What I am I supposed to do?
After I realized my feelings for Toujou, I felt stuck.
If I followed the plot of a Shojo manga, the next step would be to confess….Yeah, that's not ganna happen. How do people deal with this?
The days that followed after the dinner at my parents were a little awkward for me. Thankfully, Toujou hadn't really picked up on it. He had a new job and was spending a lot of time working.
Hmm… I should probably ask Aizawa what his new job is.
I also had been spending a lot of time at work since I needed to make up the days I missed.
"Say that again?" I asked Rin during one of our shifts together. She had come up and started talking to me but I was too zoned out to catch what she was saying the first time.
"My little brother has been begging me to take him to see the Rice Boy Hero Show. I can't turn him down but I don't want to go alone. Can you come with me Etsuko-chan?"
Rice Boy Hero Show? I think I've watched an episode once...I do owe Rin for always covering for me and we do both have sunday off…
"Yeah, sure."
Sunday eventually came and Rin came over to pick me up with her little brother, Ryota.
"Hello, Etsuko-chan!" Rin greeted me as I opened the door. I looked down to see a tiny little boy next to her, holding on to her hand. He looked to be about four.
"This is the friend that's coming with us?" He asked turning pink.
"Yeap, that's Etsuko-chan!"
I smiled down at the little boy and his eyes widened in joy.
"She's a princess like you nee-chan!"
Rin laughed at his comment and said he was right. He then offered his hand for me to take while still holding on to Rin's.
It's nice to know kindness runs in their family.
I grabbed his small hand and we started making our way to Ishiyama Land. Apparently it wasn't as far from my house because after a while, we were walking through the front gates.
"Hey don't you know those people?" Rin asked as she squinted her eyes looking at a group of people.
Crap.
Who she was looking at was Aoi, Oga, Shizuka, Kanzaki, and Hidetora.
"Yeah…"
"Do you want to go say hi to them?"
"...um…"
The good thing about Rin was that she was able to pick on things real quick. She gasped then nodded, telling me she understood.
Too bad one of them had spotted me.
"Dabuh!" Yelled Beelze, pointing at me.
The others turned to look at what he was pointing at and sure enough they saw me.
"Oh, Hey It's Etsuko!"
Crap! Why did it have to be Hidetora to yell it out!
In a second they were surrounding us.
"Wait...what are you doing here?" Asked Aoi.
"She's here with us to see the Rice Boy Show." Answered Rin in my place since I forgot how to talk. "Hello, I'm Etsuko's co-worker, Rin and this is my little brother Ryota."
The other's politely greeted them in response.
Beel noticed I was holding Ryota's hand and sent him a glare, telling him he didn't like having other little boys touching his aunt.
No one noticed that though, not even Ryota.
"It's a good thing you're here. We need an extra person to help us out." Said Hidetora stepping forward, coming close to me.
"W-With what-t?" Finally I managed to say something. Although now I couldn't think properly with him so close.
"With the show."
"The show?" I repeated, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, my co-workers got electrocuted so I'm having these guys help me fill in their spot but I need your help too."
So this is your new job..
"Etsuko-chan will help!" Rin declared, pushing me forward.
"Wait!" I said stopping myself before I feel against Toujou and looked over at her with wide eyes. "But you invited me to be here with you."
"You're friend needs you more than I do." Rin smiled, ignoring the signals I was sending her not to leave me alone with them. "Good luck, Etsuko-chan!" She yelled as she ran off dragging Ryota.
And that was how I joined Toujou and the others in their mission to carry out the show.
"THE RICE BOY SHOW IS ABOUT TO START!" Announced Aoi as she stood next to me.
It had been decided that Aoi and I would be the presentation girls.
"OKAY, NOW WE'RE GOING TO CALL FOR RICE BOY! READY, SET…" I yelled into the microphone. From the stage, I saw Rin clap aggressively for me and yell out my name while the rest of the audience called out for Rice Boy.
Instead of Rice Boy, the villain of the show came out who was played by Kanzaki.
"KYAA! THIS IS TERRIBLE! IT'S CAPTAIN POOP-COP!"
Poop-cop?...What kind of name is that? Also how the hell is he a cop?
Aoi nudged me to say my next line since I missed my cue.
"BUT WE CALLED FOR RICE BOY! BE CAREFUL, EVERYONE! YOU'RE GOING TO GET COVERED IN POOP!...wait wha-" Aoi nudged me again before I finished my sentence.
Poop-cop then twirled around and threatened to turn the audience into his henchmen-crap.
"THIS IS TERRIBLE!" I yelled pretending to be scared but was actually thinking how ridiculous this was.
"YOU HAVE TO GO AND DIRECTLY CALL FOR RICE BOY!" Added Aoi, urging the kids to be louder.
Kanzaki then decided to "kidnap" his niece, who willingly jumped on stage.
"You deliver the last line…" Whispered Aoi, she gave me a look that said I couldn't refuse this order.
Ugh, this is embarrassing…
"OH NO! EVERYONE! HURRY! CALL FOR RICE BOY! READY, SET...RICEEEEEE BOOOOOOYYYYY!"
"That's the loudest I've ever heard her…" commented Furuichi who was watching from the stands as he sweat-dropped. "This is really embarrassing..."
Finally, Toujou appeared wearing his Rice Boy costume but the idiot had put the head on backwards. Everyone went still as he was confused as to what was happening.
"YOU GUYS DID IT! RICE BOY IS HERE!" I yelled rushing over near Toujou. Everyone looked at me with torn faces as I signaled for Kanzaki to help Toujou.
Kanzaki did but by punching Toujou.
That's when their battle began and Poop-cop sent his goons to kill Toujou.
"Watch me be the star Etsuko…" Toujou said to me before catching the two goons by their face and holding them up in the air in a frightening manner.
This is the guy I have feelings for…
I thought as I watched Toujou fling the goons around then kicking the shit out of Kanzaki.
"Takenaka you do something!" Yelled Aoi away from the mic but was cut off by Toujou yelling at me, asking if I was watching him be a star.
Since Kanzaki was out, this was Oga's cue to come out.
Things are about to get worse.
I was right because they both started to go at it.
Aoi was too shocked to say anything so I had to move things along.
"WHAT AN AMAZING FIGHT! APPLAUSE, EVERYONE!"
Both moved to hit each other again but I summoned my demonic hands to latch on to their feet, stopping them.
"Take it down a notch! You're scaring the kids!" I told them before turning to the mic again. "NO, EVERYONE! YOU HAVE TO CHEER RICE BOY ON!"
Thankfully, Shizuka and Jinno came out to help the situation but Hidetora was having too much fun he didn't want anyone to stop him so he broke free from my hold and hit Jinno. This made Jinno get serious and want to fight.
I glanced over to the stands to see Ryota ready to cry and Rin trying to calm him down.
"You idiots!" I hissed under my breath, getting serious about stopping them before it got even worse.
But someone else stopped them.
Another character came out and flung both of them aside.
"..How bothersome.. The show is ruined now…" The person muttered. Apparently this was Radish Sprout Boy.
After he introduced himself he turned to Aoi and me.
"..Hmm, you're lacking a little sex appeal, Missy." He said pointing at Aoi.
In a blink of an eye her outfit changed to one that was very revealing.
She gasped and covered herself.
"You need something more entertaining too." He said pointing at me.
In a blink of an eye my outfit changed too but I found myself wearing a clown suit.
Everyone was ready to laugh but held back seeing me clutch my fist.
Calm down, he wants you to get mad.
Well he got what he wanted!
I took off the red nose that came with the clown suit and threw it at him.
"I'm going to make you pay!" I yelled along with the others as we moved in to attack him.
All six of us teamed up and held him down while Oga prepared the finishing move.
To all of our surprise, the guy was still standing after Oga hit him with his Zebul Emblem.
The stranger then disappeared, using the cloud of smoke as a cover.
Who the hell was that?
You should know who it is by now. That damn old geezer….
That was Behemoth?!
You need to get better at picking these things up, it's not funny when I have to tell you...Well, This was nothing serious for him so don't mention it to the others.
The applause of the crowd distracted all of us and soon the show ended. Although everyone loved it, Toujou ended up fired and with no pay.
"Wow, Etsuko-chan you were amazing!" Happily yelled Rin. She then moved in closer to whisper in my ear. "Although, I thought you would have Okazu…instead of that girl." She tilted her head at Shizuka who was catching her siblings bullying Beelze and Kouta.
"I was too short to for the role..."
I looked over to see Ryota shyly hide behind Rin as he glanced over at Toujou.
"You want to congratulate Rice Boy?" I asked, kneeling in front of him.
"Uh, yes…"
I ruffled his hair before taking his hand and walking him towards Toujou.
"Hey, Hidetora. There's a fan who wants to say something to you."
I brought Ryota out in front of me and smiled, telling him to go on.
"You did really great, Rice Boy!"
Toujou grinned down at the small boy. Although he was sad he wasn't getting paid, at least he got to be the star he wanted to be.
"Don't sweat it kid. I do it for people like you." Toujou said giving Ryota a thumbs up.
"Thank you for giving me this opportunity, Princess Etsuko!" He yelled before hugging my legs.
He then ran back to his sister to hug her. "Thank you for taking me here, Nee-chan!"
"Princess?" Toujou asked once Ryota couldn't hear us.
"Apparently his sister and I are princesses..." I smiled looking over at the two siblings. "Rin can easily be a princess but I don't know why he thinks I am one too. It's cute though."
"I can see what he means."
Shocked to hear him say that, I looked at what Toujou wide eyed.
"But then again..." He started to say as he placed something on my nose.
It was the clown nose that came with the clown getup Behemoth changed me into.
"This suits you more." He said giving me a big smile.
As a response, I gave him a displeased expression that made him laugh.
Thank You For Reading!
I sort of rushed this chapter because I really wanted to publish it.
This was really fun to write and I really liked how it came out. Especially when I was brainstorming what kind of outfit Behemoth would change Etsuko into. At first I thought it would be something similar to what he put Aoi into but then I decided that since he has a feud with Mastema, he would put her into something that was the opposite. So that's where the idea of the clown suit came!
Also I wanted to make sure I pointed out that Etsuko could be considered Beelze aunt since she host his biological uncle. I just wanted to make this reference on this chapter :)
I originally planned to write this chapter then the Christmas arc but I have decided to write about the Tissue Arc. I will try to post it soon and make it good! Not too good because I'm saving the best things for the Christmas arc. There's a lot to come!
P.S: Aren't Rin and her little brother cute!