@rndmnwierd: lol maybe she will get a fairy godmother...
@risa_ai: lol... you missed it by a bit there
@KirikomoriHime: lol it's okay! quote-by-quotes take effort and i appreciate it!
@mochi.rini: LOL yeah, i forgot to change the date...
@sakura_drop: oh I can answer that! Well, half of it: Junjun actually doesn't correspond to anyone specific, I kinda just threw her in there..
For Reina, it's going to be naturally revealed soon but you can check her trailer title for a hint
@all6th: lol i NEVER let things work out easily
@Tian_Yuan: mehehe... you'll see
@Kikk4r: lol well, she's been a rebel twice so far in my fics so this time, i turned it around
She's a really stylish CEO though, not an uptight suit-wearing one
@XxRoByNxX78: lollll that is so sweet of you! i'm really glad you like my writing so much!
@xxkaori-kittyxx: lol something will happen
thank you so much for all the comments and thanks!!! they power me uppppp
there's a certain reference in the chapter, so when you get to a point where you have a "wth?" moment, scroll down and the explanation will be there. and then you can continue reading again
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 3 - "Juliet was Unhappy But... Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" “This is so incredible! Sugoi!”
Aika laughed loudly as she beamed with joy. She quickly marched forward into the large dark room that was lit with many flashing colored lights. Risa followed behind her closely, a tight smile formed across her lips. She didn’t seem as ecstatic as her younger friend to be in a club full of hundreds of people.
But who could blame her? After all, Aika’s parents had personally asked her to please take good care of their little girl. Truth be told, Risa had hoped that her friend would be stopped at the entrance of the club and be asked her age, but no such thing had occurred. In fact, she had been eyed by the other people who were lined up at the door, since she didn’t quite look like her normal 18-year-old self, but rather a very mature and attractive woman. She had chosen to wear a semi-tight black mini-dress that accentuated her excellent figure with silver bracelets and jewelry. An hour ago, she had taken special care to do her make-up and her hair, which was now in loose waves. She wasn’t a Shiga country girl tonight, but a charming city girl who was ready to party at a club. And Risa did not feel comfortable about it at all.
It was mental inconvenience that weighed on the bean’s mind about her young friend, but there was also a very literal and physical meaning to it as well. She wasn’t used to wearing the type of outfit that Aika had picked out for her, which consisted of a loose semi-see-through white shirt matched with a black camisole underneath and a tight black miniskirt. She even had smoky-eye makeup on, which was also done by her eager childhood friend, and her hair was in loose curls by her shoulders. Risa appreciated that Aika had put in such effort to turn her into such a glamorous woman for the night, yet the fact that a girl who was five years younger than her knew more about fashion and beauty made the bean feel slightly uneasy inside.
“Gaki-san, it’s just like I imagined!” Aika yelled happily over the loud music. “There’s the dance floor, the flashing lights, all these people… oh, and the bar! Let’s go to the bar!”
“Uh-uh, no way!” Risa scolded, pulling her friend back by her wrist. “You are not going anywhere near the bar, and you are not drinking anything here!”
“Oh… fine,” Aika pouted. “Then… let’s go dance together!”
“Ah… that’s okay…” the older girl mumbled slowly, taking a step back. “I don’t dance.”
“Come on, Gaki-san, that’s such a lie,” Aika grinned. “You’re a great dancer; I’ve seen you dance.”
“Fine, correction: I don’t feel like dancing.”
“How could you not dance when you’re at a club?” Aika insisted. “Come on, it’ll be fun. Dance with me!”
In an instant, Risa found herself pulled into the crowd of people on the center dance floor. She noticed that most of the clubbers were female, and they were all just dancing with each other. Some were doing a bit more than just dancing but Risa tried to turn her head away so as not to stare at them. She even saw a girl being hit on by other women, who verbally and physically refused them. The girl was quite cute though, after all, with a face of a doll, white skin, and long black curls that hung down her back. She said something to the women hitting on her, frowning, and eventually stepped off the dance floor and sat down.
When Risa turned her attention back to her friend, Aika was starting to bob her head up and down to the beat of the music before she started to move her body along as well. Sighing, the older girl modestly joined in and danced along as well. Since Aika was here anyway, despite being underage, maybe she ought to have fun as much as she could. After all, it was her first night of many in Tokyo, so perhaps this would serve as a form of celebration of her new life.
Smiling, Risa started to move her body a little more as Aika laughed and danced full out in front of her, even placing her hand on the bean’s shoulder. The older girl couldn’t exactly say she was enjoying the party, but she would do her best to match up to Aika’s energy level for her sake.
** ** **
“And… that should do it!”
Letting out a sigh of satisfaction, Ai placed the last washed plate on the dish rack. She stretched her body as she walked out of the kitchen, taking off her apron and slinging it over one of the chairs. She stood in the middle of her living room and slowly looked around, trying to remember what she had to do next.
“Ah!” Ai snapped her fingers. “Vacuum!”
Rubbing her hands together, the woman went to the closet and pulled out the vacuum cleaner. She plugged it into the nearest outlet and switched on the machine, which came to life with a deafening roar. As she rolled the vacuum machine back and forth, Ai made a quick list in her head of what was left on her list of chores: groceries, laundry, bills… and then she would be able to sleep.
Ah, I’ll turn on Sayu’s electric blanket before she gets home, too, Ai thought to herself. She knew her sister always needed a warm futon, no matter what the weather.
I wonder if she’s having fun right now… The woman’s motions started to slow down subconsciously before Ai eventually stopped moving her arms and she switched off the vacuum cleaner. She stood still and leaned against the machine and sighed.
It might’ve been nice to go clubbing… she thought to herself.
Like Eri said, I hadn’t gone in a long time… Maybe I should relax… But Sayu didn’t want me there so I guess it was impossible… Exhaling again, Ai shrugged off the regretful feeling and decided to go back to cleaning. But before she could switch on the vacuum cleaner again, she heard the sound of her door bell. Ai turned towards the front door and raised an eyebrow. Who could it be at this time of the evening? It was nearing 9 o’clock…
Dusting her hands off, the woman went to the front door and turned the lock open. Slowly, she opened the door and tried to peek out to see who her visitor was. But before she could fully realize who it was, she felt the door being pushed open with a strong force and a group of people pushed her in and shut the door. Ai let out a short yell in shock before she recognized the smiling people before her.
“Ai-chan!” the woman in the middle said. “Were you surprised?”
“Eri!” Ai yelled. “And… what are you guys doing in my house?”
The turtle turned her head towards either side to beam at the other visitors. Four girls stood slightly behind her, grinning at Ai with pure joy. One girl had long straight hair and was holding a pile of dresses in her arms. Another had a ponytail and was also holding more clothes. The girl with medium length hair had plastic bags filled with shoes in her hand and the short-haired girl next to her had a large box that Ai recognized as Eri’s make-up kit.
“We are…” the medium length-haired girl started.
“Bishoujo Sentai Ramenger!”
The four girls all posed individually into what looked like a mock imitation of cartoon heroes. Ai rolled her eyes at her turtle friend clapped energetically for them.
“Mou, you guys are still at that again?” Ai moaned. “You girls are all in middle school now, and you’re still calling yourselves ‘Beautiful Girl Squad Ramenger’? What does that even mean?”
“Well, we all love ramen a lot, so…” the short-haired girl said.
“And we love Takahashi-san!” the long-haired girl exclaimed. “And we want to become a ‘bishoujo’, like you!”
“So the four of us together are…”
“Bishoujo Sentai Ramenger!”
The same poses were repeated and Ai hung her head down in hopelessness. Eri clapped again and cheered something about how cute they were.
“Takahashi-san, oshisashiburi desu!” the ponytail girl greeted cheerfully.
“What do you mean ‘oshisashiburi’?” Ai replied, rolling her eyes. “We just met in the elevator yesterday, Suzuki! And you too, Sayashi!”
“You didn’t see me yesterday, Takahashi-san!” the short-haired girl said. “I missed you so much!”
“I saw you in the parking lot the day before, Ikuta,” Ai sighed. “I haven’t seen Fukumura in a while, though. Genki?”
“Hai! Genki desu!” Mizuki answered loudly. Then, she giggled to herself as she turned towards her friends. “Takahashi-san just asked me how I was doing! Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh!”
The other three girls also giggled along as they watched their oldest friend’s cheeks turn pink. Eri laughed at the innocence of the young girls as Ai raised an eyebrow. But, eventually, she could help but also chuckle along with everybody else. After all, she knew that the four girls who lived in the same apartment building were big fans of her for unknown reasons, and they squealed and gawked at everything and anything Ai did. It was not unusual for the four of them to run out of their homes like ninjas after seeing Ai return from grocery shopping or work in order to carry her things for her. They could be quite immature and troublesome at times but Ai had learned to appreciate being loved so much by these sweet girls.
“So… what are you guys all doing here?” Ai asked. “It’s 9 o’clock already… Do you need something?”
“Nope, not at all,” Eri grinned. “Rather, we think you need us.”
“Huh?”
Eri smirked craftily and eyed the four younger girls beside her. “Ramengers, get her!”
The four girls dropped the things in their arms and jumped forward to grab the older woman. Ai was quickly dragged over to the living room couch and forced to sit down on it. She tried to get up but the four girls grabbed onto each limb of her body, immobilizing her. Eri stood in front of her with her chin held high, like some evil antihero.
“Chotto, what are you guys doing?” Ai asked, her eyes showing confusion. “Let me go!”
“Gomenasai, Takahashi-san!” Riho apologized.
“We have no choice but to do this!” Erina insisted.
“Kamei-san said it would make you happy in the long run,” Kanon explained.
“And it is our job to keep you happy,” Mizuki proclaimed, “because we are…”
“Bishoujo Sentai Ramenger!”
“Did I mention I absolutely adore your fan club?” Eri grinned.
“Did I mention I absolutely abhor you sometimes?” Ai shot back with sarcastic sweetness.
“Mou, don’t be mean, Ai-chan,” the turtle pouted. “I’m only here to help! No matter what, I’m taking you out to have fun tonight, and that’s that. I was just fortunate enough to run into these four in the parking lot who were watching your house through binoculars.”
“Yeah, you were just—wait, binoculars?!” Ai turned her head towards either side at the four girls grabbing onto her arms and legs, who turned away in shame. “You girls were spying on me?”
“Not spying, Takahashi-san!” Erina said quickly. “Just… just watching over.”
“We couldn’t see anything anyway,” Riho mumbled. “You live on the 5th floor, so the angle was pretty bad from outside…”
“It’s okay, Riho-chan,” Kanon comforted. “We’ll go to the building next to ours to try out the binoculars next time.”
“And we won’t give up until we succeed!” Mizuki announced. “Because we are….”
“Bishoujo Sentai Ramenger!”
“I need to get new blinds…” Ai muttered to herself.
“Well, Ai-chan,” Eri said, putting her hands on her hips, “starting now, we are going to make you into a gorgeous beauty for the club party!”
“Eri, I already told you, I can’t go,” Ai sighed. “Sayu is there right now and if she sees me… well, it won’t be very good.”
“Don’t worry, Ai-chan, everything will be fine,” Eri assured. “We’re going to go enjoy ourselves at Club Romeo. You’re going to drink, dance, and have fun. If you fall into Sayu’s range, I’ll interject and keep Sayu from seeing you. Everything will go fine.”
“But my chores…”
“That’s why these girls are here,” Eri explained. “They’re willing to finish up your work here before Sayumi gets home.”
“But—”
“You always work so hard, Ai-chan,” the turtle said softly, smiling. “You deserve to go out, at least one night. For once, don’t let Sayumi’s desires get in your way. And I’ll help you.”
Ai chewed on her lips as she looked into her friend’s sincere eyes. The four Ramengers were gazing at her with pleading eyes as well. Since they had gone through the hard work of coming here with the determination of helping her… Ai knew that she very well couldn’t refuse. “Alright then… dress me up.”
“Roger!” Mizuki yelled, saluting the older woman as the other girls followed suit.
The turtle and the four girls immediately went to work as they dug through the pile of dresses and clothes and put them up against Ai. Whenever Eri shook her head no, a new outfit was brought in its place immediately. After much disapproval by her friend, Ai was finally given a coordinated outfit that consisted of a short red dress and a slightly see-through black blouse over it. She was to wear red shorts underneath it as well as long black boots that reached over her knees, together with much jewelry.
Next, Eri moved onto the hair. Ai complained that since her hair was in a boyish short cut, there was nothing to do with it. However, the turtle did not step away easily, and straightened every lock of Ai’s hair so that whenever she flipped her head, her hair would flop over smoothly as well.
The final thing on the agenda was makeup. Ai tried to take the makeup kit away from Eri so that she could do it herself but the Ramengers ended up pinning her down again, all the while begging for her forgiveness. Eri smiled smugly as Ai finally gave up on even trying to protest and let the turtle do her makeup for her.
Eventually, after the long preparation, Eri stepped away from her masterpiece and breathed a sigh of satisfaction. The Ramengers skittered towards her and turned to observe the woman they admired so much. They all exhaled shakily and closed their hands together over their heart, mesmerized by the sight. Ai was no longer her usual self in sweats and apron, but an incredibly glamorous woman who could probably charm any man or woman with the flip of her hair. She blushed a little at being stared and scratched her head.
“Do I… look weird?” she mumbled.
“Ai-chan, you wound me!” the turtle gasped. “How can my coordination make anyone look weird?”
“You look beautiful, Takahashi-san!” Kanon gushed.
“You’re like a princess from a fairy tale!” Riho chimed in.
“I’m going to fall in love all over again with Takahashi-san!” Erina claimed.
“We’ll always love you, Takahashi-san!” Mizuki promised. “Because we are…”
“Bishoujo Sentai Ramenger!”
Ai burst out laughing as she stepped forward to pat each of her fans on their heads. “Arigatou.”
“T-T-T-Takahashi-san just…” Kanon stuttered.
“Sh-sh-sh-she just…” Mizuki stammered.
“Just… th-thanked us?” Riho said.
“Kya~!” Erina squealed before her friends followed suit. They started to jump up and down together, covering their bright red faces with their hands. Ai rolled her eyes and grinned, intrigued by the Ramengers’ reactions. Eri also smiled, glad to see that her friend’s face had brightened since that morning.
“Well, we gotta get you back before Sayu,” she said, clapping her hands together, “which means we only have until about midnight. So we better get going if we don’t want to miss the party!”
“Oh, right, right,” Ai said quickly. Her turtle friend took her wrist and started to drag her towards the front door but she looked back at the four girls left in her home. “Um, the laundry should be in the hamper, finish vacuuming first, I guess, and then… the grocery list is on the fridge—”
“Don’t worry, Takahashi-san!” Riho said, saluting the older woman.
“We’ll get your chores done in time!” Kanon said, mimicking her friend’s action.
“They’ll be fine,” Eri reassured. “They probably know their ways around your house better than you do. That’s how much they’re obsessed with you.”
“It’s not obsession!” Erina insisted. “It’s love~”
“Um, yeah, okay,” Ai said, still not feeling quite comfortable with the idea of leaving four middle school girls in her home by themselves. “Just… make sure to leave before Sayu gets here, I guess.”
“Roger!” Mizuki answered clearly.
“Okay, then, let’s go!” Eri exclaimed. “Here’s to a night of fun, fun, and more fun!”
Ai grinned at her friend’s proclamation and nodded. She was definitely ready to drop everything for once and just enjoy what was to come. And she had a strong feeling that tonight was indeed going to be a good night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
if you didn't get the ramenger reference, check out this vid:
time to go plan more stuff out~
and i'm still not saying anything unless necessary
Topic: Juliet and Cinderella ~ [UPDATE - Chapter 22 - (10/28)] (Read 104249 times)