ちびまおう- たなか きみこ：darokuha!
chibi maou – tanaka kimiko:＃6
"WHAT!?" shrieked the Chinese girl.
"Shhhhhh!! You want the whole school ta hear!?" hissed Miko. The two girls were outside the door to the classroom the next sunny morning. The lazy morning still twinkled beams of orange and yellow in the clouds, but the sky was slowly clearing into a brilliant blue.
Miko repeated herself. "You heard what I said. I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend, and then Tomoyo will get jealous, and fall in love with ME!"
Meiling shook her head furiously.
"No, no and NO! It would never work, and I am not about to embarrass myself like that! What makes you think Tomoyo would get jealous anyway? She likes SAKURA, not YOU. Just accept it, ok?"
Miko made a hurt face. "You wouldn't have to do it for long. I mean, just until she starts to change her mind. Please, it WILL work. I swear it will. I'll do anything…Please please please… I take back everything I said about Shaoran being snotty and you being dishonest and everything. Pretty please with wasabe on top!" she begged, gripping Meiling's sleeves tightly in her fists.
"Oh stop! You're freaking me out!" cried Meiling, pulling out of Miko's grasp.
"I'll give you free tickets to my bands concerts forever!"
"NO!!"
"I'll let you come to all my skate competitions for free!!"
"NO!! Besides, Shaoran will NEVER like me if he thinks I'm… you know…"
"Gay?"
"Er. Exactly. Now excuse me, I'm gonna be late." Meiling tried to enter the room but Miko blocked her again.
"But Meiling…Don't you know, guys are obsessed with lesbians! They love 'em! I mean, being gay is really hip nowadays!"
"I SAID N-…Really!?"
"Yes, of course! Guys go totally nuts over girls who like girls!" exclaimed Miko with a huge grin.
Meiling actually considered for a moment. "Well," she said finally, "I'll think about it."
The two entered the room and sat down in their seats. All the students were already inside, but the Terada-sensei hadn't arrived yet. "Ohayo Kimiko-chan, Meiling-chan." greeted Sakura warily. "Ohayo." replied Miko, looking at Tomoyo expectantly.
"Ohayo gozaimasu, Kimiko-chan." said Tomoyo with a smile as Miko slid into the seat next to hers.
"Oh, hello, Tomoyo-chan. I didn't notice you right away." Miko lied, trying her hardest to be casually reserved. Tomoyo was somewhat surprised by that reply, but shrugged it off. Miko was a pretty strange person, after all.
'Even compared to me,' thought Tomoyo with a smile, laughing inwardly.
At lunchtime Miko arranged it so that she sat between Tomoyo and Meiling. Rika, Chiharu, and Naoko were sitting nearby, chatting amongst themselves. Takashi was telling more ridiculous lies and Chiharu was getting overly excited again. This was normal. However, Naoko, who usually listened intently and bought everything he said, seemed distracted. She didn't seem hungry either.
Meiling opened a Tupperware, which contained some kind of Chinese buns. "I love making these. They're actually really easy once you get the hang of it." she said proudly, showing them to the people sitting around her.
"They're so kawaii!" giggled Sakura. "Aren't they? All poofy! Voosh!" she made a hand motion to emphasize the whooshy-ness. Tomoyo nodded in agreement, but did not dare to speak with her mouth full.
"Of course they are. Because the cutest person on earth made them!" exclaimed Miko loudly. Meiling started to choke.
Tomoyo quickly handed Meiling her bow of juice.
"Arigato, Tomoyo… Er… Well, you know Miko-chan, I made these especially for you." Said Meiling with a forced smile, pushing the buns towards Miko.
Miko beamed cheezily. "Really? Oh, why thank you Meiling, it's my favorite. You're so generous and caring."
"No problem. I mean, um… It's a pleasure. You know how I love seeing you smile."
Miko wrapped Meiling in a huge hug and accidentally knocked over the buns. "Oh shoot! All your hard work! I'm so sorry!" she cried. Meiling shrugged. "Er… it was nothing, at least I made you happy, even for a moment. I'll make you a twice as many buns tomorrow!"
"Oh Meiling!
"Oh Miko!"
Tomoyo brushed herself off and stood up. "I'm sorry, it looks like you two would like to be…left alone…" She and Sakura both got up and walked away. Miko and Meiling froze and watched them walk off in silence. Finally Meiling pushed Miko away and started to clean up the spilled buns.
"Oh great. Well, that worked just marvelously, didn't it. You know, I wasn't confident at first, but now I am absolutely CONVINCED this plan of yours will work, Miko." grumbled Meiling.
"Oh quit whining. We've hardly even started the first stage."
"'First Stage'?? What's that supposed to mean??"
Miko smirked. "We haven't even gotten caught doing anything yet. This is only the tip of the iceberg!"
Meiling got up. "You are a sick, sick person. I don't want anything to do with you, I don't know why I even agreed in the first place."
"It was a joke! Sit down, please?" pleaded Miko. Meiling sighed deeply and sat down again. "You better think of a new plan, Miko. This is NOT going to work."
The wind blew softly between the trees, carrying a sweet, flowery scent. Meiling looked across the field, where she saw Shaoran, walking on the stairs near the soccer goal and playing his recorder. After a while, he sensed he was being watched and pocketed the instrument. He searched the area until his eyes fell on her. Meiling smiled and waved, and he nodded his head slightly in response. Then the boy started walking alone again up the stairs, and into the shadow of a tree. He sat quietly underneath it, leaning against the trunk. Meiling noticed with a twinge of resentment that he was watching Sakura and Tomoyo again.
"He likes SAKURA, not YOU. Just accept it, ok?" said Miko, mimicking the same words Meiling had said to her earlier. "Everybody likes Sakura." grumbled the Chinese girl. "What does she have that I-…No, I'm not going to go there again. I don't want to keep acting jealous. But I just can't understand why…"
Miko shrugged. "Well, they complement each other. Opposites attract, as they say. Shaoran is quiet and reserved, while Sakura is a lot more of a people person...except with me. I think she hates me for some reason." she chuckled.
Meiling rolled her eyes. "In that case, Tomoyo should have been head over heels for you a LONG time ago. You two are total opposites." Miko laughed loudly. "Is that an insult? Well, I think Shaoran and Sakura make a way better couple than Tomoyo and Sakura would."
"No way! Sakura should be with Tomoyo!"
"You just want to have Shaoran to yourself!
"So?! You just want Tomoyo!"
"No I don't, you know you're my one true love Meiling!"
"Shut up! We're not playing that anymore!"
"But you're so beautiful! Whenever I close my eyes, I see only you …"
"You're such a freak, I swear!!"
"Hahahah! Thank you darling."