Chapter Summary: Eiji's a cat… Jirou's a teddy bear… and Kamio is Trowa Barton from Gundam Wing? A comedic interlude from all the light angst of late, as Fudoumine throws a costume party.
Chapter Notes: I always hated that scene in Hana Yori Dango where Tsukushi trips and falls right onto Domyougi's lips… that being said, I had to include it in this fic. Also, Kerrie-chan, thanks for pointing out my mistakes =) I kind of rushed through writing this chappie, it's nice to have some one point out errors.
Chapter Six
Fudoumine was having a mixer to raise funding for the student government association. They had invited all the junior high schools in the Tokyo Prefecture, so they were expected a large turnout. Fortunately, that meant Hyoutei was invited, so An would be able to go and see all her friends again. Unfortunately, that meant Hyoutei was invited, so An would have to see all those snobby students she hated there as well.
Still, after all the heavy things that had been happening to her lately, the dance would be a welcome respite. She wouldn't have to think about her problems at school, about Jirou, Yukimura, and Atobe. She could just have fun.
To make it even more fun, the mixer was a costume party. And who didn't like dressing in costumes? An had asked Momo to come with her, knowing the boy couldn't say no to her, and thinking she could trick him and Kamio into playing tennis again.
"What do you think we should dress as?" An asked Momo on the phone.
"I don't know... we should have a couples costume... like Romeo and Juliet, except not as cheesy." Momo smirked on his side of the phone. That would piss Kamio off.
"That's a good idea. We could be Mickey and Minnie Mouse." An knew Momo would hate the idea.
"Umm.... no."
An laughed. "Hold on, I have a call on the other line. Hello?"
"An?" Kamio's voice came through the other line, but it was more hesitant than normal.
"Hey, Kamio, sorry, but my brother's still in the hospital. You can reach him there." An hung up and switched to the other line. "Hey, Momo? What about Homer and Marge Simpson?"
"Where on earth are we going to find costumes like that? Any way, I'm not like Homer at all."
"Oh hold on, other line again. Hello?"
"Hi, An, um... I wasn't calling for your brother," Kamio said nervously.
"Oh? Do you need something?"
"Well, that is, I was wondering... you know, about the mixer dance thing, I wanted to know, if, maybe, you had a date already?"
"I'm going with Momo!" An stated happily. There was only silence at the other end of the line. "Hello? Kamio? Hello. Oh well, I guess he hung up. Hello, Momo?"
"Yo. So who was on the other line?"
"Kamio, but he hung up for some reason. He can be kind of odd sometimes."
Momo snickered.
"So, Momo, you could come up with some ideas too you know."
"Hey, I came up with the going as a couple idea! How about Gumby and Pokey?"
"Only if I'm Gumby."
"Hmm... that's a no then." Momo scratched his head. "Venus and Serena Williams."
"Yeah. I don't think so."
"That was obviously a joke." Momo was completely deadpan as he spoke.
"Obviously."
"You know, you haven't thought of an idea for awhile."
An heard a familiar beeping at the back of the phone, and let out an exasperated sigh. "It's the other line again. Look, I'll call you back, okay? It's probably Kamio."
"Sure. I'll talk to you later."
An hung up on her conversation with Momo and switched to her other line. "What do you want, Kamio?"
"Actually, this is Shinji, and I was wondering if you could help me with a costume for the mixer. Normally, I don't really like going to dances, but this is a special dance, because I've finally decided to do something about my situation, and I'm sure that An will help me since she's a really nice girl and, after all, I used to date her brother..."
An sighed as Shinji started mumbling to himself. She put him on speakerphone and went to make herself a snack.
A few days later An and Shinji were standing in her bathroom, putting the finishing touches on their costumes. An had to make a conscious effort to stifle her laughter as she fixed Shinji's hair. The blue haired boy just looked too cute. She then turned to look at herself in the mirror as Shinji looked through her make up.
"Don't worry," she said, adjusting her curly, blond wig, "you won't need to wear any."
Shinji let out a relieved sigh. "That's good to know."
An grabbed a particularly tacky bright red tube from her make up pile and smeared it on her lips. There, she was perfect. She looked down at her tight black shirt and pants and her red heels... this was going to be great.
"Who are you supposed to be?" asked Shinji.
An gasped. "Who am I supposed to be? You mean you don't know? I'm Sandy from Grease!"
"Grease?" Shinji blinked.
"Only the best movie of all time!" An rolled her eyes when Shinji didn't react at all. Maybe it was a girl thing... her and her girlfriends used to watch Grease at practically every slumber party they had.
"An!" called her mother from downstairs. "Momoshiro's here!"
"Please," came a very familiar, very loud voice, "call me Momo."
"Coming!" An gave herself one last look before grabbing Shinji and running downstairs. When they reached the living room An's mother couldn't help but grin.
"Shinji, you look precious!"
Momo just burst out laughing. "I can't believe you're dressed like that!"
Shinji crossed his arms across his chest. "Are we going or not?"
The three kids stepped out of their house and walked towards Fudoumine... the school was only a few blocks away so it wasn't that bad. An was satisfied to see that Momo had dressed the part of Danny very well... really, it made her want to break out into song. On their way they ran into Sakurai and Ishida.
"What are you supposed to be?" An asked cynically.
"I'm Kaidoh from Seigaku," said Ishida, who was dressed exactly how he dressed every day. "You know, he always wears a bandanna."
Ishida pointed to the bandanna that covered the top of his head.
"Umm..." said Momo, "you always wear a bandanna too."
"Ah, but mine is usually white. I'm wearing a green one today."
"What about you?" An asked Sakurai, who was also dressed exactly how he dressed every day. "What are you?"
"A high school student."
"And they dress like..."
"They dress exactly like junior high school students."
"I see."
Just then the two boys noticed their teammate standing behind An, and their mouths dropped.
"Shinji? What the hell are you wearing?"
Shinji's eyes narrowed. "I think it's obvious what I'm wearing. Why are they asking what I'm wearing when they can obviously see the answer for themselves, it's not like I have to state it for them..."
"Where are Uchimora and Mori?" An asked, as Shinji mumbled to himself in the background.
"Well," replied Ishida, "Mori didn't want to go, and Uchimora's snowman costume broke, so he's not coming either."
"Snowman?" Momo questioned, but no one answered him.
It wasn't long before the gang got to the dance, and Momo and An were tackled by a familiar figure.
"Nya!" It screamed. "You two are such a cute couple!"
An giggled at Eiji, who was dressed up as a cat... and a very sexy cat at that. What possessed the boy to wear a unitard and heels, An did not know. She always thought the Seigaku boys were kind of odd. They were very nice, and she really did like them all, but that didn't change the fact that they were odd. A vampire came up to them then, winking at Momo and An before glomping onto Eiji from behind.
"Nya! The big bad vampire's going to suck my blood!" screamed Eiji, with very bad acting, before he shot off. The vampire, who was obviously Oishi, ran after him. They ran towards Ryoma and Sakuno, who were standing awkwardly by the punch bowl. Sakuno was dressed as Juliet and somehow, some one had gotten Ryoma into a Romeo costume. The boy looked uncomfortable as anything with the stiff costume on and, as always, seemed oblivious to the shy girl trying to get his attention.
"Well..." An started, still staring at the hyperactive Eiji, "that was... interesting."
"Oh, please," joked Momo, "that's nothing compared to practice."
"Hello Momo, An. Don't you two look adorable? And Shinji, his costume is... interesting." Fuji stepped up beside them, his smile in place. He was dressed as a cactus, of all things. It was very odd to see Fuji covered in green felt and pipe cleaners. It was even odder imagining him making the costume.
"Hey, Fuji," Momo replied. "Any one else from Seigaku here?"
"You know how Tezuka and Kaidoh are. Antisocial as always. Inui's in the shadows somewhere collecting 'data'... he's dressed as a scientist, as unoriginal as he is. If you see a fish walking around, that should be Taka-san."
"A fish?" An inquired.
"It's a costume the restaurant uses for promotions," Fuji said. "He borrowed it."
An looked around. She didn't see a fish any where, but she did see a rather adorable bear sleeping on the bleachers. Only Jirou could pull of a cute bear costume like that without looking like an idiot. Kabaji was sitting next to him, wearing a jester's uniform. An also caught sight of Hiyoshi, which seemed odd, considering how hostile he seemed to other people, dressed up in a disco-era style afro and white suit. The afro probably would have looked better, though, if his bangs weren't sticking out from under it.
"My lovely senorita," came a deep voice, "may I have the pleasure of stealing you away for a dance?"
An turned around and laughed to see Shisido dressed in a Zorro uniform. Ootari was beside him, wearing a Spanish barmaid's dress. An had to admit he looked very pretty. They were both wearing long wigs... apparently, Shisido missed his lovely locks of old.
"Yo," said Momo, getting into his character, "she's my lady, so back off."
All four of them went speechless when they saw Oshitari walk by in full bondage gear.
Momo stuttered. "Are the chaperones... okay with that?"
Shisido shivered. "I did not need to see that.'
What was worse was when Mukahi then pranced by, dressed up as a ballerina. "Wait up, Oshitari!"
An and Momo excused themselves from the group so that they could look at more costumes. Akutsu Jin had turned up as a clown, proceeded to beat up the first guy who laughed at him, and had gotten thrown out by a chaperone. Dan Taichi had gone running after him, dressed up as a little blue fairy, although he was still wearing the green headband. Lucky Sengoku was dressed as a pimp, as were dozens of other people in the gym, including Yanagisawa from St. Rudolph's. Yanagisawa, however, had a fake cigar between his strange, protruding lips, and had taken the opportunity to wink at An and ask when they were going to have a date together. Mizuki was dressed as a pirate... a purple pirate with a penchant for roses... and seemed to be avoiding Fuji at all costs. Yuuta was dressed as an astronaut, and looked appropriately adorable.
"I always wanted to be an astronaut," he had explained when An had asked him. "At least I can dress like one."
Finally, the two had managed to find Kamio, who looked very upset at their matching costumes. Momo, needless to say, was very happy.
"Sandy and Danny? That's so cheesy."
"Aww," said An, "you don't like it?"
"No!" Kamio, who had directed the comment as an insult towards Momo, was madly trying to back track. "I mean... er... I like cheese."
"Oh. Okay."
Momo just laughed. "And what are you supposed to be?"
Kamio looked down at his very tight turtleneck and jeans. "You can't tell?"
"No."
"I'm Trowa Barton from Gundam Wing."
"Are you some kind of otaku? Gundam Wing... how dorky."
Kamio fumed, but couldn't think of a good comeback, so he let it slide.
Suddenly, An felt a tap on her shoulder, and turned around to see Jirou's face poking out of a bear costume.
"Do you want to dance?" He scratched the hood of his costume, which formed the bear's head, and yawned.
"Sure." Smiled An, and she left Momo and Kamio arguing in the background.
"So I heard you met Sanada and Yukimura," said Jirou, twirling her about on the dance floor.
"Yup."
"What'd you think of them?"
"Sanada's kind of creepy, but Yukimura's really nice." An put on the most innocent expression she could. "Is Yukimura your boyfriend?"
Unexpectedly, Jirou smiled. "He was. He broke up with me though."
Suddenly, An felt very sad, because she knew deep down Jirou must be sad as well. "You know he still likes you."
"I know." Another unexpected response from Jirou. "That's why I don't mind that we broke up."
"I don't understand."
"It makes Seichi happy to think I'm not worrying about him. So, until he gets better, I'll let him think that."
"Then when he's better you two can be together again."
Jirou smiled and nodded. "Bingo."
"I see." Now An didn't know quite how she felt. She thought maybe she was happy, but then she thought that she was sad, and at the end she just compromised and told herself she was a mixture of both. Jirou would be back with Yukimura... it was all for the best. That's what Jirou wanted, so... that should be what she wanted as well. The song ended, and Jirou let go of An's hand.
"Thanks for the dance," he said, "but I think I'm going to go home now. I'm kind of tired."
An nodded and waved to Jirou as he left. She turned and saw Atobe staring at her, dressed up as a king, but quickly turned away from him and walked off, in search of Momo. She found him talking to a cute girl near the bleachers, his cheeks a light tinge of pink as he stumbled over his words.
"Oh, the girl I came with? No, no, she's just a friend, we're not dating at all..."
So that was the girl in Momo's Japanese history class that he was always gushing about. She decided to leave them alone, and turned to see a green prickly hand waving at her. She ran over to Fuji.
"What's up?"
"Your mom just called my cell phone. There was an emergency at the hospital."
"What?" An's eyes widened, and Fuji didn't even have time to explain before she shot off running to the entrance.
An wasn't paying attention herself, however, as she ran, and soon she found herself tripping and flying through the air. She closed her eyes on instinct as she braced herself for the fall, surprised when she crashed into what appeared to be a body, and her lips pressed against... something soft? Something that felt suspiciously like another pair of lips.
An opened her eyes, completely shocked, only to look into the equally shocked eyes of Atobe Kiego. She pulled herself away, about to scream. Atobe had just taken her first kiss! And how the hell do you trip and fall onto a pair of lips any way? It just didn't make physical sense... for god sakes, Atobe was taller then she was... you can't trip and fall upwards. Atobe, in the time that these thoughts had run through An's head, had composed himself.
"I can understand why you would resort to such low tactics to kiss me," he said, loudly, so that every one could hear, "but really, An, you're just not my type."
The students nearby started laughing, the Hyoutei ones more so then the others, but An only had the time to yell one last "Jerk!" before running away.
Meanwhile, Kamio had witnessed the entire scene and was now a bright shade of red. Atobe had just kissed his An! He would have to deal with the bastard one of these days.
"That Atobe is such a jerk," came a monotonous voice to his side.
Kamio turned to see who had spoken and then looked away again. "Hey, Shinji."
Then he blinked, and turned back. "Shinji?"
He looked his best friend since kindergarten up and down. Shinji was wearing two barrettes in his hair... a girl's uniform top... a short skirt... and biker shorts. "Why are you dressed up as An?!"
Shinji shrugged. "I wanted to get you to notice me."
That statement almost overloaded Kamio's brain. "But... I'm not gay!"
Shinji snorted. "I saw how long you were holding Tachibana's hand before the ambulance guys took him away. You have to be gay."
Kamio sighed, mourning the fact that too many boys in Japan's junior high tennis circuit seemed to be either gay or bi.
Shinji, while Kamio had been contemplating this, had looked over Kamio's costume. "Should I have dressed up as Quatre Winner instead?"
In the shadows, a mad scientist watched the proceedings, light glinting from off his glasses.. He furiously scribbled in his notebook. "What interesting data I've collected tonight..."