Another night passed and the following morning brought a surprise.
It was still dark and chilly outside,and one by one the streetlamps,neon signs and the like went out as the stars faded. Within minutes the sun rose above Mt Fuji,the way it had always done.
Ami,Yushi and Gojei were still asleep. So was Joko. It was Sunday,his day off from work at the hotel. Akasei was awake,however. She knew that the Oh-gals would not be awake for another hour or so,so this was a perfect chance to make a quick visit to the store and surprise Ami.
Ami was the first of the three to wake up. At first she (wisely) decided to just lay in bed awake and wait for her sisters to wake up,but that certainly wasn't very entertaining,so she quietly climbed on top of Yushi's bed and shook her a little. It worked;Yushi woke up.
''Oooghh...what,Ami?'' Yushi said sleepily.
''Wake up,Yushi,wake up!'' Ami said cheerfully,bouncing on the bed just a little. All the commotion woke Gojei up as well. Soon afterwards,the three of them headed downstairs.
Neither Joko nor Akasei were anywhere to be seen. Ami,thinking Akasei had thoughtlessly left them to fend for themselves,she became quite worried and darted about the livingroom calling for her in that most pathetic way.
But when the three of them went into the kitchen Ami was in for a great surprise. On the table there were those oh-so-wonderful Chewy Rice Cakes stacked up on a plate,with a note that said, ''To Ami-chan,love Mommy.''
Before Ami could do or say anything else,Akasei entered the kitchen. ''Well,there,'' She said to Ami, ''I told you I'd get you some of those.''
Ami ran up to Akasei and hugged her warmly. ''Thank you Mommy!'' She said,giving Akasei a kiss as well.
Her mind was entirely on those rice cakes,however. She got to work on devouring those things almost immediately after hugging Akasei. She was understandably very hungry,and within minutes the cakes were no more.
Yushi and Gojei were a bit unhappy about this,though,as they wanted to try one of those things,too. Akasei decided that,to be fair,she would give some to her other two daughters as well. She got out the sack from the grocery store and got out one cake for each of them. Like Ami,they also loved those things,though not quite as much as their sugar-loving sister. Anyway,all three were satisfied for the moment and,with Akasei's assistance,got on their normal clothes and began to play the way they usually did on days like this one.
A pink-haired caveman (make that cavewoman) was strolling through the jungle with a little dinosaur on a leash.
The two of them started digging around in the tree trunks and bushes,looking for something. Suddenly the dinosaur spotted something in one of the tree trunks and started barking excitedly.
''Ooga booga?'' The cavewoman asked.
The dinosaur kept barking and pointing to the tree trunk,then,without warning a Chewy Rice Cake fell out. Just what a Chewy Rice Cake was doing in prehistoric times,I don't know...oh well.
''Ooga booga!'' The cavewoman grabbed the cake and the dinosaur's leash,then happily walked off.
But just then...
''And just where do you think you're going,Ami-chan?''
Ami sighed,tapped her forehead,and turned around. She had taken a rice cake out of the cuboard and had a plush dinosaur tied to a string. She had been playing pretend as usual.
Akasei took the rice cake from Ami and put it away. ''You've had enough of those for now,'' She said.
Ami angrily went back into the livingroom and threw her dinosaur,almost hitting Yushi.
''What's the matter with you?'' Yushi asked.
''It involves rice cakes,'' Ami said,scowling.
Gojei sighed. ''Why did she have to see that commercial? WHY did she have to see that commercial?''
''Even worse,'' Yushi pointed to the TV. Daisuke's Creek was on once again.
Ami noticed this and did not move from that spot,no matter how hard Gojei and Yushi tried to get her to.
They soon gave up,but it wasn't long before Joko came in,still wearing his cream-colored kimono with a rust-brown sash that he wore to bed.
''Eh? Ami?'' He said,still a bit groggy, ''What in Buddah's name are you watching?'' He rubbed his eyes a bit.
Ami turned to face him. ''Daisuke!'' She said happily.
Joko observed this for a moment,then he picked up the remote. ''You're too young to watch that,'' He said,changing the channel to...horror of horrors...Barney the dinosaur. Having set that whole business straight,he went back upstairs.
''Awww,maaan!'' Ami said. ''Why does that always have to happen?''
''Well,you really are a bit young to be watching those kinds of shows,'' Yushi said.
Ami said nothing and started to play with her drum again,but with a rather unhappy look on her face.
''Oh,come on,Ami,'' Yushi said, ''Don't be like that.''
Ami stopped playing and just sat there,pouting.
''Snap out of it,'' Gojei said.
Ami was silent.
Gojei thought for a moment. ''I'll give you a Chewy Rice Cake!''
Ami immediatly sprang up and pinned Gojei to the floor. ''Gimme gimme!'' She shouted,shaking her sister by the shirt collar.
Gojei wiggled free. ''Psyche!'' She exclaimed.
Ami angrily went back to her drum-playing.
''That rice cake business,'' Yushi said to Gojei, ''it won't interfere with impressing Akito,will it?''
''I hope not,'' Gojei said,rolling her eyes.
Would their hopes be dashed?
A/N: Yay! More fun-to-write stuff! Now,review it! Now,I say! But no flames or else I'll...do...something. Man,I really need to come up with better threats.
---Shaddie-chan