Maid-sama Survivor
By moonlight ray
Chapter 11
Going Bananas
Disclaimer: I don't own KWMS. Fujiwara Hiro does (I'm so jealous).
[A/N: Merry Christmas minna-san (everyone)! I was right on time for Chirstmas Day, too! Actually, I had it ready by then, but FanFiction was shut down and wouldn't let me log in. :P Consider this my (late) Christmas present to you guys. And in the jolly Christmas spirit, you know you wanna drop me a little review/vote, ne? Have a great holiday! :)]
"Ah, it feels so good to be winners for a change," Shintani sighed, sprawled out upon his new bed in the beach house. His stuff lay strewn across the room haphazardly, and the wakeup announcement had just blared through the PA system a few minutes ago.
"Misa-chan, how do you— Eek!" Satsuki's voice shrieked over the communication system.
"Manager, you turned the tap the wrong way! It goes opposite as marked!" Misaki shouted, as noises of scratching metal filled the air. Finally, the sounds of gushing water ceased, and someone breathed a relieved sigh.
"I'm sorry, Misa-chan. I got the bathroom all wet."
"It's fine. We can get this cleaned up in time."
"Eh? Misaki-chan, how can I hear you?" Shintani looked about the room, eyes searching.
Something like the sound of a pillow smacked into one of the speakers, and then Tora's voice joined the conversation. "I would appreciate it if you lot didn't cause such a ruckus so early into the day," he chuckled, clearly amused, but there was a distinct grumble in his tone which indicated that he was only partially joking.
"Ah, sorry. I guess I'll turn the speaker off." Misaki took a while, as she had to be careful not to step in the water.
"The speaker? We have speakers in this fancy beach house?" Shintani inquired. "What other gadgets is this house equipped with that I don't know about? Trapdoors, secret passages, a room filled with dead people?"
"Just what kind of manga have you been reading again…?" Misaki sighed. "The speakers are the only accessory here; don't worry."
"The only accessory!? But that luxurious Jacuzzi and the exotic greenhouse must count, too! Ne, Misa-chan!?" Satsuki piped up.
"Well, it's the only accessory that covers the whole house, I suppose. It's only here for communication purposes, in case we want to speak with each other in our respective rooms. If you want privacy, just turn it off with the blue button." Misaki explained.
"Is that so? Wow, so cool!" Shintani seemed fascinated with the technology.
"Anyways, we'll get all this water cleaned up. Don't mind us." Misaki turned off the speaker at her end.
From the silence that followed, Shintani could only assume that Tora had turned his off as well. And since he didn't have any motivation to find out, Shintani decided to get ready for the day. They were expected at the beach in 45 minutes.
"Please tell me those are fake," Sakura stared up in bewilderment at the fruits that hung down from the thick, green canopy of the rainforest region. It was a beautiful scene spread out before her eyes—trees and plants with leaves so green they could be mistaken as emeralds, vines swopping elegantly from branch to branch like a natural streamer, exotic fruits and flowers splashing through the greenery like colourful sprinkles on a cake—but that wasn't what she was starting at.
"Whoa, those are some huge bananas!" Shintani exclaimed, his mouth already watering.
Usui slid over and whispered something in Misaki's ear. Her face immediately fired up, and she chastised him for being such a pervert.
Maria giggled, and answered, "Yes, Hanazono-san, they are plastic bananas. Real bananas won't grow like that, so far from each other. Normally, on the tree, they would grow in a bunch."
"If those aren't real, then what are those monkeys doing there, just staring at the bananas?" Kuuga inquired.
Misaki shoved Usui away before he could say anything. If possible, her face flushed an even redder shade. "Just shut up and listen to the instructions, you perverted outer space alien." She mumbled.
"I should assume that those monkeys are also fake," Tora interjected. "If the desert area had been an elaborate set, who's to say that the rainforest isn't? Even if this jungle was genuine, why would actual monkeys just sit there and watch the food without making a move to eat it?"
"You are correct, Igarashi-san," Maria conceded. "Those 'monkeys' are actually robots. Their use will come later on in the challenge."
"Why does that sound strangely sinister…?" Kuuga muttered quietly.
{Scene change to private room with Satsuki seated in front of the camera, bouncing with excitement}
"Is my turn again so soon? Hooray!" she cheered. "I am so glad I decided to join this competition! It's been so much fun trying out all these new activities and working together with everyone! In fact, I think it's given me an idea for our next event at Maid Latte! We can have our staff dressed as 'jungle women' and serve our customers jungle-themed food like 'Exotic Jungle Jelly' or something… "
Satsuki lets out a bubbly giggle. "Fu fu fu, I think I even got to witness Usui-kun getting closer to Misa-chan over the past few weeks!~" –the moe flowers shower down—"That's prize enough for me, even if I don't win 3 (heart)"
"So here is how the challenge goes," Maria said. She pulled out her remote, and twisted a black knob to the right. The plastic bananas began to lower, until they hung just within reach for the contestants to climb onto. Without needing to be told, they did just that. Maria turned the knob a little to the left, and the bananas rose until they hovered a meter from the ground. With the flick of another switch, the debris on the ground of the jungle was replaced by safety mats in an instant.
"This challenge is more a testing of your will than any of the previous," Maria started. "All you must do is hold on to the banana. If you feel that you have reached your limits, you are free to drop down at any time. After an hour, an extra… obstacle will be tossed in. If you fall or slip, you shall be eliminated. The final contestant remaining on their perch will win for their entire team. If there are no questions, shall I begin the timer?"
No one tried to object, so Maria took it as consent and started the timing for an hour. For the first half hour, none of the contestants dared move. Sakura had both her arms and legs wrapped around the banana as if in a hug, Misaki held onto it as if it were a horse, Tora was lying on the plastic fruit as if it were a hammock—and that was only the most interesting of the contestants. Everyone else seemed to be positioned on their banana in the style of sitting on a swing.
As the minutes ticked by, an uneasy conversation ensued. "Heh heh, it sure would be bad if this cord snapped…" Sakura stated nervously.
"It won't snap," Misaki assured her. "Besides, even if it did, we've only got a meter's drop."
"Onto safety mats," Kanou added.
"Woo-hoo, this like a swing!" Shitani rocked back and forth on his banana.
"Don't do that, idiot!" Misaki scolded him. "Do you want to fall?"
"I won't get hurt this time, Misaki-chan,"
"That's beside the point!"
"You better hold tight to that banana, kaichou," Usui teased, not about to be left out of the picture. "You wouldn't want it slipping out of your grasp now, would you?"
"Shut up! I don't want to hear any dirty delusions of yours!" she shot back, a flaming scarlet blush crossing her face.
"Tee hee!" Moe flowers sprung up from behind Satsuki. "Misa-chan, you're so cute when you're embarrassed!" She started flailing her arms around, excited. Unfortunately, she had forgotten she was on a plastic banana and lost her balance, toppling over onto the sea of safety mats below.
"Ah, it seems Hyoudou-san is the first to drop," Maria observed. "Only twelve minutes remaining 'till the hour is up."
"How dull," Tora remarked. "I think I'll take a nap until something interesting occurs,"
"A nap!? Up here? Is he cracked?" Kuuga repeated incredulously.
"He seems to be in perfect balance," Misaki said. "All too comfortably, if you ask me,"
"Time's up," Maria chirped. She held up her remote and pushed a little blue button. The monkey-like robots all opened their mouths simultaneously.
"Please don't tell me that they're going to eat the banana," Sakura tightened her grip around her giant fruit.
To her relief—and surprise—the monkeys' mouths squirted out whipped cream all over her and the other contestants. "Food!" Shintani yelped delightedly, proceeding to lick up all the whipped cream on himself and his banana.
"What's this…?" Kuuga grumbled.
"Every five minutes you'll be a step closer to a banana split," Maria explained, giggling. "Be careful; chocolate sauce can be quite slippery~"
The meaning of her words sunk in, and some of the contestants groaned. The next five minutes resulted in a drizzling of caramel sauce. The following five ladled them with rich strawberry sauce. Then came the chocolate sauce, and Sakura slipped off. The sprinkles were next, followed by a shower of rainbow gummy bears. After the gummy bears were three ice cream scoops from a giant scooper, which was finished off by a cherry. Kuuga decided to give up.
Once the process had been completed, the monkeys started all over again. Shintani got a stomach ache by the third round and fell to the safety mats below, groaning. Two more rounds, and Kanou followed suit. Another hour passed, and neither of the remaining three dropped off. Misaki held her ground, although she seemed to be slipping a millimeter lower on her banana with each passing minute.
"Now to shake things up a bit," Maria punched a combination of buttons, and the bananas gave a violent shake, as if an earth quake had struck. Misaki sunk down a centimeter, but she hauled herself back up. Once activated, the quaking would occur sporadically, at random intervals between the sundae-making, and would often take everyone by surprise. This continued for three hours without interruption.
"This isn't interesting at all," Tora complained, getting down from his banana. With the way he did it, though, it seemed more as if he was clambering down from a tall, majestic horse than a giant plastic banana.
"Why'd you get down willingly!?" Shintani hissed at him as Tora passed by. "We had double the chances of winning against Takumi; it was two against one!"
"It's more entertaining to watch from here," came the lazy reply.
By the time noon came, and everyone was feeling ready for lunch, still nothing much had occurred. It was Usui, in the end, who decided the settle things. "Ayuzawa is not going to drop down before me, is she?" he asked.
"Don't be stupid! Of course not!" Misaki responded.
"Then why don't we make a deal," he offered. "Ayuzawa lets me win this challenge, and the next challenge, I'll drop out first."
"That's too easy. And how do I know you'll keep your end?"
Usui smiled gently at her. "I promise,"
That drew a cute, startled expression from her, and he chuckled. "I- I don't like people going easy on me. I would hate to win unfairly." Misaki's face was flushed a rosy pink.
"It won't be unfair if I want to do it,"
"Th-that's true, but that would ruin the challenge for everyone else… It feels the best if you beat your competition fair and square."
"Then how about this? If you drop down, I promise that I'll play my hardest on the next challenge."
She didn't respond for a while.
"Everyone is waiting for us, Misaki,"
"Fine," She turned her face away from him in attempt to hide the deepening blush. Dropping lightly down from the banana, with her back was still facing him as she said, "You better give me a good competition next challenge. I don't intend to lose."
Team A's punishment that evening was to clean up the beach. Once they were finished, they met Maria at the set-up campsite for their voting session. Maria knew that the team system had to be dispatched soon, for there had been barely enough votes to eliminate one person this time around. With the numbers thinning down like this, it would only be a matter of days before it was everyone for themselves.
Maria leveled her gaze among the contestants seated before her, and announced, "You teammates have spoken. Hyoudou-san, you have been chosen as the next person to leave the island."