Bake Shop Romance Chapter 23 7/11/12

[Shiawase_Honoo]

AHAHAHA, laundary is not always a piece of cookie
For poor Mizuki, I hope she will be alright whatever happen after this

[kuro808]

@oddy elaborate planning

@shiwase yes it isn't sometimes

The mother thing was kinda last minute thing to add more intrigue to the chapter although this one adds more to a potential new coupling

Chapter 19


A few days later, on the day of the concert, Sayu decided to not open shop today despite the weekends being the busiest time of the week.  She was well-aware of it and had to go down to the shop to put up the sign to the disappointed customers as Fuku-chan sat on her couch.

She returned back home hours later seeing the girl sleeping and took a seat on the empty space on the couch.  Sayu turned on the tube to watch mid-morning shows and quickly dozed off without her noticing it.  As her head tilted back, she began to think about the revenue from the past month which made her glad to employ the waitresses.

Fuku-chan opened her eyes as she felt something warm on her body.  She glanced over at her legs to see Sayu sleeping on them but her hands were on her shorts.  It didn’t seem weird until she had noticed the button out of the notch and the zipper pulled halfway down.

She began to think about if she slept with it like that but thought it was highly unlikely.  Then, Sayu awoke noticing the girl with fear in her eyes.  The bunny gave a confused look as Fuku-chan scooted to the other side of the couch.

“Why are you moving away from me?”  Sayu asked calmly.

“How is my shorts like this?”  She pointed down and Sayu held her hand to her mouth.

“Did you do that?”

“No, someone did this and you were the one next to me.”

Sayu had wondered if her dreams could ever be played out into real life and unfortunately it was happening in front of her and bowed her head.

“I didn’t do it while I was awake, unconsciously I might have done it.”  Sayu bent lower as Fuku-chan tried to understand the situation.

The bunny paused for a few seconds before explaining a previous incident with a friend.  During a sleepover, her friend had asked her to sleep with her because of the stormy weather outside.  She agreed and slipped under the sheets with her.  During the night, she had awoken to Sayu’s hand under her shirt right below her chest.  She was surprised that it happened and ended up sleeping on the floor for the rest of the night. 

The next morning, she had left without saying goodbye and went home by bus with whatever money she had brought on the trip.

“It seems weird that you did it.”  Fuku-chan commented.

“The thing was… I liked that person.”  Sayu bit down on her lower lip as she waited for a reply from Mizuki.

“I see.”  Fuku-chan buttoned up and left the room to use the restroom leaving the bunny alone.

She turned the corner and placed her head on the wall as her fears were now at a high.  She never knew Sayu was unconsciously doing it or purposely knew, but it scared her a lot that she may take advantage of her one night and never know what had happened.  On the other side, she liked Sayu despite her lack of work ethic and business intelligence and she had hired her when no one would.

After a few minutes of pondering, she walked into the bathroom to do her business and walked out to see Sayu on her side watching the television.  She approached her quietly as she squeezed between her and end of the couch.

“Reina wanted to tell you that I’ll be her date, if you wanted to know.” 

“Okay.  Don’t you like her?”  Sayu turned her head towards the waitress.

“I haven’t really met her yet.  She just asked me out of the blue because you were going to the concert.  I wasn’t sure if I should go but Aika was explaining to me that Reina had a business proposition, so I decided to go along with it.”  Sayu explained as she turned backed toward the tube.

“Eripon has a chaperone so it might be hard to fit everyone around unless you can help me.”  Sayu had a smile on her face.

“I can help you there.”  Sayu said as they were four hours from the concert time.

Eripon received a text and she smiled at it while Koha was doing minor cleaning around the room and started to vacuum around the room.  The noise was unbearable as the suction was getting the dirt deep in the carpeting and she stepped out of the room to reply back.

“Erina-chan, didn’t the maids vacuum?”  She shook her head.

“It is really dirty in here, boys don’t like that.”  Her smile caused evil intentions in her mind as she said out loudly and hoped for her father to not hear that.

Luckily, the vacuum cancelled out the comment and Koha continued on her ways as she waited for Fuku-chan’s reply for the plan.  She ventured over to the maid’s room in curiosity trying to find something about Koha to assist with Fuku-chan’s plans.  She turned the knob to a plain room with her laptop still on and shook the mouse to open her screen.  There was nothing too much she found except for her messaging software was on and looked at the messages she had received.

“Normal stuff I guess.”  She said to herself as she walked out of the room.

She looked down to notice a bag of stuff right by the door as she was ready to close it.  She reached into the bag and noticed they were books about fashion.  Eripon flipped through the pages and it was mostly about history, it was dry to her mind but it seemed enjoyable.

“You like reading?”  Koha asked as Eripon dropped the book onto the floor.

“I guess so.”  Eripon stared at her for a few seconds before picking up the book.

“Well, I will continue on my studies when I get into college but I think I’ll like it here.”  She grinned as Eripon walked back to her room but felt a hand grab her.

“If you do get a boyfriend, I want to meet him.”  She whispered into her ear as she gave an intrigued look.

“I can highly doubt a boyfriend with my father so I probably won’t get one soon…”  She replied as Koha winked at her.

Eripon looked at her phone and saw a bunch of text written out for the plan and she jogged to her room to write down every step that was required for her.  She was surprised that she was going to take on majority of the plan as she heard the ringtone and answered.

“Reina just called, she has a limousine to pick us up.  It will be here in an hour.”  Fuku-chan instructed.

Eripon hung up the phone and headed over to Koha’s room to find her door locked.  She knocked a few time before Koha answered only showing her head.

“It will come in an hour.”  Koha nodded and closed the door again.

“I guess we can start the wheel rolling.”  She said under her breath as she put on her clothes for the concert.

[maikeatoot]

 haha d hyperactive koha was doing minOr cleaning?! ! woah.!

[oddball]

Man what is Sayu doing, that's kinda freaky! 

But she might only do it with people she likes....... interesting

Hmm I wonder if Eripon can figure something out on how to get rid of koha with the fashion mags.......

[kuro808]

@maike well they were squeezed with time

@oddy: or another person as for Sayu, it gets worst

Chapter 20


Sayu kept her eyes on Fuku-chan while they were waiting for the limousine outside the complex.  She started running through all kinds of scenarios in her head pondering if one could work but still looking at her, it made her heart beat a little faster.

"Sayu, are you okay?"  The bunny nodded as she couldn't keep her eyes off her for a second and was in desperation for the limousine.

The limousine pulled up in front of them and they were escorted inside as they drove off.  Sayu looked over at Fuku-chan as she was punching her text message.  Then, she moved over to sit next to her as she had a plan.

Fuku-chan leaned in to hear her explain the plan and tried to fix certain holes that may be exposed with her.  It seemed at the time foolproof but execution was the main component from a good night and a great night.  Fuku-chan sent the text and tilted her head back to feel the brisk air conditioning blowing into her face.

"Eripon seems really nice."  Sayu said under her voice.

"What did you say?"  Fuku-chan looked at Sayu as she felt her hand coming closer.

"Eripon seems nice, I said."  Sayu pulled back her hand.

"Oh... yeah it is just..."

"You like her?"  Fuku-chan had a small smile on her face.

Sayu felt her heart sank a bit.  She should be happy that Fuku-chan had a person she liked but deep inside, it was beginning to torture her.  Sayu was frozen in time just playing with two sides of her brain, one wanting to be happy, the other jealous that she had to fight Eripon for her attention.  The question was why she had such affectionate feelings for someone younger.

She flipped back to reality realizing her spacing out and the limousine stopped violently causing the two to fall forward.  Sayu noticed someone on the bottom of her and looked down to see Fuku-chan trying to block Sayu from putting anymore weight on her.


Sayu began her fight in her head again and just closed her eyes to rattle it out before she could make a stupid decision.  But it was too late; she leaned in and felt something touching her lips.  She tossed herself onto the backseat and looked down at Fuku-chan who was stunned with her eyes in shock.

"Gomen."  Sayu cried as Fuku-chan sat up.

"You weren't lying."  Fuku-chan mumbled as she wiped off the lipstick off her lips.

Sayu curled up into a ball while the limousine was pulling up into the driveway.  Fuku-chan caressed the bunny's head as she had time to wait for Eripon and her chaperone to enter the limousine.

Eripon was prepared to go to the concert compared to her chaperone, which was still busily picking out her clothing while chatting to her webcam.  She had rarely seen any of her maids had a scatterbrained moment but within a fifteen minute span, she regretfully changing in and out of clothing.  Eripon could only watch her flash around her selection while she only had her undergarments on.

"Hurry up."  Eripon yelled as Koha signaled the okay and put whatever she thought was proper for the concert.

The two headed out to the limousine with high energy.  Koha got to the car first and opened the door to a surprise and closed the door.  Eripon opened the door and waved to Sayu as Fuku-chan hid from her sight and Koha jumped inside with her arms crossed.

“What’s wrong with her?”  Sayu pointed toward the chaperone.

“You.”  Koha snapped back as Sayu held her hand up to her mouth.

“What did I do to you?”  Koha stuck out her tongue as Eripon looked blankly at both of them.

She stared at Fuku-chan for the whole ride as she smiled at her a few times before looking at Sayu who was still staring at Koha.  Eripon scooted next to her as she saw her tears roll down her cheeks and turned her away from Sayu.  She lifted her chin up and wiped the tears from her cheeks.  Fuku-chan leaned into the girl and wrapped her arms around her.  Squeezing her tightly, the words seemed to feel pulled by floss.

“I like you.”

“What do you mean?”

“No matter what you say, I want you to be with me.”  Eripon created space to digest the words.

It was weird for a confession from anyone especially her.  Eripon never knew she had that deep feeling for her and the questions seemed to pop about her.  She could ask her right then but the automobile stopped and the driver opened the door for the group as they entered backstage.

Fuku-chan showed her smile as they headed into the room where Aika was sitting everyone down and offered them cold water bottles as they had a big screen to watch the show.  Fuku-chan was anxious if she could see it from an angle that was from the crowd.  Aika was first hesitant about it and then she granted her request by sending her into a luxury box in the theater for a short period.

“Eripon, come with me.”  She took her by the hand and headed up to the box for at least a set with Aika watching over them leaving Koha and Sayu in the room.

“You still never answered my question.”  Sayu broke the silence.

“I don’t have to answer it.”  Koha crossed her arms.

“Well, if you don’t answer it, you’ll be ruining it for Eripon.  Do you think she’ll be happy if you ruin this for her?”  Koha relaxed her arms and turned her head.

“You are so… mean.  You only care for your appearance and think everyone like you but not everyone does.”  Sayu nodded her head.

“If you say so, but I can never have my way.”  Koha stared straight at her.

“Of course, you can’t but if you want someone to like you, you should be kinder and considerate to people.”  Koha explained as Aika walked back into room.

“Sayu, we have a room for you and Reina to talk about business.”  Sayu stood up leaving Koha in the room realizing where Aika took the two and headed toward the door.

“Sorry, we cannot let you out of the room.”

“But, I need to find my person.”

“They will be fine, you can relax here.”  Koha stopped resisting and took a seat on the couch watching the concert on the big screen.

Aika removed her headset and sat down next to Koha.  She moved closer to her and placed her head on top of Koha’s lap.  Koha placed her hand on top of her head and ran her fingers through her short hair as Reina was wrapping up her first set.

The girls were enjoying the seats from the top and waved their complimentary wands as she began her well-known song.  Reina stopped midway through her song blaming the fans for making her cry and started up again ending with a strong note.  She stepped away for a bit as the fans were chanting and Fuku-chan stepped in with the chanting as a few minutes passed by and then the stage lights were turned off.

“She might be getting into high intensity part of her concert.”  Fuku-chan squealed in delight as Eripon looked on as the fans were picking up the chanting.

Reina came out with an explosion and hit a medley of three songs before bowing to the crowd.  She began a monologue about her life in general and the guests for this concert.  She waved up to the luxury box to the girls and they waved back enthusiastically as she held up her finger.

“One more song, ne.”  She spoke to the crowd as they cheered back and she swept into the final song without pause as the crowd went into frenzy.

“Let’s go back to the room.”  Eripon followed Fuku-chan back as Reina was ending her performance.

Reina did the usual encore before heading to the Sayu’s room and she walked in with Sayu still stuck on the screen.

“Incredible performance.”  Sayu clapped as Reina took a seat next to her.

“Thanks, but we have something to talk about.  Let me change and we’ll go to the bar to celebrate the concert.”  The bunny nodded as she turned back to the screen to see the fans.

[oddball]

Blimey, Sayu and Fuku-chan  I wonder what would happen if Eripon found out, especialy now the feeling between her and Fukuchan are alot more out there....

even Koha and Aika, man eveyone was getting involved this episode!

[kuro808]

@oddy secrets build at the right time

Chapter 21


Reina dressed in a simple, white t-shirt and shorts cut at the 3/4 thigh.  She slipped on sunglasses and released her hair down to her shoulders as they walked out to the bar.

"Do you like hiding from the media?"

"No, I wish I could be myself rather than be hidden away."  Sayu nodded as she thought of another question.

"Sugimoto Ken..."  Reina halted and grabbed the bunny's by the hand.

"I never did went out with him, we are supposedly friends, but the one night we decided to collaborate, they Friday'd us."  Reina held her fist into a ball and steadily picked up her pace.

"Ken-sama said the same thing and also added a remark."  Sayu thought to herself while Reina stopped her progress again.

"Ken is a perverted composure.  He whored out many big names to get himself famous.  Yet, he has a sweet side to him."  Sayu was now 1/2 block ahead as Reina pointed to the bar to her right and waited there until she could catch up.

Reina briefly remembered the conversation about his preferences and the mindset to rid of work to hit up the bar but his manager began push him to stay for the sake of Reina, who had her first single released days earlier.  He patiently composed the song to suit the young star until she could hit the pitchy issues.  Reina's manager, Aika, was sleeping when the event happened as Ken left the building.

Ken pushed Reina back in but it was too late their cover story was now news but the lack of knowledge and being mum dissolved the story in a week.  However, it impacted a change in her public persona and the once open idol was semi-private with only her close friends knowing her whereabouts.

Sayu entered the bar filled with people with her eyes on which table they should sit at.  Reina followed the bunny in and looked for the manager off the back and was given directions to the private table in the back.  The two women took their seats and saw an iPad in front of them with their drinks menu.

"Sugoi!"  Sayu exclaimed as she picked the pink one compared to Reina's whiskey on the rocks.

"Well as you can see it is an upper class bar for many entertainers and executives.  It is all automated to what you want and it stops when the pad is turned off."  Reina explained with her eyes on the bunny.

"Okay.  Now, what is your proposition?"  Sayu asked.

Reina grinned towards her.  The look was of intrigue and she could see a bit of nervousness in her grin.  The idol slipped a piece of paper and Sayu read through it carefully.  Sayu was looking for any weird stipulations throughout the document before she would give it back to the singer.  The bunny was sharp with business as compared to her love life and she knew how people can con you out of millions because she had done that for the cafe.

The drinks arrived when she read the last bit and returned the paper back how it was folded to her and took a sip of her drink, tasting the bitters hitting her tongue.  She knew it left her room to budge around and saw tighter agreements but she wanted Reina sell it to her.  The idol let the smooth liquor flow down her throat before starting her introduction.

"As you know, I have been a singer but I want to open a business on my own.  Many of these high executives have no money to throw my way so I asked you to open another store in my name.  Since I am the new person, I want to not take all the risk at once, so you will co-own it for me for six months before handing it over to me."  Sayu slowly nodded with another sip from the glass.

"You want the same thing as what I provide, as you have written here, but the location is my issue."  Reina smiled.

"Don't you think my hometown is not great enough?"  Sayu shook her head in defense of her statement.

"It seems out of my way to do business, especially where your fans are concentrated within the country."  Reina lifted her glasses up and rubbed her nose with Sayu's words lingering in her head.

"I know most are in Tokyo but if I don't get it open in Fukuoka, my hometown will be disappointed."  Reina showed her pout as Sayu had to think on her feet.

"How about build one here and move it over there in six months?"  She shook her head furiously.

"I promised to have one there soon."  The idol was showing her frustrations with Sayu and she decided to get crafty over the situation.

"Okay, I need some items from you to decide if it will work out."

"It will work out."  Reina interjected.

"Do you have a location of the land?"  Reina froze as she had forgotten if the location was available.  She began to curse herself for the mistake and promised that they can speak in a less secretive environment.

This is going to be a long trip.

Eripon entered into the room first glancing at the two on the couch.  Aika popped up and put her headset back as they followed her leaving Koha looking at the screen.

“Wait for me.”  She shouted out as she saw the two girls holding hands as they followed Aika to the back exit.

Her genuine smile said everything to her chaperone as she caught up to them.  Koha blocked Aika from the car to confront Eripon whose smile disappeared seeing Koha in front of her.

“I see why you don’t have a boyfriend.”  Koha rubbed the girl’s head.

“She doesn’t need to have one.  Don’t you think a girl cannot protect her?”  Fuku-chan stared at Koha as she took a few steps back.

Koha excused herself from the situation and let them go off into the limousine leaving Aika behind with a grin on her face.  Koha felt a chill down her back as she felt that something might happen.  She moved towards the limousine’s direction before letting it go out of the parking lot.

“Reina has requested them to go to a fast-food restaurant.  We will follow later.”  Koha looked back at Aika as she jumped into another car and Koha jumped in as they went the other way.

Fuku-chan and Eripon arrived at a hamburger place where they were starting to clean up.  They both looked at each other confused as the driver opened the door and walked up to the entrance.

“Sorry for the inconvenience, we are here for dinner.”  Fuku-chan bowed to the front person as she looked back and out came an orange-haired woman.

“Gomen, we have your meal ready for you.”  She bowed to them and escorted them to the corner.

“Natsuyaki!  What are you doing?” 

“Tanaka-san asked if I could help her with a favor.”  She slanted her eyes at the younger worker and shook her head as the duo sat down to burgers and fries complimented with a chocolate milkshake.

Each slowly bit into their warm burger as they began to wonder about the weird atmosphere and the worker staring at them from ten feet away.  It seemed awkward for a meal but both didn’t mind having each other as company.  They didn’t realize their food was gone until they looked at each other giggling.

“That was short.”

“It was.”

“I guess we need to return home.”  Fuku-chan extended out her hand to grab the younger girl’s arm.

“One more thing.”  Fuku-chan leaned in with her lips out and pressed upon Eripon’s cheek.

“Thank you for tonight.  See ya tomorrow at work.”  She waved goodbye as Miya gave the work phone to Fuku-chan.

“Reina… wants you to come here.”  Sayu was drunk, Fuku-chan wasn’t surprised but her actions while sober confused her.

[oddball]

Hmm, I wonder if Sayu and Reina's plan will work out, seems as though there is still a long way to go atm with it.....

Miya? interesting, is she now in the story too, and why was she staring at ponpon?

Aww kiss on the cheek, well done Fuku-chan, I wonder about Eripons reaction to it.......

[kuro808]

@oddy a running theme is the reina/sayu interaction, as for Miya, she is helping out.  As for ponpon, it might be an interesting twist

Chapter 22


Fuku-chan woke up the morning feeling the bliss of the previous night and the dreadful realization that Sayu is with her.  She sat up looking around the room and noticed the bunny was not in the room.  She walked over to the kitchen to find the owner with a glass of water in her hand while her head was flat on the table.

“Are you okay?”  Fuku-chan asked as she looked in the fridge for breakfast.

“No.”

“Where’s your keys?”

“Why?  I cannot open up,” the bunny mumbled through the table.

“I can, just give me the keys.”  She commanded as Sayu pointed toward the door and Fuku-chan left the apartment to find breakfast.

She walked through the city for a quick meal and found it at the convenience store where the baker was getting his coffee for work.  Fuku-chan flashed the keys and followed her out of the store to give her a ride to the bakery where Fuku-chan opened the back door and he started to turn on everything.

She opened the front side with a person sitting on the sidewalk.  The person turned and greeted Fuku-chan at the door with a big smile.

“I have good news.”  She informed her.

Harunan presented an envelope to her with an emblem of the art school.  She opened the envelope and read through the letter with a grin on her face.  Fuku-chan wrapped her arms around the older girl thanking her for the good news.  She ran back inside yelling her lungs out of the great news as the baker put his hands together.

“Congrads, are you going to tell Sayu?”

Fuku-chan froze as she thought on what she should say to her.  On one hand, she wanted to take an opportunity to work on her art but having this job was a flexible option for income.  Then, the living situation would come into play plus not seeing Eripon often was weighed in.  She sat outside trying to consider her decision and looked over the letter to see the deadline for submitting a decision.

Two months.  I can at least move out then.

Fuku-chan returned without an instant decision but knew the best thing is to keep mulling over the chance until she felt confident.  She grabbed the kettles and boiled the water for the tea as the smell of the room was filled with pastries.  Fuku-chan grabbed the tea leaves and placed them in the pot as the water was steaming.  She poured out the hot water into the pot as the next thing was to get the sign out but she was in a hurry because of Sayu’s absence.

She drew up the menu and stuck it outside as she dusted the tables off and the first customer she let in was Reina with her manager.  Fuku-chan took them to the corner table and ran to the back to get the pastries and tea for them.  She came with a small selection and a teapot for them.

“Thank you, where is Sayu?”  She asked as she lowered her sunglasses revealing her red eyes.

“She is at home hung over,” she replied as the idol tilted her head back and laughed.

“That woman is such a lightweight, so I guess you are the only one serving.”  She nodded her head.  “The other server doesn’t come in until this afternoon.”

“I see.  Well thanks for this.”  Reina expressed gratitude and left the waitress to serve the rest.

=============
“Anyways, how are you going to get the location?”  The manager questioned the idol as she poured the first cup for her.

“I have to find a piece of land, first.”  She informed the manager.  “Sayu seems to want me to do most of the work for now, maybe we need to bug another business person.”

“If it is possible, there are others willing to invest if you give me the word.”  Aika responded as she took out a portfolio.

“I want to get Sayu on board, it may take a while to get her, but I will get everything set up for a shop in Fukuoka,” the idol confirmed as she took a big bite from the pastry.

==============
Eripon was on cloud nine for school and didn’t even bother looking at the negative reaction.  She walked into class with a smile on her face but the classmates weren’t as happy as they stared at her with silence and Riho-chan grabbed the former master out of the classroom.

“What did you do last night?”  She demanded.

“I went to the Reina concert.”

“Where did Koha go during the concert?”

“We were in the backroom watching the concert because Reina didn’t want us in the crowd,” Eripon explained as Riho crossed her arms with her partner walking up to them.

Riho gave her a last look before her father bolted towards her direction.  He directed her daughter to his office and closed the door behind her.  She didn’t know what was happening but seeing the cues, he was angry at her.

“There were reports you went to a concert without Koha, is that true?”  She shook her head with the direct question.  “I was with Koha for the night.”

“Okay… I read something that your boss is with an underage girl and she was with you at the concert.”  He informed her with concern.

“I don’t know about that, but why is everyone looking at me awkwardly?”  She inquired as he slid a picture towards her.

Her eyes were as big as volleyballs.  She was shocked that anyone got a picture of them.  She wanted to rip the picture up but she couldn’t hide the truth anymore.

“I… like her.”  Eripon breathed.

“What?” He shouted.

“I really like her.  I cannot explain it,” Eripon shouted as he closed his eyes.

“If you are telling me that it is you in the picture, I understand but this is… not good.”

Eripon wanted to say that he was right but in her heart, she wasn’t going to give into the norm.  She wanted to take the blame before he came with the blame and was willing to do anything to not give up Fuku-chan.  He took the photo and ripped it up in front of her.

“I want you to stop working there.”  He commanded.  “Come home after school and I will talk to you personally why this is wrong?”

“No!  I won’t do that.”  She yelled.  “I want to work and I like her.

His eyes hardened up as he gripped onto his seat and turned around his chair.  He took a few deep breaths and tilted the chair back.

“If you will not quit, I will transfer you out of this school,” he cautioned her.

“Just transfer me to another school!  You don’t understand how I feel.”  She cried out as she ran out of the office leaving him to ponder over the decision.

[oddball]

Man Sayu hung over, lol seems as though the plan may have to wait Reina! 

Ahh, where did that photo come from!  man it was just starting to go well too, man seems as though Eripon is ready to rebel though, I wonder what Fukuchan will do........

[kuro808]

@oddy so much stuff gotta be solved well the more twists, the more the story continues

Chapter 23


Eripon felt beyond miserable, she wanted to just go home, and let the time go by but work beckoned and she ran over to the cafe where Reina had just exited.  She slipped through the door and headed back where Fuku-chan was resting her head on her elbows.

"Where's Sayu?"  The younger girl asked as Fuku-chan turned to see her co-worker ready for service.

"She's out today."  She replied not paying attention to her co-worker as she went out for her first order.

I wonder when I should tell her...

Fuku-chan returned back to earth and helped out with service with it being slower than usual.  The baker clocked out after his last set while they took the rest but they were away from each other for most of the time until closing when they were wiping tables.  Despite the room being empty, the buzz in the room was still loud for both of them.

"Eripon..."

"Yes."

"Did you like the concert?"  She asked despite not being the question she wanted to get out.

"I did.  Did Reina have a snack to eat?"  The elder worker nodded.

"She also..."  Fuku-chan clamped her mouth but it was already too late as she headed over to her side.

"What else did she do?"

"She gave me a letter to the art school I was interested in..."

"Did they accept you?"  Eripon curiously asked.

"Yeah..."  She wrapped her arms around her and pecked her on the cheek.

"Congratulations!"

"Thanks..."  Eripon released her hug but noticed a bit of concern.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't be working here, if I go there."  The younger worker nodded.

"I see."  She said in a soft voice.  "I want you to go there."

Fuku-chan's head jolted upwards in surprise as she never wanted words of encouragement.  The elder girl wiped the tears from her eyes as she returned the hug.  Fuku-chan began to feel her tears penetrating through her uniform.

"What's wrong?"

"I... want you to go..."  She sputtered through her tears.

"You can tell me to not go."  Eripon shook her head.

"But... it is your dream to go to a school that won't make you feel pain."  She responded as Fuku-chan bit down on her lip.

She began to think about everything over the past few weeks and couldn't understand why she would give into anything.  Fuku-chan grabbed her shoulders and demanded for an explanation but she bowed out ran out of the restaurant.  She couldn't understand why she did not want to explain what was happening and that weight only became heavier as she closed it down for the day.

Eripon ran into the alley and dove into Risa's shop where she had been lounging on the chair before she popped in unexpectedly.  Risa picked her up from the floor and took her to the back where Ai was napping and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Mou, why are you crying?"

"..."

"Sigh, calm down."  Risa let her wash her face in the sink before she returned reddened from rubbing her face.

"Fuku-chan is going to art school."

"Really?  That sounds good.  You should be happy” Risa replied as she jerked away her head from sight.

"The reason why is because I like her and I don't want her to leave but someone took a picture of us at the restaurant and gave it off to my father."  Eripon explained to in a loud, clear voice.

Risa placed her finger on top of her chin as she tried to add up the pieces but Ai woke from her slumber and grabbed the bean's hand.  Drowsy, she grabbed the younger female and shook her violently.

"If you love her, why don't you say that?"  Ai advised.

"Because..."

"Because of what?  She feels the same way you feel at the moment.  You are stronger than this.  Stand up to him and do what is needed."  Ai instructed her as she closed her hands.

Eripon took a moment to reflect before walking up to Risa and bowed towards her.  "Can I stay with you for a while?"

Risa shook her head as Ai looked at her weirdly.  Ai didn't know what was uttered and asked politely to stay with them and Ai agreed without question causing Risa to explode with anger.  The two started to talk while Eripon was stuck in the position and ended the conference with the agreement to stay with them for the time being.

Fuku-chan returned home to the smell of burnt food and Sayu leaning onto the wall with her head craned over.  She awoke when Fuku-chan slammed the door and pointed toward the plat on the table.  Expecting it to be burnt, she declined to eat the meal and traveled to her room where she found an envelope by her side.  She opened it up to discover a picture of her and Eripon kissing in the restaurant.  Fuku-chan didn't expect anything about it until she turned to find a message on the back:

Eripon knows.

She placed the picture down and reflects over the weird behavior that she performed today and soon began to piece it together.  The art school letter came into mind and found a number at the bottom and called Iida-san.  She was glad that there was a call but sounded surprise when the letter came into mind.  Iida-san heard the description of the letter and was shocked that someone had used their letterhead.  Iida asked if it could be faxed over but there was no luck in Sayu's apartment so she asked for an emergency meeting with her and informed Sayu that she would be tagging along.

The 15-minute walk to her apartment was convenient as she waited outside with the letter in hand and walked into the complex where they would meet and she scanned over the letter and confirmed it was their letterhead.

"Who gave this to you?"

"Harunan."  Iida's eyes opened wide.

"Hmm, I don't know what happened here, but I never let any of the students hand delivers it to you."  She informed her.

Her heart feel to her stomach as her dream wasn't coming through as Iida looked over at Sayu and quickly nodded.  "I know what happened."

"Why are you looking at me?"  Sayu responded toward the stare.

"She wants something from you, I suppose."  She spoke to the ceiling.

"I don't understand."

"Tanaka Reina."

"I told her to buy land before I could put my name on it."  Sayu replied.

"She can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Criminal record, she can't do any of that with her name on the books."  Iida informed her as Sayu quickly understood.

Iida explained about her problems before her arrest and it was to a similar circumstance but she didn't give in and a developer struck a deal on a half-written agreement with amendments.  It ended up a bust because the amendments confused the building company with instructions that contradict her purpose and it fell through immediately after.  The two were shocked that Reina had gone through many different ventures only to fail in the early stages.

"Thanks for informing us about the letterhead."  Sayu bowed as Fuku-chan quickly followed.

They left with news that it could have been a scam for them but now with the option out of the way she was happy that it was a fake but to Eripon's concerns, she was desperate to know what she was threatened with.

[oddball]

Ahh Poor Eripon, thinking Fuku is going away and not wanting to stand up to her father, but now she does truly know her feelings for Fuku-chan....

But the letter seems it's fake, poor Fuku having her dreams perhaps crushed and where is Reina fitting in to all of this?!?