.
Sakuno usually liked simple things, but the costume was pretty and, as cliche as it was, cute, after she had gotten over the initial shock.
She had been in the dressing room of the shop, and Tomo's mom kept handing over things. Most of them were okay, but none were something she really wanted to wear.
Then the costume that was now dwelling in her closet had been thrown over.
Her first reaction was no. No, no, no, no, no, with an extra piling of no's on top. But since Tomo's mom kept asking her, she gave in.
It wasn't like in overly romantic movies or books where a girl tries on a dress, and everyone goes, Whoa!
The costume was something completely out of her usual, and maybe that's why she picked it over all of the others. It was just something that she felt a little special (another cliche, she winced) wearing, even though she knew that a thousand other girls would probably look better wearing it. So, not without some indecision, she bought the dress and thanked Tomo's mom.
Sakuno eyed over the outfit: a spaghetti-strapped, silky black dress that reached mid-thigh (she still was nervous about the length). The top part, being a corset, had originally freaked her out, but it was surprisingly comfortable when she got it to the right setting. Now (she laughed), it reminded her of people in the Western --what was it called?-- "Victorian" pictures. The dress had also come with two black arm gloves and knee-high boots (with no heels, thank Kami, or else she would have tripped like no tomorrow).
One of her favorite parts:Tomo's mom had showed her how to attach two cat ear hairpins to where it looked almost like it came rather realistically from her head, and a black tail could also be attached around her waist.
Sakuno closed her closet, shut off the lights, and rolled back into her bed, her thoughts drifting back to Ryoma.
Excitement flooded through her. She lay there for a while, just thinking of what might happen. Her exhaustion caught up to her and she fell asleep, with a slight smile on her face.
I hope he likes it.
I know. It's short, and in my opinion, it could've been a little better. AAAGH. Oh well, usually when I step away for a while, then come back and read it again, I think my writing's okay. But when I keep reading the same things over and over, I go into a little depression session. (Yes, a rhyme! I think rhymes are kind of cool.)
Readers: You grammar freak.
Tsubomi: Not really. There's a lot of cases where I'm rusty and I think, "Oh crap, what do I use for grammar in this situation?". Kind of like now. Plus, I use a lot of sentence fragments. (Still, I take some kind of weird joy correcting grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes. It's one of the reasons I want to teach English as a foreign language when I grow up, and since I love Japanese, even if I have to wait until college to learn it, it's two loves combined into one! That was kind of a run-on sentence.)
Readers: Dor-ky. Dor-ky.
Tsubomi: Pssht. You guys are all just jealous.
Readers: ...
Tsubomi: Or not. But deep down, you all love grammar.
Readers: Right...
Please ignore my nerdiness...or not. Embrace your inner nerd. Be one with it. Let it roam free in your mind.
It's your choice.
'Til next time,
Tengoku no Tsubomi
