MWAMWAMWA!!!!! I am back with another chapter! Thou all art subject to my
will… Thou all art subject to my will… Thou all art subject to my will…
Thou all art subject to my will…so…REVIEW ME!!!
Okeley-dokeley. ON WITH THE STORY!!!
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"What's your problem?" the brownish-red haired girl stood up and glared at Matt with her hands on her hips. Her irises were a fiery crimson. He noticed that she had a school uniform on, so she must have been a student.
"Excuse me, you little rat, but who do you think you are?" Matt couldn't help saying those harsh words, but something that Mimi said placed a notion into him. What if their careers were cut short somehow? Besides, he was about to apologize but his mouth ran away when he saw the girl sprawled on the grass, embarrassed if anyone ever saw that.
Rat??? "Well, who do you think you are?" Sora glared at him. She couldn't believe how high and mighty this guy's attitude was. What, did he think that he was the coolest thing in Japan since sushi? (A/N: Couldn't resist. Sushi good.) And who was he?
Didn't this rude girl know who he was? "Don't you know who I am?" he asked as superiorly as possible, wondering what sort of a haughty girl this was. How could she not know him?
OK, this guy's head is more puffed-up than the Goodyear Blimp. Sora narrowed her eyes. "Should I know who you are?" she asked dangerously.
The guy started to make his way down the steps. "It doesn't matter. You don't deserve to know." He decided that she was a student of Odaiba High School, from seeing the uniforms of the girls in pictures in Principal Suzuki's office. She would eventually find out who he is. He silently wished that he would be present when she made her reaction.
Sora glowered. "Whatever."
Matt strolled away, just as Principal Suzuki stepped out off the double- doors and inspected the door. "Ah, Miss Takenouchi. Good job. You may leave now. Be sure to remind your parents of your detentions."
Sora bowed respectfully. "Yes, Principal Suzuki." She let out a silent sigh of relief as Principal Suzuki turned away and marched back up the steps. She could go home now.
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Matt couldn't believe that that girl didn't know who he was. Or how rude she was to him. He was a celebrity, for crying out loud. (A/N: Someone's ego is a little puffed up, don't you think?
He turned this over in his mind as he made his way home, unscathed by screaming girls, for once. It must be too late, he deduced, for them to hunt for him. But there would be plenty time to hound him on Monday. He was, after all, attending Odaiba High School, a co-ed school. Boys and girls.
Matt suddenly remembered that his little brother, TK would be attending school somewhere in the area, too. He decided that he would just ask his father when he got home. He speculated whether TK was all right or not. Since Matt's stardom, he and TK have grown closer. One time, on his tour, he even stopped by his mother's apartment and spent the night there. He realized that he was glad to learn that his mother still loved him.
He smiled and chuckled, entering the building he lived in after greeting the doorman.
He entered his apartment that he shared with his father and straight to his room, promptly falling asleep on the bed.
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As Sora slipped into the door, she slipped out of her shoes and into her slippers. (A/N: And she slipped across the floor to slip on her bed. HA! Get it?) She noticed that her mother was home, cooking dinner.
"I'm home, mother!" Sora called to her as she headed quickly to her room.
"Sora Takenouchi," a stern voice suddenly sounded out. Sora slowly turned around and saw that her mother had appeared in the doorway of the kitchen in their apartment, folding her arms and staring right at her. "Why are you home so late?" There was a warning tone in her voice.
"Uh…" Sora bit her lip. "I had to do a detention today."
"What for?"
"I kind of started a food fight, mother. I'm sorry."
"Is your detention only for today?"
Sora shook her head. "I still have detention from Monday to Wednesday."
"Now, why did you—" But Mrs. Takenouchi's sentence was cut off short as the kettle in the kitchen whistled for attention at the same time her phone in her room burst into a trilling sound. Accompanying this lovely cacophony was the shrill beeping of the stove.
Sora and her mother looked amazed. They glanced at each other and broke into laughter.
"You're off the hook, now, Sora," her mother told her, wiping a tear from her eye. "But I'll expect the gory details later." She then turned back into the kitchen and hurried to finish cooking.
The brownish-red-head girl chuckled and walked down the hall and entered her room. The phone was still ringing. She picked up the phone and placed it to her ear, greeting, "This is Sora Takenouchi speaking."
"SSSSSSOOOOOOORRRRRRRAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!" Aki's voice exploded out of the telephone. "SSSSSHHEEE'SS HHEEERREE!!!" Sora held the phone a good distance away from her ear as she waited for Aki's frenzy to die down. When it did, she tentatively placed it to her ear.
Sora rolled her eyes. "A little louder, Aki. My eardrums aren't completely obliterated yet."
"Sorry, Sora, but—AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" her best friend let out another ear-piercing scream, causing Sora to drop the phone.
"What was that?" Sora's mother barged through the open door. "Who was yelling?"
Sora glanced up at her mother as she picked up the phone. Mrs. Takenouchi was wearing cooking mittens and an enormous goofy chef's hat and a frilly pink apron. (A/N: Sound familiar to you? I'll give ya 10 points.) She was wielding a spatula like a sword and had soot in her face. Sora burst out laughing.
Mrs. Takenouchi looked at the mirror and laughed, too. She said sheepishly, "I guess everything's fine here. I'll go back now." And she departed from the room, leaving Sora on the floor, doubled up. As soon as Aki's hysterics calmed a bit, Sora picked up the phone again and said, "Aki, my friend, if your goal in this phone call was o damage my eardrums, it has worked."
"My apologies, Sora. I actually called you to say thanks for not giving me away with Principal Suzuki. But then I turned on my TV! Sor, you've gotta look! It's—"
"Sure, Aki," Sora cut in. "But what is it about? I'd rather know beforehand. Last time I did that, my mother saw the screen and nearly banned me from TV."
"Really? Well, nothing like that now. Did you know that Yamato Ishida and Mimi Tachikawa are already HERE in Odaiba???"
Sora thought hard. "I think that you already told us that, Aki. What's the big deal?"
"WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL???" Aki bellowed into the phone. "WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL? SORA! WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? DON'T YOU KNOW THAT THEY'RE ATTENDING OUR SCHOOL??? OUR SCHOOL???????"
"You've told us that, too," she informed her highly amusing friend. "In fact, I think that you told me and Chloris that they're attending on Monday. And?"
"AND? What do you mean, 'and'?" Aki's screeched. "Sora!!!! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU????? YAMATO ISHIDA IS THE LEAD SINGER OF THE TEENAGE WOLVES! HE'S EVERY GIRL'S DREAM!!!!"
"Well not mine," Sora interrupted. "And what are the Teenage Wolves?" she asked curiously.
"What planet are you from?" Aki was clearly panicking. "Are you telling me that you don't know the Teenage Wolves? The top scorers of the hit list every time they release a new album? A new song? The only boy band that absolutely has NO gay guys??? Do you know how rare that is nowadays???"
"Well, now I know," Sora said a little irritatedly. So what if she never heard of this downright impossible boy band? Who had ever heard of a purely masculine boy band? Ridiculous. There's always a fairy somewhere in those things. (A/N: Hehe.)
"I'm also guessing that you don't know who Mimi Tachikawa is, either," Aki stated. Sora assumed that she had cooled down by now, so she chose her words carefully.
"No, I do." She grinned. "Don't worry. Isn't she the girl in the Digimon series? But I don't get how a cartoon could attend our school."
"What on earth are you talking about? YOU'RE STILL WATCHING THAT???"
"Hey, it's a cool show. But when you think about it, they do have the same names."
"Sora. Did you know that there's more to life than a television screen?"
"I'm not the one with her nose plastered to the screen, gazing in rapt admiration while arguing with her uninterested friend."
"How did you kno— hey, wait a second. Are you telling me that you're uninterested? You mean you don't care about this? At all? Did I hear that? Don't tell me I heard you say that you don't care about this…"
"Give the girl a prize. Curtain number one, number two or number three? Choose now and you may win a week of homework along with your lovely prize and an all-expenses paid trip to Odaiba High School in School Bus Number 13!"
"Very funny." Aki's voice was dry. "Very, very funny."
Sora shrugged, although she knew that Aki couldn't see her. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that her vision was totally taken up by the whirling colors on the TV screen. "I try."
"Just watch it, Sora. For me?"
"And that's even funnier."
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The next day, as Sora left, walking to the flower shop, she let her thoughts roam to the news of the two celebrities enrolling into the school. She wondered why Akina was so excited about it. After all, they would probably just want to be common again. They were supposed to be treated equally as other students. So why was everybody so worked up about it? Even her mother knew, for some reason.
So as she waited for the sign to let her walk across the road, she saw Aki run up to her.
"Not you." Sora slapped her forehead in mock irritation. (Although some of it was genuine, too.)
"I was wondering when you would arrive!" Aki exclaimed. "I've been waiting forever! Can you open the door now?"
"I pity your soul. Why don't you ask my mother for a key to the store?"
Aki shrugged. "I just never get around to doing it, I guess."
Sora unlocked the door of her mother's shop and crossed into the threshold scented with the sweet aroma of flowers. She and Aki were going to take the shift for her mother while she could. Her mother asked it of them, and they needed the extra money. Besides, they both had nothing to do on Saturday. No appointments or anything. Except for tennis practice, but that would be later on. "Come on in, Aki."
"Sora, I don't get why you're not excited! These two are the best things to happen in our time except for that day when all the teachers came to school dressed up as a Pikachu." Aki paused. "That wasn't really that great. They still piled up the homework on us. But it was funny, anyway."
Sora laughed softly as she remembered that day. It was hilarious. She and Aki started to set up the flowers. Pretty soon, several customers filed in, speaking about a wedding and business.
It was around three o'clock when their next customer came in through the door, causing the bell hooked onto the door to ring and their heads to look up. She, in Sora's opinion, looked downright weird. She was wearing an incredibly short white skirt (shorter than their school uniforms, and that's awesomely short!) and a brightly colored t-shirt with a star. But that wasn't exactly what unnerved Sora and Aki. It was her hair. It was vibrantly dyed pink and had little stars all over it. (A/N: 10000 points to the lucky donkey who can guess who this girl is! But 10 points only to the people. Donkeys are special.)
Sora shuddered at the thought of her mother's reaction if she ever came home wearing that hairstyle.
Aki immediately swung into business. "May we help you, miss?" she asked formally. "We have some lovely dahlias that suit any occasion."
Sora wondered if she should've called the police. Aki was never too polite to the customers. She always snapped, "What do you want?" if she was in a bad mood or at least a, "Good morning." And this pink-haired teenager who looked a year or so younger than they did…Hmm…Maybe the X-Files would do better.
Not willing to be outdone, she swooped up a bouquet of lovely roses. "I think that these would go better with your hair," she told the girl, pretending to look critical in her examination of the bouquet. Sora was amused by how happy the girl seemed.
"Everyone in this town is so NICE!" The girl, Sora noticed, had an extremely high-pitched voice. "I'll just look around, if it is all right." She let out a laugh. Sora winced, remembering the blow to her eardrums on the telephone conversation the night before. She expected Aki to snigger or at least show some subtle mockery of the girl's voice.
But to Sora's amazement, Aki only gaped at the girl in what seemed to her like worship.
"Aki!" Sora hissed, tugging the girl's sleeve. "AKINA MIDORI!"
"Wha—what?" Aki looked startled. She turned to look around and saw her friend tugging her sleeve. "What's up?"
Sora whispered irritably. "Why on earth are you staring at that girl like she's some goddess? Well, she's not. She just looks like a girl with weird pink hair! I mean, look at it! There are stars in her hair."
Aki looked scandalized. "Don't you recognize that girl, Sora? It's Mimi Tachikawa!"
"Mimi Taichi-who?"
"Not Taichi. He's a soccer player at school."
"I know that. I met him yesterday, at the cafeteria, while we were cleaning up the filth. Tai's a cool guy."
"You had to clean that mess up? I pity you—wait. You met Taichi Kamiya and you didn't even tell me? Sora! What kind of a friend are you? You meet one of the most popular guys at school and you are on nickname basis with him and you don't even bother advising your best friend?"
Sora shrugged, watching as Mimi Tachiwaka or something like that sifted through the store, smelling flowers and touching petals. She wanted to make sure that this bizarre girl whose ground Aki so willingly worshipped wouldn't steal any flowers. As good Aki's judgment of people was, she didn't want to take any chances. "I didn't get the chance to tell you."
"Didn't get the chance to? What are you talking about? I called you last night and we spent hours talking on the phone!"
"You mean hours you spent talking on the phone," Sora corrected, absently adjusting the flowers on a vase on the counter. "I was listening. Well, partly. I was nodding off at some point."
Aki sniffed. "Some friend you are. I would've told you if I met a local personality, but it seems that you wouldn't care enough to inform me."
"Would I care?"
"Well…" Aki looked pensive. "Maybe not. But—"
"Excuse me? I've picked something out already," interrupted the incredibly high-pitched voice. Aki's and my head swiveled around to glance at the smiling pink-haired girl. She was holding a large bouquet of rare and tropical flowers. "Isn't it lovely?"
Immediately, the two girls swung back into business. Sora stepped in behind the cashier and Aki took the spray of flowers to wrap them up.
"That'll be $149, are you sure that you can pay for that? It's a pretty expensive bouquet." She glanced at the girl. "Maybe you would like to try something a little less expensive? After all, whoever you're buying this for will probably think that it's the thought that counts."
The girl shrugged. "I'm only buying it for a friend. But he's been such a good friend for a long time and we just got into a fight, but I'm willing to pay for it." She slapped a credit card onto the counter. "Ring it up for me, will you?"
Sora shrugged. "Have it your way." Either way, I would be earning. Hehe…
Aki gaped at the credit card on the counter. Then she looked up at the girl in awe. "Are you really Mimi Tachikawa?"
The pink-haired girl grinned at Aki. "Yep. It says right there on the credit card."
Aki exploded. "OH, MY GOD!!!" She immediately rushed around the counter and bowed several times. "I totally worship your movie! I think you're the coolest actress in the world! Sora, give her a discount!"
Mimi and Sora glanced at each other. The latter cracked a smile. "That'll still be $149. No discounts because this store treats everyone equally. Even I don't get discounts and mother owns this store."
"Thanks," Mimi Tachikawa said gratefully.
"Y'know, it must be hard to be such a famous person with people like that around," Sora remarked, glancing accusingly at Aki. "How the heck do you get anywhere with all that groveling?"
Mimi laughed, a sound that chilled my spine. It wasn't scary, but so shrill. "I get it everyday."
"Are you really going to go to Odaiba High School?" Aki asked eagerly. "Because we could show you around and all that. What year are you entering?"
Mimi replied, "If you're fifteen years old, I'm entering your year, although I'm fourteen. I got skipped up a level the last time I went to school." (A/N: Hard to believe, eh?)
"How long ago was that?"
"When I was eight or nine or so. That was before the acting industry picked me up." Aki and Mimi started gabbing away and exchanging gossip and all that stuff. I toned them out, starting to ring up the sale.
"Here you go, Ms. Tachikawa." Sora handed Aki the bag, giving Mimi a little salute. Sora inwardly grinned. This was great! $149 bucks in the till! (A/N: Is it just me, or is Sora developing an "I love money" personality?)
Aki passed her the flowers and said, "Please come again."
Mimi beamed at the two of us and announced, "I would like to meet the two of you again. You two are the nicest people I've ever met! Can we be friends?"
"OF COURSE!" Aki nearly burst with happiness. "I knew all those tabloid rumors were false! You're the best person ever, Meems!" Aki paused. "Is it all right if I call you that?" She looked nervous.
"Definitely!" Mimi answered cheerfully, hugging the bouquet to her chest. "Now that we're friends, can I ask you two your names?"
"Silly me!" Aki slapped her forehead. "I'm Akina Midori, but you cannot call me Akina. Just Aki. This is Sora Takenouchi. You call her Sora."
Sora chuckled. "But you can also call this girl Bubblehead. It seems that that's what happens when rumors about teenage celebrities attending her school turn out to be true."
The three girls laughed. Even Aki.
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WELL! How do you think? If you think that I should put up the next chapter any time soon, you'd better make sure that I study hard and that I see the review count rise. Otherwise, I'm not going anywhere. Yes, this is all a plot to get people to review my story. Too bad. Well, if all of you think that there is no hope anymore because this is a dumb story, feel a little lighter-hearted (or down-hearted, if you look at it in a different way). I may get so bored with studying and reviewing that I might just feel like posting the next chapter, which is already completed.
Yes, I'm just doing it to torture you. Actually, I'd rather study, at the moment. I'm going to graduate to high school!!!! O_o!!
Okeley-dokeley. ON WITH THE STORY!!!
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"What's your problem?" the brownish-red haired girl stood up and glared at Matt with her hands on her hips. Her irises were a fiery crimson. He noticed that she had a school uniform on, so she must have been a student.
"Excuse me, you little rat, but who do you think you are?" Matt couldn't help saying those harsh words, but something that Mimi said placed a notion into him. What if their careers were cut short somehow? Besides, he was about to apologize but his mouth ran away when he saw the girl sprawled on the grass, embarrassed if anyone ever saw that.
Rat??? "Well, who do you think you are?" Sora glared at him. She couldn't believe how high and mighty this guy's attitude was. What, did he think that he was the coolest thing in Japan since sushi? (A/N: Couldn't resist. Sushi good.) And who was he?
Didn't this rude girl know who he was? "Don't you know who I am?" he asked as superiorly as possible, wondering what sort of a haughty girl this was. How could she not know him?
OK, this guy's head is more puffed-up than the Goodyear Blimp. Sora narrowed her eyes. "Should I know who you are?" she asked dangerously.
The guy started to make his way down the steps. "It doesn't matter. You don't deserve to know." He decided that she was a student of Odaiba High School, from seeing the uniforms of the girls in pictures in Principal Suzuki's office. She would eventually find out who he is. He silently wished that he would be present when she made her reaction.
Sora glowered. "Whatever."
Matt strolled away, just as Principal Suzuki stepped out off the double- doors and inspected the door. "Ah, Miss Takenouchi. Good job. You may leave now. Be sure to remind your parents of your detentions."
Sora bowed respectfully. "Yes, Principal Suzuki." She let out a silent sigh of relief as Principal Suzuki turned away and marched back up the steps. She could go home now.
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Matt couldn't believe that that girl didn't know who he was. Or how rude she was to him. He was a celebrity, for crying out loud. (A/N: Someone's ego is a little puffed up, don't you think?
He turned this over in his mind as he made his way home, unscathed by screaming girls, for once. It must be too late, he deduced, for them to hunt for him. But there would be plenty time to hound him on Monday. He was, after all, attending Odaiba High School, a co-ed school. Boys and girls.
Matt suddenly remembered that his little brother, TK would be attending school somewhere in the area, too. He decided that he would just ask his father when he got home. He speculated whether TK was all right or not. Since Matt's stardom, he and TK have grown closer. One time, on his tour, he even stopped by his mother's apartment and spent the night there. He realized that he was glad to learn that his mother still loved him.
He smiled and chuckled, entering the building he lived in after greeting the doorman.
He entered his apartment that he shared with his father and straight to his room, promptly falling asleep on the bed.
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As Sora slipped into the door, she slipped out of her shoes and into her slippers. (A/N: And she slipped across the floor to slip on her bed. HA! Get it?) She noticed that her mother was home, cooking dinner.
"I'm home, mother!" Sora called to her as she headed quickly to her room.
"Sora Takenouchi," a stern voice suddenly sounded out. Sora slowly turned around and saw that her mother had appeared in the doorway of the kitchen in their apartment, folding her arms and staring right at her. "Why are you home so late?" There was a warning tone in her voice.
"Uh…" Sora bit her lip. "I had to do a detention today."
"What for?"
"I kind of started a food fight, mother. I'm sorry."
"Is your detention only for today?"
Sora shook her head. "I still have detention from Monday to Wednesday."
"Now, why did you—" But Mrs. Takenouchi's sentence was cut off short as the kettle in the kitchen whistled for attention at the same time her phone in her room burst into a trilling sound. Accompanying this lovely cacophony was the shrill beeping of the stove.
Sora and her mother looked amazed. They glanced at each other and broke into laughter.
"You're off the hook, now, Sora," her mother told her, wiping a tear from her eye. "But I'll expect the gory details later." She then turned back into the kitchen and hurried to finish cooking.
The brownish-red-head girl chuckled and walked down the hall and entered her room. The phone was still ringing. She picked up the phone and placed it to her ear, greeting, "This is Sora Takenouchi speaking."
"SSSSSSOOOOOOORRRRRRRAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!" Aki's voice exploded out of the telephone. "SSSSSHHEEE'SS HHEEERREE!!!" Sora held the phone a good distance away from her ear as she waited for Aki's frenzy to die down. When it did, she tentatively placed it to her ear.
Sora rolled her eyes. "A little louder, Aki. My eardrums aren't completely obliterated yet."
"Sorry, Sora, but—AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" her best friend let out another ear-piercing scream, causing Sora to drop the phone.
"What was that?" Sora's mother barged through the open door. "Who was yelling?"
Sora glanced up at her mother as she picked up the phone. Mrs. Takenouchi was wearing cooking mittens and an enormous goofy chef's hat and a frilly pink apron. (A/N: Sound familiar to you? I'll give ya 10 points.) She was wielding a spatula like a sword and had soot in her face. Sora burst out laughing.
Mrs. Takenouchi looked at the mirror and laughed, too. She said sheepishly, "I guess everything's fine here. I'll go back now." And she departed from the room, leaving Sora on the floor, doubled up. As soon as Aki's hysterics calmed a bit, Sora picked up the phone again and said, "Aki, my friend, if your goal in this phone call was o damage my eardrums, it has worked."
"My apologies, Sora. I actually called you to say thanks for not giving me away with Principal Suzuki. But then I turned on my TV! Sor, you've gotta look! It's—"
"Sure, Aki," Sora cut in. "But what is it about? I'd rather know beforehand. Last time I did that, my mother saw the screen and nearly banned me from TV."
"Really? Well, nothing like that now. Did you know that Yamato Ishida and Mimi Tachikawa are already HERE in Odaiba???"
Sora thought hard. "I think that you already told us that, Aki. What's the big deal?"
"WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL???" Aki bellowed into the phone. "WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL? SORA! WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? DON'T YOU KNOW THAT THEY'RE ATTENDING OUR SCHOOL??? OUR SCHOOL???????"
"You've told us that, too," she informed her highly amusing friend. "In fact, I think that you told me and Chloris that they're attending on Monday. And?"
"AND? What do you mean, 'and'?" Aki's screeched. "Sora!!!! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU????? YAMATO ISHIDA IS THE LEAD SINGER OF THE TEENAGE WOLVES! HE'S EVERY GIRL'S DREAM!!!!"
"Well not mine," Sora interrupted. "And what are the Teenage Wolves?" she asked curiously.
"What planet are you from?" Aki was clearly panicking. "Are you telling me that you don't know the Teenage Wolves? The top scorers of the hit list every time they release a new album? A new song? The only boy band that absolutely has NO gay guys??? Do you know how rare that is nowadays???"
"Well, now I know," Sora said a little irritatedly. So what if she never heard of this downright impossible boy band? Who had ever heard of a purely masculine boy band? Ridiculous. There's always a fairy somewhere in those things. (A/N: Hehe.)
"I'm also guessing that you don't know who Mimi Tachikawa is, either," Aki stated. Sora assumed that she had cooled down by now, so she chose her words carefully.
"No, I do." She grinned. "Don't worry. Isn't she the girl in the Digimon series? But I don't get how a cartoon could attend our school."
"What on earth are you talking about? YOU'RE STILL WATCHING THAT???"
"Hey, it's a cool show. But when you think about it, they do have the same names."
"Sora. Did you know that there's more to life than a television screen?"
"I'm not the one with her nose plastered to the screen, gazing in rapt admiration while arguing with her uninterested friend."
"How did you kno— hey, wait a second. Are you telling me that you're uninterested? You mean you don't care about this? At all? Did I hear that? Don't tell me I heard you say that you don't care about this…"
"Give the girl a prize. Curtain number one, number two or number three? Choose now and you may win a week of homework along with your lovely prize and an all-expenses paid trip to Odaiba High School in School Bus Number 13!"
"Very funny." Aki's voice was dry. "Very, very funny."
Sora shrugged, although she knew that Aki couldn't see her. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that her vision was totally taken up by the whirling colors on the TV screen. "I try."
"Just watch it, Sora. For me?"
"And that's even funnier."
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The next day, as Sora left, walking to the flower shop, she let her thoughts roam to the news of the two celebrities enrolling into the school. She wondered why Akina was so excited about it. After all, they would probably just want to be common again. They were supposed to be treated equally as other students. So why was everybody so worked up about it? Even her mother knew, for some reason.
So as she waited for the sign to let her walk across the road, she saw Aki run up to her.
"Not you." Sora slapped her forehead in mock irritation. (Although some of it was genuine, too.)
"I was wondering when you would arrive!" Aki exclaimed. "I've been waiting forever! Can you open the door now?"
"I pity your soul. Why don't you ask my mother for a key to the store?"
Aki shrugged. "I just never get around to doing it, I guess."
Sora unlocked the door of her mother's shop and crossed into the threshold scented with the sweet aroma of flowers. She and Aki were going to take the shift for her mother while she could. Her mother asked it of them, and they needed the extra money. Besides, they both had nothing to do on Saturday. No appointments or anything. Except for tennis practice, but that would be later on. "Come on in, Aki."
"Sora, I don't get why you're not excited! These two are the best things to happen in our time except for that day when all the teachers came to school dressed up as a Pikachu." Aki paused. "That wasn't really that great. They still piled up the homework on us. But it was funny, anyway."
Sora laughed softly as she remembered that day. It was hilarious. She and Aki started to set up the flowers. Pretty soon, several customers filed in, speaking about a wedding and business.
It was around three o'clock when their next customer came in through the door, causing the bell hooked onto the door to ring and their heads to look up. She, in Sora's opinion, looked downright weird. She was wearing an incredibly short white skirt (shorter than their school uniforms, and that's awesomely short!) and a brightly colored t-shirt with a star. But that wasn't exactly what unnerved Sora and Aki. It was her hair. It was vibrantly dyed pink and had little stars all over it. (A/N: 10000 points to the lucky donkey who can guess who this girl is! But 10 points only to the people. Donkeys are special.)
Sora shuddered at the thought of her mother's reaction if she ever came home wearing that hairstyle.
Aki immediately swung into business. "May we help you, miss?" she asked formally. "We have some lovely dahlias that suit any occasion."
Sora wondered if she should've called the police. Aki was never too polite to the customers. She always snapped, "What do you want?" if she was in a bad mood or at least a, "Good morning." And this pink-haired teenager who looked a year or so younger than they did…Hmm…Maybe the X-Files would do better.
Not willing to be outdone, she swooped up a bouquet of lovely roses. "I think that these would go better with your hair," she told the girl, pretending to look critical in her examination of the bouquet. Sora was amused by how happy the girl seemed.
"Everyone in this town is so NICE!" The girl, Sora noticed, had an extremely high-pitched voice. "I'll just look around, if it is all right." She let out a laugh. Sora winced, remembering the blow to her eardrums on the telephone conversation the night before. She expected Aki to snigger or at least show some subtle mockery of the girl's voice.
But to Sora's amazement, Aki only gaped at the girl in what seemed to her like worship.
"Aki!" Sora hissed, tugging the girl's sleeve. "AKINA MIDORI!"
"Wha—what?" Aki looked startled. She turned to look around and saw her friend tugging her sleeve. "What's up?"
Sora whispered irritably. "Why on earth are you staring at that girl like she's some goddess? Well, she's not. She just looks like a girl with weird pink hair! I mean, look at it! There are stars in her hair."
Aki looked scandalized. "Don't you recognize that girl, Sora? It's Mimi Tachikawa!"
"Mimi Taichi-who?"
"Not Taichi. He's a soccer player at school."
"I know that. I met him yesterday, at the cafeteria, while we were cleaning up the filth. Tai's a cool guy."
"You had to clean that mess up? I pity you—wait. You met Taichi Kamiya and you didn't even tell me? Sora! What kind of a friend are you? You meet one of the most popular guys at school and you are on nickname basis with him and you don't even bother advising your best friend?"
Sora shrugged, watching as Mimi Tachiwaka or something like that sifted through the store, smelling flowers and touching petals. She wanted to make sure that this bizarre girl whose ground Aki so willingly worshipped wouldn't steal any flowers. As good Aki's judgment of people was, she didn't want to take any chances. "I didn't get the chance to tell you."
"Didn't get the chance to? What are you talking about? I called you last night and we spent hours talking on the phone!"
"You mean hours you spent talking on the phone," Sora corrected, absently adjusting the flowers on a vase on the counter. "I was listening. Well, partly. I was nodding off at some point."
Aki sniffed. "Some friend you are. I would've told you if I met a local personality, but it seems that you wouldn't care enough to inform me."
"Would I care?"
"Well…" Aki looked pensive. "Maybe not. But—"
"Excuse me? I've picked something out already," interrupted the incredibly high-pitched voice. Aki's and my head swiveled around to glance at the smiling pink-haired girl. She was holding a large bouquet of rare and tropical flowers. "Isn't it lovely?"
Immediately, the two girls swung back into business. Sora stepped in behind the cashier and Aki took the spray of flowers to wrap them up.
"That'll be $149, are you sure that you can pay for that? It's a pretty expensive bouquet." She glanced at the girl. "Maybe you would like to try something a little less expensive? After all, whoever you're buying this for will probably think that it's the thought that counts."
The girl shrugged. "I'm only buying it for a friend. But he's been such a good friend for a long time and we just got into a fight, but I'm willing to pay for it." She slapped a credit card onto the counter. "Ring it up for me, will you?"
Sora shrugged. "Have it your way." Either way, I would be earning. Hehe…
Aki gaped at the credit card on the counter. Then she looked up at the girl in awe. "Are you really Mimi Tachikawa?"
The pink-haired girl grinned at Aki. "Yep. It says right there on the credit card."
Aki exploded. "OH, MY GOD!!!" She immediately rushed around the counter and bowed several times. "I totally worship your movie! I think you're the coolest actress in the world! Sora, give her a discount!"
Mimi and Sora glanced at each other. The latter cracked a smile. "That'll still be $149. No discounts because this store treats everyone equally. Even I don't get discounts and mother owns this store."
"Thanks," Mimi Tachikawa said gratefully.
"Y'know, it must be hard to be such a famous person with people like that around," Sora remarked, glancing accusingly at Aki. "How the heck do you get anywhere with all that groveling?"
Mimi laughed, a sound that chilled my spine. It wasn't scary, but so shrill. "I get it everyday."
"Are you really going to go to Odaiba High School?" Aki asked eagerly. "Because we could show you around and all that. What year are you entering?"
Mimi replied, "If you're fifteen years old, I'm entering your year, although I'm fourteen. I got skipped up a level the last time I went to school." (A/N: Hard to believe, eh?)
"How long ago was that?"
"When I was eight or nine or so. That was before the acting industry picked me up." Aki and Mimi started gabbing away and exchanging gossip and all that stuff. I toned them out, starting to ring up the sale.
"Here you go, Ms. Tachikawa." Sora handed Aki the bag, giving Mimi a little salute. Sora inwardly grinned. This was great! $149 bucks in the till! (A/N: Is it just me, or is Sora developing an "I love money" personality?)
Aki passed her the flowers and said, "Please come again."
Mimi beamed at the two of us and announced, "I would like to meet the two of you again. You two are the nicest people I've ever met! Can we be friends?"
"OF COURSE!" Aki nearly burst with happiness. "I knew all those tabloid rumors were false! You're the best person ever, Meems!" Aki paused. "Is it all right if I call you that?" She looked nervous.
"Definitely!" Mimi answered cheerfully, hugging the bouquet to her chest. "Now that we're friends, can I ask you two your names?"
"Silly me!" Aki slapped her forehead. "I'm Akina Midori, but you cannot call me Akina. Just Aki. This is Sora Takenouchi. You call her Sora."
Sora chuckled. "But you can also call this girl Bubblehead. It seems that that's what happens when rumors about teenage celebrities attending her school turn out to be true."
The three girls laughed. Even Aki.
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WELL! How do you think? If you think that I should put up the next chapter any time soon, you'd better make sure that I study hard and that I see the review count rise. Otherwise, I'm not going anywhere. Yes, this is all a plot to get people to review my story. Too bad. Well, if all of you think that there is no hope anymore because this is a dumb story, feel a little lighter-hearted (or down-hearted, if you look at it in a different way). I may get so bored with studying and reviewing that I might just feel like posting the next chapter, which is already completed.
Yes, I'm just doing it to torture you. Actually, I'd rather study, at the moment. I'm going to graduate to high school!!!! O_o!!