Enjoy! ^_^ Please read and review! It was my birthday yesterday. Think of it as a late gift! Lol
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
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Chapter Four- The First Event
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"Where is Atobe-kun?" Jirou asked the host in interest when he came in, wondering why he wanted to know at all. The other girls turned in interest to the host, waiting for a response from him in answer.
Baba Aoi smiled politely. "Sadly, Atobe-san could not be here this morning. He got a call and had to head to the office to do something for Atobe Corp, but rest assured that he will be back later today and you will see him later tonight."
Jirou stared at him for a moment before nodding and continuing to eat. It made him sad that he wouldn't get to see Atobe-kun until later that night, but he would just have to deal with it. Atobe-kun had to take care of business; that was definitely more important than spending time with someone that he had just met.
Nure Yau frowned slightly. "We don't get to see Atobe-sama? How sad."
"Being in charge of a whole corporation is very difficult." Ikeda responded to the girl next to her. "I'm merely surprised that he can afford to take as much time off as he is just for something like this and I wonder why he is anyways." The auburn haired woman frowned in thought, truthfully not knowing why.
"For love, of course." A red haired woman by the name of Naito Chinatsu answered as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.
Jirou just stared at them all, especially the ones who had nodded in agreement. Were they stupid or what? "I thought it was obvious," he said quietly, gaining glances in his directions. "Wouldn't Atobe-kun need an heir to take over from him? I mean, it's not like it's hard for him to get dates, I'm sure. I bet that many girls—and guys—would line up for a chance to go on a date with him, and if he wanted love, he would just take out one of them, right? But this is a faster way of getting to know many people and having many girls to choose from, and so far he doesn't seem to be romantically interested in anybody. In fact, to me he seems as if he couldn't wait to get out of here. And he's asking everyone formal questions. I think he's just looking for the appropriate wife to keep up the name of the Atobe family and give him an heir. At least, that's what makes the most sense to me."
There was silence as everyone stared at him before they turned to each other and continued to talk. He shrugged to himself, not noticing the thoughtful gaze that Ikeda was sending him and the small smile that grew on the host's face.
"Today," Baba began and everyone turned towards him, now paying attention. "You will all be given some money and get to go shopping. Now, you can buy whatever it is that you want as long as you are able to show it tonight to Atobe-san. So that means nothing that has to be delivered. Okay?" everyone nodded. "Any questions?"
"Um, yes, what is the point of this?" one girl asked politely in confusion, setting down her napkin next to her plate.
Baba gave another smile. "Just a treat. You will be given 89250 Yen ($1000) to spend, now spend wisely."
The girls looked at each other in slight shock. "That's a lot of money to give away to twenty girls…" someone said.
"It's probably pocket change to Atobe," Ikeda and Jirou stared at each other as they both said the same thing, ignoring the slightly amused glances being sent their way.
"Now, you may leave as soon as you're done eating but make sure that you're back by five or you will not get to keep whatever it is that you buy." Or you'll be disqualified from getting a chance to go on the date with him.
At this, Ikeda raised her head slightly higher, as if realizing something. "Well then, I'll make sure to get back by five o'clock." Jirou stared at her as she looked down at her plate with a small smile and he silently promised himself that he would also.
"That is it for now, and off you go."
Jirou stared at the many shops around him, wondering where he should go. It's not like he wanted to buy dress or jewelry, because—despite being dressed as a girl at the current time—he was not a girl and was more than happy to wear some type of t-shirt, shorts, and tennis shoes.
He flinched and averted his eyes after accidently staring directly at the sun's rays and decided that looking up was definitely not the best place to look unless he wanted to go blind. Which, he didn't. Didn't people's eyes that go blind become pale? He rather liked his brown eyes and didn't want them to be white, that freaked him out a little bit.
Spotting a store just across from him, he leaned forward and squinted his eyes, grinning and standing up straight when he spotted Pocky in the window. Waiting for a chance to cross, he walked over to the store and inside, smiling as he eyed the rows of delicious sweets and yummy Pocky.
He gave the man behind the corner a small bow and wave before walking down the aisle, almost drooling at the sight of all the candy. "Oishii…" he breathed, blinking his brown eyes and grabbing one of the boxes of Strawberry Pocky. Jirou bit his lip and eyed the box before smiling slightly and grabbing a few more. That ought to last him a day or two.
Almost skipping up to the register, he smiled brightly and paid the correct amount before leaving the store, opening a box and placing one of the sticks inside of his mouth, happily walking down the street. He had bought what he wanted, but it wouldn't hurt to see if there was anything else like… a pillow!
The blonde came to a halt in front of the store, gaping his mouth so that the Pocky stick fell from it. He pouted as he gave it a small glare before stepping closer to the window, curiously eyeing all the pretty looking pillows.
He bit his lip and glanced down at his pocket before nodding. Yup, he would get another pillow because one could never have too many of them!
Walking excitedly into the store, he automatically walked over to a shelf full of pillows and poked delicately at one, frowning when it felt a little rough beneath his finger. He bent down and examined another one, shaking his head at all of the ruffles.
The blonde peered at another pillow and ran his hand over it, pushing slightly and decided that it was a bit too hard. He wanted a comfy pillow, not a hard one, that was for sure.
He scratched at his head and frowned a few minutes later. This was harder than he thought it would be. So many pillows that he liked and so many that he didn't. It was difficult to choose from. Glancing around the store, he spotted an area of bright pillows in all different colors and grinned, almost bouncing over to them.
"Ooh," Jirou blinked as he stared into a basket of water pillows and he wondered if one had ever popped while someone was using it to lay on. He giggled as a girl soaked to the bone popped to the forefront of his mind, her eyeliner smeared down her cheeks and blonde hair drenched and flat against her head as she held up a plastic, purple, waterless water-pillow.
Turning his gaze away from the water pillows he walked over to fluffier ones and ran his hand down a soft, bright green pillow. It felt nice to the touch and he picked it up, holding it to his chest before his eyes widened and he placed the pillow back on the rack and nearly ran over towards the other shelf, grabbing a three-foot long, orange pillow. The front side of it was furry and bright just as the green pillow had been, and the back of it was a dark red silk, smooth to the touch.
He hugged it to him and snuggled slightly into it, knowing that this was definitely the pillow for him. Two different pillows in one! That sounded very nice.
Walking once more up to the register, he paid for the pillow and left the store, keeping the large orange pillow hugged to his chest, not minding the looks being shot towards him—or rather, he didn't notice them.
Jirou came to a halt and stared curiously at the sight of the rainbow shooting across the walk in front of him. He blinked and smiled, looking up and over into the window shop next to him, gasping slightly when he saw what looked to be either glass or crystals hanging all throughout the shop, rainbows beaming off of them. He took a step closer and eyed them; quietly deciding that he must have one of these that made pretty rainbows appear everywhere.
Hesitantly stepping into the shop, a small ding filled the room, and an aging, wrinkled man smiled kindly and walked over to him, asking if he could help him (or rather, her).
"Hmm," Jirou looked around and nodded. "Aa, I've never seen these before. What are they called?"
The man gave another smile and walked over to the window, Jirou following him. "They're called prisms."
"How are they creating rainbows?" he questioned eagerly, not looking away from the glass. "I thought they only appeared after rainstorms."
He chuckled. "No, that is just when they are most commonly seen, but even those are rare, are they not? No, a rainbow is merely a reflection of light, but still very nice too look at all the same. Are you interested in buying one?"
Jirou nodded and looked around him. "I want more than one, but I'm walking and I don't want to drop them…" the blonde pouted as he peered wistfully at all the rainbows and the man nodded him over to the back of the store, and over to the counter.
"Come here, I'll let you buy a box of them for the price of only three. So ten for 2678 Yen ($30). They'll be in a box and I'll give you a bag, so only if you somehow drop the bag will they break, but I'll be extra nice and put some stuff around it." He winked and Jirou giggled as he disappeared to the back of the store.
The blonde glanced around in interest, eyeing all the antique looking jewelry and mirrors, along with the other prisms. Even if he wasn't a girl, he could tell that a lot of that jewelry was rather amazing. In particular, a large, antique, butterfly hair ornament caught his interest, and he found himself almost wishing he had longer hair and was a girl so that he could buy and use it, almost.
He spotted a mirror that looked rather old, the reflective part of the mirror looking a little frayed as all he saw was glass instead of actual mirror. The handle and frame was also rather frail looking, a worn green that looked to be fading to a silver-gray color.
Jirou glanced away when the man came back, holding a forest-green box with white words spelling "Rainbow Prisms" across the front. "Here you are," he set it down on the counter. "2678 Yen,"
The blonde paid the correct amount and eagerly took the bag with his box of prisms and wished a happy day to the man before leaving and heading in the direction towards Atobe-kun's mansion. Others would probably think he had bought useless stuff, but he didn't think so. All the others had probably spent most if not all of their money on dresses and jewelry while he had bought something he could sleep on, something he could eat, and something for mere pleasurable leisure and he hadn't even spent 8925 Yen.
When he got back to his and Ikeda's room, he glanced over at the clock and saw that it wasn't even two yet. Smiling, he set down his Pocky and tucked away his prisms before throwing his pillow onto the bed before jumping on himself, deciding that there was definitely more than enough time to take a nap.
Atobe glanced down at his watch, there was three minutes until it was five o'clock. He looked at the seat next to him, frowning at the empty chair. If Koiko didn't hurry, she would be disqualified from getting a chance to go on this date.
Well, it wasn't like Atobe was hoping for her to get there on time or anything, but… okay, he was hoping she would get there and that she had bought anything completely useless or used every last bit of the money she had been supplied. He also hoped that she had realized that this had been a task, competition, whatever you want to call it, although, Koiko so far didn't seem the brightest of the group, there was still just something about her that he couldn't put his finger on.
The heir glanced back down at his watch and saw that there was only two minutes left until the deadline. He looked around and frowned when he saw most of the women there (including Ikeda and Tachibana) but they weren't the person he wanted there.
He could care less about everyone else, he just wanted Koiko to make it in time so that he wouldn't be completely bored out of his mind on this three-on-one date.
Just as his watch showed one minute, he heard running coming from the hall and everyone looked curiously at the door as a blonde burst into the room, chest heaving and a red flush to her face.
Atobe smiled slightly. "Just in time Koiko," he told her as his watch and the clock on the way ticked Five O'clock.
Koiko bowed her head slightly. "Gomen, I…" she blushed. "Fell asleep."
There were a few snickers from some of the girls and Atobe cast them slightly cold glances before gesturing to the seat next to him. Koiko bit her lip and hesitantly walked over and sat in her regular seat as Atobe said, "That is fine Koiko-san, we all fall asleep at times."
"Hai," Koiko replied and Atobe nodded to the man at the door who proceeded to lock the door and exit the room through another entrance.
The host entered through the same door the other man had exited from and gave them all a charming smile, dark hair brushed neatly against his head. "You all have brought what you bought or are wearing it, correct?" the girls nodded. "Good, now, as I'm sure many of you have surmised, this was your first task." Some of the women glanced at each other, looks on their faces saying that they had clearly not known that. "We do not want any girls who are just using Atobe-san for money, after all. Now, if you would all please—one by one—show us what you bought, we can determine who will be going on the date with Atobe-san, three of you will be doing so."
"I merely went out to lunch," Ikeda smiled, waving the receipt slightly that she held in her hand.
"I went to go play street tennis… after I fixed my racket." An mumbled something about stupid people not being careful.
The rest of the girls showed off what they had bought, many of them having bought dresses, clothes, or jewelry. He sighed at the predictability of it all but curiously looked over at an empty-handed Koiko when it was her turn.
"Did you buy anything, Akutagawa-san?" Koiko blinked up at the host before bending down and digging through the bag next to her.
"Hai!" she answered, setting a few boxes of something on the table. "I got some Strawberry Pocky and I got this!" she grinned and pulled out something large and orange, hugging it to her chest. "It's a big pillow and it's very comfy! I like it. On this side it's orange and furry and on this side—" she turned it over. "—it's red and silky. So I get two pillows for the price of one it seems like!" she giggled.
Atobe watched her in slight amusement as she hugged and snuggled into the stuffed material. "Did you buy anything else, Koiko?"
"Oh, yes, I did!" she set the pillow on her lap and picked up the bag, setting it onto the table also and took out a forest-green box, removing the cover and pulled out something that looked somewhat like a crystal. "I bought these. The man said they're called prisms and they make rainbows when held to the sunlight. It's very pretty." Koiko bounced from her chair and ran over to the curtains, pushing them open as she set the box on the ground. Kneeling next to them, she took one prism and held it to the sunlight, rainbows shooting across the room as she did so.
The heir eyed them and smiled over at the girl's excited face. "It does look rather nice. Maybe ore-sama shall have them hung up."
Koiko grinned. "Hontoni?"
"Hai," he nodded and thought for a moment. "In the sun room."
The blonde squealed and ran over to him, surprising everyone—including him—when she wrapped her arms tightly around him, hugging him in thanks. "That'll be so pretty! Thank you Atobe-kun!" The heir fought off a small blush as Koiko let go of him and kneeled back in front of her box, placing the prism with the others.
Atobe glanced over his shoulder before quickly looking away, shifting a bit uncomfortably at the sight of the older woman's backside and he had to admit, she did have a rather nice ass, even if she was a girl.
The host continued to smile as Koiko sat down and said, "Atobe-san will announce who will be going on the date with him tomorrow when you finish dinner. For now, enjoy and good luck."
