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Author Topic: Berry Beautiful [Volume 2]  (Read 94246 times)

Offline rokun

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Re: Berry Beautiful [Chapter 5]
« Reply #20 on: May 21, 2007, 06:13:27 PM »
Sorry for the long hiatus, but here you go. ^^ This is a fun bouncy chapter... lol. Enjoy!

Chapter 5

It ended up being a decent train ride to Miki’s place - since she lived in Tokyo. It was in the northern part of the city at least, but still… Miyabi thought she might as well have it at her house in Saitama. Of course, her parents would probably disapprove of junior high girls like them getting drunk and crazy, so it probably wouldn’t have been the greatest party anyway… As they departed the station to walk the last way to Miki’s, Saki led a grumbling gaggle of girls along the dark, windy paths.

“You know, Captain,” Momoko said sarcastically, “Young beautiful girls like us shouldn’t be walking along the streets by ourselves at this hour. There are any number of hoodlums who might jump out of the shadows and take advantage of us…” Her outburst caused a few of the other girls to look around themselves nervously.

“Oh give over,” Saki responded. “Do you have any idea of the kind of people that live in this neighborhood? They aren’t exactly the scariest and most troubled Japan has to offer…”

“Fujimoto-san lives here…” Yurina quipped, and scared expressions suddenly turned into giggles around the girls.

“Besides,” Maasa broke in wisely, “You do know we’re still near the station, right? The people who live here are much different than those that would live near Fujimoto-san, for all that’s worth.” She finished with a stupid grin twisting the corners of her mouth.

“Ahh, don’t worry,” Miyabi finally added, “If anyone does come out of the shadows, it’s the seven of us versus whoever that is, and I would kick their butts with my insanely awesome magically enhanced ninja skills anyway.”

Throughout the whole conversation she had been paying attention to Risako, but the girl didn’t seem to give her any mind, nor any of the other girls for that matter. She just looked around them thoughtfully and seemed like she was off in her own little world. Miyabi hoped her boasting might impress her, or at least make her laugh at her silliness, but the girl still seemed as if she hadn’t noticed her existence. Catching a sigh, she added, “Right, Momo-chan?”

“Speak for yourself,” the girl she addressed replied, giving her a sideways glance. “You can get yourself killed or worse all you’d like, but if anyone jumps out at us I’ll be running as fast as possible the other way.”

Of course that didn’t go over too well; the second she said it, the other girls began teasing her about being a coward like a little girl and how it must be so beneath her to get in an actual fight… even though she did have similar martial arts training to that Miyabi had. Miyabi did her best to ignore everyone though. She knew that if push came to shove, Momoko wouldn’t be the only one running away like a little girl.

In the midst of the distracting exchanges of the other girls, Miyabi decided to try to creep closer to Risako. Of course she couldn’t talk to the girl seriously while they were all together like this, but talking to her at all would be an improvement, and enough for her at the moment. She had come close enough to where she was just about to reach out and touch the other girl’s soft pale hand before Yurina’s voice came out from beside them more loudly than their teases had been, and Miyabi quickly tucked her hands behind her back as if she were up to absolutely nothing.

“Hey look,” the girl said, following her own advice and looking at their surroundings. “I think we made it to the richer people’s houses.”

Miyabi looked around, as did most of the others as they finally forgot about the torturing of their beloved second-eldest member, and sure enough, the buildings that sprung out from the sides were now full-sized, mostly gated, houses with well-tended lawns and lights glowing from inside windows that covered many floors. Surely it wouldn’t be too far now until they got to Miki’s. She hadn’t imagined that Miki would own a house before, but she supposed there was no reason she wouldn’t – the girl had done well enough for herself for several years now. She must just be used to all the days she spent darting in and out of the hotel rooms they shared or apartments that some of the older girls maintained, who weren’t quite old enough for houses of their own…

“It’s only another couple of blocks,” Saki spoke up. “See, I told you nothing would happen to us…” She said all this with an air of smug victory, well, smug for Captain at least, as if this proved she was right all along.

“That’s too bad,” Maasa mourned. “And here I was looking forward to seeing Momo-chan run away like a little girl… Wait, she always looks like that when she runs…” The girl broke off into a snicker that was joined by Yurina and Chinami.

“Laugh it up,” the girl in question said below eyes that seemed to glower from within deep dark depths. “Then at least I wouldn’t be molested by some gross pervert.”

“What do you mean?” Maasa replied. “We’ve got nothing to worry about thanks to Miya here, right? At least she doesn’t turn away from a fight!” She came over to Miyabi and wrapped an arm around her, hugging her as if she was her best pal. Well, that wasn’t too far from the truth.

Maasa’s loudness and gesturing seemed to finally break Risako from her spell, and she looked over at the two of them with wide eyes. “What? Miya’s going to fight someone?”

“Yeah, haven’t you heard, Rii-chan?” Yurina said, coming over and wrapping her own arm around the other girl. “Miya entered a kung-fu contest, and she’s going to win more money than we earn in a year. Even you!” She laughed while she spoke as if incredibly amused at her own unbelievable wit. “She just has to beat up some losers who always think too much of themselves and never seem to be quite… one with reality.”

“Oh,” Risako responded quietly, looking carefully into Miyabi’s face. Apparently the slightly older girl’s joking reference flew over her head.

“Give it a rest!” Miyabi said, wriggling out from her large captor’s grip and dashing to pull Risako to safety as well. “I just can’t wait to see what happens when you guys actually get drunk,” she grumbled sardonically.

“There she goes! Rescuing her fair damsel in distress!” called Yurina, floating with Maasa back to the others who had been watching the exchanges with varying levels of interest. “We’d better leave those two alone… Our brave hero deserves a kiss after all…” Most of the other girls broke into giggles once again, leaving deeply flushing Risako and Miyabi by themselves somewhat apart.

“Hey Captain,” Momoko chirped. “I thought you said it was only a block away?”

“Two,” Saki replied hollowly, her own face becoming darker as well now at the stupidity surrounding her. “Or was it six…” Momoko sighed.

Upon being left by themselves, Risako and Miyabi did their best to keep their own distance from each other as their embarrassment overcame them, but owing to the darkness and to the fact that they were apparently going to be left alone – the other girls skipped a bit ahead in their inscrutable hyperness – they eventually began walking together.

“So you’re going to start fighting again?” Risako said quietly after a time.

“No,” Miyabi said quickly, eyes lowered and frowning ahead of them. “They were just playing around.”

“Oh,” Risako replied simply. “That’s good.”

They walked in silence for a bit longer just listening to the boisterous voices ahead of them. Miyabi felt like she was being tortured for some reason until she got to the point where she couldn’t stand it any longer. “Risako, I…”

“Aha!!” Saki yelled, jumping up to accentuate her cheer before turning back to her girls. “There it is!” she told them, pointing an arm vaguely behind her. Miyabi squinted her eyes, but couldn’t see anything. “The one with all the cars outside, you idiots!” she scolded, jumping again, and turned to run toward the place she must have been describing. “Come on!”

The other girls started after her, but Miyabi was just frustrated that she was cut off. She opened her mouth to start again, but Risako jumped into a run ahead as if to join the other girls, leaving her with her mouth hanging open and herself hanging a ways back. Not confident enough in her albeit extensive self-defense abilities to be caught alone in the night like this, she narrowed her eyes before running to catch up as well.

Loser87

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Re: Berry Beautiful [Chapter 5 UP!]
« Reply #21 on: May 21, 2007, 08:46:10 PM »
FINALLY AN UPDATE!! *hugs the story and clings on* DON'T GO ON HAITUS AGAIN I BEGETH' THEE!! O_O...

Come on ya' gotta update faster MUSH MUSH!! YA!! *cracks whip* >_>.....
Erm...Update please!~ =D

Offline Aioros

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Re: Berry Beautiful [Chapter 5 UP!]
« Reply #22 on: May 22, 2007, 05:59:22 AM »
Hehe. Momo high-tailing and leaving them when an intruder appears is priceless :lol:

And Miya entering a kung-fu contest? :lol: Maybe she'll have cosplay pics on her upcoming PB.

What does Risako mean by Miya will "start fighting" again? Did she already beat up someone before? :o

WAR AKARI!!! Infernal Ninjutsu, Hidden Lore...Freedom of Opposites Technique!!! Rest in peace Kyle,Jab,Mom,Tita, ChrNo...

Offline rndmnwierd

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Re: Berry Beautiful [Chapter 5 UP!]
« Reply #23 on: May 22, 2007, 07:26:48 AM »
W00T an update! Can't wait for them to start partying!

Offline rokun

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Re: Berry Beautiful [Chapter 5 UP!]
« Reply #24 on: May 23, 2007, 01:08:46 AM »
I wasn't going to post the next chapter until tomorrow, but due to that I'm already ahead in my writing (something that normally isn't the case), these chapters really blend into each other, and in honor of Loser posting her next chapter, I thought I'd go ahead and throw it up. ^_^ This way I can check what all you lovely people have to say in the morning! After this the plot begins to thicken, so enjoy the fluffy cheeriness! I hope everyone who reads and doesn't comment is enjoying! Now... It's party time! Kanpai! ;D


Chapter 6

Entering Miki’s house was like entering a shrine to Bacchus. As the smiling bright-eyed hostess waved them in, Miyabi at their tail, the girls looked around to see streamers of all sorts and a sign in English that after a moment Miyabi made out as “Welcome Super Berryz”. The foyer was bare aside from the decorations, with a stair just ahead spiraling up into unknown heights.

As Miyabi tore her eyes from above, she realized that she was now alone at the bottom of those stairs with a cup full of some strong-smelling liquid in her hands that she had no idea how it got there. “Damn…” she swore to herself. She wasn’t likely to get Risako alone anytime soon, or anytime ever by the noisy chatter and yelling coming from what seemed all corners of the place.

Recovering from a fit of coughing after unconsciously taking a sip of the drink that was in her hand – that’s what one normally does with a cup she’s holding after all – she resolved that she would have to be very careful while in the midst of the adventure she had entered into.

Walking into a connecting room – a sitting room she supposed, although there wasn’t much sitting going on; girls of all ages were cheerfully greeting and hugging a few of the new arrivals, since it was their night after all – she set her drink on an end table and took in the scene. She wasn’t able to look for long though before Maimi and an already tipsy-looking Reina came up to hug her.

“Omedetou!” they chimed after the hugs, and one of them seemed ready to bounce off the walls while Reina flashed her a toothy grin.

“Welcome to the GAMorous House of Blooze!” Reina squeaked before poking Miyabi in the shoulder. “Mikitty makes sure we say that to everyone who comes and has never been here before.”

“Actually, Reina-chan,” Maimi corrected in an automatic voice as if having said this many times already, “Remember, Fujimoto-san last told you to make sure you don’t say that to anyone else. It makes her sound… how did she put it… cheesy.” Miyabi could definitely believe that.

“Oh, that’s right,” Reina said, tilting her head as if straining herself in deep thought before breaking out into another toothy grin. “I keep forgetting…” She looked past Miyabi for a second as if she saw something unexpected just beyond her. “Oi! It’s Eririn and Sayu! I need to welcome them!” With that, she brushed past and shuffled off to them, a visibly flummoxed Maimi trailing behind, Miyabi apparently forgotten.

Not exactly sure what to make of the encounter with her Aa! senpai and C-ute’s leader, Miyabi slowly and carefully walked across the room to sit on the vacant couch. Several other Hello! Project members came to congratulate her and tell her she needed to drink something – she politely turned them down since she didn’t really feel like feeling any worse tonight – and she could tell by the noises coming from all over the house that everybody seemed to be having a wonderful time. She was glad for that; they didn’t all get to enjoy themselves like this very often, together… After a time, the crowd around her lessened and she must have spaced out for a while, because the next thing she noticed was Saki sitting down next to her. The girl drew her small pink-socked feet up onto the couch and crossed her legs, looking over at Miyabi.

“Fun party, huh?” she asked. Her question was accentuated by a crash from somewhere a few rooms away, accompanied by screams and bursts of laughter before a yell that obviously came from Miki from another area of the house.

“Everybody seems to be having a great time,” Miyabi responded without a large amount of enthusiasm.

Saki just looked at her for a moment, and Miyabi looked down at her hands which were playing with a half-filled cup that someone had forced on her an indeterminable amount of time ago. “It doesn’t look like you are though, Miya-chan.” Miyabi looked up and down into the girl’s face. Her big eyes were shining back at her above a tender smile.

“I’m just tired,” she said, lowering her eyes back down to the cup. “Being the center of attention all the time is hard work, you know.” She couldn’t help a slight twist of a smirk coming to the corner of her mouth after she said that.

Saki chuckled and looked down into her lap herself, where she was playing with the embroidered hem of her socks. “Maybe I should tell Tsunku to give you fewer lines. Or maybe just separate you and Rii-chan for once during a concert. You always seem to tire yourself out most in those songs.” Miyabi froze at those words, staring hard into the rippling liquid within her cup. Silence held for a moment before Saki continued, “Are you two all right?”

Damn Captain’s incredibly irritating empathy. “O-of course we are. You know us. We don’t let anything get us down.” Unfortunately, before she even finished talking she knew the effect of her lie was lost the moment she stuttered on the first word. She never stuttered under normal circumstances. Saki didn’t seem to take offense to it though.

“I try not to get involved in the personal affairs of my girls…” she said after a time, “But you know I’m always willing to listen if one of you wants to talk.”

“I do know, Captain…” Miyabi began. “I guess it’s just complicated. And I made it more complicated last night, I think…” Well, that was one way of putting it.

“Does it have to be complicated?” Saki asked. Miyabi could feel the smaller girl’s arm wrap around her and just then realized she was trembling slightly.

Miyabi turned to look at her senpai. “What do you mean?”

Saki smiled and looked back out into the room as if she could see what girls were doing all over the house. “Most of the time it’s only complicated in your mind, when in reality it’s as simple as anything could be. Whatever you did last night, did you get a complicated reaction?”

“…No,” Miyabi answered after a moment. “There was really no reaction other than that it was… nice…” She began flushing slightly when she realized how much she was opening up to the other girl.

Saki smiled. “It sounds pretty simple to me, then. After tonight’s festivities are done, you should see what you can do to ‘make things complicated’ again. It doesn’t sound like a bad thing to me.”

Miyabi just stared into the other girl’s constantly wide-eyed and smiling face. What she said really did make a lot of sense. Suddenly, realizing the situation, she broke away from the girl’s eyes and looked back down, very conscious of the thin arm around her. “Thank you… Captain…”

“Don’t mention it!” she heard the other say cheerily. Then Miyabi felt something vibrating against her leg – the leg that was nudged up against the other girl’s – and reason having fled her in her emotional state, she bowed her head even more to hide her sudden deep blush.

Saki reached between them into her pocket and pulled out her vibrating cell phone, Miyabi mentally ninja-kicking herself for stupidly losing her control like that, resulting only in a deeper blush. She couldn’t bear to look up, but visualized Saki checking a message on her phone. “Sorry Miya, I have to go,” she said regretfully, though also a bit excitedly. “I already had plans for tonight, but I just had to make an appearance here…” Miyabi almost sighed as she felt the arm retract from around her, and the girl stood up. However, Miyabi didn’t feel confident enough in the paleness of her face yet to look up at her. “You’ll be all right?” Miyabi nodded, gripping her cup tightly. “Just be yourself!” she called out as she headed off toward the door.

When she sensed the other girl was gone, Miyabi raised her head and without thinking dumped the contents of the cup down her throat in one gulp. She immediately regretted it due to the coughing fit that followed. “There you go!” she heard a buzzed Momoko shout from one of the doorways. “It’s about time you joined the party!” Well, at least now she had an excuse for her red face.

Before she knew it Momoko, Maasa and some other girls had dragged her off into one of the other rooms to play something called “flippy cup”. Immediately skeptical of it from the name, before long she realized it was just as immature and childish as she first thought. Of course, nobody involved cared at the moment. It was funny, but for some reason Miyabi didn’t care anymore either. So much for Fujimoto-san’s ban on cheese…
« Last Edit: May 23, 2007, 01:11:02 AM by rokun »

Loser87

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Re: Berry Beautiful [Chapter 6!]
« Reply #25 on: May 23, 2007, 01:27:01 AM »
That was a sweet chapter *w*

I <33 your portrayal on the saki/Miyabi friendship X3

Ya' need to update, UPDATE UPDATE!! GRRR!! >w<
Or else I die from anxiety!! Ya' wouldn't want that would ya'? ;+;

Must be quoted for pure awesomeness

Quote
So much for Fujimoto-san’s ban on cheese…

XDXDXDXD

I roffled..a lot XDXD

Offline rokun

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Re: Berry Beautiful [Chapter 6!]
« Reply #26 on: May 24, 2007, 08:19:47 PM »
Wow, my only comment was my diehard and shout-out. Come on you guys, throw me a bone here. ^_^ Well, on we go! More characters! Yay! ...And somebody's dead? O_O

Chapter 7

Much later – it had to have been well past midnight – Miyabi stumbled out of a quite destroyed GAMorous House of Blooze arm-in-arm with Chinami and Maasa. They had lost Yurina and Momoko at some point after they finished the flippy cup game. Miyabi’s memory was regrettably foggy beginning about then, but she felt great. This wasn’t nearly as bad as the last time…

“Where’s Risako?” she asked, looking dumbfoundedly and sleepily around them as if the answer could be found in a bush or streetlamp they passed.

“Who knows…” Chinami said, an elated and oblivious smile fixed on her face.

“Who cares…” Maasa said, herself frowning around at the darkness surrounding them. “Hey, do you think we’re at the station yet? I can’t remember where it was… Captain confused me when we first walked here…”

“I care…” Miyabi said with her brows furrowed in thought, ignoring the last part of Maasa’s comments. “At least, I think I do…” Yes, there was something. It was something to do with the night before…

Her train of thought was completely broken however by a scream from Chinami, who immediately also clung to the other two girls as tightly as she could. Miyabi suddenly became alert and looked all around them, but didn’t see anything. “What’s wrong?” she asked slowly, making sure of her words.

“A monster!!!” Chinami whined. The girl was now quivering as she held onto the two larger girls. Indeed, as they looked on, something did step out of the shadows ahead of them…

The dark-colored cat walked up to them and meowed questioningly. “Honestly Chii-chan, you really need to stop watching those scary movies,” Maasa said with irritation. “Especially when you’re going to be drunk.”

“B-but… I didn’t mean to…” Chinami responded, still looking warily at the cat, who was now rubbing itself along Miyabi’s ankle. “Kuma-chan made me watch it. She told me she’d eat me if I didn’t.”

I’ll eat you if you don’t stop being so… so…” Whatever Chinami was supposed to stop being, something the girl seemed very interested in finding out since she didn’t want to be eaten, Maasa must have lost that train of thought as she stared out into the darkness. “I think I’ve seen this house before…”

Miyabi squinted into the darkness and sighed. “Of course you have! It’s Fujimoto-san’s! We’ve been walking in circles… Does anyone know where we’re going?”

“Lost your way?” a girl asked as she walked up to them. The three Berryz turned to the one that addressed them, and she turned out to be a quite composed-looking Niigaki-san, accompanied by tired-looking Maimi and Airi, and Reina, who could apparently hardly stand.

“There was a monster…” Chinami said in a small voice, still clinging to Maasa as if for protection.

“A monster… I see,” Risa said, nodding at the younger girl and looking closely at her as if she was making perfect sense. Miyabi was about to open her mouth to correct her before Reina shoved to the front.

“A monster?” she asked, looking all around, though lacking any and all focus. “Where? Let me at ‘im… Me and my girls Airin and Miya here’ll make quick work of it…”

“I’m quite sure it’s gone now, Reina-chan,” Risa said, patting the other girl’s head as if a patient mother toward a particularly ornery child. “You three can show us how to do it in the morning.”

“Morning… yeah…” Reina managed, and started sauntering off down the road. Airi looked like she wanted nothing to do with showing anyone anything, and Miyabi just felt like rolling her eyes. The older girl had drunk too much by the beginning of the night even…

“We’d better follow her,” she said, starting after Reina, “Don’t want her getting into trouble…” “She’s all the hope I’ve got outside of Berryz right now…” she grumbled to herself. It was such a lost cause. However, once again regrettably, just then her foot seemed to halt as if frozen beneath her and the ground met her, followed by shooting pain all up and down her body. “Itai…” she breathed into the pavement.

She heard feet behind her as the other girls came up to view her fully sprawled on the ground. “Yeah, we don’t want trouble, all right,” she heard Maasa say, and she thought she heard amusement in her voice too. That was just like the girl; taking pleasures in the pain of others. Oh, she was in pain… though oddly, it seemed to be fading for some reason.

“Do you think she’s dead?” Chinami asked from behind her in a light, nervous voice.

“She does look in pretty bad shape…” Maimi offered as well, her voice seeming slightly worried.

She felt a poke on her back. “No response,” Airi said after a second from just above her. “She always twitches when I poke her…”

“Do that again and I kick your ass…” Miyabi growled, attempting to push herself up with her hands but failing since she suddenly felt sharp pain in one. She must have skinned it… Oh well, she always skinned her knees during various activities; that was nothing new. Eventually she managed to get up and look back at the girl who had now backed a step away from her. “And don’t think I couldn’t do it little sis, even if you are taller than me now.” Brushing herself off, she turned around to look at a speck moving back and forth in the distance. “Didn’t anyone go after Reina?”

“Oh she’ll live,” Risa said. For seeming to be the leader of their small group right now, Miyabi wondered where she was when she fell and could have been dead for all they knew. “In fact you’re right, we should go ahead and follow her. She has an amazing sense of direction when she’s drunk. She’ll lead us right to the station.”

Miyabi didn’t wait for anything more and just walked on after the freakish drunk girl. Apparently the others followed, because after a minute she could hear voices from back there. Soon, some of them even caught up to her.

“I’m glad you’re not dead,” Chinami said earnestly, sidling in next to Miyabi, matching her pace.

“I’m sorry I poked you,” Airi said from her other side. She looked at the girl and got a smile in return. However, it lasted only a moment before trembling a little.

“What is it?” Miyabi demanded quietly.

“Your face…” the girl responded.

Miyabi raised her hand to her face, looking at it a second before feeling touching it to her cheek. Yep, the heel of her palm was scraped a little and bleeding. As for her face though, she didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s got dirt all over it…”

Miyabi sighed. Airi and her pre-occupation with dirt. Miyabi didn’t like being filthy of course, but she never saw the girl anything other than squeaky clean. She looked to her other side where Chinami was looking out into the darkness around them. “By the way, why are you so scared of everything all the time?”

The girl looked back at her, but didn’t respond for a moment. “I’m not…” she said finally. “I just have an overactive imagination. My parents tried to wean me out of it when I was young, but it didn’t work… so I still have nightmares all the time. Sometimes when I’m really sleepy I think I have daymares too…”

Miyabi stared ahead into the darkness, wondering how whatever visions the girl was having could be called daymares when it was the middle of the night. “Sometimes I envy you,” she said softly, but quite loud enough for the two girls to hear.

“Huh?” Chinami said. “What did you say?” Miyabi stayed silent. “It sounded to me like you said you envy me…” the other girl continued under her breath. It was true. People always told Miyabi she should have more imagination, show more emotion… She did! She wondered if she was maybe just too shy sometimes, and with some things…

“Hey, look!” Maimi called out from behind them.

“I told you~!” Risa chimed.

Miyabi cast her eyes ahead. Sure enough, the station was within sight.  They were there within a minute, and found a wobbly Reina trying to negotiate for a ticket in some language that Miyabi had never heard before. Risa quickly came up behind her.

“I’m sorry, sir,” she apologized quickly. “She is from far away and doesn’t understand how to use her JR pass.” She turned to Reina, pulling her away from the frowning ticket master. “Pon-chan, I told you, we don’t need tickets. You’ve got all you need right there in your…”

Miyabi stopped listening and tried to stifle a snicker at the puzzled expression on her friend and senpai’s face. However, she didn’t think it was the first time she’d had a lecture like that. Risa seemed quite rehearsed at it…

Once inside the station, they hugged and separated from the Morning Musume and C-ute girls, who were headed elsewhere in the city. Miyabi supposed she could have just headed home now that the concert was over, but didn’t fancy her parents seeing her like this and coming in at what would probably be like three o’clock. Besides, they still had the hotel another couple of nights, and she wanted to see if she could find a certain someone; she wanted to sleep well again tonight.

Offline Aioros

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Re: Berry Beautiful [Chapter 7 yayness!]
« Reply #27 on: May 25, 2007, 04:18:05 AM »
lol  @ Reina speaking with a never before heard language. Must be the universal Wonky language of love.  :D

YAY! Risa's the 'leader' of the small troop. I did read something in the Berryz thread before that Risa was close to them. Well, she did do that segment in HPC where the kids had to ride those exercise bikes. :D

WAR AKARI!!! Infernal Ninjutsu, Hidden Lore...Freedom of Opposites Technique!!! Rest in peace Kyle,Jab,Mom,Tita, ChrNo...

Offline rndmnwierd

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Re: Berry Beautiful [Chapter 7 yayness!]
« Reply #28 on: May 25, 2007, 04:19:07 AM »
Whee, graceful Miya and freakishly drunk Reina. Wow, why does everything look like it's spelled wrong? I need to sleep...

Loser87

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Re: Berry Beautiful [Chapter 7 yayness!]
« Reply #29 on: May 25, 2007, 08:50:24 PM »
You know what you should do?
You should update...
Yeah, That's exactly what I think you should do yuppers *nods*

Drunk Reina is amazing =3 yes she is

Offline rokun

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Re: Berry Beautiful [Chapter 7 yayness!]
« Reply #30 on: May 26, 2007, 04:11:10 AM »
Lol thank you for your comments guys :). I :heart: you all. I have those times when everything looks misspelled too... and of course Risa is leader in that group :P.

Loser, you're quite enthusiastic about updates, aren't you? :D I'll post the next chapter sometime over the weekend. I just don't want to get too ahead of myself so I go days and days without updating again @_@ I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep this writing streak up, lol. Although, I do have more plans for the story now. It's just kind of hard at the moment, because with the next chapter... things get a bit more complicated. ;)

Offline rokun

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Re: Berry Beautiful [Chapter 7 yayness!]
« Reply #31 on: May 27, 2007, 02:17:27 AM »
As promised! Things start to get serious...

Chapter 8

The train ride was very quiet, mostly because the two girls with Miyabi fell into various stages of slumber throughout it. She watched Chinami from time to time curious what the girl would do if she was having one of her nightmares, but in general just looked around the car or out at the lights of the buildings they passed. This part of Japan was almost wholly urban now, but she didn’t really mind since she grew up within it. As for the car, there were only a few other scattered passengers on the early morning express. One man in a long coat had his head back, seemingly sleeping as well. Another used a pocket flashlight to read a manga; he didn’t seem very attentive to the outside world. There was even a woman who seemed to constantly be staring out of the window at the lights. Miyabi wondered if she was ill or something; her gaze never wavered in the slightest.

From time to time Maasa would jerk awake and talk with Miyabi, but most of the time Miyabi was trying her best to not fall asleep herself. She must have failed however, because one second she was looking across the car at the lights outside, and the next Maasa was tugging on her arm as the train was slowing, groggily telling her and Chinami, whose sleeve she also tugged, that it was their stop.

Rising to a sudden and intense headache, Miyabi joined the other two in a slow walk to the door, and eventually out onto the platform once the train stopped and it opened. It was also a slow walk out from there and back to the hotel. Miyabi’s head felt like it was going to explode the whole way, and seemingly the other two girls weren’t feeling any better. This was more like what she remembered from last time… It was odd though - her scraped hands and other assorted body parts weren’t bothering her nearly as much. Apparently there was some good side to alcohol.

They arrived back at the hotel, and without thinking Miyabi mumbled goodbye to Chinami along with Maasa as the older girl broke off at her room, and followed Maasa back to their own. Once inside, they both kicked off their shoes and collapsed onto their bed.

“You know, there are times I wish we had separate beds…” Maasa moaned into her pillow. Even though their bed was quite large, for some reason the two of them seemed to be taking up a lot of space tonight.

“Yeah…” Miyabi muttered. However, just then a rush as if blood suddenly sped up through her brain overtook Miyabi, and she sat up straight. She looked down at Maasa, but the girl had already fallen asleep and was beginning to snore. That’s right, she wasn’t planning on sleeping here with Maasa tonight…

Feeling a strangely renewed sense of vigor, Miyabi crawled carefully off the bed – even though she later realized there was likely no way the other girl would wake other than for something like the building collapsing around her – and searched the bedside table. She soon found what she was looking for, and as she reached the door remembered how filthy she apparently was from the fall, and also that she was still in her party clothes.

Realizing there was no way she could do what she wanted to like this, she quickly entered the washroom and set the card near the sink, quickly undressing for a short scrub and rinse. Once finished, she didn’t bother with her dirty clothes but headed back into the bedroom nude and with wet hair to pull a long shirt out of her suitcase.

She stole a glance at the girl on the bed while she pulled the shirt on, but her brash friend was still snoring and hadn’t seemed to move a millimeter since she fell there. Once with the shirt on, she zipped up her suitcase. Sure she didn’t have anything on underneath it except her underwear, but she didn’t care. Well, maybe she did a little, because she couldn’t hold back a slight blush in the darkness.

Now all clean and comfy she stole across the room, running back into the washroom quickly when she realized she’d forgotten what was lying next to the sink, and finally made it out into the dimly lit hall.

Making the same trip she had the night before – a time that seemed aeons ago – she crept down the hall and slid the keycard through the scanner at the door she sought. Tip-toeing in, she found the bed she was looking for and snuck under the covers, making sure for the moment to keep her shirt down, and began stretching an arm to wrap around the still warm form next to her.

Her hand barely crossed the other girl though before it stopped at the soft but firm pressure of a hand around her wrist. She caught her breath. She should have expected Risako would wake when she joined her, because she always seemed to, but for some reason this time it was a surprise. Maybe her wits were still being slowed by her exhaustion and the chemicals in her system.

She tried to reach down and take the hand that held her, but instead her arm was pushed back. She now found herself staring at the fluffy but sleep-deformed hair on the back of Risako’s head with her arm in a slightly uncomfortable twist being held back by one the other girl wrapped around herself. Still, there was silence for a moment.

“Please go…” Risako requested in a voice barely above a whisper. Miyabi froze, uncertain what to do in this new situation. The girl released Miyabi’s wrist and pulled her hand back in front of her, shifting a little as if curling in tighter to herself, becoming further away from Miyabi.

“What?” Miyabi finally asked, confusion and other emotions swirling in her head allowing the headache from earlier to return, except this time it felt like little men were pounding away with sledgehammers inside it.

“I… I don’t want you here, Miya,” Risako replied, and Miyabi could now sense obvious tremors in her voice. “I can’t do this any more. I’ve… moved on.”

Miyabi nearly broke out in a sweat at the bone-chilling cold she suddenly felt inside her, cold that the blankets and the warmth from the girl, still near her, couldn’t touch. She still didn’t know what to do for a moment, even though the command was obvious. It was just so… shocking. Maybe she should have known that since things seemed to be pretty rocky between them the last twenty-four hours things wouldn’t be the same any more, but the reality in front of her and staring her in the face – or rather, staring the opposite direction away from her – was unbelievably cold and harsh.

After that moment however the other girl didn’t move, and there was silence between them. Miyabi finally came to grips with the idea that she wouldn’t say anything else, and if Miyabi tried to hold her again, she would surely be rejected. Slowly and distantly, as if she was watching someone else’s body move, she slid out from the covers and off the side of the bed, standing perfectly still to its side while watching Risako, who still showed no signs of movement or even life.

Taking all this in yet unable to think at all, she tore her eyes away from the still form below her and walked slowly toward the door. She hoped, wished to hear something from behind that would wake her from this nightmare, but nothing came, and she was out in the hallway, leaning her back against the door.

What just happened…?  she thought to herself. She was acting like a little girl is what was happening. She couldn’t handle this… rejection. Rejection was an emotion she wasn’t used to feeling. She always got what she wanted. And apparently she wanted Risako. Or did she? She hadn’t hardly talked to the girl for months before slipping into bed with her the night before because she wasn’t sleeping well. Even then, the next day they hardly spoke. Why would she want someone in a totally unreasonable way? Why…

Before she caught herself, she felt the bottom of her first slam back against the door behind her. She froze again then, hoping she didn’t wake anybody within. Or maybe she wanted to. The girl probably fell asleep right after she left her bed… Damn her! This time, the sharp pain of the scrapes from earlier throbbed after both her fists came away from the door.

The next second she was running down the hall. She didn’t know where she was going; she didn’t care… She just wanted to run. The pain in her head and her hand grew. She just wanted it to end. She wanted the pain to stop.

She ran through dim hallways and bright hallways. She ran down stairs. Somehow, after going through one more door she found herself outside, crickets chirping around her, and slowed as she felt bushes brush against her legs. She wouldn’t cry for a pointless reason… She wouldn’t!

Still though, the sound of crying came to her ears. She tensed herself to try to force it to stop, but it didn’t. Why didn’t it stop? Why…?

She looked around. She wasn’t the one crying. The pain must have blinded her. No, that wasn’t the right word. It deafened her. Creeping as quietly as possible – very easy in her long thin shirt, though it obviously wasn’t the best outerwear, especially with no pants – she thought she managed to zero in on where the soft noises were coming from. Slipping around a large bush she found a small dark form, and her breath caught.

“…Captain?”

Offline rndmnwierd

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Re: Berry Beautiful [Chapter 8 : Surprises in the Dark]
« Reply #32 on: May 27, 2007, 02:35:02 AM »
Captain? Aww, don't cry, what's wrong?

Loser87

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Re: Berry Beautiful [Chapter 8 : Surprises in the Dark]
« Reply #33 on: May 27, 2007, 03:19:57 AM »
;+;
You made me sad ;+;
I need reasons, logical reasons! To explain all the sudden drama and mini-angst!!
>w<
.....
Yeah, You should totally update the next chapter like right now, right at this minute
Do it!
Post!! Who cares if you have 2 comments right now, update! >_>
You should do it because I said so and I have the power of cheesecake...
O_O
C'mon~ Don't make a girl wait, it's rude!!

Offline mode107

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Re: Berry Beautiful [Chapter 8 : Surprises in the Dark]
« Reply #34 on: May 27, 2007, 05:15:52 PM »
ow poor captain.  her b/f probably broke up with her
« Last Edit: May 27, 2007, 05:17:22 PM by modesta107 »
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Offline Amarghetta

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Re: Berry Beautiful [Chapter 8 : Surprises in the Dark]
« Reply #35 on: May 28, 2007, 08:42:26 AM »
Oh, last update was intense, and intriguing...  :yep:

Offline rokun

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Re: Berry Beautiful [Chapter 9: Saki's Tale]
« Reply #36 on: May 28, 2007, 06:27:31 PM »
Anyone want some Captain? You seem worried about Captain. :) Let's have some Captain!

Chapter 9

Saki raced down the hall to put as much distance between herself and the girls’ teasings she could. She was used to them by now of course. Far be it for their great and honorable Captain to have a boyfriend - they all know how well that worked out with Morning Musume - but that didn’t mean she necessarily still liked it. Most of them hadn’t met Jun-kun since she still had to keep things reasonably under wraps, but sometimes she wished they’d understand how great a guy he was. And he sure was great…

She began to slow as she neared her dressing room, and while she changed into her casual clothes consisting of long tight cut-offs, a cute yellow-striped shirt, ball cap and shades, she had a constant silly grin on her face while thinking of him and the dinner that would be so great this afternoon. She hadn’t seen him since arriving in Saitama because he lived in Tokyo and only made the trip out to catch the afternoon concert, so she was excitedly looking forward to the dinner and what he had to say about the concert.

Pulling her cap tightly over her ears, she pulled out her cell phone and checked for any more messages. There was one.

I’m outside. Come save me, these people are crazy!

She giggled to herself as she read it. He sure had quite an opinion of the wotas. He wasn’t one himself – she met him while staying at a hotel in Tokyo once – but she told him he should start following their ways if he was going to keep coming to their concerts like this. He of course wasn’t a fan of that idea, but could not deny its sense and sound reason! Saki was a reasonable girl, after all. All of her Berryz loved her and thanked her time after time for her sound and reasonable advice. She tried her best in leading them and setting an example for them as their senpai. Well, she supposed she was unreasonable about some things of course…

A blush came to her face as she walked through the halls to the exit. Thankfully nobody came up to her while she was dressed like this and asked her why a (puny!!) girl like her would be walking around back here. She guessed the ones that did earlier must have spread the message around well. Of course, they had good motivation to… Her blush faded into an evil grin.

That grin didn’t last for long though before she sighed. Yes, quite a strong and reasonable girl. Except when it came to love. When she liked someone, whenever things started to involve that person, she seemed to lose all control and her aura of maturity. For a long time, in fact since she became Captain of Berryz, she hadn’t had someone she liked, so it wasn’t an issue… until lately. She met Jun and…

“Hey there Shooting Star.”

She paused as she passed the fence closing in their private loading area, staring at the boy in a hoodie and dark blue jeans who was leaning against the wall. “What…?” Shooting star? Was he talking to her?

“Yeah.” He straightened up and walked toward her. “When I look at that beautiful girl up on stage, that’s what I see. Of course, it also makes me feel like punching all the other drooling guys around me in the face…”

Saki giggled at that, not noticing a slight blush. “You didn’t do that I hope… Did you?”

“Well,” he said, holding his wrist and cracking his knuckles, “Just the one that cut in line for the washroom during intermission…”

She reached up and grabbed his wrist. Unfortunately, he was at least a dozen centimeters taller than her, so she had to look up into his face as close as he was. Of course, she had to do that to nearly everyone. “Didn’t I tell you not to lie to me like that?” she said with a smirk.

Jun stared back down at her with eyes slightly widened. “Did anyone ever tell you you’re too smart?”

“All the time!” she responded, smiling, and began to dash off toward the street, pulling him along.

“Hey! What are you doing? I can’t have some little girl pulling me along the street like a pet… If anyone saw me, I wouldn’t be able to show my face out-of-doors ever again.”

“Live with it!” she called back, but slowed down to allow him to catch up and walk at her side. She looked around, and satisfying herself that no one was paying any attention to them, slipped her hand down from his wrist to twine her small fingers into his, looking back up to his face and smiling. “So, where are we going for dinner?”

He hesitated for a second before responding, making her smile turn into a slight frown. “I was supposed to pick a place? I thought you’d have somewhere special all set to commemorate your big day. Plus, weren’t you treating? You’re the one making millions of yen a year…”

She squeezed his hand. Hard. “You didn’t find a place?! What are we supposed to do then? Oh, and you are most definitely treating sir… This is my big day after all!”

He didn’t respond, but looked up as if thinking about it, holding a finger to his cheek. “Hmm, well then if that’s the case, I guess since we have no other choice how about…” He stopped walking suddenly, pulling her to a stop next to him. “…here.”

Saki, who was about to take the hand she was holding and make him strangle himself with it, looked up at the building they stood next to, and her mouth fell open. In big bold stylized characters, a sign running up the wall pronounced “Shooting Star Sushi”, with smaller characters below it continuing “at the Arena”.

She finally regained her senses after a minute and looked back to Jun, her mouth still slightly open. The boy was looking cautiously back at her as if unsure what she would do. “Do you think this will do?” he asked quietly.

Saki broke into a smile. “I think it should do wonderfully.” Jun relaxed into a smile as well finally, and the two walked into the restaurant, still hand-in-hand and walking even a bit closer than before.

Dinner was as wonderful as she hoped. Roll after roll of sushi came to her and she ate it all up. It was so delicious! Jun seemed to have his share as well, though Saki noticed he kept careful track of what he had. That momentarily made her feel guilty about all she was eating. After all, what he said earlier was true. She was the one that made millions of yen a year. Jun was just a concierge at the Tokyo hotel she met him at. He was probably lucky to make half what she did, and he was two years older. Of course, she hadn’t made that much until recently either, when high school became a lesser priority and her role as Berryz Captain became more complex. Well, it was just momentary; she did treat most of the times they went out, and today was her day. It was their day really… She thought back to what her girls might be doing for dinner.

“And… Oh, when I was walking out of the arena, two girls came up to me and just started making out with me… You aren’t listening to me, are you?”

Saki broke out of her reverie and stared at him. “What?” She looked down at her food, but her chopsticks were just clanging against an empty plate. Where did it all go?

Jun chuckled. “I thought I lost you for a minute there.”

“I’m sorry,” Saki said, laying her chopsticks down and smiling over at him. “I was just thinking of the other Berryz.”

Jun leaned back in his chair and studied her face closely. “They’re really important to you, aren’t they?”

“Yeah they are,” she responded. “They look up to me for some reason…” She traced a line on her plate, though she still smiled. “They’re my girls. They deserved a day like today.” She noticed what she was doing and how silly it was and stopped, pulling her cell phone out to check the time before looking around. “Hey, I’d better get going…”

Jun rose quickly and crossed to her, proffering a hand. She took it gratefully with a smile and he pulled her up. “You really do have the most beautiful smile,” he said softly. Saki looked into his eyes trying to read them, but couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Then she lowered them with a blush, staying silent as they walked toward the door.

Once outside they walked quietly hand-in-hand back toward the arena. When they reached a sheltered spot not far from the fence behind it, they stopped and looked at each other. “When can I see you again?” Saki asked, holding his hand up in both of hers between them.

He didn’t respond for a moment while looking into her eyes. “How about tonight? Although I’m going back to Tokyo now…”

Saki broke into a wider smile. “That sounds perfect! I haven’t told the girls yet, but Miki Fujimoto is having a party for us. She lives in Tokyo, so I wouldn’t have to go far.” She paused for a second, her smile fading slightly. “…Where would we meet?”

“How about my apartment?” he asked without hesitation.

She hesitated, however. His apartment? She’d never been to a boy’s apartment before… But as she looked into his eyes, she knew she trusted him. “Okay then,” she responded with a nod.

He smiled. And then he leaned down and she felt his lips on hers. Her world dissolved like it always did when they kissed, and for a while she just melted as his arms pulled her close and she tip-toed up toward him.

Then, too soon, he pulled away, still with his arms around her as if for support. She wasn’t sure she didn’t need it. “Well. Later then,” he said. “Mail me when you’re able to leave the party.”

“I will,” she breathed. She felt his arms unwind from her, and then he was gone, with her staring after.

“Captain!” came a high-pitched voice from behind her. She turned around to see Momo walking toward her. “I see you’re back too, huh? Have a good dinner?” she asked with a sly grin.

“Yes,” Saki smiled back. “The dessert was to die for.”

Offline mode107

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Re: Berry Beautiful [Chapter 9: Saki's Tale]
« Reply #37 on: May 28, 2007, 09:00:05 PM »
aww, saki going back to his apartment? naughty, naughty!
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Offline Aioros

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Re: Berry Beautiful [Chapter 9: Saki's Tale]
« Reply #38 on: May 29, 2007, 12:51:36 AM »
Gah! I wanted to post a comment for chapter 8 since the weekend but I can't think of anything to say except that it was great. It was kinda unexpected for Risako to drive away Miya like that but maybe she's just confused with what her true feelings are. :cry:

And yay for Captain love! Shooting Star fits her real well too. I just hope Jun doesn't do anything bad too her  :mon zoom:

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Offline rndmnwierd

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Re: Berry Beautiful [Chapter 9: Saki's Tale]
« Reply #39 on: May 29, 2007, 04:56:21 AM »
He didn't try to take advantage of her, did he? Err, why I oughtta... :angry:

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