A/N: Hello again. I've noticed that I haven't been putting up disclaimers, so I think I'll do it now. But then again, who REALLY TRULY cares? Hmm, give me a chapter to think about it.
DayDreamer9 said it was kind of hard to imagine what Kura and Hirobi look like. Kura is basically in a tennis uniform and has long blue hair. Hirobi wears a black and white waitress uniform, has skates, and long black hair. That's basically it, I find I always have a hard time describing the angel and just make it confusing. Hope this clears it up.
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"I-." she began.
"Yes?" Aya, looking at Brooke with her sharp eyes. Brooke thought about it hard. Conan was right, she had just started and wouldn't be strong enough to beat her even if she could fly. But Brooke never back down from a challenge. Then again, if Kura got hurt and had damage to pay a lot of money for, her mom wouldn't be happy with her. She didn't have a clue as to what to do.
"Are we going to do it or not?" Kura asked from the layer. Brooke turned around and saw her sitting on the edge of the layer, sitting cross-legged, and waiting expectantly for her deus's answer.
"Um." She glanced back at her angel who was staring at her, smiling like nothing else. Brooke could tell from that look that she wanted to fight. And just last night hadn't she told herself how good she was going to be? How she was going to win every battle and be the best Angelic Layer Deus ever? How could she do that if she couldn't even accept one single battle? She took one last glance at Kura and made up her mind.
"I'll fight you." Brooke said confidently. Aya looked happy and began to walk away. Brooke watched as she made her way to the other side of the layer and sat down. Brooke watched nervously as she put on the headset and turned it on. Finally she placed her angel in the layer.
Aya's angel was like a mini dragon. She had a pale olive skin tone with a slight hint of green hidden in it. She was the same height as Hirobi, but slimmer. She was wearing a V-cut tube top that was tight and was made of a scaly material, much like a dragon's. Made of the same material, she had on knee shorts. Around her ankles were dragon skin ankle bracelets that were tight like the top. And around each ankle was three gold bracelets, the same around her wrists. She wore green gloves that had long talon on each of the knuckles.
In addition to that she also had a dragon's tail and ears. Under her bright green eyes she had triangles made from war paint. Her hair went below her ears and was a dark green, almost black. As hard as she looked she couldn't find the angel cord.
"Where's her angel cord?" Brooke asked out.
"Her name is Shizuko-chan, and her tail is her angel cord. It's a special order, see the gold tip at the end? That's the only difference from a real tail." Shizuko's tail swayed and Brooke saw the triangle a the end was indeed gold, like the ends of her angel cord.
"Now that you're done staring at my angel can we start?" Aya asked folding her arms impatiently.
"Oh, um sure." Brooke replied nervously. Kura stood up and turned around to face her opponent.
"Conan-kun!" She barked.
"Yes Ma'am." He said suddenly, his lips unlocking.
"Start the battle simulator."
"Right away." He bent over some and opened a hatch on the side of the layer. He pressed a few buttons and then closed the hatch back up. The ground shook as the layer changed. The white tabletop was now a flat grassy land area, and then half of it was water.
"Wow! I thought only the tournament layers changed." Aimee said amazed. Aya nodded.
"They do. But since daddy's the manager he got me this one as gift. Of course it's not as big, but it's just as good." Brooke stiffened up as she looked at the new layer. She thought it would be just a regular one, not a different one. She looked up and saw Aya looking at the layer also.
"Good, the randomizer picked the changing layer. This will make it much more fun." Conan gasped and shook his head.
"Changing layer? I'm guessing that's bad right?" Brooke said, leaning over so she could see Conan past her sister.
"For you anyway. Every couple minutes or so the layer will abruptly change into a different one. There's no telling what it could be so be on your guard. Just watch out for the sand-."
"Conan-kun! What did I say to you about talking? Don't say anything else or I'll tell Dad." Conan winced and kept his mouth tightly closed again. Brooke was beginning to not like this Aya at all. Maybe she was wrong about the feeling she had before. Maybe it was a cold feeling not a powerful one, or it could be both. She shuttered at the thought. Three buzzes went off and then a timer started.
"Angelic Fight!" A computerized voice rang out. Aya didn't waist anytime attacking. As soon as Kura took a few steps forward Shizuko, she was already right in front of her. Her arm pulled back and hit Kura right in the face. She went flying far, almost out of the layer. Kura's fingers desperately grasped the grass, but it ripped out of the roots in an instant. Brooke recovered Kura as fast she could, but Shizuko was charging again. Thinking of only one thing Kura flew up into the air, and as high as possible. Shizuko skidded to a stop and looked up at Kura.
"Can't get me now, can ya?" she yelled teasingly. Shizuko's face bent into an evil smile and laughed.
"That's what you think." She said. Her voice was low, dark, and was evilish sounding. Brooke wasn't liking this angel as much as her owner. Shizuko's eyes closed and suddenly huge green dragon wings sprouted out of her back. Kura's face went into a very shocked and worried one.
"Ooh, bad." She gasped. Shizuko rose into the air like a bullet. Kura flew as fast as she could away. She glanced over her shoulder to see how close Shizuko was. She didn't see her so she stopped, but continued looking over her shoulder just in case.
"Looking for me?" Shizuko said. Kura slowly turned her head and found Shizuko staring her right in the face.
"Aah!" Kura gritted as she barely avoided another one of Shizuko's punches. She flew under her in hopes of getting an attack, but to no avail. Shizuko swung her right leg down and kicked Kura right in the stomach. Kura went down, but caught herself almost a couple inches of the ground. She gripped her hand tight only to find she didn't have her racket.
"Where did it go?" She said in panic. She flew back up. Her head turned frantically in every direction, looking for it. She gripped her fists tightly and held them up to her face so she would be ready just in case Shizuko tried to attack.
"Looking for this?" Shizuko said, spontaneously appearing in front of her. She held it by the handle, moving it back and forth.
"Hey! Give it!" Kura yelled, making a mad and desperate grab for it. Shizuko groaned and grabbed her by the hair, she twirled around fast and finally released her. Kura tumbled through the air, when she stopped herself she rubbed her neck vigorously.
"You better not tell me what to do, or you'll get it a lot worse than that." She threatened. She dropped the racket and Kura went after it. She caught it a foot from the ground. She took a good grip on it and searched for Shizuko. She felt an instant pain in her head as Shizuko grabbed her hair
"Let me go!" Kura yelled out. She took Shizuko's arms and to Shizuko's surprise pulled her in front of her. Kura jammed her head with her elbow. Then by her arm she turned her around as she had done and sent her plummeting towards the ground. She landed with a loud thump on the ground and didn't move.
"Yes! That's very good!" Kura yelled happily. She laughed and flipped her racket.
"Yes. I suppose it would be if that was actually me." A voice said from behind her. Kura froze and in that second was sent into the chilly waters below her. Brooke gasped as her vision went from one of the whole layer to just Kura's. She could only see a sliver through her barely open eyes and the dense water. Kura was sinking slowly and could barely move. Her starts were lowering fast, and they only were getting lower. As hard as she tried, she couldn't get Kura to move like she had before. It was like being submerged in tar. Her fingers twitched as Brooke thought as hard as she could, but nothing helped, and Brooke was getting more anxious. If this kept up Kura would be down in no time. And she was almost down already, she had almost no power stats left and she was beginning to sink even faster.
"No way. What's wrong? Why can't she move!" Brooke cried out in desperation. She watched in horror as they power stats went from three, then two, one. Brooke winced and closed her eyes.
"Brooke! Look!" Aimee told her pale little sister. Brooke slowly opened her eyes, scared of what she would see. Her eyes grew wide as she found that the layer had changed and Kura was back on land again. She was sitting near the edge, and Brooke had a hard time seeing her. It was a desert terrain. A violent sandstorm was raging, and with its winds, it was surprising that Kura wasn't already knocked out of the layer. A shadow came through the sand and Kura tried to stand up but it was useless, and she was soaking wet. Her wings were drenched and were useless flopped down at Kura's sides. The shadow became Shizuko. Kura's eyes sparked anger, but not being able to move she couldn't do anything. Then to her surprise Shizuko went behind her and fiddled with her hair.
"What?" Brooke asked.
"I'm guessing that Shizuko-chan's clone messed with your angel cord while she was pulling on your angel's hair. It's my fault so I'm fixing it." Aya replied.
"Oh. Alright." The dragon angel tied the blue cord like it was before and Kura was able to move like before again.
"Although this won't change anything. To make up for my mistake I'll hide somewhere and stand still till you find me. I think that seems a lot better than just kicking you out here." Aya said, Shizuko suddenly disappearing into the sandstorm. Brooke didn't even have a chance to tell her not to go easy on her. But she did feel a little relief, with Kura's only one power stat.
She stood up, and for the first time, felt the full impact. It took everything just to keep Kura upright, and Shizuko walked like there was no wind at all. Maybe she should have waited before challenging someone as powerful as her, but it was way too late to change her mind. As best as she could, Kura shook her wings to get the water off. They were drying quickly with the wind helping, but grains of sand were slowly getting caught in the feathers and were weighing them down. Then without a plan Kura ran into the layer even more.
Once again the vision switched from the full layer to just Kura's vision. It was nearly impossible to see, and even harder to move. She thought she saw Shizuko a couple times, but when she went to see nothing was there. A slow minute went by before she was finally found. Kura came up to her and saw the angel standing stiff like a soldier, with her arms down at her side and her head bowed and eyes closed.
"Hello! I found you, you can move now!" Kura yelled over the roar of the storm. When Shizuko didn't respond she pushed her by the forehead, but still no movement was made. Kura pushed her again and she fell backwards. Then as soon as she hit the ground she disappeared.
"Another clone!" she yelled out. Before she knew what was happening the real Shizuko crept up on her and banged her in the head. The single power stat dropped and Kura fell over, the losing angel. The wind stopped and the layer changed back to normal. The computer voice rang out again.
"Battle over. Winner Angel Shizuko and Deus Aya Uotoni. Loser Angel Kura and Deus Brooke Miyoko."
"Does it have to say the losers name?" Brooke asked, annoyed.
"Yes." Aya said half-joking.
"Oh happy sugar cookies." Brooke replied dully. Kura robotically stood up and walked over to the edge of the layer near her owner, before closing her eyes and crumpling down again. Shizuko was already in Aya's hand, and then Aya walked over to the trio. Brooke took Kura out of the layer and set her down in her lap.
"Nice job for your first try. Don't get too down about losing. I've just been doing this for years." She reached out for Brooke's hand and Brooke shook it. She felt something slide into it. Brooke looked up at Aya, who winked back..
"Well, goodbye." She said, quickly leaving the room. Brooke waited till after the door was closed before she looked at the object in her hand. It was a card, sort of like a credit card, but it looked different. Conan caught sight of it and looked very surprised.
"That's a raw angel card!" He said suddenly.
"You mean that card thing we read about on the Internet? I thought we only got that after we won a local tournament." Brooke asked surprised.
"You're supposed to. And a raw card at that. You have to give it to Saki outside to get it modified to you and Kura's information. But they weird thing is why'd she give it to you. It has to be on a official Angelic Layer layer, under the presence of an official judge. Then you have to win, unless the judge sees something otherwise. How many does she have of those?" he asked.
"Well, this is a regulated Angelic Layer layer. That's one. We don't have an official judge and she didn't win, so why did she-?" suddenly Conan interrupted her.
"Wait a minute. I remember Aya-san got an official judge license a year ago. It should still be good. But the winning thing. Unless, something otherwise. She must have been thinking about how she messed up your cord. Bet she thought that if she hadn't have made that mistake it would have come out differently. That's all of them. So that's why she gave it to you. I don't think she counted it as a tournament, but I guess this saves you the trouble." He finished.
"Goodie for you Brooke. But that means I still have to compete in one." Aimee said, her voice full of jealousy.
"Nope." Brooke said. She smiled and moved something from underneath her card. It was another angel card! This one was pink.
"I love that girl." Aimee said, taking the card and smiling.
Conan's watch beeped.
"You're time is up." He told them. He pushed his chair back and stood up.
"Wait. What do I do with Kura?" Conan reached out his hands.
"Give her to me." Brooke watched as he took Kura to a station in the corner. He put her in another scanner and pressed a few buttons. He waited a minute before taking her out and coming back. He finally handed her to Brooke.
"There you go. Now she's back to perfect." Conan told her. He walked back through the hallway with them and left them at the door.
"Don't forget to give your cards to Saki-chan. I'll see you around." He gave them a smile and a waved and then closed the door as they stepped out. The two took their cards back to Saki.
"Um, here. We got these?" Brooke said slowly, asking "What do we do with them?"
"So Aya-chan gave these out again? That girl has a generous heart." She took the two cards and got the girl's address. "These will be back to you in about three days. You know about the points and all?" she asked.
"Yeah, we know. Thanks." Aimee said, handing her the key Brooke had forgotten all about. She walked towards the door, but Aimee stopped her.
"Hang on. Watching you today I've decided to get some wings. I have some money left over." Brooke waited out of the way for a minute while she watched her sister go through the wings and then pay for them. They were wings, slightly smaller than Kura's. They also had the wings tipped black, instead of full white, and the feathers weren't as fluffy.
"Perfect." Brooke said, holding the door open. They piled back into the car, Brooke holding Hirobi while Aimee drove. She watched the scenery pass like she did so many months ago back in England. She would see if any of her friends were the Internet so she could talk to them. Or maybe just e-mail them at least.
They turned onto their road and went up, weaving back and forth on the curvy parts. Aimee pulled into their driveway. Brooke gave Hirobi back to Aimee and ran up to the door. She normally opened up the door, and almost ended up knocking into a worker.
"Sah, sor-." She tried to say.
"Watch it! You snot-nose kids are getting worse every year. I just can't believe it." Brooke couldn't believehow rude this man was. She wanted more than anything to kick him as hard as she could, but her mom was close by.
"Oh yeah, well I can't believe how stupid and rude fat adults are to innocent people who just opened a door!" She said angrily in English so the man wouldn't understand her.
"Can't even speak right. Stupid kids. What is it, some kind of top secret code?" he said, teasing her.
"It's English!" Brooke said defensively, in Japanese this time.
"She can talk! And English? Is that right Guv'ner? Isn't it tea-time?" he said, laughing in her face. Brooke was furious, her arm was pulled back, ready to hurt this man. But what stopped her was a hand placed on her shoulder. She looked up to see her dad, his face slightly mad also.
"What do you think you're doing? Get back to work before you don't work at all, in this house or country." he said angrily. The man glared at Brooke's dad and stepped backwards before turning away and disappearing into another room.
"Sorry about that. You alright Brooke?" he asked, his tone softer.
"Yeah I'm fine. But I wanted to, and still want, to hurt him bad." She said, looking at the point where he had vanished.
"So do I." Aimee said from behind her dad. " I was just about to step in when dad came home. What's his problem anyway?" The three of them stepped into the house, where Brooke saw a few other worker men scattered around the house.
"Not sure. But he's probably had a bad life to make him so rude like that." Mr. Miyoko said, taking off his shoes, the girls following his lead.
"He's a bad egg." Brooke said after their dad had gone to talk to their mom.
"I'm sure that's true to some extent." Aimee agreed. "Want to go see what's going on with our rooms?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Sure." Brooke said, happier. They ran up the stairs where they found Cobey waiting by his door. Once he saw them he smiled.
"Brooke!" he said running up to her.
"Hi Cobey."
"C'mon Cobey. Let's go inside and see my new room.
"New Room! New Room! New Room!" Cobey squealed as he followed Brooke into her room. She took the handle and slowly turned it. She gently pushed the door open and was amazed at what she saw. Her carpet had already been installed and her walls painted. She stood outside for a second before stepping in. As soon as she felt the carpet underneath her feet, she fell in love with it. It had the softness of a favorite blanket, baby chick's fur, a teddy bear, or anything else soft and fuzzy.
The room was painted a sky blue and a dark blue. The top half was the lighter blue, and the bottom darker blue. The bottom half was swirled and decorated like an ocean. She walked in a little further and found her old pink and white desk replaced with a light solid oak desk. She quickly turned her head and saw her bed had a new heading made out of the same oak. Her wood closet was painted white with different shades of blue, and black paint around the perimeter. Other than that her room was mostly the same, her blue curtains were still up and her drawings were placed neatly on top of her desk.
Aimee came over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Pretty good. Want to go check mine out now?" she asked.
"Sure. I don't see why not Artie."
"What!"
"Nothing."
"Don't call me that."
"Right." Brooke agreed.
"I mean it!"
"I agree with you." Brooke said defensively.
"I'm just messing with you." Aimee said laughing.
"You're one of the cruelest people I know. You hog the bathroom, never knock before coming in, leave me with all the dishes, forget to pick me up from school, accidentally lost that necklace I lent you, and of all things-." she stopped suddenly
as she spied the rude man at the bottom of the staircase carrying a box. His head turned to face her, his eyes grew angry. Brooke stuck her tongue out at him, he stuck his out back.
"Come on you wonderful little sister." Aimee said, grabbing Brooke by the elbow. She pulled her into her room. Like Brooke's the carpet and wall had already been painted. The wall was painted a light green, with tiny hints of darker green here and there. The pink blossom header Aimee had chosen was perfectly applied also. The floor also had a carpet identical to Brooke's except it was pink. Aimee's bed had two packages on it. The girls went over to inspect it. Aimee picked up the one addressed to her and opened it.
It contained a small box of slightly stale doughnuts along with some letters and another wrapped present. The letter's contained notes from friends and some of the work staff from Aimee's old job. One had a picture of the staff in it and then her last paycheck.. The final letter read:
Dear Aimee,
We hope you enjoy the treats we sent along, sorry if they are a little stale. Flying doughnuts from England to Japan is a long time for them to be out. Everyone here misses you and it's hard not to have our best worker around anymore. Melissa talked to one of your friends and we all chipped in a bought a present for you. Hope you like it,
Manager Thompson
Aimee unwrapped the present. It was a necklace with a koala, Aimee's favorite animal, sitting in the middle of a doughnut eating ice cream. On the back of the doughnut it read "Customized Jewelry © all rights reserved"
"It's hilarious." Aimee said, putting it on. She sighed a long one before looking at the letters then at Brooke.
"Go ahead and open yours now." So Brooke did. It was smaller than Aimee's and didn't have a wrapped present, but a teddy bear wearing a camouflage dress, along with matching hat and purse.
"It's adorable, Kitty must've picked it out. The girl loves Camo." She then picked up a long letter and read it.
Hey Brooke,
Just wanted to let you know we all miss you and can't wait to see you when you visit. Nothing much has happened since you left, except Rita finally told Mitch she liked him and then they started to go out. To bad your missing it she says. By gosh this letter sounds dumb. If you ever feel down look at this list of all the people who miss you
Becky "Money" McDomino
Kitty Arnold
Umi Chu
Rita Donaldson
Aliah Ferguson
Sarah Paradise
Mrs. Donaldson
Mrs. Parker
Mitch Bulzan (Rita's boyfriend Ha Ha!)
Jeesh why am I going on like this?
I can't stop writing or I have to do dishes
Let me think of more people
Umi C- no wait she's number 3
What about Nikki Kovasik
Yeah! There's someone else
Um who else? Urrgh I hate dishes
Dang…………………………. Bob Smith
No seriously, he was in English member
Course you do
Hey I just realized I spelled Money instead of Monkey in my name
Go figure, and I get an A in spelling
Concentrate Becky, who else?
Umi C- NOOO
She's number 3and 13, now number 23 and 24
When did she get so popular?
If you've read this far I congratulate you
Please wait the next few numbers while I think
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………………..hi………….
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……..no really……hi……….
………………………………
……………………………OH!
Alexa Pierson!
Oh yeah go Becky,
You thought without hurting yourself!
Too much
Back to the task
……………..more dots…………….
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…..Me, on no wait……………..
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…………. …
Eva Heintz!
Daniel Sony
Taylor-O
Ya know her, C'mon
Taylor Obranavich, from S.S.
S.S means Social Studies in case you didn't know.
I think I'm a nut case
Don't you agree
I think it's safe to stop now
All the dishes are done
If read all this way send something back
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Enjoy the bear!
"My gosh Becky." Brooke laughed.
"How long was her list this time? 36 or 42?"
"67."
"Wow that's a new record."
"That girl kills me." Brooke put down the letter and then put all of her stuff in a pile. She picked it up and began to leave. She stopped before she reached the door.
"Hey Aimee?"
"Hmm?"
"While you were getting wings I picked up a pamphlet for some local matches this week. Do you want to go? There'll be extra layers to practice on and I- WE can find some easier people to battle."
"You need a ride don't you?"
"Yeah."
"Guess I don't have a choice then. Sure I'll take you. When's it at?"
"Three days from now and its on Fox Rain Street. I think it's the one the school is on. I believe it's on the lawn."
"Okay. We'll go when our angel cards come in."
"Cool! And if we want I guess we could also go back to practice before. That way we have a better chance to win."
"OUT Brooke."
"Seriously we could practice more."
"I'm not your chauffeur. OUT."
"Right." Brooke said before shutting the door behind her as she left Aimee's room. After putting her things on her bed she went back downstairs to find all of the worker's gone.
"We can handle the rest, just a couple more boxes to unpack. Those paints near your closet Brooke? You can decorate it yourself. And also because of the new paint you and Aimee have to sleep in the living room for a day or two till the smell and toxins clear out." Her mom explained. She then gave Brooke an apple and pushed her out of the kitchen.
"Go take a bath or a shower before you help me." Brooke didn't argue, but left and quickly devoured the apple. She realized she hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch, she and Aimee were in too much of a hurry to get to Piffle Princess. She climbed the stairs once more and entered her room. Brooke came in just in time to see Cobey opening a jar of paint next to her closet. Brooke dropped the apple core as she rushed over and snatched the paint out of Cobey's hands. She had totally forgotten he was still in her when she had left with Aimee.
"Don't touch." Brooke said sternly to him.
"Ai." Brooke assumed her was trying to say "Hai." Pretty good for a two- year-old. As she put the lid back on the paint and threw away the apple core she noticed a bunch of papers from her desk were thrown all over the ground.
"Cobey, did you do that."
"Goin-sai, Gimen-si, um no. Sorry?" he told her, mumbling over his words.
"It's okay." Brooke sighed. She picked up the papers and put them back n her desk.
"Okay Cobey, go play in your room." She told her little brother who had now walked over to her.
"It smells unny."
"They painted your room too? Then go play with Aimee."
"Locked." Maple suddenly bounded in the room, returning from her walk with Brooke's dad. She spotted Brooke and bounded over, jumping on her and knocking her over. It hurt with a long fall and a heavy dog on top of you. Maple was licking her face and gave Brooke a full breath of dog breath.
"UGH! Maple get OFF!" she pushed the large dog off of her. Maple backed off and Brooke pushed herself up. Strands of her hair were flying everywhere, her shirt was a bit muddy, and her face was covered in dog slobber. She loved Maple and Cobey but they needed to go. She grabbed Maple by the collar and Cobey by the hand. She led them out of her room and the locked the door behind them. She slid down the door and groaned.
"Brooke! Brooke! Brooke!" Cobey cried from outside the door. Brooke hung her head in frustration and annoyance. Luckily her dad came and took them both away. With the stress gone Brooke stood up and went into her bathroom. She ran the water nice and hot, she had to turn on the fan to keep the mirror from steaming. As she relaxed in the hot water she sat Kura down on the dry shelf of the tub. The first things she did was wash the dog slobber of her face. Brooke relaxed in the water for a long time before finally washing her hair and getting out. After drying herself off she put on a pair of clean clothes she had brought in with her. Finally she blow-dried her hair and put it in a ponytail.
Trudging back down the stairs she went into the kitchen to help her mom make an afternoon snack. Some Japanese rice balls and some of the Miyoko family's strawberry tarts. As Brooke put the whip cream on top of strawberries and then finished it off with a dash of cinnamon her mouth began to water. One apple wasn't exactly a three-course meal. When her mom finished putting the seaweed on the rice balls they took it out to the living room. Brooke's dad was entertaining Cobey and Maple was lying by his feet, taking a nap.
"Brooke get your sister will ya?" her mom asked.
"Kay." Brooke replied. When she got to Aimee's room she found the door was still locked.
"Aimee! We're having our snack downstairs. Rice balls and our strawberry tart!" Brooke told her through the door.
"Sleeping." A tiny reply came from inside.
"Alright then." Brooke replied softer this time. She went back downstairs and flopped onto the couch.
"Aimee's sleeping." She told her parent's.
"Well. It has been a tiring past couple of days. I feel tired myself, but I have to get back to work soon." Her dad said. He was watching Cobey carefully while he ate the rice ball. Cobey tended to make a big mess while eating.
"You have a crazy work schedule." Brooke told him.
"Just for a while. I still have to get settled in and get everything running smoothly." He took a long drink from his coffee and then stood up.
"I should actually be getting ready now." he then left.
"Oh yes Brooke. Your new school called and wants you and Aimee to do a fitting for your uniform. After that can you watch Cobey at the park while I take Aimee to look for another job?"
"Do I have to?"
"It would make life so much easier. Please?"
"Fine. How long?"
"Two hours."
"Two?"
"I'll pay you."
"Whatever. Anyway, do you know what the uniform looks like?"
"Nope."
"Uniforms, ugh." The conversation was cut short by Cobey putting his last rice ball on top of Maple's head.
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The car pulled up in front of the school and Brooke was able to see it for the first time. The middle school and high school were right next to each other. Behind the schools were the track and football field, along with a soccer and baseball field.
"The women said to meet in the principal's office in the High School. Room 351." The group walked inside the large building and found the principal's office using the signs. Through the small window Brooke could see three people inside. Two women and a man. Brooke's mom knocked and then they walked in. The three people stopped talking and one of them stood up.
"Pleasure to meet you. You must be Mrs. Miyoko. And this must be Aimee-chan." She said pointing to her, "and this one Brooke-chan." She pointed to her. She spotted Cobey.
"Who's this?" she asked.
"This is my son. Cobey, he's two." Mrs. Miyoko explained. The women shook her hand.
"I'm the principal of the High School. Mr. Hiroyuda behind me is the principal of the middle school. Mrs. Uotoni will fit you two into your uniforms. Oh! And I'm Ms. Shiroade." She then pushed them into a side room with a bunch of different clothes. Mrs. Uotoni followed them. Brooke thought she seemed to be pushy, but really cheerful.
"Hi there. The High school's colors are blue, light blue, and silver."
"Your favorite colors Brooke."
"Really? That's good then." Mrs. Uotoni said.
"The school mascot is the Artic Fox." She held up some clothes, " and this is the uniform." She showed it quickly and then set it down. She studied Aimee for a second and then handed her the uniform from a large stack of them. There was a little bathroom connected so Aimee went in there to change. When she came back out Mrs. Uotoni applauded. The uniform consisted of: a white school shirt, a light blue sweater with the fox on the right chest, a blue tie, blue knee-length pleated skirt, white socks that reached the middle of Aimee's calves, and black school-girl shoes..
"How's the fit?" Mrs. Uotoni asked.
"The skirt's a little big."
"Next size down then?" she handed Aimee a different skirt and she changed again. It fit perfectly. Mrs. Uotoni wrote down the numbers and gave Aimee her clothes back. While Aimee changed once more Mrs. Uotoni got a couple more uniforms and gave them to Aimee when she came back out. She put them in a bag for her and then it was Brooke's turn. Mrs. Uotoni handed her a pair of the uniform and Brooke entered the bathroom. She changed quickly and found the uniform to be a perfect, and cute, fit. She picked up her clothes and left the bathroom. Aimee smiled and Mrs. Uotoni clapped again.
"The fit?"
"Perfect." Brooke went back to change and when she came out Mrs. Uotoni had some uniforms in a bag and put the one in her arms in there also.
"In your bags I've also put some optional hair ribbons and headbands, along with a choker. In case you ever get your hair cut short the headband is then required. I think that's all." She led them back outside where their mom was waiting for them.
"All set?" Their mom asked. The girl's nodded and then they got their schedules and student passes.
"Your picture will be added later when your school pictures are taken." Mrs. Shiroade told them. They thanked her and then left. Brooke's mom dropped them off at the closest park near their house and then left with Aimee.
Brooke led Cobey over to the sandbox and sat on a nearby bench while he played. She sat her bag next to her and took Kura out. She had brought some sewing things with her and was making different suits for her. Not suits she would use it battle, clothes she would wear while she was out of the layer. Like a snowsuit for the winter, a bathing suit, a formal dress, casual clothes, along with holiday clothes. Brooke had already finished some casual clothes for Kura this morning. It was a pair of green capris with a white t-shirt and a brown crop jacket. She had a pair of brown sandals to wear and her hair would be left down. Kura was wearing it now and sitting between the bag and Brooke.
Brooke was now working on a Halloween costume. This year she would have Kura wear a witch costume. She had most of the robe done, she just had to finish sewing on the sleeves. It barely took her ten minutes. The robe was simple, just plain black so far. Then Brooke decided to decorate it. She took some gold and began to stitch designs on the robe. An hour ticked by before she was done. With the gold she had created different sizes of gold stars along the trimming of the robes. Between each star was a dotted gold trail.
She took a black dress she had taken off from her old doll, and sized it up against Kura. It was a simple black dress that was tight around the stomach, but loose around all other parts. Brooke changed Kura into it and tied a gold sash around her stomach, perfect. The black slippers she had bought was the second to last thing she had to do. She created some more stars and their trails around the opening of the shoe. It ate another hour and a half up.
Brooke's back began to hurt and wondered how long she would have to stay here. Cobey was now playing with some other kids on a slide. As she put the shoes on she saw a shadow cover her. She wondered if it was her mom. Brooke turned around. It was Aya Uotoni.
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A/N: Wow………….that chapter was longer than my last one and I didn't even notice it. I just found that out and cut the chapter short. I was going to have a whole part with Brooke and Aya talking, but that will be the first thing to happen next chapter.
Two chapters in two days. The length is the reason it took so long to update. Add that with illness, family injuries, computer problems, and a vacation to Pittsburgh to visit my step dad's family. Then we have started to prepare for High School. I'm glad I'm finally getting out of Eighth grade and Middle School. Although I will miss my awesome Social Studies teacher, Mr. Heintz. He is the best, he's related to the guy who played the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz, and from someone who came off the Mayflower. He's rich also, or so he says. He's the best nutcase of a teacher. Anyway enough rambling about my omnipotent(ha, he wishes) Social Studies teacher.
And when you read Cobey's talk if you find letters missing, that's supposed to happen. It's how he talks, for some people who noticed that and were confused in anyway. That's all I have to say. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and I hope to see what you say in your reviews.