Part Two, Sunday 6:30am
Surprise!!!
A shrill noise suddenly erupted inside Hanamichi's room. Hanamichi bolted out of bed like lightning and smashed the alarm clock with his fist.
"Stupid alarm clock," Hanamichi said groggily. He yawned and tried to remember why he turns the alarm clock early. "Of course, the team have a practice today."
He then drags himself out of bed and entered the bathroom. Without looking in the mirror, he took off his clothes and turn the shower full blast to fully wake him up.
A beautiful female voice can be heard singing the "ore wa tensai" song, her loud voice rung around the house. The singer is very oblivious that her voice is catching attention outside the house.
"I wonder who is singing," a neighbor of Sakuragi Hanamichi thought. Even though he never liked the song, he can't help listening to the voice. Other neighbors thought so too.
Inside, Hanamichi turned off the shower and grab a towel. He began rubbing himself dry when he noticed something different. He looked down and stared at a pair of globes that seem to be attached to his chest.
"Huh?" he cautiously placed his hands on top of his chest. "Where did this come from?" he instantly thought of the guntai making fun of him by placing a pair of fake breast on him. "Weird. These looked and felt real," he said thoughtfully.
Suddenly, his eyes widened when he remembered his wish last night, or more like early that morning. He looks between his legs and fainted.
After a few minutes...
"Uhhhh.." Hanamichi opened his eyes. "Where am I?"
He immediately rose from the bathroom floor when he remembered his predicament. He placed himself in front of his full-length mirror and stared at the new Hanamichi Sakuragi. A waist length red hair is crowning a beautiful flawless face with big brown eyes, a voluptuous body with rose-colored skin and legs that goes on forever.
"No... no..." Hanamichi shook his head in disbelief. "NO!!"
The neighbors outside were startled at the sudden scream. Many attempted to approach the house but remembered that Hanamichi Sakuragi lived there and that it wasn't safe to be within 5 feet radius of the short-tempered redhead. So they kept their distance.0
While inside, we can see a panicky girl walking around the bathroom.
"This can't be happening. This is just a nightmare. Yes, yes, this is just a nightmare," Hanamichi said. "I'm going to wake up soon and laugh at this silly dream." to further convince himself, he laughed hard. He glance again at the mirror and the laughter died. Tears of disbelief and regret gathered at his eyes. He blinked them away and in frustration he gave the bathroom wall a head butt. Surpringly, he saw spots around his eyes. In the midst of his pain, he was force to admit that his 'wish' has indeed been granted.
The he is now a she.
She knelt down and placed her face in her hands and tears fall freely from her eyes. "I should have believe that old machine," she cried.
After a few minutes of crying, Hanamichi stood up and stared at herself again. "What am I going to do?" she thought, tears gathered in her eyes again. But this time, she refused to allow self-pity to consume her.
"I'm Hanamichi Sakuragi, the tensai," she shouted at the mirror. "I can handle anything." the words gave the confused and troubled youth a sense of security.
Hanamichi, feeling a little better, nod to herself and left the bathroom. As she was dressing, she discovered that her clothes don't fit her. The pants are too wide for her small waist, the shirts are too big for her frame, well except on the chest part, and the underwear is definitely doesn't suit her. The only thing that Hanamichi is thankful for is that her height didn't change.
"Looks like I won't be wearing underwear for today," she decided. She took a very large shirt and a black jogging pants. "I'll go shopping today," she said as she put on her clothes.
After dressing, she searched around the room for her wallet. Finding the wallet proves to be very disappointing though coz there's no money inside the wallet.
"Don't panic, Hanamichi," Hanamichi reassured herself and taking deep breathes to calm her nerves. "We'll think of something."
Hanamichi sat on her bed and thought of how to get some money to buy new clothes for her. She brightened when she thought of her best friend Youhei. "All I have to do is tell him of my problem and he'll surely help me," she smiled at her thoughts. She left her room and went to the living room where the telephone is located. She dialed her friend's number excitedly.
"Hello?" a voice on the other line answered after a few rings.
"Oh, hello, Mito-san," Hanamichi greeted. "Good morning. May I speak with Youhei, please?"
"Okay. Please wait for a minute while I wake my son," Youhei's mother said. She was surprised that such a beautiful voice would call her son so early in the morning. "I wonder who that caller is," she thought as she walked towards her son's room.
Hanamichi twist the telephone cord and tap her foot impatiently. "What is taking him so long?" she thought.
"Hello?" a drowsy voice said to the phone.
"Youhei!" Hanamichi said excitedly. "Come to my house and I have something to asked of you."
Youhei was instantly alert upon hearing a beautiful female voice calling him. "Whoa, babe, don't be so fast. I don't even know your name," Youhei flirted with his best friend unknowingly. "Why don't we start from the beginning? What is your name? You have to tell me your name coz it wouldn't be fair that you know my name and that I don't know yours." Youhei even gave a little purr for effect.
Hanamichi's face burned with anger. "What the hell are you talking about, bakayaro?! I said come to my house coz I have something very important to tell you," she yelled at the phone.
Youhei winced as the loud volume hit his ears on full impact. "! She sounds like a very angry Hanamichi," he thought.
"Look! You called me in a very unearthly hour and you expect me to go to your house just like that? I don't even know your name, bitch!" Youhei yelled back angrily.
Vein's popped out of Hanamichi's forehead, while her knuckles turned white as she grips the handset. "Calm down, Hanamichi. You're talking to your best friend for 15 years, it wouldn't be pleasant to kill him now," she said to herself. She took deep breaths and count one to ten backwards. She also reasoned out that, since she is a female, her voice turned feminine, so Youhei couldn't recognize her.
"Okay. I'm sorry I yelled at you," she said calmly after a few minutes of silence. "Just go to Hanamichi's house and then we'll talk."
Youhei's eyebrow rose. "Why at Hanamichi's house? I thought that I should go to your house," Youhei couldn't help asking.
Hanamichi gritted her teeth to stop herself from screaming at Youhei. "Just go to Hanamichi's house. He needs you," Hanamichi's voice softened at the last sentence.
Youhei noticed the softened tone that the 'girl' used for the last sentence. "Hanamichi needs me?" he thought. He just shrugged and let the comment pass coz he doesn't believe them anyway. "Okay," Youhei agreed, smiling as he heard the relieved sighed in the other end.
"Okay. Bye." Hanamichi gave a little laugh to ease her tension then hang up.
"Bye." Youhei whispered at the dead line. After hanging up, he felt a sense of excitement. With lightened steps, he ran towards the bathroom and took a shower like he never did before. "I'm meeting a girl today" was his mantra as he scoured himself.
Knock. Knock. Knock...
Youhei was getting impatient. He has been knocking on Hanamichi's door for ten minutes now and still no Hanamichi opened the door.
"HANAMICHI!" he yelled at the top of his lungs and banged the door harder.
"!" he thought. "That baka is still probably asleep. Why does that girl want us to meet here? Why can't it be at the park? Or at the beach?" Youhei is getting a love-struck look on his face as he thought of the sexy voice that called him so early in the morning. He leans on the door as he daydream more of what the girl would look like. "She probably has long hair, sooty eyelashes, flawless skin, and endless long legs." Youhei is getting a nosebleed just imagining.
Because Youhei was daydreaming, he didn't notice that the door opened all of sudden. Youhei gave a loud yelp before he found himself on the floor.
"Ohhhh..." Youhei moaned. He had his eyes close upon impact on the floor so he didn't see an approaching girl.
"Are you okay, Youhei?" a female voice penetrated the painful fog that surrounds Youhei.
Youhei opened his eyes and stood up so fast that he saw spots. As his vision cleared, he gawked at the sight that beholds him. A goddess wearing a big 'ore wa tensai' shirt and black jogging pants is standing right in front of him. The clothes could have made a lesser female look dowdy, but as the cloth like second skin hugs the perky breast and broad hips, the clothes are like flimsy lingerie. The waist-length red hair only emphasizes the skin's unblemished texture.?1?
"Are you okay?" she asked for the second time. She took a step closer towards Youhei and peered at the blushing boy.
Youhei tried to decipher what the goddess in front of him is talking about. But when she stepped closer, he couldn't stop the nosebleed that he has been trying to hold at bay.
"What is wrong with you, Youhei?" The girl becomes irritated at Youhei. "I asked you to come here coz I need some money for shopping new clothes. I have been abruptly turned into a girl so my old clothes doesn't fit me anymore, even my shoes are too big," she explained. She took the box of tissue from a nearby table, gave it to Youhei and drags the confused boy into the sofa.
Youhei listened with difficulty. His thoughts are spinning toward not-so-very-innocent thoughts when he felt the beautiful girl's touch. But as the words sunk in....
"What do you mean 'abruptly turned into a girl'?" Youhei asked as he wipes the blood with a tissue that the girl had given him. They are now both seated and Youhei's thoughts are coming back to normal. He noticed that even though he never saw the girl before, he somehow felt that he had met her somewhere. He gave the girl another look and perceives the similarities that the girl had with his best friend. His eyes widened when he recognize his best friend in female form. "Hanamichi?" he croaked.
Hanamichi felt her tears falling from her eyes again as she experience a sense of relief that her best friend recognize her. "Youhei, please help me," she sobbed. "I woke up this morning and found out that I turned into a girl." Hanamichi took a throw pillow and cuddle it close for comfort.
"What happened?" Youhei was getting confused. He doesn't know how to console a crying female especially a crying Hanamichi.
"I made a wish last night. But it wasn't suppose to come true," Hanamichi cried harder when she remembered the warning that the ugly gypsy inside the wishing machine had given her.
Wanting to soothe the beautiful redhead, Youhei moved closer and gently hugged Hanamichi. "Where did you make that wish, Hanamichi?"
"I've gotten lost last night and I found myself alone in this very dirty room," Hanamichi started. "A wishing machine was there and it said that I can have a wish. I didn't believe that she could grant wishes so I said that I wanted to be the most beautiful lady. I wish now that I didn't made that stupid wish. Who would have thought that such a broken-down machine could really grant people's wishes?" Hanamichi took some tissue and blew hard.
"This happened last night? In the Fushigi carnival?" Youhei asked his voice is void of any emotion.
"Yes," Hanamichi answered. Her eyebrow rose when she noticed that Youhei have a far-away look on his face. "Why do you asked?"
One moment Youhei was all emotionless and distant, then he gave an impression of a man in a maniacal rage. "WHY DO I ASK? BAKA! DON'T YOU KNOW ABOUT THE STORY OF THE FUSHIGI CARNIVAL? DIDN'T YOU EVER WONDER WHY SUCH A VERY OLD CARNIVAL IS STILL BEING SWARMED BY THOUSANDS?!!"
Hanamichi sunk deeper into the sofa when Youhei stood up and started yelling at her. She actually felt fear for she knew how dangerous Youhei could be when provoked.
Youhei saw the scared look on Hanamichi's face and took deep breaths to calm him before he ends up killing her. He have been hoping and praying that he'll be the one to obtain that one wish, but it looks like Hanamichi have been the lucky one to be chosen.
"I'm sorry," Youhei said after a few minutes of silence. "I shouldn't blame you for being the chosen one to have a wish." Youhei sighed and sat down beside Hanamichi.
A long moment of silence issued inside the house.
"You really didn't know about the story of the Fushigi carnival, did you, Hanamichi?" Youhei asked in a very quiet tone.
Hanamichi nod. "I never heard of it, Youhei."
"Well, it's been rumored that every time the old carnival would come to a town, a person will have anything he wished. It also said that no wish is impossible, that anything can be changed in just a few words. Wise or unwise wish does not matter as long as the person making that wish is honest and innocent. I never thought of you as honest, Hanamichi. Innocent, yes, but never honest," Youhei said seriously.
Hanamichi looked at her friend curiously. "Were you hoping to get the wish, Youhei?" she asked.
Youhei nodded. He had a secret that his best friend didn't know, and he doesn't intend for Hanamichi to know. He felt guilty though for Hanamichi never hid anything from him since they were children. "I wish I have the guts to tell Hanamichi that I'm in love with..." Youhei's thoughts were interrupted.
"Youhei, are you hiding something from me?" a worried Hanamichi asked her friend. She had noticed that Youhei's eyes reflect sadness that Hanamichi had never seen before. "If you're in some kind of trouble, you know you can always count on." Hanamichi gave her best friend a big smile to reassure him of her undying friendship and support.
Youhei gazed at his best friend and can't help but smile back at her. "Male or female, you never seize to amaze me, Hanamichi," he said. "But I'm not in trouble. I just have this big secret..." Youhei clamped his hands to his mouth.
Hanamichi raise her eyebrow beautifully. "You never hid anything from me before. Come on, Youhei, spill it out! I promise I won't get mad at you," Hanamichi laughed, breaking the uncomfortable atmosphere that seems to consume the room.
"What makes you think you'll get mad if I told?" Youhei asked warily.
"Oh, it's just that you kept it from me. So it has to do with me. Right?" Hanamichi looked at her friend with a narrowed eyes, making Youhei squirmed in his seat.
"Eheheh..." Youhei gave a sheepish smile to the glaring tensai. He is beginning to sweat for he fears the wrath of Hanamichi Sakuragi.
Hanamichi moved closer to study his expression more. "You look guilty, Youhei," she stated the obvious. "You better spill it out or you'll be walking with a big lump on your head."
Youhei gulped and opened his mouth to lie but his conscience won't allow it. "This is Hanamichi," he thought. "He won't kill you, just dismember you and feed you to the fishes." he became more nervous as he thought of all the possible torture that Hanamichi will inflect on him if he ever found out.
Hanamichi knew that her friend is ready to explode with tension. She gave a wicked smile and moved closer.
Youhei detected the wicked smile and movement and tried to bolt out of the house as fast as he can. But unfortunately for him, Hanamichi is faster than he is. Hanamichi caught him on the neck before he can even reach the door.
"Let go, Hanamichi," Youhei yelp as Hanamichi's hold tightened. "! You're choking me!"
"Are you going to tell me? Or do I have to hold you hostage and torture till you can walk no more?" Hanamichi threatened.
The squirming boy stilled and turned around to face his tormentor. "What sort of torture do you have in mind?" Youhei's face is turning dreamy again.
Hanamichi knew what thoughts are running in her friend's mind and that fueled her anger.
'Hell has no fury compared to a woman scorned' as the saying goes, so Youhei has more lumps than Hanamichi has promised him a few minutes ago.
"Damn it, Youhei," Hanamichi growled. "I'm your best friend, not your fantasy girl." To hold her temper at bay, she walked around the living room with big strides.
Youhei rubbed his aching limbs while staring at the fuming redhead. He can't help smiling at the sight his friend is projecting. "She didn't even know that she looked like a goddess scolding a reckless peasant," he thought. He frowned as he thought of the strength that Hanamichi have shown. "Damn. I thought he'd lose some of his strength when he turned into a female, looks like I'm mistaken."
"Hana-chan, please sit down," Youhei said after Hanamichi had walked at least twenty times back and forth. "You're wearing down the carpet."
"DON'T CALL ME HANA!" Hanamichi yelled and glared at Youhei.
She took a seat beside Youhei though but she remained silent after taking the seat next to him. One can almost see fire emitting in every angle of her body.
Youhei knew that his friend is angry with him. He hated telling her, but lying is not an option. "She'll be able to see through it anyway," he sighed.
"Hanamichi, I'm in love with somebody," he said bravely.
Hanamichi jerked. "That's your secret?! And I thought it had something to do with my missing wristwatch, that you have stolen it." she laughed when Youhei gave her a long suffering look.
"I already have a wristwatch," Youhei said dejectedly. He's thinking if he should let it end that way but a part of him wanted to tell Hanamichi the truth. So he close his eyes, took a very deep breath and blurted out, "I'm in love with Haruko."
Hanamichi's laughter died. She stared at her best friend and opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out.
Youhei opened his eyes slowly when his best friend didn't start screaming bloody murder. His chest contracted painfully when he gazed at his best friend's expression. Anger, betrayal, and pain are clearly shown in her beautiful face. He would have gladly accepted a punch or a head-butt rather than the mental torture that Hanamichi is putting him through at that moment. This is the reason why he doesn't want Hanamichi to ever found out. He, or rather she, will feel betrayed and hurt for she trusted Youhei with everything, including the Haruko-thing.
"Hanamichi," Youhei swallowed the lump in his throat. "Gomen."
"How long, Youhei?" she asked in a very painful voice. Tears are gathering in the corners of her eyes and threatening to fall any moment now. She felt so betrayed that she couldn't even raise her voice to yell at Youhei. She has never thought that her best friend would fall for the same girl that he has fallen into. They always have different tastes when it comes to girls.
"I don't know, Hanamichi," Youhei answered honestly. "It started out as a friendship thing, then gradually develop into something deeper. I don't even know what I saw in her, Hanamichi. All I know is that I'm in love with her."
"How do you know its love? You've never been in love before, so how can you be sure?" Hanamichi asked in despair. Her tears now flow like rain in springtime.
Youhei made eye contact with Hanamichi. Hanamichi's breath is caught in her throat for Youhei's eyes revealed what words could never express. The emotions in those eyes dried up Hanamichi's tears. With pain in her heart, she forced a smile as a sign of acceptance of her best friend's honesty. She may never understand how the sensible Youhei would fall for a very dense girl, but she's willing to forego her feelings for Haruko for a more important person, Youhei.
When Hanamichi smiled, Youhei let out the breath that he didn't even realize that he is holding. He smiled. "Arigato, Hanamichi."
Hanamichi nodded. After a long silence, "So! Do you have some money I can borrow? I need to go shopping, you know?" Hanamichi said all of a sudden.
Youhei sweat dropped.