You: You filthy, inconsiderate bitch of a fanfiction-er.
Right. I'm really sorry about the.. –coughs- ...month long break…
Explanations, excuses, and responses at the bottom.
Me don't own Shugo Chara!, Target, Sonic the Hedgehog, and all that junk last chapter that apparently, I didn't feel the need to disclaim.
Oh look! We're actually getting into the plot here. Sort of.
-Nagihiko's POV, The Next Day, 7:30 A.M.–
"Okay, Fuyuki. Do you have the plan down?"
"Yes, Fujisaki. I'm just wondering, why must I do this on her way to work?" Kirishima asked me.
Because, you have to intercept her, distract her, and make her late.
"I read somewhere that girls have more mercy towards men in the morning."
That was a complete lie, but who knows? Maybe it's true. Right now, all I care about is my plan, 'Make Rima Late,' take two.
"Oh, okay." He spoke lightly, awkwardly shuffling his feet.
I felt guilty about using poor Kirishima here in my plan, but he would eventually get over it. And who knows? Maybe Rima would say yes.
Though that was highly unlikely, and chances are if she did say yes, I would find myself in a three-month depression.
But, for Kirishima's sake, I hoped she would let him down kindly.
-Rima's POV, 2:30 P.M-
I wasn't really surprised when I saw Kirishima standing outside my door early this morning. I knew it was coming; it was inevitable. These were the signs of him finally reaching stalker stage.
But what I was surprised about was that he went through all of this trouble just to talk to me about Target inventory.
I'm pretty sure he was going to ask me on a date, but wimped out. I suppose I should consider myself lucky, but it's hard to feel lucky when you're Kirishima's next victim.
At the moment, I was quietly scanning a man's groceries. He was too busy to start a conversation, he was trying to make his obese daughter shut up.
After paying for his groceries, he left with a quiet thank-you. Feeling quite successful, I decided to take a break.
Turning around, I nearly screamed when I saw Kirishima standing less than a foot away, gazing at me with a dumbfounded face. How long had he been standing there?
I watched as he suddenly realized I was looking at him, and squeaked. His face noticeably paled.
"What do you want, Kirishima?"
He seemed to be hyperventilating, like he was nervous about something. Squeezing his eyes shut, he mumbled lowly. "Wsghaiodgj?"
I stared at him.
"Excuse me?" I probably sounded annoyed. Peeking one eye open, then the other, he squeaked again.
"Rima-will-you-go-to-Ikuto's-party-with-me?"
"Uh…" His eyes suddenly widened, as he realized he had actually said what he wanted to say. He began to look like a four-year-old girl asking for a pony.
And truthfully, I kind of forgot what he had said. That happens a lot when I'm with Kirishima.
". . . Sure?" I spoke, not quite certain what I had just agreed to.
"Thank-you-so-much, I'll-pick-you-up-at-five-this-Saturday?"
Wait . . . What?
"Sounds . . . spectacular . . ."
He swiveled around on his heel, and awkwardly ran back to the employee's lounge.
Nagihiko, who was leaving the lounge, winced as he was suddenly flattened against the door's frame. Kirishima had flung the door open a little too enthusiastically.
Peeling his self off the wall, he looked at Kirishima, then me, and so on until he slowly closed the door again, going back to the lounge looking frustrated.
Well, as long as it didn't involve me.
-Nagihiko's POV-
I pushed myself off the wall I had been flattened onto, and looked at the culprit. Why was Kirishima talking to my Rima?
Why did she look so confused?
And why did he look so hopeful?
Oh, this just screamed me kicking someone's ass.
Closing the door I was about to go through, I turned around; setting my eyes on the one person I was looking for.
I found him standing by the water jug.
Only Kirishima could press the button that released the water so awkwardly.
Waiting for him to finish pouring his water, I tapped him on the shoulder.
Apparently, it was a little hard, because he jumped a foot in the air, making sure to spill the water all over himself.
If my suspicions were correct, I wouldn't feel guilty at all.
"So . . . Fuyuki, what were you talking to Rima about?"
He grinned widely, despite having a trail of water running down his shirt. "Oh, that! You know how this morning you told me I should go for it, and ask her out? Well, I wimped out. But a few minutes ago I got the courage and bravely asked her to Ikuto's party next weekend. And get this! I did it . . . with both my eyes open!" he spoke proudly.
I stared at him. Apparently my staring was pretty intense, because it caused all sparkles to leave his smile, and for him to begin grimacing.
Walking around him, I slowly uncapped the lid of the water container and scooped my water out, instead of waiting an hour, doing it Kirishima-style.
"You weren't planning on asking her to that, or anything, were you?" He asked me with large, doe-eyes.
"If I was going to, I would have already. I don't wait for fellow coworkers to motivate me." I lied easily.
"Well, that's good . . ." he sighed happily, turning back to his water.
We sat in (what I thought was) a comfortable silence, until he suddenly turned to me with fear stricken eyes.
He all but started yelling at me. "OMIGOSH. What should I do now? Do I talk to her, do I drive her home? Are we dating! Should I send her flowers? And if I do send her flowers, do I send pink roses, which signify 'like', or red roses, which signify 'love', or-"
Wait, LOVE?
"Okay, first of all, don't do any of that. Take it slow, this is going to be your first date, which . . . isn't really a date, but . . ." The entire time I was talking, Kirishima was nodding and taking in every word I said. I think he event started to bounce a bit.
"Okay! I'm going to go talk to her now!" He said, and then high tailed it out of the employees' lounge, like the hyperactive child he was.
After this little encounter, I started to feel a little better about myself. I didn't particularly have to worry anymore; he was probably going to destroy their relationship before it started.
-Rima's POV-
So, it began when I was scanning groceries for this lady. She had a crap-load of groceries, and it didn't help my headache when she continued to drone on and on about her cat, Mr. Stitches.
Apparently, it wondered into the street and got ran over. But the damage wasn't very bad, so she brought it to the vet for surgery. But when she got Mr. Stitches back, he had this weird discoloring in his fur. She took him back in, to find out it wasn't her cat at all. It was some rabies-infested thing that ate her supply of tuna.
. . . Interesting, right?
No.
Anyways, the story bore me to tears. But who was I to complain? I just nodded enthusiastically and speed-scanned her groceries, hoping that she would leave with a review card when I was done.
She seemed the type who liked to swap numbers, probably because she didn't have many friends (I could understand why). And from the sounds of it, she might even want a cat-sitter, even when I know nothing about cats. All I told her is that she should probably get that thing fixed.
Watching her carefully, I noticed her pulling out her cell phone, eyeing my pocket holding my own cellular device. Panicking, I looked to see she only had a few more cans of soup and some orange juice left until I'd have to make up an excuse. My eyes shifted around the room, hoping to find someone to save me from this terrifying woman.
Ah . . . Ikuto's nowhere in sight. Nagihiko was busy training another employee, and Kukai's arguing with an elderly woman about if or if she cannot return her box of cereal… No one's going to help me here.
Trying to stall for time, I slowly dragged the can of soup over the scanner at an inch-per-second. The woman stared at the can with anticipation, following it across the black rubber thing I had never learned the name of. I followed along with her gaze.
Right . . . to left. Right . . . to left.
I doubled-checked my surroundings. No one. Sighing, I finally leaned over to grab the orange juice, when I heard my name called.
"Rima!"
I whipped my head around, ready to hug my savior when I saw it was only Kirishima. Great.
"Uh . . . What're you doing here?" I suddenly wished no one came to my rescue.
"Oh . . . um . . ." Really Kirishima. "I came here to talk to you about this Saturday! You know, Ikuto's party."
"Now is sort of a bad time." Crazy Cat Lady nodded her head enthusiastically with me. Crap.
"You're right! What was I thinking? Let me help you with that!"
Wait, what?
I watched him as he started reaching for the orange juice in my hands.
Hell no. I'm just as capable as Kirishima.
I held the carton closer to me, but he still had a firm grasp on it.
"I'm really fine, it's okay, Fuyuki."
I tried prying it from his hands, by tugging on it violently.
"Let . . . go K-Kirishima!" I gritted my teeth in determination, flailing the juice from side-to-side in an attempt to get his clammy fingers off of it. It only made him grip it tighter.
"No, Rima! You are too small and delicate to handle something this heavy! Can't you see how big the orange juice looks?" He sort of patted my hand, while it was still on the carton.
Now that pissed me off.
Kicking him in the shin, I pulled the orange juice out of his grip, glaring at him. "WOMEN NOWADAYS CAN DO ANYTHING MEN CAN DO, YOU KNOW!"
He seemed unfazed by my comment, which was rare for Kirishima. He abruptly gripped the orange juice again and tugged. "I won't allow you to be unappreciated any longer!"
Growling in anger, I gripped the juice harder. "What does that even mean? No, don't answer that. Just gimme the damn juice!"
He gasped at my language.
After that, everything happened so fast.
Surprised by my big girly words, Kirishima let go of the carton, just as it spontaneously combusted all over me.
I fell to the floor roughly, soaked to the skin in pulpy liquids.
. . . I really can't go a day here without getting something spilled on me, can I?
Glaring up at Kirishima, I flicked him off. He gasped even louder, looking like he was about to faint.
Oh, great. I had caught the attention of everyone scanning groceries . . .
I really just wanted to slink under the register and stay there until closing time.
. . . Until I noticed some bratty kid laughing at me. I answered by throwing a packet of gum right at his face.
Nagihiko ran over, and looked at Kirishima, like he had just destroyed his favorite action figure. I'm sure he was about to say something, but before he could, I stood up.
Shoving the receipt at the woman, I glared one last time at Kirishima before stalking off to the bathroom.
Spell-check is extremely disappointed in all of your pen names, children. He wants you to think about your actions.
Aquatwin: Hahah! Thanks? XD Oh, man. What was Ikuto thinking when he agreed to hire her? PAHAHAH. 'BLOODY RIMAHIKO ZOMBIE'. That's hilarious. Hmm, keep in mind that he doesn't know, it's for a reason. But right, Rima just didn't think that one through. XD
Amutoluver1: I sort of feel sorry for them, too… Sort of.. In a sense.. I agree, not really. XD Heh, perverted Nagi IS THE BEST! Of course not, when they're married, she'll be marveling at their beautiful children and their schmancy life togethar~ *fantasizes* THANKS FOR YOUR REVIEWW~! :D
LizzieGlee12: Okay, let's see if this works. CALLING LIZZIE-CHAN AND HER UBER HOT (almost) BOYFRIEND. THIS IS FOR YOU. ^_^ Oh, man, I didn't mean for my last response to sound so bitchy (HA-HA! CAN'T SENSOR THAT, CAN YOU, FF?), it said 'FF dot net' somewhere in there, but apparently they took that out. They just, like, left the scene of the crime and junk. But RIGHT? Gel does wonders. HAHAH! HAIR CANCER? I can see you've got some legit medical training under your belt, Lizzie. XD Sorry if this didn't come as soon as you were hoping. XD
Ami-chan: Oh, you're so right. Kirishima is, like, Kate Goslin spawn. He should be on 'Kate plus 8'. Or is it 'Jon and Kate share 8'? Or something like that? Oh, I can't keep up with them. Last I heard, she was still going on with the show or something, even though it practically ruined her life. But right, your review. XD Team Rima? I'm still laughing about that. Aw.. I'm sorry you can't get an account. :[ Overprotective parents suck, right? Seriously? I totally didn't plan that, promise. XD
Megu-chan: Thank you for your uber-kind review~ I'm touched. XD Though I don't think this is one of the best, evar, thanks anyways. :D
x3sploosh: ME. TOO. And maybe bring a camcorder or something? They'd be hilarious here. Hmm, well, I meant to get across that he gives all his employees nicknames, but it's probably my fault for the confusion. You shouldn't see him use any real names in this fic (unless I slip up). XD Meh, Kukai did get quite a bit, didn't he? And.. he'll get more.
Luv2write and laugh: … Shit. I think I just got sent to the looney bin. I'M SORRY I TOOK A MONTH~! But thanks for the review, anywho~ :D
-PiercingMelody-: Yeah, normal dudes don't jump on top of girls just so they don't punch in their time card. They jump on top of girls for other reasons. But Nagihiko isn't like that, is he? XD Oh, you know it. Him and his zesty dips. ^_^ XDDD Oh man. WHO KNOWS HIS INTENTIONS ANYMORE? I sure as hell don't. …. No, really, I don't. I have about 3 different endings for this thing. XD O_o Thank you for the review!
Swirly-chan: -twitches- Grammar.. murderer.. But oh well. XD Ohyes, t'was chunky salsa. Did I not specify? XD But really? Dennis the Menace always sort of scared me in TV-show/video form. BUT DON'T GET MY STARTED ON THE MUPPETS. KERMIT FTW. Anywho. Thank you for the wonderfundle reviews~! But yesh, indeed I have seen 'Employee of the Month' with ZOMG DO YOU LUFF DANE COOK TOO? I LUFF DANE COOK. A LOT. But yes. Nagihiko's a TOTAL fruit here. He's so fruity here, he's almost.. dare I say it, a vegetable. T_T XD
IcyBlackHandofDeath: Oh Icy. Drama's better than comedy, and we all know it (… Or is that just me?). I want to be able to write that someday, too/instead. BUT I LOVE KUKAI TOO? *high fives* Thank you for your amazing reviews! They're so niiiiiicee.
The Sky's Bouquet (Or.. Kat. XD YOU GET THE IDEA. Maybe not Kat? Probably not Kat. HI KAT, anyways): Mmm, light-toned was indeed what I was going for. Heh, you know Kukai.. (Well, no, we actually don't, but y'know. Kukai.). Thank you for the great reviews! I'm still sort of bouncing from seeing them (I do that when I'm happy. XD I might have put myself into Kirishima here, sadly). Right, Rima's a junior (soon-to-be senior, it's summertime) here. Did I mention that somewhere? Probably not. XD
10chibi: Thanks! Meh, it was REALLY OOC for Ikuto to be the manager, and I sort of hate myself for it. But wouldn't it be funnier this way, instead of some OC? Or, dare I say it, a Mary-Sue? D: Oh, and I sort of need him for the climax. XD
Apollamarine: Thank yooou~! Heh, imagining Nagihiko and Rima hip-bumping is sort of funny, right? XD
Ginormo thanks to ColainaBottle for her wonderfundle, limitless, and patient guidance. (Maybe not patient, but you understand, right?)
But I'm really sorry for randomly taking all of July off. A very bitchy move that I don't intend on repeating.
But right, sorry this chapter was so slow, and unlike the others. I think my usual writing should be back next chapter, it's just that I had writers' block. :P But this chapter was to keep the plot moving, romantically.
Hey, it IS Romance/Humor, after all. Expect the next chapter within a week.
But right. R&R, my kittens?
LAST THING, PROMISE. Are you Team Rima, Team Nagihiko, Team Kukai, Team Bastard With Gelled Hair, or Team Salsa-That-Somehow-Ends-Up-On-Our-Favorite-Couple? Tell Mary all of your secrets. XD (Credit for this idea goes to . . . *drumroll* -PiercingMelody-!)