Prompt 29 - Lethargy / Exhaustion
It all started when Kyoko and her fellow LoveMe members arrived at the LME building. They had been informed the night before that their schedules for the next day were cleared and all were expected for a new LoveMe assignment first thing in the morning.
That night, Kyoko, Kanae, and Chiori all went to sleep wondering and a bit nervous to see what tomorrow held. Conversely, one Lory Takarada, was quite busy preparing the last artistic touches to his newest scheme, making phone calls late into the night.
Dawn broke with a wash of color filling the sky. Kyoko was already up and working to help prepare the restaurant for the day since she was no longer available to assist with the evening crowds. She chopped through mounds of vegetables and meats making sure it was beautiful and uniform. Swallowing down a quick breakfast at the Okami's insistence, she was soon hopping on her bike and pedaling down the street enjoying the early morning air.
Slipping into the building through the employee side entrance, Kyoko walked to the allotted LoveMe room. Finding a note tacked onto each member's locker, she opened up her paper with curiosity. In the middle of Kyoko's reading, Chiori arrived.
"Good morning," Chiori said blandly.
"Morning!" Kyoko said, chipper as usual.
"What is this?" Chiori asked, standing and focusing on the folded paper taped to the door of her locker.
"I am not sure yet, I was just reading mine," Kyoko hummed as she turned back to her own perusal of the pink paper in her hand.
The door opened and Kanae entered.
"Moko-san!" Kyoko squealed, running to hug her best friend. Putting her hand up to slow the inevitable onslaught of Kyoko's affection, Kanae managed to dodge the initial hugging attempt. Walking calmly to her personal locker, she frowned at the pink sheet, like it was a snake waiting to bite.
Plucking the paper and quickly scanning the contents she huffed and started changing.
"What did yours say Moko-san?" Kyoko asked as she put her paper away and changed into her own blindingly pink jumpsuit.
Chiori spoke up first, "My paper says I am to report to base three in the lobby." She put away her clothes in the locker and tied up her hair.
"I am to find base one, also in the lobby," Kyoko shared, sounding bemused.
"Well, I suggest we each find our respective bases and go from there?" Kanae offered as she turned towards the door. Following in Kanea's wake, the trio moved through the hallways of LME. The lobby was found to be divided up into three sections, large banners labeling each section for team one, two, or three, respectively.
Hesitantly, the girls separated, moving to the number specified on note they were given. Once they were well inside their sections, they each found notes and a table full of jumpsuits. In Kyoko's number one section the suits were all colored neon green, Chiori's were bright orange for section three, in the middle, Kanae's were a yellow that almost glowed.
Astounded and yet not completely surprised, they read the new set of notes. Each note was the same and went as follows:
Congratulations LoveMe members!
Today we have a special team building assignment for the entire building.
You each are now a team captain.
You have also been assigned a co-captain who will be along presently with the next step of your assignment..
The goal of this assignment is to improve relationships and learn how to work with anyone to achieve your aims.
Good Luck!
" Whatever this is. I will try to defeat you both," she said with an aloof manner.
Kyoko grinned, a competitive edge showing on her face. "Certainly, may the best win," she said, challenging Kanae and Chiori.
"I don't know you guys, do we really need…" Chiori began, her words faded off as three young men came towards the girls. It was hard to identify the men at first due to their being dressed in the same atrociously pink jumpsuit the girls were.
Kyoko, of course, was able to recognize Tsuraga Ren almost right away. He was the only one who actually, somehow, made the screaming pink look like it was an intentional style choice. Honestly, by some unknown laws of the fairy world, it was working for him.
Walking next to Ren was Hikaru, looking rather uncomfortable, and Kijima kept to the other side looking vastly amused.
While the girls gaped, dumbfounded that anyone else would be caught in the curse of the LoveMe pink. Ren came forward, graceful and poised as he always was, and waved a paper packet for them all to see.
"I was instructed to read this once we all gathered," his rich, smooth voice sounding unperturbed by the whole affair. Opening the cream colored envelope, he slid a pink piece of paper out. Unfolding it Ren read it out loud:
Wonderful! Now the games can begin!
The six of you will be three teams. Two captains per team.
Working together with your co-captain will be needed if you wish to win.
The teams are:
Kyoko - Kijima
Kanae - Ren
Chiori - Hikaru
Each pair needs to create a plan on how to recruit and build a team for the upcoming battle. There are enough jumpsuits for every employee to participate, though it is not necessary for them to do so.
Prizes will be available for team and individual accomplishments. If your team dislikes your leadership they may defect to another team.
Your battle is in two hours, 3:00pm in the ballroom. The premises will be locked until then.
Enjoy!
"What?" Chiori said, sounding completely lost." How does this even work? And what kind of battle are we talking about?!"
Kanae had ripped the paper from Ren's hand and was analyzing it for anything she might have missed.
"No, we don't get to know what "the battle" is about till our time is up, that is just lovely," Kanae snapped, frustrated at all the vague instructions.
Grinning, Kijima added a helpful tidbit,"The building is closed to the public today. Everyone who joins a team gets to have the day off, if they are tired or change their mind, they can go back to work. At least that is what the president told us."
Tapping her finger to her chin, Kyoko pursed her mouth thoughtfully. "So, people will be willing enough to join for the most part. That helps."
Ren, distracted by the way Kyoko was moving her lips, caught Kanae's notice. She narrowed her eyes, grabbed him by the arm and abruptly dragged him away from her friend towards their allotted base.
"I am not discussing anything more where you all can hear," Kanae called behind her, leaving the others to do as they pleased.
Speaking for the first time, Hikaru said, "I suppose we should separate and come up with our own strategies." He gave Kyoko and Hijima a nod, "Good luck!" then respectfully escorted Chiori to area three.
Kyoko felt her excitement grow at this chance to compete with her best friend. She was a little sad that she couldn't team up with Ren but Kijima was a friend too.
Each group huddled to discuss their options then together Hikaru and Chiori walked off in the direction of the talents department. Soon after that Ren and Kanae split up to opposite end of the building both moving with graceful gliding steps that covered ground quickly but seemed effortless. Hijime suggested that he try to recruit his friends who performed stunts in case physical capabilities were important later.
At Kyoko's agreement, he ran off. Kyoko's first job was to text everyone within the building that she knew, extending an offer to join her team. Next, she hurried to the building PA system and repeated her invitation to the entire building. She announced that anyone interested was to meet her in fifteen minutes at her base.
Not knowing if the announcement would gain her much help, Kyoko wasted no time heading for her next goal. Running up the stairs she passed Kanae who threw her a dirty look as she hurried by. Snickering to herself, Kyoko knew Kanae was upset that she didn't think of using the PA system first. Approaching the ornate doors to the president's office, she hurried inside before any other captains saw her.
President of LME, Lory Takarada's office was filled with acrobats and circus performers today. He was dressed as a ringmaster and seemed especially pleased with himself.
"Welcome! How can I help you today Captain Kyoko?" Lory cried, waving his arms with a flourish.
Kyoko held out a jumpsuit bundle she had carried up with her.
"I was hoping you would be willing to join my team President," Kyoko said sweetly, giving Lory the most winning smile she knew how.
Lory had a sparkle in his eye as he smiled widely. Pulling a yellow suit out of a nearby crevice, Lory asked, "Why should I choose yours over this one?"
"I would offer you a homemade meal of your choice of course," Kyoko negotiated quickly. She pulled out a second suit, "I was also hoping I could ask Sebastian to join and thought maybe you would prefer to be on the same team." She suggested, feeling quite pleased with her cunning.
Breaking out in loud laughter, Lory flopped back in his chair, "Well played, Kyoko. Well played."
Jerking his head to indicate where Sebastian hid in the shadows, Lory kept smiling as Sebastian came forward, " I have yet to decide which team I shall join. I am pleased you thought to ask. No one has asked Sebastian yet so go ahead."
Impassively, Sebastian took the green jumpsuit and gravely nodded his thanks without a word.
"You must hurry back now if you're going to make your fifteen minute deadline," Lory reminded, taking the green suit and setting it next to the yellow one.
With a squawk, Kyoko's small frame rushed out the door at a dead run.
Team recruitment continued with more and more bodies clad in eye wrenchingly bright jumpsuits running to and fro throughout the building. Every new recruit tried to think of someone to bring to the team with them. It became a chaotic race of everyone trying to build up the team that they chose.
By two thirty all willing participants had been recruited and the mass of people in the lobby was so large team two and three decided to relocate. They all wanted to have more privacy as they learned what skills were available and planned potential options to maximize their potential.
Halfway through recruiting Kanae and Ren had become an efficient team, Ren was originally sad he could not join forces with Kyoko, but after a couple of sly maneuvers to steal recruits from under his nose, his desire to win the battle rose sharply.
Chiori and Hikaru had seemed quiet and less aggressive at first, but no one counted on the social network Hikaru built and how charming Chiori could be when she felt like it. They attracted a lot of variety show performers especially, Chiori was rather pleasantly surprised how much the variety show people were invested in the contest. Then she realized that this was much like what they did each day and their job sounded a bit more… interesting, at least.
Ten minutes to three o'clock, each group filed towards the ballroom. Due to the size of each team, Lory arranged for everyone to wait in front separate entrances. Kyoko and Hijima's group was the largest, they had attracted a lot of the office workers and anyone who responded to the PA announcement.
Kanae and Ren's group were more strategically picked, a small group but most had a specific skill set that could help out in a potential battle and most were physically fit. Ren attracted women as usual and Kanae easily lured in the men without even trying.
Chiori and Hikaru were the middling sized group with a great amount of potential, especially due to the variety show folks. Mostly younger participants had joined their team.
Set up in a nearby camera room, Lory chuckled to himself at the serious faces everyone was making as they stood before the doors. Five minutes to three, Lory took over a special sound system to broadcast a last minute announcement.
"Good work everyone!" Lory's crackling voice came over the speakers, leading many to look around for the source of the noise. "In five minutes we will be opening these doors for your battle to begin. Please remember this is all in good fun, let's avoid people being hurt. The rules for winning are simple! The team with the most wins!"
With that, a clock struck three 'o clock and the door swung open allowing everyone to rush inside.
Inside the ballroom there were the sounds of shuffling feet then dead silence as shock swept through the crowd, then murmuring in growing volume and captains had to quiet their teams as they tried to understand what was going on.
The ballroom was loaded with tables groaning with treats.
Thousands of cookies of every shape and kind.
Trays of chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, molasses cookies. Macarons, oatmeal raisin, whoopie pies, fudge rounds, frosted vanilla and sugar cookies.
There were Lady locks, oatmeal cream pies, kolaczkis, pizzelles, stroopwaffles, chrusciki, thumbprint, drop cookies, no-bakes, linzer, biscotti, and shortbreads.
A giant banner reminded them of their purpose, "The team with the most wins"
Three "forts" had been constructed, seemingly from gingerbread, with a giant tub behind each. There were target boards on the walls, and tables for personal cookie decorating were set up.
Kyoko made the first move,she started with eating the first cookie she liked. That action freed everyone else to start taste testing their own favorites and at first it was a delightful buffet.
Soon enough, Kanae noticed Hikaru sneaking off with plates of cookies and dumping them inside the giant tub behind the allocated "base three" fort. Taking that as her cue, she pointed it out to Ren and they started swooping off with massive amounts of cookies to base two.
Kyoko's team started absconding with cookies without leadership or direction, their captains being distracted with other pursuits.
Hijima was enjoying target practice with the set up boards. He was fascinated by how differently each kind of cookie flew and was soon analyzing which made for the best ammo for speed and accuracy.
Kyoko was delightedly decorating works of art at the cookie table.
No one was quite sure who or where it started, but Hijima soon found lady locks and the wonderful whipped cream filling plastered on his face. His recent and short exploration into cookie ammo now stood him in good stead. He directed his teammates to steal the best throwing cookies and they retreated behind their fort.
Ren soon found a fudgy dessert smeared into his face after Kyoko's artwork had been accidentally disturbed by his attempt to hit Hikaru with a couple of chocolate chip mini frisbees.
He gladly started trying to catch her, chocolate ammo in hand. He wished to return the favor but she was adept at darting into places he could not fit. She returned fire with the jelly filled thumbprint cookies, leaving him quite a sticky mess.
Hikaru, now feeling much safer due to Ren's distraction, was covered in crumbs due to being pelted with shortbread cookies. Kanae was targeting Hijima and Hikaru forcing them both to take cover. Chiori led an attack on Kanae's group, the variety show folks were not afraid of getting dirty and they plowed forward to shield Hikaru and then retreat back to their fort.
Cacophony was everywhere now. People were smiling and laughing, attacking friend and foe. Food coated the floor and several young men took excellent advantage of the chance to save a lady from falling. A couple even got to dramatically slide underneath a young lady to cushion their fall.
Lory watched, pleased, quite certain a few budding romances would trace their roots back to today. Lory ended up not joining a team but wore his own pink LoveMe outfit that was still shockingly clean. The cleanliness was not meant to last though, literally and figuratively. Some unseen, amazingly accurate cookie thrower was quickly giving Lory a polka dot effect with a precision he admired. Lory only regretted he couldn't see Sebastian's face, perhaps Sebastian had even quirked a smile at this opportunity.
Team three led a raid to steal the cookie bin from team two, Kanae and her team led a strong defense but the walls of their fort were broken when Ren fell on them. He slid on an errant lady lock cookie while trying to catch Kyoko.
This worked in his favor when she anxiously stopped running to check and see if he was ok. He laid back on the broken gingerbread unmoving, watching her from under his eyelashes. She crept close, looking progressively more concerned, till he threw himself forward and caught her long enough to rub the nearest cookies into her face and hair.
Slowly, the participants in this battle wore out. Feeling exhausted from their incredible efforts, many chose to just flop down among the crumbs along the edges of the rooms. Once Lory was sure at least fifty percent of the large group were lethargic and crashing. Then he pulled a microphone from somewhere and speakers crackled back to life.
"I declare the battle over!" Lory called out dramatically, hopping up on a little stage that wasn't there earlier.
Distracted by the new noise, all remaining battles ended. Various people congratulated each other on a good fight.
"I have provided various prizes at the doors as you leave, there are prizes for everyone," Lory announced. "I also wish to award team prizes." Everyone gave hearty cheers when they heard that.
"As announced ahead of time, the winners are the team with the most," Lory said, "Would the captains come forward please?"
There was a round of giggles and laughter as the besmirched and food covered pairs worked their way to the front.
Kyoko and Ren both had chocolate smeared across their faces, Ren was sporting spots where the jam had smeared and crumbs adhered to the jam leaving him with crumbly spots.
Hijima and Hikaru had managed to get into an all out wrestling attempt and rolling across the floor had coated them liberally.
Chiori might be the cleanest if there was a way to have a cleanest, Kanae looked rather victorious but was sporting whipped cream throughout her hair that would take a while to wash out.
"The winners! Kyoko and Hijima had the most people!," Lory boomed. There was cheering from team one and some applause all around.
"Next! Kanae and Ren had the most strategy!" There was more applause as people started to figure out the game Lory had played. "And now! Team three had the most cookies!" Lory yelled, enjoying everyone's amusement at realizing there would not be a single winner.
Raising the microphone to his mouth again, Lory continued, " Collectively, you all mostly need showers!" Much laughter and joking echoed throughout the ballroom.
"We have set up a temporary showering station, to the right for the ladies, to the left for the men. Please group into groups of ten and you can all take turns." Lory finished announcing as he stepped down from his stage.
Some willing folks started shoving food into piles for preliminary cleaning as others grouped off to shower. More shouts of laughter rang out as they discovered the door gifts were shower kits filled with fancy toiletries and very nice yukatas for each person.
Kyoko managed to salvage a couple of her frosted cookies and personally gave one each to the president and another to Sebastian. While waiting for turns to shower, the hall was filled with people either waiting, hazy and lethargic, or others who were napping off their battle exhaustion for a few minutes.
As the group slowly shrank, Lory found a spot to sit and watch the success of his assignment. Many people were talking to new faces and seemed to have made friends across departments. He could see at least two couples shyly chatting against the wall. He recalled how Kyoko squealed as Ren caught her and how happy Ren had looked.
Yes, this was an unequivocal success. Well worth the cost of some thousand cookies. Thankfully, his favorite cookies were hidden safely at home to be enjoyed with less mess.