Rumpleteasza: You'll never want to touch Daisuke again after this. I promise.


Chapter Eleven – Makeovers And Manicures

"I don't believe it!" Kari squealed as the girls walked out of Toni & Guy. "Look at you, Jun! You're like a different person!"

Jun was glowing with pride. "I know!" she gushed. "I can hardly believe it myself!"

"That salon was incredible!" Sora said in awe, pulling a strand of her hair forward and examining it. "This cut is perfect, it falls in all the right places! Amber really lived up to her word!"

"Short hair is great, but I wouldn't trade long hair for anything,right Yolei?" Mimi said happily. "So much more to do stuff with. I love this style."

"Me too!" Yolei said rapturously, feeling her shining hair gingerly. "I'm afraid to touch it in case I mess it up!"

"Don't worry," Mimi reassured her. "They style it so it lasts, as well as looking good."

"A bit pricey, though," Sora admitted.

"But boy, was it worth it!" declared Jun.

The five girls giggled as they joined hands and walked through the town centre to Megami's.


The boys stood, not even bothering to hide themselves, open-mouthed as Mimi and the others sashayed past. Incredibly, the girls didn't notice them.

"Sweet holy mother of god!" Daisuke gasped, gobsmacked. "Look at her! Look at her! That is not my sister! That cannot be Jun!"

"Wow, Mimi wasn't kidding when she said they were miracle workers," Joe said, impressed.

"Christ, I wish Matt could see this," said TK, wide-eyed.

"He will," Tai said maliciously, "tonight at the dance. I can't wait to see his face."


"I don't know a lot about makeup, Mimi," Sora confessed as they pushed open the door of Megami's Beauty Parlour. "I'm going to feel kind of silly in here."

"Nonsense!" Mimi dismissed with a wave of her hand. "You don't need to know anything! They do it all for you! Besides, you know the basics, right? How to put on a base-coat of foundation and everything? Not that your skin needs it of course," she said with good-natured jealousy.

"Well…" Sora squirmed, "not exactly. I don't actually own any makeup at all."

Mimi laughed. "Oh, I know you don't have a lot. A small collection's nothing to be ashamed about."

"No, Mimi, I said I don't own any," Sora corrected.

Mimi blinked. "Come again?"

"I don't own any makeup. No foundation. No lipstick. No eyeshadow. No nothing."

Mimi stared. "I don't understand."

Sora sighed. "Never mind."


"I knew Sora wasn't cut out for this girly stuff," Tai said in satisfaction. "The day Sora gets as hung up over makeup as Mimi does, I'll eat myfootball."

"I'm gonna hold you to that one, Tai," Joe warned.

Daisuke shook his head. "I still can't get over Jun."

"Neither can I!" TK guffawed. "Matt's gonna have a heart attack tonight, I bet he won't even recognise her!"

"Hey guys!" Cody called softly from round the corner of the building. "Look what I found!"

"What is it, Cody?" Tai asked, coming to join him. "Hey, what's that?"

"It's a back entrance!" Cody said triumphantly. "I've already been down. At the bottom of the stairs there's a window that looks right into the manicure-room. Cool or what?"

"Lemme see!" Tai pushed past him and squeezed down the steps. "Hey, he's right!" he called up. "We'll be able to see everything from here!"

"You're really getting into this, Cody," TK remarked.

Cody flushed. "Yeah, well, maybe it's a hidden talent or something."

"Dude," Daisuke screwed up his nose as he started down the steps. "Don't let me catch you hanging around my house."

"Shut up," Cody grumbled, following him. "You probably pick up enough tips from Jun anyway."


"Hmm," said the stylist thoughtfully, standing back to survey Jun. "Tell you what, sweetie. I'm getting the feeling that some liquid eyeliner would look fantastic on you, drawing out into a little pattern at the corner of the eye. That'll give you a real sassy, fancy look. Ok?"

"Sure!" Jun said brightly. "Oh, and when you're finished – could you teach me how to do it so I can do it myself when I want to?"

"Sure thing, sugar. Wait a second while I get my eye pen."

"Isn't this exciting?" Jun turned to Mimi beside her. "Getting a whole new look? I've never been able to put on eyeliner properly before!"

"Really?" Mimi said in surprise. "You and Sora are as bad as eachother. You need to practise. Use Daisuke as a model or something."

Kari spluttered into giggles. "Daisuke in eyeliner!"

"I always thought boys in eyeliner was pretty cool," Yolei commented.

"Well, lucky for you I found Izzy experimenting with the contents of makeup bag once," Mimi told her. "You might just get your wish."

"He didn't!" Yolei gasped, still laughing. "That is so not Izzy!"

"You'd be surprised," Mimi leaned over to Yolei, grinning devilishly. "Back in the fourth grade, Izzy used to suck his thumb. And he was ten years old then!"

Kari exploded into laughter. "Ten! I stopped when I was four!"

Suddenly Sora frowned. "What was that?"

"What?" Kari asked, following Sora's gaze to the tiny window in a door in the corner of the room.

"Hmm," Sora said, puzzled. "I was sure I heard a noise back there. Like laughing."

"Probably some people on the street. Hey, Jun, you haven't dished the dirt on Daisuke yet," Mimi complained.

"Yeah!" Yolei sat up eagerly. "Tell us all about his disgusting habits!"

"Well…" Jun said slyly.

"Oh, I can't wait to hear this," Kari squealed. "Come on, Jun!"

Jun's face cracked into an evil smile. "He used to wear a nappy until he was six, and even now he wets the bed every Thursday. He's so dirty that he clogs up the bathplug with hair and dead skin, and he's not ashamed about burping or – um – letting out the other end in company."

"Ew!" Kari shrieked. "That's so gross!"

"Oh, TK isn't exactly the angel of innocence either, Kari," Sora said mischievously.

"Nu-uh." Kari shook her head. "I bet he's never done anything like that in his life."

"I remember," Sora said, ticking off on her fingers as she went along, "that he used to cry so much they almost had to build flood plains round his house. I remember Matt teaching him to pee into the bushes without getting himself wet-" she stopped for a second as Mimi snorted loudly- "and you know what Matt showed me a few months ago?"

"What?" Kari and Yolei asked in unison.

Sora smiled sweetly. "Pictures. Photos of TK as a little boy… at the beach."

"How cute!" Kari gushed.

"Frolicking," Sora carried on, "in the sand. Naked."

"Oh my God, I have to see those!" Kari cried, convulsed in laughter.

Jun giggled. "We have a family album full of pictures of Daisuke playing naked in the garden when he was little. They're a scream, you've got to come over and see them sometime."

"Don't you worry," Yolei spluttered through her laughter. "As if we'd miss that!"

"I'll make a day of it and bring Tai's pictures along too," Kari said.

Sora's eyes widened. "You have naked pictures of Tai?"

"Are you kidding?" Kari asked. "He went through a phase of not bothering with clothes. Our house is full of pictures."

Sora put a hand to her forehead, her cheeks tinged with pink. Mimi clapped her hands delightedly. "What else have you got, Kari?"

"Oh," Kari said superiorly, "I know things about Tai that'd make your hair curl. He doesn't even close the door when he goes to the bathroom. He sings in the shower, really loudly. Oh, and Sora, you know that ornamental hairpin you lost ages ago?" Kari sat back smugly. "He's got it. He keeps it on his bedside table."

Sora put a hand to her mouth, her cheeks flaming. Mimi cackled with glee. "I told you! I told you, Sora!"

"Well, I'm not the only one who should be blushing right now!" Sora yelled in retaliation, rounding accusingly on Mimi. "Joe made a pink valentine cake for you last year that he never had the nerve to send!"

Mimi's mouth dropped open, and her face flushed. "Well – um – after you got kidnapped by Datamon, Tai cried like a baby for you!"

"Kidnapped by who?" Jun asked curiously, but the other girls were on a roll.

"Daisuke once didn't fasten his belt properly and flashed the whole of Katsurati plaza!" Yolei cried.

"Izzy used to have a love-affair with his laptop!" Mimi shot back at her.

"Tai licks the plates clean and puts them straight back in the cupboard!" Kari yelled.

"Matt throws like a girl!" Sora shouted.

"Daisuke drinks the water from the fishbowl!" Jun followed up, hardly keeping down her giggles.

"Last year Cody sat on his Kendo stick and had to go to hospital to get it removed!"

"I saw Joe skinny-dipping once in the Digiworld!"

"In the what?"

"Nothing, Jun. I was using Izzy's laptop last week and I saw a porn site in his bookmarks!"

"TK once asked me what 'virgin' means!"

"No way! Tai once tried to play football with me without noticing I lost consciousness half an hour ago!"

"Daisuke blows his nose on the curtains!"

None of them could carry on. Peals of laughter echoed round the manicure room until the stylists appeared at the door, looking very confused.


Outside the door, none of the boys were moving. Each had identical expressions of horror etched into their flaming faces. After a few minutes, Tai pulled himself together and straightened up stiffly.

"Well," said. "Well. Right. Um…"

"Operation Girly Day Out terminated?" Izzy suggested.

"I think so," Tai said in an odd voice. "Er…"

Everyone immediately said a very hurried, awkward goodbye and sped off to their respective homes.


Rumpleteasza: Well, that's the girly day out finished. Shame, I had a lot of fun writing it. Well, it's not totally over - we still have the dance to wade through!

(looks around sheepishly as everyone groans)

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