The pair stood at the Clubhouse door, hesitating. Oxnard had wandered in, but Hamtaro and Bijou were unsure of what to do.
"I think this might be better coming from me alone, Hamtaro." Said Bijou thoughtfully. "It won't be too difficult to get a quiet word with him, and he's less likely to get angry if it comes from me."
"Yeah, I think so too." Replied Hamtaro, looking slightly relived. He forced on a smile. He knew Boss would not take any of this well, but he also knew that he wasn't likely to get angry at Bijou. The pair took a deep breath, and entered the clubhouse.
"Bonjour!" Said Bijou to the assembled hams.
"Hamha, guys!" Added Hamtaro. A chorus of greetings from the others came back to them.
"I'll talk to you later, Hamtaro," Whispered Bijou, "I'll try and get in a quiet word with Boss." She turned away and wandered over to where Sandy, Pashmina, and Penelope. Bijou sat down with them, and joined in whatever conversation they were having. Oxnard walked up alongside Hamtaro.
"So she's going to tell him soon, is she?" He inquired, quietly.
"Yeah." Replied Hamtaro, "Where is Boss anyway?"
"He's out back somewhere, said he was looking for some stuff." Answered Cappy. "No idea what though. Anyway, come on. Let's go sit down." The pair wandered off towards the crowd of gathered Ham-boys, sitting down on a couple of empty chair among the group. Conversation was, of course, focussed on the dance. Panda had signed up to help with the preparation for it, and currently had a lamp from the hall he was trying to fix.
"It actually looks like there's a bit missing," Said Panda in a slightly aggravated tone. At that point, Boss entered the room. He was smiling, a triumphant look on his face.
"Hey, Boss." Said Maxwell, looking up at him over a book. "Find what you were looking for?"
"Indeed I did!" He laughed. "But you won't see it until the Ball. Bit of a secret." He paused, noticing Bijou was slowly moving off from the group of ham-girls. He walked towards her, his movement becoming slightly stiff. He caught up with her, and the pair stood opposite each other in the middle of the clubhouse.
"Bijou," Boss began, "Can I have a quick word?" He asked, shaking slightly.
"Oui, Boss." Replied Bijou. "I also need to have a quick word." Boss turned around and walked over to a quiet corner of the clubhouse, smiling slightly. Bijou glanced over her shoulder at Hamtaro, who smiled at her. She smiled back, before sighing slightly and following Boss.
"She wants to talk to me!" Boss thought to himself. "Maybe she was planning to ask me to the Ball herself! But I have to be the one to ask, it's the manly thing to do." His confidence boosted, he turned round and waited for Bijou to catch up. When she did so, he opened his mouth to speak, and the conversation in the clubhouse became rather quieter, as each of the Hams tried to hear what was being said.
"Bijou," Boss began, "I have something I…" Bijou cut in.
"Please, Boss, don't." She said, looking at him. "I know what you're going to ask, but it's the reason I need to talk to you." Boss looked puzzled, not quite understanding what Bijou was talking about. She continued. "Boss, I cannot come with you to the Ball." The conversation in the clubhouse suddenly stopped, the tension rising. The sound of breaking glass suggested Panda had just dropped some rather important part of the lamp he was fixing. Bijou chose not to notice, instead ploughing on. "I already have a date for the Ball. Hamtaro asked me this morning. I'm so sorry, Boss." She looked away, unable to look at Boss anymore as his eyes began to water. "I thought you should know first." She added, realising it probably wouldn't make it any easier for him at all.
"Oh." He managed. "Oh. We…Well, never mind, then." He turned away, his back to the group. Shoulders shaking slightly, he made his way over to the back door. "Things to do…" He muttered, almost to himself. "Busy, busy…" And then he swung open the door and ran through it, slamming it behind himself. There was the sound of a key turning in the lock. Bijou shook, tears coming to her eyes. Hamtaro ran over to her, hugging her close.
"Oh dear," She sobbed, "He took that worse than I was expecting…" Hamtaro hugged her closer. He was equally worried. He'd expected Boss to be angry, to shout, or maybe even laugh if he thought she was joking. He most certainly had not expected Boss to totally break down. He was suddenly very aware of the total silence that had descended on the clubhouse. The others were stood watching in stunned silence. Hamtaro looked back to Bijou, as she sniffed.
"I'm sorry, Hamtaro, I shouldn't cry…" she wiped her eyes with her paw.
"Don't worry about it, Bijou." He took a deep breath. "Maybe we should get out of here, Boss probably won't want us around today." Bijou nodded silently. At this precise moment, Stan wandered in.
"Yah, sorry I'm late, guys. Noel was worried about the rain messing his hair up, or something. Still, it's clearing up a bit now. Bit of luck and we'll see the sun this afternoon." He stopped, suddenly aware that something was obviously wrong. "Look, just what have I missed exactly?" He asked.
……
A couple of hours later, and the Hams were sat back in the park again. The sun hadn't yet managed to burst through the clouds as Stan had predicted, but the raid had at least stopped - In the end they'd all felt too uncomfortable staying at the clubhouse with Boss in the back room. Hamtaro and Bijou had gone off for a walk; after received a flurry of 'congratulations' from the group.
"Well at least they finally got together." Said Sandy, trying to break the silence and make some conversation. Stan looked over.
"Maybe you could just say once more, I don't think we all quite got that," He retorted.
"Oh, come on, Stan, why not at least, like, try to be pleased for them?"
"Because thanks to them we're sat out on the damp grass instead of inside."
"Oh, Boss can't stay mad forever, can he?" Asked Dexter.
"Well, course he can, ya stupid Hamster!" Replied Howdy, taking the opportunity to get in a cheap vibe at Dexter.
"Now that was uncalled far, you annoying rodent!" Once again the pair broke out into a fight. Pashmina tried to ignore them, and attempted to stop herself from blushing. She turned her back on the pair and joined in the conversation.
"So you guys really don't think Boss will come round to this? Surely he'll just have to accept that Hamtaro and Bijou are in love?" Oxnard looked over at her.
"You think so? I think that hit Boss really hard. I'd expected him to be really mad, maybe even lash out. It just looked like his world collapsed in on him." There was another silence.
"Never managed to fix that lamp, either." Muttered Panda, still holding his screwdriver, and lightly tossing it between each hand. There was a pause, then Sandy started giggling.
"What are you laughing at?" Asked Pashmina, slowly finding herself fighting back laughter herself.
"I don't know!" Said Sandy, through tears of laughter. It wasn't long before the entire group were rolling around on the ground, laughing uncontrollably. Even Dexter and Howdy were finding it difficult to have an argument whilst laughing. Hamtaro and Bijou came walking up, hand in hand, smiling.
"See, you two are looking happier!" managed Oxnard.
"What's so funny?" Asked Hamtaro, starting to laugh himself.
"We don't know!" Answered Maxwell, rolling around.
"You are all so silly," said Bijou, laughing as well. A ray of sunlight pierced the cloud line, as Hamtaro and Bijou burst out laughing along with their friends.