Hey, time for a new chapter...this one is incredibly CHEESY...but hey, all 78 chapters can't be perfect eh.
Chapter 78 – Shifting Situation A cautious Aya Matsuura stood watch at the edge of the forest she and her friends were hiding in. All together, she Murata Megumi, Masae Otani, Reina Tanaka and Asami from Country Musume managed to get away after the plane crash at Mt. Nantai. A sigh escaped her lips as she looked back at the girls huddling around a small campfire. Some of them were shivering in the cold night air; Asami's hands were trembling so bad she was having a hard time opening her last package of emergency rations.
"Here, let me get that for you," offered Reina. Asami nodded weakly and handed over the package, as Reina quickly opened the pack and handed it back.
"Thanks," Asami replied, digging out a small cube of dried food and popping it into her mouth.
Nearby, Murata Megumi was rocking herself back and forth, her shoulders trembling and stomach growling as well. Worried, Matsuura left her post and walked over to Murata, sitting down beside her and wrapping her arm around her shoulder.
"How’re you doing?" Matsuura asked.
"I'm alright... a little hungry and a little cold though..." said Murata.
"Alright, sit tight and I'll be right back."
Aya then walked a short distance to the group’s backpacks that were laid out in a circle. She zipped open a few of the packs but found only a few bottles of water and two packets of emergency rations left. She sighed, glancing back toward the shivering group of girls. There wasn't enough food or water for everyone, but she still took one of the packets out and walked back to Murata.
"Here," said Matsuura. Murata reached out, but then drew her hand back.
"How much food do we have left?" she asked. Aya’s eyes stared at the ground for a moment then looked back up.
"Don't worry, you can have this. I wasn't that hungry anyway," Matsuura lied, feeling a bit starved herself.
The group had been stranded for nearly a week out in the wild. They had no idea where the others had gone, and it was far too dangerous to go back to any of the cities or towns, not while the military and police force were searching for them.
"Come on, take it," said Matsuura, cracking a weak smile.
Murata reluctantly nodded and took the packet from her, opening it and eating a few of the food cubes.
"D...Do you think the others while come back for us?" asked Otani.
"I don't know, but we have to think about ourselves for now. We’re running low on food and supplies. Another day or two and we'll be completely out of food and water," said Matsuura.
Murata was just about to pop another dried food cube into her mouth, but upon hearing that last line, dropped it back into the pack and resealed the top. "Thanks for the meal," she said.
In the darkness of the night, the fire was their lone source of light. Asami stared at the lightly flickering flame, in an attempt to keep her mind off the cold, and began to poke and prod at it with a stick. Matsuura looked over and noticed her queer actions.
"Hey, what’re you doing?" she asked.
"The fire’s dimming. I'm stirring the coals around to keep it going," replied Asami.
Matsuura just shrugged it off as Asami continued. However, as she was doing that, tiny embers were leaping out of the fire and onto the ground. One fell onto Murata’s sleeping bag and quickly caught fire.
"Oh no, FIRE! FIRE!!" yelped Murata, as she was hit it with her sleeve, trying to put it out. Otani rushed over and joined her.
"Here, move!" ordered Matsuura, as she then kicked some dirt onto the small fire, weakening it. Just as she kicked some more dirt onto the fire, she accidentally splattered some dirt in Otani’s face.
"Ah!" exclaimed Otani, wiping her face with her hands.
"Sorry! Sorry!!" said Matsuura.
"It's oh-... It's oh-..." Otani wheezed, feeling a sneeze coming on and tried to hold it in.
Oh no... she thought.
"Ah...aah....aaaCCCHHHOOO!" As she sneezed, her voice suddenly changed from Otani’s deep voice to a high-pitched one. But that wasn’t the end of it, as something really strange happened after. Her hair quickly grew longer as she shrank in size.
"What the...!" said Matsuura, staring at “Otani” who still had her back to her.
"Oh no...not now..." said a soft familiar voice.
"Otani, what happened to you?" asked Murata.
"I'm sorry...please don't be angry at me..." said a trembling young girl’s voice. She slowly looked over her shoulder, and the other girls noticed tears in this girl’s eyes.
"Wait a minute...you’re not Otani..." said Matsuura, "Why, you’re...Maimi Yajima, aren't you?"
Maimi nodded her head. As she tried to fight back the tears, she turned around and faced the girls.
"Please...don't be mad at me. I'm sorry I pretended to be someone else."
"Hey, hey, don't cry now," said Matsuura, she stood up and walked over to Maimi and wrapped her in a thick wool blanket. Murata slid over to her and handed her the rest of her meal.
"Do you want some water?" asked Asami.
Maimi shook her hand and threw off the blanket and threw the food rations to the ground.
"This is why I didn't want to be found out!" said Maimi, "You’re all treating me like a little kid!"
"...But you are a kid," pointed out Murata.
"I-I know, but I just don't want to be treated as a kid now. I’m tough, and I can do fine on my own if I need to. I don't need others giving me things or asking if I need anything," said Maimi, "So I thought that if I changed into someone older, someone your age, you wouldn’t treat me differently and I would be more useful to the group."
"Oh, ok I get it." said Matsuura.
"If I stayed as myself when we crashed, I was sure that I would be a hindrance to the group. Slowing everyone else down because they would be so worried about me because of my true age." said Maimi.
Everyone nodded. It was true that most of the girls looked out for themselves the whole time they were on the run. But if an H!P kid was with them, they certainly would’ve done things differently.
"Whoa...wait a second!" said Asami. "So you mean you can change into someone else?"
"So that means you’re a mutant as well?" asked Murata.
"Yeah, I guess so..." said Maimi, "I first discovered my ability to change when we were trying to escape from TV Tokyo."
"Oh yeah? Care to tell us?" asked Matsuura.
"Well...I think it went something like this." said Maimi, closing her eyes and thinking back to that dreadful day.
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Maimi had just stepped off the subway in Aoyama, her home district. After a short walk from the train station, she reached her home. She quickly took out her keys, unlocking the front door, and went in.
"Mom! Dad! I'm home!!" she called out. No answer; all the lights were off. She sighed, took off her shoes and jacket and walked through the entrance hallway into the kitchen. She noticed a plate on the table, wrapped in tinfoil, with a small note taped to it. Maimi rushed to the dinner table and took the note off and looked at it. She immediately rolled her eyes, since she saw that it was written in multi-colored pen writing.
"Hey Sweetie, your father and I will be working pretty late tonight. So I prepared your favorite dish, spaghetti and meatballs. You'll just have to warm it in the microwave oven for a few minutes and take it out. Be careful not to burn yourself on the plate -_o.
We'll probably be home around 1:00 A.M. or later. Don't stay up too late and be sure to get up early to make it to your C-ute (haha) little group tomorrow morning. Love, Mom." Maimi groaned loudly and crumpled up the paper, "Come on Mom, I'm not a little kid anymore. It's like you’re writing to a little child," she complained to the air. "You and dad work so late all the time. I'm usually stuck cooking for myself anyway...and doing the dishes...and washing the table...and doing the laundry and folding it afterwards. I'm practically all grown up as it is."
Thinking about all those things, she wondered if she had time to eat, so she put the plate into the microwave and turned it on. At the same time, she ran to her room and started to pile some clothes and other things into a big backpack.
Just then, her little pink cell phone began to ring, Maimi didn't even have to look at the call display to know that it was her mom or dad calling. She had picked an especially cute ringtone for them.
Maimi dug the phone out of her pocket and answered, "Hi Mom or dad!" Maimi said in a cutesy voice.
"Maimi! Honey! Sweetie, where are you?!" said her father in a panicked tone.
Maimi's smile faded and fear gripped her, "I...I'm at home Papa. What's the matter?"
"I was at work and overheard something on the radio. Go to our room and turn on the TV right now!" said her father in a hurried tone.
Maimi's hand began to tremble, "O...ok Papa!" she said, quickly rushing to her parents’ bedroom and clicking on the widescreen TV. She immediately saw the Prime Minister of Japan issuing an arrest warrant for all Hello! Project girls. Maimi felt her knees start to buckle in panic.
"Papa…what should I do?!" Maimi cried.
"Calm down, I'm right here," said her father on the other end, "I just picked up your mother and we're on our way home right now."
Back in the kitchen, smoke began to rise from the microwave as Maimi’s supper continued to heat up. The spaghetti sauce began to bubble and pop, leaving tiny splatters of tomato sauce on the microwave’s screen door.
Maimi began to cry as she dropped to her knees in front of her parents’ bed. "Papa, I'm scared!"
"It's alright, we're on our way home," her father replied.
"Here, let me talk to her." said her mother, grabbing for the phone. He handed it to her and she said, "Maimi, Honey, listen to Mommy, we're on our way right now. Hang in there!"
Her father weaved in and out of lanes as he sped through traffic. However, he soon came upon a long line of cars stopped ahead of him, leading to a large police checkpoint.
"Oh no...We'll never get through that." groaned her father.
Back home, the smoke alarm began to go off, beeping loudly over and over again. Maimi began to panic even more as she paced around her parents’ room. Her heart began to pound even faster as she heard police sirens outside. She ran to the nearby window and looked outside. Off in the distance, she saw many police lights flashing, and in the sky, she saw police helicopters patrolling from the sky, flashing their spotlights towards the ground.
"Mom, Dad, HELP ME!!" wailed Maimi.
Her scream was so loud that her father could hear it, even though Maimi’s mother was holding the phone.
"That's it!" he said, slamming his foot onto the accelerator. The car shot forward, slamming into the car in front of him. The two cars slowly began to move forward though the tires were emitting white smoke.
A few of the officers at the checkpoint saw this and quickly ran towards the car. Maimi's father threw the car into reverse and tried to go the other way, but slammed into another car behind him. They were trapped on all sides, but he was determined to get through to his daughter.
An officer reached the driver’s side window and held up his hand. "Sir! Stop what you are doing right now!!" he ordered, his hand ready to draw his gun.
"Move it! I need to save my daughter!" he shouted, throwing the car into drive once again, slamming into the car in front of him.
More officers surrounded the car, all ordering him to stop. Maimi’s mother knew that with the situation they were in, they couldn’t get to Maimi now. "Honey, you have to listen to me. You have to run! You have to get away from the house and get to your friends." she said into the phone.
"Get out of the car now!!" ordered the officer, pointing his gun at Maimi’s father. Her father then grabbed the phone out of his wife’s hand. "Yes sweetie, you have to get back to your friends no matter what."
As the officers began to beat on the windows with their nightsticks, Maimi could hear everything on the other end of the phone, "Papa, what's that noise?" she asked.
"Nothing, Sweetie. Now listen up! Open the top drawer of our dresser and look for a white envelope. Inside the white envelope is over 100,000 yen. I want you to take it and run as far away from Tokyo as you can!" said her father.
Maimi looked over towards the dresser, "No Papa, I want you and mom here!" she pleaded.
Losing patience, the police smashed the back window of her parents’ car, then the rear passenger side window. "No Sweetie, you have to go on without us. At this rate, we can't make it to you," said her father.
"Papa...I can't...I'm too scared..."
"I know you are, we're all scared. But you have to do this, we know you can." said her father, as the passenger side’s window was smashed open. The police officers reached inside, opened the door and forced Maimi's mother out of the car.
"Run Maimi! Run and don't look back! Don't come back for anything! Save yourself!" her mother shouted as she was pulled out of the car.
Her father wrapped his free hand around the steering wheel as tight as he could. "Maimi...you have to save yourself. I know you can do it. We've seen how much you've grown up and matured far beyond your years," said her father, as his window was smashed in and officers reached in and grabbed him.
"Papa..." said Maimi, hearing the commotion in the background.
"Go Maimi! Go now, run and keep on running. You have to!!!" he shouted. "We love you!!" The cell phone slipped out of his hand and landed on the ground beside him, as a random officer then stepped on it, destroying it. Maimi suddenly heard a lot of static, then nothing at all.
"Mama...Papa..." she whimpered. Her eyes shot back towards her parents’ dresser and decided to follow her parents’ wishes. She closed her cell phone and quickly wiped her tears on her sleeves. She quickly found the
envelope and stuffed it into her backpack, flung the bag over her shoulder and ran out of her parents’ room, through the kitchen and out the door into the dark night.
She ran and ran for blocks, not even stopping to catch her breath. Soon, she was only a few blocks away from TV Tokyo. But up ahead, she saw a large group of officers on horseback patrolling the area. She quickly hid behind a building and waited. However, she was too busy focusing on the police in front of her that she didn't notice another officer on horseback right behind her. As Maimi peered around the corner of the building, a flashlight beam shone on her from behind.
"You there, what are you doing?" he asked. Startled, Maimi quickly turned around and stared at the officer in fear. He immediately recognized Maimi, a girl from the Hello! Project group C-ute. So he reached down and grabbed Maimi by the arm, in an attempt to apprehend her.
Maimi struggled to break free, kicking and thrashing about, causing her backpack to fall off her shoulder and into her right hand. She drew it back and tried to hit the officer, but instead hit the horse’s head. It cried out and reared up, causing the officer to lose his grip and fall backwards and land hard on the ground behind his horse unconscious. The two other officers patrolling ahead looked back, hearing a lot of noises coming from behind one of the buildings down the street, and decided to investigate.
"Oh no...What have I done?" thought Maimi, looking down at the unconscious officer on the ground.
Maimi knelt down beside him and placed her hands around his neck, taking off his helmet. However, as her skin made contact with his, she felt a strange tingling sensation shoot through her body, causing her to jump. Maimi looked down at her hands, as they began to grow larger, coarser and rougher. She could also feel herself getting taller.
"What's going on...?" Maimi yelped, as her voice changed as well, from her high-pitched feminine voice to a deep baritone.
In no time at all, her entire appearance had changed. Peering into a nearby window, she stared agape at her reflection. She had changed into an exact copy of the unconscious police officer in front of her. Her clothes had changed as well; she was now wearing a police officer’s uniform. Deep in shock, she barely had time to hear the clip-clopping of approaching hooves as the other officers drew closer.
Thinking quickly, Maimi quickly grabbed the unconscious officer and dragged him towards a nearby dumpster and hid him behind it. She then got hold of his horse and calmed it down. Just then, the other officers rounded the corner and shone their flashlights down the back alley and spotted Maimi.
"Hey Buddy, everything alright back here?" asked the officer.
"Uh, yeah I'm fine, just took a spill that's all..." said Maimi in her deep, manly voice.
Oh wait, that sounds too girly and pathetic for a guy to say, she thought.
"I mean, yeah bro. Just lost control of my horse for a second. Nothing to worry about," said Maimi in a more firm tone. She then mounted the horse in her changed state and rode towards them. Just as she slowly moved past them, one of the officers called out to her.
"Hey, hold on!" said the officer, getting off his horse and walking down the alley.
Maimi's heart began to throb in her chest as he got closer to the dumpster the real officer was behind. But he stopped short of it and picked up the helmet she left behind.
"Don't forget your helmet!" said the officer, holding it up.
"Oh yeah, how stupid of me," said Maimi, as the officer tossed the helmet to her and Maimi put it back on and nodded to the officers and, grabbing tightly onto the reins, started trotting her way towards TV Tokyo.
However, it was only a matter of moments before the real officer regained consciousness and stood up. "Come back here with my horse, you bastard!!" shouted the officer. Both of the other officers looked back at the real officer, then back at Maimi, as she then changed back to her normal form. Her cover blown, Maimi kicked the horse lightly in the sides, and shouted "Hyaa Hyaa!!" as the horse took off towards TV Tokyo.
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"And that's how I first discovered my ability to morph into other people," Maimi finished.
"I see, so how why not tell any of us, even when you already know that we're also mutants?" asked Matsuura.
"Well, I saw it as an advantage. I could change into someone older and not have to worry about anyone treating me like a scared little kid," said Maimi.
"With all you've been through, I think you’ve proven that you can take care of yourself if you need to," said Murata.
"So how far do your powers go? Can you only copy people's appearance?" asked Asami.
"No, I've copied other S.M.A.T girls’ appearances and found I could also mimic some of their powers...but they're much weaker in comparison." To demonstrate, Maimi looked over at Murata and stared for a few seconds before starting to change into her, until she looked exactly like Murata, right down to having glasses just like her.
Maimi lift up her glasses as tiny beams of solar energy escaped her eyes. However, they weren't even powerful enough to break through a large wood log in front of her. All that happened was a little puff of smoke rising up from where her beams focused. Maimi then turned back into her true self and smiled.
"Cool...Wait! So you can change into anyone you see?" Matsuura asked, stroking her chin.
"Yes, I can make an even better copy if I make physical contact with the person I'm copying," replied Maimi.
"Hmmm...I think I just had a terrific idea that might help us get out of this dire situation," said Matsuura, as a wide grin then spread across her face.
Topic: Mutant Musume!! (Read 59940 times)