Reaching for the Stars
Part I, Chapter 5
Mall Food Court, Mike Donald's* [ S ]
"Heave… ho!" Kouji grunted as he set the still fainted Mio-senpai on a chair, "Man, this girl's heavy…"
"Ooooh~" Yui-senpai hummed with misguided determination as we took our seats in the fast food restaurant, "I knew it!"
"Knew what?" Ritsu asked as she and I brought trays laden with burgers and fries on the table.
"Though she may be trying to hide it (and she's very good at it too)," Yui said as if she was telling a ghost story, "she's actually really overweight!"
"Yui-senpai…" Azusa-chan groaned, "just look at her tummy. It's flat!"
"Precisely!" Yui-senpai cried, clearly not getting the point.
The rest of us had a laugh and Yui-senpai joined in, not knowing why she was laughing. I guess it was better to keep it that way for now. As we talked though, Mio-senpai finally came to.
"W… where the h-"
"Mornin' Mio!" Ritsu greeted, handing her the milkshake she ordered on her behalf
"M… morning?" Mio asked, her grumpiness turning into shyness, "Did I…"
Yui-senpai, Tsumugi-senpai and Ritsu nodded vigorously.
"Oh dear~…" Mio gasped as if she was going to faint again.
"Ep!" Ritsu halted Mio-senpai, handing her a milkshake, "Don't you go fainting on us again!"
Luckily, Mio-senpai took a sip from her milkshake and came back to life. Phew. The idle chatter continued and we got back to eating our meals.
Hanging out with my sister's band has been pretty fun for the most part. The nine of us got along pretty well, come to think of it. Being Ritsu's brother, I've known Mio-senpai, Yui-senpai and Tsumugi-senpai for two years now so familiarity wasn't too much of an issue. They blended well with Francis and Kouji too. On top of that, Azusa-chan and I started to get comfortable talking to each other. Maybe it's the 'your friends are my friends' concept, since after an hour or so, it seemed as if the nine of us have known each other for years. Our little outing however wasn't at all that unstressed.
It was the dismissal time of most of the schools and the closing time of some of the nearby offices, so the mall was crowded, and I mean it was packed. Everyone flocked here from the schools and offices to hide from the blistering cold outside. The mall has a heater system after all, so it was pretty much a warm sanctuary. This meant that it was hard to get around and that there were quite a few more of those rabid fans from earlier.
"It's 'Afternoon Tea Time!'", one person would point out. A crowd is then summoned in an instant. It was as if some zombie horde of fans and paparazzi hungry for the 'fame aura' my sister and her friends emitted (which multiplied whenever they were together) rose up from the dead and surrounded us. This was where us guys (and Ritsu too for the most part) became bouncers.
Francis, Kouji., Ritsu and I acted so much like bodyguards that it wouldn't feel out of place to be wearing black coats, ties and sunglasses. Yui-senpai even talked to us as if she had an FBI earpiece, so I guess we were overdoing it. Anyways, slowly but surely, we were able to cut through the crowd. However, a persistent cameraman kept taking photos of us point blank. We've pushed him back into the crowd many times, but kept coming back for more; he was annoying. When the crowd thickened though, we somehow shook him off our tails. This advantage, of course, proved to be yet another inconvenience. Despite our best efforts, it got harder and harder to move and we lost sight of each other quite often. Soon enough, the inevitable happened.
"Umm… Satoshi-kun…" Azusa-chan asked, tapping my shoulder, "Where's everyone else?"
"Th… that's what I'm trying to find out right now…" I grumbled, unable to find everyone else in the sea of people.
"What should we do Satoshi-kun?" Azusa-chan asked, "I think we're lost."
"I… guess so…" I mumbled fishing for my cellphone, "Let me try- oh…"
As soon as I took out the phone, the thing ran out of batteries. Just my luck…
"My phone died," I said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I guess it's just us for now."
"Umm, don't worry about it…" Asusa-chan said shyly, "We'll meet up at the entrance at closing time anyways, so let's just get out of this crowd for now."
"Yeah." I said, shepherding the two of us through the torrents of people.
We found ourselves some benches by a fountain in the mall's central plaza. The two of us took a seat and watched the mall in motion, people heading in all directions bringing shopping bags of all colors, shapes and sizes. All around us, Christmas decorations and smiling faces painted the surroundings in a cheerful tone. Before we knew it, the crowd that had seemed so dreary just moments ago was now a happy sight. Turning to Azusa-chan, I saw that she too was enthralled by what she saw.
"I guess it's no use staying here Azusa-chan." I said with a smile, "If we go around ourselves, we might run into them a little earlier."
"Eh?" Azusa-chan asked surprised, "but…"
"Besides," I offering the girl my hand, "It would be a waste to just stay here in the plaza. We can still enjoy ourselves."
"Y… you're right." Azusa-chan said taking my hand with a shy smile, "Let's go."
Hand in hand, the two of us dived back into the ocean of people. Thoughts raced wildly through my mind and my heart pounded madly in my chest. For the past year, we've been to shy to muster up the courage to even speak to each other, but here we were together and unafraid. Things have changed for me* it seems.
Mall Convenience Store
"Satoshi-kun," Azusa-chan asked as we entered the store, "what are we doing here?"
"I'm going to get my cellphone charged up." I said handing the storekeeper my cellphone and fifty kinsu*, "We should at least let them know we're fine."
"Ah, I see…"
"It's going to take a while," I said as the shopkeeper started charging the phone, "so we can look around while waiting."
"Alright." Azusa-chan said turning to a rack of magazines, "I'll just have a look at these then."
Giving her a nod, I browsed the store for snacks, hoping to find something appetizing to buy. Sadly, I couldn't find anything interesting. The latest volume of the Shuffle! Days in the Bloom* manga caught my eyes, featuring Primula* who looked a tad bit like Azusa-chan, but it wasn't something I could eat now, could I? What caught my attention though was the void in the convenience store shelves sitting where the tins of corned beef are supposed to be. Someone's planning a pig-out session, I'm guessing.
Shrugging, I went back to the counter to check on my phone. There, I saw perhaps the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. The girl had perfect posture stood before the counter with a radiant smile and a warm and cheerful aura. Her nails were painted and her hands, though laden with accessories, looked smooth and gentle. In the clutches of the beautiful hands of the perfect-looking lady, a paper bag brimming with tins of corned beef… What the heck? I just solved the mystery of the corned beef void.
Apparently, the shopkeeper was asking for her autograph or something too. Is she an actress of something? Just then, Azusa-chan called out to me from the magazine rack.
"What's up?" I asked, standing beside the girl, "You wanna buy that magazine?"
"No…" she said pointing to a picture in the magazine, "look at this!"
Taking a closer look at the picture she pointed out, I saw a beautiful girl posing in designer clothing in a pristine field where the sun was shining brightly and… and… wait a second. She looks like that girl with the corned beef!
"It's Ami Kawashima," Azusa-chan explained in a whisper, "she's a model working for many of the designer brands in the city. She's really pretty and a lot of the girls at our school are jealous of her."
"I can see why…" I said, admiring the girl's pleasant smile and her cheerful voice ringing in my ears. Dear God, if Kouji were here, he'd be all over her by now flirting (and failing miserably)…
"Satoshi-kun…" Azusa-chan said facing me with concern, "you're drooling."
"Am I?"
"…"
"Ahehe," I laughed, getting myself together, "sorry about that."
As I regained my composure, a peculiar figure entered the convenience store. It was that damn persistent cameraman from earlier! He walked into the store as if he was a regular shopper; browsing through the shelves as everyone else would. This however was only to hide his ulterior motive. He pushed aside some of the shelf items and aimed the camera at the model at the counter. Silent clicks reached my ears as the man took photo after photo of the unwitting girl. A stalker…
"Hey you!" I cried, pointing my finger at the bastard, "You're getting really annoying, you know that!? You should ASK if people want to have their photos taken!"
"Argh shit…" the cameraman cursed as the girl and the shopkeeper turned their heads to the man, "Damn you!"
Without another word, the man darted out of the shop. As he ran out though, the man kept taking photos in a frenzy…
"I'm calling mall security," the shopkeeper grunted, picking up the phone, "thank you for pointing out that sicko, boy."
"It was nothing," I said proudly, "that guy's been bothering us earlier too, so I was kinda pissed off at him already."
"Good job Satoshi-kun!" Azusa-chan said, "I hope that guy gets caught!"
"Me too…" the girl called Ami said in a thankful tone, approaching us with that same kind smile, "I guess I should thank you then."
"Like I said, it was nothing." I said smiling back, "He's a sicko. He deserves worse."
"I guess you're right." Ami said ponderously, "But tell me, why would he be bugging the two of you?"
"Oh," Azusa-chan said, "that's because I'm part of 'Afterschool Tea Time'. The whole band came to the mall together and that guy was taking pictures of us too."
"'Afterschool Tea Time'!?" Ami asked pleasantly surprised, "Oh yeah!"
The girl lifted one of the paper bags she was carrying (one that apparently wasn't filled with corned beef) and took out a CD.
"'Cagayake! GIRLS'*." she said showing us the CD's cover, "I've been hearing a lot about your band, so I bought your CD."
"Thank you for supporting the industry*!" Azusa-chan said with a bow, "Starving artists around the world thank you!"
"Haha," Ami chuckled, "I'm an artist too, in a sense, so I know what you mean."
She then extended her free hand to us and said,
"Anyways, my name is Ami Kawashima so just call me Ami-chan. Nice to meet you."
"Azusa Nagano," Azusa-chan said shaking her hand, "second guitarist of the band."
"Satoshi Tainaka," I added as I shook hers as well, "I'm…"
"The little brother of the drummer Ritsu," Ami-chan asked, "am I correct?"
"Yeah…" I said a little disappointed, "you know my famous sister it seems, I'm not surprised."
"Well," Ami-chan said, "at the end of the day, fame is just fame; a short-lived and shallow impression. Also, as you just saw, it has it's downsides…"
"I know." I said with my head lowered. I don't hate my sister or anything, but I did get jealous every so often. Ami-chan looked as if she wanted to say something, but her cellphone suddenly rang.
"I'm sorry you two," she said as she flipped open her phone, "a model's work is never done."
The two of us bid the girl farewell as she made her way out of the store. Just before she left though, she waved at us and said,
"Maybe we'll run into each other again someday."
The smile the girl beamed at me pierced though my heart and I felt my cheeks warm somehow. Run into each other huh? Chuckling, I headed over to the counter and collected my phone.
"What's up Satoshi-kun?" Azusa-chan askeda as we left the convenience store
"N… nothing really." I said turning on my phone and typing a message, "I was just thinking we should send a text to Ritsu and the rest so they know we're fine."
"That's a good idea." Azusa-chan said, "Anyways, let's go."
"Yeah…"
Walking out into the sea of people, I was submerged in thought. Meet again someday…. Watching as the model's fine flowing hair disappeared into that broad sea, I hoped that that 'someday' was soon. All of that's just wishful thinking of course; there's no way we could be friends. She's a model after all and I'm just plain ole' Satoshi Tainaka. Besides, I already have a pretty companion with me and I'm happy that we can spend some time together like this.
The Mall
A lot of great things on sale layered the stores in a gleaming brightness that day; scarves, sweaters, coats, everything! Window-shopping was quite entertaining but it reminded us that the two of us were strapped for cash. Why did I have to pay for Yui-senpai's value meal anyway!? Anyways the two of us didn't have a lot of money on us, and there was one specific store that made us wish we had more dough; the music shop.
Guitars, basses, keyboards, drums… all of these dotted the shop in abundance. Being musicians ourselves, it was a overwhelming sight… paradise much? The only things that kept this place from being utopia were the price tags. The damn things hung loosely from the instruments, mocking our financial handicap. 120,000 kinsu for a guitar… 100,000 for a drumset… what happened to the Recession!?
Sighing the most disappointed sighs humanely possible; we left the shop empty-handed and headed for the entrance to meet the others. Despite this, the two of us were happy. We enjoyed each other's company after all, and that's all that mattered.
"Oy!" Kouji cried as he spotted the two of us approach them, "It's the lovebirds!"
"Oh my," Tsumugi-sepai said cheerfully, "Satoshi-kun DID get over his shyness! They're holding hands!"
"How sweet," Yui-senpai commented, "Satoshi-kun and Azu-nyan… ka-wa-ii~!"
"Hey guys," I greeted the group, "what's going on?"
The group was unusually excited upon our arrival; I mean they're always peppy and all, but this was a bit too much. Everyone had expectant smiles on their faces and I didn't know why. Ritsu however seemed ready to cry. She then came to me with a tight hug and started shedding tears of happiness.
"MY LITTLE BROTHER'S ALL GROWN UP!"
Eh?
"Congrats Satoshi," Francis said with felicitation, "Azusa-chan… I approve."
Usually, vigorous denials and explanations would have followed such comments, but the two of us just smiled. We… liked each other after all, so why should we be ashamed? The nine of us then headed home
To Be Continued
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Mike Donald's* - A parody of Mc Donald's (if it wasn't obvious enough)
Things have changed for me* - from That Green Gentleman by Panic! At The Disco
Kinsu* - The Japanese currency in this story as well as the currency in Verbena in Shuffle! The Red Dawn
Shuffle! Days in the Bloom* - Manga of the Shuffle! Anime, adapted from the Shuffle! Visual novel
Primula* - Character of the Shuffle! Series. Oddly looks like Azusa Nagano in some regards.
Cagayake! GIRLS* - The opening song of K-On! and one of the songs in the OST. (Azusa was not in the song originally)
Starving artists around the world* - The struggling music industry. Stimulate the economy! XD