Hello everyone. Sorry for the wait between this chapter and the last one. I was really busy with school and I also went back to fix some of the errors in the last chapter. I'm gonna make this my project sort of for Christmas and HOPEFULLY we'll get it done by the end of my break.
Thank you for everyone who has reviewed so far and now let's continue.
Bzzzt Bzzzzzt! Bzzzt Bzzzzzt!
My phone was vibrating signaling me to get up as usual... But I'm still sleepy. You know what, let's sleep some more. Eyes still shut, I felt for the smartphone which should have been under my pillow. Eh... whatever.
Bzzzt Bzzzzzt! Bzzzt Bzzzzzt!
I extended my hand even farther. This alarm is really getting annoying… where the heck did I put it?
"Ow!"
With a thump, my back made a full force collision with the floor. Apparently, I just fell out of the bottom of my bunk bed… eh? Wait a second… my bunk bed?
Finally opening my eyes, I raised the upper half of my body.
Huh?
A totally unfamiliar room.
I am in a totally unfamiliar room.
Did I spend the night somewhere?
"W-Where?" As my words left my mouth, my throat felt... lighter? "Hmm?" My voice was alot more higher too... Not to mention my chest felt...
Heavy.
I dropped my glance to my body. An unfamiliar tank top stretched down my stomach. And passed my...
Boobs. I have boobs. Large... too. And my penis is gone.
Well, I guess I'll give them a feel, I thought suddenly. The idea sprung up so naturally and automatically, like how an apple falls to the ground under the force of gravity.
…
…
…?
…!
I was impressed. Oooh, I thought. What is this? Taking it very seriously, I continued to fondle them. It was… how to put it… girls' bodies are amazing…
"Um... Misty? What are you doing?"
Quickly turning towards the direction of the voice, I saw a girl standing next to the opened door. She looked around my age. Her hair was blonde and her... things are very... You know what never mind.
"I... sort of... uh..." I stuttered in my high pitched voice. Still fondling too.
The girl whom I never met before sighed and spoke again.
"Look, you like, already overslept mainly because of Violet not waking you up... Anyway, go to school even if you're late. Mom and Dad will be gone for the day." Her voice sounded... How can I say this politely... You know what... Screw it, she sounds bitchy.
Then I thought for a second... Is... she my sister? And is... this Violet that slept over me my other sister? Wait, why am I still fondling with my boobs?! Just answer her!
"Y-Yes! I will!" I stood up putting my hands away from my chest and bowing down.
She looked at me funny. But smiled. "Well. Atleast you're apologetic for once. Uniform's by the bathroom!"
She shut the door. What is going on? I thought to myself. I ran out of the room and into the bathroom. I stared at a mirror.
What in the name of Arceus? I'm... a girl? No longer was I... well Ash Ketchum instead I was this... Tangerine haired girl. Her hair was quite short for a girl. The only way to tell if she was a girl was by her... Forget it.
A band aid was on the left side of her cheek. Did she get into a fight? I poked it.
"Ow!"
And instantly regreted it.
What is going on? I thought. Wait... What I said last night! Is this... a dream-
Pirorin!
As if responding to my musings, the electronic dinging of a message being received rang from down the hallway. Panicking, I gulped and dashed back into the bedroom. A smartphone had fallen beside the sheets, and on the screen a short message was displayed.
Are you still at home? Run! - May
Eh? What what? Who is May?!
First things first, I need to go to school. I looked around and spotted a girl's uniform hanging by the window. But the moment I took it, I realized.
I need to go to take a shower.
Sweet.
I closed the bathroom door behind me. All dried up. Also did my hair and put a little ponytail around at the side.
That shower was... Interesting... This girl's... or rather my body is... Amazing. Okay! That's enough Ash Ketchum just go to damn school and stop showing your perverted side!
I changed into the school uniform, not forgetting to put on a bra and panties and opened the apartment door. Jeez... This skirt's too short. Not that I'm complaining. Let's just head to school, I thought, and then I raised my eyes.
And then.
By the sight before me,
My breath was stolen away.
I gulped.
I was standing in what seemed to be an elevated corridor of an apartment building. Beneath my eyes lay the green expanse of a park. The perfectly untainted sky was uniformly painted a vivid cerulean blue.
And on the border where the green from below and the blue from above clashed, buildings of all sizes stood lined up, almost like rows of neatly folded origami. In every one of those buildings were detailed, elaborate windows, carved into the sides like stitched patterns. Some windows reflected the blue of the sky, some carried the deep green of the trees, and some glittered in the rays of the morning sun.
The small red pinnacle visible in the distance, the rounded silver building somewhat resembling a whale, and the shining building which looked like it was cut out of a block of pure obsidian were surely all famous, sitting vaguely somewhere in the back of my memory. Also faraway, seemingly toylike cars formed into an orderly flow, weaving between the buildings.
The scene before me was far more beautiful than what I had imagined, or anything that I had seen on TV or in movies. As I walked around, it took me a while to recognize the scenery. However as I wandered, I recongized this place. A place that I have been dreaming of going to.
"Cerulean."
I took a deep breath and squinted my eyes at the dazzling, radiant world in front of me, as if I were staring straight into the sun.
"Hey hey, where did you buy this?" "In the cape, on the way home from lessons." "On the opening act of their next concert…" "Hey let's skip practice today and catch a movie…" "About tonight's party…"
W-What are these conversations? Are these people really modern high school students? Not just reading celebrity Facebook posts or something?
I was half hiding myself behind the door, observing the classroom and waiting for the right timing to enter. By the time I got to school, after hours of getting hopelessly lost despite using my smartphone's GPS the whole way, the chime that signaled the start of lunch break had rung.
But seriously, this school building… with its entire walls made of glass and colorful iron doors with little round windows in them - what is this, a world's fair or something? That's how modern and stylish it looked. So this was the world that this Misty Waterflower girl, who was the same age as me, lived in. The name I confirmed in the class roster and the nonchalant face on her ID photo popped into my mind. Somehow it pissed me off a little. I mean could you at LEAST smile a little?
"Miiisty!"
"!" My shoulders having been suddenly grabbed from behind, a little whiff of air that failed to become a yelp escaped my lips. Turning my head, I saw a girl with long, thick, mouse brown hair, with a side fringe falling across her forehead and a cute appearence of a cheerleader or something grinning, her face so close that our bangs almost touched. Ahh! This is the closest I've ever been to a girl!
"Coming to school during lunch, huh? Let's go eat," the girl said, then walked with me down the hallway, her hands still locked onto my shoulders.
Whoa, whoa, too close!
"Ignoring my texts…" she mumbled.
Ah, that's right. "… May?"
"Haha, Is that you trying to sound apologetic for once?"
Not knowing how to respond, for the time being I wriggled my way out of her arms.
"… you got lost?" a kind looking green haired boy named Drew asked, unable to hide the disbelief on his face. "How the heck do you get lost on the way to school?"
"Um…" I fumbled for words. The three of us were sitting in the corner of the school building's wide roof. Perhaps because everyone wanted to avoid the hot summer sun's rays, even though it was lunch break there was hardly anyone around us. "Uh…" I couldn't come up with an answer.
Then Drew smiled. "Hey, maybe you were just... Half asleep or something. It's fine." He seemed really nice and understanding. "I get lost occasionally too so... Yeah!" May spoke up. She was really close to Drew. They looked kind of cute.
"Are... you two a..." I tried to speak. "A what?" they asked in unison. I shoke my head. "Never mind..."
"Also... Misty, where's your lunch?" May asked getting two boxes with food.
"Ehhhh!" I don't have one!
"Are you sick or something?" Watching me frantically search my bag with sweat streaming down my face, the two laughed. "May, you have anything?" "Egg sandwich. Put your croquette in with it."
"Thanks…" I said, slightly impressed with their instant makeshift egg croquette sandwich. People in Cerulean are fricking amazing...
"So, want to stop by that cafe again after school?"
Upon hearing Drew speak those words, my gaze became frozen on his mouth, which a bite of sandwich was about to enter.
"Ah, sure sure," May said, then took a sip of water.
Eh? What did she just say? Stop by… where?
"Misty? You coming to the cafe too?"
"Eh!?"
"The cafe…"
"C-C-Cafeee!?" Paying no attention to the ever growing suspicion in their faces, I couldn't stop myself from screaming in excitement. Now was the time for revenge for that bus stop cafe!
Two small poochyenas wearing idol style clothes were sitting in chairs nearby, staring at me with their beady eyes and wagging their tails lazily. There was an unusually wide space between each table, an entire half of the customers were foreigners, a staggering third were wearing sunglasses, three fifths had a hat on, not a single person was wearing a suit, and I had no clue what the professions of any of them could possibly be. Seriously, what is this place? A cafe where adults gather on weekday afternoons with their pokemon?!
"The wood framework on the ceiling is nice."
"Ah, looks like a lot of work was put into it."
Showing no signs of fear at the awesomely stylish environment, May and Drew casually shared their opinions of the interior design. Apparently, these children had an interest in architecture and were going around looking at different cafes. What kind of hobby is that!? I mean... That's fricking amazing!
"Misty, you decided?"
Urged on by May, I interrupted my observations of the room to look over the massive leather bound menu.
"….! I could live on the price of this pancake for a month!"
"What era are you living in?" joked Drew.
"Hmmm…" An internal debate raged for a moment, then I realized that this was all a dream. In that case, who cares? It's Misty Waterflower's money anyway, I'll just eat whatever I want!
Ahh… what a nice dream. Finished eating my heavyweight pancake, which looked kinda like a fortress surrounded by blueberries and mangos, I let out a deeply satisfied sigh and sipped my cinnamon coffee. Just then, a chime went off on my smartphone… a lot of angry emojis in this message.
"… Ah! What do I do? It says I'm late for my job! Someone that looks like my boss is angry!"
"Oh, was your shift today?"
"Then hurry up and go."
"Got it!" I stood up in a rush, then…
"… What's wrong?"
"Where do I work again?"
"… Haaa?"
The pair's expressions had surpassed astonishment, bordering on anger. Not fair! I don't know anything about this girl!
...
...
Okay... I understand girls need to make money... I understand that there aren't that many jobs for under eighteens. BUT out of ALL the jobs here... SHE CHOSE TO WORK IN A FUCKING MAID CAFE?!
"Um, excuse me baby, where's my food?" "Misty! Get table 12's order!" "I didn't order this…" "Misty! I told you we're out of muffins!" "Where's the check honey?" "Misty! Get out of the way!" "Misty! Take your job seriously!" "Misty!"
Misty Waterflower just had to work as maid at this place getting stared at by a bunch of pervs and by evening the cafe was hellishly busy.
Admitedly I did find the outfit... Kind of cute especially on her... But I would be better about this if it was ME who was being served. Of course I wouldn't be a perv but still!
I messed up orders, messed up table settings, got scolded by the customers, and got yelled at by my boss, but somehow I was still managing to stay on my very confused feet. I mean, come on, this is my first time here! I've never even had a job before! Wait a minute, this dream is starting to become a nightmare! Agghh, when am I going to wake up!? This is all your fault, Misty Waterflower!
"- Wait a second, maid over there."
"Eh, ah, yes, master?" I turned around hurriedly after passing by the owner of the voice. Yeesh. Even saying the word "master" made me cringe.
Eek. Sitting there was a man wearing a collared shirt with a gold necklace wrapped around his neck and many large, shiny rings on his fingers. Very obviously a gangster. Well, you can see some of these people in front of the station in the city next to my hometown. In that sense, maybe I was closer to him than the shiny celebrity looking customers.
With a faint forced smile, he said to me, "There was a toothpick in my muffin."
"Eh?"
Mr. Gangster held up his chocolate chip muffin, showing me the toothpick that he clearly stuck in himself. Maybe he was joking, but even so I had no idea how to respond.
"This would be dangerous if I ate it now, wouldn't it? I'm lucky I noticed, but… what are you going to do?" he said, with that smile still pasted onto his face.
"Eh…" I believe you put it there yourself, is that right? Of course, there was no way I could say that. At a total loss for words, I tried my best to put on a friendly smile. Immediately, the smile on the gangster's face disappeared.
"I'm asking you what you're going to do about it!" he yelled suddenly, banging the table loudly with his knee.
The ambient noise throughout the cafe instantly froze, along with my body.
"- Sir! Is something wrong?"
A... boy a little older then my age appeared and pushed me out of the way, telling me to back off as he passed. Wait does he work here? Someone then grabbed my arm from behind and dragged me away from the scene. Another maid.
"You've been really weird today, you know?" she said with a worried face.
Out of the corner of my eye I spotted the boy bowing deeply and apologizing to the gangster guy. Then, as if someone had twisted the volume dial, the background chatter in the restaurant once again returned.
The maid cafe's operating hours had finally come to an end; the lights had been shut off, and the tables had been stripped of their cloth. Some polished glasses, some checked the inventory, some were on the computers by the register. As for me, I was pushing a giant lawn mower like cleaning machine across the floor.
I still haven't got the chance to thank that boy for saving me. I took a glance at him then at my boss. They looked very similar. It's safe to presume that the boy is my boss' son. I took a glance at him, short and smooth brown hair and was wearing what looked more like a waiter's outfit to be honest. I took a glance at his nameplate. 'Rudy'. Okay. Let's thank him...
"Um... Mr Rudy?" I didn't know what else to say... "T-Thanks for saving me earlier."
He looked up at me as he was cleaning the table and smiled. "It's fine Mist. And please just call me Rudy."
He looked a little older then Misty. A college student prehaps.
As I started to speak up again I noticed... a cut at the left pocket of his pants?! "R-Rudy! Your leg!"
Upon saying that Rudy looked at his leg. A deep cut ran horizontally through his pocket. "Damn bastard... He must've took my wallet too... Jeez... Didn't realize..."
"Are you okay?" "Wow… was it that customer?" "This kind of thing happened before, didn't it?" "Bullying?" "Do you remember what he looked like?"
A few other maids had gathered around Rudy, raising voices of concern. He remained silent with his gaze on the floor, and I stood beside him looking like an idiot, the words I had tried to speak still stuck in my mouth.
This time it's my turn to save him. The thought hit me suddenly, and, before I knew it, I had grabbed Rudy's hand and started walking off, ignoring the 'Hey, Misty!' calls behind me.
Green for an open field. Orange for flowers and butterflies. Hmm, I want one more motif. Let's make brown… a hedgehog. And cream for its nose.
Pinching Rudy's pants, I sewed on a pattern over the rip. For some reason, the sewing basket in the changing room had various colored embroidery threads, so I decided to use them to make a rather elaborate repair. After being drilled by Mom my whole life, needlework was a specialty among specialties.
"Finished!" After five minutes of threading, I handed over the repaired pants to Rudy.
"… Eh, is this…" Rudy's expression gradually changed from one of suspicion and anxiety at being dragged by me to the changing room into one of surprise. "Wow! Misty, this is great! This really suits the colour too!"
True. His pants were rather dark blue looking like a night sky of sorts. And now there's cute little hedgehogs playing in the field right where Rudy's pocket is. Speaking of which... His wallet!
"R-Rudy! What are you gonna do about your wallet?" I asked concerningly.
"Don't worry!" Rudy looked surprisingly unworried. How is he? He walked over to a bag presumingly his and then he pulled out... Another wallet?!
"All I really put in that wallet are tips from the customers and such. All I really got were cents today. This wallet is the one with my credit card, train pass and all that."
Sweet mother of Arceus, this guy is pretty clever! I can only imagined how Mr. Gangster is reacting to just a few cents. Serves him right!
"Thank you by the way for helping me earlier." Boom! Finally thanked him!
"Hehe." He laughed softly. "Truth is, I was a little worried then. You're quick to get into fights and not to mention pretty short tempered." Rudy tapped his left cheek as he spoke. Ah, I think I can guess how this band aid on Misty's cheek got here. "You're a little better today," he finished jokingly. "Oh, also, you've got a surprising amount of feminine charm."
My heart leaped when he said that... He's such a sweetheart and his smile applified his charm even more.
Wait... What the hell am I even thinking?!
The train on the ride home was empty.
It was at this time that I noticed how Cerulean was filled with such a variety of smells. The convenience stores, family restaurants, people passing by, parks, construction sites, stations at night, insides of trains; almost every ten steps brought a new scent. Until now, I didn't know that humans produced such strong smells when they gathered into one place. And in this city there was unmistakably human life, as evidenced by the lights in the windows flowing past my eyes. At the overwhelmingly countless number of buildings, lining up until the very ends of my field of view like a mountain range, my heart grew restless.
And Misty Waterflower was one such human living here in this city. I held my hand out to the girl reflected in the glass window of the train. It annoyed me a little, but maybe her face wasn't so bad after all. I started to feel a certain familiarity with this girl, as if she were a comrade who fought alongside me through this exhausting battle of a day.
"But still, this is a really realistic dream…"
When I arrived home, I threw myself onto the bunk bed which I had woken up in this morning. It seemed that Misty's sister who slept on top wasn't home yet. I imagined how I would tell Red and Leaf all about my amazing dream the next day, and how I would brag about the superior power of my imagination. Maybe I could become a manga artist… or no, I'm not too good at art, so maybe an author? I could definitely make enough money so that we could all get a place in Cerulean!
Smiling at my thoughts running wild, I rolled face up and grabbed Misty's smartphone in my hand. As I swiped through it with my fingers, I noticed that he kept a diary of some kind.
9/7 Ate at KFC with Drew and May
9/6 Watched A Silent Voice (FEELS TRIP)
8/31 Architecture tour; bay coast edition
8/25 Job payday!
I scrolled back in time through the numerous headings, slightly impressed at her dedication. Next, I tapped on the photos icon. Most of them were scenery shots, with pictures of May and Drew coming in second. Eating riceballs and going to parks together… they looked really close. A pokemon centre, a train station ice cream stand, a hip hamburger joint. The road home from school, the sunset peeking through the gaps between buildings, the backs of friends, the trail of an airplane through the clouds in the sky.
"Ahh, must be nice… living in Cerulean." As I spoke, a yawn came out. Feeling a little sleepiness coming on, I flipped to the next photo. "Ah, Rudy" The picture showed Rudy's back as he cleaned a window at the cafe; it looked like it was taken secretly. The next picture showed him noticing the camera and posing with a smile and peace sign.
…. Maybe this girl has a crush on Rudy, I thought. But it was probably a one sided love. He was a college student; a high school girl was still just a kid to him.
I sat up on the bed and created a new entry for today in the diary app, then started typing in all the experiences I had been through. How I messed up a lot, but in the end I became closer to Rudy. How, on the way home, he walked with me from the cafe to the train station. Half wanting to report to Misty, and half just wanting to brag, I wove those stories into the diary. As I finished writing, another yawn escaped me.
It was only natural how tired I was. The day had been an exciting and colorful one, like I had been bathing in a rainbow or something.
I fell into a deep sleep. And it was at that moment...
The entire world had sparkled, even without any BGM.