LOVE IN THE FAST LANE=================
CHAPTER 14a – Pre-Wedding Pinch
Yuko paced inside the studio, biting her nails while clutching her cellphone. Tomorrow’s the wedding of their cousin Ami, and Yuko received the bad news that the instrumentalists she hired for the ceremony backed out.
Why did Acchan and I agree to take charge of the music in her wedding? Oh right, it’s because Ami batted her eyelashes on us… seriously, I’m beginning to think it runs in the family! She groaned. Atsuko stared at her, thinking that the rug that Yuko is walking on is already wearing thin at the rate she’s going.
“Onee-chan… you’re making me dizzy...” Atsuko mumbled and sulked at the chair.
Yuko stopped from her pacing and stared incredulously at her sister. “Why are you so calm at a time like this? Ami is expecting us to provide some instrumentalist for the ceremony, and YOU are expected to sing once she stepped inside the church.”
“I’m calm because it means that I don’t have to sing during the wedding! I can just sit back and relax just like a normal bridesmaid.” Atsuko reasoned as she stretched her arms and legs. “And besides, we agreed with her that if we encounter any problems with her request, we can just pop in a CD in a stereo and play the song that she requested.”
“I won’t hear any of it. We will get an earful from onee-chan and from mom and dad. Honestly, I don’t even want to talk to Ami about it. She’s being a bridezilla right now and onee-chan is already trying her best to keep her calm. I wish I pursued my piano lessons further when we were kids.” Yuko sighed and stared at the music sheets that are laid on a coffee table besides where Atsuko was sitting. “Think Yuko… THINK!” Yuko said out loud, tapping her cellphone on her forehead. Her eyes widened when she suddenly remembered…
“Alright, give me a word then.” Haruna asked.
"Music." Yuko said.
"Ummm... Violin." Haruna simply answered.
"You have to tell me why you remembered violin silly." Yuko giggled.
"Oh!" Haruna giggled along with her. "I played the violin since I was six years old. Takamina and Miichan played other instruments as well. Our grandma insisted we learn a musical instrument...“Yuko grinned at the memory, “Perfect.” Yuko simply said and looked at Atsuko mischievously as she flipped her cellphone open.
“Spill it out onee-chan. I can hear the gears in your head turning.” Atsuko said suddenly thinking that she won’t really get to relax during their cousin’s wedding.
“Memorize the song Acchan. I know a certain group that’ll be perfect for providing the music at the wedding.” Yuko simply said and punched a very familiar number in her phone. Atsuko sighed and grabbed the music sheets to resume her practice.
*****
Haruna parked Gakutenou with ease as they arrived at the parking lot of the headquarters. Just as she was about to turn off the engine, the mini screen on the car’s console suddenly came to life, surprising the three cousins.
“Good morning Angels!” Midori chirped, waving at the screen in front of them.
“Um… I don’t think we need to say
Good morning Charlie! Midori-sensei. Besides, Charlie didn’t even show his face in the movie.” Miichan mumbled.
“You are such a killjoy like Takamina, Miichan.” Midori pouted. “Anyway, I have a special assignment for you three…”
“Isn’t this a special assignment already?” Takamina asked.
“Yes it is, but we received some information from the Intel that is linked to what you are currently investigating right now. One of our agents assigned in Russia informed the headquarters that Solntsevskaya Bratva seems to have connections in our country and have been smuggling firearms since the brotherhood was formed. What’s interesting about this is that the name of the gang is included in the contacts of the Yamamoto brothers that you were able to get from their warehouse.” Midori explained.
Takamina, Haruna and Miichan looked at each other and frowned. “Isn’t that group one of the most powerful mafia in Russia? So, what do you want us to do Midori-sensei?” Takamina asked.
Midori giggled as she saw the serious looks the three cousins are sporting. “You’re right about that fact Takamina. I’m asking you to do what are expected for agents of your caliber.” She answered. “The mafia is expected to enter the country via an uncharted plane tomorrow at two in the morning, and will land at a private airstrip. I already sent you the details of the location in your e-mail.”
The three cousins groaned at what they heard. “Mou, Midori-sensei! You should have informed us sooner so that we could’ve prepared ourselves!” Haruna complained.
Midori looked at her watch and showed it to them. “It’s just 9 o’ clock in the morning… that means you still have 17 hours to prepare and go to the location. I’m sure you know how to manage your time well.” Midori winked.
Miichan huffed and unbuckled her seatbelt. “Well in that case Midori-sensei, we’d better get going. We’re still race drivers of the AKB48 team and we have a job to do. We’ll review the details in Haruna’s tablet in between work.”
“Great! I know the Agency can count on you!” Midori exclaimed, giving them a thumbs up. “Oh before I forget, I left a parcel in front of your apartment. I have this nagging feeling that you’ll find it useful. Don’t forget to use Gakutenou. Give us a call if you need backup. Ja ne!” Midori said, giving them a small salute before she cut off the communication that prompted the screen to turn off.
Haruna slouched on the car seat. “Wow, the Yamamoto brothers sure knows a lot of dangerous people. This is gonna be a big break in our career if we are to catch one of the big fish in that mafia.”
“We have to be careful in this operation though. Since they are gonna import firearms, I bet both the parties are gonna be well-armed.” Takamina added.
“We’ll just have to talk about this later. This means we have to be discreet to everyone when we talk about it, especially to Mariko, Yuko and Acchan.” Miichan said. As Haruna turned off the engine and pulled out the key from the ignition, her phone buzzed inside her pocket.
“Moshi moshi? Good morning Yuko… we’re already here at the parking lot... Okay, see you in a few.” Haruna mumbled and pressed the end call button.
“Yuko wants to talk to us and asked us to wait for her in the garage… I wonder why her voice seemed to be in between panic and excitement.” Haruna shrugged as the three of them got out of the car.
*****
NYANNYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!Yuko squealed in delight as she ran towards Haruna then launched herself to the other girl’s body, clinging like there is no tomorrow.
“Gah! Uh… nice to see you too Yuko.” Haruna wheezed holding the other girl to keep in balance. Takamina and Miichan simply giggled at the exchange which has become an everyday occurrence.
“So Yuko-chan, Haruna here told us that you have something to tell us…” Miichan said.
“Oh! Right…” Yuko said then jumped down from Haruna’s embrace. “Acchan and I are in a pinch. The instrumentalists for the wedding of our cousin backed out and it’s too late for me to find a replacement. Haruna told me that you all play musical instruments, would that be right?” Yuko said.
“Uh… yeah…” Takamina answered.
“Wonderful! I am hoping that you would help us. The wedding is tomorrow at 8 o’ clock in the morning. You just have to play when the entourage enters and play another song once our cousin enters. Here’s the music sheets, I’ve already photocopied for each one of you.” Yuko said, handing out a folder to Haruna. Haruna flipped through the sheets for her cousins to see.
“Hmmm… I think we can manage to play these without practicing. The song for the entourage is quite common and I’ve already heard the song for the bride. Who will be your soloist?” Takamina said, glancing through the sheets.
Yuko giggled, “That’s for me to know and for you to find out. Just think… it’ll be an opportunity for all of you to see us in our gowns again.” She winked.
Miichan imagined Mariko in her gown, “Now who could say no to that offer? I’m in.” she said, giving Yuko thumbs up.
“Where’s the wedding gonna take place?” Haruna asked.
“It will be held at the St. Therese Parish Church which is an hour away from here. It’ll be a Catholic wedding since my cousin and the groom are Catholics.” Yuko answered.
The three cousins smiled at the information. “We know the place. We’ll be there early.” Takamina simply answered.
“Yatta! Thanks minna! I know I could count on you! I’ll inform Sayaka-chan so that you’ll all be excused in coming to work tomorrow. Keep this a secret from Mariko ‘nee-chan and Acchan – I want to surprise them as well. Anyway, I’m off to check if the soloist has already practiced the song. NyanNyan, I’ll see you at lunch!” Yuko hugged Haruna then skipped her way to the studio.
The three cousins blinked at Yuko’s retreating form then sighed. “Now that she’s solved her problem, I think now we are the ones who are in a pinch. We have to manage our time to finish the operation and at the same time be early for the wedding…” Haruna groaned. Takamina and Miichan simply sighed and nodded.
*****
During lunchtime, Takamina, Haruna and Miichan made sure to spend the 1 hour break with Mariko, Yuko and Acchan. The three cousins were edgy in reviewing the information in Haruna’s tablet that they immediately excused themselves once lunch was over. They would meet up on a secluded corner in the garage and huddle as they browsed through Haruna’s tablet. It is quite a busy day so nobody seemed to mind them talking discreetly, except for Mariko and Atsuko.
Mariko noticed that Miichan wasn’t able to visit her in her office today. It has been a daily routine that Miichan would just visit her in the office and keep her company.
I miss my Miichan, she thought, staring at the stack of papers in distaste.
Atsuko find Takamina a little too skittish whenever she would go to talk to the three cousins.
Takamina is acting weird as if she and her cousins are hiding something, she thought.
Yuko on the other hand, assumed that the three cousins are just busy reviewing the music sheets and paid them no mind to what they are doing.
I bet they are already reviewing the song... might as well leave them be, she thought.
The day finally ended and Takamina, Haruna and Miichan were too eager to leave early, much to Mariko, Yuko and Atsuko’s dismay.
“Gomen ne Mariko, we have to leave as soon as possible. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to visit you a while ago.” Miichan said, holding Mariko’s hand.
Mariko smiled at Miichan’s thoughtfulness. “Apology accepted. You can make it up to me after our cousin’s wedding.” She winked and gave Miichan a kiss on the cheek.
Yuko lunged at Haruna and hugged her tight. “NyanNyan, I’m gonna miss you! I’ll see you after our cousin’s wedding.” Yuko winked at Haruna and kissed her cheek as well.
“Right, I’ll see you after the wedding.” Haruna simply answered trying hard not to blush.
Why is she keeping it a secret anyway?“You’ve been avoiding me today, Ta-Ka-Mi-Na…” Atsuko said as she walked in front of Takamina, sporting a dangerous smile on her face.
Gulp. “Ah… whatever gave you that idea Acchan? I… uh… I was just discussing some erm… family matters with Haruna and Miichan, that’s why we seemed so preoccupied today.” Takamina answered as an excuse.
Atsuko narrowed her eyes at Takamina then placed both of her hands on Takamina’s face. “Since we’re not going to work tomorrow, you should behave yourself while I’m away.” Atsuko teased as she squeezed Takamina’s face with her palms.
Isn’t that supposed to be my line? “Mou! Stop squeezing my face.” Takamina pouted then Atsuko released her hands from Takamina’s face. “Alright, if you say so Atsuko
hime-sama, I’ll be in my best behavior.” She replied, then jogged to keep up her pace to her cousins who were headed to the parking lot.
Atsuko waited until Takamina was a few meters away from the group then shouted, “Takamina! You forgot your kiss from me!” she bellowed. Takamina almost lost her footing which made everyone laugh.
*****
At the cousins’ apartment…“Bulletproof vests?”
“Check.”
“Hand guns?”
“Check.”
“Communicators?”
“Check.”
“Dresses for the wedding…?”
“Che-… wait, what?!” Miichan blurted out, giving Haruna a surprised look then stared at the checklist that Haruna is holding.
“Do you expect us to wear the same clothes that we’ll wear in the operation for the wedding? We’ll stand out by being stinky.” Haruna reasoned, twirling her pencil in between her fingers.
“Where did you get all these dresses in a short amount of time?” Takamina asked as she hanged their dresses on a wall mounted rack.
“I contacted Okaa-san to do the shopping for us and gave our sizes. She was very much happy to do it since she’s going shopping anyway. Her secretary delivered it to the garage while you two were still busy working.” Haruna replied.
Takamina sat beside Haruna and Miichan then began opening the parcel from Midori. “I wonder what’s inside this parcel…” she mused.
Once opened, Takamina took out three sunglasses which are carefully wrapped in individual bubble wraps and a plastic bag containing what seemed like Ping-Pong balls with a sticky note stapled at the bag.
“Warning: use sunglasses when you use these. These balls are flashy and go with a
Bang!” Miichan read out loud.
“Oooo… are you thinking what I’m thinking these are?” Takamina asked, raising the bag in front of Haruna and Miichan.
“Hehe, I think we’ll have fun using those.” Miichan replied, wiggling her eyebrows.
“I must say, Midori-sensei has taste. She customized these designer sunglasses for us to wear.” Haruna said as she tried on one of the Ray-Ban Aviator shades. “Wow, the lens of these sunglasses automatically adjusts to the brightness of our surroundings!” she exclaimed as she tilted her head up the ceiling then stared at the room light.
Takamina also tried one on and stared at the darkness outside their window. “Whoa! It even automatically adjusts to night vision!” she exclaimed, surprised that her vision adjusted into a green hue that usually is emitted from a standard night vision goggles.
“Perfect combination if you ask me! We have to add something that we could use for hand to hand combat.” Miichan said then grabbed Haruna’s pencil, scribbling additional items to their checklist.
“Nice idea! It’ll avoid fatalities and we can have those goons arrested once we’re through clobbering them.” Haruna giggled.
“Yosh! Let’s just double check everything so that we can rest early. It’s almost ten o’ clock and we need to at least get an hour’s rest. We don’t want to be late on our appointment.” Takamina winked and they all busied themselves in preparing their things.
*****
Meanwhile, inside Mariko, Yuko and Acchan’s bedroom…Yuko hummed a happy tune much to Mariko’s amusement and Atsuko’s annoyance. “You seemed to be in a happy mood Yuko-chan, what gives?” Mariko asked as she brushed her hair.
“I finally got a replacement for the instrumentalists that back out for the wedding.” Yuko grinned.
“That’s wonderful news, isn’t it Acchan?” Mariko teased, nudging her sister who was sitting beside her on her bed, pouting.
“Mou~ Yuko nee-chan, you are such a killjoy.” Atsuko groaned, clutching a pillow.
“Everyone in the family is expecting you to sing Acchan… or would you rather face the wrath of Ami the Bridezilla?” Yuko asked.
“No thank you.” Atsuko mumbled. Mariko placed her brush on top of her bed side table then looked at Atsuko. “Are you sure you’re not just pouting because you’re going to sing at the wedding?” Mariko asked raising an eyebrow.
“Hehehe, I think our imouto is just missing someone who won’t be at the wedding tomorrow.” Yuko teased and gave Mariko a wink.
Atsuko simply huffed at Yuko’s answer and transferred on her own bed. Yuko smiled at her sister then playfully bounced on Atsuko’s bed which Mariko immediately followed and sandwiched their youngest sister on the middle of the bed.
“Don’t worry Acchan. Who knows… Takamina might just show up at the church during the wedding.” Yuko hinted.
You’re in for some surprise tomorrow Acchan… you too, Mariko ‘nee-chan.Atsuko furrowed her brows at Yuko, “Are you trying to tell me something?”
“What I’m trying to tell you is that if you wish hard enough, you might get your wish.” Yuko smiled then headed to her own bed.
“Okay, enough of that. We need to sleep if we want to look our best tomorrow. Oyasumi nasai, Yuko, Acchan.” Mariko said, shutting off the main light of their room then turned on a bedside lamp.
“Oyasumi.” Yuko and Atsuko answered.
I wish… Atsuko whispered before she succumbed to the sandman’s call.
To be continued...
This is a long chapter so I decided to cut it into two parts. If I waited for myself to finish this, it would've taken me another day or so to post the complete chapter... and because of my excitement, I also decided to post this part... at 2 am in the morning
lol
I hope everyone likes this update!
Topic: Love in the Fast Lane (multipairing) 24/11/2012 [Will be revamped/continued] (Read 159861 times)